Free Daily Podcast Summary
The Pod Universe with Dylan & Dalton: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dalton Deschain & Dylan Roth
Writers Dalton Deschain and Dylan Roth first joined together to create Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? a podcast in which they pitched new installments of the canceled Dark Universe of monster movies. After completing their 30-part saga, they’ve set out to do something new - an all-original cinematic universe of imaginary movies, written, workshopped, and performed on all podcatchers and YouTube. Looking for Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? Don't panic! Our archive of episodes from 2022 through summer 2025 are now on their own podcast feed. Just search for the old title and it should all be there.
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- 1 weeks ago1h 59m
Planning War of the Worlds
Get a closer look at Dylan & Dalton's writing process and listen to them work out the story of the first Pod Universe crossover. Be a fly on the wall as they break down characters, hash out a plot, and then throw all of that away and start over! Learn about the imaginary movie that we almost pretended to make!As always, you can find more episodes as well as our lovely Discord community via our Patreon at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton. Thanks for your support, and see you soon for the kickoff to Phase 2!CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Intro00:05:53 - Who are our leads?00:12:58 - Character relationship charts00:17:53 - Differentiating our geniuses00:30:18 - Getting the characters together00:34:07 - The Beepo of it all00:41:53 - Lost and found families00:45:29 - Alano Bright and the Two Liams00:54:55 - Let's write a plot!01:02:29 - The threat and our villains01:08:48 - Lasting impact on our world01:14:36 - Plot beat ideas01:31:27 - TAKE TWO, weeks later01:35:43 - Rebuilding the story around Xaria01:48:16 - The ensemble's new role
- 3 weeks ago2h 13m
War of the Worlds, Part Two
Phase One of the Pod Universe comes to its thrilling conclusion as misfit hacker Xaria (Vera Drew) joins a crew of geeks-turned-guerillas to prevent their Earth from being enslaved by another dimension!We want to extend our warmest thanks to our cast!Vera Drew as XariaChris Myers as VincentStephanie Sta. Ana as StephanieAnique Evans as CoraJulian Fadullon as Liam & WillySarah Norcross as CaitlynRoberto Williams as Alano Brightwith Dalton Deschain as Arthur & DollyAbe Goldfarb as Bill & KinnyDylan Roth as Mr. DJoe Stando as Ervin Popeand Frankie Starker as HelaCHAPTERS00:00:00 - Discussion00:11:31 - Act Two Part Two00:52:10 - Discussion01:03:07 - Act Three01:46:36 - Mid-Credits Scene01:49:26 - Credits01:50:25 - Post-Credits Scene01:51:41 - Discussion
- Jun 28, 20261h 59m
War of the Worlds, Part One
Worlds collide in The Pod Universe: War of the Worlds, the culmination of Phase One of a cinematic universe of imaginary sci-fi films! We've got a full-length script, a professional cast, an original score -- everything but an actual movie. Listen and read along to the table reading of the Pod Universe's first crossover, a perfect jumping-on point for new listeners! Xaria (Vera Drew, The People's Joker) is a college dropout whose dream of building a true artificial intelligence has never come to fruition. But in a parallel universe, she's a folk hero fighting a desperate war against the corporate oligarchy whose greed burned their Earth to ash. Now, she's being drawn into the fight alongside a team of multiversal misfits to determine the fate of both universes! You've never seen a War of the Worlds like this... and you still won't. It's a podcast. PLUS: Enjoy the writers' discussion of the laborious process behind writing this script, and ponder along with our passionate audience about what's ahead in our story. Then come back next week for the thrilling conclusion! STARRINGVera Drew as XariaChris Myers as Vincent EstrellaLianah Sta. Ana as Stephanie LeeJulian Fadullon as Liam / Willy FloresAnique Evans as Cora WintersFrankie Starker as HelawithDalton Deschain as Arthur Toucet & Dolly AbramsAbe Goldfarb as Bill Malton & Kinny ClausenDylan Roth as Mr. DRoberto Williams as Alano Brightand Sarah Norcross as Caitlyn Wheeler CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Cold Open00:08:14 - Discussion00:21:09 - Fan Predictions00:25:32 - Act One00:58:13 - Discussion01:10:08 - Act Two, Part One01:49:50 - Discussion
- May 31, 20261h 40m
BONUS: Carol & Jenny return / Stone Hammer sequel
As War of the Worlds production continues through some unfortunate delays, we're pulling a recent bonus episode out from behind the paywall to help tide you over. Enjoy Studio Mandate pitches based on Phantom of the Paradise (featuring Carol and Jenny from the Dark Universe!) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (featuring the star-crossed warriors from Last Flight of the Stone Hammer). Plus, reviews of a few spring movie releases and a look back at Billy Wilder's 1960 classic, The Apartment.CHAPTERS00:00:00 - War of the Worlds progress update00:01:11 - Intro and Bev Check00:05:13 - Dalton's bachelor trip00:12:57 - At Da Movies: They Will Kill You00:13:54 - At Da Movies: Faces of Death00:23:08 - At Da Movies: The Drama00:27:20 - At Da Movies: Project Hail Mary00:37:49 - Studio Mandate: Phantom of the Paradise00:48:20 - The Pitch01:07:07 - The Dylterion Collection: The Apartment01:18:19 - Studio Mandate: Killer Klowns from Outer Space01:37:07 - Nominations are open!
- May 24, 20261h 31m
The Flash Gordon Cinematic Universe w/Jadzia Axelrod
Blockbuster comics writer Jadzia Axelrod (with a slew of books out for DC this June) joins our show to reflect on the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon film adaptation and pitch us her own vision for an expansive modern cinematic universe based on the classic newspaper comics!Find more from us at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton starting at $5/mo, with a 7-day free trial! CHAPTERS (Spoilers within!)00:00:00 - Opening00:03:55 - Introducing Jadzia Axelrod00:08:06 - Discussing Flash Gordon (1980)00:11:48 - What is Flash Gordon anyway?00:18:37 - Jadzia's Flash Gordon origins00:23:36 - Is Ming the Merciless problematic?00:39:59 - Setting up Jadzia's Flash pitch00:53:32 - Direct spin-offs01:04:23 - Expanding the cast01:08:53 - Defenders of the Earth01:19:41 - Jadzia's new comics!
- May 10, 20261h 29m
The Species Cinematic Universe with Joshua Rivera
That Studio Softcore you saw on the shelf at the video store might be less sexy — but more interesting — than you remember! Journalist Joshua Rivera joins us to revisit the 1995 sci-fi thriller Species, dissect its possibly accidental themes about gender, and pitch us a broad range of spin-off films for a modern relaunch!CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Opening bits, and Meet Josh00:04:05 - Introducing Species00:08:30 - Everything you forgot the movie was about00:26:33 - It's Act Three - Do you know where your themes are?00:37:25 - The crappy sequels00:45:46 - Josh's Species pitch01:00:51 - Domain01:09:34 - The Origin of the Species01:14:02 - Further expansion ideas
- Apr 26, 20261h 9m
Lee Cronin's The Mummy
Dylan, Dalton, and Sarah review the new non-Universal monster movie, "Lee Cronin's The Mummy," which takes the basic conceit of "What if there was a mummy?" and goes in a very different direction. We don't mind different! But does this new feature hold up as either a Mummy movie or the Exorcist movie it plainly wants to be? PLUS: A sneak preview at the forthcoming Pod Universe crossover spectacular, WAR OF THE WORLDS!CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Intro00:01:12 - Why we're here00:04:16 - What makes a Mummy movie?00:12:46 - Lee Cronin's approach00:16:31 - Unpacking the story00:22:48 - Where does it go wrong?00:28:09 - Quirky filmmaking, bland characters00:37:48 - CGI sand and CGI bugs00:47:51 - Let's talk about that ending00:55:02 - Our final verdict00:57:28 - Sneak peak at War of the Worlds01:05:00 - What's next for The Pod Universe?
- Apr 12, 20261h 31m
The Unfriended Cinematic Universe with Pete Volk
CONTENT WARNING: This episode centers around a movie whose inciting incident is a teen suicide.We're shaking up our guest episode format beginning with this pitch from PV Guide's Pete Volk — instead of outlining one remake or reimagining, guest storytellers will have to figure out how to expand a dead or dying intellectual property into a fully-fledged cinematic universe! Critic and journalist Pete Volk kicks us off with his plans to revitalize Unfriended, the horror film series set entirely in the digital world.PLUS: An announcement about our upcoming full-script, full-cast crossover extravaganza, War of the Worlds!Join us at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton for bonus episodes and access to our wonderful and welcoming creative community.CHAPTERS00:00:00 - Introducing our new show format00:05:18 - Introducing Pete Volk and Unfriended00:08:54 - What is Screenlife?00:13:24 - Recapping Unfriended00:17:26 - Why Unfriended works00:23:18 - Why Unfriended: Dark Web is better00:33:38 - Dalton's big problem with Unfriended00:34:53 - Unpacking the overarching themes00:41:11 - Unfriended: Like & Subscribe00:52:03 - What other screens can we do this on?00:54:07 - Establishing our mytharc / MUTUALS01:02:32 - Unfriended: Dead Web01:06:55 - Unfriended: Headspace01:19:55 - Where can you find Pete Volk?01:22:09 - Updates and acknowledgements
About The Pod Universe with Dylan & Dalton
Writers Dalton Deschain and Dylan Roth first joined together to create Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? a podcast in which they pitched new installments of the canceled Dark Universe of monster movies. After completing their 30-part saga, they’ve set out to do something new - an all-original cinematic universe of imaginary movies, written, workshopped, and performed on all podcatchers and YouTube. Looking for Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe? Don't panic! Our archive of episodes from 2022 through summer 2025 are now on their own podcast feed. Just search for the old title and it should all be there.
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