The library pocast, Club Moffett Talks, was started in 2020 by Ryan Samuelson and Chris Depineda. Its purpose was (and remains) to entertain and inform the community of Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, and the surrounding area.
The first ten episodes were published sporadically, largely due to the impact of COVID-19.
Beginning in March of 2022, the podcast team renewed their dedication to publish episodes monthly. Episodes began to be available on Spotify and Amazon Music, as well as YouTube, where transripts appear for our hearing impaired patrons. {You can now also read the episodes through the Transcripts tab at the top of this page.}
Episode 44: But Is It Good?
What is the best movie ever? Jonathon Quam joins Ryan and Joseph to discuss the subjectivity of movie classification. The conversation goes from what they like to what they should watch to what they’ll never watch (again). Are you familiar with all the movies they mention?
SUMMARY KEYWORDS:
important films, good films, guilty pleasures, John Williams documentary, holiday films, documentary film, series finales
{Recorded 12/9/24}
Episode 43: Holiday Drama!
What makes a film a holiday movie?
Chris, Ryan, and Joseph fiercely argue over the answer to this question.
Can they find a way to work together when the library needs them?
Tune in to find out!
holiday movies, Halloween, Rankin/Bass films, Christmas traditions, Love Actually, Die Hard, holiday definitions, wedding films, holiday specials, family traditions
{Recorded 11/8/24}
Episode 42: Get on Your Bikes and Ride!
Is your community bicycle friendly? Chris, Joseph, and Ryan are joined by Sebastian Restrepo, a graduate student at MSU. The instruction librarians discuss where to find old shows and movies, which ones are worth watching, and things that get lost in translation. Sebastian, originally from Colombia, discusses his academic journey from history to MBA, his marketing background, and his passion for cycling.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
grad student, marketing switch, cycling team, cultural contrast, nationalism rise, globalism pushback, social media management, graduate program, community, support, hurricane impact, mountain biking, off-season training, national titles
{Recorded 10/14/24}
How do you feel about adverbs? John Schulze, (President of ASAT, editor of JASAT and Writing Texas) joins Chris, Ryan, and Joseph for a discussion of writing styles, comparing authors, and teachable lessons.
read, writing, library, people, write, book, work, talk, podcast, paper, hate, Moffett, week,
year, called, short stories, heard, host, story, wonderful
{Recorded 9/9/24}
Have you learned or experienced something new by rereading a book or re-watching a film or show? Peter Fields joins Chris in Mustangs Studio to engage Ryan and Joseph in conversations about teaching pop culture themes. They discuss book-to-film adaptations, analyze Bob Dylan, and admire Stephen King.
{Episode Notes from Your Friendly Instruction Librarian:
Nicholas Braun is the name of the actor from Succession, who is playing the dual roles of Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman in the film Saturday Night.
ECLC stands for the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee.}
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Stephen King, book, writing, students, read, Moffett, Bob Dylan, years, people, talk, story, part, film, good, watch, MSU, library, biopic
{Recorded 8/12/24}
Episode 39: Touch the Stage and Touch the Stars!
Have you ever seen a live show? Wichita Falls has two community theatres! Jessica Wood, Executive Managing Director of Backdoor Theatre, joins Chris, Allison, and Joseph to talk about this year’s Summer Youth Musical (SYM) and the impact of live theatre on a community.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
theatre, Backdoor, watch, production, season, Wichita Falls, volunteer, part, fun, big, year, played, stage, cat, talking, hours, shows, work, movie
{Recorded 7/8/24}
Episode 38: All Booked Up
How do you choose your next book? Provost Marcy Brown Marsden joins Chris, Allison, and Joseph to discuss reading habits, sharing time with family, and the burdens of leadership.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, book, watch, reading, read, good, movie, years, called, library, list, story, interesting, author, theaters, Moffett, character, actor, film, play
{Recorded 6/10/24}
Episode 37: With a Grain of Salt
{Episode Notes from Your Friendly Instruction Librarian:
(Authority of Public Law 96-303, unanimously passed by the Congress of the United States on June 27, 1980)
ANY PERSON IN GOVERNMENT SHOULD:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
years, computer science, MSU, big, watch, movie, put, library, code, person, read, work, programming, AI, book, nice, job, semester, talking, little bit
{Recorded 5/13/24}
Episode 36: Safe for Direct Sun Viewing
Have you experienced a total eclipse of the heart? Brighten up your life with this sunny episode! Technical issues cast a shadow on Chris’s week, Joseph enjoys dark humor, Allison returned to Arrakis with Dune 2, and special guest, Tiffany Ziegler, Interim Dean, McAda Graduate School, joins our hosts to shed light on the graduate programs at MSU Texas.
{NOTE: The play Lincoln attended was called Our American Cousin.}
, campus, , , , ,
{Recorded 4/8/24}
How does art affect you? Danny Bills, (WFMA curator), joins Chris, Allison, and Joseph to discuss exhibitions, (past, current, and future), the ’79 tornado, Resident Alien, and dissenting opinions on Quentin Tarantino.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
exhibit, museum, art, piece, artists, good, exhibitions, work, collection, photograph, movie, talk, remember, called, printmaking, students, MSU, curated, mentioned, put
{Recorded 3/11/24}
Episode 34: The True Story of Armored Corsets
Who is Sarah J. Maas? Will she accept our writing challenge? What’s the difference between Elden Rings and Elder Scrolls? Two of these questions are not answered as Chris, Ryan, and Joseph are joined by Allison Atherton, (Moffett Library’s Marketing and Outreach Coordinator), to briefly discuss events, holidays, and special occasions. More thoroughly explored topics include: Allison is slightly embarrassed by her reading choices. Ryan gets Weird. Joseph calls Stephen King an Eldritch Horror. Chris gets told he’s not allowed to be a hater.
{Recorded 2/16/24}
MSU Texas President Stacia Haynie joins Ryan, Joseph, and special cohost Allison Atherton in the lobby of Moffett Library for the Grand Opening of Mustangs Studio!
Would you like to share your thoughts and spread your voice?
Mustangs Studio is now available for current MSU faculty, students, and staff to record and edit their own podcasts, audio stories, and other media on professional equipment.
Training is required to use Mustangs Studio and will be offered Wednesday afternoons at 1:00. To sign up for training, go to:
https://msutexas.libwizard.com/f/moffettlibrarypodcaststudiotraining}
{NOTE: Mustangs Studio is an audio recording and editing studio. We tried an untested method of capturing video for this episode, and it didn’t work.}
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
students, MSU, podcast, campus, Wichita Falls, Barbie, book, excited, president, studio, focused, great, day, happening, read, academic, ensure, lives, Pizza Hut
{Recorded 1/25/24}
Episode 32: So Simple an Adult Can Understand
What is your favorite youth literature title? While Chris is on paternity leave, Ryan and Joseph discuss destroying books for art and/or refunds, monthly staff picks, truth rants, role playing games, youth literature, Children’s Book Week, and Inter-Library Loans.
books, library, public library, Lovecraft, story, system, love, talk, podcast, librarian, Wichita Falls, fifth edition, interlibrary loan, children, libraries, people, classes, hate, read, rules
{Recorded 12/12/23}
Episode 31: How the Sausage Is Made
Who decides what you should read? Ryan talks about Weird fiction, Joseph shows his latest CML find, Chris rants about his newest anime obsession, and Dr. Geoffrey Clegg joins us to discuss how the Norton Anthology of Literature gets put together.
{Notes from Your Friendly Instruction Librarian:
This is the article that Geoffrey referenced - Shesgreen, S. (2009). Canonizing the Canonizer: A Short History of The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Critical Inquiry, 35(2), 293–318. https://doi.org/10.1086/596644
The book American Lucifers was written by Jeremy Zallen.
The Cheese and the Worms and The Night Battles were written by an Italian historian named Carlo Ginzburg.}
Norton, thinking, text, Norton Anthology, author, part, English literature, talk, robots, people, Longman, history, story, edition, anthology, editors, town, reading, years, book
{Recorded 11/13/23}
Episode 30: Modified for Your Enjoyment
Do you know who made your favorite video game? Chris and Joseph are joined by Brandon Blakeslee, (Assistant Professor of History), and Hunter Cammel, (Nighttime Circulation Manager), to talk about video game modification, monetization, and preservation.
{Notes from Your Friendly Instruction Librarian: In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene, most often in a 2D video game. DMCA is the abbreviation for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. In 3-D computer graphics, ray tracing is a technique for modeling light transport, and it is capable of simulating a variety of optical effects, such as reflection, refraction, soft shadows, scattering, depth of field, and motion blur.}
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
created, game, Dota, Nintendo, movie, Blizzard, big, Doom, Warcraft, play, watched, tools, gaming, called, content, change, Valve, copyright, books, started
{Recorded 10/9/23}
Episode 29: One Piece of the Puzzle
Where do you fit? Chris, Ryan, and Joseph are joined by Ruby Garrett to discuss the rebranding of MSU’s MOSAIC, making all students feel welcome, and the phenomena of One Piece as a manga, anime, and new live-action series. (Joseph really liked the live-action Cowboy Bebop, but he didn’t get to say that.)
{Notes from Your Friendly Instruction Librarian: East of Eden is a book by John Steinbeck. The name Amory appears in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise.}
students, MOSAIC, play, survey, hosted, happening, Moffett, Wichita Falls, rebrand, office, week, days, MSU, faculty, hear, daughter, watch, campus, information, love
{Recorded 9/11/23}
Episode 28: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Did you know the campus has its own student-run newspaper? Meet members of The Wichitan’s staff, as our hosts are joined by Jim Sernoe (Mass Comm. Chair), Cecil Witherspoon (Editor-in-Chief), and Tiffany Haggard (Business Manager) to discuss the importance of a free press, Barbenheimer, the Marion raid, and finding something to do in Wichita Falls.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, campus, stories, Moffett, student, Wichita Falls, book, good, talk, newspaper, library, put, semester, major, pushback, positive feedback, local, faculty
{Recorded 8/14/23}
Episode 27: They Learned It from Watching Us! {featuring Jason Weber}
What are your personal core values? Jason Weber, Vice Chancellor of the Office of Leader and Culture Development at Texas Tech, joins the boys to discuss values-based academic culture, the threats and opportunities of AI, and what it takes to be a good leader.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
work, AI, students, MSU, people, professors, programs, talk, faculty, years, Tetris, universities, written, read, problems, played, opportunity, papers
{Recorded 7/13/23}
Episode 26: We’re Passionate Because We Care {featuring Wendy Helmcamp}
We all need somebody to lean on; who fills that role for you? The guys are joined by Dr. Wendy Helmcamp, who speaks about the Project School Mental Health grant, a five-year federal program that will not only financially support 12 Clinical Mental Health graduate students to help fund their master’s degrees, but also will help students in the Burkburnett Independent School District.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
talk, students, grant, books, counselors, schools, ISD, kids, diversity, school counselor, school district, Moffett, heard, idea, good, give, art, collections
This is a link to the article about student disconnection from The Chronicle of Higher Education:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-stunning-level-of-student-disconnection
{Recorded 6/15/23}
Episode 25: Mother Knows Best
Mother’s Day is this month, which begs the question: who is your favorite fictional mother figure? Ryan, Chris, and Joe discuss the complexities of mothers in books, films, and TV shows. Other topics in this episode include automotive woes, “how much giving is too much?” and the perils of recording in a working library.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mom, mother, watching, kids, parents, stories, Bluey, bad, year, wife, horrible, playing, motherhood, Wichita Falls, character, children, talk, dad, archetypes
{Recorded 5/9/23}
Episode 24: A Podcast Dark and Grimm {featuring Dr. Lee Gagum}
What’s your favorite fairy tale? Ryan and Joe are joined by Dr. Lee Gagum, professor of German, to discuss the Grimms’ Manga, good/bad translations, and living in a multi-lingual world.
German, manga, read, Grimm, called, graphic novel, Germany, students, Korean, translate, fairytale, Rapunzel, Donald Duck, Disney, version, translation, thought, story, Hansel, fairy tale
{Recorded 4/10/23}
Episode 23: Imposter Syndrome, We All Have It {featuring Ashley Hurst}
Where do you go when you need help? As midterms approach, March is a busy time on campus. Ashley Hurst joins the guys to discuss the Tutoring and Academic Support Program (TASP) and how they can aid in students' success. Tune in for other discussions on Gen Z, first-gen students, and aerial yoga.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
students, campus, faculty, book, reading, people, professors, MSU, class, tutors, tutoring, bit, workshops, hammock, talk, imposter, thought, writing, point, year
{Recorded 3/7/23}
Episode 22: Did a Robot Write This? {featuring Stacy Johnson}
Could a computer do your job? Stacy Johnson joins the guys to discuss ChatGPT, socially conscious consumerism, and the future of information literacy.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, watched, read, called, talk, writing, Wichita Falls, ai, library, students, Lovecraft, thinking, horror, point, Moffett, HP Lovecraft, years, Twin Peaks, uncanny valley, game
{Recorded 2/14/23}
Episode 1: The Untitled Moffett Library Podcast Project (of sorts)
Moffett Library is proud to present an entirely new concept: two old chunks of coal discussing libraries and their various interests. Join Ryan and Chris as they bring you the information you need to know, while rambling about the things you never knew you wanted. Grab a cup of tea, settle into your favorite chair, and join us on our new venture!
{Originally recorded – 9/10/2020}
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
11:05 This week in the library
36:44 Plans for the future
45:47 What we're invested in this week
51:50 The Alan Smithee rant
In the second installment of our podcast, hosts Ryan and Chris discuss Dune at length, ignorant to the as-yet announced hiatus until 2021. The concept of time continues to elude Chris, and Ryan shares details on how to sign up for the TexShare program. Video game and film archival is discussed, and the hosts discuss potential films to make commentary on for a future video. If you have comments about choice of film, please let us know!
Quick note: It turns out all of those old film reels were digitized after all!
{Originally recorded – 9/11/2020}
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction, our weeks
11:25 Movies, video games and archiving media
20:13 Archiving things the wrong way (Chris hates the Special Editions)
22:00 Library user wants VS library collection needs
26:20 Public domain films to stream (which we didn't do but you can have fun with the list!)
34:50 Q&A: TexShare
40:27 Are you reading anything? (Dune talk)
Episode 3: Halloween Horror Spectacular
For this special Halloween, Ryan and Chris discuss some of their favorite horror stories. As a note, the movie screening has been postponed for the year, so apologies for anyone who wanted to see that. Look forward to it next year!
NPR's 10 Best Horror Novels and Stories: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/632779...
Amish Romance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_r...
{Originally recorded – 10/7/2020}
Timestamps
00:00 Cold open (Chris falls in love with a motherboard)
00:56 Introductions
05:44 Remote teaching woes
08:17 Horror talk begins: Favorite horror book
20:35 Favorite horror movies
32:08 Chris hates 'Salem's Lot'
47:43 Please vote
50:49 Ryan cackles at Amish Romance
Episode 4: Small World ft. Tom Rohrig
In this installment of Club Moffett Talks, we are joined by special guest Tom Rohrig of Texas Tech University. We discuss digitization, what our libraries are doing for COVID, government documents, and much more.
{Originally recorded – 10/14/2020}
Club Moffett Talks Episode 5 - Literal Jazz Hands
CONTENT WARNING: There is a brief mention of self-harm when discussing creepypasta. Please consider using our timestamps if needed.
In this brand-new installment of Club Moffett Talks (recorded in November), we are joined by Cody Parish of the Honors Program to talk gamifying teaching, some background on the bizarre internet trend of creepypasta, and much more.
{Originally recorded – 10/16/2020}
Timestamps:
00:00 Introductions
01:12 Honors programming during COVID-19
07:53 Talking shop about the podcast
11:50 A brief history of creepypasta
19:00 Gamifying technology
27:45 A discussion of breakout kits and escape rooms
31:33 Using card games as a pedagogical tool
Club Moffett Talks Episode 6: Pre-Thanksgiving 2020 aphorism-cast
On this special episode of Club Moffett Talks, Chris and Ryan are joined by Cortny Bates, library director. Join us in a thrilling discussion on common sayings before Chris and Ryan are left to their own devices and talk about Dungeons and Dragons for forty minutes.
{Recorded October 23, 2020}
Club Moffett Talks Episode 7: Emulators for Malta
In this December edition of Club Moffett Talks, we bid a fond farewell to Andrea Williams, our Associate Librarian of Public Services. Then, Ryan and Chris (mostly Chris) gives you all the information you never knew you wanted about video game emulation, a topic that has been raging for over twenty years.
{Originally recorded – 12/11/2020}
Club Moffett Talks Episode 8 - Halloween Horror Spectacular 2021
In this installment of Club Moffett Talks, Ryan and Chris jump into the scary future of October 2021 to get into the GUTS of what makes good horror. Joining them is special guest and horror connoisseur Cody Parish, all the way from the spooky town of Colorado Springs.
{Originally recorded – 10/14/21}
Club Moffett Talks Episode 9: Segway to the Cyberpunk Future
NOTE: There is a gap/break in the recording. A piece of the discussion is missing.
In this installment of Club Moffett Talks, Ryan and Chris are joined by Joe McNeely (now Serials Librarian!) to discuss multiple facets of genre. It's almost entirely dominated by cyberpunk.
{Originally recorded – 2/4/21}
Club Moffett Talks Episode 10: Higher education loves their acronyms
In this installment of Club Moffett Talks, Chris and Ryan are joined by Jacob Torres, formerly of the Tutoring and Academic Support Program, to talk about academic bureaucracy and traffic. It's our most intense and high-energy episode yet!
{Originally recorded – 3/1/21}
Club Moffett Talks, Episode 11: Starting Over?
Chris and Joe (now an Instruction Librarian!!) talk about reboots, soft reboots, and requels. (Who even knew that was a thing?) Are they just a lazy way to make money, or is there a point to them?
{Originally recorded 3/15/22}
Club Moffett Talks, Episode 12: Jumping on the “Banned” Wagon
Chris, Joe, and Ryan discuss their favorite banned books, the duties and responsibilities of librarians, and the potential rationale behind challenging a title.
{Originally recorded 4/21/22}
Episode 13: University Diversity
Very special guest Tasia Floissac joins Ryan, Chris, and Joe to discuss her experience as an international student at Midwestern State University and her role as the Marketing & Outreach Coordinator for Moffett Library.
{Originally recorded 5/10/22}
Episode 14: Oh, Doctor, Doctor (featuring Dr. Jeff Killion)
Chris, Joe, and Ryan are joined by Dr. Jeff Killion, Dean of the Gunn College of Health Sciences and Human Services. Jeff speaks about the Radiology Science field, its history at Midwestern State University, and the effort to start a doctoral degree in the program.
{Recorded 6/14/22}
Episode 15: There Is a Doctor in the House (featuring Dr. Marcos Lopez)
Ryan, Chris, and Joe are joined by Dr. Marcos Lopez, Associate Professor of Mathematics, to discuss his role as a Faculty in Residence, math, music, and the processes of learning and teaching.
{Content Note from Marcos Lopez: EPIC stands for "Engaging Peers in College", and they are the peer educator group that is more concerned with helping students find their group. MOSAIC peer educators push MOSAIC programming, VIP pushes health and violence prevention, EPIC pushes socials and clubs, Academic pushes...academic things like tutoring, advising and registration.}
{Recorded 7/12/22}
Episode 16: Comfort Movies and Comfort Food {Featuring Scotty and Shannon Coppage}
Ryan, Chris, and Joe are joined by Scotty and Shannon Coppage to talk about their own podcast, (Mac N Cheese Movies), their work with foster dogs, community involvement, and much, much more.
{Recorded 07/27/22}
Episode 17: We’ve Got the Beat! {featuring Lelani Gibbs}
Ryan and Joe are joined by local musician, Lelani Gibbs, to talk about the local music scene and why they hate hearing, “there’s nothing to do in Wichita Falls.”
{Recorded 09/06/22}
Episode 18: A Bloody Good Time! {featuring Kate Morgan}
Ryan, Chris, and Joe are joined by the disembodied voice of Kate Morgan to discuss the Tabletop Terror in-library event, board games, Overwatch 2, Gundam, Cthulhu, scary movies and books, and the true horror of crying babies and British people making “Mexican” food.
watch, game, movie, people, play, called, fun, big, thinking, Kate, Halloween, talking,
night, horror, overwatch, Lovecraft, child, Joe, long, read
{Recorded 10/11/22}
Episode 19: Hey, Kids, Let’s Put on a Show! (featuring Kim Gordon)
Are you curious about the Wichita Falls theatre scene? Ryan, Chris, and Joe are joined by actress and director, Kim Gordon, for a closer look at local community theatre. Chris says he’s done with Marvel. Ryan and Joe reveal that they don’t read as much as they should. Kim discusses her theatrical experiences and the main differences between Wichita Theatre and Backdoor.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
theater, read, theatre, audition, people, Wichita, book, watching, Backdoor, stage, big, season, shows, Harry Potter, happening, performance, play, thought, bit, character
(Recorded 11/8/22)
Episode 20: 2022 in the Rear View
2022 is coming to an end, and it has been quite a year. In this episode of Club Moffett Talks, the guys discuss pop culture highlights of the year, favorite shows/movies in 2022, and the difference between a custom and a tradition. What was your favorite moment of 2022, and what traditions do you enjoy?
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
tradition, year, people, Christmas, big, custom, watching, game, played, film, movie, holiday, lost, thanksgiving, long, Halloween, language, happening, feel, habit
{Recorded 12/13/22}
Episode 21: First Things First, But Not Necessarily in That Order
Can you remember your first concert or first celebrity crush? As we approach a new semester in a new year, the guys reflect on various first experiences in their lives. In this episode of Club Moffett Talks, get some insight into the minds of Chris, Joe, and Ryan! What is your own favorite first?
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
album, bought, book, movie, year, remember, watching, high school, library, Star Wars, picture, class, started, cook, doctor, listening, shows, film, theater, scar
{Recorded 1/10/23}