{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Merry Band of Pirates: The Official Start of the Unofficial Podcast - Ep. 1","description":"Welcome to The Merry Band of Pirates, the unofficial Expeditionary Force fan podcast!  Six complete strangers, brought together by our shared love of Joe Bishop, Skippy, and the whole crew. In this inaugural episode, we introduce the motley crew of co-hosts, answer what got us hooked on the series (shout-out to RC Bray!), and debate the most spoiler-free way to sum up the first book, Columbus Day. Get ready for some filthy monkey business as we launch into our new mission to dissect the awesomeness of the Expeditionary Force universe.  In This Episode: Latest Intel: News from the The Skippy-verse:  News about the upcoming 19th book, Ground State. Celebrating the 10-Year Anniversary of the first book, Columbus Day (Jan 11th, 2016) Mention of the official 10-Year Anniversary Live Stream&amp;nbsp;#ToastSkippy  Meet the Crew: Host Introductions &amp;amp; Origins:&amp;nbsp;    Each co-host (Andy, Charlie, Mariane, Steve, Jake, and Joey) shares their &quot;origin story&quot; with the series.&amp;nbsp; How most hosts were introduced to the series through the legendary narrator, RC Bray, often after listening to Andy Wier\u2019s The Martian.&amp;nbsp;    Attempting the Impossible: Summarizing Columbus Day  The group attempts the 60-second challenge to summarize the entire first book. The consensus: the first nine chapters are a &quot;slog&quot; until Skippy shows up in Chapter 10. Discussion on the whole series: Unintended Consequences, Filthy Monkey Business, and Ancient Alien AIs.  Glossary for the Uninitiated:  TTA: Trust The Awesomeness Skippy: An ancient, powerful, and arrogant AI who resembles a beer can. MBoP: Abbreviation for &quot;The Merry Band of Pirates.&quot; Columbus Day: The first book in the Expeditionary Force series. RC Bray: The critically acclaimed narrator of the Expeditionary Force audiobook series. Nagatha: Another powerful AI introduced later in the series.  ","author_name":"The Merry Band of Pirates (An Unofficial Expeditionary Force Podcast)","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/604550","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/39638935\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/197702165"}