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The Tales By Bob Podcast Network

Books, Beards, Booze Podcast!

Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

Bob is one of the co-hosts of the Books, Beards, Booze Podcast, where they drink booze, talk books, and have beards! 


Click HERE to listen, or get it wherever you listen to podcasts.

Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

A podcast where Bob interviews Southern authors who write genre fiction set in the South. (Finished)


Click HERE to listen, or get it wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Tales By Bob Podcast!

Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

The Tales By Bob Podcast!

For fans of the words, worlds, and weirdness of author and podcast Bob McGough. Featuring anecdotes, readings, and behind the scenes glances of what it takes to be Bob, and run the Tales by Bob Empire.


Click HERE to listen, or get it wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Books, Beards, Booze Podcast!

The longest running show on the Tales by Bob Podcast Network, hosts Bob, Ben, and Derek talk books, drink booze, and have beards!

A Beginners Guide to Books, Beards, Booze

What are we about?

We are nerds who love to talk about books. So that's the bulk of this podcast: folks sitting around and talking about the books they love and hate. Occasionally we drink. Occasionally we talk about current events dealing with the topics in our name. Sporadically we will read a book as a group. Somewhat less sporadically we will do a 'short read,' where we read a short story and then discuss it as an episode. The bulk of what we cover is generally fantasy/sci-fi related, but really all books are fair game.

Season One - Learning What The Hell To Do

The beginning! This is where Bob and Derek started out, using a shitty microphone. And it shows. It's not the worst audio you've heard, but it isn't great. We eventually became so unhappy with this season that we stopped hosting it anywhere but on youtube. There are some great topics in there...but oof, the audio gets so much better.


Number of episodes: 30

Total Short Reads: 14

Books Read: Talion: Revenant

Season Two - Getting It Together

So we upgraded our microphones and gear. And lord did it make a difference. So much so that we ended season one, and started season two. This season featured the first time we had some regular guests, namely Superfan Tonya became Unpaid Intern Tonya. As always we toyed with the format, because we just couldn't make up our mind on exactly how we like to do things. Don't worry: that stays consistent across all seasons. We're inept like that. The core content stays the same though. Also, you can only hear this season on Youtube as well. Because reasons.


Number of episodes: 38 

Total Short Reads: 6

Books read: Kings of the Wyld, Warbreaker, Dune

Season Three - Hitting Our Stride

Here's where shit gets really good, in our opinion. Unpaid Intern Tonya became Creative Consultant Tonya and joined us as a host full time, no longer guesting. Our longest season to date, we really cranked out a number of great episodes.


Number of episodes: 93  

Total Short Reads: 23 

Books read: Emergency Contact, The Narrows, Jade City, Ready Player One

Season Three.Five - Damn You Covid!

Technically these are now all labled season 3. But originally our Weird West episode was going to be the start of season 4. But Creative Consultant Tonya moved and Covid hit. So that killed our rather elaborate plans for season 4. So that episode and a couple of 'hey, we are alive, don't forget about us' episodes were all that occurred for a long time. We call it season 3.5, but really it's a shitty limbo lol.

Season Four - The Lost Season

Eventually Covid passed to the point that Derek and Bob were able to record a couple episodes, and do some short reads from the Conan tales. But, Bob had also changed jobs, so getting together was harder than ever. So after doing a trio of months it was looking like that might have been the end of us. Had the magic left us? Things just weren't the same without Creative Consultant Tonya on board to mellow out the rightness of Bob, and wrongness of Derek.


Then Bob got off his cheap, technically inept ass and started paying for Zoom. So then episodes are starting to roll again. There wasn't the firm schedule we had in season 3, and it went in fits and starts. Really, it was basically an extension of Season 3.5. 


Number of episodes: 7  

Total Short Reads: 4 

Season Five - Back On Our Bullshit!

The most recent season, featuring the triumphant return of Creative Consultant Tonya! It ended up being far shorter than we wanted, because life got in the way again.


Number of episodes: 11

Total Short Reads: 3

Season Six - We Refuse To Die!

Our current season! Creative Consultant Tonya had to step away due to (happy) life reasons, so we recruited author Ben Meeks to be the toi to our menage. Releasing the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month beginning in April 2024. And now in Video as well!!! 

The Names

Bob of Tales by Bob - Host, 1-current. The most correct person on the podcast. Does all the back end, and a lot of the planning. So that's why it's a slow moving trainwreck.


Derek, The Ass of the Podcast - Host, 1-current. Usually wrong. Always puts off reading til the last minute.


Superfan/Unpaid Intern/Creative Consultant Tonya - Guest, 1-2. Host 3, 5. Only someone so comically wrong could compete with Derek's title. 


Ben Meeks - Host, 6 - Current. Bob recruited his writer brother from another mother when Creative Consultant Tonya let life be more important than this podcast.


Brand Ambassador Ryan - Our biggest fan, onetime head of RyanCo our fictional sponsor, and our New Zealand Brand Ambassador. Coined the name of our annual awards, the Threebies.


Superfan Bud - He sends us weird shit to try, and has guested on an episode or two. He roams the country, doing whatever it is people do when they don't have new episodes of us to listen to. Which is probably just listening to old episodes of us on repeat. That's our suggestion at least.

Short Read, Tall Glass: Our Short Story 'Book' Club

For Season 6!

Starting in season six, for our Short Read, Tall Glass book club, we are reading The Alchemy of Sorrow, edited by Sarah Chorn and Virginia McClain. Every other episode of Books, Beards, Booze will feature a discussion of one story from this collection (in sequence, no jumping around). We get it! Folks are busy and maybe don't have time to read a book for a book club each month. So with this, you only have to read on short story a month! Everyone can make time for that, if they want.


To get it in print or ebook: CLICK HERE 

To get it in audiobook: CLICK HERE 


Traditionally, we have made an effort to go out and find free to read stories. So we realize this is a departure from the norm. But this wasn't done lightly. It comes down to three reasons:


1. The authors we enjoy on here deserve to make a little money.

2. We use an affiliate link to link to the book. This makes us a couple pennies, which doesn't even come close to covering our hosting costs. But every little bit helps, you know? This helps us keep the podcast add free. 

3. Most of the stories were not available in audiobook form. Doing it this way, we can ensure that every story can be imbibed however our reader fans choose: print, ebook, or in audio. This will also help with accessibility for those with certain disabilities. 


Our commitment moving forward: whatever book we choose, we will do the entire thing beginning to end before moving on to the next book. We will also make sure it is available in all formats. 

Check out the Southern Fried Fantasy Podcast!

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