Radio Free Burrito

Welcome to Wil Wheaton's Radio Free Burrito Podcast

Hi there. I'm Wil Wheaton, and I'm from the Internet.

I grew up in Los Angeles, listening to great broadcasters like Jim Ladd, Richard Blade, and Doctor Demento. I listened to radio stations like KLOS, KROQ, and KMET, all during their glory days from the late 70s until the late 80s. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't love music, and didn't want to be on the radio.

I got a little sidetracked by an acting career, but even when I was at the height of my acting success, my dream of broadcasting never entirely went away. I was never able to make it into actual radio, but when the internet made podcasting possible, I seized the opportunity to play music, tell stories, and finally satisfy my delusions of DJ grandeur.

Radio Free Burrito is an infrequently-updated podcast, mostly focused on podsafe or creative-commons-licensed music. The first 13 posts here at the RFB homepage are considered the archives, and they cover a time period from 2005-2008. Comments are closed on all the archive posts, but as new episodes of RFB are added, those comments will be open.

A note to the listener: these podcasts are old, and the e-mail addresses I mention in them were sent to the land of wind and ghosts a long time ago. You can send all the mail you want to them, but it's just going to bounce.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the Burrito.

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Twenty-Three

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

It's a very brief episode this week, because I've just been too busy to cook up a proper burrito.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is Mango Mangue by Charlie Parker, from the fantastic album The Essential Charlie Parker.
• On today's show, I tell a very quick story about something amusing that happened to me this morning on my way into work on The Big Bang Theory.
• Here I am on Twitter. If you choose to follow me, read this first.
• Here's a picture I took on the set today.
• Here's a hilarious (and more accurate) version of the same picture, from dburns308.
• Podcasts you may enjoy in place of (or in addition to) Radio Free Burrito while I'm too busy to make it every week:
• • The Moth.
  • CBC's Spark.
  • The Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick.
  • Stuff You Should Know, from How Stuff Works.
• This episode is about 12MB.
• This episode is about 13 minutes long.
• Again, no embedded artwork. This distresses me, but it's Apple's fault, not mine, and it's too much of a pain in the ass to get it done. Hopefully, they'll fix the bug REALLY SOON.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then shuffle your Mystic Warlords of Ka'a deck and...

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 23!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Twenty-Two

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I had a ridiculously good time putting this show together, even though I didn't plan any of the stuff that ended up being so fun to create.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is Sweat, by Oingo Boingo, originally off the 1987's Good For Your Soul, but this version is from 1988's Boingo Alive .
• On today's show, I read an excerpt from the soon-to-be-shipping special edition of The Happiest Days of our Lives, called a portrait of the artist as a young geek.
• If you liked that story, you may want to check out the audio version of The Happiest Days of our Lives.
• BEHOLD! The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, from the Gong Show in 1976.
• That may have prepared you for the magnificence of Bim Bam Boom and Pico and Sepulveda, from 1980's Forbidden Zone.
• Did you know that Radio Free Burrito has a Mixtape? I've been working on volume two in my free time.
• Did you know that there was a Twilight Zone called Twenty-Two? Spooky!
• If you wanted to know more about the dark fantasy pen and paper Dragon Age RPG from Green Ronin, now you know where to look.
• I just discovered Dragon Age Journeys a few days ago. It's a hell of a lot of fun.
• MC Frontalot talked to Spin about his song Your Friend Wil. You can get an mp3 of the song there. I hear it makes a great ringtone, among other things.
• Mike Doughty put The Only Answer on LastFM, just for you. (Maybe not, but we can all pretend, can't we?) Mike doughty has a Twitter. Mike Doughty has a blog. Mike Doughty has records for you to buy. Mike Doughty is on tour.
• Everything you didn't want to know about backwards messages in rock music, but can't seem to stop laughing at, can be found at 2007's 365 Project from WFMU's Beware of the Blog.
• This episode is about 39MB.
• This episode is about 40 minutes long.
• I know I'm forgetting something I wanted to add to the links, but ... Dave ... my mind is going.
• So this is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then stir up a Hendrick's martini with a twist and

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 22!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Twenty-one

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I must say, I'm pretty proud of my ability to get this one out on time. If I keep this up, I may have to remove the phrase "infrequently updated" from the show's description.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is excerpted from Moonage Daydream by David Bowie, from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, one of my favorite albums of all time.
• You know how every January, you do your best not to write the last year on your checks and letters and things, but you always end up doing it at least once? Yeah. When I said it was January 25, 2009, at the beginning of this show, that was my version of that.
• If you're not familiar with the works of of Kid Beyond, you should be.
• On today's show, I read a story from Dancing Barefoot called Houses in Motion. It's the very first time it's ever been recorded and performed in public for more than 25 people. Warning: it's a little emotional.
• You can get Dancing Barefoot at Amazon. I thought it was on the Kindle, but it looks like it isn't.
• I just realized that I forgot to thank the people who fed the burrito this week, because I was called away to dinner, so let me do that here:
• • Kelly W
  • Coral T
  • Sally M
  • James B
  • Dennis I
  • Gretchen AJ
  • Laure K
  • Brian T
  • Heather M

• Seriously, thank you for your support, guys.
• I talked about Cranium Pop 5, Power Grid, Give Me the Brain, and Shadows Over Camelot. I bet you can find all of them at your friendly local game shop.
• 14 year-old Wil Wheaton gets lucky ... sometimes.
• This episode is just over 30 minutes long.
• This episode is about 14MB.
• This episode should have artwork embedded, but we won't know until someone who is not me gets the show.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then keep your electric eyes on me and 

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 21!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Twenty

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I must say, I'm pretty proud of my ability to get this one out on time. If I keep this up, I may have to remove the phrase "infrequently updated" from the show's description.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is Super Bon Bon by the legendary Soul Coughing, fronted by the equally-legendary Mike Doughty.
• On today's show, I read a story from the forthcoming special edition of The Happiest Days of our Lives, called Green Grass and High Tides Forever (and ever and ever and
• If you liked that story, you may want to check out the audio version of The Happiest Days of our Lives.
• Green Grass And High Tides can be yours for 99 cents at Amazon. That's, like, 10 cents a minute, which would have been a big deal in long distance pricing back when digital watches were a pretty neat idea.
• You know what's cheaper than building a time machine and going back to 1977 to watch Wizards ? Yep. Watching it on DVD right here in the future.
• I don't know why Thundarr The Barbarian isn't out in a deluxe Criterion edition, which it obviously deserves. We will just have to console ourselves with the Dungeons & Dragons animated series.
• The Dark Tower at Boardgame Geek.
• The Dark Tower online.
• The Dark Tower commercial featuring ORSON FUCKING WELLES.
• Flash version of The Dark Tower.
• This link that has nothing at all to do with The Dark Tower.
• This episode is just over 27 minutes long.
• This episode is about 26MB.
• This episode doesn't have artwork embedded, because I still can't figure out how to get it into the goddamn file without exporting as .m4a and converting to .mp3, doubling the filesize in the process. I mean, I could probably figure it out if I spent a lot of time working on it, but that's not nearly as fun as just producing the show.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then put on your awesome dragon shirt and

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 20

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Nineteen

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

Yeah, it's two days late, but this time I have an actual note which excuses my tardiness ... but I can't show it to you, so you'll just have to trust me.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is a version of Surfin Bird by Pee Wee Herman. This is why.
• On today's show, I read the blog entry I wrote yesterday called there and back again. I'm not going to lie to you, Marge: I kind of dig the way it came to life. 
• If you like hearing me read my own work, you'll probably enjoy the audio version of Just A Geek, which is now available as an audiobook from Lulu, with the rest of my work. *ding!*
• I also played a song called Opium Head, which is the title track of the latest album from Solace. 
• You may want to find a way to sync Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite from 2001 with Pink Floyd's Echoes.
• This is what the Cinerama Dome looked like back in the day. (That picture comes from a wonderful blog post that Los Angeles history nerds will probably enjoy reading.)
• This page has everything you ever wanted to know about the Dome, including pictures of its construction, interior, and some famous 70MM engagements.
• I mentioned ambient music in my story. I love ambient, and here's an post I wrote a long time ago that's all about ambient music.
• The music I played underneath my story is called Red Shifted Harmonies, by DAC Crowell.
• This episode is just over 30 minutes long. 12 seconds over, actually. 
• This episode is about 28MB. 
• This episode doesn't have artwork embedded, because I still can't figure out how to get it into the goddamn file without exporting as .m4a and converting to .mp3, doubling the filesize in the process. I mean, I could probably figure it out if I spent a lot of time working on it, but that's not nearly as fun as just producing the show.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then put on your headphones and

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode Nineteen. Nineteen. Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-Nineteen.

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Eighteen

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I'm not going to lie to you, Marge, I've been having a rough few days, so this show is uncharacteristically brief. Hopefully, it's still ... interesting. Hey, remember when I said "interesting" every five minutes on RFB? I don't really do that any more. That's ... interesting.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is Idioteque from Radiohead's Kid A.
• On today's show, I read an adapted excerpt from Just A Geek, which is now available as an audiobook from Lulu, with the rest of my work.
• I also played a song called Triforce, by The Mad Titans. I forgot to mention it in the show, but I wanted to say thank you to the band for releasing podsafe music! Maybe someone with Facebook would like to go to their fanpage and tell them that they're awesome.
• I believe that the Loudest Lawnmower in the World, which was busy being the Least Efficient Lawnmower in the World across the street for much of the afternoon, doesn't make an appearance on this show, thanks to careful editing and mic placement by me, Wil Wheaton.
• I'm not very funny this week. Hopefully, next week will be better.
• I also wanted to say that it really makes me super happy to know that there are apparently a lot of listeners out there on Planet Earth who look forward to Radio Free Burrito every week.
• This episode is just over 19 minutes long. 
• This episode is about 18MB. 
• This episode doesn't have artwork embedded, because I still can't figure out how to get it into the goddamn file without exporting as .m4a and converting to .mp3, and doubling the filesize in the process.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then clap your hands and

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 18!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Seventeen

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I realize this will be played for an audience of eleven, because it's the week between Christmas and New Year, but it's important to me that I maintain my creative momentum, and I suppose a non-zero number of you out there in Internetland timeshift the Burrito.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• This week's theme music is Dog Eat Dog, by Adam and the Ants, from the album Kings Of The Wild Frontier
• On today's show, I reach into The Vault for a story that is, on its surface, about an audition.
• I just realized that I didn't tell you what the audition was for. The, uh, thing is ... I can't remember. I know it wasn't for Heroes, though, because it went so well.
• I also reach into the expanded edition of The Happiest Days of our Lives for a story about me and my son that I stupidly cut from the Monolith Press edition.
• As I said, I have a virtual bookshelf with just about everything you could ever want to know (or tell your friends) about my books.
• On Twitter, ROBERTJON pointed to WFMU's Beware of the Blog as the place I found TV, That's For Me.
• This episode is just under 40 minutes long. 
• This episode is about 37MB. 
• This episode doesn't have artwork embedded, because I still can't figure out how to get it into the goddamn file without exporting as .m4a and converting to .mp3, and doubling the filesize in the process.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then set your phasers to hilarious catch phrase, and

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode Seventeen!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Sixteen

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

Even though I've been doing this show for years, now, this is the first Xmas show I've ever done, with music and everything. The only thing missing is a bunch of rum with a little bit of egg nog floating in it, but I'm sure you can figure out a way to correct that mistake.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• Very special thanks to A Band Called Quinn for putting her Christmas song (and a bunch of other songs) into the Podsafe Music Network. 
• I can't find a decent link to Allan Sherman's 12 Gifts of Christmas on any of the Internets, which makes me a little stabby. The very best I could find, though, is here at iLike. Make sure you click the title, and not the video, which has nothing to do with the song, because that makes a lot of sense.
• Here's why I want cartoon Snoopy to leap out of the television, Shatnerquake-style, and punch someone in the face.
• Whatever you do, do not Google "Santa, I've Been Naughty" with safe search turned off. You will be permanently scarred. Especially if you add the word "sweater" to your query.
• Christmas Eve Eve from Paul and Storm's It Might Be Xmas!
• Christmas Is... originally appeared on WWdN:iX in 2006.
• It's Christmas Time, There's No Need to be Afraid.
• I usually say Happy Holidays, not because I'm captain sensitive of the SS Touchy Feely, but because I'm so irritated with all those "War on Christmas" idiots who worked so hard to turn something wonderful like Christmas into something divisive like that horrible talk radio. This year, I decided that I'd stop letting those jerks win, and reclaim "Merry Christmas" for everyone, and it will now be used in tandem with "Happy Holidays" whenever I feel like telling someone, "I hope you have a wonderful holiday season that is filled with peace and joy" in just two words. Therefore, I use the phrases interchangeably in this show.
• Merry Christmas.
• Happy Holidays.
• Happy New Year.
• Take your seat, Ralph.
• This episode is just under 40 minutes long. 
• This episode is about 57MB. Um. Wow. That's a lot of MBs, two shows in a row. I'm doing something wrong with the encoding, I think.
• Does anyone know why the size of the file almost doubles when I convert it from .m4a to .mp3? I export this in .m4a so the artwork will embed, and then convert it to .mp3. I'm sure this is an incredibly stupid way to do this, but contrary to what TV has told you, I'm not that skilled with the computers.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then put on your inappropriately suggestive holiday sweatshirt, and

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 16!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Fifteen

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I started this episode on Monday, and real life (and trying damn hard not to suck) kept me working on it until Thursday. Let's find out if it was worth the wait!

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom and get Twitter breakup messages from sensitive people. You have been warned.
• Very special thanks to Monsters From Mars for making incredible music and making it possible for me to play it on my show.
• If you, like me, want more Monsters from Mars, they have a pretty rockin' playlist at YouTube that makes me want to see them perform live.
• Thanks to everyone who posed a question on Twitter. I would have answered more of them, but I started to feel like I was getting boring and the show was running long. In fact, I think it's probably the weakest part of the show, and I probably won't try to do the Q&A in future episodes.
• Here are some screenshots of the pdf version of the unpublished Twitter book.
• You can follow Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt on Twitter.
• You can get more information about voice Over Voice Actor at Voiceovervoiceactor.com.
• All we want to do is eat your ganache-filled cupcake brains. (via Bear.)
• This episode is just over 41 minutes long. 
• This episode is about 56MB. Um. Wow. That's a lot of MBs.
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then now would be a perfect time to

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 15!

Radio Free Burrito: Episode Fourteen

Holy Crap, it's time for a new episode of Radio Free Burrito!

I'm feeling creatively stuck and frustrated these days, so in an effort to escape from the chains of creative oppression, I thought I'd cook up a little burrito for the people. I hope you enjoy it, and remember to chew your food.

Show Notes:

• The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc!
• Radio Free Burrito doesn't work as hard to earn its [EXPLICIT] tag as Memories of the Futurecast does, but it still manages to upset mom. You have been warned.
• As promised, here is a link to Hard 'N Phirm's website.
• Here's Chris Hardwick on Twitter.
• Here's Mike Phirman on Twitter.
• Here's Elliot Gould selling you Jim Beam. (via)
• Here's a line which has no link. Yay!
• WFMU's 365 Project is magnificent.
• Ficly is a whole lot of fun. My contributions are here.
• This episode is just over 18 minutes long. In fact, it's ten seconds over.
• This episode is 17.5MB
• This is the end of the notes. 

Ready? Then now would be a perfect time to

Download Radio Free Burrito Episode 14