Danswers 05: Samantha Kalman

@davidmerrick: Also non-op is a perfectly legitimate option. I stopped associating genital surgery with trans a long time ago. Then genitals all together.

VERY true, should have clarified. But SRS was literally the only aspect of transgenderism that made me uncomfortable, which was why I mentioned it.

YES SO EXCITED SAMANTHA IS THE COOLEST

@davidmerrick: True. I saw the episode of south park where they show footage from SRS when I was, like, 13 so I never thought too much of it after seeing it.

Hearing them riff "dandandandandandan" in the middle is the best thing

SaDantha KalDan!

You guys have been killing it with the premium content.

It will never stop weirding me out that Danny and I are the same age.

Something about his accent? I don't know. He sounds so... wise?

Fuck yeah Samantha! She is so fucking cash.

This was great. Thanks guys, and let me mirror that Samantha is awesome.

I found this quite a moving podcast.

Still haven't finished this yet, but this has managed to be another great episode. I've written before about how imperative it is for the podcast's future to make the "guest host" a permanent fixture, because despite Dan and Danny's many opposing views on things, there are just some types of questions they aren't fit to answer.

It's clear that many of the questions in this episode (particularly when it gets to the gender questions) would not be in the wheelhouse of our two hosts, and while I think they do an admirable job of answering questions fairly and honestly in the best ways they know how, having another voice is crucial for turning this podcast from "listen to two guys who entertain me answer questions from the community" into being something that can actually really really help people with their own issues or with understanding the issues of others. In essence, I'm saying the podcast is good, but when the right beats are hit, it can be something really special.

Thanks @danryckert, @dannyodwyer and People's Champion / Windjammers Ringer @samanthazero for an excellent outing. While other GB shows/podcasts may be funnier and/or more entertaining, I think this one is well on its way to becoming the most important GB content, though it has fuck-all to do with video games.

...And now that I'm off work, I get to finish it on the commute home.

Nothing counts as much as blood. The rest are just strangers.

@pmmcl: I think Danny mentioned a few episodes ago that their goal is to only do episodes with guests going forward.

The best part of all of this is that in Indonesian the word for "and" is "dan" so we have: Dan, Dan dan Dandandan Dandan.

Wow, Danswers continues to impress me. When I signed up for a premium membership, I just wanted to support the site and see more funny shit. Never would've expected to hear such deep topics approached so sensitively and with so much respect. Great job guys (and Samandan Kaldan)

Nice rack!

...of pans.

Seriously, I need some better cookware.

Edit: Finally finished listening, and WOW! It's incredibly refreshing to hear an advice show that is less about sending the person writing in a specific but potentially inapplicable direction, and more about the folks on air offering their own life experiences that we all can gain from in a more general way.

Even cooler that this is a part of GB. Love this fucking site more every day.

Great stuff, thanks to everyone involved.

Never knew Samantha was transgender! keep up the great work Dans!

nice one

That's excellent news -- thanks for clearing that up! For some reason, my recollection was just that Danny was singing the praises of having guest hosts and how it would be nice to have them on a regular basis. Glad to hear that it sounds like it will be a mostly permanent thing!

When was this recorded? She was in Seattle this week...

"Oh man, I pegged you at like 45!"

@ch3burashka: During GDC week.

During GDC.

why is samantha not an official employee of giant bomb

[insert ironic gg joke here]

G O D L I K E

Samantha's so rad.

I'm glad Dan didn't apply his "Why do crabs walk all funny? JUST WALK NORMAL, CRABS!" logic to people within the queer community.

This podcast is a pretty hard swing from the Nikki Glaser one, which I feel like was super-happy-awkward-anecdote-fun-times-with-questionable-advice. This podcast with Samantha was more "No, here's some real talk, about making good decisions that allow you to live your life without lying to yourself."

I miss the 1UP Show :(

YAY Samtha Kalman in GB content is the best content.

Love me some SamKal.

PUSH ILC

cool.

For all his brashness--some of which is genuine, some of which he's said is a bit of an act--Dan has shown he's more than willing to learn, hear people out, and empathize. He's also apologized in cases where he has been ignorant and caused offence, like with his TSA tweets. Owning up to our mistakes and missteps is an underrated virtue and I admire his ability to do this publicly. He was a class act throughout this whole episode and almost certainly a class act as a person.

"Samantha is awesome" is the new "Oh man," and "Man," of GB comments

THE People's Champion!

saDantha is money. That pic always makes me think the she's considering hanging the world title belt beside her pots and pans.

KalDan, take me away!

it was fucking great to hear samantha share some of her life on this! she's a tremendous human being, and it brings me great comfort to know her words are helping people out there who might have similar experiences.

thanks for having her on!

That intro music gets me every time man.

Very cool. Looking forward to hearing Samantha on the show!

SAME

Samantha is awesome! Great podcast.

Samantha is so genuine and such a delight to hear from. I loved this!

Samantha Kalman has quickly become my favorite "friend of the site." So rad.

I do buy sentries. I am buying them all the damn time hence why I don't even have boots. Maybe if-

Oh, you said Sentris. Yes, buy that.

Oh nice. They got Samantha KalDan on! Can't wait to listen.