Season 7 of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is upon us and with only 7 episodes this season, it’s going by quickly. Get your fix with “Game of Thrones” podcasts.

Whether you are a book and/or television fan of “Game of Thrones,” the likelihood that you can’t get enough of Westeros is high. If you are looking for some insights into the latest episode or want something to enjoy when the season is over, podcasts help to flesh out the world of Westeros created by George R. R. Martin.

7 Game of Thrones Podcasts

1. Podcast Winterfell – A true fan’s podcast, after each new episode of GoT airs, followers get a week of three different shows, including an initial reaction podcast,  a fan call-in show (where you can share your latest theories), and a deeper dive with additional analysis.

2. A Storm of Spoilers – As the title indicates, this podcast may contain spoilers. The Spoilers’ team (made up of Joanna Robinson from “Vanity Fair,” Dave Gonzales of Thrillist.com, and Neil Miller from Film School Rejects) tries their best to present spoilers (and theories) from the George R. R. Martin books, as well as other pop culture sources.

3. Nerdette Recaps Game of Thrones with Peter Sagal – Peter Sagal from NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me” joins Greta Johnson and Tricia Bobeda from the Nerdette podcast for a thoroughly entertaining weekly recap of the latest GoT episode.

4. Game of Thrones Coffee Klatch Crew – Hosted by Jason Pistorino and Cristina Lomangino, the self-proclaimed “two dopes that actually put too much time into this cast,”  are the Coffee Klatch Crew. A thoughtful, entertaining, light cast that is the perfect thing to listen to while enjoying your morning cuppa. It’s almost like you are there.

5. Game of Owns – Owns is more than just a podcast about HBO’s GoT series. Hosts Hannah Panek and Zack Luye get super into the GRRM books, as well as hosting special guests from the series and from other podcasts. There is also an impressive archive of over 370 shows.

6. Sistah Speak: Game of Thrones – Sistah Speak is the latest iteration of the Sistahs Entertainment Review (S.E.R.) podcasts. Sistah Speak includes a series of podcasts produced and hosted by Sistah J and Sistah K. The Sistahs get into GoT, as well as “The Walking Dead” and “American Gods” among other pop culture phenomenons.

7. History of Westeros – This GoT podcast is a bit unique in that it is live-streamed and there is a podcast forum so there are plenty of opportunities to get in on the action.

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Whether you watch television shows on the sofa in the living room, like families have been doing for more than 50 years, or you stream your favorite content on the device of choice while commuting on the train in the morning, there are some great TV shows debuting and returning this season.

Still suffering withdrawal from Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and just aren’t sure if anything can top that? Think again. While it might be debatable about whether anything good is coming out of the mainstream networks, cable, and other outlets, are producing the content that we most excited about. We do recognize that so much of what appears on the small screen is complete drivel, there’s just no bones about that, so we thought we’d share some of the TV shows we think are worth catching this fall. Binge watch away, my friend.

TV Shows Worth (Binge) Watching

1. “Halt and Catch Fire” (AMC)

While this show already got under way in August, it’s still worth watching. It tells a riveting story about the early days of the computer industry. It’s deliciously full of 1980s fashions and pop culture and stars Lee Pace, who is great to watch in everything he does.

2. “Insecure” (HBO)

Starring Issa Rae, the series focuses on two friends navigating the tricky professional and personal terrain of L.A. This is one of the shows we are most looking forward to enjoying.

3. “Westworld” (HBO)

This may be one of the most anticipated series of the season. It’s a sci-fi western thriller that is based on a 1973 film by American novelist Michael Crichton by the same name. It’s all about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin.

4. “High Maintenance” (HBO)

Yes, we realize that we are sharing another HBO series debut, but they are the masters after all. This new show, which is based on a web series by the same name, follows a Brooklyn pot dealer as he delivers to clients with neuroses as diverse as the city.

5. “Atlanta” (FX)

Starring Donald Glover, the series chronicles two cousins navigating their way in the Atlanta rap scene. It’s billed as a comedy-drama.

6. “One Mississippi” (Amazon Prime)

Tig Notaro reveals her deadpan comedy and the ups and downs of her life in this new series that is based on real events in her life. It’s addicting and infectious.

Related on EcoSalon

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Woman Watching Television Image via Shutterstock

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1…2…3… It’s been 3 days since “Sesame Street” aired on HBO.

I was once a child who loved “Sesame Street” and am excited about the move. While some people are kind of upset that some things are changing on the “Street,” I say, come on. Because we have to put this in perspective… whatever keeps the show going, we should be fans of. Watch the trailer for the new “Street” below.

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The post Sesame Street Now Resides on HBO Avenue [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

If you were beginning to feel swayed by all those trendy frocks and jumpers you’ve seen at H&M lately, DON’T BUY THEM.

John Oliver recently reminded us all why it’s a terrible idea to give into fast fashion. His argument against fast fashion is hilarious, and so spot on.

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On the HBO show Girls, HPV went viral, but is there really less stigma about STDs?

In 2005, I learned I had HPV. The overwhelming emotion I felt was relief. I was relieved it wasn’t the warty kind that shows – it was the asymptomatic kind that turns into cervical cancer if you don’t catch it. And mine was bad enough that I had to have a cone biopsy and then part of my cervix scraped off in a LEEP procedure. Yet, with legs in stirrups and a needle in the vagina, I was still relieved not to have any physical evidence. Sick, right?

We don’t like to talk about STDs, which is why what happened on Girls is so interesting and why I started thinking back to how I felt in 2005. On the show, the lead character, Hannah, learns she has HPV. She takes to Twitter and after a few drafts types: “All adventurous women do,” which is something her friend said when Hannah shared the news.

Emily Nussbaum’s recent post in the New Yorker’s Culture Desk makes great points about the significance of this moment in TV history. She writes, “… Hannah’s telling other people – and of course herself – that her worst experiences are not humiliations and stains: they’re adventures. (They’re material.)”

It makes for great TV, but what does this scene say about how real women talk about STDs? On the one hand, here I am using my own adventure with HPV as material, right? And there were tons and tons of post-show “All adventurous women do” tweets. But, if I – and I’m a perpetual over-sharer – am still sort of unsure how I feel about sending my own story into the public realm, what does that say about the stigma surrounding STDs?

About half of all men and more than three out of four women have some form of HPV -all the adventurous ladies, put your hands up! – at some point in their lives. Now I’m not a mathematician, but it seems to me that if so many people have some version of this thing, we should be able to talk about it. But we don’t.

The symptomatic among us eventually hit up a doctor, find out the truth and get treated. The asymptomatic among us that have health insurance, or access to a clinic where we can get our annual exams, eventually go in for a pap smear and learn the news. The unlucky, uninsured women without access to testing or treatment -or even basic knowledge about HPV – are at high risk for cancer. Cancer that could be totally prevented if people had easy access to testing and the HPV vaccine.

The ultimate message of Girls is empowerment – like women reclaiming the word bitch. But should we be empowered? Is acquiring HPV an “adventure?”

I got HPV because, like many women, I was on the pill and, in the moment, didn’t even mention a condom. I was either too embarrassed, too afraid of rejection or too trusting of a guy who seemed fine – and in his mind was fine because as a guy he had no way to know he had HPV.

What it comes down to is “Hey, join the adventurous ladies club!” is not a good message for the 25% of women who don’t yet have HPV. The better message might be that sex can be weird and embarrassing, and no matter what Trojan commercials tell you, condoms aren’t sexy. But you know what else isn’t sexy? An STD. Warts. Cancer.

Ultimately, I’m glad Girls started the conversation, and I don’t watch HBO for PSAs, but I do think empowerment would be better defined as having the lady balls to protect yourself in the first place.

Photo: HBO

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This week Green TV showed us two kinds of eco-disasters. An HBO drama tackled the environmental devastation in New Orleans and Planet Green exposed crimes against tigers.

“Treme” Shows Perseverance in the Face of Nature’s Fury

HBO’s New Orleans drama Treme may not seem like a straightforward choice for “I Want My Green TV.” But with everything that’s been going on in the Gulf with the BP Oil Spill, it’s hard not to think about the hardships the fine citizens of the Big Easy have endured over the last few years.

After all, the spill is not the first man made disaster to happen in New Orleans in 2005. Yes, Mother Nature sent Katrina but she didn’t build the insufficient levees. And there certainly are government agencies that could have chipped in then (and now) to help rebuild faster, more efficiently, and much more in tune with ongoing local environmental concerns – Brad Pitt and his Make it Right housing development aside.

Treme takes place in the aftermath of Katrina, and this week’s episode, “All on a Mardi Gras Day,” celebrated Fat Tuesday – almost six months to the day of the devastating hurricane. The show rode a lot of emotional ups and downs as characters embraced the spirit of the day while reconciling the recent devastation of their homes and families.

Every week, the series shows the delicate balance between the ugly truth of a city ravaged by environmental fury and the beauty of the healing power of human perseverance. As John Goodman’s character pointed out to his daughter, “It’s good to get out and see the destruction. It’s good. Get off the isle of denial every once in a while and be reminded how much of this city is still wrecked.”

Planet Green Doc Exposes Illegal Tiger Trade

This past weekend, Planet Green premiered the award-winning documentary, Dangerous Trade. In the hour-long film, a team of eco-crime investigators from the Environmental Investigation Agency (a sort modern day Green “Mod Squad”) investigate the seedy underworld of illegal tiger trades in China.

What they find is infuriating, horribly sad, and highly profitable. And there lies the reason why it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. According to the doc, China is the largest consumer of tiger products for skins, taxidermy, and medicine. And apparently the military turns a blind eye to the issue for their own profit and political reasons.

Ironically, this is the Chinese Year of the Tiger and with three subspecies already extinct and only an estimated 3,100 of the glorious animals left in the world – yes, we said the world – ending the illegal tiger trade is more important than ever. This fall there will even be a Global Tiger Summit in Russia (who knew?!) to commit to taking action toward saving the tiger.

We’re guessing somewhere that Tony is screaming, “that’s grrrrrrreat!”

Tune in next time to see what’s cropping up on green TV.

Image: Tryburn

The post I Want My Green TV: From Louisiana Disasters to the Tiger Trade appeared first on EcoSalon.

We go because we love movies. We go for the delightful or frightful experience of being swept into another reality for a couple of hours. We go crazy when bombarded with highly stylized Mercedes and Coke ads before previews and a show.

The big screen in a darkened room has always had a dramatic impact on the captive viewer, more than a television screen and much more than a computer monitor or iPhone. And they know it. They bet on it. They exploit it. They profit from it.

They are corporate advertisers for soft drinks, jeans, cars and all of the other products being shoved down our throats everywhere we turn.

There once was a place where we could escape it; the movies. That was high art, people. That was art not marred by slick images of low performance drivers in high performance sports vehicles racing irresponsibly down canyons, egging on male viewers to do the same to be cool. U dig?

Oh, they’re crafty, all right. They even design ads that resemble film trailers to confuse us. You pay to see the movie, but you are stuck in your seat, prey of the corporate beast on an unfair playing ground.

What can we consumers do to combat this hideous phenomenon? I mean isn’t avoiding this the exact reason we opt for Weeds and Hung and Nurse Jackie and all of the non-commercial television shows? Isn’t this precisely why we curtail Saturday cartoons for our vulnerable young ones who absorb the subliminal message that you must buy products to be happy?

Now you can shout out “action” and join the Captive Motion Picture Audience of America’s (CMPAA) campaign to Say NO to TV commercials before feature films at movie theaters.

In an open letter to the Regal Entertainment Group and other theater owners, this organization puts forth the case:

This is the last straw. You’ve done a great job conditioning the movie-going public to accept pre-movie billboard ads, your commercial theater radio networks, and nearly every other form of commercialism under the sun. Now, after the lights go down and we’re entrenched in our seats, you’ve decided to expand into pushing TV commercials. It now seems the only difference between a movie screen and a TV screen is size. We, the captive audience, have had enough. TV commercials belong on television, not before movies we pay for.

Captive Audience says its primary goal is to urge theater owners to discontinue showing “invasive”, TV-like commercials before the beginnings of movies. Since many theater chains have a monopoly on first-run films in many areas of the country, it considers the practices to be unfair and intolerable. I couldn’t agree more, and it’s good to know someone is taking a stand.

Perhaps they will show that TV-like ads will prove unprofitable as they spark a consumer backlash. Beyond enraged viewers like me booing loudly at the screen and throwing popcorn in protest, consumers are urged to sign an online  petition. Yes, it’s a more civil way to go.

Among other excellent statements, it reads:

We, the undersigned, believe that the further proliferation of advertisements into venues where the viewer cannot disregard them, such as a darkened movie theater, greatly detracts from the escapism of a motion picture. We believe the forced viewing of commercials before films will prove to be unprofitable for theaters that engage in the practice, and further alienate audiences into seeking alternative means of entertainment. We hope to urge Regal, operating the largest theater circuit in the United States, to set an example within its industry and discontinue the showing invasive, TV-like commercials from the beginnings of movies.

So far there are more than 3,300 signatures, an indication lots of us are mad as hell and can’t take it anymore.  Bombarding us with ads at cinema venues goes against a green sensibility –  and does not have a happy ending as far as conservation is concerned.

Perhaps this is why in Chicago, even more extreme steps have been taken by a school teacher who filed a class action lawsuit against Loews Cineplex Entertainment Group and Loews Piper’s Theatres, INC. for showing commercials. Miriam Fisch’s suit stated that “failure to start the movie at the scheduled time and only after foisting commercial ads on the movie-going audience constitutes a breach of contract.” Although the judge through out the lawsuit, the teacher got her message across.

Images: Corbis

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