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The QuackCast

The QuackCast

By: Michael Morris
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 The QuackCast features Ozoneocean, Banes, Tantz Aerine, and Pitface, talking about writing, movies, webcomics, art, politics, philosophy, sexuality, and everything else! We're the hosts of the oldest webcomic host on the net, Drunkduck.com, aka theduckwebcomics. 20 years this year!WOWIO, Inc. Art
Episodes
  • Quackcast 761 - The forensic-Cast

    Quackcast 761 - The forensic-Cast
    Oct 14 2025

    In this Quackcast we're chatting about the massively overblown impression that forensic science has in modern pop-culture media and how that can even affect reality when unscrupulous prosecutors use the public's misguided faith in “expert witnesses” and TV influenced ideas of the infallibility of forensic science to influence and sway juries when they shouldn't. Our perspectives (the Quackcasters), on this are fallible and limited because none of us are legal experts or forensic scientists of course, so we tried to focus on the pop culture stuff rather than real world examples too much.

    Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes was really responsible for massively popularising the importance of forensic science in popular culture. The search icon that is EVERYWHERE is the magnifying glass which has zero to do with “searching”, it's only in use because it comes from the image of Sherlock Holmes and his use of that device to look for forensic evidence in the form of fingerprints among other things. These days there are so many shows where forensic science is the main driving factor in all criminal investigations: Handwriting examination, bullet striations, DNA, Blood splatter patterns, wound examination, bone injuries, facial reconstruction of skulls, voice pattern recognition, polygraph tests, fingerprints, blood type, body language and facial expression examination, traces of hair and fibres, and so on and so on.

    What they don't tell you is that many of those things have a massive failure rate, some are completely unreliable, and some don't even work at all, but according to popular media all of them are absolutely infallible. In reality not even eye witnesses are completely reliable and all these methods (the ones that actually work), are only used in conjunction with many others as prompts to further investigation, NOT to prove guilt on their own as they're often shown in pop-culture. They don't really even build a case, they just tell you where you should probably look so you can put together a timeline, establish where a person was, discover new people to talk to and establish the veracity of their story.

    Do you know any examples of silly, overblown use of forensic science in pop-culture? Or examples in the real world even?
    I remember when I went back to university to do post grad studies in the early 2000s, forensic science was ALL the rage because of its profile in so many popular TV shows that many people, mainly women, were getting degrees in it, because the degree had recently been created to cash in on that popularity. I had to wonder how many of them thought they'd really be able to get jobs on that field since Perth (where I am) didn't need hundreds of new forensic pathologists and Australia in general didn't really either…?

    Another best-off from Gunwallace and this week it's - Fox Academy - Mysterious detective music. That's all I had written from when it was first aired! Haha! It's pretty much that though and it fits with our subject this week.
    Reissue from 218, 10th of May 2015

    Topics and shownotes

    Links

    Featured comic:
    The corkscrew maze - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/oct/07/featured-comic-the-corkscrew-maze/

    Featured music:
    Fox Academy The New Breed - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/FOX_Academy_The_New_Breed - by Dikran O, rated M

    Special thanks to:
    Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/
    Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
    Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
    Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/

    VIDEO exclusive!
    Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
    - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
    Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

    Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS
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    59 mins
  • Quackcast 760 - what's up with horror?

    Quackcast 760 - what's up with horror?
    Oct 7 2025

    It's October and so it's time to talk about horror again! Not may fave genre but there are decent things that make it up and Banes, Tantz and I chat about some of them. Recently I enjoyed the anime DanDaDan and the American adult animated show Haunted Hotel, both on Netflix. They're both horror themed silly comedies that have a bit of parody of the genre and I really appreciate that. The horror comic I most recently enjoyed was DemiMon Hollow Town Syndrome, which I also recently featured.

    We brought up a lot of different horror themed work on DD and you can check that out in our links bellow. What are your fave horror themed things that you've seen recently? Fave horror comics on DD?

    This week another special from Gunwallace - Pestilent - thoughtful, haunting, reminds me a little of a classic horror film soundtrack. Pretty scary! - Originally from Quackcast 285, 22nd of August 2016.


    Topics and shownotes

    Links

    Tantz's horror discussion thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/180101/

    Mentioned horror comics
    DemiMon Hollow Town Syndrome by DemiMon - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/DemiMon_Hollow_Town_Syndrome/
    Trevor by JCorrachComics - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/TREVOR/
    THE GLOAMING by hansrickheit - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/THE_GLOAMING/
    Mortify by PitFace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Mortify/
    Elmwych by Ironscarf - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Elmwych/
    Charby the Vampirate by Amelius - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Charby_the_Vampirate/
    Carl and The Lost Shadow by Jazzy - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Carl_and_The_Lost_Shadow/
    Key of Dreams - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Key_of_Dreams/

    Cover image from Tantz's Verdant - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Verdant/

    Featured comic:
    Tales of Rosemary Middle School - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/sep/30/featured-comic-tales-of-rosemary-middle-school/

    Featured music:
    Pestilent - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Pestilent/ - by Internecinevisuals, rated M.

    Special thanks to:
    Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/
    Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
    Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
    Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei
    Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/


    VIDEO exclusive!
    Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
    - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
    Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

    Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS
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    53 mins
  • Quackcast 759 - Copcast

    Quackcast 759 - Copcast
    Sep 30 2025
    Police themed stuff is a popular genre! It's full of tropes and stylised aspects and generally very different from the reality, both from the actual police perspective and the perspective of those that deal with them, and I think I prefer it that way because the reality is usually pretty sad and ugly for all involved. So today we're talking about police theme things, set in the present, past, and future! One of the tropes we covered is the savant cop. It's a character that's based on Sherlock homes, they're not always officially police, in fact like him they're often private detectives or “consultants” is the popular thing these days. Sherlock Holmes was basically just a super genius but these days it's fashionable to make the expertise pathological, even stuff that's based directly ON Sherlock. They often NEED to be neurodivergent, from Monk, to High Potential, to Patience, The Finder, Bones etc, Though not always, like The Mentalist and White Collar. Then there's Law and order (and it's spin-offs). This highly venerable show made its mark by doing what most cop shows never do: showing what happens AFTER an investigation. You actually always got too see the trial. Other shows sometimes did that but for Law and Order it was solidly part of the format and that was pretty cool. It's not realistic because everything happens way too fast and orderly but it was good to see anyway. My fave manga/Anime cop themed stuff is Dominion Tank Police and Ghost in the Shell. They cover things from the police perspective and they're amazing. They envisage how police would work in a future world, one with tanks that can tackle even the most severe aspects of crime in an exaggerated and comical way, and one that has expertise hacking and taking a more black-ops, specialised military approach to their work. Patlabor is like Tank Police in that they use heavy vehicles but in their case it's mecha instead of tanks and the approach isn't comical. There are good sci-fi approaches in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, and even Galaxy Rangers. Stuff set in the past is fun too, we have the Sherif of Nottingham in Robinhood as a very bad fellow, there's The Name of The Rose and Cadfael with actual monks acting as investigative policemen during the time of the crusades, then Tombstone and a host of other cowboy shows and movies that cover all aspects of the law in the late 19th century American West. Rush was one of my faves, it was about a policeman in Australia during the gold Rush in the mid 19th century, that was a very unique view and a great theme song! Almost as good as the theme song for the original 1970s version of Van Der Valk, a British show about a Dutch police investigator in the Netherlands. I would say my faves are Miami Vice due to the style, The Mentalist due to the cleverness of the main character without resorting to supernatural or neurodivergent abilities as well as having a woman in charge of the team and the way they generally had a non-adversarial relationship with their captain, Dominion Tank Police, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, and The Bill- but only the early seasons of it before it turned into a ridiculous soap opera- It began as a very procedural cop show showing every aspect of policing from the most minor crimes to more serious stuff in a very realistic way without flashy fights and car chases or constant gristly murders, nothing else did that. So what are your faves? Do you like copshows? Would you prefer them to be more realistic? Do you like the fantasy/historical/Sci-Fi stuff or do you prefer them to be set in the present day? Another best-off from Gunwallace and this week it's - Grey Sky Blue Moon - I’m tempted to write a bad early 80s rap for this, but I won’t torture people that way. This tune is remarkably 1980s in style: rap, dance style music, exactly like you’d get from a big budget movie from 1984 or ‘85. Think Beverly Hills Cop or Police Academy. It’s perfect! It’s a great match for the crazy light night hi-jinks that the girls of Grey Sky Blue Moon get up too! Originally Quackcast 462 4th January 2020 - the start of Covid! Topics and shownotes Links Featured comic: LAVENDER - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/sep/23/featured-comic-lavender/ Featured music: Grey Sky Blue Moon - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Grey_Sky_Blue_Moon/ - by xailenrath, rated M. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS
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    1 hr and 1 min
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