Best Mana Search Podcasts (2025)

1
The Uber of Payments - Steffen Vollert, Co-founder and CEO of Volt.io on Culture, Crypto & Consistency 34:52

24d ago34:52

34:52

In this episode of Searching for Mana, Dan & Sachin are joined by Steffen Vollert, Co-Founder and CEO of Volt.io — one of the leading players driving real-time payments across borders through open banking infrastructure. From the early days of Volt’s seed raise to the complexity of global expansion — including their launch in Australia — Steffen sh…

1
Richard Donner's Superman 2:46:32

1d ago2:46:32

2:46:32

[School of Movies 2025] All the way back in 2013 when Man of Steel was coming out, I covered the four Christopher Reeve Superman movies on a single podcast with dutiful guests Taylor Nova and Paul Gibson. I recently re-listened to it in the run-up to James Gunn's Superman and I was flabbergasted at how much my attitude had changed; specifically to …

1
Final Fantasy VII: Remake 2:29:38

8d ago2:29:38

2:29:38

[School of Everything Else 2025] It was a long time coming. The remake itself has been mooted as far back as the early 2000s, and the wait for it was half of my life. But then, when this astonishing game finally landed in 2020, a time when we all needed to escape to other worlds, I found myself paralysed with indecision within the game, unable to m…

1
Searching 1:58:49

15d ago1:58:49

1:58:49

[School of Movies 2025] An absolutely fascinating 2018 movie where the challenge for the filmmakers was to confine themselves only to a computer screen and the various apps and websites, embodying John Cho's frantically worried David Kim as a blinking cursor, scouring the internet for any trace of his missing teenager Margot. None of this would be …

1
RRR: Rise, Roar, Revolt 2:14:18

22d ago2:14:18

2:14:18

[School of Movies 2025] One of the most astonishing action epics in cinema history, and almost nobody who saw it managed to do so in the cinema! At least in the West. This historical epic, popularised by Netflix plays extremely fast and loose with the facts, reimagining the lives of two of India's most celebrated revolutionaries to have intersected…

1
The Super Mario Bros. + A Minecraft Movie 2:20:50

29d ago2:20:50

2:20:50

[School of Movies 2025] Two of the most successful films of the 20s, both of them built on the winning formula of bewildered people from the real world being plunged into an alternate dimension which allows them to encounter pleasingly recognisable elements from the video games that general audiences like, on their way towards assisting with deposi…

1
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 1:54:23

1M ago1:54:23

1:54:23

[School of Everything Else 2025] Neurodivergent elf seeks party for spell-gathering, demon-slaying and appreciating life a whole lot more... Despite our longstanding NO ANIME rule (which nevertheless still allows us to occasionally do shows on the movies we love within that medium, and you folks have been good as gold insofar as overprescribing ani…

1
1000xRESIST 1:39:52

1M ago1:39:52

1:39:52

[School of Everything Else 2025] Chances are you have neither played nor even heard of this 2024 sci-fi indie game. We hadn't, and as we proceeded through a tale of a dystopia where everyone is cloned from the same person, yet has their own distinct name, outfit and personality, we couldn't see exactly why Hollywoo actress Maya Souris commissioned …

1
Delicious in Dungeon 1:55:03

2M ago1:55:03

1:55:03

[School of Everything Else 2025] This is a commissioned show for Chris Finik, The Jonin Monkey, Banzai Tree and Sixblazer. We recruited Willow as a guest, since they were immediately smitten with this 24-episode first season. We heartily recommend you cast aside your worries and just delve into this podcast episode, regardless of having seen the sh…

1
Stani Kulechov, Founder & CEO of Avara | The Original Architect of DeFi 1:13:04

2M ago1:13:04

1:13:04

In this episode of Searching for Mana, host Lloyd Wahed sits down with Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of Avara, to delve into the transformative impact of decentralised finance. Stani discusses the origins and growth of Aave, the significance of blockchain technology, and the innovative solutions his team is developing in the DeFi space. The c…

1
Secret of Mana 1:14:11

2M ago1:14:11

1:14:11

[School of Everything Else 2025] One of the most beloved 90s RPGs, and one of the few on Super Nintendo that was released in the UK. So, while I envied Americans for getting Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV and VI, Earthbound and Breath of Fire, THIS ONE was my first actual big console RPG. And it has problems; real playability issues that make it …

1
The People's Joker 1:42:51

2M ago1:42:51

1:42:51

[School of Movies 2025] After the harsh, oppressive atmosphere of I Saw the TV Glow we turn to an altogether funnier tale of trans discovery with Vera Drew's semiautobiographical, anarchic reshaping of DC's Clown Princess of Crime. From the painfully normalising cornfields of Smallville, Kansas comes a child who asks their alarmed mother "Was in bo…

1
I Saw the TV Glow 2:59:17

2M ago2:59:17

2:59:17

[School of Movies 2025] As soon as we saw this thickly atmospheric, Lynchian lucid nightmare from 2024, Sharon and I knew we had to do a very particular show on it. Since the entire context is trans-anxiety which the majority of cisgender people may find impenetrably mystifying we needed an all-trans/enby/non-cis cast of guests to walk us through t…

1
Do A Powerbomb 44:31

3M ago44:31

44:31

[School of Everything Else 2025] This was an unexpected burst of sheer joy, and we urge you all to seek it out for yourselves. It's a graphic novel, comprising a 7-issue comic book miniseries about wrestling. We had never read a book written by Daniel Warren Johnson before, but now we're hooked and ready to guzzle down everything else this champ ac…

1
Empire Records 1:43:42

3M ago1:43:42

1:43:42

[School of Movies 2025] A cult favourite hangout movie about working in a CD shop in the mid-90s. This one was directed by Allan Moyle, who previously helmed another music-centric, coming-of-age teen drama that should have been way more of a hit; Pump Up the Volume (1990). Statistically almost none of you have seen this, as it's the kind of movie y…

1
A Space for the Unbound 1:42:26

3M ago1:42:26

1:42:26

[School of Everything Else 2025] A charming 16-bit style indie adventure game, set in suburban Indonesia in the 1990s. This begins cosy, deliberately evoking the familiar, and swiftly becomes strange and mysterious with a story of loss and grief and loneliness at its core; an ache longing to be relieved. The gameplay involves exploring the town and…

1
Crow Country 1:45:54

3M ago1:45:54

1:45:54

[School of Everything Else 2025] A marvellously authentic and creepy modern Survival Horror in the convincing style of a PlayStation One title from the mid-90s conversely featuring inflections of more contemporary scary games. This one is available on Steam and Switch and PS4 and Xbox Series X. There is an abandoned theme park to explore and myster…

1
Mishal Kanoo, Chairman of The Kanoo Group | Legacy, Innovation, and Dubai’s Tech Revolution 1:52:33

3M ago1:52:33

1:52:33

In this episode of Searching for Mana, host Lloyd Wahed sits down with Mishal Kanoo, Chairman of the Kanoo Group, for a thought-provoking conversation on the intersection of tradition and innovation in business. Kanoo shares insights into his family's business legacy, the importance of professional management, and the role education plays in ethica…

1
Resident Evil 4 1:26:07

4M ago1:26:07

1:26:07

[School of Everything Else 2025] One of the most beloved, instantly-transformative, replayed, re-released, and critically acclaimed games of all time... and would you believe until preparing for this show, that I wasn't massively fussed about it? But this year I have been replaying all of the original games sequentially, and after the first era of …

1
The Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Vol. 2 1:52:10

4M ago1:52:10

1:52:10

[School of Everything Else 2025] All the way back in 2017 I put together an absolutely EPIC musical journey through the first eight years of the MCU, from Iron Man all the way up to Doctor Strange. So much time has passed since then (cue many gifs of Matt Damon drinking from the wrong Grail) and Marvel has not followed my sound advice about allowin…

1
The Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Vol. 1 2:58:45

4M ago2:58:45

2:58:45

[School of Everything Else 2017] NOTE: This is an archival episode from many years ago. Recently the excellent YouTube series Every Frame a Painting asked members of the public if they could hum any of the music from the Marvel films. Unsurprisingly they couldn't come up with anything. There are a few reasons for this, that I go into on the show, b…

1
Summer 2025 Commissions Season 3:04

4M ago3:04

3:04

Hello there folks, this is your official notification that the School of Movies Summer Commissions season window is now open. And it’s a special case this time around. Originally this run was meant to pay for our second family vacation, the last one being back in 2017. We’re going to Italy. But the week after we booked it our landlord of nine years…

1
Frederik Gregaard, CEO of Cardano Foundation | Never Down: Blockchain’s Next Frontier 1:16:54

4M ago1:16:54

1:16:54

In this episode of Searching for Mana, host Lloyd Wahed speaks with Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, to delve into the expansive possibilities of blockchain technology and Cardano's unique position in the ecosystem. Discussing Cardano's resilience, decentralised governance, and long-term vision, Gregaard sheds light on how the Foun…

1
The Great Muppet Caper / Muppets Take Manhattan 2:23:36

4M ago2:23:36

2:23:36

[School of Movies 2025] The second and third parts of the original Trilogy of Muppet movies made while Jim Henson was alive, voicing Kermit and taking a heavily active role in production. The former from 1981 is a jewel heist that brings the anarchic furry ones to England, populated by only polite people (a trope which causes the two of us endless …

1
Palm Springs 1:36:42

4M ago1:36:42

1:36:42

[School of Movies 2025] We round off Groundhog Month with a time loop movie that explores with even more depth how being stuck in a single day would effect a person's outlook on life, their philosophy and their actions. Taking its cue from the early script idea for what became the Bill Murray classic, we begin by observing a man named Niles, alread…

1
Happy Death Day 1:37:16

4M ago1:37:16

1:37:16

[School of Movies 2025] This is not a Horror movie (or rather, it qualifies enough for that genre in terms of certain expected tropes and elements, but that is not its mode of conduct, and for people expecting conventional Horror, there's a lot more there in its place). That's what should have been on the poster and promotional artwork, and in the …

1
The Wizard of Oz 1:50:56

5M ago1:50:56

1:50:56

[School of Movies 2025] One of history's abiding classics, and one of the oldest films we have ever covered on this show, the 1939 Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland is joined here with several key points of comparison to establish why it really hold up. We've already recorded a whole episode on the dark, late sequel, Return to Oz (1985) though it …

1
Groundhog Day 1:53:23

5M ago1:53:23

1:53:23

[School of Movies 2025] We’ve been holding this episode back for a special occasion and it seems like 2025 'The year of Joy' is the time to finally crack into one of the richest and most universally gratifying films in history. A hundred years from now, people will still be watching this film, It’s a Wonderful Life and The Shawshank Redemption. Acc…

1
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 2:35:47

5M ago2:35:47

2:35:47

[School of Movies 2025] The first Dungeons & Dragons movie emerged in the year 2000, wildly underachieving in every department; characters, story, screenplay, costumes, technical proficiency, directorial flair, casting, scope, music, awareness of what it was adapting, sense of humour and dragons! All of these things were straight-to-video grade. It…

1
The Muppet Movie 1:48:16

5M ago1:48:16

1:48:16

[School of Movies 2025] In the name of joy, this year we are looking back across every Muppet movie we haven't yet covered, starting right here with the original 1979 film. For perspective, Jim Henson had made two successful TV shows up to this point, the well-known Muppet Show, which began in 1976 and was in the middle of its third season when thi…

1
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl 2:24:19

6M ago2:24:19

2:24:19

[School of Movies 2025] An extremely long-awaited show on a game-changer of a blockbuster movie. The first Pirates film, released in 2003 before Lord of the Rings had completed brought the world many things: A fantabulous extravaganza of practical effects, combined with a surprisingly light smattering of digital VFX that would be leaned into a lot …

1
The Mask 1:41:08

6M ago1:41:08

1:41:08

[School of Movies 2025] We begin the new year as we mean to go on; joyfully. This is a commissioned episode for Alejandra Vargas. Back in 1994 Jim Carrey was having the most amazing year in cinema that he would EVER have, pretty much redefining what people wanted with madcap comedy for that era. Rubber-faced and bellowing catchphrases. This thing s…

1
Ultraman Rising 2:12:36

6M ago2:12:36

2:12:36

[School of Movies 2024] You don't need to know a single thing about Ultraman to love this film. We brought in Kaiju and Sentai expert Dan Hoeppner to educate us along with you, regarding the history and cultural background of this character, but the film itself, viewable on Netflix is an absolutely perfect starting point. It is a smashing standalon…

1
A Christmas Story 1:41:44

6M ago1:41:44

1:41:44

[School of Movies 2024] Mostly overlooked when released in cinemas in 1983, it took nearly a decade for Ted Turner to realise this thing was funny as hell, authentic, heart-warming, and a little dark and twisted, only to then screen it hundreds of times on his many networks until America was both in love with the movie and thoroughly sick of it! Me…

1
The Rocketeer 1:39:45

7M ago1:39:45

1:39:45

[School of Movies 2024] A story ripped straight from the pages of Golden Age comic books, as dastardly gangsters and Nazis on the rise seek out a secret rocket pack that has fallen into the hands of a well-meaning, square-jawed chap who accidentally becomes something of a superhero. Starring a moustache-twirling Timothy Dalton, a luminous Jennifer …

1
Sunshine 1:51:44

7M ago1:51:44

1:51:44

[School of Movies 2024] This is an exceptionally long-awaited episode for us. One of the very first films discussed on our very first episode, way back in April 2007, mentioned repeatedly in the intervening 17 years, and promised over and over. Now we finally reach it, one of the most special and meaningful films to us. It was directed by Danny Boy…

1
The First Hour and Seven Minutes of Oppenheimer 28:03

7M ago28:03

28:03

[School of Movies 2023] [This was originally released in the summer of 2023. We have subsequently seen every inch of Oppenheimer... we stand by what is said here.] I think this will be the only piece I create about Oppenheimer (2023). You definitely do not have to have seen it and I won't be saying anything that could be considered a plot spoiler. …

1
Interstellar 1:48:26

7M ago1:48:26

1:48:26

[School of Movies 2024] Nolan-Vember comes to a close as we handle possibly his most emotionally-driven film. Drawing heavily from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Contact (two films we've already covered) Nolan presented the most populist blockbuster version of the speculative possibilities of what happens when a human being goes tear-assing into a black…

1
The Dark Knight Rises 1:41:02

7M ago1:41:02

1:41:02

[Digital Gonzo 2012] NOTE: This is a reissued episode from over 12 years ago. Please forgive the lower production values and boneheaded things I say. The epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s game-changing Dark Knight Trilogy. It’s definitely not as straightforward as film two in the series because many people hate this film already, and an equal …

1
Inception 1:11:29

7M ago1:11:29

1:11:29

[School of Movies 2024] Nolan-Vember evolves to a whole new stage of the man's career, as following the billion-dollar success of The Dark Knight in 2008 he became a household name. This 2010 film, after The Prestige, just four years earlier garnered a mere $109m at the box office totally flipped the landscape of possibility in cerebral blockbuster…

1
The Dark Knight 1:43:12

7M ago1:43:12

1:43:12

[Digital Gonzo 2012] NOTE: This is a reissued episode from over 12 years ago. Please forgive the lower production values and boneheaded things I say. Part two of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. Following the powerful set-up of Batman Begins, the production team pulled out all the stops to deliver an epic crime thriller in the style of Mich…

1
The Prestige 1:42:26

7M ago1:42:26

1:42:26

[School of Movies 2024] Nolan-Vember continues with Christopher's fifth film. Now, you would think, following the momentous success of Batman Begins, his period piece about feuding magicians that remains one of his best tricks to date would have been a stellar success... Wolverine's Hugh Jackman versus Dark Knight Christian Bale, and for the low, l…

1
Batman Begins 1:46:31

7M ago1:46:31

1:46:31

[Digital Gonzo 2012] NOTE: This is a reissued episode from over 12 years ago. Please forgive the lower production values and boneheaded things I say. Finally we get to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. After eight years away from cinema screens, and multiple stalled attempts at relaunching the franchise, Warner Bros knocked the Bat out of th…

1
Memento 1:52:47

8M ago1:52:47

1:52:47

[School of Movies 2024] Kicking off Nolan-Vember with a tale of obsession, revenge and the untrustworthy, ephemeral nature of memory. Things play out in nonlinear fashion as Nolan executes his second film with the deft surety of a man who can see the final arrangement within all the misaligned frames. Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, a man afflicte…

1
Beetlejuice 1:27:57

8M ago1:27:57

1:27:57

[School of Movies 2024] A perennial Halloween favourite for our family, this was Tim Burton's Sophomore effort, after his debut with Pee-Wee's Big Adventure but before he became a Hollywood Titan with Batman (starring Beetlejuice). And I know we give him a hard time a lot, as a purveyor of populist Goth chic to the masses, but when he hits right yo…

1
Lily Liu, President of Solana Foundation | How Blockchain Enables the Financialisation of Scarcity 1:11:56

8M ago1:11:56

1:11:56

In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed meets with Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, to unpack her journey from an early fascination with Bitcoin to leading one of blockchain’s most groundbreaking ecosystems. With her expertise spanning traditional finance and digital assets, Lily provides a rare, balanced view of where block…

1
Horror is a Spice 2:48:22

8M ago2:48:22

2:48:22

[School of Everything Else 2024] This is a special episode I've been planning for many years, ever since the notion that 'Horror' as we know it is largely a marketing construct, and that stories that deliberately jab at our Fear-response can be found pretty much everywhere. This is why I decided to go with my favourite metaphor; food) and hone in o…

1
SOM Winter Commissions Season 1:55

8M ago1:55

1:55

The window for our Winter Commissions season is now open. Coming up this October we have shows on the first two Psycho films, (as well as touching on the ill-advised Gus Van Sant 1998 remake of the Hitchcock original.) Then a long-planned episode discussing the Horror genre in a new light. And finally on Halloween, we got us a hot, steaming bowl of…

1
Psycho II 1:22:42

8M ago1:22:42

1:22:42

[School of Movies 2024] This was a commissioned episode for Dean R who was very keen for us to examine this 1983 follow-up to the 1960 classic. This film brings back Anthony Perkins after Norman has served his time and behaved well in crazy-jail, with the 'Mother' persona seemingly dormant. But now we, as the audience may find ourselves strangely o…

1
Psycho 1:27:52

9M ago1:27:52

1:27:52

[School of Movies 2024] For this rather special episode, we firstly welcome to the show for the first time, director Alfred Hitchcock, as we examine his most famous and most revisited film, Psycho (1960). This became the wellspring from which modern-day detective thrillers emerged. But it also has tangled roots in Horror and the grubby stepchild of…

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