Shoot The Dancing Bear!

A lively discussion concerning social media, debated by an actual professional in the field (Nadya Rousseau!) and three dudes who may or may not be considering future careers in emotional rap. Is social media productive, or not? What is an incel? Will we ever actually get around to answering one of Tim's questions? FIND OUT! 

Shoutout to the literature nerds: this week we discuss a book! A violent, dark, brutal one, but that's kind of our corner anyway, so it fits. Blood Meridian by Cormac Mccarthy is considered one of the canonical American novels, and we wrestle with the implications of its moral prognostications, as well as the philosophy of its main villain. Spoilers abound! Thanks to John Peloso for joining us. 

WARNING! This, loyal listeners, is a DRUNKCAST, where each member of the crew is variously soused. Listen, as Gabe begins with excellent intellectual momentum regarding his conference on psychedelics, which we then proceed to utterly ruin the longer we proceed, especially the increasingly embarrassing Jesse. Hope and hopelessness arises, as well as the DNC and celebrity vice. Thanks to guest host Tamar Salibian for providing the alcohol and excellent conversation, and Tim for an excellent product reading. DNC Scandal! Celebrities and Harassment! Listen!

SPECIAL GUEST: Tamar Salibian! We are happy to be joined by someone who knows what they're talking about on this podcast for a discussion of reality television, avatars, Hilary Clinton's book, and the terror of North Korea. As per usual, it gets a little bleak towards the end. Also, we shit on football. Good times!

On this episode of the podcast, we discuss Charlottesville with some distance from the events, defend Antifa from criticism of their tactics, and lay blame at the feet of apathetic white liberalism. Well-worn territory on this podcast, the morality of violence as self-defense, is set against a critique of the recent commentary by folks such as Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky, and Glenn Greenwald. You should also listen to the Cam'ron freestyle mentioned at the beginning of the recording. It's life-affirming. 

EPISODE 17! In the first episode of our newer, (read: not much is different) more politically focused version of the podcast, we discuss liberalism from the vantage point of the left. Just how lame and ineffectual are the Democrats? Why are people so apathetic, even in the face of existential threats to our own lives in the form of Republican assaults on health care? We discuss current events one by one in this episode in an attempt to bring our own version of understanding to the current political climate. If you do not download and subscribe to this podcast, your first-born sons will all die. Sounds pretty serious to me, guess you better do it!

Returning to the pop culture sphere, our three beer-sopped hosts guide you through a holistic analysis of Twin Peaks, ranging from the original show and the current version, as well as the ephemera like the Secret History of Twin Peaks novel and Fire Walk With Me. Spoilers abound, obviously. A meta analysis focusing on themes and motifs, with occasional direct references to the show, make up the bulk of the runtime. We are also aware of the fact that the podcast begins halfway through a sentence and features the vaguest sound of a child singing on occasion in the background, as well as the plaintive scratching of a dog, but we feel that adds to the effect. The effect of art is not always determined by intention! Or something. Listen to this weird ass conversation! Subscribe to us on Itunes! Tell your friends! Recoil in horror!

Similar to when Werner Herzog asked of Pokemon Go, "Is there violence? Is there murder?" we are often preoccupied by questions of violence, or at least shaped as people by the specter of it. This episode focuses on violence in foreign affairs, violence in revolution and protest, and the most important question: when is it right? Pacifists be warned, the answer does not involve disseminating flowers. Remember that one of our preeminent cultural figures, Walter Sobchak, stated that pacifism was an emotional problem. We are not to be held responsible for your actions, dear listener, do not misconstrue our message and punch people indiscriminately, but at least hear our arguments based in history and rationality. 

In order to celebrate the return of Gabe from his much-deserved vacation, we delve into the topic of psychology, forcing him to think about his work again after he was supposed to be relaxed. Whoops! This podcast examines a key question: can we evaluate Donald Trump as a psychotic? Is he actually crazy, or clinically mentally impaired? Eventually, the topic turns to our society, which we are more capable of rendering a judgment on. Are our own anxieties and neuroses to blame for the rise of a Trump? Do our emotional states reflect the culture and our inability to deal with it, or are they ingrained? Just how goddamn crazy are we? FIND OUT!

In this episode, three white men discuss what the hell is going on with white people. Whiteness as a concept is broken down, all the attendant privileges are confronted, or at least as many as we could delve into, and the assumptions made in white society are pointed out. White sensitivity about being perceived as racist, the proper linguistic reaction to a white supremacist, and the reaction of white figures in media to racism are among the topics receiving attention. As an entertaining extra, we revive our time honored tradition of roasting someone, and today, it's Bill Maher's unfathomably limp interview of racist/idiot/pedophilia enthusiast Milo Yiannopoulos. (I might have spelled his name wrong, but who cares, he sucks.) TRIGGER WARNING: If you are white and afraid to ask tough questions about what that means, avoid this pod. 

Inspired by the prevalence of dystopian science/speculative fiction, our hosts bravely break down what living in the near-future is like, or might be like. We tried to use some pop culture examples, but aside from a shout out to the classic Metal gear Solid series, we mostly stick to politics and society itself. We begin with the effect of memes on society and simplistic opinion shaping, environmental collapse, and the role of automation in relation to the worker. ROBOTS ARE COMING FOR YOUR JOBS! Do you want to know what happens in the future? This podcast is your time machine! Or maybe we're just totally wrong. If you experience severe depression after listening to this episode, please ingest the pill your doctor gave you to make you happy. We're just trying to help! La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo! (Nerd reference)

BONUS HOLIDAY EPISODE! Similar to Rakim, we never should have left you without a dope pod to step to. This episode is unfortunately missing Gabe, but we all decided that even a diminished podcast would be better than going too long without a new episode. Due to the last minute prep for this pod, it is a fairly all over the place affair. Discussed in this wine-sopped slopfest, our remaining hosts stumble through a final look back at Westworld Season One, talk trash about the Democrats and Russian hacking, and talk about a mutual specialty, education, albeit grimly. Happy Holidays to all you suckers, and to you fellow weirdos, a good night. 

Finally, to Jesse's great happiness, we have recorded our western-themed podcast! A not so brief overview of the western film genre and its progression toward greater self-criticism leads us to a discussion of post-western film and television, specifically Westworld, HBO's scifi-western mash-up. Among the things brought up: the western as a closed genre, structure in Westworld, questions about nature itself in the Revenant, resistance to the prevailing criticism surrounding Westworld, and a small helping of the bravura novel Blood Meridian. As usual, we did not cover everything we wanted, which we will blame on the beer, but the conversation, we hope, is entertaining. Subscribe on ITunes or we'll shoot you right off that deer's ass. 

Calm your existential terror over the upcoming Trump presidency, as we take seriously the implications of a reality show star and failed businessman's attempt to run the most powerful nation in world history. What could possibly go wrong? Our hosts share personal anecdotes, analyze the zeitgeist, and most importantly, question what can be done, if anything, to give voice to the oppressed. We are a small voice, with a small audience, just trying to explain the mad world as best we can. 

Welcome back to a conversation which has chosen to completely ignore the politics occurring all around us because of the abject horror it represents! Apologies for the Skype quality recording sound. The dialogue today revolves around Anarchism, a (gasp!)actual political position and not just an affect for teenagers to tell their parents to f**k off, as you may have thought. Our resident skeptic/cynic Jesse mostly listens along as Tim and Gabe explain their political persuasion with the use of philosophy and real world scenarios. This is our first pod with custom intro music, made by SoKro, so at least listen for that. Apologies in advance for Jesse's intro, he is a huge nerd. 

In an act of great revolutionary upheaval, we have uploaded the podcast OUT OF ORDER! Seriously, we've been too busy to edit our previous two recordings so that this exists is a blessing. Today's content is a discussion on the systems of justice in America, through the filter of crime procedurals like The Night Of, and a football player whom one of our hosts would desperately like to learn how to throw the ball properly. Prison anecdotes and experience help to illuminate the discussion centering around how we treat the accused. 

Dehumanize yourself and bow to our alien lizard people overlords. Or, listen to this podcast where a discussion led by Gabe shows how drug usage might not be the worst thing in the world, and how pop culture informs our views on it. Plus, we discuss the Illuminati, anti-vaxxing, chem trails and other ridiculous conspiracy theories with the appropriate level of dignity. If you have not been pissed off by our ranting previously, you may enjoy this alcohol-addled discourse. Donald Trump may or may not be a carrot genetically spliced with a man. Keep your third eye open. ALSO, BREXIT!

In this incredibly outdated episode, our hosts memorialize the unfortunate deaths of Hodor and the gorilla Harambe by discussing people's terrible reactions to those two events. There is also a brief attempt to define the Golden Age of television, and why Game of Thrones may be symbolic of its finale. These opinions are our own, harsh, but fair. Usually fair, anyway. Also, we were wrong about the stupid dragons. 

A carefully considered (not really) and entirely concise (also incorrect) self-examination of our triplicate's thought process and our podcast's aim! Subjects include: anarchist philosophy, mind-expansive drugs, Grant Morrison's comic books, the possibility of revolution and a general first swing at popular culture and politics. Warning: this conversation can get profane, long-winded, and often really, really weird. Also, dark. Screw it, just listen.