covid-19

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Listen to the Gobbledygeek Season 13 Premiere – “Triskaidekaphobia”

13! 13 godforsaken seasons of Gobbledygeek! Ma ah ah!

Gobbledygeek episode 459, “Triskaidekaphobia,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

You’re in luck–season 13 of Gobbledygeek is here. Everyone’s favorite more or less (emphasis on less) weekly podcast returns with a look at the horrors 2022 has in store. How are Paul and Arlo feeling, two years into a pandemic? How dissatisfied are they with the goons running this whole show? Would they survive the apocalypse? At a certain point, the boys remember they’re supposed to be doing a pop culture show. Paul heads to Station Eleven, while Arlo finds The Lost Daughter and runs to Flee. Whistle through the graveyard with your podcast pals!

NEXT: more good-time goofs from your friends at Gobbledygeek.

MUSIC

  • “Back in the Saddle” by Aerosmith, Rocks (1976)
  • “Jerry Springer” by “Weird” Al Yankovic, Running With Scissors (1999)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 432 – “Two Crucifixes in the Logo”

Ned Flanders (voiced by Harry Shearer), by far the most likeable evangelical I’ve ever met, in ‘The Simpsons’ 4×19, “The Front” (1993)

Gobbledygeek episode 431, “WandaVision (feat. Michael Holland),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

When we’re not contracting coronavirus, we’re contracting people to work on our houses. And sometimes those people, too, can be a plague. Paul and Arlo commiserate over uncomfortable contractor experiences, uncomfortable evangelicalism, and the uncomfortable intersection of those two very uncomfortable things. In other news, baby-faced Paul got his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and had to deal with some folks getting way too up in his personal space. Are we ready for a return to normal? No. No, we are not. Plus, we remember to talk pop culture and chat about the Oscar nominations.

NEXT: Paul decides on air during this very episode that next week will be this month’s Four-Color Flashback, discussing Vols. 1 & 2 of Daniel Warren Johnson’s Extremity.

MUSIC

  • “Comfort Eagle” by Cake, Comfort Eagle (2001)
  • “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues (1982)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 427 – “Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself (feat. Wesley Mead)”

Derek DelGaudio in In & Of Itself (2020), directed by Frank Oz

Gobbledygeek episode 427, “Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself (feat. Wesley Mead),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

I am a podcast. This week, Paul and Arlo are joined by Wesley Mead to unravel the mystery of Derek DelGaudio’s stage show In & Of Itself, now available on Hulu in a filmed version directed by none other than Frank Oz. Truth be told, if truth is a concept you believe in, the gang doesn’t do much unraveling. No, that would be beyond the point. Instead, they discuss how the show makes them feel and what it reveals about the relationship between one human being and another. Magic, wolves, self-identity, and the communal experience all make an appearance. Plus, Wezzo tells us how the UK is faring with lockdown, and Arlo raves about Merawi Gerima’s stunning feature debut Residue.

NEXT: I’ll meet you in another life, when we are both cats. This month’s Four-Color Flashback is all about Ronald Wimberly’s take on Romeo and Juliet, 2012’s Prince of Cats.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:55  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:23:37  –  Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself
  • 01:52:12  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Dog and Wolf” by Green Dolphin Street, Boozekilla (2017)
  • “I Am” by AWOLNATION, Run (2015)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 421 – “Drop the Boom On This F#@%ed-Up World”

Britney wins!!!!!!!

Gobbledygeek episode 421, “Drop the Boom On This F#@%ed-Up World,” is available for listening or download right here and on Apple Podcasts here.

We’re still here. The world spins on, at least for a time. In the aftermath of Election Day 2020, there are many variables. Will that loser leave the White House? Will the GOP’s slow-rolling coup pay off? Will a Trumpian shadow militia form, leading to an actual Civil War II? As is the norm, Paul and Arlo have no answers, but they ponder these questions and many others. The boys recount their Election Night spirals; Arlo gets tested for COVID; Paul goes to the severe county of Sevier County; and they discuss some pop culture too, like why the kitchen-sink melodrama of This Is Us works, why Baby Yoda being a monster on The Mandalorian is cool and good, and why Paul hates The Simpsons.

NEXT: for the penultimate episode before our pregnancy-induced hiatus, Vickie Willis Navarra joins us for a Four-Color Flashback discussing Sandman Mystery Theatre: Book One by Matt Wagner, Guy Davis, John Watkiss, and R.G. Taylor.

MUSIC

  • “FDT (feat. Nipsey Hustle)” by YG, Still Brazy (2016)
  • “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley & The Wailers, Exodus (1977)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 414 – “Batman and the Heat Death of the Universe”

Mentally, I’m here.
(Batman: Black & White Zombie statue designed by the legendary Neal Adams.)

Gobbledygeek episode 414, “Batman and the Heat Death of the Universe,” is available for listening or download right here and on Apple Podcasts here.

For another freewheeling freestyle extravaganza, Paul and Arlo cast their minds to everything from billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne to the inevitable end of all things. They wonder how they might write The Deli Counter of Justice in the harsh light of 2020 before the conversation mutates into a treatise on the relative fascism of Batman, an update on Arlo’s progress through Andy Mulvihill’s Action Park book, the boys reacting to the Dune trailer because that shit always gets mad hits on YouTube, and eventually a rumination on whether or not human life should even exist. What a fun pop culture podcast.

Next: more fun.

MUSIC

  • “The End” by The Doors, The Doors (1967)
  • “The End of the Line” by Traveling Wilburys, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 406 – “Jimmy Cliff and the Apocalypse”

Jimmy Cliff in ‘The Harder They Come’ (1972), directed by Perry Henzell

Gobbledygeek episode 406, “Jimmy Cliff and the Apocalypse,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

The world is, yet again, a much different place than when we last recorded an episode of Gobbledygeek. In the month since the police killing of George Floyd, there have been a wave of protests worldwide and renewed conversations about what role police have in society, if any at all. We–Paul and Arlo–are not sure we should be part of this conversation. After postponing recording for many reasons, our initial urge to record some deep, thought-provoking discussion about racial injustice has subsided. We’re two white guys on an extremely niche podcast that is supposedly about pop culture. We are not going to cover any new ground. What we will say, unequivocally, is that Black Lives Matter. Yesterday, today, always. We do discuss the state of the world, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, police abolition, ACAB, etc.–hopefully in a respectful way that might interest some of our listeners. Oh, and there’s still a pandemic going on, so we talk about that too.

Fear not: we also talk about pop culture! Paul plays The Last of Us: Part II, Arlo watches great films by Black filmmakers like Charles Burnett and Billy Woodberry, we have a brief discussion on the state of the comics industry mid-COVID, and more. Hopefully there are some laughs.

Next: we’ll be back, theoretically in a week’s time.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:40:35

  • 00:00:40  –  Intro
  • 01:37:36  –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Fuck tha Police” by N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton (1988)
  • “Pressure Drop” by Toots & The Maytals, Monkey Man (1970)
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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 404 – “Monty Wezzo’s Flying Quarantine (feat. Wesley Mead)”

We rigorously fact-checked this information and have concluded it is, without doubt, 100% true.

Gobbledygeek episode 404, “Monty Wezzo’s Flying Quarantine (feat. Wesley Mead),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Rule, Wezzo! Wezzo, rule the podcast! Gobbledygeek’s senior British correspondent, Wesley “Wezzo” Mead, returns after a truly mind-boggling 22-month gap to fill us in on how exactly the UK is falling apart. Boris Johnson is handling the COVID-19 pandemic very poorly, especially for someone who nearly died from the virus–but still not as poorly as Galactic Emperor Trump, with his Space Forces and super-duper missiles. You’ve heard all about how Paul and Arlo are coping with quarantine, but what’s Wezzo been watching? Well, do you remember the Olsen twins sitcom Two of a Kind and Amanda Bynes vehicle What I Like About You? No? That’s okay, Wezzo remembers them for you! Nostalgia plays a big role this episode, as we pine for our glory days from the discomfort of our hellish present; and specifically, those tactile yet intangible sense memories. Wow, deep! But it’s mostly What I Like About You.

Next: gonna cruise her round the town, show everybody what I’ve found, rock ‘n’ roll with all my friends, hopin’ the music never ends, these happy days are yours and mine, oh happy days.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:53:55

  • 00:00:33  –  Intro? (Time has no meaning anymore…)
  • 01:51:05   –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Blinded by the White” by Butch Walker, American Love Story (2020)
  • “Sweet” by Porridge Radio, Every Bad (2020)

LINKS

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Listen to Gobbledgyeek Episode 403 – “Normal People Like Peanut Butter”

Patrick Stewart does not deserve this, but we do.

Gobbledygeek episode 402, “Normal People Like Peanut Butter,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Another week, another reckoning with the apocalypse. As the country gears up to reopen, Paul and Arlo discuss how their home states of Alabama and Ohio are handling things. They are not optimistic! Crowds packed close, restaurants teeming with teens, maskless mugs–these things, and more, contribute to our hosts’ reluctance to get this society back on the road. After they’re done ruminating on our impending doom, Paul raves about Hulu’s Normal People; Arlo recommends two more Hulu series, PEN15 and Ramy; they’re both excited about the forthcoming Sandman audio drama; and the announcement of a much sooner release date for the filmed performance of Hamilton leads Arlo to go negative on negativity. Plus, bones slathered in peanut butter.

Next: senior British correspondent Wesley Mead updates us on life in Boris Johnson’s UK.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:37:20

  • 00:01:00  –  Intro? (Time has no meaning anymore…)
  • 01:34:30  –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Theme From Cheers (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)” by Gary Portnoy (1982)
  • “Peanut Butter Sandwich” by Raffi, Singable Songs for the Very Young (1976)

THE LINKS