hip hop

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 428 – “FCF: Prince of Cats”

Art and dialogue from Prince of Cats (2012) by Ronald Wimberly

Gobbledygeek episode 428, “FCF: Prince of Cats,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Two hosts, unalike in dignity, in fair Gobbledygeek, where we set our podcast. For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo pull out a boombox blasting Romeo and Juliet side B. In Prince of Cats, Ronald Wimberly passes the mic to Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, a sideways entry point into the events that lead to and inform the soapy classic. Oh, and did we mention this version stars a Black cast living in an ‘80s NYC where everybody participates in an underground samurai swordfighting ring? The boys discuss Wimberly’s ingenious distortion of Shakespearean language; his manga-influenced art; how the book enriches (perhaps even improves upon?) the play; and what it means to tell this story from a race-conscious perspective.

NEXT: oh hey, it’s that Christopher Plummer Geek Challenge we promised. Mike Nichols’ Wolf and Michael Mann’s The Insider go head-to-head.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:48  –  Intro / Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
  • 00:23:00  –  Prince of Cats
  • 01:03:45  –  (Interlude: Paul reads NSFW Shakespearean dialogue from Prince of Cats)
  • 01:55:08  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Step Off” by Grandmaster Melle-Mel & The Furious Five (1984)
  • “Sucker M.C.’s” by Run-DMC, Run-DMC (1983)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 409 – “Hamilton (feat. Sarah Kosheff)

Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos, and Lin-Manuel Miranda in ‘Hamilton’ (2020), directed by Thomas Kail.

Gobbledygeek episode 409, “Hamilton (feat. Sarah Kosheff),” is available for listening or download right here and on Apple Podcasts here.

2020 may be an absolute shitshow, but thanks to Disney+, we can all be in the living room where it happens: the filmed performance of Hamilton, recorded in 2016 with the original Broadway cast, is now available to stream. Paul and Arlo may have talked about Hamilton, oh, once or twice or 18 times since its debut five years ago, but luckily über-fan Sarah Kosheff is on hand to help them find new things to say. Arlo talks about getting to see an actual production of Hamilton for the first time, Paul relays the time he was sprayed with Groff sauce, the gang discusses the up-close nuance of the troupe’s acting, and they address some of the political and cultural criticisms of the show.

Next: we get all dolled up for a Geek Challenge featuring Puppet Master and Seed of Chucky.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 02:15:20

  • 00:00:18  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:01:34  –  Main Topic
  • 02:09:40  –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Alexander Hamilton” by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton, Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2015)
  • “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton, Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2015)

THE 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

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 390 – “Freegobble: Return to InfoPrison”

A Shakey’s Pizza in the wild.

Gobbledygeek episode 390, “Freegobble: Return to InfoPrison,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Ever have a job so shitty, it haunts you years (or even decades) down the line? Paul and Arlo have, and it’s called Gobbledygeek! Hey-o! In all seriousness (?), Paul recounts a traumatic experience at Shakey’s Pizza and Arlo is filled with regret over his time at the right-wing call center InfoCision. Cue flashbacks to high school football teams ravenous for wings and evil televangelists separating the faithful from what little coin they carry. Speaking of the latter, Arlo laments Kanye West’s evangelical turn on Jesus Is King. Elsewhere, Paul watches TV, including Succession, Primal, Daybreak, Watchmen, and Modern Love; and braves crowds of drunken revelers at shows for Bastille, Joywave, Trampled by Turtles, and The Avett Bros.

Next: TBD.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:39:58

  • 00:00:33  –  Intro
  • 00:01:12  –  We are NOT sponsored by the Gobble meal delivery service
  • 00:07:30  –  Cold pizza and really, really hot wings
  • 00:14:43  –  Way too much about InfoCision
  • 00:43:48  –  Not nearly enough about some great new TV shows
  • 00:54:08  –  More than a little bit about Succession
  • 01:07:20  –  Unfortunately, we discuss the new Kanye album
  • 01:15:30  –  A Popeye’s chicken sandwich interlude
  • 01:17:15  –  Back to Kanye (and controversial comments on Beyoncé)
  • 01:24:31  –  Lastly, Paul’s been to some concerts
  • 01:37:05  –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “This Fucking Job” by Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do (2010)
  • “Blastoffff” by Joywave, Blastoffff (Single) (2018)

THE LINKS

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 381 – “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree”

Art from ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ by Ed Piskor.

Gobbledygeek episode 381, “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree,” is a available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Paul and Arlo are in the place to be, rapping about Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree. For the latest Four-Color Flashback installment, our nerdy white heroes take on nerdy white cartoonist Piskor’s quartet (so far) of graphic novels discussing the history of hip hop culture. The boys discuss Piskor’s art, equally indebted to underground comix and superhero books of the ‘70s and ‘80s; how the physical editions beautifully replicate the aesthetics of the time period; how Piskor captures the rhythm and fluidity of DJs and breakdancers; and what in the hell he’s got against Russell “Rush” Simmons.

Next: Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is Family-friendly entertainment.

(Show notes for “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 342, “Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire (feat. Ensley F. Guffey)”

Gobbledygeek episode 342, “Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire (feat. Ensley F. Guffey),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

An American feels betrayed by his government, which has revealed itself to be nothing but a bureaucratic system designed to conceal criminal activity. Sounds familiar, right? It’s also the basis for the superhero classic Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire. Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, and Sal Buscema’s Nixon-era tale finds Cap on the run from a populace that no longer trusts him. Joining Paul and Arlo for this Four-Color Flashback installment is Wanna Cook? author and Cap superfan Ensley F. Guffey. The gang discusses why a story like this couldn’t be told today, how it’s difficult to understand Watergate’s importance given today’s political climate, the uncomfortable jive-talkin’ racial stereotypes, and why the outrageous cornball of old superhero comics doesn’t dilute its power. Plus, Arlo makes an apology and the gang shares what comics they’ve been reading.

Next: it’s all been leading to this. Avengers: Infinity War.

(Show notes for “Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 334, “Black Panther: Hail to the King, Baby! (feat. Phaicia McBride)”

Gobbledygeek episode 334, “Black Panther: Hail to the King, Baby! (feat. Phaicia McBride),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

First-time guest Phaicia “Fe” McBride joins Paul and Arlo as they take a direct flight to the African utopia of Wakanda, courtesy of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. King T’Challa’s first feature film marks the 18th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; it also marks a long overdue watershed moment for mainstream black culture. The gang discusses why Black Panther is so important and exciting; how the film takes the MCU in exciting new directions, particularly with its nuanced villain; how rare and wonderful it is to see so many female characters with agency, skill, and personality; why Ludwig Goransson’s score (and Kendrick Lamar’s soundtrack, at least according to Arlo) is a true sonic statement; and how some of the fight sequences bring to mind Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Plus, Arlo’s obsessed with a bizarre lo-fi mobile game called InstLife; and Paul goes full steampunk ahead with Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.

Next: despite what they say at the end of the episode, Paul and Arlo are actually getting ready for Annihilation.

(Show notes for “Hail to the King, Baby!”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 277, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Records Your Podcast (feat. Matthew Jackson)”

hamilton

Gobbledygeek episode 277, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Records Your Podcast (feat. Matthew Jackson),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

After many months of mounting obsession, Paul and Arlo finally tackle Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway phenomenon Hamilton: An American Musical. (We hope you’ve been willing to wait for it.) Joining them is fellow Hamilton superfan Matthew Jackson, a contributing editor for Blastr.com and entertainment writer for Playboy.com. The gang discusses the impact Hamilton has had on them, its dizzying structure (both in terms of story and stage), the radical way it melds hip-hop with theater with history, and its new behind-the-scenes book Hamilton: The Revolution. Plus, there’s a remembrance of the late, great comics artist and writer Darwyn Cooke.

Next: Paul and Arlo continue their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of Matt Wagner’s Grendel with “Devil’s Legacy, Pt. 2,” collected in Grendel Omnibus: Vol. 2, pp. 247-370.

(Show notes for “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Records Your Podcast.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 243, “Straight Outta Wattles”

straightouttacompton

Gobbledygeek episode 243, “Straight Outta Wattles,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Comin’ straight from the underground, this week Paul and AJ discuss the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Yes, the two whitest podcasters you know deliver their take on the film’s authenticity, its sad relevance, where it falls on the biopic spectrum, and the bizarre fact that Ice Cube offspring O’Shea Jackson Jr. is playing Ice Cube. Here’s hoping it’s less awkward than that time they jammed to “Accidental Racist.”

Next: that charming Brit, Wesley “Wezzo” Mead, is back for another round of charming Brit-ness.

(Show notes for “Straight Outta Wattles.”)

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Listen to Episode 145, “Gobbledyeezus”

yeezus

Gobbledygeek episode 145, “Gobbledyeezus,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

“I met Bat-Turkey/He said, ‘What up, Tofurkey?'”

Pretend that never happened. Anyways, what are the boys talking about this week? EVERYTHING, THAT’S WHAT! More concisely: they’re at each other’s throats over the new Kanye album, they laugh their asses off at This Is the End, Paul shares his thoughts on Before Midnight and World War Z, and AJ’s wedding quest as Man of Honor finally comes to a close. It’s all very exciting and rambly, par for the course for these excitable ramblers. There is no rapping.

Next week: Much Ado About Nothing talk, if the world is a kind and just place.

(Show notes for “Gobbledyeezus.”)