COTUS (Culture of the United States) Radio

Movies, television -- and books! This week, Shawn and Brien unload the full weight of their cultural insight by bringing BOOKS into the mix. Sure, there's the usual stuff: Avengers, Finder, Haywire, Community, Cougar Town... but now we throw Christopher Moore's new book in the mix and discuss the finer points of Fifty Shades of Grey. 

In this week's episode, Shawn and Brien dissect the success of The Avengers, stack that movie up against The Expendables 2, inexplicably transition to Chris Christie and education, somehow "lighten things up" with a discussion of meth addiction, and talk about things that have already past as if they haven't happened yet. Confused? Well, that's our thing.

In this week's episode, Shawn takes a trip to Chiller Theater to interact with the nearly famous. We debate the merits of New Girl, lament the lack of actual news in the world, and generally do nothing else to aid the progress of humanity.

This week's episode is particularly meandering as Shawn and Brien's initial discussion of Hawkeye's uselessness in The Avengers wanders into discussions of the improbability of zombies, the futility of arguing the constitution, and several other inane soundbites. 

[Rated Explicit for Language] After a short hiatus to regroup, the boys are back with a discussion of - what else - television. Now that the traditional television season is starting to wrap up, it's time to take a look at which shows are coming back next year and which will fall victim to the Cancellation Bunny.  Following that, Shawn and Brien start editorializing on the nature of remakes but are quickly distracted by a bright shiny object. General chaos follows.

And so the second season closes on The Walking Dead and Shawn and Brien spend the hour wringing every little bit they can out of the season finale. We reflect on the overall success of the season and give you a spoiler filled blow by blow of every blood drenched second of the final episode. Rick's transformation into the Rick-Tator, Carol's new Lady Macbeth persona, and Lori's inevitable "Mother of the Year" award are all given their due. Plus, we offer up some juicy bits about what to expect next season and our own hopes and fears for what lies ahead for Rick and Company. You'll laugh, you'll cry -- but mostly you'll ask for an hour of your life back. Experience it all as COTUSradio presents a fond farewell to The Walking Dead.

This week's episode of The Walking Dead was so incredible that we've added an extra thirty minutes to this week's episode!  0:00-23:00 We begin with a discussion of the KONY 2012 viral campaign that has drawn both praise and criticism from the voices of the Interwebs.  24:00-37:00 - Sidekick Shawn takes a trip to Kevin Smith's Secret Stash comic book shop for an exclusive interview with manager and Comic Book Men star Walt Flanagan.  38:00 - 90:00 - Our extra long Walking Dead discussion picks up with the fallout of last week's devastating events. We debate Lori's role in this episode's shocking climax, hypothesize about the nature of the undead in this universe, and speculate who makes it out alive of next week's insane season finale.

In this week's episode, Shawn and Brien talk about the only pill Rush Limbaugh isn't willing to pop and why the general state of discourse in America is so crap-tastic. After opening the show with a well reasoned, insightful interview clip from Yale University law professor Stephen Carter, your hosts dissect Limbaugh's inflammatory comments against law student Sandra Fluke and digress into a long winding tour of politics and media in America, until finally they set their sights on a target they can handle: Kirk Cameron. Following that, the boys jump into a lengthy and in-depth discussion of this week's Walking Dead, "Judge, Jury, and Executioner." WARNING: This discussion contains significant spoilers of this week's episode, so proceed with caution. The motivations of several characters including Dale, Rick, Shane, Carl, and Daryl are dissected and we analyze the carefully constructed threads that lead to the game changing final moments of the episode.

In this episode, Shawn and Brien dissect the Oscars, uncovering the bowels of this most ancient awards custom. After that, the boys slice open the lastest episodes of The Walking Dead, and engage in a brutal, taut analysis of the best show on television. The show wraps up with a meandering talk of Ricky Gervais's latest shows and some other stuff that's on television. Caution: Do not operate a vehicle when listening to this show, as it may other cause great agitation or extreme drowsiness. WARNING: This show contains significant spoilers regarding recent episodes of The Walking Dead.

In this week's episode, the boys debate Governor Christie's decision to order all flags at half mast for Whitney Houston's funeral. Should this be an honor reserved for fallen soldiers and public servants? Do Houston's contributions during her life outweigh the turbulence of the last few years of her life? Following that, Shawn and Brien take a look at the some of the new pilots currently in development for the new fall season, including new shows from J.J. Abrams, Sarah Silverman, and Jimmy Fallon. The show wraps up with a discussion of the growing popularity of The Walking Dead and Shawn offers up a review of Kevin Smith's new AMC show Comic Book Men.

In this week's episode, Shawn and Brien come to the defense of a dog who defended himself against the unwanted shmoozing of a Denver reporter. This past week, news reports have circulated about Max, an Argentine Mastiff, who defensively snapped (not "attacked") Denver reporter Kyle Dyer after she unwittingly assumed an aggressive stance over the dog. Once again, mass media takes the sensationalistic stance of dogs "attacking" people rather than using this as an opportunity to teach people how to better deal with dogs. Following this rant, we delve into the media coverage of the death of Whitney Houston and we question why this story has garnered so much attention, while the death of Don Cornelius was generally ignored.  In our television segment, we discuss the poor start to The River and the declining fortunes of many genre shows like Alcatraz and Fringe. We debate which shows might be lucky enough to catch another season. We also hail the return of The Walking Dead and ponder the possible succes of Kevin Smith's new show, Comic Book Men. We also speak of the proper ending for a television show in light of the recent Chuck finale.  We wrap up with a discussion of movie news, focusing on Gary Friedrich, one of the creators of the Ghost Rider character, and his ongoing battle with Marvel over rights to the character. We also learn that Ridley Scott is set to return to TWO of the worlds he made famous in the 80's: Alien and Blade Runner.

In a break from the regular format, Shawn and Brien discuss their expectations for the Big Game, its commercials, and its aged half-time show. Following the game, they discuss the realization of those expectations, which include great joy for one host and a great deal of ambivalence from another.

In this week's Zombie Extravaganza, we interview director Jeff Stewart on his new films The Velvet Elvis and The Reunion. We also talk about the return of The Walking Dead, the infuriating "mid-season break", and creative 5K/obstacle course events like the zombie themed Run for Your Lives.

In this week's episode, Shawn and Brien discuss Shawn's succubus obsession, argue over the effectiveness of Joseph Gordon Levitt's hitrecord.org, and praise the return of the ultra-violent action film thanks to Indonesian film THE RAID.

The Death of SOPA, the last call for Tebow Time, and the impending early cancellation of new winter shows - all this and more and we spend an hour celebrating the endings of distasteful things.

The Boys evaluate Rick Santorum's chances for a presidency (and a straight jacket) and take a look at how movies and movie theaters are coping with dropping attendance.

In this week's episode, hosts Shawn and Brien suggest New Year's resolutions for the news and film industries. Along the way they discuss the Ron Paul/CNN controversy, new tv in January, and two recycled film franchises coming back this summer.

Warm up the holidays with the first annual COTUS X-Mas Special. Listen as Shawn and Brien gleefully destroy the holiday traditions, music, and specials we all love so dearly. So, put the kids to bed and learn the true meaning of Christmas, courtesy of two very surly Scrooge McDuck's.

Formerly Virgil's All-Night Podcast, COTUS (Culture of the United States) is a weekly show that examines American culture and media.