No Gods, No Monsters

Wow this show is really ramping up. We talk Holy Ghosts, our relationship with religion, prophecy, how the Rabbit that lives in your mind is just as real as the Rabbit who has to go to work and, of course, Oedipus is back. To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

Dreads, mandibles, heat vision, and invisibility? Baby, you got a stew going! We discuss this '80s sci-fi/action/horror flick's troubled production, its waffling position on imperialism, what happens when we view the Predator as woman, and the real meaning of Shane Black's repetitive genitalia jokes. We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

We are talking Cronenberg yet again, and this time we're joined by a favorite thinker, author and podcaster of ours - Adam C. Jones! We discuss viral infections both biological and informational, posting as performance art, control societies, technology as an extension of ourselves, and the film's unique vision of the future. Listen to Adam's podcasts Acid Horizon and Pub Goth Transmission and join the Acid Horizon patreon. If you can't find a small bookstore that is already carrying his book The New Flesh: Life and Death in the Data Economy, steal it. We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com We are talking Cronenberg yet again, and this time we're joined by a favorite thinker, author and podcaster of ours - Adam C. Jones! We discuss viral infections both biological and informational, posting as performance art, control societies, technology as an extension of ourselves, and the film's unique vision of the future. Listen to Adam's podcasts Acid Horizon and Pub Goth Transmission and join the Acid Horizon patreon. If you can't find a small bookstore that is already carrying his book The New Flesh: Life and Death in the Data Economy, steal it. We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

WARNING: This episode contains Alien³ spoilers! We continue our Alien and Predator series with this acclaimed action sequel that falls short on carrying on the themes of the original. We discuss the film's takes on corporatism and militarism, gender and motherhood, and how its attempts at feminism reinforce the patriarchal order. We also get lost in a maze trying to figure out James Cameron's political videos and decide to print the legend when discussing how he pitched the movie. We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

Pooch the polyglot joins us to decipher the signs and signifiers hidden in the ideological clusterfuck that is Arrival (2016). We talk colonialism, language being (or not really being) magic, and the truly unknowable depths of the Other. We get into a big argument about what it's like to experience time all at once and reminisce about The Jeremy Renner App, a product too beautiful to survive this ugly world.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

We begin our exploration of the Alien and Predator films with the masterpiece that started it all. Join us as we bask in the horror of being biological beings, as we confuse sexual organs, are consumed by Lacan's lamella, and as we struggle with the inevitably oppressive pairing of futurist technology and present day capitalism. We also announce a new patreon tier. We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

It's Godzilla's final film of the Heisei Era and we cover all your burning questions about it. Such as, how do you pronounce Destoroyah? What gender is Destoroyah and where does it fit on the Oedipal triangle? Is Godzilla.... dialectic? And what happens when you put a bunch of frozen iguanas in your car? We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

It's a No Gods holiday miracle! We're returning to the world of Gremlins to cover one of the most batshit movies ever produced. We discuss the origins of this anti-sequel sequel along with its critiques of corporatism, urban development, Orientalism, genetic research, consumerism and hierarchy. Also, is the Brain Gremlin smart? Or is he just talking? We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

We're all taking our first walk through the critically and culturally acclaimed series Neon Genesis Evangelion. We discuss our collective history with anime, and do our best to dissect "Angel Attack." We discuss the beautiful look of the show, the UN, Babylonian myth, angels, Shinji being a big whiny baby, Freud, and so much more. To catch up with the rest of our Evangelion watch through, sign up for the patreon. $1 a month gets you bonus episodes, original music and more. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

We're getting back to nature, the old ways. Yeah, it's pretty uncomfortable and there's a fascist cult, but it sure does look pretty. We also talk grief, drugs, pagan deities and you get to hear how Charlie and Barto thought the election was going to go.   To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

For Halloween we look back to the meanest monster to crawl out of the studio system, The Invisible Man. We touch on Bolsheviks, unchecked power, the CIA, the Manhattan Project, and the results of Barto's google search for "Invisible Man, gay?"   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

In honor of Halloween, Charlie and Rabbit (with Barto along for the ride) rank and discuss all of the Hellraiser films. This full episode is available on Patreon. For $1 a month you can get access to all of the No Gods bonus content. Patreon.com/nogodspod

In Lovecraft stories anything is possible, except the nuclear family. We talk ecology, lawn hermits, the unconscious, and hiring personal wizards as we explore the many shades of the Color Out Of Space.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

  We're back and we're done complaining about Shinji. We spy a critique of bureaucracy, more evidence that the Eva is (at least metaphorically) Shinji's mom, and we look to scripture to take a stab at where the Evas and the Angels come from. To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

What happens when a Godzilla cell falls into a black hole, merges with an organic crystal, and then absorbs the energy of an exploding star? You guessed it: Purple Godzilla. We scour through the wreckage of this special effects powerhouse to find a struggle between overt force and coercive control, an exploration of the queerness hidden beneath the surface of male conflict, and an image of the Oedipal complex as a force detached from human culture. We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

Who decides what is real, and what other powers does that give them? We discuss mental health and how it's treated in the modern world, contradictions as an engine of change, the death of the '60s counterculture, and how the film's unique soundtrack highlights its messages.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

Charlie and Barto are on their own again, this time taking a long and hard look at the least erotic movie ever made about beautiful naked people. We talk dreams, fantasies, the Real, the unconscious, the commodification of sex, Bohemian Grove, and so much more on this deep dive into the misunderstood Kubrick classic. We're releasing this bonus to all listeners in lieu of our regular episode but if you want more bonus episodes as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com    Sources:

The Democratic National Convention is coming back to Chicago so we thought it was worth examining a primary source of the events of the 1968 DNC to see where we stand. Part fictional narrative, part documentary, all incredibly meta, Medium Cool looks at filmmaking and journalism as a medium and explores the ethics of the thing. This is the first episode we've done without Rabbit's guiding hand and to keep us on track, but the conversation lends itself to the seemingly aimless filmmaking on display. To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

Rabbit and Barto are back on their bullshit, talking chapters 4 through 6 of The Invisible Committee's "To Our Friends." We go back to the campus protests for Palestine, connecting the local to the global, the commune, building power and so much more. We tie the text to our experiences and the situation as it exists today. You don't have to have any familiarity with the text to follow the conversation, but the book is available in PDF form on libcom.org so you can read along (we really like the text so obviously we'd encourage you to read it! It's also extremely relevant to the present moment)   To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

We dive [wink] into this claustrophobic horror film, discussing the cave as a cave, the cave as the unconscious, the cave as a womb, the cave as penises (obviously), and the cave as a soundstage. Plus monster theories, lighting effects, character morality, and connections to the sequel (spoilers for The Descent Part 2 btw!)

  We continue our journey through Evangelion. Friedrich Nietzsche makes an appearance along with your regular helpings of Lacan and Freud. We also talk Beauty and the Beast, climate change, and what happened to Tokyo 2.   To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

What is a butt brain, and do we all have on? Which G-Crusher is right for you? We get deep talking about this seemingly surface-level Heisei film. Touching on imitation and mimicry, the melodies plants make, human technology capturing nature just to turn it on itself, and of course, the psychosexual journey of a giant lizard castrated by human hubris.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

Join our Patreon to hear the full episode! $1 a month gets you everything we make. Patreon.com/nogodspod. Enjoy the cool cool and smooth smooth sound of Charlie's voice as he introduces you to films you didn't even know existed.

We're all taking our first walk through the critically and culturally acclaimed series Neon Genesis Evangelion. We discuss our collective history with anime, and do our best to dissect "Angel Attack." We discuss the beautiful look of the show, the UN, Babylonian myth, angels, Shinji being a big whiny baby, Freud, and so much more.   To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

Since its release in 2006, Children of Men has begun to look less like a work of dystopian fantasy and more like an image of our incoming future. But is this future inevitable, or is that feeling a result of capitalism's stronghold on our collective imagination? This week we dive into the film and some of the book it's based on. We discuss monstrosity, becoming, fascism, art and more.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

We have back returning guest, author, filmmaker, and Goji-twitter shit-stirrer Liam Quane. In episode 83, Liam made some bold predictions about how Godzilla x Kong would play out using his theory of "Mask Off Cinema,"  a movement informed by the political motivations of filmmakers during the Trump Era, of which we are still a part. Is Godzilla x Kong just a project to get Democrats elected? What did Liam glean in advace about the film just from looking at the colors of the characters? What will the next Monsterverse movie look like?   Where to follow Liam: Twitter: @spec_arc  VERO @liam.quane Instagram Some places to find Liam's book, Road to Juneau: Kindle Smashwords  Amazon We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

We travel back to the Middle Ages, to a time when everyone felt like the world was ending, to discuss ideas wholly alien to us in today's political landscape: nihilism, existentialism, fundamentalism, and the nature of knowledge and belief. Will we self-flagellate and preach from the seat of judgement, or joyously mock death for our listener's enjoyment? We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

Rabbit and Barto are back talking chapters 4 and 5 of The Invisible Committee's "To Our Friends." Along the way we cover cybernetics, bridging the dichotomy between pacifism and "radicalism," not thinking like an insurrectionist and not becoming the anarchist the state wants you to be, tact, and the book's relevancy to the ongoing encampments and the situation on the ground in Gaza. We also mention Jack, who is facing charges for alleged sabotage on Cop City in Atlanta. Part of the reason cited for his extremely high bond was owning literature by The Invisible Committee. You can support him financially or through letter writing at FreeJack.co    You don't have to have any familiarity with the text to follow the conversation, but the book is available in PDF form on libcom.org so you can read along (we really like the text so obviously we'd encourage you to read it! It's also extremely relevant to the present moment)   To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod

Charlie and Rabbit talk about 19 of David Cronenberg's movies and rank them from least favorite to favorite.  To listen to the full episode as well as lots of other bonus content, sign up for our Patreon. Just $1 a month gets you everything we do. patreon.com/nogodspod

We are going way back to the warm embrace of Ishirō Honda with the special-effects, alien invasion spectacular, The Mysterians. We discuss colonialism, misogyny, and find more than a few parallels to a contemporary struggle.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

We're trying something a little new. Rabbit and Barto talk flows, blockage, smashing and building power as described in the post-marxist, anarchist book, To Our Friends by The Invisible Committee. We cover some Agamben, Lacan, Deleuze, and Nietzsche. We consider Occupy, January 6th, Food Not Bombs and (the at the time we recorded, very new) occupation movement happening on college campuses protesting the genocide in Gaza.   In part 1 we cover the introduction through chapter 3. You don't have to have any familiarity with the text to follow the conversation, but the book is available in PDF form on libcom.org so you can read along (we really like the text so obviously we'd encourage you to read it! It's extremely relevant to the present moment) The full episode is available to patrons for as little as $1 a month alongside other bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups. Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com

The episode that will make your head explode*! We talk control and power; hippies and authoritarians; state and corporate co-opting of mental illness, drug use, and art; and of course, synth and noise music. We're strapped in, so take a seat and watch us squirm, for science. *guaranteed   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

After recording our episode on Transformers (2007) Rabbit decided to watch the rest of the series. Why? No one knows. Listen along with Charlie and Barto as he ranks them all. Join our Patreon to hear the full episode! Only $1 a month gets you everything we do. Patreon.com/nogodspod.

A new Godzilla and Kong movie has arrived!! Is it the perfect dumb-fun popcorn flick or a masterpiece of anti-art? A kaiju-centric depiction of a utopian future where man and nature find a balance or an irredeemable corporate tool built to distract from and further condition us to the ongoing slaughter of all that is worth fighting for? And how do those crystals control gravity? We reference Walter Chaw's review of the film and it's worth reading in full: https://filmfreakcentral.net/2024/03/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire/   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

We discuss what is essentially a two and a half hour commercial for America, which clunkily yet elegantly entwines support for war, freedom through American-made commodities, the psychosexual exploration of a man and his car, and over the top misogyny.   We have bonus episodes, behind the scenes notes, and post-recording wrap ups for just $1 a month on Patreon.  Patreon.com/NoGodsPod Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @nogodspod Email us at NoGodsPod@gmail.com  

Join our Patreon to hear the full episode! $1 a month gets you everything we make. Patreon.com/nogodspod. Episode 2! Charlie talks about the latest movies he's watched!

We return to the Heisei Era to talk worms, ancient civilizations, the idea of the limit, ecology, and try to figure out why Godzilla is in this movie. The messages and takeaways are confusing, yet seemingly sincere - but Mothra's in it so we had a good time!   Godzilla vs Mothra is available to stream on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/1992gojirataimosura.720p.ac3.cg   Support the show on Patreon for bonus content.  https://www.patreon.com/NoGodsPod      

A few weeks ago, Liam shared his political readings of the MonsterVerse films on Twitter and it seemed to agitate quite a few Godzilla fans. But it piqued our interest, so we invited him on the show to hear him out! We had a lot of fun talking with Liam about Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Godzilla vs Kong (2021), and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). Liam argues that Godzilla x Kong is an example of what he calls "Mask Off Cinema," a movement informed by the political motivations of filmmakers during the Trump Era, of which we are still a part. Where to follow Liam: Twitter: @spec_arc  VERO @liam.quane Instagram Listen to Liam talk more about his reading of King of the Monsters on the Round II Podcast Some places to find Liam's book, Road to Juneau: Kindle Smashwords Amazon

Join our Patreon to hear the full episode! $1 a month gets you everything we do. Check it out at patreon.com/nogodspod. We break down the new trailer for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire that dropped on Valentine's Day. We talk Jesus, Thunderdomes, Mighty Joe Young, semen, Bolsonaro, and of course the hidden spoilery stuff hidden in quick flashes (spoilery stuff is toward the end with a warning).

We are joined by Pinko Snob to discuss the pinnacle of pre-9/11 post-9/11 zombie films. Is this an anti-civilization film playing on concepts from Deleuze and Guattari to critique the state, patriarchy and capitalism? Or a film about loneliness and father issues?

We conclude our discussion of the Monsterverse series. Like the kids in the show, we have a lot of questions, very few answers, and plenty of mean things to say.  

We each talk about five of our favorite films we watched for the first time in 2023 (that didn't come out in 2023), along with some honorable mentions that didn't make the cut. Sign up on Patreon for the full episode: patreon.com/nogodspod

We plug into this Cronenberg flick which depicts the modern human experience as a collage of existentialism, unconscious drives, media violence, sexual urges, influencing machines, theology, technology, capitalism, and desire (for desire for desire). We emerge diseased without a flamethrower in sight.  

Join our Patreon to hear the full episode! $1 a month gets you everything we do. Check it out at patreon.com/nogodspod. Rabbit put himself through the torture of watching all 10 Saw movies that have been released so far, and Charlie and Barto hang out while he describes, reviews, and ranks them all.  Alternate episode title: Jigsaw Puts The "Traps" In "Bootstraps"

We had a ton to say about this classic comedic horror flick. We touch on the historical werewolf, the Wolfman and the Holocaust, Giorgio Agamben's Homo Sacer, Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents and so much more.  

We discuss the first half of the new Monsterverse series, including its world-building of a society in the aftermath of kaiju, the portrayal of Monarch and its parallels with the non-profit industrial complex, and of course the characters and new Titans. Check us out on Patreon.

Episode 1! Charlie talks about movies he watched recently. Barto and Rabbit hang out too. Join our patreon for the full episode: patreon.com/NoGodsPod

New Godzilla!! We discuss how the latest Toho film handles its portrayal of the Japanese government during WWII, its theme of survivors guilt, what Godzilla represents in this new imagining, and of course the powerful use of effects. 

Join our Patreon to hear the full episode! $1 a month gets you everything we do. Check it out at patreon.com/nogodspod. In this episode we share our thoughts on the first full trailer for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. We make some predictions for the movie, give thoughts on the style, and read out some Youtube comments. Enjoy the dialectic struggle between hype machines and anti-hype machines!

We're joined by merritt k as we continue through the Heisei series in this bananas time traveling kaiju flick. Is the film an attempt to push Japanese nationalism or a warning about the country's late '80s financial bubble? Are the eco-terrorists a force for good or evil? Is this the best Ghidorah yet, or is he mid? Check out merritt's short stories on OtherStrangeness.com, her work on patreon.com/merrittk, and follow her on Bluesky @merrittk.com Join our Patreon! Patreon.com/NoGodsPod

We continue or UFO movie streak with this Spielberg classic. Our discussion revolves around the somewhat contradictory nature of the film's liberal message, and touches on themes of misogyny, family, the false promises of technology, authority and fascism, secular gods, translation, and lines of flight.    Support Palestinian Liberation! https://www.mecaforpeace.org/donate/