Podcast for the New American Century

or "World on a Wire for stupid people". This is Grim Tones because Ben and Tim needed to do an emergency mini episode about "Beyond: Citadel" aka COOM (2025). Erik is back in the country and we will be back for real this time very soon

Michael Fassbender, the link between heredity and crime. 

Happy ThanKKK$giving you hogs

Erik is still gone so the horrors of the past and present will be waiting a little longer! In the meantime, Ben and Tim are lucky enough to be joined by both Molly O'Brien and Chris Wade (And Introducing, Infinite Cast). We tap into their shared expertise of both music and DFW's novel for a freewheeling chat about Luca Guadagnino's tennis love triangle drama Challengers, the total banger score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, David Foster Wallace's tennis magnum opus and plenty about the beautiful game (non-team division) itself. All of that plus Honeyduces, Skyline chili, Joe Jonas, awkward Bowie needledrops, Andre Aggasi's autobiography and the trauma of child sports. Enjoy the extra dessert, vegetables will return next week. 

Join Tim and Ben during a happier time (before Israel killed Nasrallah) for the conclusion of Ridley Scott Summer. You know the drill, everyone thinks this movie sucks ass but actually we think it's good. 

Erik, Ben and Tim are all together to celebrate another 9/11 along with the less crazy but still wild three year anniversary of the podcast. Everyone made the mistake of listening to Ben and we wound up watching and talking 2006's bewildering Death of a President. We wade through an insanely twisty 96 minutes that left all us scratching our heads trying to figure out what the hell this movie is actually supposed to be about. We also talk Syria, Bush era derangement syndrome, Green Day. We marvel at James Urbaniak's show stealing bit part, do competing W impressions and end with not one but two big announcements about the future of the show. Neither involves us quitting, sorry to the haters and nothing but love for the rest of you xoxo

Welcome to the week of 9/11, and the third anniversary of PNAC pod! As a special treat this week, we're releasing a bit of a prototype episode in which Erik does a solo scene talking about Gary Berntsen's 2005 book, Jawbreaker. This is the first in a rolling series of more book report episodes to come, hopefully each successive entry more streamlined than the last. Check back next week for 1-2 episodes in this same vein that will go a bit more indepth than this one on Patrick Seale's 1991 book, Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire. 

Ben and Erik are joined all the way from Beiruit by independent journalist Séamus Malekafzali (@seamus_malek) to get a firsthand report of a week where Israel only continues to ramp up regional aggression and murder civilians (and journalists, and humanitarian aid workers). Together, we talk about the twin assassinations by Israel that sparked a response from Hezbollah while Iran continues to leave us all guessing. We also talk Sinwar hiding in women's clothes (?), Rape Rebellion vets on the Israeli talk show circuit, Judith Miller, polio, and grim future plans for Egypt & Jordan. All that, plus US CENTOM goes looking for love in all the right places. Check out Sèamus' excellent substack: https://www.seamus-malekafzali.com/ And stay tuned some more fun guests as we celebrate the build up to the 3 (!!) year anniversary of us starting the show. Thanks as always for listening, some exciting news will be coming soon!

Classico PNAC, the boys get together to spin a yarn about a very cool Saudi businessman with 9/11 ties and some very cool kids and grandkids. This story has everything from interior design to combat sports to Israel and KSA normalizing relations over their love of really bad electronic music. Remember to follow us on Triller! Dan Christensen article on Florida Bulldog: https://www.floridabulldog.org/2017/05/mysterious-saudi-businessman-in-911-puzzle-surfaces-online/

We're not exactly sure how this happened, but it seems like most of twitter decided to watch Prometheus at the same time Ben and Tim decided to do an episode about it while Erik was away. 

Ben and Erik are back to discuss a round-up of best remembered current events from the last 3 weeks as the boys have been away. We actually buckled down and did our homework to discuss the KSM et al. Gitmo trial/plea deal/reversal story starring our favorite Defense Secretary. Shouts out to Carol Rosenberg for her articles covering the trial and all the work she does from Gitmo. 

What even is time, anyway?   Apologies for the choppiness throughout, we were both experiencing connection issues while recording. Super producer Erik is of the belief that he did a good job cleaning it up.

Or “The Woman Who Was Cool”. The boys sit down with good friend of the show Gus to remind you that Todd Field invented Big League Chew and also that his movie Tár absolutely rules. We dare to ask “is Cate Blanchette good at conducting?”, spot ghosts, trying to enjoy Monster Hunter, playing the triangle right and “what this movie is actually about?” Watching the End of History will return next along with Hollywood Tim as we tackle another deeply weird Stephen Spielberg/Tom Cruise 00s sci-fi movie. This time though, a movie that is almost as obsessed with 9/11 as our show is: 2005's War of the Worlds.   Transition bits include: Bernstein obsessing over the triangle section in rehearsal: https://youtu.be/ebf6_7nHciw?si=4Pf9cuzYp9r7raGh Bernstein lecturing on Mahler 5 from the piano: https://youtu.be/A7O5zcQPRQQ?si=OcB-xcprNZe9I_4P Bernstein conducting Mahler 5 with Vienna Philharmonic: https://youtu.be/Bj6KLv7kv2Q?si=6C_RBoOoJdR6pcu1 Jacqueline du Pre playing the Elgar Cello Concerto under Barenboim: https://youtu.be/OPhkZW_jwc0?si=8_s1VcrFi288l03n

Oh shit. Oh no. No no no. Oh shit,  fuck fuck fuck. Holy fuck, this ain't good.   Ben also formally apologizes to our listening public for repeatedly confusing 747s and 767s. We will do better.   Atlantic article referenced: https://archive.ph/PomMR (that URL reads "P...o..m...not Po- you know what, nevermind). Anyway, this should get around any paywalls.

Tim read an ungodly amount of background material about Southland Tales, so we can consider this a followup to PNAC ep. 23 on Richard Kelly's masterpiece (https://podnac.libsyn.com/ep-23-pimps-dont-commit-suicide).

Apologies for our delay in releasing the second part of this episode, we got extradited yet again and lost wifi.

Ben is off reverse-engineering Baldur's Gate 3 to have even more girlfriends, so Erik and Tim are joined by PD to discuss John Woo's Paycheck. The PKD novel with the girl with the twin in her stomach is indeed Dr. Bloodmoney. The opening music is an excerpt from "Combat Cocktail" by Ville Kaillo from Cruelty Squad, the closing is "Starbucks, Dr. Seussism, and While Your Mac Is Sleeping" by James Ferraro

This one goes out to Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney. Two brave women who were heroes for as long as they were able to be.

We're continuing to host Super Producer Tim's show here on our feed because we want to and it rules and you should listen to him. So here we present: The first entry in Blue And White 00s Computer Movies! Spielberg and Tom Cruise team up to create the finest feature length Looney Tunes episode adapted from a Philip K. Dick story. Tune in to find out whether Fargo is a good movie. Intro Music: Only (Richard X Mix) by Nine Inch Nails. Outro Music: The Hand That Feeds (Photek Straight Mix) by Nine Inch Nails.

We recorded this one back in 2023 so I have no idea what gets covered besides a wild ass story involving Jackie Chan. Also, I was wrong in the intro and after 100 hours can say Baldur's Gate 3 owns. We will return with another PNAC after Easter and then get back to the movies after that.

Jesus, I promised no more of these but if Starfield warranted one so did this. Journey back in time a month or so and listen to Ben and Tim sit down for a freewheeling discussing on the Cyberpunk universe, 2077 and it's 2.0 update along with the DLC Phantom Liberty. We spoil the shit out of everything so if it's still stuck in your backlog know that an actual episode of 9/11 will be back out next. Until then I gotta delta, stay nova my choom.

In part 2 of this epic, cyberpunk double feature we talk about good friend of the show and possible CIA asset Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 masterpiece Strange Days. This is one of Ben's favorite movies and he thinks you should watch it immediately if you have not seen it before.

Consider this proof of life. The PNAC boys still can't get a flight out of Khartoum after negotiations for our first live show went.... well not the way we wanted them to go. As we work tirelessly with the State Department here is some bonus content of the boys having a deliriously long conversation with producer Tim about 1995's Johnny Mnemonic for his show about computer movies Grim Tones. This was recorded like a year ago so I can't summarize shit but it was a lot of fun and you should listen. Look for more  previously recorded content to drip out this weekend along with the last finished PNAC episode we recorded prior to this whole mess starting sometime within the week. Regular programming ought to resume shortly, thanks for sticking with us as always in the meantime.

If you find this an unpleasant bummer just remember it could have been The Devil's Rejects. Also, this was recorded mere days before the A24 Death Stranding movie was announced and Ben and Tim are very excited while Erik still doesn't understand what you actually do in that game. Next episode we are going back to where this show started, Tim Burton's psychosexual Christmas time melodrama that boldly asks “Tim, you know this is a movie for kids right?”, Batman Returns (1992).

Welcome to a new season of PNAC! The boys are done with games and baby stuff and focus their attention back to the big wedding itself. We go back to the good ol days and sit down with the History Commens timeline and start by covering the day of 9/11/011 from midnight to ~6:30 AM EST. We repeat some stuff that's come up on prior episodes but have plenty of riffs and some real eyebrow raisers to set the table for what's to come. All that plus some nuanced ass rememberace of Henry Kissinger including an aside from Ben about Anthony Bourdain everyone can yell at Erik at. Also, we recorded this on 11/30 and REALLY jinxed the then ongoing ceasefire, our bad.

Oh, you thought you were just starting with the game? You sweet summer child.....

Tim gets to pick his first movie for our show and..... man where do we even begin. Join us as we lose our minds over the new craziest Biblical epic we have tackled to date. Our next two films will be Only God Forgives (2013) along with it's sister making of documentary My Life Directed By Nicholas Winding Refn (2014). You should really watch both the doc is like 50 minutes long and so damn funny. Next month we will be doing a Ben's Birthday pick with Rob Zombie's war on terror masterpiece The Devil's Rejects (2005). The first Metal Gear episode is done and will be out the week of Thanksgiving and a final, Christmas movie to end the year is still up in the air at the point. We hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoy making them and the 9/11 shit is coming back real soon, I'm already putting the notes together and will drive Erik absolutely mad.

I am so sorry but hey, at least it's free?

Class is postponed bc the boys are too pissed off at the war that Israel has been waging war on the Palestinian people since Hamas committed their audacious attacks back on 10/7. With no end the killing in the boys talk about the attack itself, whistle signatures, the appalling Israeli response and the cowardly reaction by and large from the West. It's still PNAC so we still find time to talk Verdi tuning, Alan Wake 2, Abu Nidal and our plans for the rest of 2023 including another attempt at manifesting a Judith Miller guest appearance. From the river to the sea.

Once again the boys are back and joined by friend of the show/WTEH third mic, Tim, to stare directly into the sun (Erik was reportedly staring directly into Cillian Murphy's eyes, actually) and lose our minds over Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's 2007 thriller, Sunshine. If any references seem dated, it's because we recorded this thing back in like August. Erik and Ben will be back on the PNAC ish sooner rather than later and we'll have another WTEH out in a couple weeks on Darren Aronofsky's absolutely INSANE 2014 epic, Noah.

Friend of the show Jonah joins lone wolf Ben for a light chat that went way too long. They are calling this the worst episode in PNAC history. Unfortunately, stick around for some news about the future of the show (still not ending, sorry)

Finally liberated from a CIA black site in Poland the boys are speaking their truth. Honestly, this was recorded so long ago I don't remember much but we will be asking the biggest question yet: what if a president gave a speech. Next movie episode soon and look for an update about the future of PNAC within the next week or so!

Bonus episode! The boys talk about the somewhat recent TMZ produced tv documentary about another plane that narrowly avoided being hijacked on 9/11. In the back half we are talking Turki and some recent disclosures that tie back to all our best friends of the show. All that plus the worst cold open we have done in nearly 2 years of the show. We will be having a Crisis of Confidence later this week so stick around and don't panic, the President has read a self-help book.

In October of 1994, three student podcasters disappeared in the woods near Burkitsville, Maryland while recording an episode. A year later their audio was found.  Ben Erik Tim Have all been missing and presumed dead ever since. If you have any information about their disappearance please visit BringBenHomeAlive.biz. Also in 2 weeks we continue our summer of bangers with Danny Boyle's Sunshine which is quickly shaping to be our most contentious episode to date.   PS: Link to the referenced NIN video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gV8yQc0m7g&pp=ygUNbmluIGhhcmQgY29weQ%3D%3D

I'd like to take a moment to apologize....TO ABSOLUTELY NO-ONE! PNAC BOYS DO WHATEVER WE WANT!! We keep reading Reaganland and go over the 1979 energy crisis. Next week we'll talk Iranian Revolution and Crisis of Confidence. I'm not writing anymore goddamn show notes. Ben, this is your job. I hope "having a gf" was worth it.

We are doubling up on WTEH this week because it's been too goddamn hot to organize our thoughts into a coherent proper episode! We will be back VERY soon to talk about gas shortages, nuclear, and Jane Fonda; we'll also be going over a bit of the Prince Turki news. Look for the new PNAC early next week. For now, here is Erik and Ben with friend of the show Collin going over Adam Wingard's 2014 BANGER, The Guest starring Cousin Matthew, that girl from It Follows, and the kid who looks homeless from The OA. 

Hola, chica. The boys finally return with the Summer of Bangers. We are joined by Michael Mann scholar and good friend Connor to talk about Mann's audacious, gritty reimagining of his classic 80s tv show. We also talk go-fast boats, Nazis, bespoke suits, and Grand Theft Auto. Also a lot of moaning and groaning while trying to explain how impossibly beautiful this movie is. Later this week the catch up continues when another friend joins us to discuss the bugfuck insane 2013 horror/thriller The Guest. Ben also gets the song wrong during the boat scene to Cuba it's actually Moby and Patti LaBelle. We recorded late and I'll do better.

The boys return for a loose holiday weekend dive back into 1979 with a look into the rise of the evgangelical right. We talk more shit about Tim Lahey, go even harder on Anita Bryant and talk megachurches, homophobia and Orson Welles and the concept of eternal return. All that plus the murder of Harvey Milk, the Twinkie defense, admitting Jim Jones had sauce and remembering yet again "holy shit, Dianne Feinstein is so old". Watching the End of History's Summer of Bangers will start this weekend with another good friend joining us to talk Michael Mann's 2006 vibes based masterpiece Miami Vice (theatrical cut).

The boys put on their cowboy hats and get on the bus to talk about one of Ben's all time favorite movies: Kenneth Lonergan's 2011 coming-of-age tale of trauma, Margaret. We get into PTSD, realizing your life isn't a movie, and #ReleaseTheMartyCut; along with The Girlfriend Experience, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Zizek-pilled Jean Reno, and generally just get unbelievably real on this.

Welcome to season 3. In which Erik and Ben go toe to toe with end boss Bush/Cheney/Rummy etc. We power walk down memory lane catching you up on world history since the end of the Second World War. Spider networks, World War 3, anti communist extermination campaigns all bring us to the fateful year where the wheels truly start to come off the bus. Plus we talk Adam Curtis, the NBA playoffs, and reach back into the PNAC vault to read some throwback election analysis from friend of the show and former twitter user "not the real Marina Oswald". Pardon Erik's moronic and incessant laughter throughout the episode, he was strung out on no sleep and fresh morning air after recently adopting a stray kitten.

Just when you thought he was out, he's back in: Tha Sexual Chessmaster aka PD is back with the PNAC crew to discuss Zack Snyder's 2009 Watchmen. Next WTEH will be Margaret (2011) and we'll be back soon with PNAC as we get into a jaunt down the year of 1979 and all the insane shit that happened that year.

We are joined by Canadian correspondent and good friend of the show Ambrose Sylvan to discuss their new article on Saudi Arabia, Qatar and their ties to Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter last year. We ask what the Canadian 9/11 was and talk Arab Spring, Saudi sportswashing and get get into Jack Teixeira and the Discord Papers. We also make fun of Matt Taibbi, cancel Hitler, and decide if Ben can change Noor Bin Laden. Ambrose's CovertAction Magazine article: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/04/06/flipping-the-bird-site-how-elon-musks-twitter-builds-a-pipeline-from-the-alt-right-to-salafi-extremists/   For more of Ambrose's writing, visit their site "Liminal States": https://liminalstates.politics.blog/ 

Live from Golgotha it is the PNAC boys. We celebrate Easter the only way we know how, by dipping into Mel Gibson's deranged Bush era snuff film The Passion of Christ. Plus this time around we are also talking S Craig Zahler, Terri Schiavo, Left Behind along with holding Mel accountable for some frankly unbelievably antisemitic content. In 2 weeks we have returning champion/sexual chess master PD joining us to talk Zach Snyder's Watchmen and Ben is so ready to be yelled at.

And in the second half of our double header we have podcast dad Adam Fitzgerald back to wrap up our season 2 investigation as we separate fact from fiction with regards to Urban Moving Systems, the infamous Dancing Israelis and further links between Mossad and the larger 9/11 universe. Plus we look back at 20 years since the invasion of Iraq and Ben gets really pissed off at NPR as a result. We are back to our regular schedule and will be blessing you next Easter Weekend with a new Watching The End of History on Mel Gibson's 2004 snuff film The Passion of the Christ. Keep an eye out for a preview in the coming week or so for our next investigation because in order to fight our greatest battle we must first gaze backwards into the abyss of the past.

The boys are back and this time are joined by the man who first put the sickness that is Richard Blee's name into our heads all those years ago Ben Howard (@housetrotter). We dig into a newly unredacted and often very spicy filing from the Guantanamo 9/11 hearings. We are catching up on all your favorites here folks; Bandar, Omar, Alec Station and of course a return to the bad food restaurant. All that and a super import update on the immediate future from Ben to kick off the show.   Links: Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/housetrotter Seth Hettena article in SpyTalk: https://www.spytalk.co/p/exclusive-fbi-agents-accuse-cia-of Ben's article with Peter Dale Scott and Aaron Good in CovertAction Magazine:  Pt. 1: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/09/11/the-twenty-year-shadow-of-9-11-u-s-complicity-in-the-terror-spectacle-and-the-urgent-need-to-end-it/ Pt. 2: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/09/13/the-twenty-year-shadow-of-9-11-part-2-why-did-key-u-s-officials-protect-the-alleged-9-11-plotters/ Pt. 3: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/09/27/stepping-out-of-the-shadow-of-9-11-start-by-ending-the-post-9-11-states-of-emergency/

Back with a slightly wonky show order the boys use the recent headlines as an excuse to dive into JC Chandor's 2011 debut Margin Call. We also fondly recall NBC's The Slap, lament Kevin Spacey's insane heel turn, along with the nosedive that became Chandor's career. All that plus a fight over whether or not Frances Ha sucks that gets so intense, the show nearly ends for good. But we will be back Easter weekend with Mel Gibson's ode to ass kickings: The Passion of the Christ from 2004.

Ben didn't give me show notes, but we talked about the TRUE STORY of Benghzai as only Michael Bay could deliver. Join us in discussing the SOY CIA, our beautiful operators, and that SHIT CAN known as Libya.

Live from the back of a panel van parked across the street from the FBI's Dallas field office it's the PNAC boys. We continue diving into the Shea Memo by examining the largest foreign spy ring ever discovered in the United States. We lay out the evidence from both the memo and the famous declassified DEA report on the frankly incredible number of weird stories of deeply sus folks peddling the worst art in the world. We recorded this just before Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was announced but just know Ben has a lot of thoughts about Saint Trina (we all know it's Miquella -Erik) that will be covered at length down the road.

We are joined this time around by good friend of the show Tim for an "Oops! All Tangents" romp through Renny Harlan and Shane Black's wild 1996 Lady Jason Bourne thriller, The Long Kiss Goodnight. We will be back in 2 weeks with another friend of the show to talk Ronald Emmerich's 2004 climate disaster flick, The Day After Tomorrow which nearly two decades later holds up wonderfully!

From the counter of a New Mexico roadside dinner the boys are back and talking Oliver Stone's 1994 psycho killing love story Natural Born Killers. We got a spicy one after a largely lockstep first 2 episodes. We are also talking this week Tarantino, Skinamarink, Devil's Rejects, Dave McGowen, the Michael Keaton episode of King of the Hill plus SO MUCH talk about Charles Whitman. We will be back in 2 weeks with our first guest so have fun watching the 1996 Renny Harlin/Shane Black thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight. Fair warning there's a fair bit of sexual violence referenced in this

As always on PNAC, in order to go forward we must go back. So we invited a friend to join us and discuss the broad history of Palestinian settlement and occupation going back to 1915-17 through the Oslo Accords. Thank you to our friend for joining us and thanks to Slavic intern Sammy for helping set up this opportunity!