Snakes & Otters Podcast

Martin brings another "What If?" conundrum to the boys, going back to World War I and wondering . . . what if the Allies told Germany to 'pound sand' with their request for an armistice in 1918 and decided to plow forward instead and seek the Central Powers total defeat?

Robert shoots from the hip and brings in an amazing quote about change, growth and the evils of stagnation from the great German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . . . 

Robert takes command as the guys discuss the quintessential Gen X director, the late John Hughes, and how his movies both captured and helped create the pop cultural phenomenon known as the Eighties . . .

Cajun brings us a Jefferson Davis (yes that Jefferson Davis) quote to digest. Does the Majority really rule? 

Francis does his best M for the guys as they discuss the ramifications of the recent sale of the Bond franchise creative rights to Amazon. Martin, per usual, isn't happy. 

Francis takes charge and the guys spend a LOT of time discussing an excellent Mark Twain quote and what it means for personal goals. 

Martin takes the conn on this inaugural episode of the guys highlighting some of history's worst - and yet not well remembered - doucebags. (Martin came up with the phrase with his usual directness.) This go-around the guys talk about some guys that caused a whole lot of trouble back in their day, Serbian Dragutin Dimitrijević and Frenchman Phillipe Petain. 

The guys take a moment to update everyone on their various writing projects before diving into a series of Robert's quotations, all linked to one from David Foster Wallace about depression, sarcasm, humor and helping those in need. Powerful stuff indeed!

Martin brings the boys back into the arena of philosophy and the intriguing person of French philosopher and writer Albert Camus and his reactionary philosophy of absurdism. It gives Martin the warm fuzzies.  The guys have to decide between Doors 1, 2 or 3 and there is plenty of debate all around.

Andre sits in the Captain's Chair and throws down an amazing quotation from the English poet Robert Browning and the guys bat it around all over the board, discussing Pelagianism, the nature of heaven and all sort of eternal things.

Martin takes the Captain's Chair as the fellas all discuss the films of the great director Michael Mann. Martin has a particular penchant for Heat, whereas Francis and Cajun are definitely Last of the Mohicans fans . . . 

Martin takes the guys into a discussion on a Max Weber quote. Weber is credited as essentially the world's first sociologist, and the discussion gets pretty heated. 

The guys discuss the landmark career of the first American film director to be considered an auteur and artist. Blemishes and all. 

Robert delivers an on-the-spot interview of Master Distiller Joyce Nethery at Kentucky Bourbon Festival. She was super gracious and we're big fans. 

Francis brings in artist and activist Keith Haring and we talk propaganda vs art. Martin antagonizes the captain a bit. 

Francis mans the barricades and guys examine the second half of the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror and beyond.

We take on the roots of the French Revolution and it began to devolve to murder and madness. 

Brother Andre is up for captain on this one, he's got some favorite food and recipes he pitches as a starting point for a gastronomy Snakes & Otters style. And yes, it involves how to properly prepare a steak. 

Martin throws the guys an Albert Camus quote to pick apart and profundity promptly ensues.

Francis wants to talk all things Terminator and what eventually happened with this groundbreaking sci-fi franchise. 

Andre once again proves his command fitness as he brings not one but three amazing quotations for the guys to chew on! Join us as we play around with some wise words from Seneca, Carl Jung, Pythagoras and maybe even a few more! Once again we prove why Snakes And Otters is the best podcast out there for deeps discussion and intellectual repartee par excellence!

Cajun takes the Captain's Chair and takes us on our fourth episode exploring the history of the United States westward expansion. This time we go deep with perhaps the biggest reasons for why things happened as they did . . . technological innovations in the area of transportation. Join the guys as they pick this one apart and discuss the western historical legacy and how it informs our world even today!

Andre takes command for the very first time and takes us all back to school. Remembering "brevity is the soul of wit" (which Francis is notorious for constantly forgetting) the guys take rapid fire questions one after another about our favorite things and why  . . . in just a few sentences! Hold on to your hats Otterites! Brother Andre is putting the boys through their paces!

Robert nearly gives Martin constipation with his choice of Clarence Darrow for this edition of Code of Honor. As usual, though, things work out splendidly as the guys discuss patriotism's specific approach to injustice, and whether Darrow was spot on  (or not) in calling out what he saw as a dangerous blindness.

Robert gets to play in his favorite sandbox as he leads us through a discussion of the current state of the once mighty Star Wars franchise, including how we got here, what we once (and still do) love so much, along with a heaping helping (naturally) of what we find bloody awful and deserving of our our eternal ire . . . 

Cajun captains the Brotherhood through an examination of a poignant speech by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.

Cajun takes the guys through a discussion of culture clashes and human decency (or lack thereof) with a talk about the post-Civil War western expansion and its effects on the Native American Tribes. 

Cajun takes the big chair and discusses his experience at the Superstars Writing Seminar with the guys. 

The guys risk heading to gaol, as they used to say in Britain, to work through an Oscar Wilde quote. 

Another in our "great directors" series, the guys tackle the legacy of Francis Ford Coppola, of Godfather saga and Apocalypse Now fame.

Martin captains this episode and chooses a quote from C. S. Lewis for us to toss around for a while. It's a lively discussion and lots of back and forth about the meaning to us and Lewis.

Listen to the Brotherhood of Snakes and Otters discuss, dissect, and opinionate about the man, the myth, the legend Clint Eastwood and his career move from in front of the camera to behind it too.

Robert leads the discussion with a quote from the great G. K. Chesterton. The man is one of the greatest writers you'll ever encounter. Hundreds of books. 9000 essays. Absolute wit and genius from Chesterton.

Join the Brotherhood discussing the films and work of Ridley Scott, genius filmmaker behind Alien, Blade Runner, and especially Gladiator. Three obvious greats of his incredible corpus of work, although we discuss tons more too . . . 

The Brotherhood talks resolutions and goals for the New Year. Hear the boys discuss what they're going to do and why Robert absolutely hates the term "resolutions"!

Join the boys at the Imperator's vast farmlands as they do CODE OF HONOR! It's a single quote now, and this one's from George Washington.

Join the Brotherhood (minus the missing Francis) as they discuss more of those movies they just have to stop and watch whenever they're on. 

Join the Brotherhood of Snakes & Otters for another episode of Code of Honor. Francis provides the quote for the guys this episode and he goes back to one of his favorites, Voltaire. The boys don't have a lot of agreement on the chosen quote this time, so the discussion gets lively. 

The Brotherhood of Snakes & Otters continues the series on Manifest Destiny and its effect on history. Listen in as they discuss not just the California Gold Rush, but also various others throughout history. As always there's bourbon in the middle and discussion on the why and what it all meant. Plus a surprise special guest joins us for this episode.

The Brotherhood returns to the new format of Code of Honor. Cajun provides a quote from Josh Billings, a contemporary of Sam Clemens, AKA Mark Twain. He's awesome and we're all quite enthralled.

On the heels of the last episode talking about the KY Bourbon Fest, the Brotherhood of Snakes and Otters returns to a favorite subject: BOURBON!!!! That's right. We talk about the history of bourbon and the effect it's had on the local region, nationally and of course, us! Cajun also provides a flight of bourbons for us to try. It's a blind taste test. Hear what we have to say.

The Brotherhood visits the KY Bourbon Fest in Bardstown, KY. Also known as the Holy Land, and not just because it's considered the home of Bourbon. Three days of bourbon tasting and soaking up the ambience that comes from hundreds, if not more, of bourbon fans from all across the world. Yes, the world. Someone was apparently from Australia.

The Brotherhood of Snakes and Otters does another episode of Code of Honor, but this one's different! With five members, it's hard to get done in a reasonable amount of time. This time, Captain Martin produced a quote for the Brotherhood to discuss. And did they ever! Take a deep dive into this one quote with the Brotherhood and hear Robert hammer home the summation as always.

The Brotherhood of Snakes and Otters takes a look at Helter Skelter phenomenon. No, not the Beatles song. Or the cover by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Or the latter one by U2. Who was Charles Manson, how did he create his cult and keep them under his sway? Perhaps most importantly, what influences did he have on society and the culture?

Join Snakes and Otters for a deep discussion on important and thought provoking quotes from each of us.

Join Snakes and Otters as they take a look at the beginnings of Manifest Destiny in the United State. What was Manifest Destiny? What drove the people of the day to expand the U.S. from "sea to shining sea"?

Listen in as the Mirror Universe version of Snakes and Otters takes over our 200th episode!   SERPENTS AND BEAVERS!!!!

Join the boys for a discussion of meaningful quotes that take us deep into what it means to be human, to be a good person or just stuff people should ponder once in a while.