Talking Turkey

Should we let children run things? We are in desperate need of new ideas. Is it time to truly empower the youth? Intro music performed by Mack Ray Outro music by To Good Friends

Why was Y2K music so terrible? A reappraisal of music of the millennium: the garbage fire of smooth jazz (St Germain), bland techno (Moby), Nu Metal, Alternative, and Garage Rock. Intro music performed by Mack Ray Outro music by To Good Friends

High school reunions and the ideal technological eras. Intro music performed by Mack Ray Outro music by To Good Friends

The story behind a (cursed) photo of man named Gary & does style really originate in the big city? Intro music performed by Mack Ray Outro music by To Good Friends

A GENERATIONAL BOIL-DOWN The conclusion of our quest to distill the modern generations to their essences, including: Baby Booms Gen X Old Millennials Young Millennials Gen Z Thanks for making 2022 the best year for this podcast since 2016!

The Modern Generations, reduced to their essences Can the complexity of a generation be reduced to a simple tagline? The Turkey Boys say yes. In this New Year's 'Boiling it Down' extravaganza, we tackle: The Lost Generation The Greatest Generation The Silent Generation Keep your eyes on that feed for Part 2! Happy New Year's!

A CLOSE READING OF HOME ALONE The conclusion of an extensive (somewhat Marxist) reading of John Hughes' holiday classic Happy Holidays from the Turkey Boys!

HOME ALONE, A READING: PT 1 James and Neil return in fine seasonal form to break down Home Alone in this special Xmas edition of your favourite "seasonal podcast."

A rare Day turkin romp + the long-awaited release of the Nicholbits theme. Let the turkey dump begin! Topics include: Neil on “cranking” - Why it looks like when he writes Neil's Confessions of a B2B Copywriter Why James lost years of his life in the labyrinthine prose of Thomas DeQuincey why is writing always painful? Navneet Alang on Great Life Work (link) coming to terms with “waste” in the writing process why “writing” doesn't always look like writing A new slogan for B2B? Is Neil a social lion? Why Joe Exotic was the perfect Pandemic metaphor James outlines Caged Tiger Syndrome (CTS) -Why NO TV/NO MOVIES is better for conversation Why James continues to shake people up Why Tennis is fake and so are all other sports Focusing on the “real” stuff James tells a story about missing a raptors playoff game while parenting in Whistler James has a run-in with Australian tourists whilst hangry Sports fandom and the urge to merge James introduces the Nicholbits theme Nichobits: Put-Pocketing: the counterpoint to pickpocketing James Discusses Spain and modern pickpocketing a tourist opportunity for Barcelona Neil's new TV obsession: Atlanta Propcorn a new nickname for menstruation a QWERTY opportunity Gros Cherie, a feminist herstory Ancient Mariner meets SNL

Neil is back home to smoketown grande, and James is ready to let the dogs out. Topics include: the origins of Neil's vintage Who Let The Dogs Out tee Introducing Nicholbits Snaxidents SmoothTea tea vs soup Scholar's Blend Coffee The truth behind Cardi B's name The rise of conversational seasoning Relegation in the Premier League Relegation broadly applied Why bus drivers shouldn't comment on Steven Tyler's gums Guelph's Mafia history A new role for the poetry Corps A Rustication, broadly applied Some love for the court jester figure Street Poets as Watchers James promos his new show GREAT LIFE WORK (greatlifework.com) James reveals an old man basketball injury Contact us at wetalkturkey@gmail.com Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends

There are stores and then there's Chips of the World. Welcome to this remote recording of Talking Turkey, where we find Neil in the Lynchian expanses of Vancouver Island. While the audio quality falters (apologies), the content flows free and pure: How to integrate Juice Pigs into society Victoria, BC as a palimpsest of styles Coastal BC vs Interior BC Story time: James gets lost on the ferry to Victoria Turkey Merch ideas: Poetry Corp dad hats? Neil's Business Breakdown: CHIPS OF THE WORLD Why the world now needs a brick and mortar international chip store Memories of the Peak Mall Era How the mall's internet kiosk led to its demise Ultimate Potato Rankings: Is Russet the King Neil as the J Peterman of Chips Designing the Chips of the World logo Into the dark: the coming global famine The Food Professor Podcast (link) Why gardening is more important than ever Why you need to grow your own greens Nutrient degradation in greens study (link) Contact us at wetalkturkey@gmail.com Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends

A ramble like this ought to be mandatory. Segment-heads rejoice because the segments are flowing like cheap brandy! LISTENER QUESTION: What would the Turkey Kings re-do? NEIL'S BUSINESS BREAKDOWN: introducing "The Analog Store" HOUSEKEEPING: TT Segment jingles? OFFICE HOURS: tales of grading and plagiarist hunting trophies Contact us at wetalkturkey@gmail.com Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends

We Were Promised Smoothness This (almost) discarded ep is a whirlwind tour through soft rock, psilocybin, Eddie Rabbit and so much more. All turkeys must fly including: James reveals the psychedelic underpinnings of his interest in sparkling water Pandemic drinking habits Country music's cleverness crutch James' explains FODMAPS Soft Rock: The history of an orphaned music genre James' new favourite band Stage Fright NJ Easy Listening vs Adult Contemporary vs Middle of The Road John Lennon's Raw God vs studio version Everyone rocks, no one rolls. Joey Diaz and Ryan Sicker's the Honeydew No TV / No Movies end game Contact us at wetalkturkey@gmail.com Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends

Another wide-ranging turkfest complete with copious fixins: Fixins include: Legendary or Lame? The legacy of ACDC Charting Radiohead's rise The Cohen Bros. unprecedented run of films James recalls the beautiful mind of Quebecois treeplanter "Guy" Essential housekeeping, new segments abound Stories from the Stacks: lessons learned from TAing James continues on about carbonation and what it's like to chase a 2 year old for 12 hours Neil goes 'Essay mode' working through a reading of dismembered ears and violence in Blue Velvet, Reservoir Dogs, Fight Club, and more. Finally, James boils down international cuisine in the most reductive way possible Thanks for Listening! More to come! Contact us at wetalkturkey@gmail.com Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends

Episode Notes Is it possible to move beyond Romanticism? Highlights include: More serving stories: James rises the ranks Why Neil is finally sick of the Romantics Are we entering our post-Romantic period? The sad life and times of Hartley Coleridge Academic War Stories A real life McDonald's Heist! James unfurls his unified theory of personal Romanticism White Walking in the Dream World Thanks for Listening! More to come! Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism  Outro music by To Good Friends Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co

With Neil stricken with the 'vid, the fellas discuss the COVID protocols of yore. What will we keep from the pandemic era? Do some people like the restrictions? Will there be long hermits? Next, spurred by Jeff Bezos' rocketship antics, James proposes an ostensibly dumb solution to the world's wealth inequality--is a simple "re-do" crazy enough to work? Finally, the lads swap UK serving stories like cutlery mid-course--with James spilling A LOT of red wine and Neil running the oldest trick in the book. Thanks for Listening! Let the content pipeline flow--more to come! Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co

Episode Notes The lads freewheel through an array of topics in this particularly meaty serving of turkey repast. Topics covered include: The challenges of modern parenting: limiting screens and social media James explains his personal "No TV/No Movies" Policy Neil gets a newspaper subscription Are Boomers getting assaulted by algorithms? "Moany Canadian Rock" vs Moxy Fruvous James remembers serving Jian Ghomesi tea 90's Irony Training and the False Dawn of 90's Humour The ICQ microgeneration vs TikTok youths Finally, for the true TurkeyHeads, please stick around for The Perfect Gift for Dad the 4 Tenets of Aging Gracefully Thanks for Listening! Intro music performed by Jordan Mack of Vangelism Outro music by To Good Friends

From the arbitrary starting point of Al Green's unmatched crooning, this music-focused episode unspools far and wide, threading together discussions of D'Angelo & Questlove vs the Drum Machine Why isn't live hip hop more of a thing? Ringo as the King of Feel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJTjjAXDZSY) The Beatles 'Get Back' and accessing the Right Brain Pythagorean Harmonics, the Monochord, & The Aeolian Harp Why Neil finally likes Paul McCartney's after 'Get Back' Enter Billy Preston, Cool Breeze Finally, the lads switch gears and consider Twitter Hot Takes and why the Universe = Complex Thanks for Listening! Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co

Salvaged audio with takes too hot to deny, this episode finds the Turkers breaking down: -Neil's move & the advantage of a high moving team Tom Petty's One Chord Genius Traveling Wllbury's as Roy Orbison's Weekend At Bernie's? The Ultimate Diva/Queen rankings, featuring an extensive breakdown of Madonna, Cher, Mariah and Shania. Uncanny Valley: What is captured when Neil appears on Google Maps Please send Existential Life Advice Questions to wetalkturkey@gmail.com More to come!

Episode Notes A Very Special Can't Miss Talking Turkey Seasonal Extravganza! The feeling of the final exam Yuletide and the Ghosts of Xmas Was Jesus a Virgin? James reveals his past as a Nerd Rapper Mary Shelley's On Ghosts Are we in a new Romantic Period? Merriest of Holidays from the Turkey Boys Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co

Episode Notes A sparkling water advertisement goes awry via rustic Quebec Introducing: Existential Life Advice Surprising Covid Adaptations Conspiracy theory & the weaponization of critique Send all existential questions to wetalkturkey@gmail.com Thanks for listening! Find out more at https://talking-turkey.pinecast.co

We back. All it took was a multi-year pandemic, but Neil and James have finally returned to tackle the topics of the day, including The return of the turk Regrettable edible stories How Keats invented the NFT Is the Parental "No Thank You" secretly S&M? the so-called "Design" of Vaginas Modern Phrenology Kids in the Halls' forgotten classic Brain Candy Ancient Flossing Techniques & so much more!

Say Gwen In this episode the boys begin with James posing the question to Neil as to whether the band No Doubt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZktNItwexo) were perhaps knowingly off the mark in devising their own band name. James proceeds to unpack the densely ironic name of the band through explaining Gwen Stefani's masterful and uncanny ability to “double eye.” + Following this crucial and prescient discussion the fellows move on to a consideration of the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the worlds of hip hop and the university. By way of the cringe-heavy context of old white men summoning “rap” in their problematic and doomed attempts to add hip hop to academic discussions of poetry and language (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M61_L5PT-9A), the boys make the case for uniting these two worlds in a less politically and aesthetically offensive manner. This brief foray into hip hop concludes, unfortunately, with the boys' recollection of House of Pain alumnus Everlast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM6_7fgMorE), and his darker-than-thou-brand of mainstream country rap. Finally, the fellows turn to a discussion of the appropriateness of the word spooning in describing the act of a couple horizontally fixed in a loving, back-to-front embrace. Through a careful consideration of the nature of spooning, James offers the word forking as a more accurate designation. Enjoy the show.

The First Turk of All For those who heard the first time around and for those haven't--here you go! -- Welcome to Talking Turkey. In this the inaugural episode Neil and James take some time to introduce themselves and the podcast. These two fledgling academics begin by explaining why they have decided to momentarily put their dissertations aside and start talking turkey. After contextualizing and outlining the spirit and the aims of the show the boys get right down to it in their absurd consideration of the merits of tiny doors. This little conversation opens the door to the film Being John Malkovich (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/), which in turn leads to a serious debate on the power, or lack of thereof, of Malkovich's piss-poor Russian accent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RiuE1rWnso). Finally, the fellows move on to slightly loftier pursuits in a discussion of irony and sincerity. In wondering whether or not it is possible to attain sincerity through irony itself, the two find themselves, much to their surprise, transported to the land down-under where the Australians' propensity for sincere irony (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xijsCcDG0Fw), and their disdain for authority (http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-colour-of-money-r), force Neil and James to take a long hard look in the mirror. Enjoy the show.