uswithoutThem

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The uswithoutThem Podcast explores the musical output of one of the greatest bands of the 21st century: mewithoutYou. Hosts Nic Houle, Steven Eiler, and Joel Harrison each bring their love of mewithoutYou and some specific expertise to their song-by-song analysis of the mewithoutYou discography. Steven, a music theory educator and expert, breaks down the musical themes of each track and draws connections between songs and albums. Joel, a Ph.D. in religion with expertise in philosophy of religion and Christianity, explains the lyrical themes and the connections to and critiques of evangelical Christianity. Nic, a devoted mewithoutYou listener and Tolkein reader, ties these threads together with the perspective of the average mwY fan listening to the podcast.

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    • Nov 25, 2023 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 1h 24m AVG DURATION
    • 28 EPISODES
    • 2 SEASONS


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    Latest episodes from uswithoutThem

    S2|E12: Four Word Letter (Pt. Two), Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2023 48:15


    For the third time this year... WE'RE BACK! Exactly 6 months ago, we gave you Part 1 of a three hour conversation on "Four Word Letter (Pt. Two)." Today we bring you the final, riveting ~50 minutes. And we plan to bring you the rest of the season pretty soon too! Thanks for sticking around and being patient with us! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook 

    S2|E11: Four Word Letter (Pt. Two), Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2023 120:05


    WE RECORDED A FOUR HOUR EPISODE Post-production took some time "Though we wanted it sooner, we had to live our lives!" And you know who we are You held our words on your device from afar As we rambled blind Listening to our whispering in your ear Soft but getting stronger Telling you the only purpose of listening Is to listen a bit longer   Hey folks, uswithoutThem is back! We're sorry for the long break between episodes, but life happens, all of us our doing great, and we're gonna try and get the rest of Season 2 to you this summer, beginning with Part 1 of a roughly four hour conversation on "Four Word Letter (Pt. Two)!" Hopefully your summer road trip plans just got a whole lot nerdier! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook 

    S2|E10: My Exit, Unfair

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2023 151:39


    We had another little break between episodes, but fear not! You are being rewarded with another super sized episode. The guys talk about all the water, being in and leaving a church community, the story of Jonah, Bob Dylan, the nature of religion, and a lot more. Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E9: Paper-Hanger

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2023 138:06


    We're back after a bit of an extended break, and what an episode to come back on! We dig back into evangelical church culture, questions about Aaron's relationship to that culture, where Amanda is in all of this, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the plight of the unhoused, the wedding at Cana--it's a lot. Come read what's been scratched around the mouth of the glass with us! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E8: The Soviet

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2022 113:13


    More dancing this episode as Joel, Nic, and Steven investigate what God's love has to do with the dead two-stepping. We also finally arrive at the title of the record! Have the title theories changed at all since the overview episode? Listen and find out! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E7: Seven Sisters

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2022 94:19


    More poetry, more mythology, more... geometry? Come with us on the grassy road to discovering what all the clever words in "Seven Sisters" are all about! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E6: Disaster Tourism

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2022 97:41


    Joel, Steven, and Nic hop a plane to Amsterdam in this episode! Come along as Aaron encounters a lady of the night in search of an honest man at midday. Who needs a candle when the street is so bright with red lights? Lots of talk about mission trips, eye colors and the deceptions of sight, and--of course--T.S. Eliot!  Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E5: Leaf

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2022 81:16


    The boys are back after a week off and ready to talk some more foliage and the tasting of said foliage. Do you think Tolstoy has something to do with this puzzle? Listen and find out! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E4: Tie Me Up! Untie Me!

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2022 100:23


    Get your dancin' shoes on! Steven, Joel, and Nic dig into Aaron's search for God in the trees and at the bottom of the ocean. We know we ask a lot of the same questions in most of these episodes, but today we learn that we're in good company. Brother (and sister and sib), you won't be far away when you listen to this week's episode! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E3: January 1979

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2022 118:18


    This is a BIG one! Yeah, we know some of you are starting with this episode... Welcome! If you like what you hear, go back and check out the other episodes! The guys talk about toxic church communities, suffering servants, Aaron's minor celebrity, maritime imagery, post-punk and post rock sounds, the first mention of an anthropomorphized insect in a mewithoutYou song, and A LOT more! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E2: Torches Together

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2022 118:10


    Through sprawling metaphors of community building, friendship, and loneliness, the opening track of Catch For Us The Foxes paints a picture more vivid than anything we find on mewithoutYou's first record. Nic, Joel, and Steven dive into those metaphors, the history of the Bruderhof community, and the promise of finding people you seem to resonate with.  Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S2|E1: Catch For Us The Foxes

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2022 96:17


    Nic, Steven, and Joel are back with the second season of uswithoutThem in which they tackle mewithoutYou's second album, Catch For Us The Foxes. In this episode, the boys talk about their memories associated with the record, its production, the title, and all the possible directions the season can go. Things are gonna get WILD this season, so get your interpretive theories ready! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook 

    S1|E15: [A-->B] Life Finale

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2022 93:55


    Today (June 18, 2022) marks the 20th anniversary of the release of [A-->B] Life. In the Season 1 finale, the boys reflect on the theories preposed, try to sum up all that was said about mewithoutYou's first record, and look ahead to future seasons!   Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E14: The Cure For Pain

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2022 104:13


    Hey. We made it. The end of [A-->B] Life is here as the guys dig deep into the final track: "The Cure for Pain." This discussion also includes the bonus track, the oft severely underrated acoustic version of "I Never Said That I Was Brave" sung by former bassist Dan Pishock. This episode is HUGE! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!  

    S1|E13: Silencer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2022 87:10


    The guys exit the void once again but this time find themselves with the narrator in the depths of despair. Loose dresses, frozen white roses, darkness--"Silencer" is chock full of fantastic imagery. As the album approaches its conclusion, Steven, Joel, and Nic begin to tie up some of the narrative loose threads.   Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E12: (B)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2022 42:17


    So nice, they did it twice. Here's another 45 minutes on an instrumental track, this time the second one on [A-->B] Life. The guys talk about voids, Vonnegut, Tolkien, memory, Faust, missed opportunities--there's a lot to get into! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E11: I Never Said That I Was Brave

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2022 58:26


    The guys round out the second act of the narrative with a discussion of "I Never Said That I Was Brave." More historical, literary, and operatic references than are necessary (certainly), but nothing new there. Onward! Progress! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E10: We Know Who Our Enemies Are

    Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2022 68:01


    More poetics. More drama. More mystery. More...Nirvana? Joel, Nic, and Steven are talking about "We Know Who Our Enemies Are" this week. Join them as they try not to catch their death figuring out what the heck is going on! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E9: Be Still, Child

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2022 83:46


    Missionary relationships, Nirvana, and Mozart's Don Giovanni. What do they have in common? We think you already know the answer. The boys cover a surprisingly large amount of territory on the seventh track from [A-->B] Life, "Be Still, Child." We're half way through the season! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E8: Gentleman

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2022 53:49


    That's right. We said we would come back, and now we're back, and we hope you enjoyed your time alone. But you're not alone now, because Nic, Joel, and Steven are going to come and whisper in your ear, my dear, "It'll be alright!" We may or may not be lying about that (the whispering.) The gentlemen dive into a discussion of "Gentleman," the midpoint of the record, but the beginning of our narrative arc. Is the narrator really a stalker? Is he recalling some half-forgotten memory? Was this relationship over before our story ever started? Listen as we try to pinpoint the beginning of this circle!

    S1|E7: (A)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2022 41:59


    A whole episode on an instrumental track that's less than a minute long? Preposterous! Impossible! Unthinkable! WELL THINK AGAIN! We did it, y'all. It's not the 90 minutes you've gotten the last few episodes, but it's a solid 42 minutes breaking down this instrumental transition--a musical vortex, if you will--into what we're arguing is the beginning of the narrative of the album. You also get some musings on the producer of the record, J. Robbins, who has produced a ton of late 90s/early 00s emo classics. No, not Fall Out Boy (wink).  Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E6: Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 89:31


    This episode is PACKED. We get a primer on John Donne and the metaphysical poets of 16th c. England, an explanation of the oft misquoted Vonnegut line from which this track takes its title, and discussions of 90s emo, 9/11, Bach, Orpheus, Cornerstone memories, mewithoutYou fashion, and much, MUCH more. Strap in, because this is definitely the best episode so far! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple, Google, and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E5: Nice and Blue

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2022 90:30


    This week, the boys discuss track three from [A-->B] Life, "Nice and Blue." They talk about healing from emotional pain, wine and wineskins, and the use of the chromatic mediant in Franz Schubert and The Doors. Has the Narrator finally made the turn from the aesthetic life to the ethical? Or did he truly miss what he was supposed to learn? Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!  

    S1|E4: The Ghost

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2022 77:21


    This week Steven, Nic, and Joel discuss "The Ghost" and dig deeper into their narrative theory for the record. The book of Job, Kurt Vonnegut, circus music--they get into it all! Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E3: Bullet to Binary

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2022 79:02


    Joel, Nic, and Steven dive into "Bullet to Binary," the first track from [A-->B] Life, and discuss Islamic mysticism, break-ups at 20 years old, John Carpenter's Halloween theme, and the operas of Henry Purcell. Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E2: [A-->B] Life

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2022 54:00


    The guys introduce the record for Season 1, [A-->B] Life, discussing musical influences and connections from Hildegard of Bingen to Slint's Spiderland and the plan to use Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or as a potential lens through which to interpret the record. Steven also floats an interesting Tarantino-esque theory for how we can understand the narrative order of the tracks.  Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    S1|E1: What Do We Do Without mewithoutYou?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2022 63:53


    Welcome to uswithoutThem! In this inaugural episode, Nic, Joel, and Steven introduce the podcast and themselves and talk about the legacy of mewithoutYou, how they got into the band, and some of the things they're most excited about digging into over the course of the entire series. Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple and Spotify! For more info about the podcast, including show notes, short blogs, and host info, visit our website: uswithoutthempod.com Join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going: uswithoutThem Podcast Keep up with the latest on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook  We got stickers!

    Introducing uswithoutThem

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 16, 2022 2:45


    The trailer for a new podcast launching March 8, 2022 exploring the musical output of one of the greatest bands of the 21st century: mewithoutYou. It's uswithoutThem.

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