Podcasts about bad dads

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!In this week's episode we dive into Better Man, Michael Gracey's glossy Robbie Williams biopic — the one where Robbie is portrayed as a CGI chimp. Yes, really. It's a bold swing that reframes a familiar music-biopic arc with unexpected bite: boy-band manufacture, burnout, reinvention, and the messy business of becoming “Robbie” when “Robert” is still in the room.What we coverThe Big Swing: Why the CGI chimp isn't a gimmick for giggles but a visual metaphor for the “performing monkey” persona Robbie built to survive fame — and why that works (or doesn't) for each of us.Factory Settings: From Nigel & Gary's control of Take That to the economics of who actually got paid, and the cost of being the “likeable one” without songwriting credits.Oasis Years & Networth Fever: The hang-around era, the envy, the one-upmanship, and the obsession with conquering Knebworth as validation.Dad, Demons & Dopamine: Anxiety, addiction, and that lifelong pursuit of approval — including the film's sweetest and saddest notes with Nan, and the uneasy father-son bookends.Does the Film Sing? Staging, choreography, and why set-pieces like “Rock DJ” land; what's rushed (Oasis/Nicole), what's caricature (sorry, Gary), and where the emotional math still doesn't balance.Should you watch the film — and our take on it?Short answer: yes to our episode (obviously), and qualified yes to the movie. One of us calls the chimp choice inspired, one calls it clever but not essential, and one is just happy it's never dull. If you like spirited disagreement with actual reasons, you're in the right feed.“It's every music-biopic cliché — but with a CGI chimp doing the coke. Somehow, that makes it feel new.”

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!Chimp genius or 70s hubris in a suede jacket? We dive into James Marsh's Project Nim—the wild “let's raise a chimp as a human” saga aimed at dunking on Noam/“Nim” Chomsky and proving apes can master language. What we actually get: sex-commune vibes, bad science, worse ethics, and one heartbreakingly charismatic chimp shunted between indulgent “parents,” media circuses, and grim laboratories.We talk:Language vs mimicry: 120+ signs learned…or just expert begging?The ‘parents': breast-feeding (!) and a roll-call of under-qualified carers.The professor: comb-over, cameras, and conclusions that nuke the funding.LEMSIP hell: cages, needles, PR panic—and the stoner saint Bob who actually cares.Violence & inevitability: cute baby ➝ teen primate with seven-men strength.Ethics, then and now: where the line is (and how far they trampled past it).Bits that floored usThe throwaway “I breastfed him.”Documenting Nim's Oedipal…metrics.A “sanctuary” with horses and one lonely chimp.A finale that's “interesting,” not “enjoyable.”Verdict (Bad Dads split decision)Fascinating, infuriating, essential—a five-alarm case study in how not to do science. Watch it, rage at it, then argue about animal testing like we did.We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at baddadsjsy@gmail.com or on our website baddadsfilm.com. Until next time, we remain... Bad Dads

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!The Ballad of Wallis IslandThis week, the dads swapped blockbusters for something quieter, sadder, and sneakily hilarious: The Ballad of Wallis Island, the melancholic comedy starring Tim Key, Tom Basden, and Carey Mulligan.In a remote Welsh idyll, a lonely lottery winner (Key) invites his favourite long-lost folk duo to reunite and perform a private gig just for him. What follows is a beautifully awkward, bittersweet exploration of nostalgia, grief, and the impossibility of recapturing the past — with an emotional gut punch that sneaks up on you like a hangover.We talk: 

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!Neighbours — Episode 234 (Charlene's Debut)We dove back into Ramsay Street for a pure hit of Aussie soap nostalgia: Neighbours ep. 234, a.k.a. the first-ever appearance of Charlene (a tiny, feral Kylie Minogue) breaking into a house and into British hearts.Why this episode slapsIconic entrance: Scott grabs a “burglar” in the window… hat comes off… “Charlene!” Cue destiny, perms, and pop superstardom.Peak mullet era: Two mullets before the first ad break. Oxygen levels dangerously low in those singlets.Budget telly charm: Cricket in the yard, sprinklers on, a helicopter shot that looks like a camcorder on a fishing line… and yes, a boom mic cameo at 4:42. Chef's kiss.Daphne's Café drama: Eviction threats, gender-role argy-bargy, and Shane trying to mansplain her out of a job. Meanwhile Paul Robinson is already scheming, smarming, and hair-gelling.Max's feelings summit: The blokiest man in Erinsborough attempts group therapy (“I read it in an American magazine”), gets laughed out of his own lounge. Bless.Faces you forgot were hereGuy Pearce looking about twelve and already magnetic.Jason Donovan 2.0 (post–mysterious-riverbed recast).The Robinson clan (Helen forever), and an army of future chart acts and horror-movie alumni warming up in the background.Stats & triviaAired (AU): 17 Apr 1986Aired (UK): 28 Sep 1987 (we waited 17 months for Kylie and still turned up in our millions)Episodes on IMDb: 9,300+ (and somehow all roads still lead back to Daphne's espresso machine)VerdictStill daft, still cozy, still weirdly gripping. The fashion is a hate crime and the production is held together with gaffer tape, but the charisma-to-cost ratio remains undefeated.Strong recommend. Now hum the theme tune and pretend you didn't.We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at baddadsjsy@gmail.com or on our website baddadsfilm.com. Until next time, we remain... Bad Dads

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!The dads return to their spiritual home — the grimy, neon-lit world of A24 — for Love Lies Bleeding, a wild, sweaty, steroid-soaked crime-romance from director Rose Glass (Saint Maud).Kristen Stewart plays Lou, a gym manager in a desert backwater who falls for Jackie (Katy O'Brien), a drifter and aspiring bodybuilder built like a Marvel origin story. Their chemistry is instant, their passion feral — and before long, they're injecting more than just steroids together. But this love story's laced with violence, paranoia, and one truly astonishing haircut courtesy of Ed Harris, who turns up as Lou's gun-running, morally bankrupt father.What starts as a moody lesbian love story morphs into a pulpy, blood-spattered nightmare involving abusive husbands, bent cops, and a ravine full of bodies. By the time the steroids kick in and tempers boil over, the film swerves between Thelma & Louise, The Hulk, and Natural Born Killers — complete with a finale that's part emotional catharsis, part literal giant woman.We get into: 

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week, the dads head down under for Chopper — the semi-biographical crime film that introduced the world to Eric Bana's raw, terrifying range. Directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), it tells the story of Mark “Chopper” Read, Australia's most notorious criminal, self-mythologising psychopath and folk hero rolled into one.Part prison horror, part dark comedy, Chopper opens with its antihero stabbing a rival inmate 15 times for crossing a line, and somehow only escalates from there. Over 90 intense minutes, we follow his chaotic life of stabbings, betrayals, botched kidnappings and baffling logic — punctuated by moments of grim humour and unexpected lucidity.In this episode we get into: 

Each Tuesday, we discuss an older entertainment property, and currently, that's Lost. In this episode, we get our first look at Ben's backstory. Would you be surprised to learn that he, too, had a Bad Dad? Mentioned: Actors Carrie Preston (as Ben's mom, Emily; she's Michael Emerson's wife in real life) and John Gries as that bad dad.​Next Tuesday, we'll continue with season 3, episode 21, "Greatest Hits," and we'll follow that up with the season finale, "Through the Looking Glass," next Wednesday. Tomorrow, we'll continue with our discussion of a newer show, Only Murders in the Building.

Oof… This case. Too soon. Too sad. Too much WTF…  And yet, here we are. There truly is no way to sugarcoat what happened to 9-year old Melina Frattolin, who was visiting her father, Luciano, the owner of a supposedly successful coffee business.   But like most things in this case — there's the truth and there's the story that Luciano tells.  And that story includes a tale of a white van pulling up to where Luciano and Melina were hanging out by the side of the road — and several kidnappers jumping out and taking the young girl. Thus begins a tale of abduction, Amber Alerts, and a horrific discovery in a nearby wooded pond area. This case is not for the faint of heart but then again, neither are we. As always, thanks for joining us and please stay safe out there! Slaycation is recorded at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio by Josh Wilcox Editing is by Kelley Marcano MORE KIM!:  Subscribe to SLAYCATION PLUS and get weekly ‘More Kim' bonus episodes. SUBSCRIBE to SLAYCATION PLUS right in Apple Podcasts, or on our website: ⁠⁠https://plus.slaycation.wtf/supporters/pricing⁠⁠ SLAYCATERS ONLY:  Interact with the Hosts and get behind the scenes info, photos and more in our FACEBOOK GROUP: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/394778366758281⁠⁠ MERCH!  Top quality ‘Pack Your Body Bags" tote bags, as well as Slaycation T-shirts, towels, sandals, fanny packs, stickers and more available at:  ⁠⁠https://plus.slaycation.wtf/collections/all⁠⁠ MORE INFO:  to learn more about Slaycation, the Hosts go to: ⁠⁠www.slaycation.wtf⁠⁠ EMAIL:  ⁠⁠info@slaycation.wtf⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week, the dads head into the mosh pit with Jeremy Saulnier's brutal, claustrophobic thriller Green Room — where a struggling punk band finds themselves trapped in a neo-Nazi club after witnessing a murder. It's one part siege movie, one part social horror, and all parts grim.When the Ain't Rights take a last-minute gig deep in Oregon's backwoods, they expect low pay and bad beer — not blood, dogs, machetes and Patrick Stewart as a terrifying skinhead ringleader. What follows is a night of panic, violence and duct-tape surgery, as the band fights to survive against an organised fascist militia who'd rather clean up witnesses than pay for another gig.We dig into:Punk authenticity — the grime, the DIY spirit, and how Saulnier nails the small-venue chaos.Patrick Stewart's casting — calm, chilling, and galaxies away from Captain Picard.Anton Yelchin's tragic final performance — and what a loss he was.Violence that hurts — no jump scares, just sudden, stomach-turning realism.The Nazi problem — why these villains feel horrifyingly believable in 2025.The A24 factor — another lean, mean indie proving the studio's knack for smart brutality.Elsewhere in the episode: ☕ The Top 5 Hot Drinks delivers peppermint tea, Dirty Harry's coffee, and more filth than a builder's thermos.

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!The dads go full retro this week with The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, the 2007 documentary that turns arcade gaming into blood sport — complete with villains, underdogs, mullets, and enough ego to fill an entire arcade.In one corner: Billy Mitchell, hot-sauce magnate, self-styled all-American hero, and the reigning Donkey Kong world champion since 1982. In the other: Steve Wiebe, a laid-off family man from Seattle with a garage, a Donkey Kong cabinet, and an obsessive drive to finally be the best in the world at something.What starts as a light-hearted look at competitive gaming quickly spirals into a bizarre battle of pride, politics, and pixels. We dive into: 

Payton wants to get revenge on her husband Sawyer, for taking their 10-year-old son and his friend to a very risque restaurant! Follow us on socials! @themorningmess

Each Tuesday, we discuss an older entertainment property, and currently, that's Lost. In this episode, we finally find out how Locke's dad got to the island, and what's going to happen to him there. Since he's one of Lost's many Bad Dads, it's not going to go well.​Next Tuesday, we'll continue with season 3, episode 20, "The Man Behind the Curtain." Tomorrow, we'll continue with our discussion of a newer show, Only Murders in the Building.​This episode was recorded in front of a live audience ... of dogs.

It's been a month since the publication of Hallmarked Man so Nick and John decide to have a ‘Pit Pony Pickleball' match in which they serve and volley Strike 8 examples of Shed tools and Lake springs as fast as they can. After a round of back and forth between Team Lake and Team Shed, they do a flash round of Golden Threads against the clock and then John is given a ‘Final Jeopardy' tie-breaker question about the most controversial perennial plot point in Rowling's work.It's a reverse Kanreki exercise, in other words. In their conversations about each of Rowling's novels, screenplays, play script, text books, and short story collection, Nick and John discussed one Lake spring, a source point of story inspiration from Rowling's life experience and core beliefs, and one Shed tool, her deliberate artistry to craft that inspiration into edifying and engaging story. Here they have a ‘Blitz Chess' match, to switch sporting metaphors, to try and cover as many Lake, Shed, and Thread points with examples from Rowling's latest as possible.Perhaps the most important take-away, though, is the three conclusions about Hallmarked Man they've come to after a month of reading that they think will be the consensus view of Strike 8 after we have Strikes 9 and 10. Make some popcorn, find your score card and a comfortable place to watch and take notes; this is an episode for the ages! (Insert your preferred Wrestle-Mania or like programming promotional hyperbole here.)The Kanreki Index of Rowling's Shed Tools, Lake Springs and Golden ThreadsIn July 2025, Nick Jeffery and I logged a marathon of Kanreki ‘Lake and Shed' video posts at this site in celebration of Rowling's life and work at her 60th birthday. For listeners of this ‘Blitz' Lake and Shed reading of The Hallmarked Man, I repost below an easy-to-access-and-reference single place for readers to find much longer discussion of each Shed tool, Lake spring, and Golden Thread, as well as an introduction to Fourth Generation Rowling Studies hermeneutics. Enjoy!Introduction to the Kanreki Project* The Goal and the Methodology of the Hogwarts Professor Tag-Team Month-Long Birthday Party for Serious Readers of Rowling-GalbraithOn 31 July 2025, Joanne Murray, aka J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, celebrated her 60th birthday. This specific celebration is considered a ‘second birth' in Japan or Kanreki because it is the completion of the oriental astrological cycle. To mark JKR's Kanreki, 還暦, Dr John Granger and Nick Jeffery, both Nipponophiles, read through Rowling's more than twenty published works and reviewed them in light of the author's writing process, her ‘Lake and Shed' metaphor. The ‘Lake' she said in 2019 and 2024 is the source of her inspiration and the ‘Shed' is the alocal place of her intentional artistry, in which garage she transforms the biographical stuff provided by her subconscious mind into the archetypal stories that have made her the most important author of her age.Join us after the jump for the complete compendium of the Harry Potter, Cormoran Strike, Fantastic Beast, ‘Stand Alone' stories, and Golden Thread posts!The Lake and Shed Conversations about the Harry Potter Novels and Extras* Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneNick discusses Hogsmeade Comprehensive School, as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry should be properly called, and John explains the ten different genres that Rowling uses in Philosopher's Stone* Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsJohn explores the Freudian parallels that Rowling paints into Chamber of Secrets, and Nick talks about her oldest, and probably best friend Sean Harris, the inspiration for Ron Weasley.* Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanNick shares the London institution of the (k)night bus. Part drunk carriage, part dormitory for the homeless in foul weather, zig-zaging across London between midnight and five in the morning. John shares the Parallel Series Idea (PSI) and compare Prisoner of Azkaban with Robert Galbraith's Career of Evil.* Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireNick talks about the trip Rowling made as a teenager to Cornwall as a young woman in which some Quidditch World Cup camping may have been involved and about her core beliefs about bigotry and prejudice. John reviews Rowling's tagging Goblet as a “crucial” and “pivotal” part of the seven book series and introduces how the ‘story turn' in a ring composition reflects the beginning and end of the story.* Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixNick talks about the darkest period in Jo Rowling's life, namely, her return to the UK from Portugal as a single mother in Edinburgh. With Order of the Phoenix in full nigredo mode John talks literary alchemy.* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceNick reveals the real life model for Severus Snape, Rowling's Chemistry teacher at Wydean Comprehensive, and his remarkable story and melancholy end. John reviews Rowling's version of the so-called ‘Hero's Journey,' how she re-makes it into a life-after-death ‘Harry's Journey' ten step dance we see in every book — except for Half-Blood Prince with its two chapters before we begin at Privet Drive and its ending without a Dumbledore Denouement or trip to King's Cross.* Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJohn and Nick discuss the ‘Deathly Hallows' symbol, a triangulated and vertically bisected circle, from both its biographical point of inspiration to its anagogical or sublime depths. Nick reveals Rowling's story about how she was watching the 1975 John Huston film ‘The Man Who Would Be King' the night her mother died and that believes the “Masonic tag” of the story-line was her sub-conscious source for the Deathly Hallows ‘“triangular eye.” John thinks Rowling is really reaching here, akin to her claim that the name ‘Hogwarts' came from a trip to a public garden rather than the Molesworth books. He reviews the five eyes of Deathly Hallows and explains how Rowling embeds both a key to the four-level interpretation of symbols in how characters respond to that image and a model of how we are to interpret and understand her ‘transformed vision' mission as a writer.* Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemNick and John return to the books at a reader's suggestion in order to give a Lake and Shed reading of the original Newt Scamander textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Nick relays everything you need to know about the genesis of this work and John talks about Rowling's comments to Stephen Fry in a 2022 interview about “archetypal” animals and the importance of understanding them because human beings are story-telling animals. Her discussion of the Lethifold and Niffler are especially challenging and illuminating.* The Tales of Beedle the BardNick and John fulfill a reader request to discuss the book inside Deathly Hallows (one of three actually…), ‘Tales of Beedle the Bard,' a text that Albus Dumbledore leaves Hermione in his will for her to read and apply to the Horcrux Hunt. Nick tells the story of Rowling's creation of six hand-written copies as six-of-a-kind gifts for those who brought Harry Potter to life. John dives into the center story of the five tales, ‘The Hairy Heart,' and tells the meaning of Harry's heart to draw out what Rowling meant by describing Beedle as “the distillation” of the Hogwarts Saga.The Lake and Shed Conversations about the Cormoran Strike Novels* The Cuckoo's CallingThe ‘Lake' point that Nick explores is the identity of the real Deeby Mac, namely, Di Brooks, Rowling's former security director and currently her office manager, a veteran with years of experience in the SIB. John's ‘Shed' point is his pushback against the idea that Calling wasn't really the first book in the series because Rowling has said she had the idea for it after Silkworm and only chose it because the case would make her detective famous.* The SilkwormThe ‘Lake' point that Nick reveals is the probable identity of ‘Jenkins,' the mystery person to whom Strike 2 is dedicated, a revelation consequent to no little detective work (and a very close reading of Louisa May Alcott!). He also discusses some real-life literary infighting in contemporary London that might have been lifted from the pages of Silkworm. John argues that this ur-novel of the series, its point of conception, is Rowling's not especially opaque guide to how to understand a novelist's life and to appreciate their work, in short, her first ‘Lake and Shed' discussion (albeit one embedded in story).* Career of EvilThe ‘Lake' point that Nick explores is Rowling's personal experience of violence against women and her determination to push back against the misogynist age she believes we have been living in for decades. John details the litany of crimes committed against women in the third Strike novel and suggests that in time, when we have the series as a whole, appreciation of the artistry involved will counter-balance the shock first-time readers feel on entering this boucherie.* Lethal WhiteNick discusses the embedded class struggle in the book and its roots in Rowling's background before dropping the bomb of the real world identity of Jack O'Kent and his unhappy family. John is so taken aback by this revelation that Nick has to prompt the Shed portion of the conversation with a fun history of the Sonia Friedman production of Ibsen's Rosmersholm on London's West End, a show starring Thom Burke as Rosmer and which ended just before Bronte Studios beginning the filming of Lethal White.* Troubled Blood (A)Nick discusses Rowling's history with the divinatory art of astrology and the occult resources and reference works she brought into play in writing a novel whose primary embedded text is a murder scene's astrological chart. John talks about the astrological clock structure of twelve houses in which Galbraith tells this remarkable story.* Troubled Blood (B)Nick discusses Rowling's history with the Clerkenwell neighborhood. John talks about Troubled Blood as a double re-telling of The Faerie Queene, Book One, with Strike and Margot as the Redcrosse Knight and Oonaugh and Robin as Una.* Ink Black HeartNick covers the front and the back of making Lake readings of Strike6 without a lot of circumspection and John talks about the eerie feeling he had while reading this book that the author was ‘having a go' at him.* The Running GraveNick confesses to having felt stumped about what to say as his ‘Lake' contribution to the Strike7 discussion — before his epiphany on a long walk with Addie that almost every buoy or pillar in Rowling's metaphorical place of inspiration finds its reflection in the seventh Galbraith mystery. John refuses to go into any detail about the work's ‘wheels within wheels within wheels' ring structure but shares instead the symbolic depth of Mama Mazu's mother of pearl fish pendant.The Lake and Shed Conversations about the Stand-Alone Works* Casual VacancyNick explains all the projects we now know she was working on between 2007 and 2012, the dates of Deathly Hallows and Casual Vacancy's respective publication dates, as well as the degree to which readers can assume that the novel's Simon Price is a fictional portrait of her father, Peter Rowling. John describes the three Gospel parables embedded in Casual Vacancy and why he thinks the book was a project the author was working on before the Hogwarts Saga as well as why it reflects a religious crisis akin to Harry's ‘struggle to believe' in Deathly Hallows.* Harry Potter and the Cursed ChildNick reviews the history of how Rowling was sold on the idea of a Wizarding World stage production via a bit of bait and switch marketing and John reads the review of the Jack Thorn script by Pepperdine English Professor James Thomas. Neither John nor Nick is a big fan of the play but their back and forth about the several controversies connected with it and the question of its being “the eighth Harry Potter story” are still challenging and fun.* The IckabogNick takes the ‘Shed' point and lays out the controlled demolition of her reputation among Group Thinkers on the Left in the lead up to Ickabog's publication and John shares the meaning of ‘The Ickabog's Song,' the embedded text of the tale, as interpreted by Daisy Dovetail (an embedded author?).* The Christmas Pig (A)Nick discusses Rowling's many interview statements about the Things which were lost and how many of them match up with things she has lost; he takes a deep dive into the Blue Bunny episode outside the Gates of the City of the Missed and Rowling's embedding herself and her daughter Mackenzie in the story. John talks about the Blue Bunny and his being “found” or “saved” as an allegory of the human condition written in the Rowling shorthand-symbols for (and obsessions with) love, salvation, and what is real.* The Christmas Pig (B)Nick by the Lake shares the history of the Murray Family and their beanie pig toys as well as a likely source for the defenestration of DP (in Esquire magazine, no less). John talks about the promise and the limits of reading literature through a biographical lens and then explains the anagogical meaning of the Power palace kangaroo court trial of CP and Jack. Both share their reasons for thinking that The Christmas Pig is the perfect distillation of everything Rowling is doing as a writer, to include the relationship of her Lake inspiration to her final Shed product.The Lake and Shed Conversations about the Fantastic Beasts Screenplays* Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemNick does his signature deep dive into the history of the Fantastic Beasts film franchise's origins in Warner Brothers' determination to keep the Wizarding World profit-pillar in their portfolio alive after the last Harry Potter adaptation — and Rowling's equal determination that they not use their copyright privilege to muck up her legacy with an Indiana Jones meets Crocodile Dundee knock-off. John takes the Shed pole in the conversation and shares his months long pursuit of the shooting text screenplay, the actual last screenplay over which Rowling had control.* The Crimes of GrindelwaldOn the Lake side of things, Nick explores the Johnny Depp casting scandal and the lead-up in 2018 to the 2019 Tweet Heard Round the World. John explains that the cut scenes from this dog's mess of a movie point that the shooting script, i.e., what Rowling wrote and approved before David Yates butchered the film in the editing room, was all about Leta Lestrange. More important, John makes the Shed point that every Rowling book features a text of some kind that the characters struggle to understand — and that Crimes of Grindelwald has ten of these, a veritable library of interior texts to interpret.* The Secrets of DumbledoreNick lays out the drama surrounding the third Fantastic Beasts franchise film and his favorite part of the movie (hint: it's about “confusion”). John reveals why Jacob gets a Snakewood wand and one without a core as well as why he thinks Kowalski is the embedded author in this series.The Lake and Shed Conversations about Rowling's Golden Threads and Shed Tools* Chiastic Structure, a.k.a. Ring CompositionJohn travels to his backyard Mongolian ger, the archetypal circular architectural form, to deliver a firehose introduction to the four essentials of ring writing. He uses slides to depict the structure of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as his brief ‘for instance' of how Rowling chooses to organize her stories and he provides a list of links (below!) for further reading.* Survey of Rowling's Golden Threads (A)In this first overview of the Golden Threads, Nick and John go back and fourth with four Threads each. Nick gives at least three examples for Bad Dad, Writing about Writing, Violence against Women, and the Evils of Fleet Street. John responds with three or more 'for instances' of Mother Love, Ghosts, Pregnancy Traps, and the Lost Child with Grieving Steward.* Survey of Rowling's Golden Threads (B)In this second overview of the Golden Threads, Nick and John talk about Kanreki red caps and tackle three Threads each. Nick gives at least three examples for Evil Government, Occult tropes, and the Embedded Author. John responds with three or more 'for instances' of the Search for the Real, Embedded Texts, and Shadow Doppelgangers.* The ‘Lost Child' Golden Thread Oeuvre ReviewFor the day before Rowling's 60th birthday, Nick and John tackle by reader request the never before discussed subject of the Lost Child theme in the author's more than twenty published works. They re-introduce the Golden Threads idea — see their Pregnancy Trap podcast or the two Kanreki series on this subject (links in post) — then they do a deep dive into the crowded waters of Lost Children in her work, and then they go out out on a high-wire to speculate about what specific spring in her Lake subconscious mind is responsible for this recurrent inspiration.* The ‘Lost Child' Golden Thread “So What?” ConversationAs a birthday gift of sorts, Nick and John close off their month-long celebration of Rowling-Galbraith's life and work with a follow-up look at yesterday's review of the ‘Lost Child' Golden Thread that runs through her stories. After cataloging the almost forty ‘for instances' taken from the opera omnia in the penultimate entry in this series, Nick and John ask, “So What?” How does the possibility that Rowling had an induced abortion and is sufficiently unsettled by it that it inspires many even most of her books at least in part make any difference in understanding their artistry and meaning?‘Strike Extended Play' or ‘How a Seven Book Series Can Be Stretched into Ten' Get full access to Hogwarts Professor at hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week we celebrate the late, great Robert Redford the Bad Dads way: with a chaotic Top 5 Roberts and a deep dive into All the President's Men — the newsroom thriller where Redford and Dustin Hoffman painstakingly peel back Watergate until the whole presidency caves in. It's cigarettes, typewriters, and journalism that actually mattered.What we get intoRedford & Hoffman, peak charisma: why their odd-couple energy (and immaculate 70s fits) makes procedural journalism feel electric.The craft stuff: split-diopter shots, sound design that drowns phone calls in newsroom chaos, and that final typewriter barrage (“Nixon Resigns”) still landing like a gut punch.Truth vs. proof: editors wrestling with “we know it” versus “we can print it,” and why that tension hits even harder now.Deep Throat decoded: “follow the money,” the parking-garage paranoia, and how the film weaponises quiet dread.Top 5 Roberts (no De Niro, no Redford — house rules)We raid film, TV, music and pop culture for the best Bobs/Roberts/Robbies—from Sideshow Bob and Robert Englund to Robert Mitchum, Rob Reiner, Bob Odenkirk, Robert “Bob with bitch tits” Paulson, SpongeBob (Robert) Squarepants, and some gloriously fringe picks (RIP Rob Garrison, Cobra Kai's OG goon). Expect arguments, deep cuts, and at least one guided detour through Spinal Tap and King Crimson.The chaotic quiz: Redford or Red Ford (…or both)?Sidey springs a quiz where every answer is either Redford (the man) or red Ford (the car on screen). Cue confusion, Christine vs Cars, The Sting, All Is Lost, and a tricksy Winter Soldier “both” that broke brains and buzzers.Content note: swearing, savage tangents, and the occasional anatomical overshare. If you came for “balanced coverage,” you've wildly misread the brand.

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/26/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/25/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!We don't usually double up on an actor, but when Robert Redford died at 89, it felt only right to go again. A true Hollywood legend — Butch Cassidy, The Sting, All the President's Men — Redford left us not just with an iconic filmography but also Sundance, a festival that gave countless indie movies a life. This week, we pay tribute by reviewing Indecent Proposal (1993).It's the one where a young, loved-up couple (Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore) are offered a cool million dollars by Redford's billionaire for one night with the wife. A sleazy premise? Absolutely. But it was a 90s cultural flashpoint that had everyone asking: what would you do?What we coverRedford as a twinkly-eyed predator — suave, charming, but pure sociopath energy.Woody Harrelson's “character growth” (spoiler: remembering to take his muddy shoes off the table).Demi Moore stuck as the literal bargaining chip between two men.Erotic sax solos, visible erections, and more money-on-the-bed shots than you can shake a hippo at.Why this could've been a sharp morality tale, but instead feels like a glossy objectification exercise.The cultural lens shift: what audiences excused in 1993 versus what plays as flat-out toxic today.As always, expect detours into visible erections, Michael Bay's slow-mo dice shots, hippos at auctions, Oliver Platt being a slimy lawyer, and whether we'd personally take the money (spoiler: the negotiations got weird).“Hard recommend? Hard pass? Or just Woody being… hard?”We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at baddadsjsy@gmail.com or on our website baddadsfilm.com. Until next time, we remain... Bad Dads

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/24/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/23/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/22/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!Jennifer Lawrence goes full-send comedy in No Hard Feelings, playing Maddie — a broke Montauk local hired by uptight parents to “de-awkward” their 19-year-old son before college. The setup's spicy, the execution's funnier than it has any right to be, and yes, we talk about that beach fight.What we dig intoJ-Law in chaos mode: fearless physical comedy, tight timing, and why this role works because it's her.Awkward vs. raunchy: does the film land its sweet/icky tightrope walk?Age-gap discourse without the sermon: how the script dodges creepiness and pivots to loneliness, class, and late adolescence.Set-pieces that actually bang: the piano “Maneater” scene, the “prom do-over,” the Buick-from-hell, and the naked beach mayhem.Montauk & money: gentrification, property taxes, and the gig-economy grind baked into the jokes.Verdict: better than its schlocky premise suggests — and a reminder Lawrence is funny on purpose.This week's Top 5: BREAKSWe stretch “breaks” until it snaps:Title breaks: Point Break, obviously.Bone/ballistic breaks: Chan, Cruise, Wick… and the arm-wrestle in The Fly.Wind breaks: Blazing Saddles, Swiss Army Man, Dumb & Dumber (bring your nose pegs).Fourth-wall breaks: Ferris Bueller, Deadpool, Wayne's World.Breakfasts & breakdowns: from Groundhog Day to Uncle Buck pancakes and the cinematic “dad's late for work” trope.Breakdancing: Breakin' and the all-timer subtitle, Electric Boogaloo.Prison breaks: Shawshank, Escape from Alcatraz, The Great Escape.The chaotic quiz (because of course)A rapid-fire “Breakdown” quiz that swerves mid-question — Kurt Russell lore, movies with bridges, snacks on road trips, and one wildly specific license-plate memory test. It almost doesn't work. That's the point.Listener shout-outsFeedback on our Top 5 Copies episode (clones, doubles, and Single White Female trauma) plus a few deep-cut recs from the Bad Dads community. We read 'em, we roast 'em, we add 'em.Content note: We swear. A lot. If you're new here, consider this your friendly heads-up.

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/19/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/18/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!The dads are back in the mid-90s sweet spot with Breakdown (1997), a lean, relentless thriller starring Kurt Russell and his glorious Hollywood hair.Jeff (Russell) and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) are relocating cross-country when their Jeep suddenly dies in the middle of nowhere. A friendly trucker (the ever-sinister J.T. Walsh) offers Amy a lift to a nearby diner. She never arrives. What follows is a stripped-down race against time, as Jeff discovers he's stumbled into a gang's deadly scheme — and has to transform from nervous everyman to desperate action hero.We get into:Kurt Russell playing against type — less action hero, more anxious office guy (at least until the final reel).JT Walsh's masterclass in quiet menace.The film's meat-and-potatoes plotting: no fat, no filler, just pure tension.That massive finale, complete with a dangling truck, a fight to the death, and one of the all-time great overkill moments.Why films like this — simple setup, big stakes, 90 minutes — feel so rare today.It's part Duel, part The Vanishing, part pure 90s Saturday-night rental. Come for Kurt's hair, stay for the escalating paranoia and truck-crashing mayhem.

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/17/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/16/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/15/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week the dads take a look at Copycat (1995), a mid-90s thriller that wants to be Silence of the Lambs but often ends up more made-for-TV movie. Sigourney Weaver stars as an agoraphobic psychologist dragged into a game of cat-and-mouse with a serial killer imitating history's most infamous murderers. Holly Hunter and Dermot Mulroney round out the cast, while Harry Connick Jr. chews the scenery as a crooning creep.In true Bad Dads style, we pull the film apart and ask:Does Copycat earn its place alongside the great psychological thrillers of the era, or is it just derivative drivel?Why are the cops so bad at protecting Weaver's supposedly “safe” apartment?How many times can a killer break in before you stop suspending disbelief?And was Sigourney right to say this was the performance she was most proud of?Alongside the movie, our Top 5 “copies” takes us everywhere from cloned astronauts and plagiarised authors to forged paintings, photocopied genitals, and questionable cover versions. We even put the lads through a brand-new quiz: Copy or Floppy (hint: it's exactly as puerile as it sounds).

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/12/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/11/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week the dads step into glamorous 1960s Europe with Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther (1963) — the first outing for Peter Sellers' bumbling Inspector Clouseau.For many of us, this was like watching it for the first time. Sure, we'd caught bits on Sunday TV over the years, but sitting down start-to-finish was a new experience — and a surprising one. Despite being branded a Clouseau movie, Sellers actually takes a back seat to David Niven's dashing jewel thief Sir Charles Lytton and Robert Wagner's playboy nephew George.We dig into:The film's mix of heist caper and sixties sex comedy — sometimes charming, sometimes painfully long.Sellers' scene-stealing slapstick: globes, violins, and his endless (and fruitless) attempts to seduce his wife.David Niven's unlikely role as a 50-something ladies' man — suave or just icky in hindsight?The technicolour glamour of Cortina ski resorts, high society parties, and that unforgettable animated title sequence.Whether The Pink Panther works better as a star vehicle for Niven/Wagner or as a platform for Sellers' Clouseau — and why the sequels got the balance right.It's long, it's dated, it's occasionally hilarious — and it launched one of cinema's most iconic comedy characters.

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/10/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/9/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/8/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!South Korea. 1979. Forty days to an assassination. We dive into Woo Min-ho's icy political thriller The Man Standing Next — a gripping, true-events drama about KCIA director Kim Gyu-pyeong (played by Squid Game's Front Man, Lee Byung-hun) as he weighs loyalty, country, and a bullet.What the film's aboutAfter years in President Park Chung-hee's inner circle, Kim watches the regime harden: political purges, wiretaps, street crackdowns, and a rival enforcer (Chief Kwak) pushing for blood. When a former KCIA boss defects to the U.S. and threatens to publish a tell-all, the fuse is lit. The film tracks the 40 tense days that culminate in one of South Korea's most consequential nights.What we get into on the podPower, paranoia, and proximity: what it costs to be “the man standing next” to a dictator.The Washington angle: congressional testimony, ambassadors pulling strings, and how U.S. pressure shapes the endgame.That dinner sequence: whisky, insults, and a single decision that changes a nation.History vs. thriller: how the movie compresses real events without losing the knot-in-the-stomach tension.Performances & craft: Lee Byung-hun's controlled implosion, swaggering Kwak, crisp night photography (you can actually see it!), and the score's slow dread.The big themes: loyalty vs. survival, “order” vs. democracy, and why authoritarian systems eventually eat their own.Plus, our usual chaosA delightfully deranged Top 5 mash-up: Cowboys and Waiting Rooms (yes, really).A lightning-round quiz: “Korea or Career?” (parasites, broadcasters, pig-based corporate malfeasance — you had to be there).Should you watch the film first?We do reveal key plot points (including the ending), so if you want the full cinematic punch, watch first. If you're here for big ideas, sharp takes, and a few belly laughs, jump straight in.Why hit playIf you loved Parasite, A Taxi Driver, or political thrillers with teeth (Z, Zero Dark Thirty), this episode is squarely in your lane — part history lesson, part moral knot, all energy.

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/5/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/4/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week the dads take on Mad to Be Normal (2017), a little-seen British drama starring David Tennant as the controversial Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing.Set in 1960s London, the film follows Laing's radical experiment at Kingsley Hall, where doctors and patients lived side by side without medication, shock therapy, or the heavy hand of institutional psychiatry. Instead, Laing championed empathy, conversation, and even LSD as pathways to healing — ideas that put him at odds with the medical establishment, but also made him a counter-cultural cult figure.The cast is strong: Tennant leads with manic charm, Elizabeth Moss plays Angie, a student who becomes both lover and anchor, Gabriel Byrne appears as troubled patient Jim, and Michael Gambon delivers a heart-breaking turn in one of the film's darkest storylines.We dive into:How Laing's philosophy blurred the line between therapy and chaos.Whether his commune was compassionate innovation or dangerous neglect.The tension between his devotion to patients and his neglect of family.A few jaw-dropping scenes that left us wondering how much was truth and how much was “dramatic licence.”It's a grim, sometimes ugly film — not a Friday-night crowd-pleaser — but it opens up fascinating questions about how mental health has been treated and misdiagnosed. The dads split on whether it's a strong recommend or just an interesting curio, but there's no denying Tennant's performance is electric.If you're curious about alternative psychiatry, or just want to see David Tennant playing a very different kind of doctor, give this one a look.We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at baddadsjsy@gmail.com or on our website baddadsfilm.com. Until next time, we remain... Bad Dads

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/3/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/2/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 9/1/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week's episode is positively huge (and Hugh-filled).

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 8/29/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 8/28/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week, the Dads dust off their morning suits and dive into Richard Curtis' runaway hit Four Weddings and a Funeral. Mike Newell's rom-com was the film that turned Hugh Grant into floppy-haired royalty, introduced us to Andie MacDowell's enigmatic Carrie, and made swearing at alarm clocks a national pastime.We talk through all four weddings (and, yes, the funeral), unpacking:Hugh Grant's career-defining “stammering English gent” routine.Andie MacDowell's aloof American elegance — and the film's messy romance plot.Simon Callow's scene-stealing turn and the surprisingly poignant funeral sequence.Rowan Atkinson's gloriously bungled first wedding gig as Father Gerald.Whether Richard Curtis' world of posh English eccentrics really reflects Britain… or just what Americans want us to be.We also get into how the film became the highest-grossing British movie of its day, launched Hugh Grant's tabloid-fuelled celebrity arc, and why it still works (even if “Love Actually” does not).Expect swearing, and the usual Bad Dads blend of dodgy impressions, film geekery, and questionable life lessons.

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 8/27/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 8/26/25

TONY CONRAD'S BAD DAD JOKE OF THE DAY FOR 8/25/25

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week on Bad Dads Film Review, we double up on trouble (and laughs) with our Top 5 Twins before diving headfirst into Greta Gerwig's billion-dollar juggernaut Barbie.

Christy resents that the father who was never there for her as a child wants her help now that he's sick and old. Call 1-800-DR-LAURA / 1-800-375-2872 or make an appointment at DrLaura.comFollow me on social media:Facebook.com/DrLauraInstagram.com/DrLauraProgramYouTube.com/DrLauraJoin My Family!!Receive my Weekly Newsletter + 20% off my Marriage 101 course & 25% off Merch! Sign up now, it's FREE!Each week you'll get new articles, featured emails from listeners, special event invitations, early access to my Dr. Laura Designs Store benefiting Children of Fallen Patriots, and MORE! Sign up at DrLaura.com