Podcasts about blank check

Live from our windowless studio in Downtown Brooklyn, it's the 11th Annual Blankies! Joe Reid joins us once again to give out golden Wattos to our favorite films, performances, and craftspeople of the year. Some of our picks are certainly part of the greater award season conversation. Others are Materialists. Join us as we honor the best Putters and Murmurs, the Wettest flicks of the year, and as Griffin debuts his latest Billy Crystal opening showtune. Listen to This Had Oscar Buzz Watch Igby Goes Down Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're in hygge mode, uncovering traumas in our generational home with the host of This Had Oscar Buzz, Joe Reid! One of the breakout Oscar films of the year is Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value, a warm, realist Norwegian film about a difficult but brilliant director (Stellan Skarsgard), his two daughters (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), and an American actress cast in the auteur's new film (Elle Fanning). All four performances earned Oscar nominations, along with nominations for Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. Sentimental Value also highlights a recurring phenomenon in Hollywood, wherein the Academy will pass over a director's breakout film but shower the follow-up with nominations. In Trier's case, his previous film The Worst Person in the World received nominations for Best International Film and Original Screenplay but, in our opinion, deserved many more. We try to break down how and why this happens, whether films about filmmaking have an innate appeal to Oscar voters, how Fanning's star power helps bridge the international gap for voters, and the film itself, including its deft intermingling of artistic expression and sublimated generational trauma.  With Joe's guidance, we also check in on some of the Oscar-buzziest films of the year that didn't pan out, check in on the state of the acting category race and some potential upsets, and celebrate The Secret Agent's breakout star Tânia Maria and her new role as Burger King spokeswoman. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cam Coleman had a blank check from an SEC program? The Auburn Tigers are still near Joe Lunardi's NCAA Tournament cut line even after a win over the Kentucky Wildcats, others have them a little safer. Auburn Basketball has a chance to secure a Quad 1 win tonight over the Oklahoma Sooners. Assuming Oklahoma remains Q1, this will be Auburn's 16th game against an opponent from the top quadrant. Can a hungry Auburn team make it two straight wins and het their first road win since Gainesville? Auburn at Oklahoma, Tonight at 8:00 on ESPNU. The Alabama Crimson Tide will be back home Wednesday to face Mississippi State at 8:00 on ESPNU. Alabama Basketball coach issued a challenger to Bama fans to make Coleman Coliseum a difficult place to play for the final two home opponents State and the Auburn Tigers. Why are these games so important to Nate Oats? We'll tell you. Our daily 4 Downs! Outkick founder Clay Travis FOLLOW TNR ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/c-7759604 FOLLOW TNR ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zlofzLZht7dYxjNcBNpWN FOLLOW TNR ON APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-round/id1797862560 WEBSITE: https://nextroundlive.com/ MOBILE APP: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-next-round/id1580807480 SHOP THE NEXT ROUND STORE: https://nextround.store/ Like TNR on Facebook: / nextroundlive 267,216 Follow TNR on Twitter: / nextroundlive Follow TNR on Instagram: / nextroundlive Follow everyone from the show on Twitter: Jim Dunaway: / jimdunaway Ryan Brown: / ryanbrownlive Lance Taylor: / thelancetaylor Scott Forester: / scottforestertv Tyler Johns: /TylerJohnsTNR Sponsor the show: sales@nextroundlive.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Steve Salis Founder, Entrepreneur, Investor, Executive Websiteshttps://salis.com/https://catalogue.co/https://22realestateholdings.com/https://sizzlespac.com/home/default.aspx BioSteve Salis has always had an inherent ability to make the everyday exceptional. His early entrepreneurial spirit led him to drop out of college to “get a head start on his life”. His intuitive knowledge on how to develop, build and invest in dynamic brands that deeply connect with consumers led him to co-founding &pizza, an east coast, regionally-based pizza chain, from the ground up to approximately 60 stores in 5 states and DC, which he subsequently sold in 2019. Today, Steve continues his growth trajectory as the owner of Salis Holdings, a Washington, D.C based family office and diversified holding company with interests in hospitality, consumer, leisure, retail, real estate, venture and other sectors. Salis Holdings has frequently been mentioned as one of the fastest growing organizations in the Mid-Atlantic region. Steve founded and is CEO of a consumer platform called Catalogue, which includes many highly recognized brands in the Mid-Atlantic region including Ted's Bulletin, Kramerbooks, Honeymoon Chicken and Federalist Pig. In addition to Steve's private holdings, he is also the Chairman and CEO of the Sizzle Acquisition Corp franchise. In early 2024, Sizzle Acquisition Corp I merged with European Lithium to form Critical Metals Corp (CRML) which owns the largest rare earth project in Europe and currently has a market cap of over $2.0b. Steve launched Sizzle Acquisition Corp II (SZZL) in April of 2025 raising 230MM to acquire another company. In addition, Steve has a growing portfolio of commercial and mixed-use real estate assets in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland under 22 Real Estate Holdings. Throughout his career, Steve has created strong cultural identities around the brands he's founded, invested, acquired, and led. He embodies the hustle, grit, talent, and acumen to build an empire of multi-faceted businesses destined for success.

Our Lynne Ramsay series comes to a close with last year's Die My Love, which brings us to the realization - damn, have we really never talked about Jennifer Lawrence before? Join us and Vulture's Alison Willmore as we do a full career deep-dive on J.Law, and grapple with this film and Mubi's decision to purchase it out of Cannes for a buttload of money. Read the NY Mag profile of Darren Aronofsky from 2017 Read Alison's work at Vulture Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Viva Brazil! Today we discuss Best Picture nominee The Secret Agent, the simmering, colorful Brazilian thriller about a man on the run, starring the dreamy Wagner Moura and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The story, about retaining personal and political memory under authoritarianism, has proven resonant with an international audience and awards bodies, garnering three additional Oscar nominations for Best International Feature, Best Casting, and Best Actor for Moura. On this episode, we discuss The Secret Agent itself, how it fits into and subverts the tropes of international films at the Oscars, the Eurovision-like process for international nominations, check in on the Berlin Film Festival, and do a very special Il Postino corner. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does the cursed fig tree have to do with prayer, faith, and judgment?In Mark 11:12–25, Jesus curses a fig tree, cleanses the temple, and then teaches one of the most powerful lessons on biblical faith and prayer. This wasn't random. It was prophetic.The fig tree represented Israel — full of leaves but empty of fruit. Outward religion. No inward reality.And the warning is clear: If there is no fruit, there will be judgment.But Jesus doesn't stop there. He moves from warning to instruction:“Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22)In this sermon, we explore:✔️ What Biblical Faith Really Is ✔️ Faith in God's Person, Promises, Power, and Purposes ✔️ Why Prayer Is Not a Blank Check ✔️ What It Means to Move Mountains ✔️ How to Align Your Will With God's Will ✔️ The Danger of Fruitless ChristianityFaith is not: Faith in feelingsFaith in outcomes Faith in faithFaith is confidence in the character and Word of God.This message will challenge religious routine and call you back to authentic, fruit-bearing faith rooted in Scripture.

In 2018, Lynne Ramsay released You Were Never Really Here, a film about a completely implausible scenario...a townhouse on the East side of Manhattan houses a sex trafficking operation that implicates high-level government officials in its web of depravity???? Could you even imagine?!! Hollywood Handbook's Sean Clements joins us to chat about this eerily relevant film, the literary career of Jonathan Ames, Joaquin Phoenix's screen persona, and Joseph Gordon Levitt's recently announced follow-up to Don Jon. Listen to Hayes Davenport's (not a guest on this episode) episode of High & Mighty where he talks about newspaper comics. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're brooding, Victorian style, with Vulture's Bilge Ebiri! Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein is a Best Picture nominee and is well represented in the craft categories, but it has only one acting nomination, for Jacob Elordi's hulking monster. It's of a piece with past craft-heavy Oscar contenders like Dune or The Lord of the Rings, but does Frankenstein actually stand a chance? We discuss the film itself, its lavish sets and costumes, del Toro's choice to center the monster as the hero, and how that decision reshapes the monster's opposite, Victor, played by Oscar Isaac. We also touch on the new Wuthering Heights, also starring Jacob Elordi, the history of Wuthering Heights adaptations, the shameless state of celebrity Super Bowl ads, and finally atone for our past sins, as Bilge defends previous subjects Train Dreams and Hamnet against our critiques. As it turns out, we were the monster all along. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The time has come for us to talk about Kevin. The New Yorker's Jia Tolentino joins us to talk about Lynne Ramsay's depiction of every parent's worst nightmare - 2011's We Need To Talk About Kevin. We need to talk about how Griffin grew up with Ezra Miller, and even auditioned against him to play Kevin. We need to talk about Lionel Shriver's awful politics. We need to talk about Tilda Swinton comparing her performance here to Buster Keaton. And we need to again explain the whole Fantastic Beasts franchise to another guest who is blissfully unaware of Credence Barebone. Read Jia's Profile of Jennifer Lawrence and her other work at the New Yorker. Check out the r/HowIsLivingThere Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Honey, we're buzzing about Bugonia with Marie Bardi-Salinas! The movie surprised us with its appeal to Oscar voters, but maybe it shouldn't have: Director Yorgos Lanthimos and star, frequent collaborator Emma Stone, have proven themselves Oscar favorites with strong showings from their past films, especially The Favourite and Poor Things.  We discuss the film, but first, a Sundance report from Richard before digging into Lanthimos and Stone's history with the Oscars, and why this somewhat prickly, political movie succeeded with the Academy despite a relatively weak showing upon release. Then we discuss the movie itself, get into spoilers, the future of the Stone-Lanthimos collaboration, and finally discover whether or not Richard is an Andromedan. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 3rd, 2026 the United States of America military, under orders from Donald Trump, captured and kidnapped Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. Despite Maduro's and Flores' indictments from the US Justice Department, accusing them of narco-terrorism conspiracy, this act was, according to many observers, a clear violation of international law. The Trump administration didn't seem to care too much about that. Despite some vague attempts to provide a legal justification for its actions, Stephen Miller, The White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said he had little regard for what he termed “international niceties”: “We live in a world, in the real world…that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power…These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”These words echo how a particular philosophy of international relations called “realism” has been understanding the world, long before Donald Trump came to office. For realists, what the US did in Venezuela is not too different to what the US has always done (not just in South America, but also in Iraq and Afghanistan), only this time any pretence of morality or legality has been, more or less, dropped, in favour of brandishing brute force and naked self-interest.  So, was international law always just a thin veil of justification for the exercise of brute force? Or are Trump's actions a departure from a more civilised world in which even the most powerful states were constrained by international legal norms. Linda Kinstler is a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and a scholar of legal and intellectual history. Her first book, Come to This Court & Cry (Public Affairs, 2022) won a Whiting Award in Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the Wingate Prize for Jewish Literature. She is also a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and frequently writes for the New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her essay The Theory That Gives Trump a Blank Check for Aggression will form the basis of our conversation.If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts.This podcast is created in partnership with The Philosopher, the UK's longest running public philosophy journalm founded in 1923. Check out the latest issue of The Philosopher and its online events series: https://www.thephilosopher1923.org Artwork by Nick HallidayMusic by Rowan Mcilvride

Almost four years ago, Producer Ben Hosley watched Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" and proclaimed that if he'd been in that scenario, everything would have worked out perfectly. With the gleefully satisfying "Send Help," Raimi gives Ben the ending he's always wanted. Join Ben, Griffin, David, and Marie as they chat about the endless likability of Rachel McAdams, the heel turn of Dylan O'Brien, and how the various employees of Blank Check Productions would fare on a deserted island. Read "Dylan O'Brien Is Ready to Talk About That Accident" Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show, Richard and Alison hop on a boxcar and stare wistfully as the 20th century passes them by with Best Picture nominee Train Dreams. They discuss director Clint Bentley's lush, if somewhat sanded-down take on Denis Johnson's novella about a lumberman haunted by his past, starring a very quiet Joel Edgerton. Train Dreams is one of Netflix's Best Picture nominees this year, but the film was not an original production. It was acquired by the streamer at last year's Sundance Film Festival. On the occasion of this year's festival (which is happening as we speak) we also discuss how Sundance works, and what, exactly gives a movie that ineffable Sundance flavor we have come to associate with small-scale American indies like Little Miss Sunshine.  We also discuss Netflix's seemingly endless quest to win Best Picture, why the Academy is so resistant to giving them the big prize, and why the most popular streamer in the world is so desperate for Academy validation in the first place. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mommy's back! Emily Yoshida joins the gang to talk about 2002's Morvern Callar, a surprisingly tender film about grief, starting over, and taking a Jet2 Holiday. We're chatting about Samantha Morton's unconventional star quality, our personal history with mixtapes, and the Fantastic Beasts franchise for some reason. Plus, Ben reveals his love of seaside snow, Griffin adds some context from the source material (or whatever he could translate from the Scottish dialect), and everyone agrees that Morvern did nothing wrong. Watch Shogun Season 1  Check out the official Shogun podcast Listen to the Emily's Traitors Podcast: First To Breakfast Watch Carnival of Souls Watch the Romano Tours SNL Sketch Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Hollywood's biggest morning! Join Richard and Alison (plus a vacationing Producer Benjamin Frisch) as they pick apart the biggest snubs and surprises of the year: Sinners breaking the all-time nominations record! The Secret Agent breaking out of Neon's strong showing, the complete collapse of Wicked: For Good, and the surprise blockbuster pulling up the rear: F1, which finds itself among Train Dreams, Bugonia, Sentimental Value, and Hamnet in the Best Picture category despite being a car movie about Brad Pitt going fast vroom vroom.  Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, Premiere Party, and read Alison's work at Vulture. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We need to pod about Glasgow. We need to pod about the arresting inner lives of these complicated protagonists. We need to pod about every incredible project Lynne Ramsay has been attached to over the past 25 years that never actually happened. So yeah, WE NEED TO POD ABOUT CASTVIN! Join us as we discuss Ramsay's debut film Ratcatcher, a striking study of a young boy on the precipice of adolescence in the slums of 1970s Glasgow. Ben discovers that he adores this movie. Griffin discovers that he can make “Lin Manuel Ramsey” a bit. And everyone discovers that Scottish accents are not that easy to imitate. Watch the Characters Welcome Sketch from Tristan Griffin Watch Timmy on Fallon Check out Meshes of the Afternoon Watch The Mother Project Check out Notes on the Cinematograph Watch Barry Jenkins in the Criterion Closet Listen to the Top 21 Sports movies of the 21st century episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brendan Fraser stars in 2001's Monkeybone—a dark comedy based on a child's erection that's a Drop Dead Fred situation wrapped in a Jacob's Ladder scenario. LIVE from NYC, HDTGM all-star Rob Huebel helps Paul and Jason discuss Stu's flabby arm fetish, if Bridget Fonda was an unethical doctor, Chris Kattan's electric performance as a reanimated corpse of a gymnast, all the weird characters in Down Town, Monkeybone's sex scene with Julie, and so much more. Plus, special guest Griffin Newman from the Blank Check podcast drops by to passionately defend Monkeybone as a great film. Oh, and the crew talk with MULTIPLE audience members who have actually been in a coma. • Go to hdtgm.com for tour dates, merch, FAQs, and more• Have a Last Looks correction or omission? Call 619-PAULASK to leave us a voicemail!• Submit your Last Looks theme song to us here• Join the HDTGM conversation on Discord: discord.gg/hdtgm• Buy merch at howdidthisgetmade.dashery.com/• Order Paul's book about his childhood: Joyful Recollections of Trauma• Shop our new hat collection at podswag.com• Paul's Discord: discord.gg/paulscheer• Paul's YouTube page: youtube.com/paulscheer• Follow Paul on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/paulscheer• Subscribe to Enter The Dark Web w/ Paul & Rob Huebel: youtube.com/@enterthedarkweb• Listen to Unspooled with Paul & Amy Nicholson: unspooledpodcast.com• Listen to The Deep Dive with June & Jessica St. Clair: thedeepdiveacademy.com/podcast• Instagram: @hdtgm, @paulscheer, & @junediane• Twitter: @hdtgm, @paulscheer, & msjunediane • Jason is not on social media• Episode transcripts available at how-did-this-get-made.simplecast.com/episodesGet access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using the link: siriusxm.com/hdtgm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, we're joined by David Sims as we orbit the Golden Globes and their Best Drama winner, Chloé Zhao's Hamnet. In the vibes-based reality of awards season predictions, Hamnet has emerged as a potential spoiler to the season's other favorites, including Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another and Ryan Coogler's Sinners. But what, exactly, makes something an Oscar villain? We also get into the film itself, the historical Shakespeare, why people are weird about Chloé Zhao, and our predictions for next week's Oscar nominations. Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, Premiere Party, and read Alison's work at Vulture. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  The Senate narrowly killed a war powers resolution meant to limit presidential authority in Venezuela—after assurances from the administration that there are “no plans” for ground troops or military occupation. The vote came down to a 51–50 tie, broken by J.D. Vance, with key GOP senators switching sides based on written promises from the White House.But history—and a certain Tom Clancy plot—suggests how fragile those assurances can be. Add in Venezuelan oil revenues quietly parked in a Qatari bank “to avoid seizure,” and the whole arrangement raises serious red flags. This segment questions whether Congress just surrendered its leverage, and whether anyone should feel reassured by promises that come with built-in escape hatches.

Join Pulp Men (and Woman) of the Year Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie as they discuss Park Chan Wook's latest offering, the silly and sublime No Other Choice. We're talking about paper, AI-proof jobs, the handsomeness of Lee Byung-hun, the possibility that Director Park is the Michael Jordan of dissolves, and the fact that this is likely Griffin's favorite film of 2025. Plus, David breaks down over the finale of Stranger Things, and we all apologize for a bunch of stuff. Read the Chevy Chase New York Times profile. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're only slightly hung over from last night's New York Film Critics Circle Awards! Griffin Newman joins the pod to discuss the event, where, among dry-run Oscar speeches from Amy Madigan, Rose Byrne, and Wagner Moura, we saw Ethan Hawke fall into a fountain beneath a towering Buddhist deity. Then we turn to the precursor circuit, where Marty Supreme's momentum has cemented Timothée Chalamet as a frontrunner for Best Actor. We get into how he's played the campaign circuit so far, and why Timmy and Marty are well positioned for the Oscars, despite not resembling the usual Oscar fare. Finally, we dive into Marty Supreme spoilers, before closing out with both an award and an in memoriam for the week. Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, Premiere Party, and read Alison's work at Vulture. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello nerds.It's been a while since I sat down and did what Nerds for Humanity was originally built for. Not shorts. Not algorithms. Not rage bait. But long-form, structural analysis of how power actually works in this country, and why things that feel shocking in the moment are often the predictable outcome of rules written decades ago.This livestream was about Trump's military operation in Venezuela. But not in the way cable news framed it.I wasn't interested in relitigating whether Trump is reckless, authoritarian, or dangerous. If you're reading this Substack, you already know where you land on that. The more important question is this.How was he able to do it?How was a single president able to order a major military operation against a sovereign country, deploy massive air and naval assets, seize the country's leader from its capital, and then inform Congress afterward?The uncomfortable truth is that Trump didn't invent some new authoritarian power. He exploited one that has been sitting in plain sight for more than fifty years.And worse, he did so largely within the mechanics of existing law.The law that was supposed to stop thisIn 1973, in the shadow of Vietnam, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. Its purpose was simple. Presidents were not supposed to be able to drag the country into war on their own.The law created two central guardrails.First, the president must notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing US forces into hostilities.Second, unless Congress authorizes the action, those hostilities must end within 60 days, with an additional 30-day period allowed for withdrawal.At the time, this seemed reasonable. Military action moved slowly. Wars took time to prepare. You could not overthrow a government in a weekend. The assumption was that Congress would have ample opportunity to intervene before anything irreversible happened.As I said on the livestream,“At that time in 1973 the thinking was well, surely no one can invade a country and capture the head of state inside of 48 hours. They would need weeks to prepare for it.”That assumption is now dangerously obsolete.We are using 1973 traffic laws for modern warfareOne analogy I used resonated with a lot of people.Trying to govern modern warfare with the War Powers Resolution is like applying 1970s traffic rules to autonomous flying cars.The law was written for an era of B-52 bombers, carrier groups, and weeks-long mobilizations. It was not written for drones, cyber operations, special forces insertions, precision strikes, and operations capable of destabilizing or decapitating a regime in days or even hours.Today, a president can dramatically alter another country's political reality before Congress has even finished debating whether the notification email landed in the right inbox.The time-based trigger is the flaw. It assumes time equals restraint. That is no longer true.As I put it during the stream,“This time-based system is flawed. It doesn't work for a world where you can basically destabilize and replace a regime in a few hours.”Trump didn't invent this powerIt is tempting to treat Trump as a unique aberration. He isn't.Modern presidents of both parties have steadily expanded executive war-making authority.George H. W. Bush built up a massive military force in the Gulf before Congress voted, and then received authorization shortly before the 1991 Gulf War began.George W. Bush secured a separate 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force to invade Iraq, and the post-9/11 era normalized expansive readings of both congressional authorizations and Article II authority.The Obama administration conducted extensive drone campaigns and the Libya intervention without a formal declaration of war, arguing that certain operations did not meet the War Powers Resolution's definition of “hostilities.”Every modern president has pushed the envelope. Trump simply sprinted through it.As I said on the livestream,“This has been a loophole that's been used by many presidents. We just relied on them to exercise judgment and honor the office. That honor code is clearly gone.”A system that relies on voluntary restraint is not a system. It is a gamble.Language laundering: from war to “kinetic action”One of the most revealing shifts has been linguistic.Presidents learned that if you do not call something a war, you do not need a declaration of war.So we get euphemisms.“Kinetic action.”“Law enforcement operation.”“Targeted strike.”As I pointed out,“They don't want to say we are conducting warfare. If you don't call it a war, then you don't need a declaration of war.”This is how large-scale military action against a sovereign state becomes a “police-like operation.”If another country flew dozens of military aircraft into Washington, DC and seized the US president, we would call it an act of war without hesitation. Euphemisms only work when we are the ones using them.The public justifications kept shiftingThe administration's public rationale for the Venezuela operation evolved quickly.Initial statements emphasized fentanyl and drug trafficking. Analysts and critics noted that available trafficking data does not identify Venezuela as a significant fentanyl source, which raised questions about that justification.Subsequent messaging emphasized cocaine trafficking and broader security threats, but those claims were also contested.What became clearer over time was that the operation was aimed at exerting decisive pressure on the Maduro regime itself.As I said during the livestream,“What some messaging from inside Trump's orbit suggested was that this was really about regime change.”Trump later publicly discussed American oil companies entering Venezuela, reclaiming seized assets, and modernizing infrastructure as part of a post-Maduro arrangement.If that sounds familiar, it should.“That sounds a little colonial to me.”Because it does.The moral high ground is not abstractEvery time the US violates the sovereignty of another nation under contested legal theories, it weakens the norms it relies on to restrain other powers.As one viewer put it during the livestream,“I'm afraid the US just gave a license to Russia to take Ukraine and China to take Taiwan.”You cannot argue that international law matters only when it constrains other countries. Either it restrains power, or it doesn't.Trump's actions did not just affect Venezuela. They further eroded America's standing in a world already drifting toward a more unstable multipolar order.This is bigger than TrumpOne of my core arguments, and the reason this livestream mattered, is simple.Trump will not be the last president to exploit this structure.Even if Trump disappears tomorrow, the authority remains.History shows that presidents, particularly lame ducks, often become more willing to take foreign risks once electoral constraints disappear.As I said,“We can't rely on Trump or any president. Every president eventually realizes how much power this office has.”This is not about stopping one man. It is about fixing a system that assumes good faith in an era where bad faith is a governing strategy.How the law could actually be fixedThe War Powers Resolution does not need cosmetic reform. It needs modernization aligned with modern warfare.I outlined several possible approaches.First, scale-based triggers. Certain actions should automatically require prior authorization, regardless of duration, such as the use of specific aircraft types, large troop deployments, or major munitions thresholds.Second, target-based triggers. Actions aimed at heads of state, national command infrastructure, or critical civilian systems should never fall under a post-hoc notification model.Third, funding enforcement. If authorization is not granted, funding freezes. No money, no mission.As I argued,“Sometimes the US will have to use force. But introducing liabilities for the whole country should not be determined by one branch alone.”In corporate governance, CEOs cannot acquire companies without board approval. Presidents should not be able to remake countries without congressional consent.A simple test for candidatesThe good news is that this is a fixable problem.Congress can change this law.And elections create leverage.As I said on the livestream,“Now is a great time to ask every candidate one simple question. Do you support updating the War Powers Resolution?”Not a detailed proposal. Not a legal dissertation. Just whether they believe the current system is acceptable.If a candidate believes any president should have a 60-day blank check to wage war, they should say so plainly.The uncomfortable truthI said this near the end of the stream, and it bears repeating.“This is a known vulnerability in the system. It's just time to patch the bug.”We like to tell ourselves that American democracy is protected by norms, traditions, and good people.But systems that rely on virtue instead of constraints always fail eventually.Trump did not invent this power. He stress-tested it.And it failed.Support the channelIf you found this analysis useful and want Nerds for Humanity to keep doing long-form work like this, consider supporting the channel directly.You can become a YouTube channel member to help cover operating costs and get a shout-out on every livestream.Thanks for sticking with the long version.Bye nerds. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdsforhumanity.substack.com

Testing, testing…does anybody know? Is this thing on? It depends on who you ask, frankly. The Blank Check team are divided on Bradley Cooper's latest offering, the divorce dramedy Is This Thing On? Can you just walk in off the street to do an open mic at the Comedy Cellar? No. Is Peyton Manning one of our finest athlete actors? Yes. Is Griffin's opinion of this film possibly strained by his anxiety over the New York City mayoral election? Probably. Join us for an episode that we hope is funnier than Will Arnett's sad sack stand-up, but also probably not as brilliant as Bradley Cooper's performance as a guy named “Balls.” Read the Cybertruck article Listen to Cannes I Kick It Watch the Vic Mensa ft. Wyclef Jean performance on Colbert Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This letter to the editor from Vancouver resident Peter Bracchi expresses support for the 2025 National Security Strategy, describing it as a course correction toward clearer priorities, shared global responsibility, and an interest-based American foreign policy. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/letter-for-years-american-foreign-policy-too-often-felt-like-a-blank-check/ #Opinion #LetterToTheEditor #NationalSecurity #ForeignPolicy #ClarkCounty

Welcome to Critical Darlings, a new podcast miniseries from Blank Check: A conversation about the awards season conversation, one contender at a time.  On Critical Darlings, critics and Blank Check alumni Richard Lawson and Alison Willmore guide you through the state of the Oscars race, from the precursors, to the campaigns, to the nominees themselves. To get things started, we begin with a discussion of the festival circuit and the curious state of this year's race; where many promising films have floundered upon their public release. Sidebars include the host's Oscar history, watching festival features on no sleep, Brazilian film Twitter, The Oscars on Youtube, Leonardo DiCaprio at Cannes, and Allison's shocking Il Postino experiment.  Critical Darlings is crashing the Blank Check feed every Thursday through the end of Oscar season. Starting next week we'll have video clips to share produced by our friends at Vulture, stay tuned.   Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, Premiere Party, and read Alison's work at Vulture. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Follow @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian BonsallTake a walk with me down Fascination Street as I get to know Brian Bonsall. When Brian was very young, he joined the cast of the hit television show Family Ties, where he played Andy for over 80 episodes. Brian was also on several other shows including Star Trek: The Next Generation; before jumping onto the big screen with films like: 'Mikey', 'Father and Scout', and my personal favorite 'Blank Check'. About the age of 14 or so, Brian moved on from acting. He went to school, moved across the country, and discovered punk & pop punk music. He fell in love instantly with the genre. In this episode, we chat about some of those acting projects, and how he came to be in the industry in the first place. We talk about why he left the industry, and what he found in music. Brian discusses some of the bands he has been part of including Bootjack & Bons, Sunset Silhouette, and his newest endeavor Lights In The Sky. He also shares fun stories about some of the musical opportunities that have come his way; including playing with The Ataris, and even getting to play in Las Vegas at the When We Were Young Tour, the largest audience he has ever played in front of. Along the way, we deep dive into several different aspects of his storied career. From child actor and star to redemption story, to husband, father, and family man. Brian graciously allows me to play a couple of songs from two of his bands, I love them, and I think you will too! Lastly, Brian openly discusses the amazing Courtney, his wife. He fills us in on some recent health scares with her, and how she is doing these days. She is his ROCK. It was an absolute delight to speak with this remarkable and resilient dude. I can't wait to have him back on the show.

We went back to Pandora and we all fell in love with a very special lady. She's a bit prickly. A bit unconventional. But boy, is she something! Join us as we chat Avatar: Fire and Ash, aka VARANG: THE AWAKENING, the third installment in Big Jim's Sully family saga. Yes, this movie's a bit messier than the previous ones. Yes, it repeats many of the same beats as The Way of Water. No, we do not care. We are too distracted by our new Na'vi queen. Listen to Big Jim drop Big Lore on The Town with Matt Belloni (Part 1 - Part 2) If you're in the area check out Nitehawk Trivia  Watch the Anaconda Trailer to have 3 Bad Minutes Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the 21st annual iFanboy All Media Year End Roundup! Conor Kilpatrick, Josh Flanagan, and special guest Ron Richards discuss some of what they enjoyed in media in this, the year that was 2025. Movies, television, music, podcasts, books, and comics — it's all here! Note: Timecodes are subject to change depending on dynamic ad insertion by the distributor. Running Time: 02:54:30 Movies:00:02:35 – The Year in Movies00:06:19 – Sinners00:09:45 – One Battle After Another00:12:30 – Superman00:14:43 – Hamnet00:16:39 – Caught Stealing00:19:24 – The Naked Gun00:22:46 – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery00:26:03 – Lurker00:27:24 – Mickey 1700:28:37 – Train Dreams00:31:26 – Jay Kelly00:34:02 – Blue Moon00:37:36 – Nouvelle Vague00:40:48 – Nuremberg00:44:58 – Weapons Television:00:47:45 – The Year in Television00:49:07 – The Pitt00:50:31 – The Gilded Age00:54:25 – Slow Horses00:57:16 – The Lowdown01:00:28 – The Beast in Me01:03:22 – English Teacher01:05:13 – Andor: A Star Wars Story01:07:32 – Alien: Earth01:11:16 – Paradise01:12:56 – Death By Lightning01:19:47 – The Residence01:21:38 – The Studio01:23:05 – Dept. Q01:25:59 – Dying For Sex01:28:49 – The Conners Music:01:32:54 – “Who Is the Sky?” by David Byrne01:33:34 – Who is the Sky? Tour by David Byrne at Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York01:34:30 – Hamilton: An American Musical at Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, New York 01:38:22 – Suffs The Musical at Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California01:39:35 – Pulp Live 2025 by Pulp at Queens Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills, New York01:41:51 – “God Save The Gun” by Militarie Gun01:43:08 – “Antidepressants” by Suede01:44:28 – “Alive in the Catacombs” by Queens of the Stone Age01:45:45 – The Catacombs Tour by Queens of the Stone Age at Boch Center Wang Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts01:49:05 – Oasis: Live '25 by Oasis at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California01:50:14 – “Yell at Cloud” by PLOSIVS Books:01:51:49 – The Year in Books01:52:20 – “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live” by Susan Morrison01:55:20 – “Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival” by Richard Bienstock & Tom Beaujour01:58:41 – “All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries” By Martha Wells02:00:10 – “Gai-Jin: The Epic Novel of the Birth of Modern Japan” by James Clavell02:03:30 – “Perfidia: A Novel” by James Ellroy02:05:16 – “The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton's Endurance” by Mensun Bound02:09:42  – “To Kill a Troubadour: A Mystery of the French Countryside” by Martin Walker02:10:34 – “The Name of This Band is R.E.M.: A Biography” by Peter Ames Carlin02:14:21 – “The Impossible Fortune: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery” by Richard Osman02:15:22 – The Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro Series by Dennis Lehane Podcasts:02:18:34 – “The Town” with Matt Belloni02:20:48 – “Blank Check” with Griffin Newman & David Sims02:23:29 – “The Rest is Entertainment” with Marina Hyde & Richard Osman02:24:54 – “Gone South” with Jed Lipinski02:27:44 – “Mike & Tom Eat Snacks” with Michael Ian Black & Tom Cavanagh02:30:21 – “Fly on the Wall” with Dana Carvey & David Spade02:31:46 – “Nudgecast: The Official Podcast of Nudge Magazine” with Ian Jacoby & Shane Told Comics:02:38:16 – Batman & Robin: Year One02:39:11 – Wonder Woman02:40:29 – Absolute Wonder Woman02:41:19 – Assorted Crisis Events02:43:04 – Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell02:43:43 – Usagi Yojimbo02:44:31 – Fantastic Four02:45:39 – Uncanny Valley02:46:41 – Redcoat02:47:40 – Supergirl More From Ron Richards:• Listen to Android Faithful!• If you're into pinball, check out Scorbit! Brought To You By: iFanboy Patrons  iFanboy T-Shirts and Merch Music:“Mele Kalikimaka [feat. Shannon McGill]”Slowey and The Boats LISTEN TO THE IFANBOY 2025 ALL MEDIA YEAR END PLAYLIST! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blank Check Love - Scripture: John 3:16-21 God so loved the world…” Those words are so familiar that their weight can be lost on us. The love of God revealed at Christmas is not sentimental or abstract; it is embodied, costly, and redemptive. Love came down — not in comfort or glory, but in vulnerability. This love does not wait for the world to become lovable. God's love moves first, toward sinners, toward enemies. It is an initiating love that stoops to rescue, a love that bears our sin and shame. The baby in the manger is the Lamb who will be slain. The parable of the Good Samaritan is not just a moral teaching for our future…it is a description of what Jesus did on Christmas. He picked up our broken selves and then wrote a blank check to make us whole. We are called to embody the same kind of love — patient, forgiving, and self-giving and without condition — in our families, our communities, and even toward those who wrong us. God, like the Good Samaritan, is offering to make you healthy by giving you a blank check. Are you willing to cash it in?

Folks, Ben Hosley from 'Blank Check' joins us on this week's episode we hear about how fruit from a cargo ship washed ashore in the UK, why scientists hoarding research is known as the 'Gollum Effect', a fugitive in Italy who hid in a nativity scene, what items authorities found on a drone headed for a prison, and a street brawl during a Nantucket Christmas paradeCheck out Ben's new album 'Slow Christmas 5' here: https://tinyurl.com/mtt2e44tBUY ELI'S NEW STAND UP ALBUM HERE: https://eliyudin.bandcamp.com/album/humble-offeringOR WATCH IT HERE: https://tinyurl.com/2wwdrpjcBecome a patron for weekly bonus eps and more stuff! :⁠⁠www.patreon.com/whatatimepod⁠⁠Check out our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/whatatimetobealive⁠⁠Get one of our t-shirts, or other merch, using this link! ⁠⁠https://whatatimepod.bigcartel.com/whatatimepod.com⁠⁠Join our Discord chat here:⁠⁠discord.gg/jx7rB7J⁠Theme music by Naughty Professor⁠: ⁠https://www.naughtyprofessormusic.com/⁠@pattymo // @kathbarbadoro // @eliyudin// @whatatimepod©2025 What A Time LLC

It's pretty hard being the governor of an unnamed state when you're a 34-year-old woman with a husband who's the heir to a local pizza empire and you've got a brother who has agoraphobia and your sleazy dad keeps leaving you weird voicemails and Julie Kavner is narrating your entire life story! Wooo, that was a lot. James L. Brooks' Ella McCay is A LOT. Richard Lawson joins us to chat about this very strange movie that feels like a real outlier at contemporary multiplexes. If anything, Ella McCay is a refreshing throwback. Kind of. Minus a few glaring, mind-boggling missteps. Anyway, join us for a fun conversation about this latest Brooksian offering, and stick around for a very exciting announcement about the expansion of Blank Check Productions!  Subscribe to Richard's newsletter Premier Party Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Honey Don't? Honey probably shouldn't have. But that's okay, because Honey, we're gonna talk about it anyway! Writer and illustrator Mattie Lubchansky joins us to close out our Coens series with Ethan and Tricia's latest offering from earlier this year. How do we feel about Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza as performers? How do we feel about Chris Evans' “year of trying stuff”? How do we feel about the threatened third film in this Lesbian B-Movie trilogy, “Go Beavers!”? Well, honey, you'll just have to listen to find out. Plus - stay tuned after this episode to hear our introduction to The Hudsucker Proxy from our screening at Friend of the Fest at the American Cinematheque! ⁠Read Mattie's books⁠ ⁠Check out Mattie's Wife Jaya's writing⁠ ⁠Check out Slow Xmas 5 Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we have replaced a still-absent David with Ben Hosley from the Blank Check podcast and producer/creator of the Slow Xmas music project or “bit” that we also discuss on this episode. If you want to buy a vinyl copy of SLOW XMAS 5 head to madebymutant.com You can also buy it digitally at […]

Two gals and a briefcase full of dicks. What more could an 84 minute caper need? mxmtoon joins us to chat about Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke's lesbian road trip movie Drive Away Dolls, and brings with her the fascinating perspective of someone whose first Coen movie was…Drive Away Dolls! We're chatting about Ethan and Tricia's unconventional relationship, the legacy of Cynthia PlasterCaster, and the unlikely leading man trajectory of Pedro Pascal. Plus, we're mourning the dearth of lesbian bars and Geraldine Viswanathan vehicles in our current cultural climate. Check out mxmtoon's YouTube Channel Read Ethan's Collection of short stories  Support The Lipstick Lounge if you are in Nashville Or  Sugar and Spice Bar, The Cattyshack, The Cubby Hole, Gingers   Check out Demon Slayer Follow mxmtoon on Twitch Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can't say “Macbeth” in a theater, but you can certainly say it on a podcast! Dana Schwartz joins us (in her third Blank Check appearance on a witch-centered film) to talk about Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth, the first solo-directorial effort from a Coen Brother after their amicable split. We're debating the success of Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington's performances, learning about the history of Scottish kings, and discovering Ben Hosley's family crest in the first Blank Check episode devoted to a work of Shakespeare. Trust us, this isn't homework. It's fun! Listen to Noble Blood Listen to Hoax  Read Anatomy A Love Story Pre-order The Arcane Arts Read If Roast Beef Could Fly Check out Forbidden Planet Watch Jefferson Mays' A Christmas Carol Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the end of the year, and while most business owners are planning holidays, smart entrepreneurs are planning tax savings. In this episode, we talk about how to avoid the costly mistakes that leave most owners overpaying the IRS by tens of thousands. You'll learn the difference between a CPA who files taxes and one who strategically saves you money. We'll cover real tax strategies that help female entrepreneurs take control of their finances, make smarter money decisions, and keep more of what they earn. If your CPA isn't talking about year-end planning, you're leaving cash on the table. This is your wake-up call to fix it before it's too late. Listen now to discover how to finish the year strong — and set up massive tax savings for 2025.   Next Steps:

Comedians Clare O'Kane, Alex Ptak, and Jeremy Kaplowitz explore the mysterious land of Quora.com to answer life's questions. This week's questions include: Can Predator be real? I mean, we don't know what could be out in the universe (I'm talking about the movie Predator)? What do psychopaths think of the movie "Human Centipede"? Is Malcom in The Middle set in America? If so, why doesn't Malcom just shoot everyone who gives him problems? --- Listen to Blank Check podcast Get even more Quorators when you support the show @ patreon.com/quorators Send quoras and qommunicate on our discord discord.gg/7pPYuKuYCr Watch the show @ youtube.com/@quorators

Six segments. Four legendary movie podcasters. Three and a half hours of keeping David Sims away from his family. Welcome to our Ballad of Buster Scruggs episode! How Did This Get Made's Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas join the Two Friends to talk about the Coens' final film together (as of this recording), a grab bag of western vignettes that could have been titled “A Million Ways to Die in the West” if Seth MacFarlane hadn't already claimed it. We're picking our favorite segments, chatting about the “wild west” of Netflix projects back when Scruggs was greenlit, and ranking the Coens' filmography before we cover their solo directorial efforts. Oh, and Jason has a few bones to pick with Griffin and David about a certain section of the True Grit episode. Listen to How Did This Get Made - Grizzly II: Revenge w/ Jake Johnson Listen to the Coens on Fresh Air Check out the Parker Novels Check out the Darwyn Cook Parker novels graphic novel adaptation Listen to Telly Savalas' Album Listen to Tim Blake Nelson on WTF Read Joshua Pease piece on Buster Scruggs Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would that it twere so simple to lasso that lazy ol' moon! This week, we're chatting about all the studio shenanigans in Hail, Caesar! with our pal Shirley Li. Speaking of Shirley, we all knew she was skilled at getting David “The Dog” Sims off the leash, but did you know that she also attended researcher JJ's wedding?! Lore drop! Join us as we unpack the careers of Channing Tatum and Alden Ehrenreich, gush over the gorgeous near-Technicolor cinematography, and celebrate the love of da moviesh that comes through so clearly in this film. Read Shirley's work Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read Jack Antonoff's slander in print Watch Carey Mulligan in 2015's Far From the Madding Crowd Listen to the penultimate episode of WTF  Get the Evita Album Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathryn Bigelow is back. But are WE so back? Not quite. The gang discusses the recent release A House of Dynamite, a film in which the president listens to podcasts, Tracy Letts loves the Mets, and the city of Chicago may or may not be completely leveled by an atomic bomb. Do we kind of miss Mark Boal now? Are we praying Kathryn Bigelow directs something a little more in line with Strange Days or Point Break next? Would Ethan Hunt have saved this movie? Yes, yes, and yes. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After reporting state/church victories and complaints in California, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Tennessee, Washington, Texas and Arkansas, we speak with Mother Jones national correspondent Kiera Butler about her article, God's “Blank Check”: Christian Zionists Are Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Israeli Extremism.

We love to pull the cork. Comedian (and probably the biggest Greek-American entertainer of our time) Stavros Halkias joins us to chat about 2010's True Grit, the Coens' true attempt to cash their post-Oscar blank check. We're talking about Hailee Steinfeld's incredible performance. We're talking about Jeff Bridges' distinctive mumbly delivery. We're talking about how this film is a considerable upgrade over the John Wayne original in possibly every way. We're also talking about how everyone probably smells awful in this movie. And we're talking a lot about the Morris Chestnut network TV show “Watson” for some reason. Join us by the campfire, it's a fun time! Check out Bugonia Read David's Interview with Yorgos Check out the profile of the owner of Panathinaikos B.C. Check out Charles Portis' other books Watch Booboo Kills Yogi" ending See Stavvy Live Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The time has come for us to lock the gates. On the occasion of the end of WTF, Marc Maron joins us to talk about chaos, God, mathematics, and Jewish identity as we dive into 2009's A Serious Man. Highlights of this episode include Marc asking, “Is this a bit?” when David opens the dossier, Marc's discussion of his audition to play Larry Gopnik, and Marc telling Griffin that he's proud of him. Not a dry eye in the house, folks. This is a special one. Listen to WTF Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean and Amanda are joined by David Sims of the Blank Check podcast to commemorate the incredible career of Daniel Day-Lewis. They begin the show by debating whether or not 2025 has been a good year for movies, and they forecast what the fall slate will look like (2:34). Then, they discuss Day-Lewis's return to acting with ‘Anemone,' directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis (14:14). Finally, they work through the entire career and filmography of the legendary actor (20:28) and build his Hall of Fame (39:28). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: David Sims Producer: Jack Sanders and Belle Roman Unlock an extra $250 at linkedin.com/thebigpicture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's 'Saturday Night'! Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan, plus Griffin Newman and David Sims of the Blank Check podcast, to draft their favorite New York City movies of all time. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Chris Ryan, Griffin Newman, and David Sims Producers: Jack Sanders, Elizabeth Fierman, Helen Eichner, Charlie Finan, and Mike Wargon Unlock an extra $250 at linkedin.com/thebigpicture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What did we learn, Palmer? That 2008's Burn After Reading is pretty freakin' hilarious, sir. Our Fran (Hoepfner, not McDormand) joins us this week to talk about Joel and Ethan Coen's madcap dark comedy about a bunch of morons living in the DC area. The way John Malkovich says “mem-waah”...George Clooney's homemade dildo chair…Brad Pitt's stupid face right before getting murked…it all adds up to a splendid tapestry of silliness. Listen, laugh, and maybe you can fit in a run afterwards. Read Fran at Vulture Subscribe to Fran Magazine Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Two Friendos, plus “Masterpiece” Leslye Headland and “I would have had no problems handling that bag of money” Ben Hosley take on one of the most acclaimed films of the 21st century in this week's episode. It's No Country For Old Men week on Blank Check! We're chatting about Anton Chigurh's strange physicality, Tommy Lee Jones' tired resignation, and Josh Brolin's career breakthrough in this episode, all while lavishing praise on the Coens' practically perfect film. Now tell us - what's the most that you've ever lost on a coin toss? Check out the SNL Jumanji Sketch Read Cormac McCarthy's Books Check out the Brooklyn Kolache Company Check out Every Frame a Painting Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We must have waffles forthwith! We must also have Connor Ratliff on the pod to talk about Tom Hanks for the first time since the completion of his Dead Eyes series! Join us for a spirited discussion about 2004's The Ladykillers, a film that is universally regarded as the Coens' worst, and is also the film that ended Hanks' legendary decade-long boffo box office streak. We're getting into defining the parameters of the world of “Weird Hanks.” We're getting into the…uh…uncomfortable racial depictions that mar this movie. We're getting to the “Root of the Matter,” and we're getting Connor to softlaunch an incredible new term - “Mooseporting.” Listen to Dead Eyes Listen to the Audiobook for The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece Watch the second David S. Pumpkins Listen to Connor talk to Bobby Moynihan about David S. Pumpkins Read the David S. Pumpkins Oral History Check out Does the Dog Die Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices