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What a lot of fun I had talking to Zena Hitz about Gulliver's Travels. As well as discussing Swift, slavery, genocide, rationality, Christianity, and science, Zena told me that good philosophy is like a box of cake mix and that a liberal education requires you to be freed of false expertise. I also took Zena on a detour to discuss Iris Murdoch, the Catherine Project, and modern philosophy. TRANSCRIPTHENRY OLIVER: Today I am talking to Zena Hitz. Zena is a tutor at St. John's College. She is a philosopher, the author of Lost in Thought. She runs the Catherine Project. She's famous on Twitter. We don't know how she does it all. Zena, welcome.ZENA HITZ: Thank you, Henry. It's great to be here.OLIVER: And we're talking about Gulliver's Travels because it is 300 years since it was published, and it's a book that you love.HITZ: A book that I've loved for a long time.First Encounter with Gulliver's TravelsOLIVER: So tell me, when did you first read it?HITZ: Well, it was an important moment for me. I was in high school, and I was admitted to a scholarship summer program which offered college courses at different campuses. There were some normal-looking college courses at normal-looking colleges. And then there was this course at St. John's called Science as Literature, Literature as Science. [laughs] It had this description that was just unbelievable. And I thought to myself, “This is the one, obviously the one to go to.”So I went, and we read books that no one in their right mind would assign to high school students now, and maybe not then. The fragments of Parmenides, Plato's Timaeus, selections from Aristotle's Physics, Gulliver's Travels. After reading a number of—preface to Ptolemy's Almagest, geocentric astronomy. And we read Gulliver's Travels after reading selections from Hooke's Micrographia, so the inventor of the microscope, and Galileo's Starry Messenger, which is one of the great first uses of the telescope to discover the nature of the moon and the satellites of Jupiter.So then we read Gulliver's Travels. We also read Emma and Flannery O'Connor and various other things. And one of the faculty who was running it said at one point, “Well, we thought we'd throw a bunch of things together and see what you could do, what you could make of it. We didn't actually have an idea of how these all fit together,” which I think was probably true.At any rate, I think I came to Gulliver's Travels thinking about these scientists who were looking at very large things and very small things, and thinking in general about the follies of human perception, whether that was shown in literature or philosophy or what have you, the ways in which human perception and knowledge don't work very well. And I think Swift is still one of the best people to—Gulliver's Travels is still one of the best books about that because it's in the mode of a travel diary, an eyewitness account.Gulliver is trained as a surgeon, by his own account. He at one point says he was a bit of a projector in his younger days, someone who undertook scientific projects. And he's a terrible observer, the worst imaginable observer, and Swift so brilliantly lets us see through his eyes, lets us see all the things he doesn't see. And I think it's not just about seeing and knowing. It has a very profound, I think, moral and political set of commitments. So it's a very humane book. It's social criticism, but from a point of view of a very deep humanity. So I've always loved the book for these reasons since then.I came back to it more recently because it is part of the curriculum at St. John's. So when I came back to teach there, I began to reread it. The other experience I had was that I wrote a long essay on it when I was an undergraduate. So those are my—I'm not any kind of expert. My knowledge of the historical context of the book is limited. It's not zero, but it's limited. But I have always loved it as an account of human understanding and its failures and the way that might impact how we live and how happy we can be.The Houyhnhnm ProblemOLIVER: Have you changed how you think about it as you've taught it?HITZ: I have not really changed the way I think about it. It gets more—like all of these books, the more you read them, the more comes out of them, the more details come up. Hilarious. The more jokes you get, the more . . .I think the one more recent insight I had was, I hadn't understood the full horror of the Houyhnhnms in the last book until relatively recently. I think that took me some time to really take on. It's one of the cases where Gulliver's misperceptions are a bit harder to see, and I think many readers just assume that Swift is endorsing the praise of the Houyhnhnms in some sense or other.OLIVER: There are some very serious critics in the past who have called them Swift's ideal beings. Which at this point in history seems unthinkable, but it has been a belief among serious readers.HITZ: Yes, yes. And also common among students. Yes, it's absolutely one of the wrongest opinions you could have about anything, I think.OLIVER: Why does Swift allow us to make that mistake? Are we bad readers out of the context, or has he made too good a job of his diversions and concealments and ironies?HITZ: That's a great question, and I'll just take a stab at it. I think that he has hit on a mode of misperception which is very deep to us, and it's something that we're much more guilty of. We could imagine that if we were in a place where everyone was small or everyone was large, we might make mistakes like Gulliver makes. But we all live, I think, in communities that are a bit like the Houyhnhnms. And so we are all very subject to these kinds of deceptions, and I think that's how he gets us.That's not to really excuse the bad readings because, you know, Gulliver does leave the land of the Houyhnhnms with a boat made out of human skin, which should—I think that moment should make you realize, if you haven't yet, that something is very seriously wrong with Gulliver. Gulliver has been kind of destroyed as a person by his travels, and especially by this last trip. But if you pass over that little detail, maybe you think, “Oh, wow, he found some very simple beings.”OLIVER: Well, there's also the great council where they debate the genocide of the Yahoos.HITZ: [laughs] Yes.OLIVER: And it directly contradicts several things Gulliver has come to believe about the Houyhnhnms, about the Yahoos, and about himself. And he's completely unaware of these contradictions and so in awe of the Houyhnhnms that he doesn't quite understand, I think, that he's accounting a genocide.HITZ: That's right. That's right.OLIVER: Even though he uses a phrase from Genesis that's very unmistakable. It's a sort of remarkable moment of—particularly to us, having had the 20th century. I think that's why Swift came back into favor in a way, because people used to say, Swift's unbearable view of human nature . . .This is a great bit in Boswell's Life of Johnson where, when they're traveling through Scotland, they're with a lady, and she says to Johnson, “Is any man naturally good?” And Johnson says, “No, no more than a wolf.” And Boswell says, “Well, sir, what about ladies?” And Johnson says, “God, no, absolutely not.” And this woman says, “Oh my God, this is worse than Swift,” utterly horrific view of human nature.But of course, we can actually say, did he go far enough? [laughter] I mean, Swift clearly understands something very real and deep. The council of genocide is horrifyingly familiar to us. And I think that's much to Swift's credit that he can see that, and to show that Gulliver would blind himself to it. And people still blind themselves to it, right?HITZ: That's right. And I wonder—you would know more about this than me because it is a bit of a historical question, but my understanding is that quite a lot of the savagery, the worst parts of rule over men that we see in Gulliver's Travels are pictures of Ireland in the 17th, 18th centuries. And I wonder if that took some time to reveal itself to the British, and in some ways it's still not really as known as it might be. We think of the colonial project as being something that was directed at India and Africa—OLIVER: Faraway countries.HITZ: —faraway countries where people looked really different. And we're not as familiar with the kinds of things that were done to the cuddly Irish with their nice music, and who we don't think of as being people that you would savagely oppress like that. So I think—OLIVER: So, I think partly the English are not interested in their own history in the way that they are expected to be. And partly the English interest in Irish history has become very focused on the more recent events. And it's very hard to get back past that. And it all becomes very complicated, and it's a sort of different country. So there's some of that, but I think generally we don't want to know what we did, yes.HITZ: Well, and I think in anglophone countries in general, there's going to be a history of something like that. To attribute it to the British is not to say that—I mean, Americans have chattel slavery and the genocide of the natives, and the Australians have their own situation. All of the anglophone countries have something like this on their conscience.I think that obscures the meaning of that final book. I think we don't recognize—and that's really to Swift's credit, to have a social critique that is so real and so deep that you may not even recognize yourself in the picture.Slavery in Gulliver's TravelsOLIVER: Yes. When I read it again—I read it as an undergraduate, but I really was actually more interested in the other parts of Swift's work. And I thought it was brilliant, and then I read it again. And it was more recently that—I didn't understand how I couldn't have seen it, but it's basically a book about slavery, as I come back to it.And in each of the books there is enslavement of a different sort. So, to begin with, Gulliver is the one being kept in a box or kept in a house, or he's chained up by the Lilliputians or Glumdalclitch.HITZ: Right. That's right.OLIVER: She's a very nice sort of master, as it were, [laughter] but he has that box that can be sealed, and the dwarf has him swiping at the wasps. And then the enslavement that the flying island has of the country below is like England and Ireland. And then in the final book, you know, the Houyhnhnms are whipping the Yahoos.HITZ: That's right.OLIVER: The slavery thing gets worse and worse as the book goes on. And one of the things that's clever is that it's funny when Gulliver is enslaved, right? When the wasps are let out and he has to—and Swift sort of does that clever thing where he undermines things by making it a joke at the end. By the book of the Houyhnhnms, there is really very little humor. And the twist at the end is always dark.Gulliver can't see that—he can see that he's a bit like the Yahoos. But he can't see that they've been enslaved in the way that he—the farmer wanted to take him around the kingdom and show him off, and he says, “I couldn't possibly have had children in that condition because I couldn't have it on my conscience that I had begotten a slave, someone born into slavery. I couldn't do that.”HITZ: Right.OLIVER: Then he's in the Houyhnhnms and he can't—it's quite remarkable.HITZ: [laughs] Yes. I don't think it's quite true that in the end there's no humor. I read it with some Catherine Project group a couple of years ago, and one of the readers pointed out that it's not obvious Gulliver isn't leaving his home and sitting out in the ocean and always landing on England every single time; just every time, he lands there.And there's something hilarious about an Englishman that discovers a place where there's all horses, [laughter] and his love of horses overwhelms him, and he becomes persuaded that they're the only rational beings that there are. I mean, that is funny.OLIVER: Yes, I agree. There's a lot of irony and stuff. But I think it's in Lilliput when he describes their manner of writing. And he says they don't write from left to right as we do in England, or from right to left, or up-down like the Chinese, but from one corner to the other, as the ladies do in England. This is very funny, dry humor, and that sort of thing is gone. And the things that surprise you at the end of a sentence or a paragraph are more like, “Oh, and of course I used Yahoo skin to cover the boat.” And you're like, oh my God, this is not a joke anymore.You know, in A Modest Proposal, he makes real humor out of those kind of horrors. And with the Houyhnhnms, I think he actually refuses the joke to make you feel the disgust, in a way.HITZ: Yes, that might be right. That might be right.Swift and PhilosophyOLIVER: What do you think about the idea that the Houyhnhnms are drawn from the Phaedrus and Socrates's idea of the soul with the two horses? And there's the good, rational horse and the vulgar, passionate horse, and the Yahoos are the other horse. You see what I mean?HITZ: Yes, yes.OLIVER: Is Swift showing us the two sides, and Gulliver's mistake is to prefer the one and not the—HITZ: Right, I think I have heard something like this before. I'm a bit skeptical. Swift doesn't strike me as someone who uses philosophy in quite that way. I think he's much more interested in Gulliver's—the Houyhnhnms' self-deception about the kinds of beings they are. They do not say “the thing which is not,” yet Gulliver's master hides from him this conversation about the genocide for quite some time. And maybe we don't know if he tells him quite the whole truth about it. So there's—OLIVER: And he also conceals the fact that the others don't like Gulliver because he's a partial—a reasonable Yahoo, as it were.HITZ: Right. So their self-deception, Gulliver's being taken in by their self-deception, the ways in which they—this is one of the ways that I think it's profound about the nature of slavery. And to cheer us all up, I'll make a Holocaust analogy, as you also did.When I was traveling in Germany some years ago, in one of their Holocaust museums, there was an image from a Nazi-era German newspaper of Jewish people living in complete squalor in the ghetto. And of course, they had forced them into squalor. But somehow they forced them into squalor, and then this reinforces the sense that they're these rat-like beings.And there's something very similar that the Houyhnhnms do to the Yahoos. They force them into this animal state, and then they say, “Oh God, look, these people are disgusting. They just don't know how to act.” That seems to me the kind of level at which Swift is working. He is interested in the nature of a human being, but not in the abstract Platonic sense, I don't think.He strikes me as someone who believes in common sense, common decency, basic freedom, and basic use of reason. And he finds in his time that there's distorting teachings, distorting ways of behavior that have gotten people far off track. To me, that's what it feels like it comes from. It doesn't feel like Plato is in the background to me.OLIVER: Is there an extent to which, though, it's a work of sort of anti-philosophy? As you say, Swift, he likes common sense. He likes ordinary reason, and he likes what he would call the revealed truth of Christianity. So he talks, in his sermons about people, it comes to you from God like a light. It's revealed to you. And he doesn't like this idea that the philosophers can work it all out.And in a way, that's the same sort of mistake that the scientists think they can discover all this stuff, and they go in these crazy ways. And the Houyhnhnms are a bit like that. If you had philosopher-kings, they would end up being perverted examples of rationality because they're ignoring the—so do you think it's anti-philosophy in a way? The book is saying, “No, no, I don't want philosophers”?Criticizing Elite Intellectual CultureHITZ: That's definitely a plausible reading. But it's hard to tell whether it's anti-philosophy or anti a particular style of thinking. It's worth pointing out, in that light, that Gulliver, when he arrives in the land of the Houyhnhnms, before he even meets a horse, he sees a Yahoo who, from what I can tell from the text, is trying to wave at him and say hello, who recognizes him. And he's horrified. He sees him instantly as a monster.So I think immediately upon landing, he sees the Yahoos as monstrous, and that tells me that he must already be off kilter. So he's not just corrupted by the Houyhnhnms; he's been somehow led off track, away from the capacity to recognize fellow human beings before that.And he's come from this—the third book is all about various kinds of inquiry, scientific endeavors, practical endeavors, talking to the greats of the past, necromancy, and various kinds of inquiry into wisdom or things like wisdom. And somehow that's the thing that seems to push him to the point where he can no longer tell what a human being is.OLIVER: One of my favorite parts is when he's with the wizards, and he asks to be shown Homer and Aristotle and all their commentators. And he says that there were vast rooms full of these commentators, endless numbers of them. But Homer and Aristotle didn't recognize any of them because they were all so ashamed of the terrible things they'd said about these great men's works that they kept themselves forever in a different part of the underworld. They couldn't bear the shame of being revealed to having told lies and said second-rate things.It's very, very funny. And I think that's another sort of angle on which the book says, “You're so tempted to make a comment and have an idea and be a philosopher, and you should just accept the revealed truth of what is known. Just stop it. Just stop it.” [laughter]HITZ: Well, I suppose maybe I would also put it this way, that Swift sees the condition of 18th-century Ireland, which is quite poor, very bad. And it's ruled in a savage way by the English, who have a quite flourishing intellectual culture, as it happens, at this time.So I think what he might be is not a critic of philosophy so much as a critic of intellectual culture. Because intellectual culture seems to not only not help with existential concerns like slavery and oppression and savage poverty, but even serves to mask and hide and create illusions behind it.So that's, I guess, how it strikes me, as a book that's hostile to what you'd now call elite intellectual culture. And I don't know how fundamental that critique is, in light of its inability to solve problems for real human beings or to obscure the causes of what's going on with real human beings.OLIVER: I think it's quite fundamental because outside of Gulliver's—I think this comes into Gulliver's Travels, but what he might have said more explicitly elsewhere is, there are people starving in the streets of Dublin. And we've got corrupt politicians and intellectuals saying all these things, but you know, here she is starving. You don't need to work that out. [laughter] There's no question—the reveal—just be a Christian and, like, for goodness' sake . . .HITZ: Yes.OLIVER: And when, for example, he talks to the king of Brobdingnag, and there's that wonderful satire of the English government and everything. And he says, “Those people understood mathematics and poetry and whatever, but I could never drive into their head any sense of the abstract or any of these speculative—they simply didn't know what that was. They didn't know what I was saying.” [laughter]And so in a way, his ideal government is anti-philosophical because it would just look at the human problem in front of it. It wouldn't do speculative science. It wouldn't think of itself as rational, all this Platonic stuff. It would just—she's in rags, she has bare feet, you know?HITZ: Yes, that's right.OLIVER: What do we need a philosopher-king? Like, what are you talking about?HITZ: Exactly.OLIVER: The priest understands this because he's there in the city doing it. And is there something of that in the book, that constant resistance of the cleverness of people who cannot see daily life?HITZ: I think that's absolutely true, and I think it's probably one of the things I love about the book, because I think this somehow gets to something in my own heart. Even though I'm a professional intellectual—I have been my whole life—the distance between the concerns of professional intellectuals and the concerns of living, real people in various parts of the world is very large.And it's even worse when, as it was when I was coming up in grad school, there's a ton of explicit concern and various operations underway to improve life for others, which have zero connection with anything that anyone actually does. So I think the Laputans, which is the beginning of the third book, when Gulliver—OLIVER: The flying island.HITZ: Yes, when Gulliver visits the people on the flying island, who have one eye towards the heavens and one eye pointed inward. And they study music and mathematics, and they live in a giant flying saucer, which has the—OLIVER: And the flappers.HITZ: That's right. [laughter] When someone needs to talk to them, someone flaps their ears so that they pay attention. And their wives all run off with working people because they can't bear to be treated the way they are by men like this. And the flying saucer is not just distant. It also has the power to crush the towns underneath it if it judges them to be rebellious.This image will stick with you for the rest of your life. I mean, it's absolutely perfect, and the perfect image of bad government of a kind when intellectual culture is prized. And it's hinted early on in the book in Lilliput, when the rulers in Lilliput have to do these elaborate dances with ropes.OLIVER: Oh, with the king and the chief minister hold the pole, funny angles, and if you get under it, you get a green ribbon or a red ribbon.HITZ: Exactly. [laughter] And they have these athletic contests of grace and various colored ribbons, and that determine how far you get in the halls of power.OLIVER: Yes. Are you a cabinet minister or a junior minister? Yes, yes.HITZ: Exactly. So there, it's all just a funny joke. But it develops, I think, into the Laputans, people who have kinds of expertise that are actually hostile to them doing any kind of humane governing. So yes, that seems right to me.Christianity in GulliverOLIVER: To what extent is it a Christian book?HITZ: That's an interesting question. I've never found a strong Christian element in it myself. There are satires of religious wars, both in Lilliput, where Lilliput's at war with its neighboring city. Oh, wait a second, there's two different disputes in Lilliput. One is about what side you cut your egg on.OLIVER: There are the Little-Endians and the Big-Endians,HITZ: Right. And then there's also one about heel size. So there's two different kinds of disputes.OLIVER: With the marvelous image that the king is a Short-Heeler. But they think that the heir to the throne might be favorable to the High-Heelers because he has one heel slightly higher than the other, and he walks with a wobbly gait.HITZ: [laughs] That's right. This, again, in Lilliput is just utterly hilarious, outrageous, very silly, obviously a parody of religious wars between different kinds of Christians. But it resurfaces towards the end. It's the Houyhnhnms, where he talks to the Master Horse—OLIVER: And the horse sort of pretends to this great rationality, simply can't understand that men would kill each other over the question of whether flesh is bread or bread is flesh.HITZ: That's right. That's right. That's right. So there's definitely disparaging remarks about religious wars. And as you're talking about it, where along with Swift's praise of common sense, there's a kind of basic Christian morality, which is that the poor and the suffering need attention. That all strikes me as Christian. Apart from that, I'm not sure. If you have a religious take, I'd be interested to hear it.OLIVER: I find it very interesting that Swift had quite strict beliefs. He was not in favor of Catholics. He thought Dissenters should be tolerated, but he wanted the Test Act. He was very particular about all these things. And in his other works, he's quite direct about that. But in this book, he achieves a kind of high ambivalence. And he's not a Little-Ender or a Big-Ender.HITZ: That's right.OLIVER: And he says the religious text on which this is based simply says that you must break the egg at the most convenient end.HITZ: [laughs] That's right.OLIVER: Now, of course, in reality, he's a Little-Ender, and he's very committed to the Reformation, and he thinks it's all terrible that they're not. And it's interesting that someone with such angry, insistent beliefs on the Anglican Church would take this ambivalent position.And he satirizes so much. But the anti-slavery stuff, the description of the Laputans bringing the island down, and then he says, “I've never seen so much want and misery, and there's a wild look in their eyes, and they're wearing rags.” I mean, this is Dublin, right? This is just, along with the slavery, this basic Christian concern for the oppressed, the poor, the suffering.HITZ: Yes, that's right.OLIVER: And so I don't quite know. It's almost like the book is saying, again with this anti-intellectual thing, all these doctrinal disputes and which church this and who believes that. And here we have slaves and poor people and beggars and starving people.HITZ: Right.OLIVER: Christianity should deal with that first. So is the implicit criticism of his fellow Christians, in a way, that they're more interested in these disputes than in the fact that there are enslaved people and suffering people and—you see what I mean?HITZ: Yes, that's right.OLIVER: And Gulliver—the Houyhnhnms are highly rational but not Christian, which is a significant omission. And by the end, are you supposed to wonder if Gulliver actually isn't very much of a Christian? Because he can see this suffering and not respond to it at all.HITZ: Right, when maybe the—is the best person in the book the King of Brobdingnag? Does that seem right? The person with the—at least who says the best things?OLIVER: He says the best things. I think the best person is Glumdalclitch. She shows real charity and real love towards him.HITZ: What about the Houyhnhnm, the one who likes him, who says, “Fare thee well, gentle Yahoo”? It's tear-jerking—OLIVER: Oh, the sorrel nag.HITZ: The sorrel nag. I can literally weep at that moment when she says, “Fare thee well, gentle Yahoo.”OLIVER: That's true. That's true. She and Glumdalclitch are maybe more similar characters. Yes, yes, yes.HITZ: They're similar characters. Okay.OLIVER: And they have that basic, you don't need to call it Christian. You don't need—it doesn't need theology.HITZ: Humane. I would call it humane. Yes.OLIVER: They have that basic love of their fellow. You know, Glumdalclitch doesn't say, “Oh, how amusing this little man is, or how entertaining, or I can make—” She says, “He must be cared for. He looks a bit like me. He must be cared for.”HITZ: Right.OLIVER: And the sorrel nag, again, has the love of the fellow creature.HITZ: That's right. That's right.OLIVER: So I think Swift might be bringing in this, what he thinks of as the revealed truth of Christianity. Like, you shouldn't need telling, you shouldn't need to argue. It's there.HITZ: Right. This is just me making things up, which is what I'm here for. We're podcasting. Yes.OLIVER: Yes, of course. Also, is that not what the philosophers would do? That's what Swift would say.HITZ: But if I was going to make something up, what I would say is something like this: that Swift to me, from the testimony of Gulliver's Travels, which is the book of his I really know the best. I don't know much about the rest of it. He has a level of self-awareness and sophistication. So, he knows that that religious difference is being used as a pretext. He knows that it is obscuring the suffering of these people. So, for the purposes of the book, he says, “Look, if you're a smart person, if you're a smart ruler, if you're an actually humane, intelligent, commonsensical ruler, you know that the fact that they have the wrong religious views is not a reason for them to be enslaved and oppressed and starved.” So that would be my suspicion.And that's why I think, to me, the religion is so light, because it's not really a religious problem. It's actually just a human problem and a political problem that is, how do you run your country so that these subject peoples are allowed to be free and develop themselves and be full human beings? That would be my made-up guess.Students' Views of GulliverOLIVER: What do undergraduates think? What is it that they find interesting in the book, and what do they like or dislike?HITZ: It's been a couple of years. I think they like this idea that—we all think travel is very broadening, a great way to think about the world. You know, you can learn so much about one's fellow human beings. And whatever else is going on in Gulliver's Travels, travel does not necessarily produce enlightenment.So I think they like the attention to the ways in which, even when we are trying to learn, we fail to learn. And the ways in which structures of learning, like traveling or studying science, might actually make you worse and not better, things like that. But it's not a book—I think it's fair to say it's not one of the favorite books of the undergraduates.OLIVER: Okay.HITZ: I think they find it a little bit distant, and I'm not sure why that is.OLIVER: Is it because it sort of looks like a novel, but it's not what we have come to expect a novel to be? And it sort of has that—HITZ: I think that's right.OLIVER: The pre–Jane Austen novel is kind of weird to us now.HITZ: Well, they love Don Quixote.OLIVER: Okay.HITZ: And that is a challenge of a similar kind. It's a novel which doesn't quite read like a novel, and the humor is kind of old. I mean, it's also true—undergraduates, in my experience, in general—I hope they'll forgive me for saying this on a podcast—they're not always good at comedy. They tend to think that serious things must be tragic.OLIVER: You can't get an A by making a joke.HITZ: Well, more that they have a sense that an intellectual life is something serious. It's serious.OLIVER: Oh, yes. Okay. And the syllabus slightly reinforces that, doesn't it?HITZ: Well, it's sort of self-reinforcing because we used to read more Aristophanes. We used to read Rabelais.OLIVER: If you do Shakespeare, it'll be the tragedies.HITZ: No, no, we do Shakespeare comedies.OLIVER: Oh, you do? Okay.HITZ: Yes. We have As You Like It and The Tempest. And do we have more tragedies? Maybe one more tragedy than comedy, but not a terrible imbalance.OLIVER: Well, that's good.HITZ: It's not Shakespeare-type comedy that's—maybe, correct me if I'm wrong, a Shakespeare comedy is something that ends in a marriage, more or less.OLIVER: More or less.HITZ: It's things that are funny—they don't necessarily think that humor is a way of thinking.OLIVER: Do they struggle with irony?HITZ: No, not usually. As long as it's serious irony, Anyway, I'm not sure why. I think I'm making things—I'm going too far out of the grounds for drawing conclusions.Favorite Parts of the BookOLIVER: Sure. Do you have a favorite passage?HITZ: One of my favorites is the part—is it Balnibarbi where they have people who try to speak with objects?OLIVER: Oh, yes, yes, yes.HITZ: And they have to carry around wagons full of things because they never know what you might want to talk about. [laughter] That's so weird. Because I think I spent a lot of time studying with philosophers, there's a bit of—something's on the nose about this.OLIVER: Yes.HITZ: You know, it's like, “No, you've got to say exactly—no, that's too imprecise. You have to say exactly what you mean.” Bernard Williams, the great philosopher, has something complaining about how contemporary philosophers are very controlling of their readers. They don't want anyone to make the slightest mistake about what they mean by a particular word. That's how the people who speak by objects strike me.OLIVER: Do you think that is a problem of contemporary philosophy?HITZ: Oh, sure. Yes, absolutely. Yes. The way Williams puts it is that when you write something, it should be like a cake mix, and the reader should be able to put their own egg and bake the cake themselves.OLIVER: Oh, I see. You mean like a box of mix, yes.HITZ: Yes, yes, exactly. It's like a box of cake mix. Whereas making the cake painstakingly and force-feeding it bite by bite to the reader is not actually an—OLIVER: Telling them how it tastes.HITZ: Telling them how it tastes is not an educational endeavor.OLIVER: When does this become too dominant in philosophy?HITZ: It's a feature of 20th-century analytic philosophy to be very careful with the meanings of words. And it's by no means universal; it's just a natural vice to the territory.Iris MurdochOLIVER: Is this a problem for someone like Iris Murdoch, or is it more the A. J. Ayer type?HITZ: No, it's the A. J. Ayer type, not Iris Murdoch. No, Iris Murdoch is heterodox outside of the—OLIVER: Do you like her philosophy?HITZ: I do, yes.OLIVER: What do you like about it? Platonic?HITZ: Now, see, I came here to talk about Swift. [laughter]OLIVER: I know, but you made such a good point about the satire of philosophers.HITZ: I like her writing for a more general educated audience, her not making assumptions about the philosophical training of her readers, and her use of Plato for sure, which is quite interesting and creative. She sort of ingests Plato and does something with it that I think is very interesting.OLIVER: Is she properly appreciated as a Platonist, or do you think there's more attention to be paid?HITZ: There's probably more attention to be paid, but she gets some attention. She gets some attention. I also don't think it was particularly helpful, these two books that came out a couple of years ago about Murdoch, Foot, Midgley, and Anscombe.OLIVER: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I only read one of those. It was quite good.HITZ: It might be quite good, but those four women are quite different from one another. So it's an example of where attention to identity could obscure as much as it—OLIVER: Well, one of the books was more about the ideas—they were both obviously about the ideas—and one of them was more about the fact that they were together in Oxford. And that they benefited from hanging out, talking, doing different sorts of work, sleeping with each other's husbands, et cetera.HITZ: Yes, all the good stuff.OLIVER: And from the more sociological point of view, it was very interesting to see that, actually, a lot of what Murdoch did was bound up with her friendships and relationships, in that the argument basically is, A. J. Ayer and the others get sent away because of the war. So these four women are actually—they've been banned from this seminar and told they're not allowed.Well, now they can sit around and do what they want to do. And it worked, and they all produced very interesting things. So from that point of view, I think it was—but I agree with you, Elizabeth Anscombe and Iris Murdoch are not the same. [laughter]HITZ: Not even particularly similar. I also feel like I've read enough of Murdoch's novels to have a sense of what the sociological situation was like.OLIVER: You like the novels?HITZ: I do like them, yes.OLIVER: Do you have favorites?HITZ: I can't remember the name of my favorite because I haven't read them for years. It's one of the things I read years ago, the one—I'd remember it if I saw the title. There's an LSD trip at the beginning of it.OLIVER: Oh, The Good Apprentice. I love that book.HITZ: The Good Apprentice, yes. I think that was my favorite. But I never fell in love with it. I just liked it, and I found it interesting, and I found the sociology interesting. Okay, this is what academics at this time period were doing.What to Pair with SwiftOLIVER: We got diverted.HITZ: “We” got diverted. [laughs]OLIVER: We did. If Swift is on a great books syllabus, what is it good to pair him with? If people are reading Swift, on or off a syllabus, do you think there are other—Hooker, you said, which I think would be interesting.HITZ: No, Hooke. It's Hooke.OLIVER: Hooke. Hooke. That's a very good point.HITZ: The guy who wrote Micrographia, who has the enormous picture of the flea.OLIVER: Yes, yes, yes. So that would be good. But any other? Is it worth reading Plato alongside him?HITZ: Well, I like to—he's on the list for something we called Life of the Mind Seminar at Catherine Project, which is our introduction to the life of the mind.OLIVER: And just to tell people, the Catherine Project—this is not a university. Anyone can join a seminar.HITZ: That's right. It's an open online readers community. Consists of small, high-quality conversations, mostly on Zoom, some in person.OLIVER: You could be some kid, an accountant, a dentist, whatever, and you come and do a—you've got a PhD running a seminar, and you get that experience.HITZ: Right. Some of them are peer led, so they're not necessarily PhDs running them. The reading groups are not necessarily run by PhDs. But the core program in which the Life of the Mind Seminar is—either a PhD or an ABD [all but degree] or someone with some academic experience is usually leading that. We have it there, and we have it there with a set of books that are meant to disorient rather than to orient.So one of the difficulties with reading great books with more or less random selections of adults is that people feel uncertain, out of place. And they bring expertise, real or fake, to the table, which makes it very difficult to have a conversation. It's usually fake expertise, for what it's worth.OLIVER: Give us an example of what you mean by fake expertise.HITZ: Well, so someone will have—we'll be, say, reading Hamlet. Someone will have taken a class on Shakespeare in college, and they'll say, “Actually, we're asking this question. But what I learned, my professor told me, is that Hamlet actually symbolizes—he has an Oedipus complex and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then this is what this means, and this is what that means.” And then your conversation's over, because you need to focus just on the text that's shared between the—OLIVER: It's not a crossword puzzle.HITZ: Exactly. It's not a crossword puzzle, and it's not something where—or the other—people often, again, they feel a bit on their back feet. So they'll google a bunch of stuff about the author, and they'll start tossing out random facts about the book or about the author, about the context. And again, you don't get really into the meat of the book that way.So, Gulliver's Travels is there to help us think about ways in which we might not be expert in things we're expert. Ways in which we might think we understand something and not understand it. And ways in which people who, with every appearance of seriousness and scientific principle, can just say unbelievably stupid things.So it's a very, very good book for that, where in that sense, it's I think very good for any liberal education program. It's liberating that way. One of the things we need to be liberated from is false expertise.OLIVER: You're talking really about these secondhand opinions that you haven't interrogated and come to understand yourself.HITZ: Exactly. Exactly, exactly, exactly.OLIVER: This is what Mill says. Everything is new to someone, and the real genius is that you find it out.HITZ: Exactly.OLIVER: You don't get taught it. Yes, yes.HITZ: Exactly, exactly. So real learning is things you find for yourself. Anyway, that's what I like it with. As for pairing it, yes, I think it would just depend on what you were—I don't have a clear thought about that. I think it'd be good to pair it with Galileo's Starry Messenger and preface to Hooke's Micrographia.But you could also pair it with Emma. Be quite good, actually, because Emma is also about someone who really doesn't know what they're doing and has no idea. Thinks they know what's going on; they really have no idea what's going on.OLIVER: Yes. Hamlet as well, in fact.HITZ: I guess so. Does he not know what's going on?OLIVER: Who's diverting now? [laughter] Well, there's an interesting question, isn't there, about whether Hamlet has legitimate doubts. So he says, “This ghost could be a demon. I should be careful. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going to pretend to be mad. I'm going to find out.” Or whether he just doesn't want to see the truth in front of him, and he quote-unquote “delays” because of that. I don't know if you have a view.HITZ: I don't think he's deluded. I think the problem is something different, but I haven't thought enough about it recently to know what his volitional obstacle is. But I don't think he's deluded. I think he sees what's going on, but there's something about acting that doesn't work for him.OLIVER: An internal—HITZ: Something internal. Something internal. In a way, I find the play very hard. I don't know what, for instance, what does that obstacle have to do with Ophelia? What's going on with that? Anyway, he's very mysterious, but I don't—yes, that'd be my sense, is that he's not—OLIVER: Do you buy this idea that he's a nihilist?HITZ: No, although he's definitely faced with something like nihilism. He has to look at it. And of course, the play does end with everyone dead, [laughs] so it's not obvious that he's wrong.Sympathy for GulliverOLIVER: This question hangs over Gulliver as well. Is the problem by the end that he's basically become a nihilist? His response to the Yahoos is to deny meaning, deny the possibility of meaning, to shut himself away.HITZ: He is a true misanthrope. He hates human beings and refuses to interact with them and in that sense, in some way, removes himself from any further mistakes. In another way, the mistake that he's in is so massive that that hardly seems like a consolation. But yes, he's definitely stuck, and he's stuck in a place where who he is—because he's a human being. We have to remember that.So he's in a place of total self-hatred and the hatred of his neighbor, what you'd call from the Christian perspective a total loss of charity. Is that nihilist? I don't know, but it's definitely bad. It's not a good state to be in. Maybe I don't know what you mean by nihilism exactly.OLIVER: Are we supposed to disapprove of him at the end or sympathize with him?HITZ: Disapprove, I think.OLIVER: Yes? You don't feel sorry for him?HITZ: I do a bit.OLIVER: But not much.HITZ: Well, should I?OLIVER: I have come to believe—yes, this is what I've come to feel in subsequent readings, is that Gulliver, as you say, is very mistaken. He thinks he understands things that he does not understand. He has the sort of pretense of rationality, but he lacks any sort of meta rationality to see what his limits are.And he becomes, therefore—he doesn't advocate genocide, and he doesn't take any pleasure in using Yahoo skin, but he's just completely null to it. There's a sort of void there where human feeling ought to be. And it's tragic for him. It's a tragic ending that he is so isolated. And we can't sympathize with him, as it were, but we can feel sort of awful that he's shriveled into this state rather than judging or blame.I think one of the persistent themes of the book is, as I say, this kind of basic love of fellow creature, the Glumdalclitch or the sorrel. And if you take that from the book, you will wish you could bring Gulliver back.HITZ: Right. What you're saying reminds me that there is an interesting parallel in Plato's dialogues that I hadn't thought of before, Plato's Parmenides, which is perhaps the most difficult Plato's dialogue. So it's a conversation between young Socrates and the philosopher Parmenides. The first third of it is relatively clear, some arguments against what people think of as Plato's theory of forms.Then there's an extensive, insane dialectical process where various theses about the connection between being and oneness are both argued for and then refuted, and argued for and then refuted, pages and pages and pages and pages of it. So this seems to be—it's Parmenides and Zeno who are running Socrates through this ringer.And the person at the very beginning of the dialogue who they have to go find, to tell him the story of how Socrates met Parmenides, used to study philosophy. But now he just trains horses. [laughs] One of my teachers pointed this out to me, and I've never been able to get over it, that he spent this time doing philosophy, and he's like, “You know what? I'm going to work with horses for the rest of my life. If I never hear another human voice, that's fine with me.”So I think that is an interesting parallel. And I think it is not really that uncommon to see people who are totally disillusioned with relating to humans, who then relate to animals instead, like they devote themselves to animals.OLIVER: But on that reading, it might be a disillusionment with philosophical humanity. It might be philosophy that's killed Gulliver's human feeling.HITZ: That's right. Well, I think that's one possibility, one very strong possibility. That's why I think the Houyhnhnms come after the Laputans. Going to the furthest reaches of his intellectual interests just destroys his humanity.But it doesn't seem like exhaustion in the same way that whoever, I can't remember his name, the character who relates the Parmenides, where you just think he must be exhausted from having heard more than one conversation like this. [laughter] And just in the stable with the horses eating oats, I mean, it's just delightful. It's just so peaceful, you know?OLIVER: Bucolic, pastoral, yes.HITZ: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Maybe you're right that we should be more sympathetic to someone in that situation.OLIVER: Well, next time you read it, you can tell me if you change your mind.HITZ: All right. I will tell you if I change my mind.OLIVER: Very good. Zena Hitz, thank you very much.HITZ: Thank you very much, Henry Oliver. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk

Pille-Riin Tilk is the founder and lead florist of Belfield Blooms, an award-winning Sydney florist known for its modern, natural floral designs and premium wedding and event arrangements. Originally from Estonia, she brings European floristry experience and combines it with Australian influences to create seasonal, high-end floral work. Under her leadership, Belfield Blooms has built a strong reputation for quality, creativity, and beautifully curated blooms for events and everyday occasions.Visit their Website to Learn More!https://belfieldblooms.com.auhttps://www.instagram.com/belfieldbloomsCHAPTERS:0:00 – Introduction1:17 – Meet Pille-Riin1:57 – Why Pille-Riin Opened Belfield Blooms2:53 – Becoming a Florist at 18 Years Old3:35 – Pille-Riin Shares How She Knew She Wanted to Become a Florist4:04 – Starting Her Floristry Career in Australia4:28 – Pille-Riin Talks About the Flower Cool Room & Keeping Flowers Fresh5:20 – How Florists Buy Flowers at Flemington Markets6:11 – Pille-Riin Shares What It's Like Waking Up Early to Handpick the Best Flowers6:30 – Australian-Grown vs. Imported Flowers7:59 – Do Florists Compete With Each Other?8:44 – How to Properly Gift a Single Rose9:11 – Designing Andy's Sister's Graduation Bouquet9:41 – Pille-Riin Talks About How Every Florist Has Their Own “Style”10:38 – Breaking Down Where Different Flowers Come From11:25 – Seasonal Flowers & Winter Flower Imports12:23 – Why Flowers Can't Be Frozen Like Vegetables13:14 – Pille-Riin Talks About the Short Shelf Life of Flowers13:38 – European Floristry vs. Australian Floristry15:07 – Can You Recognize a Florist by Their Bouquet Style?15:52 – How Celebrity Weddings Like Logan Paul's Spend Hundreds of Thousands on Flowers17:46 – What Happens to Flowers After Expensive Weddings18:27 – Pille-Riin Talks About the Events Their Flower Shop Handles18:49 – Why Some Flowers Cost $70 Per Stem20:16 – Pille-Riin Talks About What Running a Flower Shop Is Really Like21:34 – Growing Belfield Blooms Through Word of Mouth & Social Media22:04 – The Strategy Behind Building Andy's Sister's Bouquet22:33 – Why Arranging Flowers Is Harder Than It Looks23:48 – Why Bouquets Are So Expensive24:46 – Flower Prices Have Tripled Over the Last Decade25:51 – Pille-Riin Talks About Weddings, Funerals & Meaningful Flower Arrangements26:41 – What Valentine's Day Is Really Like for Florists30:45 – The Graduation Bouquet Reveal31:14 – Can Regular People Buy Flowers From the Flower Market?32:13 – Life With a Husband Who Works Overnight in Produce Markets33:36 – Pille-Riin Talks About the Stress of Running a Florist Business34:39 – Pille-Riin Talks About How She Stays Sane While Managing a Small Business35:32 – Closing the Store for 3 Weeks During the Holidays36:22 – The Importance of Loyal, Regular Customers37:25 – Learning Bouquet Wrapping Through Experience & Social Media38:00 – What Makes Someone a Great Florist38:40 – Finishing Andy's Sister's Bouquet39:51 – Pille-Riin's Favorite Part of Being a Florist40:29 – Pille-Riin Talks About the Behind-the-Scenes of Wedding Flower Setups41:23 – The Final Reveal of Andy's Sister's Graduation Bouquet41:58 – Andy Reflects on the Hidden Challenges of Floristry43:36 – Connect With Pille-Riin From Belfield Blooms44:35 – New Habits Helping Pille-Riin Run Her Business Better45:12 – Pille-Riin's Goals & Focus for the Next 6 Months45:44 – How to Safely Transport a Giant Bouquet in the Car46:26 – Outro

Zo visits some old friends at a trailer park. It seems like a normal place with kids running amok, teenagers fooling around and senior citizens looking for someone to fix their TV's so that they can watch their soap operas. Alex is just the guy the guy that they need: a recent high school graduate who is this neighborhood's handyman. Zo noticed that Alex is also fantastic at the Starfighter videogame. Zo had tried the game himself and isn't really good at it, but Alex is a genuine prodigy. Unfortunately, there's not much that anyone can do with the skills of "Best Videogame Player" in the mid 1980's. It's not like you can play this Starfighter game to train to pilot an actual spaceship right? . . . Right? Episode Chapters 00:04:50 Opening Credits for The Last Starfighter starring Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Dan O'Herlihy and Catherine Mary Stewart 00:14:53 Favorite Parts of the 1984 film The Last Starfighter 00:50:51 Trivia from the fantasy videogame space adventure - The Last Starfighter 00:59:58 Critics' Thoughts on Nick Castle The Last Starfighter Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo is on a research project that takes him to the National Institute of Mental Health and while there he discovered their secret program of animal experimentation on rats, mice, dogs, cats and other animals. These experiments seem cruel and unnecessary. What he's heard is that some of the rodents had gained super-intelligence and had escaped the lab. The scientists at NIMH has tracked them down to a nearby farm. There's not a lot that Zo can do with this intel; he can only hope that the brave mice and rats can avoid re-capture and live a life free of pain and torture. These animals should forever remain The Secret of NIMH.   Episode Chapters 00:03:59 Opening Credits for The Secret of NIMH starring Elizabeth Hartman, Derek Jacobi, and Dom DeLuise 00:20:46 Favorite Parts of the 1982 film The Secret of NIMH 00:56:43 Trivia from the animated adventure - The Secret of NIMH 01:05:36 Critics' Thoughts on Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH   Links Banjo the Woodpile Cat on YouTube Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

in this episode I reflect on the growth and joy of physically seeing myself on videoand I'm doing the description on my phone at 3:30 am so it's not going to be perfect or uniform at the moment

Wanda Sykes jokes about her favorite part of lockdown in her Netflix special, "I'm An Entertainer".

The guest is Tara's longtime friend Rachel Wexler, who recently launched her own business after 20 years leading product and strategy teams. Rachel describes her evolving role as a “leadership development partner,” working with leaders and teams through coaching, leadership programs, small-group work, and team offsites to help organizations use internal talent well, build trust, and create environments where people can be authentic. She explains using tools like 360 feedback—speaking with peers, direct reports, senior leaders, and sometimes people in a client's personal life—to identify key themes and “name what's really going on” beneath the surface. Rachel shares an offsite example that began with a personal question to humanize teammates and shift focus from deadlines to connection. She says her favorite part is helping people, especially women, see their strength and value. Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlwexler/ Instagram: @ RWexlerLeadership https://www.rachel-wexler.com/ Topics 00:29 Meet Rachel Wexler 00:48 Friendship Backstory 02:10 Launching Her Business 03:01 What She Actually Does 05:24 Why Leadership Work Matters 06:54 Reading the Room Skills 09:34 Inside a Team Offsite 12:51 Favorite Part of the Job 14:53 Where to Find Rachel 15:35 Wrap Up and Thanks

Hour 2 of Jeremy and Joe! What do you look for or like in a schedule release? Around the NFL with news on Devon Achane, and Malik Nabers Jeremy thinks Michael C. Hall from Dexter looks like Bill Hader from SNL lol

Zo, still roaming around the 1800's, and Zorro is very much active. He appears when the people, his people cry out for his intervention. His people, the people of California, are on the precipice of great change as they vote on whether or not to become a state of the United States. Those in favor of this monumental move believe that becoming a state would offer some relief from oppression an grant a greater opportunity for freedom, but Zo has heard rumors that there are powerful forces that are working behind the scenes to make sure that California never achieves statehood. Zo has also heard the gossip that Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife Elena are getting a divorce. This would be kind of sad because they seemed like such a lovely couple, but it be like that sometimes.   Episode Chapters 00:02:22 Opening Credits for The Legend of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones 00:12:17 Favorite Parts of the 1998 film The Legend of Zorro 01:00:49 Trivia from the swashbuckling action thriller - The Legend of Zorro 01:13:19 Critics' Thoughts on Martin Campbell's The Legend of Zorro   Links: BoxOfficePropherts.com What Went Wrong: The Legend of Zorro Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo is transported into a time of change for Spanish California. It's a time of mystery, corruption, intrigue, romance and high adventure. It is a time when the common folk are oppressed by their wealthy overlords and they cry out for justice. The legend who had once defended the people against the chaos has been gone for many years, but Zo hears whispers of his reappearance. There is hope in the air that the people will once again shout out with joy at the sight of their champion and they will once again see their hero in a mask. They will once again cheer for a man as quick as a rattlesnake, as skilled as a scorpion, and as cunning as a fox. Once again a man will wear The Mask of Zorro.   Episode Chapters: 00:05:34 Opening Credits for The Mask of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones 00:16:11 Favorite Parts of the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro 01:17:52 Trivia from the swashbuckling action thriller - The Mask of Zorro 01:27:57 Critics' Thoughts on Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Want to Start or Grow a Successful Business? Schedule a FREE 13-Point Assessment with Clay Clark Today At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com   Join Clay Clark's Thrivetime Show Business Workshop!!! Learn Branding, Marketing, SEO, Sales, Workflow Design, Accounting & More. **Request Tickets & See Testimonials At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com  **Request Tickets Via Text At (918) 851-0102   See the Thousands of Success Stories and Millionaires That Clay Clark Has Helped to Produce HERE: https://www.thrivetimeshow.com/testimonials/ Download A Millionaire's Guide to Become Sustainably Rich: A Step-by-Step Guide to Become a Successful Money-Generating and Time-Freedom Creating Business HERE: www.ThrivetimeShow.com/Millionaire   See Thousands of Case Studies Today HERE: www.thrivetimeshow.com/does-it-work/  

Zo impossibly finds himself on a futuristic space craft ostensibly designed for science and exploration, but for a space craft of peace, the U.S.S. Enterprise is sure loaded for bare with powerful shields, nimble impulse engines, deadly accurate phasers, devastating photon torpedoes and a brilliant Captain. She will require all of these advantages as her Captain and crew discover and attempt to dismantle a galaxy spanning conspiracy that threaten to plunge the United Federation of Planets into an endless war with the Klingon Empire.   Episode Chapters: 00:02:50 Opening Credits for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Deforest Kelly, Kim Cattrall and Christopher Plummer 00:32:52 Favorite Parts of the 1991 film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 01:50:03 Trivia from the intergalactic political thriller - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 01:59:20 Critics' Thoughts on Nicholas Meyer's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

We're asking you to weigh in, as we periodically do, on what works and what you like! Also, what a crazy day- David Koechner from The Office and Anchorman is here, in studio, for two segments!!!

JP, BMitch, the aquarium, and callers share their favorite parts about the new uniforms.

Most beloved person in the U.S. JLR's favorite part on a woman. Man seen on a doorbell camera demanding to be let into a home. Rep. Eric Swalwell has dropped his bid for governor of California after claims of sexual assault from multiple women. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most beloved person in the U.S. JLR's favorite part on a woman. Man seen on a doorbell camera demanding to be let into a home. Rep. Eric Swalwell has dropped his bid for governor of California after claims of sexual assault from multiple women. 

Bibs is joined by our WNBA correspondent, SJ Basketball, for this WNBA deep dive episode. We discussed her CBA thoughts, the top of the WNBA draft, and then got into the early free agency signings. We started recording at noon Saturday. Hamby was signed near the start of the pod and Satou signed near the end, to give you an idea. There was a lot going on. lol Favorite Parts of the CBA (00:00) WNBA Draft Thoughts (09:30) Free agency reactions (Live Satou signing reaction) (38:00) (Times may be slightly off due to ads) Enjoy You can find SJ on Twittter @SJBasketbal8. You can find her pod wherever you get your podcasts. Just search: "I Talk Hoops." You can always find Bibs on X/Twitter @Bibscorner, Bluesky @bibscorner.bsky.social, and Instagram @MBibs. You can find Reese on X/Twitter @MofR25 and Instagram @MindofReese.  Also, subscribe to MindofReese and Tag Team Talk on YouTube. Finally, ensure you're following the show on Twitter @WTGBMPodcast, Bluesky @WTGBMPodcast.bsky.social, and Instagram @WTGBMPodcast.  Purchase the Mavs Outsiders merch at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mavs Outsiders Shop on Etsy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! (updates coming) Subscribe to our Patreon for bonus content!: ⁠Patreon Link⁠ Help the show by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We appreciate every listen and, of course, every review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bibs is joined by our WNBA correspondent, SJ Basketball, for this WNBA deep dive episode. We discussed her CBA thoughts, the top of the WNBA draft, and then got into the early free agency signings. We started recording at noon Saturday. Hamby was signed near the start of the pod and Satou signed near the end, to give you an idea. There was a lot going on. lol Favorite Parts of the CBA (00:00) WNBA Draft Thoughts (09:30) Free agency reactions (Live Satou signing reaction) (38:00) (Times may be slightly off due to ads) Enjoy You can find SJ on Twittter @SJBasketbal8. You can find her pod wherever you get your podcasts. Just search: "I Talk Hoops." You can always find Bibs on X/Twitter @Bibscorner, Bluesky @bibscorner.bsky.social, and Instagram @MBibs. You can find Reese on X/Twitter @MofR25 and Instagram @MindofReese.  Also, subscribe to MindofReese and Tag Team Talk on YouTube. Finally, ensure you're following the show on Twitter @WTGBMPodcast, Bluesky @WTGBMPodcast.bsky.social, and Instagram @WTGBMPodcast.  Purchase the Mavs Outsiders merch at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mavs Outsiders Shop on Etsy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! (updates coming) Subscribe to our Patreon for bonus content!: ⁠Patreon Link⁠ Help the show by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We appreciate every listen and, of course, every review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zo and Chris (a special guest and host of the Saturday Morning Podcast) embark on a trek to the final frontier. They board the USS Enterprise, but, unbeknownst to them, they are heading for a place that should not exist - a planet at the center of the galaxy where God is said to exist. This excursion, they've heard, is lead by a mysterious preacher named Sybok who is a Vulcan who has embraced his emotions. How Sybok convinced Captain Kirk, Captain Spock and Doctor McCoy to risk the safety of the ship in an attempt to cross The Great Barrier at the center of the Milky Way is anyone's guess. Was he really that convincing or was it mind control?    00:13:58 Opening Credits for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Deforest Kelly 00:36:57 Favorite Parts of the 1989 film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 01:43:35 Trivia from the comedy - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 02:16:16 Critics' Thoughts on William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier   The Saturday Morning Podcast Links Link Tree: linktr.ee/SatMornPod Twitter: https://twitter.com/SatMornPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satmornpod/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/satmornpod.bsky.social Email: satmornpod@hotmail.com   Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo once visited his family in a small town in Georgia and during his visit some outlandish events happened. At first it seemed like that the lady in the neighborhood that everyone respected and affectionately called "Big Mamma" was acting strange. She beat up her martial arts instructor. She beat a bunch of bullies with her grandson at basketball on the playground and, strangest of all, it seems that she forgot how to cook. Later it was revealed that the events that took place were stranger than anyone could imagine at the time. Zo will never forget the goings on that happened at Big Mamma's House.     Episode Chapters 00:05:14 Opening Credits for Big Mamma's House Starring Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, and Paul Giamatti 00:14:51 Favorite Parts of the 2000 film Big Mamma's House 00:44:45 Trivia from the comedy - Big Mamma's House 00:47:52 Critics' Thoughts on Raja Gosnell's Big Mamma's House Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Bump and Stacy are joined by Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith to discuss his favorite parts of Spring Training, how the Mariners have changed this season, and what it was like to call Cal Raleigh’s sixtieth home run, they give you their thoughts on the Mariners naming Logan Gilbert their Opening Day starter and the first day of the NCAA March Madness Tournament in Headline Rewrites, they bring you the biggest stories around the NFL, including what Coby Bryant said about his time with the Seahawks, and they look at how the Seahawks will address the Running Back room. 

Three sports moms share what actually changed when their daughters got mental training tools. Learn more about the program they used here → https://trainhergame.com/mom These aren't polished testimonials. These are raw, honest conversations from moms who were exactly where you might be right now - watching their daughter struggle and having no idea what to say without making it worse. In this video you'll hear from:

Zo went on a journey to one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of the 1990's - the South Central Los Angeles Crenshaw district. Though Zo wouldn't say that the place where he grew up was exactly safe, Crenshaw would make his hometown look like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Police helicopters seemed to be whirring above constantly. The sounds of police and ambulance sirens where stubbornly persistent. In this place the friends who Zo came to visit must find a way to survive: a young man bound for college, an aspiring professional football player, and a young man who just got out of prison whose highest aspiration is to see the next day and avoid of incarceration. Zo wonders if they will be able to achieve their goals or will they be eaten by the streets. These are the questions, trials and tribulations faced by the Boyz n the Hood.     Episode Chapters   00:04:12 Opening Credits for Boyz n the Hood Starring Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Nia Long 00:16:48 Favorite Parts of the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood 01:19:10 Trivia from the coming of age urban drama - Boyz n the Hood 01:25:04  Critics' Thoughts on John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood   John Singleton, 1991 on "Boyz n the Hood" - Out of the Archives Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Exodus 14: 5-22 When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. “What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?” they asked. So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops. He took with him 600 of Egypt's best chariots, along […]

Zo got a lot of invitations to parties when he was a teenager, but, one of the craziest parties that he went to was one that was put together by the most idealistic of teenagers while his parents wasn't home. Get a bunch of raunchy kids over to his house unsupervised? What could possibly go wrong? The teens might have to dodge racist police, avoid nasty school bullies, and ignore outspoken neighbors, but why let a few obstacles ruin a good time? If you, like Zo, had your invite why wouldn't you head over to Kid 'N Play's House Party?   Episode Chapters 00:04:42 Opening Credits for House Party Starring Christopher "Kid" Reid, Christopher "Play" Martin, Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell and A.J. Johnson 00:15:22 Favorite Parts of the 1990 film House Party 01:07:41 Trivia from the hip-hoop teen comedy - House Party 01:15:24  Critics' Thoughts on Reginald Hudlin's House Party Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo visits some friends in the Windy City and he gets an earful of family drama. He hears about the arguments the stress the abuse the infidelity. He hears about all of the many challenges that threaten to break up this otherwise loving family. the thing that holds them together is their Big Mama and her incredible Sunday dinners . . . but what would happen if anything ever happen to their Big Mama? Would there be anyone else in the family who could pic up the pieces and keep the family together. Would there be anyone there willing to cook the Soul Food?   Episode Chapters 00:03:54 Opening Credits for Soul Food Starring Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox and Nia Long 00:20:35 Favorite Parts of the 1997 film Soul Food   01:15:50 Trivia from the family drama - Soul Food 01:22:08 Critics' Thoughts on George Tillman, Jr's Soul Food Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Mike Farley of Farley Pool Designs hosts Tanr Ross of Pool Scapes (Las Vegas) to discuss pool and outdoor living design, with an emphasis on when 3D modeling is necessary and how it improves client understanding. Additional topics include challenges and benefits of LED strip lighting and uplights (installation complexity, costs, and preference for PAL lighting support), the value of reviewing recent, verifiable work and visiting active job sites when selecting a designer/builder, and functional design principles such as sightlines from open-glass interiors, communal layouts over paper “balance,” and frequent use of fire pits with ergonomic, cushioned sunken seating.   Discover More: https://www.poolscapes.com/ https://www.farleypooldesigns.com/ https://www.instagram.com/farleydesigns/ https://www.instagram.com/luxuryoutdoorlivingpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/poolzila/   00:00 Welcome to the Luxury Outdoor Living Podcast (What to Expect) 01:12 Meet Tanr Ross + Do You Really Need 3D Renderings? 03:40 Tanr's Origin Story: AutoCAD, Pool Studio & Early 3D Experiments 07:29 Renderings That Feel Real: Scale, Furniture & Adding People 09:39 Pool Scapes Business & Career Path: Vegas → Texas → Back Home 12:48 Why Modern Design Wins (and When Curves Get Tricky) 16:43 Nevada's 600 Sq Ft Pool Rule: Workarounds, Zero-Edge Math & Remodels 24:27 Signature Project Breakdown: The “Cube” Water Feature & Build Challenges 27:08 Where Inspiration Comes From + How Tanr Actually Designs in 3D 29:48 Getting Better Without “School”: Reps, Pressure, Freelance & Speed 31:29 Why He Doesn't Travel Anymore (Motion Sickness, Anxiety & Work Mode) 32:11 Vegas Trade Shows, Networking & Staying ‘Nose Down' Busy 33:47 LED Strip Lighting in Pools: Nightclub Vibes, Install Headaches & Real Costs 37:58 How Homeowners Should Vet a Pool Designer (Recent Work, Site Visits & References) 39:33 Custom Design Philosophy vs. Copy-Paste Software (And AI Concerns) 42:41 Designing for Real Life: Communal Spaces, Sight Lines & Pool Orientation 45:48 Favorite Part of the Process + Managing Long, Stressful Builds 48:29 Must-Have Feature: Fire Pits, Sunken Seating & Cushion Ergonomics 54:52 One Tip to Avoid Regret: Due Diligence, Similar-Scale Projects & In-Progress Tours 57:23 Rapid-Fire Personal Questions + Monaco/F1 + Vegas Growth (Wrap-Up) 01:01:07 Show Mission & Final Sign-Off  

Episode Chapters 00:04:24 Opening Credits for Beat Street Starring Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis Jon Chardiet, and Leon W. Grant 00:15:29 Favorite Parts of the 1984 film Beat Street 01:01:23 Trivia from the urban hip-hop classic - Beat Street 01:08:55 Critics' Thoughts on Stan Lathan's Beat Street Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media:   Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links: Website: www.backlookcinema.com Email: friends@backlookcinema.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinema Twitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinema Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinema Instagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinema Threads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinema TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinema Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinema Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.social Mastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinema Back Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.com Back Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com  Again, thanks for listening.

Two elite thriller writers. One high-stakes collaboration.We're joined by Brad Thor and Ward Larsen to talk about their new co-authored espionage thriller, Cold Zero. We dive into how the collaboration came together, how they merged their writing styles, and what sets Cold Zero apart in today's spy thriller landscape.—

Zo finds himself in a timeline where Tokyo was destroyed in WWIII and from its ashes rose a Neo Tokyo. It's a thriving civilization if not filled with chaos: teenage biker gangs, heavy police presence, an aggressive military complex, violent protests, and a group of people that the media are calling terrorists. Rumors abound that these terrorists are actually trying to prevent Japan from doing research on the most devastating weapons that the world could never imagine in its wildest post apocalyptic nightmares. It's the an innate ability within all humans that allows them to access the primordial power of the universe itself and granting the possessor of that power unparalleled psychic abilities. The rumors say that they had succeeded before, but that the scientists who were attempting to control the uncontrollable were predictively unable to manage the fruit of their foolish labor. In their effort to contain the power and prevent a catastrophic outcome they manage to seal this "fruit" away for all time.  In this case their "fruit" was a little boy with incredible psychic abilities. The population at large knows nothing of this, put there are those who speak of this impossible little boy. According to them this boy is destined to come back. His name is Akira . . . or so the rumors say. Episode Chapters00:04:24 Opening Credits for Akira Starring Cam Clarke, Jan Rabson and Lara Cody [1989 English Dub]00:15:29 Favorite Parts of the 1988 film Akira  01:01:23 Trivia from the futuristic cyberpunk action anime - Akira01:08:55 Critics' Thoughts on Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira   Vice Article: How 'Akira' Has Influenced Modern CultureAnimation Obsessive Article: When Katsuhiro Otomo Learned  Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo, once again, finds himself in an alternate timeline. This particular time is not that dissimilar from his own time. The major difference being that it seems that everyone is a cyborg with most people having at least some form of complex computer or robotics grafted onto or within their biological bodies. The normalization of the cyborg gives rise to advanced cyborg bodies with the only organic element being their human brain. Can someone who is almost completely a robot have a soul?  Can an AI be so complex that it develops its own soul and, to that end, the right of self determination? Zo hears rumors of a government agency called Section 9 and an operative within that agency named Major Motoko Kusanagi who's on the verge of finding out if there can indeed be a Ghost in the Shell.Episode Chapters00:04:24 Opening Credits for Ghost in the Shell Starring Mimi Woods, Richard Epcar and Tom Wyner [English Dub]00:15:29 Favorite Parts of the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell 01:01:23 Trivia from the futuristic cyberpunk philosophical action anime - Ghost in the Shell 01:08:55 Critics' Thoughts on Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell  Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

SONG YADONG IS READY FOR SUGA!⚡️ Kick off the new year w/ 1st Phorm

Having left the Inter State behind, the crew heads towards the Long Paws to reunite with Corson. C.A.S.H. has something she wants to show Mac on the Forest Sphere, something she hopes will undo some of the damage done by Bad Mother. Along the way she'll share a story about a strange creature, one whose existence on the Astral Plane up to this point has only fueled tales and rumors, one who may serve as the answer to what they're looking for. Links ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join Club 86⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our Merch Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Socials:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and the⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits Desert Skies is made by Jared Carter. He does voices, and writes, and edits the sounds and stuff. The show is Executive Produced by Michael Freiberg. He's the one who makes sure people hear it. Music Featured This Episode: Keep Me Entertained - Mattie Maguire (Announcements) Angler - Ellen Piel Finding Memories - Martin Landh Cradle Song - Mary Riddle Me and You - Sunfish Grove Boulevard to Nowhere - Rasure (Credits) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zo is flung into the inconceivably distant future where he finds himself in the creepiest small town that he's ever found himself in. The town is stalked by demons and mutants and folks who live here have to be on their guard as they move about. A rancher named Doris finds out that there's more to worry about than common giant slugs and werewolves, because, as Zo had heard it, she's been confronted by a Noble. A Noble is what people in this distant time period sometimes call a vampire, and this particular Noble happens to be over 10,000 years old. It's good for Doris, then, that a mysterious stranger named D had come to town. A Vampire Hunter of extraordinary skill named D. Episode Chapters00:04:40 Opening Credits for Vampire Hunter D Starring Michael McConnohie, Barbara Goodson, and Jeff Winkless [1993 English Dub]00:15:29 Favorite Parts of the 1985 film Vampire Hunter D00:41:53 Trivia from the post apocalyptic horror anime - Vampire Hunter D00:47:23 Critics' Thoughts on Toyoo Ashida's Vampire Hunter D  Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Jason Moragas joins me as my guest and the two of us discuss are least favorite logos of the 2025 off-season. We pick three that did not quite do it for us, but that is not to say that they are terrible logos, just not among our favorites this year.

Sale announcement: All TTM programs are 25% off with code XMAS2025. Sale   goes till 11:59 EST NYE.   https://terminatortraining.com/Today's topics:Sleep after long runs200s vs longer repeatsSFRE taper strategyIntensity without form lossBest rice & grinds flavorPost-OSUT detraining timelineFavorite part of my jobFast 2-mile, slow 5-mile–filling gapRepeat 2/5-mile programDeficit + hybrid performanceCream of rice v. rice n grinds18X leadership debateLocal gym recommendationsQuestions? Look for bi-weekly Q&A on my stories. I'll answer your questions on IG and here on the podcast.---New Selection Prep Program: Ruck | Run | Lift Ebook: SOF Selection Recovery & Nutrition Guide---TrainHeroic Team Subscription: T-850 Rebuilt (try a week for free!)---PDF programs2 & 5 Mile Run Program - run improvement program w/ strength workKickstart- beginner/garage gym friendlyTime Crunch- Workouts for those short on timeHypertrophy- intermediate/advancedJacked Gazelle- Hybrid athleteJacked Gazelle 2.0 - Hybrid athleteSFAS Prep- Special forces train-upRuck | Run | Lift - Selection Prep---Spoken Supplements 10% off: Code terminator_trainingCwench supplements10% off: Code terminator_training---Let's connect:Newsletter Sign UpIG: terminator_trainingYoutube: Terminator Training Methodwebsite: terminatortraining.comSubstack

In this episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by visual artist & production designer Nino Alicea whose larger-than-life installations Got Framed and Attabay's Treasure are currently on display in San Francisco's Embarcadero as part of the city's year-long Big Art Loop initiative. Nino talks about the inspiration for both pieces. Got Framed, with it's 91 roses, is inspired by his grandmother Rosemilia and Attabay's Treasure is a tribute to Nino's homeland of Puerto Rico and the challenges it face after Hurricane Maria. Both pieces, as well as several others, were initially created for Burning Man, where Nino has mounted several pieces over the last decade. Nino talks about the moment over ten years ago where, after a week at Burning Man, he pledged to himself that he would have an installation at next year's festival, even though he had little idea how he would pull that off. With the help of a small army of fellow artisans and at least on engineer, he did it...and he's been going back every year. Nino also talks about getting to create props for Ricky Martin's "All In" Las Vegas residency and world tour and how that opportunity came because he was in the right place at the right time and "just said yes" when the possibility was suggested to him. Other topics include: that time he spent a month making over a hurricane-damaged basketball court in Puerto Rico, the steps one must take to get a piece into Burning Man, why the best part of his work is all the people he gets to work with, that "Oh shit" moment at Burning Man when he realized he didn't have enough screws, how he used recycled pizza tins for the fish gills on Attabay's Treasure and that time Nino went viral with a comedic video sketch in a stage show Dennis co-hostened that would probably get them both cancelled today. www.leaveittonino.com

Zo finds himself within a snowflake. What strange magic that caused him to be inside the snowflake is unclear, but he is amazed with what he finds inside. There is an entire civilization with strange human-like creatures; there are even some who seem indistinguishable from human. There are mountains, trees, rivers and an actual town - a town called Whoville. What's even crazier is that they're preparing to celebrate Christmas. This begs several questions: how did they come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How long has this singular snowflake been floating in the atmosphere? Are there other snowflake civilizations?   All is not cheery though as Zo noticed that among all the people here there is one who isolated himself on a mountain. This creature is even stranger than the folks of Whoville being green, covered in fur and walking about stark naked. The Whovillians talk about how mean and nasty he is and that he absolutely hates Christmas, though no one seems to know why. Whenever they refer to him they would only whisper "The Grinch." Episode Chapters00:05:24 Opening Credits for Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas Starring Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen00:22:16 Favorite Parts of the 2000 film Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas01:13:21 Trivia from the Holiday Classic - Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas01:22:48 Critics' Thoughts on Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Wreckless perform Christmas, Why Can't I Find You? on YouTube   Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo ends up in yet another galaxy far, far, far, far away. By his reconning he's at the furthest galaxy, yet. Here there are no galaxy spanning empires, but their is a planet with a failing atmosphere and a massive military. Instead of putting forward policies that would save the environment of his world President Skroob would rather steal the atmosphere from a planet with a weaker military. The power disparity between his planet and the planet that he plans to attack is so great that it doesn't even matter that his troops are mostly Assholes. Fortunately, a spoiled princess, a loyal droid, a scruffy pilot and his half-man/half-dog best friend stand in the way to thwart the President and all the dastardly forces of planet Spaceballs. Episode Chapters00:05:02 Opening Credits for Spaceballs Starring Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, and Daphne Zuniga00:18:49 Favorite Parts of the 1987 film Spaceballs01:13:46 Trivia from the sci-fi action fantasy Spaceballs01:24:11 Critics' Thoughts on Mel Brook's Spaceballs Links to sound effects:epidemicsounds.commixkit.co Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo returns to a far, far away galaxy. It's a galaxy with an abundance of life giving worlds with a multitude of strange sentient beings and cultures. It is also a place of strife and conflict and immersed in a war among the stars. There is an overarching government that was seized by a power hungry leader who granted himself the title of Emperor and ruled through oppression. The once great Galactic Republic of freedom had become a dystopian nightmare. So great was the oppression that disparate resistance fighters immerged and eventually banded together to form The Rebellion to Restore the Republic. The Rebels gather the greatest fleet that they could gather to engage in a final desperate gambit to end the Empire once and for all time. If they fail then the Rebellion would be crushed, the Emperor will rule unchallenged and the vast and various denizens of the Galaxy would live in unforgiving squalor for time unending. Episode Chapters00:04:20 Opening Credits for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher00:12:36 Favorite Parts of the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi01:23:50 Trivia from the sci-fi action fantasy Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi  01:32:46 Critics' Thoughts on Richard Marquand's Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

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Zo is joined by Jenn from My Streaming Bubble and Twin It to Win It podcasts to bear witness to an interstellar civil war. They've imbedded themselves with a faction that calls itself the Rebellion to Restore the Republic (also known by their opponents, the First Galactic Empire as "Rebel Scum"). They've traveled with the Rebellion from the permanent snowball of a planet known as Hoth to an undisclosed location with their fleet in deep space. Meanwhile, a number of their leaders were delayed with their arrival to the fleet. Their Commander, Luke Skywalker, had taken a sabbatical to continue his mystic training that the Rebels believe will be a great asset to their eventual victory. It is believed that Captain Han Solo and a former Senator of Alderaan - Princess Leia Organa may have been captured by the supreme commander of the Imperial Fleet: Lord Darth Vader. Zo and Jenn are grateful for the lull of activity while the Rebels wait anxiously at their secret rendezvous point in the hopes that their most important leaders will somehow return. They barely made it out of the Hoth system alive and they've had enough excitement for one lifetime.#StarWars Episode Chapters00:14:50 Opening Credits for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher00:33:05 Favorite Parts of the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back01:24:25 Trivia from the sci-fi action fantasy Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back  01:39:26 Critics' Thoughts on Irvin Kershner's Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back Jenn's LinksMy Streaming Bubble WebsiteMy Streaming Bubble on Pod.link:  Twin It To Win it on PodlinkTwitter: @StreamingBubble  Facebook: @MyStreamingBubble  Instagram: @MyStreamingBubble  Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo was previously in a galaxy far, far away, where he witnessed fantastic events. He was then transported to another part of that same galaxy to witness those same events play out in almost the same way, but in an even weirder and goofy manor. He's now returned to the original part of that same galaxy which had somehow got even worse, weirder, goofier, and somehow sadder. It seemed like something that held enormous promise, but turned out to be a fantastic disappointment. That's the problem with holidays. They're supposed to be a time to celebrate, but they sometimes turns out so bad that it can drive a man to drink. In this part of the galaxy the star wars continue through the holidays and the denizens are determine to make the holidays special in these dark times. Join Zo as he celebrates Life Day on this Star Wars Holiday Special. Episode Chapters00:03:45 Opening Credits for The Star Wars Holiday Special starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher00:15:45 Favorite Parts of the 1978 TV movie: The Star Wars Holiday Special00:43:58 Trivia from the sci-fi variety show: The Star Wars Holiday Special00:48:51 Critics' Thoughts on Steve Binder and David Acomba's The Star Wars Holiday Special LinksThe Star Wars Holiday Special  Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Reach out to Dr. Rob at sendmeastory@aol.com

Neo The Home Robot: The future is here! Or is it? A new AI robot dubbed NEO has been announced but is it just an Indian guy using VR to control him. Zoom Court Fails: A cop shows up to Zoom court with no pants. Are we going to just let this happen!? Andy Richter and Adrien Skye: Andy Richter survives another night during the Halloween episode! How far can the Fandy's go!? We also get an alert that the Adrien Skye listening party is going on! THE BEAR!, FUCK YOU, WATCH THIS!, MICHAEL JACKSON!, THRILLER!, HALLOWEEN!, THIRSTY THURSDAY!, THRILLER DANCE!, ZOMBIE MJ!, MEMORIES!, FAVORITE PART!, MAKING OF VHS!, RICK BAKER!, BEHIND THE SCENES!, COREYWEEN HANG!, HOME ROBOT!, TECHNOLOGY!, NEO!, PUPPET!, REMOTELY RUN!, INDIA!, MAID!, VR HEADSET!, GOGGLES!, SCARY ACCENT!, NORWEGIAN!, ROBOT ATTACKED!, EGG CHARGER!, GAY AS HELL!, GLEB!, FIRE A GUN!, VIOLENCE!, POSSESSOR!, ADS!, REDWOOD AI!, DR ANDY SKILONAKIS!, TURING!, ZOOM COURT FAILS!, DRAG RACING!, DISORDERLY!, BLUNT!, DANCING WITH THE STARS!, ANDY!, HALLOWEEN NIGHT!, STILL ALIVE!, FOG!, DANCING!, HIDE!, FANDY!, GO HOME!, MORMON WIVES!, BABY!, DANCE!, RSV!, HOSPITAL!, HALLOWEEN!, GOTHSPEL!, CIRCUS QUEEN!, PLASTIC STANDARDS!, VAMPIRES BALLAD!, I'M DOWN!, PITTS OF HELL!, BETTER NOW!, LIVE!, CLUB!, BAR!  You can find the videos from this episode at our Discord RIGHT HERE!

Zo had been transported to a galaxy far, far away and witnessed some fantastic events. The next thing you know he'd been transported again to another part of that same galaxy, later that same day. Except this time the space ships looked suspiciously like irons, toasters and cassette players. The people he met had even stranger names like Fluke Starbucker, Augie "Ben" Doggie, Princess Ann-Droid and Ham Salad. The galaxy is in peril and it just seems that these people aren't taking it seriously enough!!!  Episode Chapters00:07:38 Opening Credits for Hardware Wars starring Frank Robertson, Scott Mathews, Jeff Hale, Cinthia Freeling and Bob Knickerbocker00:14:26 Favorite Parts of the 1978 film Hardware Wars00:30:02 Trivia from the sci-fi comedy spoof Hardware Wars00:38:19 Critics' Thoughts on Ernie Fosselius' Hardware Wars Links  Hardware Wars Short FilmHardware Wars Special EditionStar Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi - Hardware Wars Tribute Scene Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo would be honored if you would join him on the celebration of the 200th EPISODE of Back Look Cinema: The Podcast! Finally, at long last, he sees fit to talk about what he had long determined to be his favorite movie and here to help him celebrate are two of his favorite hosts from one of his favorite podcasts: Rod and Karen from The Black Guy Who Tips!A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Zo, Rod & Karen visited a place where an unsympathetic Empire engaged in a campaign to strip the populous of their rights and gain unquestioned and unlimited control of the galaxy. Only a brave small band of ill equipped rebels stand in the way of totalitarian oppression. In their most desperate hour a new hope in the forms of a farmer, a pirate, a princess, two droids and a Wookie join their ranks . . . may the Force be with them.  Episode Chapters00:19:38 Opening Credits for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher00:53:40 Favorite Parts of the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope01:30:51 Trivia from the sci-fi action fantasy Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope  01:41:02 Critics' Thoughts on George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope The Black Guy Who Tips (TBGWT) Podcast Links:Twitter: @rodimusprime@SayDatAgain@TBGWTInstagram: @TheBlackGuyWhoTipsEmail: theblackguywhotips@gmail.comBlog: www.theblackguywhotips.com Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

Zo once visited a small town in Maine called Tarker's Mills. It was a quaint little place and extremely pleasant. Then, the murders started happening, once a month. It was the craziest thing that Zo had ever heard of happening in a small town. Also, he heard that the victims weren't stabbed, beaten or shot . . . they were torn apart! Whoever this crazy murderer was they seem to have a werewolf fetish. The attacks only seem to happen during a full moon. Before Zo high tailed out of that town he considered that maybe someone should shoot it with a Silver Bullet . . . for symbolic purposes (of course). Episode Chapters00:02:44 Opening Credits for Stephen King's Silver Bullet starring Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim and Megan Follows00:10:38 Favorite Parts of the 1985 film Stephen King's Silver Bullet  00:49:13 Trivia from the religious horror Stephen King's Silver Bullet  00:58:58 Critics' Thoughts on Daniel Attias' Stephen King's Silver Bullet  Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.