Podcasts about Wonderful Life

December 14-20, 1991   This week Ken welcomes former preacher, home school all star and current comedian behind the new Blonde Medicine lp "Almost a Grown Man", Jeremy Alder. Ken and Jeremy discuss growing up religious, Hannibal Lecktor's cell in Manhunter, birthdays, being 12, growing up in Texas, having to sneak TV at grandparents and friends houses, TV Guide's excellent writing, parents vs teens views on Beverly Hills 90210, the genius of Jane Pratt, Car 54, Where Are You? and the awful movie, the early 90s boom of movies based on old TV shows, being totally traumatized by the Christian appocalyptic scare film A Theif in the Night, The Rabbit VCR multipier, not knowing who certain products are for, Christmas movies, It's a Wonderful Life, how Ken feels Frosty the Snowman is blasphemous, how Madonna was best gotten in touch with via TV Guide, In Living Color, America's Funniest People, National Geographic Explorer, Ken's ultimate fear of deep water animals, treasure hunting scams, Silk Stalkings, when it's "Too Hot to Sleep", the religious Madonna episode of MacGuyver, cults, A Place for Mom, creepy non-discript low rent ads, suckling pigs, how it's not what you're eating it's what's eating you, detention, Michael Jordan, fake names, Waco, Santa lap time, simple folk at Christmas, Unsolved Mysteries, attemps at diversity, Bob Hope, Strays, Doogie Howser, Tracy Ullman Show, Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, Top Cops, The Simpsons, Can't Buy Me Love, Ken's small handful of celebrity impressions, Youth Group "Slave Auctions" for charity, when Jamacians were the #1 villain in action cinema, Austin, square dancing, wearing a cowboy hat, Ken's quest for "The Best of the Worst" and how Beavis and Butthead will never die. 

These boys finally allowed me back on the podcast!

Send us a textToday's episode is my conversation about the 1929 film The Divine Lady. I'm joined by Janelle Miley from the "Right Now, You Like Me" newsletter and we talk about how closely the film aligns with the real life story of Emma Hamilton, some incredible naval battle sequences for the time period, and compare this film to some other Frank Lloyd directed films of the time that we have seen.You can watch The Divine Lady on YouTube and be sure to check out Janelle's newsletter.Other films mentioned in this episode include:"Plane Crazy" directed by Ub Iwerks and Walt DisneySyncopation directed by Bert GlennonWings directed by William A. WellmanThe Jazz Singer directed by Alan CroslandMutiny on the Bounty directed by Frank LloydCavalcade directed by Frank LloydEast Lynne directed by Frank LloydThe Hunger Games directed by Gary RossThe King of Kings directed by Cecil B. DeMilleIt's a Wonderful Life directed by Frank CapraTwo Arabian Knights directed by Lewis MilestoneAbraham Lincoln directed by D. W. GriffithThe Ten Commandments directed by Cecil B. DeMilleEmma directed by Clarence Leon BrownMy Fair Lady directed by George CukorThat Hamilton Woman directed by Alexander KordaState Fair directed by Walter LangLonesome directed by Paul FejosOther referenced topics:The Divine Lady: A Romance of Nelson and Emma Hamilton by E. Barrington (also available on Project Gutenberg)Pygmalion by George Bernard ShawThe Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins"Hail to the Redskins" fight songPhotoplay reviewHarrison's Reports reviewSupport the show

Pedro Iniguez is a Mexican-American Bram Stoker, Elgin, and Rhysling Award-nominated horror and science-fiction writer from Los Angeles, California. He is the author of Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future, and Fever Dreams of a Parasite, among others. Forthcoming books include his SFF collection, Echoes and Embers: Speculative Stories, and his debut picture book, The Fib, which are slated for 2025 releases.This story originally appeared in Infinite Constellations, 2023.Narrated by: Mary MurphyMary is a New York based actor/voice-over artist. She loves the world of audio drama and is delighted to be back on board the StarShipSofa. She has performed in theatre, film, TV, animation, radio, and video games. A few of her recent credits include the one-woman play An Evening With Lola Montez, It's A Wonderful Life, a streamed performance of the piece Near Nellie Bly, Divination of The Three for Asheville Fringe, and the audio dramas Frontier Gentleman, Chinook, and Newfield. She can be heard voicing various characters for Disney, GoKidGo, LeapFrog, the Center For New American Media, Audible, and Audimance. She has also been a regular performer on the audio drama series Fireside Mystery Theatre, The NoSleep Podcast, The Wicked Library, To the Manor Borne By Robots, and Campfire Radio Theater. marymurphyonline.comFact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H SturgisSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today Rachel and Thaddeaus are back to talk about It's a Wonderful Life and both of the remakes/spinoffs Pick up Miss Nguyen's Bodyguard by Rainie Dang https://amzn.to/3Fy1gbz (ad) Get your Factor Meals today at 50% off factormeals.com/hallmarkies50 (ad) For our episode on the first ever Hallmark Christmas movies https://youtu.be/MyNPN7tDR70 Check out our 5th episode https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/74D657/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADV1302574941.mp3?updated=1679286663 Check out our 4th episode recapping classics https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/74D657/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADV9117199170.mp3?updated=1676766251 Check out our 2nd episode recapping classics https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADV9685730290.mp3?updated=1660930806 Check out our 3rd episode of classics https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADV6881786759.mp3?updated=1664159654 Check out our 1rst episode of classics https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADV5173965639.mp3?updated=1657402166 Our Christmas podcasts are at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4f2KtBPzUE&list=PLXv4sBF3mPUDo41tHqhkjHCvedmZwLzHx Follow us on ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hallmarkies-podcast/id1296728288?mt=2 https://twitter.com/HallmarkiesPod on twitter @HallmarkiesPodcast on Instagram HallmarkiesPodcast.com Get some of our great podcast merch https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hallmarkies?ref_id=8581 Please support the podcast on patreon at https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies Follow Rachel's blog at http://rachelsreviews.net Follow Rachel on twitter twitter.com/rachel_reviews Follow Rachel's Reviews on youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/rachelsreviews Follow Rachel on facebook www.facebook.com/smilingldsgirlreviews Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kenya Barris talks about his messy childhood, the do's and don'ts of the writer's room, laying low during covid, Larry David making Kenya take the leap to star in a show, raising kids better than our parents, running a writer's room is like conducting music, making podcasts with Malcolm Gladwell, being pals with Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy putting points on the board, the pleasure and importance of dressing well, and having people around you who can tell you, you suck. Bio: Kenya Barris is an award-winning writer, producer, director and actor, whose innovative approach to comedy has firmly cemented his place as one of Hollywood's great modern storytellers. Best known as the creator behind groundbreaking series like ABC sitcom black-ish and the Netflix original series #blackAF, Barris has built a career telling powerful stories that reflect our culture and fearlessly tackle an array of topics. Most recently, Barris executive produced Diarra From Detroit, a dark comedy about a divorcing schoolteacher who refuses to believe she's been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date; The Vince Staples Show, a scripted series loosely inspired by the life of multi-hyphenate musician Vince Staples; the final season of grown-ish; and produced The Underdoggs, an Amazon original sports comedy starring Snoop Dogg as a youth football team coach. In 2023, Barris and his production company, Khalabo Ink Society, received Emmy nominations for two of their projects: Entergalactic, a first-of-its-kind adult animated music project that featured new music from the Grammy Award-winning musician Kid Cudi and CIVIL, a documentary that offered an intimate portrait of groundbreaking civil rights attorney, Ben Crump. Barris also made his feature directorial debut with Netflix's hit comedy, You People, which he also produced and co-wrote. Barris and Khalabo have multiple high-profile projects in various stages of development. On the television side, projects include: sophomore seasons of Diarra From Detroit and The Vince Staples Show; The Book of Jose, a television series chronicling the life of rapper Fat Joe; Group Chat, a collaboration with Kim Kardashian, based on LaLa Anthony's best-selling book The Love Playbook; a limited series that will offer an intimate look into the life and legacy of the legendary comedian Richard Pryor. On the film side, Barris is developing projects such as: Get Lite starring Storm Reid and marking Teyana Taylor's feature directorial debut; a remake of It's A Wonderful Life; a documentary on the life and career of rapper Chief Keef; Yumanzu, a high concept family adventure movie; Girls Trip 2; and The Man Who Lives Underground. Additionally, Barris and Khalabo have a first-look deal with Audible and in 2023, launched their first podcast, DJ Drama Presents: Gangsta Grillz. Hosted and produced with legendary hip-hop producer, DJ Drama, the popular podcast featured conversations with notable artists such as Tyler, the Creator, Pharrell, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne and more. In 2025, they also launched The Unusual Suspects hosted by Barris and bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell. Barris and Gladwell engage in raw, unfiltered conversations with some of today's most influential figures and titans across a spectrum of professions, including Ava DuVernay, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Kimmel, Sue Bird, and more. 

[1 John 5:12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God's Son does not have life. When life doesn't go our way we all ________ to something. [Psalm 143:9] Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me. Your life _____________ more than you think it does. Our impact is often found in the _____________ things we do and not in the __________________. I'm not ______________ but I serve the One who is! God can give you a new _________________ on life. [Ephesians 2:10] For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. We want God to change our ______________________ but God wants to change _______. [1 Peter 5:7 CSB] casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. You can __________ what is lost or you can ____________ on what remains. [John 16:33] I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” In times of __________, don't lose ___________. [Isaiah 9:1-2 NIV] Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— [2] The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Your best days are not ______________ you. [John 10:10] A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life* and have it in abundance. *LIFE (Greek: zoe): the absolute ________________ of life.

In this week's episode, I take a look at the movies and streaming shows I watched in Winter and Spring 2025. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the ebook versions of my anthologies at my Payhip store: JUNE25 The coupon code is valid through June 17, 2025. So if you need a new ebook this summer, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 252 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is May 23rd, 2025, and today we are looking at the movies and streaming shows I watched in Winter and Spring 2025. We missed doing an episode last week for the simple reason that the day before I wanted to record, we had a bad thunderstorm that knocked down large portions of my fence, so my recording time was instead spent on emergency fence repair. However, the situation is under control, so hopefully we'll be back to weekly episodes for the immediate future. And now before we get to our main topics, let's have Coupon of the Week and then a progress update on my current writing projects.   So first up, Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the ebook version of all my short story anthologies at my Payhip store and that is JUNE25. As always, the coupon code and links will be available in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through June the 17th, 2025, so if you need a new ebook for this summer, we have got you covered.   And now an update on my current writing projects. Ghost in the Corruption is finished. It is publishing right now. In fact, I paused the publishing process to record this and so by the time this episode goes live, hopefully Ghost in the Corruption should be available at all ebook stores. My next main project now that Ghost in the Corruption is done will be Shield of Power and as of this recording I am 15,000 words into it. My secondary projects will be Stealth and Spells Online: Final Quest and I'm 97,000 words into that, so hopefully that will come out very shortly after Shield of Power and I'll also be starting Ghost in the Siege, the final book in the Ghost Armor series as another secondary project and I'm currently zero words into that. So that is where I'm at with my current writing projects.   In audiobook news, Ghost in the Assembly (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) is now out and should be available at all the usual audiobook stores so you can listen to that if you are traveling for the summer. Recording of Shield of Battle (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) is underway soon. I believe he's starting it this week, so hopefully we will have another audiobook in the Shield War series for you before too much longer. So that's where I'm at with my current writing projects.   00:02:17 Main Topic: Winter/Spring 2025 Movie Roundup   And now let's move on, without any further ado, to our main topic. Summer is almost upon us, which means it's time for my Winter/Spring 2025 Movie Roundup. As usual, the movies and streaming shows are listed in order for my least favorite to my most favorite. The grades are based upon my own thoughts and opinions and are therefore wholly subjective. With all of that said, let's get to the movies and our first entry is MacGruber, which came out in 2010 and in all honesty, this might be objectively the worst movie I have ever seen. The Saturday Night Live MacGruber sketches are a parody of the old MacGyver action show from the ‘80s. And so the movie is essentially the sketch stretched out to make a parody of an ‘80s action movie. It is aggressively dumb and crude. Its only redeeming feature is that the movie knows it's quite stupid and so leans into the stupidity hard. I'll say this in its favor, MacGruber has no pretensions that is a good movie and does not take itself seriously and then runs away hard with that fact. For that he gets a plus, but nothing else. Overall grade: F+   Next up is Down Periscope, which came out in 1996. Now the fundamental question of any movie is the one Russell Crowe shouted at the audience in Gladiator: “Are you not entertained?” Sadly, I was not entertained with Down Periscope. This wanted to be a parody of Cold War era submarine thrillers like The Hunt for Red October, I say wanted because it didn't really succeed. Kelsey Grammer plays Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge, an unorthodox US Navy officer who wants command of his own nuclear sub, but he's alienated a few admirals, which is not traditionally a path to career advancement in the military. Dodge gets his chance in a Navy wargame where he has to command a diesel sub against nuclear subs. Sometimes parodies are so good that they become an example of the thing they are parodying (Hot Fuzz and Star Trek: Lower Decks are excellent examples of this phenomenon). The trouble is that the movie takes itself too seriously and just isn't all that funny. A few funny bits, true, but not enough of them. In the end, this was dumb funny but didn't resonate with me the way other dumb funny movies like Dodgeball and Tropic Thunder did. Overall grade: D   Next up is Deadpool and Wolverine, which came out in 2024. Unlike Down Periscope, I was entertained with this movie, though both movies reside on the dumb funny spectrum. Deadpool and Wolverine is basically one long meta in-joke/love letter for the last 30 years of superhero movies. If you've seen enough of those movies, you'll find those movies funny, if occasionally rather tasteless. If you haven't seen enough of those movies, Deadpool and Wolverine will just be incomprehensible. The plot is that Wade Wilson AKA Deadpool gets pulled into some Marvel style multiverse nonsense. To save his universe from destruction, he needs to recruit a Wolverine since in his universe, Wolverine died heroically.   In the process, Deadpool stumbles across the worst Wolverine in the multiverse. Together they have to overcome their mutual dislike and attempt to save Deadpool's universe from destruction at the hands of a rogue branch of the Time Variance Authority. This means the movie can bring in a lot of cameos from past Marvel films. Hugh Jackman's performance really carries the movie on its back. Like I said, this movie is essentially one very long Marvel in-joke. I thought it was funny. I definitely think it can't stand on its own without having seen a sufficient number of the other Marvel movies. Overall grade: C   Our next movie is the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which came out in 2024. This is very loosely (with an emphasis on “very”) based on Operation Postmaster during World War II, when British Special Forces seized some Italian ships that had been supplying parts for German U-boats. It was entertaining to watch but it couldn't quite make up its mind tonally if it was a war thriller or a heist movie about Western desperados recruited into a crew. It kind of tried to do both at the same time, which killed the momentum. Like, the first parts of the movie where the protagonists take out a Nazi patrol boat and then free a prisoner from a base were good thriller stuff, but then the plot fused with the heist stuff and really slowed down through the middle forty percent or so. It was also oddly stylized with a lot of spaghetti western-style music that seemed out of place and some stuff just didn't make sense, like at the end after pulling off the mission, the protagonists were all arrested. That just seems bizarre since if anything, Winston Churchill and a lot of the British wartime leadership were enthusiastic about special operations and probably had too much confidence in the effectiveness of covert operations. So I did enjoy watching this, but I can see why it didn't make a lot of money at the box office. Overall Grade: C   Next up is The Gorge, which came out in 2025. This was a peculiar mix of science fiction, romance, and horror. For the romance part, perhaps shooting zombies together is a good idea for a first date. Before I dig into the movie, a brief rant. In one scene, a character is using a chainsaw with no protective gear whatsoever and she's not fighting zombies or anything in a situation where she has to pick up a chainsaw without preparing first. She's trimming branches to pass time. If you're using a chainsaw, at a minimum you want protective eyewear and headphones. Ideally you'd want chainsaw pants as well to reduce the chance of serious injury if you slip and swing the saw into your leg. Since I became a homeowner, I've used a chainsaw a number of times and believe me, you definitely want good eye and ear protection. This has been your public safety announcement for this movie review.   Anyway, loner former sniper Levi is approached by a high ranking intelligence officer giving him a mysterious job. He needs to guard a tower overlooking a mysterious mist-filled gorge for one year. On the other side of the gorge is another tower, guarded by an elite Lithuanian sniper named Drasa. Like Levi, Drasa has a fair bit of emotional damage and they're officially forbidden to communicate. However, they're both lonely and they soon start communicating over the gorge using telescopes and whiteboard messages. Eventually Levi gets emotionally close enough to Drasa to rig a zipline to cross the gorge and speak with her in person.   Unfortunately, it turns out the gorge is full of twisted creatures that storm out and attack and the job of the two snipers is to keep them contained. If Levi and Drasa want to save their lives, they'll need to unravel the dark secret within the gorge. This movie was interesting and I enjoyed watching it, but it falls apart if you think about it too much (or at all). Like the chainsaw thing I ranted about above. The entire movie runs on that sort of logic. That said, I appreciate how the filmmakers were trying something new instead of something like Deadpool and Wolverine. Additionally, this was an Apple+ movie and it's interesting how Apple's approach to streaming is to just make a whole bunch of random stuff that's totally distinct, from Ted Lasso to Mythic Quest to Severance to The Gorge. It's like, “we have more money than most countries, so we're going to make Ted Lasso because we feel like it.” Then again, Apple+ is apparently losing a billion dollars every year, so maybe they'll eventually change their minds about that approach. Overall Grade: B-   Next up is Click, which came out in 2006. Cross It's a Wonderful Life with A Christmas Carol and the comedic style of Adam Sandler and you end up with Click. Basically Sandler plays Michael Newman, a workaholic architect with a demanding boss and increasingly strained relationship with his wife and children due to his workload. In a fit of exasperation with his situation, he goes to Bed Bath and Beyond, where he encounters an eccentric employee named Morty (played entertainingly by Christopher Walken). Morty gives him a remote control that lets him fast forward through time, which Michael then uses to skip the boring and tedious parts of his life, but he overuses the remote and goes too far into the future and sees the disastrous results of his current life choices. Definitely a story used in A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life but effectively told and I was entertained (rather on the crude side, though). Overall Grade: B- Next up is Mr. Deeds, which came out in 2002. This was actually one of Adam Sandler's better movies, in my opinion. It was a remake of the ‘30s movie Mr. Deeds Goes To Town. In this new version, Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds, a popular pizzeria owner in a small New Hampshire town. Unbeknownst to Deeds, his uncle is the owner of a major media mega corporation and when he dies, Deeds is his legal heir. When the company's CEO and chief lawyer arrive at the pizzeria to inform him of this fact, Deeds goes to New York and soon finds himself involved in the CEO's sinister machinations. Yet he happens to rescue an attractive woman from a mugger, but there is more to her than meets the eye. The movie was funny and not as crude, well, not quite as crude as some of Sandler's other stuff. It had good story structure and several great lines, my favorite of which was “he was weak and cowardly and wore far too much cologne.”   Sandler's movies, in a strange way, are often very medieval. Like various medieval fables had a savvy peasant outwitting pompous lords, greedy merchants, and corrupt clergymen. The best Adam Sandler protagonist tends to be a good natured everyman who defeats the modern equivalent of medieval authority figures- evil CEOs, arrogant star athletes, sinister bureaucrats and so forth. Overall Grade: B     Next up is House of David, which came out in 2025 and this is basically the story of King David from the Bible told in the format of an epic fantasy TV series. Like if someone wanted to do an epic fantasy series about Conan the Barbarian, it could follow the same stylistic format as this show. And of course Conan and David followed a similar path from adventurer to king. Anyway, if one were to pick a part of the Bible from which to make a movie or TV series, the story of David would be an excellent choice because David's life was so dramatic that it would hardly require any embellishments in the adaptation. The story is in the Books of First and Second Samuel. King Saul is ruling over the Israelites around 1000 BC or so, but has grown arrogant. Consequently, God instructs the prophet Samuel to inform Saul that the kingdom will be taken away from him and given to another. God then dispatches Samuel to anoint David as the new king of Israel. David is a humble shepherd but then enters Saul's service and undertakes feats of daring, starting with defeating the giant Goliath and leading Saul's troops to victory and battle against Israel's numerous enemies. (The Iron Age Middle East was even less peaceful than it is now.) Eventually, Saul's paranoia and madness gets the best of him and he turns on David, who flees into exile. After Saul and his sons are killed in battle with the Philistines. David returns and becomes the acknowledged king after a short civil war with Saul's surviving sons and followers.   If Saul's fatal flaw was his arrogance of pride, David's seems to have been women. While the story of David and Bathsheba is well known, David nonetheless had eight wives (most of them at the same time) and an unknown but undoubtedly large number of concubines. Naturally David's children from his various wives and concubines did not get along and David was almost deposed due to the conflicts between his children. Unlike Saul and later David's son Solomon, David was willing to repent when a prophet of God informed him of wrongdoing and to be fair to David, monogamy was generally not practiced among Early Iron Age Middle Eastern monarchies and dynastic struggles between brothers from different mothers to seize their father's kingdoms were quite common, but enough historical digression.   Back to the show, which covered David's life up to the death of Goliath. I thought it was quite well done. Good performances, good cinematography, excellent battles, good set design and costuming, and a strong soundtrack. All the actors were good, but I really think the standout performances were Stephen Lang as Samuel, Ali Sulaman is King Saul, Ayelet Zurer as Saul's wife Queen Ahinoam, and Davood Ghadami as David's jerkish (but exasperated and well-intentioned) eldest brother Eliab. Martyn Ford just looks extremely formidable as Goliath. You definitely believe no one in their right mind want to fight this guy.   Making fiction of any kind based on sacred religious texts is often tricky because no matter what you do, someone's going to get mad at you. The show has an extensive disclaimer at the beginning of each episode saying that it is fiction inspired by the Bible. That said, House of David doesn't really alter or deviate from the Biblical account, though it expands upon some things for the sake of storytelling. Queen Ahinoam is only mentioned once in the Bible as the wife of Saul, but she has an expanded role in the show and is shown as the one who essentially introduces Saul to the Witch of Endor. Goliath also gets backstory as one of the “Anakim,” a race of giants that lived in Canaan in ancient times, which is something that is only mentioned in passing in the Old Testament. Overall, I enjoyed the show and I hope it gets a second season.   What's interesting, from a larger perspective, is to see how the wheel of history keeps turning. In the 1950s and the 1960s, Biblical epics were a major film genre. The 10 Commandments and Ben Hur with Charlton Heston are probably the ones best remembered today. Eventually, the genre just sort of ran out of gas, much the way superhero movies were in vogue for about 20 years and began running out of steam around 2023 or so. Like, I enjoyed Thunderbolts (which we're going to talk about in a little bit), but it's not going to make a billion dollars the way Marvel stuff often did in the 2010s. The wheel just keeps turning and perhaps has come back around to the popularity of Biblical epics once more. Overall Grade: A   Next up is Chef, which came out in 2014. I actually saw this back in 2021, but I watched it again recently to refresh my memory and here are my thoughts. I quite liked it. It's about a chef named Carl Casper, who's increasingly unhappy with his work after he gets fired over a Twitter war with a writer who criticized his cooking. Carl is out of options and so he starts a food truck and has to both rediscover his love of cooking and reconnect with his ex-wife and 10-year-old son. In Storytelling: How to Write a Novel (my book about writing), I talked about different kinds of conflict. Carl's conflict is an excellent example of an entirely internal conflict. The critic is an external enemy, but he's basically the inciting incident.   Carl's real enemy is his own internal conflict about art versus commerce and a strained relationship with his son. I recommend the movie. It was rated R for bad language, but there's no nudity or explicit sexual content and honestly, if you've ever worked in a restaurant kitchen or a warehouse, you've heard much worse in terms of language. The movie also has an extremely valuable lesson: stay off social media when you're angry. Overall Grade: A     Next up is Thunderbolts, which came out in 2025 and I thought this was pretty good, both very dark and yet with quite a lot of humor to balance the darkness. Former assassin Yelena Belova has been working as a mercenary for the sinister director of the CIA, Valentina de Fontaine (now there's a villain name if there ever was one). Yelena has grown disillusioned with her life and career and is suffering from increasing depression since she never really dealt with the death of her sister. Valentina promises her one last job, only for Yelena to realize that Valentina decided to dispose of all her freelance contractors at once, which includes US Agent and Ghost (previously seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Antman and the Wasp). In the process of escaping Valentina's trap, Yelena stumbles across a mysterious man who identifies himself as Bob, who has no memory of how he got there, but shows increasingly unusual abilities. Yelena wants to deal with Valentina's betrayal, but it turns out one of Valentina's science projects has gotten out of control and is threatening the world. The movie was well constructed enough that it didn't rely too heavily on previous Marvel continuity. It was there, but you probably wouldn't be lost without it. It almost feels like Marvel looked at the stuff they did the last couple of years and said, okay, a lot of this didn't work, but makes great raw material for new things. It helped that the central conflict was in the end, very human and about the characters, not stopping a generic villain from getting a generic doomsday device. Overall Grade: A   Next up is The Hound of the Baskervilles, which came out in 1988. This is a movie length episode of The Return of Sherlock Holmes television series, which had Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson. The plot deals with Sir Henry Baskerville, the American heir to an English manor set in the Windswept moors of Dartmoor. Apparently there's an ancestral curse laid over the Baskerville estate that manifests in the form of a spectral hound. Local rumors hold that the previous holder of the manor, Sir Charles Baskerville, was killed by the ghostly hound and many of the local people fear it. The local physician, Dr. Mortimer, is so worried about the hound that he comes to Sherlock Holmes for help. Holmes, of course, is skeptical of any supernatural explanation and soon becomes worried that an extremely subtle and sinister murderer is stalking Sir Henry.   Jeremy Brett's version of Holmes is, in my opinion, the best portrayal of the character and Edward Hardwicke's version of Watson is a calm, reliable man of action who sensibly takes a very large revolver with him when going into danger. Definitely worth watching, Overall grade: A   Next up is Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which came out in 2024. The 2020s have been a downer of a decade in many ways, but on the plus side, between Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog, people have finally figured out how to make good video game movies, so we've got that going for us. Sonic 3 was an excellent kids movie, as were the first two in the trilogy. In this one Sonic is living with Knuckles and Tails under the care of their human friends Tom and Maddy, but then a dark secret emerges. The government has been keeping a Superpowered hedgehog named Shadow in stasis and Shadow has broken out. It's up to Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails to save the day.   Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik is in a funk after his defeat at Sonic's hands in the last movie, but then his long lost grandfather, Gerald Robotnik returns seeking the younger Dr. Robotnik's help in his own sinister plans. Keanu Reeves was great as Shadow (think John Wick if he was a superpowered space hedgehog in a kid's movie). Jim Carrey famously said he would retire from acting unless a golden script came along and apparently that golden script was playing Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his evil grandfather Gerald. To be fair, both the Robotniks were hilarious.   It is amusing that Sonic only exists because in the 1990s, Sega wanted a flagship video game character that won't get them sued by either Nintendo or Disney. It is also amusing that the overall message of the Sonic movies seems to be not to trust the government. Overall Grade: A   Next up is Paddington in Peru, which came out in 2024. This is also an excellent kids' movie. In this installment, Paddington has settled into London with the Brown family and officially become a UK citizen. However, he receives a letter from Peru that his Aunt Lucy has mysteriously disappeared into the jungle. Distraught, Paddington and the Browns set off for Peru at once. Adventures ensue involving mysterious lost treasure, a crazy boat captain, and an order of singing nuns who might not quite be what they appear. Anyway, it's a good kids' movie. I think Paddington 2 was only slightly better because Hugh Grant as the chief villain, crazy actor Phoenix Buchanan, was one of those lightning in the bottle things like Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Dark Knight. Overall Grade: A   Now for the two best things I saw in Winter/Spring 2025. The first of them is Andor Season Two, which came out in 2025. Star Wars kind of has an age range the way Marvel stuff does now. What do I mean by that? In the Marvel comics and some of the TV series like Jessica Jones, they get into some really dark and heavy stuff, very mature themes. The MCU movies can have some darkness to them, but not as much because they're aiming at sort of escapist adventures for the general audience. Then there are kid shows like Spidey and Friends that a relative of mine just loved when he was three. You wouldn't at all feel comfortable showing a 3-year-old Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Spidey and Friends is just fine.   Star Wars now kind of has that age range to its stuff and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you want to see a dark meditation upon human nature. Sometimes you need something kid friendly to occupy the kids you're babysitting and sometimes you just want to relax and watch Mando and Baby Yoda mow down some space pirates or something. All that said, Andor Season Two is some of the darkest and the best stuff that Star Wars has ever done. It successfully shifts genres from Escapist Pulp Space Fantasy to a gritty Political/Espionage Thriller. We in the audience know that the emperor is a Sith Lord who can use Evil Space Magic and wants to make himself immortal, but that fact is totally irrelevant to the characters. Even though some of the characters are high ranking in their respective organizations, this is essentially a “ground's eye” view of the Rebellion and life under the Empire.   In some ways, this is like Star Wars' version of Wolf Hall (which we're going to talk about shortly), in that we know how it ends already, but the dramatic tension comes from the harrowing emotional journey the characters undertake on the way to their inevitable destinations. Cassian Andor is now working for the nascent Rebellion under the direction of ruthless spymaster Luthen Rael. Mon Mothma is in the Imperial Senate, covertly funneling money to the Rebellion and realizing just how much the Rebellion will require of her before the end. Syril Karn, the ineffective corporate cop from Season One, has fallen in love with the ruthless secret police supervisor Dedra Meero, but he's unaware that Director Krennic has ordered Meero to manufacture a false flag incident on the planet Gorman so the planet can be strip-mined for resources to build the Death Star and Dedra has decided to use Syril to help accomplish it. All the actors do amazing jobs with their roles. Seriously, this series as actors really should get at least one Emmy. Speaking of Director Krennic, Ben Mendelson returns as Orson Krennic, who is one of my favorite least favorite characters, if you get my drift. Krennic is the oily, treacherous middle manager we've all had to deal with or work for at some point in our lives, and Mendelson plays him excellently. He's a great villain, the sort who is ruthless to his underlings and thinks he can manipulate his superiors right up until Darth Vader starts telekinetically choking him. By contrast, the villain Major Partagaz (played by Anton Lesser) is the middle manager we wish we all had - stern but entirely fair, reasonable, and prizes efficiency and good work while despising office drama. Unfortunately, he works for the Empire's secret police, so all those good qualities are in the service of evil and therefore come to naught. Finally, Episode Eight is one of the most astonishing episodes of TV I've ever seen. It successfully captures the horror of an episode of mass violence and simultaneously has several character arcs reach their tumultuous climax and manages to be shockingly graphic without showing in a lot of actual blood. Andor was originally supposed to be five seasons, but then Peak Streaming collapsed, and so the remaining four seasons were compressed down to one. I think that was actually to the show's benefit because it generates some amazing tension and there's not a wasted moment. Overall Grade: A+   Now for the second of my two favorite things I saw, and that would be Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, which came out in 2024, but I actually saw it in 2025. This is a dramatization of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall novels about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, who is King Henry VIII's chief lieutenant during the key years of the English Reformation. The first series came out in 2015, but the nine year gap between this and between the second series and the first series actually works quite well since Thomas Cromwell looks like he ages nine years in a single year (which may be what actually happened given how stressful working for someone like Henry VIII must have been). Anyway, in The Mirror and the Light, Cromwell has successfully arranged the downfall and execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry's previous queen. Though Cromwell is haunted by his actions, Henry still needs a queen to give him a male heir, so he marries Jane Seymour. Cromwell must navigate the deadly politics of the Tudor Court while trying to push his Protestant views of religion, serve his capricious master Henry, fend off rivals for the King's favor, and keep his own head attached to his shoulders in the process. Since Cromwell's mental state is deteriorating due to guilt over Anne's death and the downfall of his former master Cardinal Wolsey and Henry's a fickle and dangerous master at the best of times, this is an enterprise that is doomed to fail. Of course, if you're at all familiar with the history of Henry's reign and the English reformation, you know that Cromwell's story does not have a happy ending. Rather, Wolf Hall is a tragedy about a talented man who didn't walk away from his power until it was too late and he was trapped. Anyway, in my opinion, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light was just excellent. All the performances were superb. Mark Rylance is great as Cromwell and has some excellent “WTF/I'm SO screwed” expressions as Cromwell's situation grows worse and worse. Bernard Hill played the Duke of Norfolk in the first series, but sadly died before Series Two, so Timothy Spall steps in and he does an excellent job of channeling Hill's portrayal of the Duke as an ambitious, crude-humored thug.   Damien Lewis is amazing as Henry VIII and his performance captures Henry's mixture of charisma, extreme vindictiveness, and astonishing self-absorption. The real Henry was known for being extremely charming even to the end of his life, but the charm was mixed with a volcanic temper that worsened as Henry aged and may have been exacerbated by a severe head injury. Lewis's performance can shift from that charm to the deadly fury in a heartbeat. The show rather cleverly portrays Henry's growing obesity and deteriorating health by having Lewis wear a lot of big puffy coats and limp with an impressively regal walking stick.   Overall, I would say this and Andor were the best thing I saw in Winter/Spring 2025. I wouldn't say that Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is an accurate historical reputation. In real life, Cromwell was rather more thuggish and grasping (though far more competent than his rivals and his master) and of necessity the plot simplifies historical events, but it's just a superb historical drama. Overall Grade: A+ As a final note, I should say that of all the 2024 and 2025 movies mentioned here, the only one that actually saw in the theater was Thunderbolts, and I hadn't actually planned to see it in theaters, but a family member unexpectedly bought tickets for it, so I went along. Which I suppose is the movie industry's biggest problem right now. The home viewing experience is often vastly superior to going to the theater. The theater has the big screen and snacks, but at home you can have a pretty nice setup and you can pause whatever you want, go to the bathroom, and you can get snacks for much more cheaply. That's just much more comfortable than the movie theater.   Additionally, going to the theater has the same serious problem as booking a flight in that you're an enclosed space with complete strangers for several hours, which means you're potentially in a trust fall with idiots. All it takes is one person behaving badly or trying to bring their fake service dog to ruin or even cancel a flight, and the theater experience has much of the same problem, especially since the standards for acceptable public behavior have dropped so much from a combination of widespread smartphone adoption and COVID. The difference between the movie industry and the airline industry is that if you absolutely have to get from New York to Los Angeles in a single day, you have no choice but to book a flight and hope for the best. But if you want to see a movie and are willing to exercise some patience, you just have to wait a few months for it to turn up on streaming. I'm not sure how the movie industry can battle that, but sadly, it is much easier to identify problems than to solve them.   So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe, stay healthy, and see you all next week.

Matilda's made a new adult friend, but how do you keep the friendship up? Kiwi musician Georgia Lines joins us to talk her new single Wonderful Life! The Sleuth Booth: The final key update, what could the random key Producer Sara found REALLY unlock? She goes to the locksmith... I'm THIS old, and I still ask my parents, what? The People's Poll: Licking the baking bowl, when you're an adult? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a textThis Memorial Day episode revisits a conversation with Alison Maker about her book "Making the Best Years of Our Lives," exploring the classic 1946 film that portrayed veterans returning home from World War II.• William Wyler, the film's director, was a Jewish immigrant who served as a major in the Army Signal Corps during WWII• Wyler flew actual combat missions while filming documentaries and lost his hearing in one ear during service• Harold Russell, who played Homer Parrish, was a real veteran who lost both hands in a training accident• The film portrays three different couples: a long-established marriage, a troubled wartime marriage, and a new relationship forming• "The Best Years of Our Lives" won seven Academy Awards and was more successful than "It's a Wonderful Life," which was released weeks later• The movie realistically shows the challenges of veterans reintegrating into civilian society while maintaining a message of hope• Producer Samuel Goldwyn and director William Wyler had creative tensions throughout production that extended into lawsuits lasting decades• The film remains relevant today as we continue to understand and support veterans returning from conflictAs you celebrate Memorial Day, remember to honor those who sacrificed their lives or part of their lives for our nation.

Kiwi musician Georgia Lines is back with her new musical projects, and she's set to make an appearance at the upcoming cabaret festival. She released her new single Wonderful Life last Friday - and she's a finalist for four Tui's at the Aotearoa Music Awards, including Single of the Year for her song The Letter. She says it was an 'amazing' experience to be nominated for these awards. "When I saw the email about the music awards, I think there were a few things I didn't quite know how to feel...I was feeling the sense of - oh my goodness, this project that I've poured my life into meant something to people and it's being recognized." Georgia Lines' cabaret festival show Under the Stars with Friends takes place on June 15 - tickets are on sale now. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

INTERVIEW: Georgia Lines on new track 'Wonderful Life' by Zac Hoffman on Radio One 91FM Dunedin

Send us a textOn the Episode, Tom and Bert discuss some MUSIC and MOVIE "Celebrity and Song Secrets" that you may have not known.What makes songs and music unique? Well, it's how they are interpreted and the backstories and history behind the meaning of the song. We also discuss Movie Stars and other trivia throughout the show!Here are some Chapter Highlights:(:55) How Music and Songs conjure up joyful memories and enhance brain health in people(10:08) The unlucky "27" club of music stars that died way too soon(14:53) The King of Pop and The 3 Stooges?! we explain.(17:41) Hit makers that are in unique company and the list has a big surprise!(24:06) "It's a Wonderful Life" star James Stewart and his amazing WW2 past(29:24) Keanu Reeves is a great actor but also pays it forward!(34:07) John Wayne, American icon (35:15) Iron Butterfly's famous song trivia in detailEnjoy the Show!You can email us at reeldealzmoviesandmusic@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page, Reel Dealz Podcast: Movies & Music Thru The Decades to leave comments and/or TEXT us at 843-855-1704 as well.

In this podcast, I talked with Dr Gordon Flett about the psychology of mattering, a topic in which he has been a leader in the field. Mattering is a core component of one's self concept which refers to a genral sense of being significant, and valued in our relationships. A felt sense of mattering is a strongly protective factor against a variety stressors. Conversely, the absence of mattering has been associated with depression and suicidal ideation. A sense of mattering becomes especially relevant  during the adolescent years as fitting in with peers becomes so important The importance of mattering is an idea that immediately resonates with many people and is the  theme in movies such as It's a Wonderful Life and Mr Holland's Opus. Unfortunately, in keeping with the crisis in youth mental health, survey data suggest that about 30% of adolescents do not feel or are not certain that they matter to anyone. So this is obviously an important topic for us to consider Dr Flett has written two books on the psychology of Mattering: Mattering As A CORE Need in Children and Adolescents  and The Psychology of Mattering: Understanding the Human Need to be Significant In an earlier podcast  on 9/13/22, I also talked to Dr Flett about his book he coauthored with Paul Hewitt Perfectionism in Childhood and Adolescence: A Developmental Approach The Mattering Movement website is an excellent source of information https://www.thematteringmovement.com/ see also https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/well/mind/mental-health-mattering-self-esteem.html  

Send us a textIn today's episode, I interview Jessica J. Rowlands, the director of the short film "Rise," a heartwarming story of resilience and determination set in Zimbabwe. The film will make its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this June.Listen to hear about the individual who inspired the film, the importance of using local talent both in front of and behind the camera to tell the story, and how the film uses local music to help establish an authentic local identity.Books mentioned in this episode include:Rotten Row by Petina GappahThe Book of Memory by Petina GappahAn Elegy for Easterly: Faber Stories by Petina GappahFilms and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:"Rise" directed by Jessica J. RowlandsMayfair Witches (series)Transformers: Rise of the Beasts directed by Steven Caple Jr.Mr. Bones directed by Gray HofmeyrCity of God directed by Ktia Lund and Fernando MeirellesIt's a Wonderful Life directed by Frank CapraBilly Elliot directed by Stephen DaldryShawshank Redemption directed by Frank DarabontThe Big Lebowski directed by Joel CoenMad Max: Fury Road directed by George MillerMusical Artists mentioned in this episode include:Hope MasikeFlying BantuFollow Jessica on Instagram @jessiejrowlands and the film @rise.zimbabwe. And if you're in the New York in June, check out the film at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 8th at 12 PM, June 14 at 8:30 PM and June 15th at 2:30 PM.

Welcome to our inaugural Gloria Grahame episode, which is also our final Acteurist Oeuvre-view! In this episode we consider Gloria's first significant movie role, as the cause of Blonde Fever (1944), in which she and Philip Dorn confuse each other and provide occasion for Mary Astor's multiple levels of irony. We then turn to Gloria's breakthrough role in one of our very favourite movies, It's a Wonderful Life (1946), examining it through the lens of Gloria's iconic character, Violet Bick. We consider Violet's thematic link to George at a crucial moment, Capra's invention of a "wholesome small-town siren" trope that's essential to David Lynch's universe, and the qualities that enable Gloria Grahame to embody this concept.   Time Codes: 0h 00m 25s:    A Short Introduction to Gloria Grahame 0h 12m 48s:    BLONDE FEVER (1944) [dir. Richard Whorf] 0h 34m 09s:    IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) [dir. Frank Capra]   ++ * Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again” * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join! 

Support The Dread Campain! https://shorturl.at/nFqIh The Dark Knight changed my life — literally. In this heartfelt deep-dive, Greg Alba (Reel Rejects) and writer-director Patrick Hogue explore the cultural earthquake that was Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008), how seeing it in IMAX shaped Greg's love for cinema, and why it remains one of the most impactful movie theater experiences ever. From Heath Ledger's iconic Joker performance, Christian Bale's Batman, to the unforgettable interrogation scene, the Gotham City opening shot, and the prologue before I Am Legend, we unpack why this Batman film redefined superhero movies forever. We also dive into IMAX as a format vs VOD, nostalgia vs spectacle, and compare experiences to movies like Barbenheimer, Cabin in the Woods, Iron Man, Batman Begins, Dark Knight Rises, Hereditary, Talk to Me, Evil Dead, and 28 Days Later. Plus, Patrick shares the logline and inspiration for his debut horror feature The Dread, influenced by A24 horror, The Babadook, It's a Wonderful Life, and Evil Dead 2. If you love Batman, Christopher Nolan, Heath Ledger, elevated horror, or movie nostalgia — this episode is for you. COMMENT below your most unforgettable movie theater experience & SUPPORT “The Dread” via the Seed & Spark campaign in the pinned comment! Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're bringing you an incredible episode from You Must Remember This about director Frank Capra. The director of It's a Wonderful Life, who won five Oscars in the 1930s for films that embodied the pre-World War II notion of American exceptionalism, was pushed into semi-retirement by the early 50s by changes in tastes and political priorities. Capra was brought back to the Hollywood director's chair by Frank Sinatra in the 1960s, but quickly became embittered by an industry that he felt had left him behind, and in 1971 published an autobiography airing grievances about an industry that he believed was “stooping to cheap salacious pornography in a crazy bastardization of a great art to compete for the 'patronage' of deviates and masturbators.” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the one-hundred-and-seventy-third episode, we explore Hypophora, starting with Trump showing his lack of foreign policy chops with regard to both Iran and Iraq, and then Donald Jr. minimizing COVID deaths.In Mark's British Politics Corner, we look at Kier Starmer accurately describing Boris Johnson, Boris Johnson inaccurately describing parties, and Ed Miliband mocking an elitist Tory.In the Fallacy in the Wild section, we check out examples from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Mean Girls, and It's a Wonderful Life.Jim and Mark go head to head in Fake News, the game in which Mark has to guess which one of three Trump quotes Jim made up.Then we talk about the very many ways Trump lost in court over the past couple of weeks.And finally, we round up some of the other crazy Trump stories from the past week.The full show notes for this episode can be found at https://fallacioustrump.com/ft173 You can contact the guys at pod@fallacioustrump.com, on BlueSky @FallaciousTrump, Discord at fallacioustrump.com/discord or facebook at facebook.com/groups/fallacioustrumpAnd you can buy our T-shirts here: https://fallacioustrump.com/teeCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastrSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fallacious-trump/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your charming and humble host David Naster shares his experience and the beauty of hitting rock bottom. It's an end to what didn't work to the new beginning that will work. The reason, you're the writer, creator and star in your life's movie. You can and will make it a winner.

In this conversation, we dive into the extraordinary creative partnership between two of the most celebrated figures in contemporary opera—librettist Gene Scheer and composer Jake Heggie. Together, Gene and Jake have brought to life some of the most powerful operatic works of our time, including Moby-Dick, Three Decembers, and It's a Wonderful Life. Their collaboration is not only rooted in artistic brilliance but also in a deep, long-standing friendship.Individually, their accomplishments are equally impressive. Gene Scheer has worked with a range of renowned composers, including Jennifer Higdon on Cold Mountain and Tobias Picker on An American Tragedy. He's also an accomplished composer in his own right—his song American Anthem was featured in Ken Burns' Emmy Award-winning documentary on World War II.Jake Heggie's groundbreaking first opera, Dead Man Walking, with a libretto by Terrence McNally, launched him into the spotlight. Since then, his work in art song and opera has made a lasting impact, earning him the title of Musical America's 2025 Composer of the Year. So who better to explore the dynamic between a librettist and a composer? In this two-part conversation, we unpack what makes a successful collaboration and how words and music come together to create something truly unforgettable.Part One's conversation took place during a particularly exciting time—Moby-Dick was being performed at the Metropolitan Opera. Throughout our discussion, the opera serves as a touchstone for understanding the creative process. We begin with a fundamental question: how do they do it? Specifically, how do hard work and patience shape their creative journey?We get into the nuts and bolts of collaboration—how they challenge and inspire each other to reach new heights. Gene shares insights into the stages of researching and writing a libretto, including the story of how saving $100 unexpectedly launched his career. And in his own words, Gene describes his role simply and powerfully: “My job is to write a libretto that inspires music.”[Subscriber Content]: In Part Two, we step back and learn more about Gene's early experiences—his time studying and singing in Vienna (including the month he saw 27 operas!). Jake opens up about the legendary Stephen Sondheim, a mentor and inspiration, and how Sweeney Todd changed his life. In fact, Jake dedicated Moby-Dick to Sondheim.Would you like more inspirational stories, suggestions, insights, and a place to continue the conversations with other listeners? Visit anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com to learn more! As a Contributing Listener of "Anthony Plog on Music," you'll have access to extra premium content and benefits including: Extra Audio Content: Only available to Contributing Listeners. Podcast Reflections: Tony's written recaps and thoughts on past interviews, including valuable tips and suggestions for students. Ask Me Anything: Both as written messages and occasional member-only Zoom sessions. The Show's Discord Server: Where conversations about interviews, show suggestions, and questions happen. It's a great place to meet other listeners and chat about all things music! Can I just donate instead of subscribing? Absolutely! Cancel at anytime and easily resubscribe when you want all that extra content again. Learn more about becoming a Contributing Listener @ anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com!

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with filmmaker, Accidental Talmudist and longtime “Jewish Journal” contributor Salvador Litvak. Litvak's Passover classic, “When Do We Eat?” stars Max Greenfield, Ben Feldman, Shiri Appleby, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Lerner, and Jack Klugman. Litvak directed the film that he co-wrote with his wife and partner, Nina Davidovich Litvak.    The Litvaks' second movie was “Saving Lincoln.” Their new film “Guns & Moses” is out this summer.    “The perennial fifth question of the Passover Seder is, ‘When do we eat?'” Litvak, who is also the author of “Let My People Laugh: Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time,”  says. “There's all these holiday movies… but there was no Passover movie.”    When the Litvaks made “When Do We Eat?” they were connected to Judaism, but not yet Orthodox.    “The movie's probably a little bit edgier than we would make it today,” Litvak says. “One of the main plot points is that one of the kids doses his dad with a strong hallucinogen at the Passover seder, but also the movie contains wonderful spiritual teachings.”   He adds, “[Our dream: that] it would become the Jewish, ‘It's a Wonderful Life,' the movie that people watch every year.”   Salvador Litvak shares the backstories behind “When Do We Eat?” and his new Jewish joke book. the connections between Judaism and food, and his recipe for Sal-mon. He also talks about creating The Accidental Talmudist, how that community embraced his Passover classic film aka “My Big Fat Jewish Seder.”    “My mom always used to say there's two kinds of people: those who get into conversations in the checkout line at the supermarket and those who don't,” Litvak says. “We are [the first] kind.”   Learn more at SalvadorLitvak.com, AccidentalTalmudist.org, and GunsandMosesMovie.com. Check out Salvador's new book, “Let My People Laugh: Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time.”   For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

This is the final instalment of the autobiography of Ian's Mom, Roselyn Mesplay. This was recorded on her 93rd birthday in Denver, Colorado, April 4th, 2025. Thank you for listening.(c)2025 Scatterbrain Productions.Always.

The movie It's a Wonderful Life from Frank Capra is very dear to our hearts, so we thought we'd put it to a vote for the Patreons, and had them pick out another movie from the Director's catalogue for us to watch for the first time.Naturally with the winner starring James Stewart and from the title alone, there is going to be some strong comparisons to Capra's masterpiece - but does it hit us in the feels? Can you get up and leave your job on a whim? And do you have to pay your taxes???-------------------------------------------------------Don't forget to follow us on social media in the links below, and let us know your thoughts and recommendations for the future!  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/sp_filmviewers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠x.com/SP_Filmviewers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/SP_Filmviewers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-------------------------------------------------------Rating and reviewing the show is a great help too! Please feel free to do so with these helpful links below:Goodpods: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://goodpods.app.link/pkE7J2T6ykb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podchaser: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podchaser.com/users/sp_filmviewers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sp-filmviewers/id1485548644⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Lastly, we now have a Patreon you can join, for as little as £1/$1.50. More details in the link below:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/spfilmviewers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Blue Velvet (1986), Lost Highway (1997), & Mulholland Drive (2001)ALL MOVIES SPOILEDIn this film block, Eileen Jones (Filmsuck and Jacobin) and Alex Vlahov (OnlyFilmNoir) pile in the car with Jeremy and Brian to huff their oxygen mask, put on their blond wigs and head out on the highway to celebrate the life and film noirs of David Lynch.Follow Eileen here:YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@Filmsuck-t9uInstagram https://www.instagram.com/filmsuckpodcastFacebook https://www.facebook.com/filmsuckFilmsuck Podcast https://bit.ly/3kZRTRBFilm Criticism at Jacobin https://bit.ly/2UWh5hqFilmsuck USA by Eileen Jones https://amzn.to/2J5MTgWFollow Alex here:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/onlyfilmnoirHard Times https://thehardtimes.net/author/alex-vlahovWhere to watch:Be Kind Video (Burbank) https://bekindvideo.comVidéothèque (South Pasadena) https://www.vidtheque.comCinefile (Santa Monica) https://www.cinefilevideo.comBlue Velvet (4K Blu-ray)https://boxd.it/29BIhttps://amzn.to/4k1nK3YLost Highway (4K Blu-ray)https://boxd.it/29Wchttps://amzn.to/4kaiECzMulholland Drive (4K Blu-ray)https://boxd.it/297ohttps://amzn.to/3XaI7SKOther films referenced:Sunset Boulevard https://boxd.it/2a20Eraserhead https://boxd.it/299uThe Elephant Man https://boxd.it/27LQDune (1984) https://boxd.it/29tYStand by Me https://boxd.it/2aOeRiver's Edge (1986) https://boxd.it/1C7qBack to the Future https://boxd.it/2b8eSuddenly https://youtu.be/RYPjyXAa86ICause for Alarm! https://boxd.it/1mzSPitfall (1948) https://boxd.it/1vjEThe Substance https://boxd.it/zanSThe Addams Family (1991) https://boxd.it/267gMen in Black https://boxd.it/2a0IShadow of a Doubt https://boxd.it/1BtARed Rock West https://boxd.it/1Wi4Speed https://boxd.it/28qkApocalypse Now https://boxd.it/6ZSOut of the Blue https://boxd.it/1456Hoosiers https://boxd.it/22KeWild at Heart https://boxd.it/2aiiInnocent Blood https://boxd.it/1rVOThe Lives of Others https://boxd.it/2a4AA Clockwork Orange https://boxd.it/2aVEWild in the Country https://boxd.it/1gyaBus Stop https://boxd.it/1yvoDeath Wish (1974) https://boxd.it/1P5iCry-Baby https://boxd.it/1XRaIt's a Wonderful Life https://boxd.it/28xAPhantasm https://boxd.it/1YaGShrek https://boxd.it/29ziMoulin Rouge! (2001) https://boxd.it/29wIThe Piano Teacher https://boxd.it/2886No Man's Land (2001) https://boxd.it/20kIThe Man Who Wasn't There https://boxd.it/1VqcThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers https://boxd.it/2b5ENosferatu https://youtu.be/LVV7UutK0XkChinatown https://boxd.it/29vUVertigo https://boxd.it/2apIWoman on the Run https://boxd.it/1p5QDouble indemnity https://boxd.it/297IDrive a Crooked Road https://boxd.it/1dxeQuicksand (1950) https://boxd.it/1zlkThe Narrow Margin (1952) https://boxd.it/1itQThe Killing (1956) https://boxd.it/2aMiRosemary's Baby https://boxd.it/29zMTouch of Evil https://boxd.it/28IIBlood Simple https://boxd.it/1U16Fargo https://boxd.it/2aHMRaising Arizona https://boxd.it/2avQDetour (1945) https://youtu.be/z7Jc8GnoyhIThe Hitch-Hiker (1953) https://youtu.be/WL7P1GOin58Kiss Me Deadly https://boxd.it/1HHeThe Blue Dahlia https://boxd.it/1KQyThe Thing https://boxd.it/294OThe Fly (1986) https://boxd.it/1YIeLove Hurts (2025) https://boxd.it/KyBc

You are invited back into the Talking Hitchcock screening room! Join creator and host, Hitchcock enthusiast Rebecca McCallum with special guest –actor, director and Hitchcock enthusiast-Christopher Diehl who last year put on awonderful Hitchcock Theatre Festival. In this interview, we focus on staging The Birds as amongst other things we cover what attracted Hitchcock to du Maurier's work, the challenges of adapting The Birds, costume, sound, score and the importance and the power of theatre. After our conversation, I'll be back to answer some questions which were kindly sent by listeners, as is the Talking Hitchcock tradition, to mark the closing out ofSeason 2. Thank you to everyone who has supported the podcast in its second season, I hope you have enjoyed coming along on the Hitchcockian adventure with me and I look forwardto bringing you more discussions in Season 3.Support Talking Hitchcock by making a donation to my Ko-Fi page: Buy Rebecca McCallum a Coffee.Find Talking Hitchcock on Blusky and Instagram @talkinghitchpod where you can support the podcast and keep up to date with releases or email me on talkinghitchpod@gmail.comFind Rebecca and her work on Instagram @pendlepumpkinYou can find Christopher Diehl /Chino Community Theatre Company in the following places:Instagram @chinocommunitytheatreOnline  Chino Community Theatre (google.com)Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chinocommunitytheatre Listen to Talking Hitchcock Episodes ReferencedStaging Patrick Hamilton's ROPE–Talking Hitchcock – Apple PodcastsARCHIE-THE MAN WHO BECAME CARY–Talking Hitchcock – Apple PodcastsREAR WINDOW (1954) with Ygraine–Talking Hitchcock – Apple Podcasts Read Rebecca' Article for FANGORIA The Past, The Present And The Perverse: VERTIGO As A Possession FilmReferencesAFI Salute to Alfred Hitchcock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn8uRMCENkE&pp=ygUkaGl0Y2hjb2NrIGFmaSBsaWZlIGFjaGlldmVtZW50IGF3YXJkCinema Cinemas -Hitchcock SpecialCinéma Cinémas - Speciale Hitchcock - James Stewart - 1984 - YouTubeWhy Alfred Hitchcock was a "little afraid" of James StewartLawrence J. Quirk's James Stewart: Behind the Scenes ofa Wonderful Life

Al and Codey talk about Mini Mini Farm Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:33: What Have We Been Up To 00:11:26: I Know What You Released Last Month 00:13:57: Game News 00:28:37: New Games 00:41:43: Other News 00:56:24: Mini Mini Farm 01:33:42: Outro Links Piczel Cross: Rune Factory Release Date Space Sprouts Release Date Luma Island: Pirates Ranch of Rivershine “1.7” Update Horticular: Frozen Frontier Melobot: A Last Song OST Sky Harvest Pheonix Labs Layoffs ConcernedApe NPR Interview Reuters Cozy Gaming Interactive Article Contact Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al, (0:00:36) Codey: And my name is Cody! (0:00:37) Al: and we are here today to talk about cottagecore games. (0:00:42) Codey: Oh woo! (0:00:44) Al: It’s like a pack of wolves. (0:00:50) Codey: I’m never gonna un-hear that now. (0:00:51) Al: We this episode, we are going to talk about many, many farm because apparently we’re doing two (0:00:59) Al: mobile games in a row because you did Animal Crossing last week. And then we’re doing many, (0:01:00) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:01:04) Codey: Yeah. (0:01:05) Codey: Yeah. (0:01:06) Al: many farm this week. And yeah, I just realized that today. I was like, Oh, yeah, (0:01:08) Codey: Yes, I forgot about that. (0:01:13) Al: two in a row. Interesting. Oh, well, we’re making Cody work for their title of (0:01:19) Al: mobile correspondent. (0:01:20) Codey: Yep, I’m here for it. For sure. And I am still actively playing mobile games. (0:01:21) Al: Before that, well, yes, so before that we have news, I’m going to overview the (0:01:31) Al: January releases because it’s now February. But first of all, Cody, what have you been up to? (0:01:36) Codey: Um, so, uh, definitely been playing many, many farm. Um, because of the last episode. (0:01:42) Al: Oh yeah, that’s what MMF stands for. (0:01:44) Codey: Yeah. (0:01:44) Al: I was like, what’s MMF? (0:01:45) Al: Many, many fun, of course. (0:01:46) Codey: And many, many farm. (0:01:48) Codey: Um, because of Johnny, I am now cursed to be playing Animal Crossing pocket camp. (0:01:54) Al: A game which you hadn’t played for the podcast, you know, playing (0:01:59) Al: because of the podcast. (0:02:00) Codey: Correct. (0:02:01) Al: Oops. (0:02:02) Codey: Um, I had played it when it was like not the complete. (0:02:06) Codey: Like paid version. (0:02:06) Codey: Um, but because we were talking about it and I saw that it was like cheap and then it was possibly going to become less cheap. (0:02:14) Codey: And I’ve been doing really well with budgeting lately. (0:02:16) Codey: I was like, you know what? (0:02:18) Codey: I can, I can afford 10 bucks. (0:02:18) Codey: So, and I don’t, I don’t know. (0:02:20) Al: Yes. Do we have the actual date? I know that it’s very soon, or it’s, like, just in the (0:02:26) Al: past, but it wasn’t when the podcast episode came out. (0:02:30) Codey: And unfortunately I have now bought it. (0:02:32) Codey: So I have no way of checking because I’m pretty sure. (0:02:35) Al: Ah, it was the 31st of January. So, if you bought it when the last episode came out, (0:02:36) Codey: Okay. (0:02:38) Codey: So now it is what? (0:02:38) Codey: 20 bucks. (0:02:42) Al: or the two days after that, you were good. Otherwise, sorry, too late. And now it’s, yeah, $20. (0:02:48) Codey: So, I’ve been playing that. I’ve also been playing, still been playing Honeygrove, still (0:02:58) Codey: really sucked into Honeygrove. And I, you know, it’s so funny because we, whenever we would (0:03:01) Al: You’re just playing all the mobile games. (0:03:06) Codey: cover them before, it’s like, yay, I can uninstall it now. And the last couple ones, I’ve been (0:03:12) Codey: like, oh, no, I want to keep playing this. So, yeah, I do. (0:03:14) Al: Mm-hmm, oops. (0:03:19) Codey: But it’s nice because I’m, you know, nearing the end, the other thing, quote unquote, I’ve been (0:03:24) Codey: doing is is a PhD. And it is crunch time for sure now. So I pretty much like, I’m doing a lot of (0:03:34) Codey: stuff all the time. If I’m not doing specimens, I’m writing if I’m not doing that, either of those (0:03:40) Codey: two things I’m like, I’m always doing something. So this, this gives me a nice little like, okay, (0:03:46) Codey: I’m gonna sit down for like a half an hour and just like (0:03:48) Al: Mm, are you rotating through them or? (0:03:48) Codey: brain off play these silly little games. Yeah, so every (0:03:56) Codey: well, I guess I’m also playing too many games. I’m also playing (0:04:02) Codey: Pokemon TCG pocket and the new thing just released. And so I (0:04:08) Codey: always check that first. Let me look at my guess. I always (0:04:11) Codey: check that first. And then I do honeygrove because I can like (0:04:14) Codey: send everything off, like my little bees off on their (0:04:17) Codey: or expeditions. (0:04:18) Codey: And then I do pocket camp and then I do mini, mini farm for a little bit. (0:04:23) Codey: And then if for whatever reason, I am bored after that, um, or not (0:04:28) Codey: sucked into mini, mini farm, uh, I have my cross-stitch coloring out. (0:04:30) Al: Hmm (0:04:33) Codey: But yeah, that’s, that’s my, my, my brain off time now. (0:04:33) Al: Fair enough (0:04:40) Codey: Was it? (0:04:40) Al: Nice, I have been playing a lot of Pokemon. (0:04:45) Al: So I think last time we talked, Cody, (0:04:47) Al: I was just nearly finished, (0:04:47) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:04:50) Al: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. (0:04:51) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:04:53) Al: I have now finished that, thank goodness. (0:04:54) Codey: Okay. (0:04:55) Codey: Yeah, you’re free. (0:04:57) Al: So that one’s done. (0:04:59) Al: And I was going to kind of maybe stop there, (0:05:02) Al: but then I was like, no, I need to do Let’s Go as well. (0:05:05) Al: So I did the Let’s Go Pokedex, (0:05:08) Al: and I rushed through. (0:05:10) Al: Uh, another save because I hadn’t recreated my Pokemon. (0:05:15) Al: Let’s go Pikachu save. (0:05:18) Al: So I did that. (0:05:18) Al: So that now is done. (0:05:19) Al: So all of my home DEXs are done except sword and shield. (0:05:25) Al: So I’ve got the let’s go one. (0:05:27) Al: I’ve got brilliant diamond, shining pearl. (0:05:29) Al: I’ve got let’s go. (0:05:30) Al: Arceus and I’ve got all this scarlet and violet ones. (0:05:32) Al: They’re all done. (0:05:33) Al: I haven’t done the sword and shield ones. (0:05:35) Al: Um, and I now have a post game. (0:05:40) Al: Save of every Pokemon Switch game, except shield. (0:05:45) Al: So I’ve recreated all my saves, except that. (0:05:46) Codey: Okay. Wow. (0:05:49) Al: And I have done a professor Oak challenge now of every pair of games, except can you (0:05:55) Al: guess? (0:05:56) Al: No, no, there’s certain shield. (0:05:56) Codey: Brilliant. I’m in shining girl. Oh, I don’t know. Okay. Okay. (0:06:03) Al: So, so at some point, I would like to do a professor Oak challenge in shield. (0:06:10) Al: Uh, and that does all three of those things. (0:06:12) Al: It does a professor Oak challenge in, in that series of games. (0:06:16) Al: It basically completes my home pocket X, right? (0:06:19) Al: Cause you’re catching everything anyway. (0:06:22) Al: Um, and it, it then me, it will mean I have a shield save in post game as well. (0:06:27) Al: But I don’t think I’m going to do that now because I’m worried I might burn out on Pokemon. (0:06:31) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:06:35) Al: And we don’t know yet when the new games coming out. (0:06:38) Al: I don’t expect it to come out until- (0:06:40) Al: november but we don’t know for certain and I don’t want them to be like come out and like me (0:06:46) Al: spend the next month doing this and then they come out and then I burn out and I’m like okay (0:06:50) Al: I’m done with pokemon for like six months and then they come out and say oh legends za is actually (0:06:57) Al: coming out in April and I’m like oh no that is really soon so uh but I’m also worried that they (0:07:05) Al: might do the release of pokemon for the home decks very soon and yeah sure I don’t- (0:07:10) Al: need to do it as soon as it’s done of course I don’t need to but I will feel the drive to (0:07:15) Al: do it at that point so I’m like do I actually just do the home decks just now and then leave (0:07:21) Al: the professor oak challenge for another time but then why why not just do the professor oak challenge (0:07:28) Al: but then I’m also the reason I was playing those games in January was because there weren’t any (0:07:32) Al: games coming out that I was planning on playing for the podcast and now we have a billion of them (0:07:35) Codey: Yeah, but it would be really inefficient to not just do it, do them together. (0:07:38) Al: them coming out in February and March. (0:07:40) Al: I’m probably going to just wait and do it all at the same time, probably next January. (0:07:54) Codey: yep. yep. (0:07:57) Al: Because January does tend to be quite a quiet period, but I guess that depends on when ZA (0:08:04) Al: comes out. (0:08:05) Al: Because if ZA comes out in November, I’m probably not going to want to do a Professor Oak challenge (0:08:08) Al: of SHIELD. (0:08:10) Al: In January, so maybe, maybe I’ll just wait till Pokemon Day and they’ll all they will almost definitely tell us the release date then right like there’s no way they’re not going to do that. (0:08:22) Al: That reminds me, we want to do Pokemon Day predictions. (0:08:26) Codey: Oh, okay, okay. (0:08:28) Al: And Pokemon Day reactions greenhouse episode that gets us to this month. (0:08:29) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:08:33) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:08:39) Al: so (0:08:40) Al: all that to say I have played a lot of pokemon in the last month and a half a lot a lot a lot (0:08:48) Al: of pokemon and I think like maybe like 120 hours over the last month and a half we’ve just pokemon (0:08:56) Codey: Mm hmm. I’m shocked. (0:08:58) Al: still not found a brilliant diamond shining pearl (0:09:02) Al: still a big big fan of let’s go great games love them second best pokemon game (0:09:11) Codey: Yeah, I really have been wanting to go back and replay. I have Eevee, but I also have (0:09:17) Al: Mm-hmm. Yes, fair, fair, fair. So yeah, I’m probably Pokémon’d out for now, but we’ll see. (0:09:21) Codey: else going on. So, yep. (0:09:30) Al: I’ve also been keeping up with Harvestmen, Home Sweet Home. Look at me actually playing a farming (0:09:36) Al: game a little bit a day. What a crazy idea. I know. So I’m now in chapter five, enjoying that. (0:09:37) Codey: Wow not guzzling (0:09:40) Codey: - I’m done. (0:09:44) Al: I don’t know. (0:09:45) Al: I don’t know what to do with that. (0:09:47) Al: Yeah, actually, yeah, no, I will. (0:09:49) Al: I’m enjoying it. (0:09:51) Al: I’m enjoying playing this game. (0:09:52) Al: This is a fun game. (0:09:53) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:09:54) Al: It still has issues. (0:09:56) Al: Absolutely. (0:09:58) Al: The Cloud Save still not working for me two months later. (0:10:02) Codey: I’m shocked. (0:10:04) Al: But controller support has made it playable. (0:10:07) Al: And it’s actually fun. (0:10:10) Al: It’s no Stardew Valley. (0:10:11) Al: I don’t care about the characters as much. (0:10:14) Al: But there’s a lot to like about it. (0:10:16) Al: and I’m hopeful for… (0:10:17) Al: and I have also started playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which I did play when it came to Apple Arcade, so I played it for about a month and enjoyed it. (0:10:33) Al: But then I was like, I am so fed up with playing on the touchscreen and let me tell you, playing with the controller infinitely better. So good! (0:10:37) Codey: Yeah. Okay. (0:10:41) Al: So I’ve been playing on my Steam Deck, I know that I know some people who are playing on… (0:10:47) Al: which may or may not come up in a future episode, but yeah, no, it’s a good game. It is way better than it had any right to be. (0:10:50) Codey: - Ooh. (0:11:02) Al: I completely forgot until I started the game how the game starts and I’m like, I just love… it’s so ridiculous that it basically starts with a plane crash. (0:11:11) Al: Because who would expect that in a Hello Kitty game? Alright, I think that’s everything. That’s what we’ve been… (0:11:17) Al: We are going to continue the new segment, the month’s releases and the previous month’s releases. We’re going to talk about last month’s releases. (0:11:18) Codey: Oh, woo. Oww, ow, ow, ow. (0:11:31) Codey: Last month’s what what was released last month? I got you (0:11:36) Al: Listeners, write in and tell us what this segment should be called, this monthly segment. What released last month? (0:11:44) Al: January 2025 edition. Or should it be fae- (0:11:47) Al: Maybe the 2025 edition, because last month would be January, but it’s like what would (0:11:51) Al: have- what released last month? (0:11:53) Codey: What are you what do you call it so like in? (0:11:57) Codey: Start in stardivale correlate whatever when you go to sleep, and there’s like that recap screen (0:12:02) Al: This summary… (0:12:03) Codey: That’s all you call it. That’s all it’s called (0:12:07) Al: He gla-la… (0:12:07) Codey: Like the daily summary listeners. Let us know (0:12:10) Al: I don’t know… (0:12:11) Codey: What do you call that screen like when it tells you what you did for the day how much all your stuff sold? (0:12:16) Codey: I think that whatever that is called is what this segment should be called because it’s like we just fell asleep on January (0:12:23) Codey: And we’re waking up and it’s February, but let’s like think about the things that occurred last last month (0:12:30) Al: I’m really struggling to Google this. (0:12:31) Codey: Don’t work yeah, don’t worry about looking it up. They got a listeners have to tell us (0:12:35) Al: Okay, so January, what released in January? (0:12:41) Al: We have four releases in January 2025. (0:12:44) Al: We got Harvest Hills, releasing mid-January the 15th. (0:12:48) Al: We got Into the Emberlands, Not Wonderful, released on the 20th of January when we had (0:12:54) Al: Hello Kitty Island Adventure on Steam and Switch that released on the 30th of January. (0:12:58) Al: my little life which is our first (0:13:01) Al: game of Rusty’s Like or as a developer of Rusty’s retirement is calling them bottom of the screen game (0:13:06) Codey: boss game which he he like talked it up on the um on blue sky he like was like y’all (0:13:06) Al: and that released on the 31st of January. So a kind of (0:13:17) Codey: should get this game and now i’m looking at it oh it’s only five dollars and 39 cents (0:13:24) Al: Yeah, it is dangerous. (0:13:25) Codey: oh no it’s only it’s only windows oh I almost clicked it y’all I almost we good okay i’m (0:13:34) Codey: I wish. (0:13:36) Codey: Let it be not just Windows, my little life developer. (0:13:39) Codey: I want to play this game. (0:13:40) Codey: Thank you. (0:13:42) Al: Yeah, so that’s the January releases, wild that I’m about to say this, but that’s a (0:13:47) Al: quiet month. Four games is a quiet month, apparently. (0:13:51) Codey: Yeah, not a lot going on. (0:13:57) Al: Okay, so we’ve now got a bunch of news. We’re going to start with the gaming news. So first (0:14:04) Al: up we have Pixel Cross Renfractory, they have announced a release date for this. So this is (0:14:09) Al: like the pixel cross Stodio seasons. (0:14:12) Al: It’s a Picross type game, but not Picross because Nintendo on the trademark to that kind of. (0:14:21) Al: Yeah, you do your nonograms. I think that’s what the generic term people have been using, (0:14:27) Al: nonograms. You do your nonograms and in the story seasons one, it like built up a farm (0:14:34) Al: in the background as you do it. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know if they’ve shown (0:14:36) Codey: is that is that what it is because it also says customize like in this trailer they say customize (0:14:40) Al: and I’ll see you next time. (0:14:42) Al: Yeah. (0:14:43) Codey: your farm and I don’t and it like looks like you choose what like where things are placed and so (0:14:50) Codey: that was one that was my only question was like I mean it’s coming some when it comes out folks (0:14:55) Codey: can tell me unless people have been playing I don’t know if there’s a dummy (0:14:57) Al: I don’t, I, yeah, oh, interesting. (0:15:01) Al: So it does look like you can change things in this one. (0:15:03) Al: So I’m pretty sure on the story of seasons one, (0:15:06) Al: you just saw the farm build up and things grow (0:15:09) Al: and you didn’t have any control over how it looked, (0:15:12) Al: but you’re right, it does. (0:15:13) Al: So it says customize your farm (0:15:14) Al: and it shows different animals or monsters. (0:15:17) Al: And then it shows you actually selecting (0:15:19) Al: what weapon you want your character to have, (0:15:21) Al: including a massive lollipop as an option. (0:15:25) Al: So yeah, it looks like it’s more in depth. (0:15:28) Codey: Well, I’m wondering if it’s just like you can control what it looks like in the background (0:15:34) Codey: while you are, yeah. (0:15:34) Al: I think that, yeah, I think that’s all it is. (0:15:36) Al: I don’t think you’re actually doing any farming (0:15:39) Al: or any battling, that just happens in the background (0:15:41) Al: as you’re doing it, but in the story seasons one, (0:15:44) Al: I’m pretty sure you couldn’t change how it looked. (0:15:46) Codey: is it like learn how to do a carrot by doing a carrot learn how to plant (0:15:52) Codey: carrots I like okay (0:15:52) Al: It wasn’t even that much in the study seasons when it was literally, you do stuff and things grow in the background you weren’t really. (0:16:00) Al: Yeah, there was nothing else. (0:16:02) Codey: Sounds good. Some people are probably jumping for joy that (0:16:06) Codey: there’s a new across game coming out. New an Autogram coming (0:16:10) Al: nonagram yeah yes yeah anyway space sprouts have announced that they’re (0:16:13) Codey: it’s like Kleenex. It’s like people say get a Kleenex but (0:16:17) Codey: that’s a brand. (0:16:21) Al: releasing on the 31st of March (0:16:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. They’re also participating in Steam’s next fest, so… (0:16:28) Al: Cody who isn’t (0:16:30) Codey: Oh, okay, fine. They’re also moving on to the next part. Uh, I guess the only thing… (0:16:33) Al: I mean I’d like I just I find the steam next fest stuff so funny because it’s (0:16:40) Al: it doesn’t really mean anything it’s like it’s it’s like it’s like being part of (0:16:45) Al: a sale right you can still do a sale whenever you want you can put your price (0:16:48) Al: down whatever but it’s like if you do it at a specific time you might get on a (0:16:50) Codey: Right. But that’s the thing, like there’s a specific list that they’ll get clicked on. (0:16:52) Al: list (0:16:55) Al: but the list is too long (0:16:58) Codey: Okay, but like not every it is still selective, right? Like not hashtag not everyone gets on the (0:17:02) Al: no I don’t I don’t think so I think anyone even get in the list (0:17:03) Codey: list. Well, anyways, that’s from February 27 to March 3. But they are also looking for playtesters. (0:17:12) Codey: So if you go to the show notes, go to the Steam page, etc, etc, you can figure out how to become (0:17:18) Codey: on my playtester for space sprout. (0:17:20) Al: Whoo! Yeah, what was this game again? I can’t… Oh yeah, it was like the 2D space. It was like, (0:17:28) Al: yeah, I’m not describing that very well. But yeah, it was a 2D world where you’re floating around, (0:17:30) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:17:33) Codey: 2D floating in space. Yeah (0:17:36) Al: yeah. Yeah, I’m very interested in this one. I wonder how it’s going to feel playing (0:17:42) Al: farming in 0G. Although it does look like some of it has gravity, and some of it has gravity, (0:17:44) Codey: Mm-hmm. I mean it’s interesting. (0:17:50) Codey: Well, if I learned anything from the Martian, farming in 0G contains the recycling of human waste. (0:17:58) Codey: So, very excited for that. (0:18:00) Al: for sure next we have a free update coming to luma island and this is called pirates (0:18:12) Codey: With an excolate your boy, pirates! (0:18:15) Al: just pirates um it’s literally called luma island pirates what uh although I don’t think (0:18:22) Al: the exclamation mark is actually part of the title because later down they say what’s coming (0:18:26) Al: in Luma Island Pirates without the exclamation mark. (0:18:29) Codey: Uh, I choose to believe, yes. (0:18:30) Al: Don’t you always? (0:18:32) Al: So this brings a pirate themed zone with new minigames, a new temple, traps and enemies, a new profession. (0:18:44) Al: Johnny and Dallin I think, they both play it. They’ll be excited about a new profession. (0:18:51) Al: A full screen map, that’s definitely something it needed. I was annoyed about not having the full screen map. (0:18:56) Al: three new game modes, (0:18:58) Al: including (0:19:00) Al: hero mode and cozy mode. (0:19:02) Al: I wonder what the third mode is. (0:19:04) Al: I love how they’d say three modes (0:19:04) Codey: I’m curious what the new profession is. (0:19:06) Al: and they mentioned two of them. (0:19:10) Codey: Is it piracy? (0:19:12) Al: Oh, interesting. Yeah, that’s a good point. (0:19:14) Al: It could be. (0:19:14) Codey: Like goats? (0:19:16) Al: Even if not actually, (0:19:18) Al: piracy definitely could be related to that. (0:19:20) Codey: Or like treasure hunting? (0:19:20) Al: Yeah, that is a good point. (0:19:22) Al: Yeah, well they do have a treasure hunter one already, I’m pretty sure. (0:19:26) Codey: Okay, so it is piracy. (0:19:28) Codey: Destroy this city and loot the people. (0:19:30) Al: Maybe. You never know. You never know. Also, new outfits, quests, NPCs, Lumas, powers, (0:19:34) Codey: Mutiny, mutiny your own. (0:19:38) Codey: I’m very curious. (0:19:44) Al: bonuses, and achievements. Yes, yeah, that is a free update. That is not a DLC. That (0:19:46) Codey: Ooh, that’s a lot of content in a free update. (0:19:52) Codey: Yeah. (0:19:53) Al: is a free update. Coming soon. No date yet. Coming soon. (0:19:58) Al: Speaking of updates. (0:20:00) Al: RiverShine have announced their 1.7 update. (0:20:05) Al: This is called Azure Coast Trail. (0:20:08) Codey: what? No, say it, say it how you say it again. Oh, that’s so cool. We just say Azure. I like (0:20:08) Al: Azure. (0:20:09) Al: Azure. (0:20:10) Al: How would you say it? (0:20:13) Al: Azure. (0:20:14) Al: Oh, no, Azure. (0:20:18) Codey: your way of saying it. Continue. (0:20:20) Codey: you. (0:20:21) Codey: You’re welcome. (0:20:21) Codey: You’re welcome. (0:20:21) Al: Thank you. (0:20:25) Al: This brings new competitions, horses, music, accessories, and loading screens. (0:20:30) Codey: Oh, whoo, the loading screens look really good, like the the art. (0:20:35) Codey: I mean, I’m betting that they have like a ton of humans that love this game (0:20:39) Codey: and just are like, take here, take my art. (0:20:41) Codey: The loading screens look really cool. (0:20:43) Codey: And the new horse is like a cool new wild horse species. (0:20:48) Codey: I almost look I. (0:20:48) Al: Rabi Rabbi Kano, Rabbi Rabbi Rabbi Kano, I think Rabbi Kano. (0:20:55) Codey: Let me it’s probably something like Robicano or Robic Robicano or something. (0:21:00) Codey: Um, yeah, I didn’t look up to see if those are actually like a thing. (0:21:06) Codey: I almost did and then I didn’t. (0:21:07) Codey: Oh, yep. (0:21:08) Codey: They’re a type of Arabian horse. (0:21:10) Al: rare horse coat color pattern that features white. (0:21:15) Codey: Oh, so it’s just a whatever. (0:21:17) Codey: It’s they’re really cute. (0:21:21) Codey: Yeah, and they also announced that the next update is going to introduce (0:21:27) Codey: a new character and that is the veterinarian. (0:21:30) Codey: Also introduce, you know, care for your horse. (0:21:34) Codey: So different, you know, that care like they might maybe they get sick. (0:21:39) Codey: Maybe they have certain nutritional needs and you didn’t need to make sure (0:21:43) Codey: you meet them. (0:21:44) Codey: I’m not entirely this is all just me. (0:21:46) Codey: Just I don’t know. (0:21:47) Codey: Just like trying to like think of what it could be, but that’s cool. (0:21:52) Codey: I’m all for it. (0:21:53) Codey: Can I be the veterinarian? (0:21:58) Codey: Aww. (0:22:01) Codey: We need a game where you’re like the veterinarian. (0:22:03) Codey: We don’t have that. (0:22:04) Al: Go make it. (0:22:05) Codey: No, I’m good. (0:22:06) Codey: Someone should make it though. (0:22:08) Codey: Or like a wildlife biologist. (0:22:08) Al: Let us know. (0:22:11) Codey: I don’t know. (0:22:12) Al: Is that not just research story? (0:22:14) Codey: Go play research. (0:22:16) Al: I mean, tell me if I’m wrong, you’re the one that’s played it. (0:22:17) Codey: No, I’m trying to. (0:22:18) Codey: Yeah, no, I’m trying to think of like, no, (0:22:20) Codey: like a game where you’re a rehabber. (0:22:22) Codey: Where you rehabilitate wild animals that people bring to you. (0:22:25) Codey: I think the only issue with that is that it’s sad because they die. (0:22:28) Codey: die, but hey. (0:22:30) Codey: There was a Bluey episode about a bird dying, so it’s okay these days. (0:22:36) Al: Blue can do anything. (0:22:38) Codey: Bluey did it. That means it’s child approved. (0:22:42) Al: Let me tell you, right, me and Craig watch Blue together, (0:22:46) Al: and he’ll be sitting and laughing at the jokes and watching it and stuff, (0:22:48) Al: and then I’ll just be sitting behind him, just sobbing. (0:22:50) Codey: stopping. Yeah. Yeah, I just just finished it. And it I am (0:22:52) Al: Like, “Oh, no, what is happening? What’s the doing to me?” (0:23:00) Codey: upset. And I need more. I watched all of it. Thanks. I’ve, (0:23:04) Al: Nice. Well done. (0:23:07) Codey: I just I crave distraction in the background while I run (0:23:11) Codey: meaningless analysis. They’re not meaningless analysis. They’re (0:23:14) Codey: just tedious analysis correction. But yeah, cool that (0:23:21) Codey: give me a game mode where I can play as the veterinarian and I (0:23:24) Codey: will play this game. Developers if you’re like, man, what do (0:23:26) Al: I mean, I feel like that’s just a whole different game, not just a different game mode, but… (0:23:31) Codey: people want these days? I bet a vet mode like a vet game would (0:23:37) Codey: crush. Yep. And I would pay probably $30 for it. So if it (0:23:39) Al: There’s at least one person who would buy it, that’s for sure. (0:23:45) Codey: takes more than $30 to make. I’m out. (0:23:48) Al: I’m not even promising there’d be two people because I’m not sure who the second person (0:23:50) Codey: Listeners. Let me know. Can you contribute $30 we can offer $60 (0:23:53) Al: would do it for the podcast. (0:23:57) Al: I’m sure there are I mean, look, if you could make a game for $60 you’d be rolling in it. (0:24:02) Codey: to developers. There’d be a lot of really bad games. Yeah. (0:24:14) Al: For sure for you. (0:24:15) Al: Well, yeah, you probably can make a game for $60. (0:24:18) Al: Absolutely dreadful. (0:24:21) Al: Just a Skinner box. (0:24:22) Al: All right. (0:24:24) Al: Next we have Particular have announced a free update and a paid DLC. (0:24:33) Al: They’re both releasing on the same day, 28th of February, and the paid DLC Frozen Frontier (0:24:39) Al: has a new story, world quests, new items and creatures. (0:24:45) Al: written snowshoe hair. Is that a creature? (0:24:47) Codey: Yeah, yeah, they specifically say snowshoe hair well, that is just one that they blurbed (0:24:48) Al: Is that a creature that’s there? Just one creature. (0:24:55) Al: blurb. No, I know what you mean. That’s a great example of verification. (0:24:55) Codey: It could be (0:24:59) Codey: Where did that word come from it is keep going I’m gonna look up what that where that came from (0:25:05) Codey: - Um. (0:25:07) Al: And the free update includes new creatures, some temp mechanics. What do you mean by that? (0:25:14) Codey: - Temperature, sorry. (0:25:15) Al: Oh, temperature was like temporary mechanics. Yes, temporary temperature mechanics, snow, (0:25:16) Codey: Now, (0:25:22) Al: And then obviously, quality of life improvements. (0:25:26) Codey: Yeah, so they both yeah, they both kind of include like, adding snow as a as a thing that you can see in the game. But one just adds like a whole new world. Also, I wanted to note that they say on in the beginning of this show notes, whatever, what is this called, like a, thank you. (0:25:48) Al: release notes or well it’s not really release notes because it’s not released (0:25:51) Codey: It’s a (0:25:51) Al: teaser (0:25:54) Codey: Teaser, they say… (0:25:56) Codey: “As spring arrives in the northern hemisphere, we’re not quite done with the cold weather. We got you southern hemisphere folks.” (0:26:02) Codey: Correction. We are also not ready for spring. (0:26:08) Codey: The United States weather predicting rodent has proclaimed that there are six more weeks of winter. (0:26:16) Codey: So, yeah, we’re not ready. (0:26:18) Al: Do I need to tap the sign? Seasons aren’t universal, Cody. (0:26:20) Codey: What’s the sign? (0:26:26) Codey: They specifically say “As spring arrives in the northern hemisphere.” (0:26:28) Al: Seasons aren’t universal in the northern hemisphere, Cody. (0:26:32) Codey: There’s six more weeks of winter. I don’t know what to tell you. (0:26:35) Al: Look, okay, so not every country has the same definitions of seasons. Not every country even (0:26:41) Al: has four seasons, and certainly not every country is going to listen to America when they say that (0:26:46) Al: that a rodent has decided it’s- (0:26:49) Codey: Okay, there’s like certain things that they should listen to us on and the majority of (0:26:54) Codey: things that other countries should just ignore Americans on, especially these days. (0:27:00) Codey: But one thing y’all should really listen to is our, our groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, (0:27:07) Codey: who is an immortal groundhog that has bespake unto the cultists or whomstever and told them (0:27:18) Codey: in Groundhog E’s! (0:27:20) Codey: There will be six more weeks of winter and a bunch of people just went. (0:27:22) Al: Yeah, I have watched Groundhog Day. I do know the idea behind it. (0:27:27) Al: Finally, in the game news in bit, we have MeloBot, a last song, have released their (0:27:34) Al: original soundtrack on Steam. It is $12.99 on its own, or it’s also included in the Deluxe (0:27:42) Al: Edition for which is more expensive. It’s actually a really good deal if you get the (0:27:46) Codey: Oh, whoo. Yeah. (0:27:49) Al: deluxe edition, though, right? Because it’s like… (0:27:52) Al: 20 quid for the game. I’m back into pounds here because you confused me with your whole (0:27:57) Al: dollars. 20 quid for the game or is it 25 quid for the 25 dollars for the game? (0:27:58) Codey: - Yeah, sorry, I put dollars, I put US dollars. (0:28:00) Codey: $13. (0:28:04) Codey: $25 for the deluxe edition and then $13 if, (0:28:08) Codey: for just the soundtrack. (0:28:10) Al: Yeah. Well, how much is the base game is that is that $20 then? (0:28:13) Codey: - Man, I didn’t look at that. (0:28:14) Codey: Let me look. (0:28:16) Al: See, it is 20 quid or 10 and 10 quid for 20 or 27 quid. (0:28:22) Codey: Oh I had it wrong! The game is 25. The bundle that includes the digital deluxe upgrade is 35. (0:28:22) Al: Ah. (0:28:32) Al: OK, so it’s still a good deal, but it’s not as good a deal. (0:28:35) Codey: You save 8%. (0:28:37) Al: All righty, so that is the game news. (0:28:41) Al: We also have two new games announced. (0:28:43) Al: Well, kind of. (0:28:44) Al: One of them is a new game. (0:28:44) Codey: - In quotes. (0:28:46) Al: One of them is actually two that are not– (0:28:50) Al: should we talk about the one that’s actually new first? (0:28:52) Al: So that is Sky Harvest. (0:28:52) Codey: - Yes. (0:28:57) Al: The blurb for this one is, “Armed with hand-me-down tools (0:29:01) Al: and some cash. (0:29:03) Al: You begin your new life as the chief farmer, a position your (0:29:07) Al: grandfather once excelled in. Can you honor his legacy and (0:29:10) Al: transform the overgrown, untamed and desolate floating island (0:29:14) Al: into a flourishing farm abundant with produce? (0:29:19) Codey: produce is weird in that trailer was was grandfather sleeping (0:29:26) Al: I didn’t actually watch the trailer give me two seconds. No, he did (0:29:33) Al: Again, yeah, no he did (0:29:36) Codey: so as a child you come upon your grand your beloved grandfather deceased at the (0:29:44) Al: Dead, at the kitchen table, reading his hopes and dreams. (0:29:47) Codey: kitchen table with (0:29:49) Codey: a book in front of him. (0:29:53) Codey: The book says, if I wish I could have gone back one last time and it’s got like a ticket and then it shows you taking that ticket and going and honoring his legacy. (0:30:04) Al: This is how this is how I know that he’s dead because if he’s not dead that is horrific. You’ve just stolen his ticket (0:30:05) Codey: But like, (0:30:12) Al: The one thing he wanted to do you’ve stolen his ticket and gone without him (0:30:16) Al: Let waited a while because you’ve grown a beard now. You’re an adult now (0:30:16) Codey: also, (0:30:20) Codey: Yeah, there’s a whole beard, a mustache, wild. (0:30:21) Al: Goodness me. That’s dreadful (0:30:23) Al: You (0:30:24) Codey: But like, if I came upon my grandmother deceased, (0:30:29) Codey: I say this because my grandfather is already deceased. (0:30:34) Codey: If I came upon my grandmother deceased, and (0:30:37) Codey: I don’t care what’s in front of her, I’m not looking at that. (0:30:42) Al: Yeah, he just like rests his head on his grandfather’s dead arm and sheds one singular tear before stealing his ticket, his boat ticket. (0:30:45) Codey: And then… (laughs) (0:30:50) Codey: I don’t know how beloved that grandfather was, if that’s your reaction, my guy. (0:30:55) Codey: Anyway, this is me just… (laughs) (0:30:56) Al: One, he’s one tear’s worth a little bit. (0:31:00) Codey: Alright, this looks cool though. So you’re on floating islands, you’re flying around with a jetpack, you can manage a restaurant. (0:31:07) Codey: It just says manage a restaurant, but it just shows you telling the person what the one meal that you guys are making in the day is. (0:31:20) Codey: Not what restaurants do. (0:31:23) Codey: And it’s a really bad restaurant. (0:31:24) Al: It’s what really bad restaurants. (0:31:28) Codey: And then it also says make friends, and then there’s a dog with a scroll in its mouth, so I’m guessing you befriend a dog. (0:31:36) Codey: And unfortunately that wasn’t in the trailer, it was in this thing. (0:31:40) Al: I mean the trailer didn’t show you much, lesbian. (0:31:43) Codey: Right, the trailer was very teaser-y, but underneath that, on the post, they have… (0:31:50) Codey: I watched that video where there’s a dog 10 times to see… I wanted to see more of the dog. (0:31:59) Codey: What kind of dog is it? All that. (0:32:03) Codey: It’s definitely a tricolor something, but other than that, no. (0:32:08) Al: So I will say I’m not particularly enamored by the graphics in this game. (0:32:17) Al: Not that it looks bad, it’s very definitely trying to look how it looks, I think. (0:32:23) Al: What I find a bit weird is the graphics of the game and the graphics of the heads-up display, (0:32:30) Al: like the menus and stuff, they feel like they’re from different games. (0:32:31) Codey: Mm hmm. Yeah, like they had two different people designing those, (0:32:38) Codey: and one understood the assignment and one didn’t. (0:32:38) Al: Yeah. Yeah, so it’s a little bit weird. Very, very. I do like the flying. The flying looks fun. (0:32:45) Codey: The character also looks lanky. This is a tall character. (0:32:53) Codey: Yeah. Mm hmm. Cosine. I don’t. (0:32:57) Al: Yeah, I don’t know what else to say. That looks interesting. I love how it calls it sky farming (0:33:01) Codey: It’s farming, but in the sky. Or are we? Are you farming the sky? (0:33:04) Al: when it’s just farming. (0:33:08) Al: In the sky? Okay. No, no, no, no, it’s just you’re on a sky island. Which I feel like this whole (0:33:12) Codey: Like is there part you’re like collecting the sky? (0:33:16) Codey: You don’t know that. What if they what if you collect the sky? (0:33:21) Al: let’s this game has sky islands was a fun idea five years ago and now half the games are doing (0:33:26) Al: it. Which is I guess the problem with game development, right? It was even before that (0:33:30) Codey: It’s the tears of the kingdom like. (0:33:35) Al: people were doing it. They didn’t. (0:33:38) Al: No, I know. Yeah, yeah. No, I get it. I feel like this could be possibly interesting. (0:33:46) Al: I’m not really sure what it’s… The flying is the thing that is most interesting to me, (0:33:51) Al: but other than that, I’m not really sure what it is that they’re doing that’s unique, (0:33:54) Al: which is always the problem with cottagecore games is why should I play you over Stardew? (0:34:01) Codey: I think that’s correct. I think like that’s the thing about this is it’s just to get your (0:34:06) Codey: attention and we will continue. It’s not like I saw this and I’m like, yep, not going to play (0:34:11) Codey: that because there’s not a lot here. I want to, I want to see more. They’re going to probably (0:34:15) Codey: release more. And so far they just say Q2 2025 in the trailer. (0:34:16) Al: Yep. Yeah, where did you see Q2? I just see 2025. Oh, in the trailer, okay. Because on (0:34:28) Al: Steam just says 2025. Okay, I will update my list then. I didn’t pay attention to the (0:34:31) Codey: Yeah, he didn’t watch the trailer. (0:34:38) Al: trailer, there’s a difference there. All right, we also have the brand new and exciting (0:34:39) Codey: Oh, my bad. I get that though. (0:34:47) Al: Harvest Moon, Skytree Village, and The Lost Valley are for some reason coming to Switch. (0:34:55) Al: The good thing about this is it is a bundle, so it’s like you’re not buying the game separately, (0:35:00) Al: which is good, because my word that would be not worth any sort of money. I’m not sure who (0:35:06) Al: wants these games. It’s like they went, “Oh, when we did…” Because they worked with… (0:35:09) Codey: Yeah, so you– (0:35:16) Al: Because the rights are complicated to the old Harvest Moon games, right? So they’ve done some, (0:35:22) Al: they released the original Harvest Moon on, what’s it called, Nintendo Switch Online, (0:35:31) Al: and they had to do that in collaboration with Marvelous, because Marvelous owned the game, (0:35:36) Al: but they owned the name, and so they had to both agree to that. Anyway, whatever, it doesn’t matter. (0:35:41) Al: And I feel like that combined with Marvelous redoing a wonderful… (0:35:46) Al: life has made them go, “Oh, people like when we remake Harvest Moon games and knock on which ones (0:35:55) Al: is it that people actually want to play, because I guarantee you it’s not Skytree Village in The (0:35:59) Al: Lost Valley.” (0:36:00) Codey: - Yeah, I will say, okay, so two things. (0:36:04) Codey: First of all, I looked, so one social media user, (0:36:08) Codey: to your question of who’s asking for this, (0:36:10) Codey: one social media user named Chrissy said, (0:36:13) Codey: “Cozy gamers have really been winning lately.” (0:36:16) Al: I wonder whether that person has ever actually played either of these. (0:36:16) Codey: To which another, (0:36:23) Codey: to which another user said, (0:36:25) Codey: “These games are more like a loss.” (0:36:28) Al: The funny thing is they did the whole, “Oh, we’re going to announce an announcement.” (0:36:34) Al: And they were like, “Oh, we’ve got an exciting announcement coming for you.” (0:36:34) Codey: Yeah (0:36:37) Al: And you’re like, “Okay, fine.” (0:36:40) Al: And then they did this and people were like, “Really? (0:36:43) Al: That was your… (0:36:44) Al: Please tell me this wasn’t everything.” (0:36:46) Al: Because it’s just, they’re like, I am not the sort of person who just hates on Harvest (0:36:50) Al: Moon, you know, Natsume, Harvest Moon games for the sake of it. (0:36:54) Al: You know, I am literally playing Harvestman, Home Sweet Home, as we’re recording. (0:36:58) Al: The podcast, right? And I’ve talked about how I like that. I’ve talked about how I like the ideas (0:37:02) Al: in One World and Winds of Anthos. I think they’re very interesting and I think that they’re very (0:37:07) Al: close to legitimately having a good game. These games are not that. These games are just bad. (0:37:10) Codey: Mm hmm. This ain’t it chief. Yeah, I will say so. I was listening to another podcast (0:37:22) Codey: about metal music lately and they were talking about I had there’s a point fault. Stay with (0:37:27) Al: I look forward to it. (0:37:28) Codey: me. They were talking about how this one band re like, is republishing like re thank you (0:37:37) Al: - Remastered. (0:37:38) Codey: remastering. (0:37:40) Codey: I think they’re actually just straight up rerecording an (0:37:42) Codey: entire album and like reproducing it. (0:37:42) Al: - Oh, okay. (0:37:44) Al: They’re Taylor-swifting it. (0:37:45) Codey: Basically, they are that’s the they literally made a joke about (0:37:49) Codey: that and they had the same question like what who’s asking (0:37:53) Codey: for this and a bunch of people on social media were like, (0:37:56) Codey: ah, this is thanks, but I’d rather have no music, etc, etc. (0:38:00) Codey: But they actually said they made a really good point, which (0:38:02) Codey: is if there are people who have not played these games or (0:38:07) Codey: listen to this music or whatever. (0:38:10) Codey: Kind of an introduction to that to that content for them (0:38:13) Codey: because there might be people who have heard of this Harvest (0:38:17) Codey: Moon thing, but they haven’t really played it yet or whatever (0:38:22) Codey: and then maybe they see this bundle and they’re like, oh (0:38:24) Codey: wow, there’s two of them in here. (0:38:26) Al: They’re first and last Harvest Moon games (0:38:27) Codey: And so it’s not. (0:38:30) Codey: Well, yeah, so that’s the thing. (0:38:31) Codey: So I mean that they were talking about an actually good album (0:38:35) Codey: versus– (0:38:35) Al: Yes, I think that’s that is the key difference here Cody (0:38:39) Al: I think like I am NOT against remakes. I think remakes can be really good (0:38:40) Codey: - Yeah. (0:38:43) Al: I think I’m doing a wonderful life last year was good because that is a very beloved game (0:38:43) Codey: Yeah. (0:38:47) Al: That is a lot of people’s first farming game (0:38:51) Al: And you just have to listen to Kevin for five minutes to know how much some people were waiting for that (0:38:55) Al: Nobody has that about (0:38:56) Codey: Oh, yeah. That’s fair. (0:38:56) Al: these games. (0:38:59) Codey: Yeah, I I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but, uh, yeah, (0:39:04) Codey: I think that the thing is that it’s not just if they’re not being remade (0:39:08) Codey: or or bundled in for the switch for the fans. (0:39:14) Al: No. This is the problem is there aren’t games that Natsume can nostalgia grab on. (0:39:15) Codey: It’s to try and get new people into the into the fandom. (0:39:26) Al: Because they’re all owned by Marvelous. They only own the name. And Marvelous aren’t going to do (0:39:33) Al: anything about it. I think it was very different when they did the original on Nintendo Switch (0:39:38) Al: Online because that is the actual original game. They’re just porting. (0:39:44) Al: It’s not even porting. It’s literally just an emulator. They’re just literally allowing (0:39:51) Al: the game to run on it. And that’s very different to remaking games. And there’s no way Marvelous (0:40:00) Al: have remade multiple. They remade Friends of Mineral Town, which was a fun one to do. They (0:40:05) Al: remade A Wonderful Life. I can’t remember if they’ve done any other remakes recently. (0:40:10) Codey: Yeah, I don’t know, because I’m not ever going to touch it, so. (0:40:14) Al: They want to jump on the bandwagon. They have to just release bad games again. (0:40:20) Al: This is the thing. So many people have this be in their bonnet about Natsume and they’re like, (0:40:25) Al: oh, they’re just jumping on the name and using it to sell bad games. And yeah, that’s kind of true. (0:40:31) Al: Or at least it was kind of true. I do think now they’re actually getting better and they’re (0:40:36) Al: actually trying to make good games. They’re getting there. But the problem is that releasing (0:40:42) Al: they’re bad games again. (0:40:44) Al: They’re not going to convince anybody that they’re doing anything other than money-grabbing. (0:40:44) Codey: Yeah, it’s like there’s someone at the company that remembers when all these games first (0:40:55) Codey: came out and like the hype the hype of it and they’re trying to like regain that the (0:41:01) Codey: glory days and the it’s sometimes you just got to let things go and like when Bluey and (0:41:08) Codey: Bingo had to get rid of a bunch of their stuffies. Yeah. (0:41:10) Al: Oh, we watched that the other day. That was a good episode. (0:41:17) Al: Yeah, it’s painful to watch what they’re doing, because it’s like one step forward, 73 steps (0:41:24) Al: back. Like, I just… Why do this? And I… Oh, goodness. Yes, right. (0:41:24) Codey: like the American government. So we have some other people one year forward 73 years backwards. (0:41:40) Al: So… Yeah, a section we don’t often have, because normally it’s just game updates and (0:41:41) Codey: We have some other news. Uh-huh. Oh. (0:41:47) Al: occasionally new games, we do have the other news section. So we have three pieces of other (0:41:53) Al: news to talk about. The first one is super… Let’s start off with the negative one, shall we? (0:41:54) Codey: You got to be more specific. Oh, oh, you’re right. You’re right. You’re right. I needed. (0:42:01) Al: There’s only one negative one. Okay. (0:42:04) Codey: I had to look through it again. Yeah. (0:42:10) Al: So Phoenix Labs, the developers of Fae Farm and Dauntless, and were creating other games (0:42:15) Al: until last year when they laid off almost everybody who was working on any game other (0:42:20) Al: than Fae Farm and Dauntless have now laid off almost everybody else. Huzzah! (0:42:26) Codey: - Yay. (0:42:27) Al: They’re like, “What’s the point in a game studio that makes games? (0:42:30) Al: We don’t want to make games. We don’t even want to continue making our existing games.” (0:42:34) Codey: Yeah, you don’t have yeah, but you know, they really said, the developer said, quote, It’s unfortunate, but necessary. (0:42:44) Codey: Yeah, so I did do a dive into this, more than just like, just the top of the of the article or whatever I start, I really got into reading this article and like kind of looking at some stuff because I was just like, what is going on here? (0:42:45) Al: Yeah, I guess the games aren’t failing then. (0:43:00) Al: - Were you rage reading? (0:43:02) Al: Were you rage reading? (0:43:04) Codey: I was so after basically, the developer, the Phoenix lab, whom’s ever the whole the whole Phoenix lab people. Correct. Thank you. You’re so good with the words today. So they, they were, they were acquired by a blockchain company called forte labs. (0:43:14) Al: the company. What can I say? I’m on a roll. Words is my whole thing. (0:43:30) Codey: And when they were acquired, they then laid off (0:43:34) Codey: as you already mentioned 160 people and quote the new owner (0:43:39) Codey: reportedly pressed developers to draft methods for integrating (0:43:44) Codey: blockchain technology in its games for the purpose of buying (0:43:49) Codey: and selling and trading in game goods, according to former (0:43:52) Codey: employees. So the crypto market has has joined games y’all. (0:43:58) Codey: Uh. (0:43:58) Al: are we back on NFTs? I thought we killed NFTs like four years ago, what are you doing? (0:43:59) Codey: Yeah. (0:44:04) Codey: NFTs and crypto, man, they’re here to stay, I guess. (0:44:08) Al: Well no, crypto isn’t dead, but come on, when was the last time you heard about NFTs? (0:44:14) Al: Especially in games, they’re so 2022. (0:44:18) Codey: I believe Ascentient Cheeto recently gave more NFTs. (0:44:24) Codey: Continuing on, apparently after releasing Dauntless, (0:44:28) Codey: they were “criticized by players for its new in-app monetization design,” (0:44:32) Codey: which was probably the blockchain, (0:44:34) Codey: but erasing previous progression with the new Awakening update. (0:44:38) Codey: So they had an update and it released, it erased all the previous progression. (0:44:38) Al: Oh no! No! What?! (0:44:42) Codey: The game still has an overwhelmingly negative number of reviews on Steam. (0:44:49) Al: I miss that happening. I wasn’t really aware of this very much. I was aware of it when (0:44:50) Codey: And the… (0:44:54) Al: it initially released because it was like, “Oh, it’s gonna kill Monster Hunter.” And (0:44:56) Codey: Yeah. (0:45:00) Codey: It did not. (0:45:02) Codey: It really had it was nowhere new (0:45:04) Codey: because when it first launched, there were probably about 3200 concurrent players like people playing at the same time online. (0:45:12) Codey: Nowadays, it’s only ever around about 150 people. (0:45:18) Codey: So yeah, not sure what they’re doing. (0:45:22) Codey: I would suggest well, I guess I would I would say that I would suggest them to back off the blockchain, but they are literally owned and acquired by a blockchain company. (0:45:32) Codey: So I don’t think that’s going to happen. (0:45:36) Codey: So I’m not not really sure what this means for Fae Farm. (0:45:41) Al: What I find really funny is like, so I think crypto is most often a scam. (0:45:48) Al: I do think there are some interesting applications for blockchain as a concept. (0:45:56) Al: NFTs is not it. (0:46:01) Al: It has never been it, even on their own. (0:46:04) Al: And then when people started putting them into games, I was like, I don’t even know why. (0:46:10) Codey: I mean, I feel like it’s to try and like have an introduction. (0:46:11) Al: Like, what is happening, and why would you do this? (0:46:18) Codey: It’s like when they put smoking in movies so that they would get more smokers, right? (0:46:23) Codey: It’s like a, it’s a, it’s a possible way to normalize something. (0:46:26) Al: It’s like the Transformers series for selling more Transformers. (0:46:29) Codey: Yeah. (0:46:31) Codey: Uh, which it’ll probably have a small, well, it would have a small bump if it wasn’t for (0:46:38) Codey: uh, cozy gamers. (0:46:40) Codey: Cause I don’t think cozy gamers are the people or, or monster hunters style players. (0:46:46) Codey: I, you really gotta go for like the call of duty people. (0:46:48) Codey: I feel like they, they would do NFTs because they basically, that’s basically all they (0:46:53) Codey: do with their, uh, skins and stuff on all the, all the guns and whatever. (0:47:00) Codey: So like, it’s not monster hunter people, uh, with dauntless and then cozy games with fave (0:47:08) Codey: farm. (0:47:10) Codey: It’

[School of Movies 2025] We've been holding this episode back for a special occasion and it seems like 2025 'The year of Joy' is the time to finally crack into one of the richest and most universally gratifying films in history. A hundred years from now, people will still be watching this film, It's a Wonderful Life and The Shawshank Redemption. Accompanying us in this time loop journey from mundane resentment to confusion, to panic, to exploitation, to emptiness, to the nadir of self-destruction, to the revelation of reflection, to the zenith of living to enrich the lives of others, and thus experience repletion is Jesse Ferguson. Jesse is one of the few guests we know who can comprehend the knottiest of time-travel conundrums whilst fully understanding that the story at the heart of what's being told is far more important than any speculative, temporal shenanigans. Plus Bill Murray is a hoot, this is his best film, as well as being the finest offering from his friend and director Harold Ramis. It is endlessly memorable, profound, and touches upon a universality of shared experience. We are all alone, and we are all together.

Sahil Bloom, a prolific creator, founder and investor, has mastered the art of translating complex ideas about wealth and success into wisdom that resonates with millions. His newsletter, The Curiosity Chronicle, grew from just 100 readers to over 800,000 subscribers in three years - a testament to his ability to cut through the noise with clarity and insight. His upcoming book, "The 5 Types of Wealth," challenges our conventional understanding of what it means to be truly wealthy, arguing that financial success is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Here's what makes Sahil fascinating - he's built his empire not through traditional paths (he left his high paying private equity job), but by following his curiosity and sharing what he learns along the way. Today, we'll explore the frameworks that have helped him impact millions, why traditional definitions of success might be holding us back, and how Sahil's relationship with time reshaped the way he thinks about wealth, wisdom, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that's interesting!”, check out our Substack. Important Links: Sahil's Website Sahil's Twitter Sahil's Blog Show Notes: The Ripple Effect of spreading good ideas Sahil's Origin Story The Finite Impermanence of Time Would you trade lives with Warren Buffett? The Loneliness Epidemic The Paradox of setting Big Goals and needing Small Steps to get there Why waking up at 5am can rewire your brain Why do people chase the wrong things? Jim and Sahil's Memento Mori Factoring in the 5 Types of Wealth when making a decision What makes A Wonderful Life? Money As a Byproduct of Pursuing Purpose Sahil's Message As World Emperor Books Mentioned: Zorba the Greek; by Nikos Kazantzakis Adventures of a Bystander; by Peter Drucker The Anxious Generation; by Jonathan Haidt Tao Te Ching; by Lao Tzu Collective Illusions; by Todd Rose The Psychology of Money; by Morgan Housel

The director of It's a Wonderful Life, who won five Oscars in the 1930s for films that embodied the pre-World War II notion of American exceptionalism, was pushed into semi-retirement by the early 50s by changes in tastes and political priorities. Capra was brought back to the Hollywood director's chair by Frank Sinatra in the 1960s, but Capra quickly became embittered by an industry that he felt had left him behind, and in 1971 published an autobiography airing grievances about an industry that he believed was “stooping to cheap salacious pornography in a crazy bastardization of a great art to compete for the 'patronage' of deviates and masturbators.” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're curious about how to become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (this is an EXTERNAL resource, not owned by the Morning Mindset. Please do not leave messages for Carey there. See below for contact info).   ⇒ Join the MMM Prayer Team: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/PrayerTeam   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: PSALM 90:9-12 - For all our days pass away under your wrath;  we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy,     or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble;     they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger,     and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days     that we may get a heart of wisdom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUPPORT OUR WORK: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTACT US AT: Admin@MorningMindsetMedia.com 

(2:00) News Year EveNYC ramps up the police state for the big NYE partyBilderberg's new personnel and new focusEvery bureaucrat destroys 138 jobsTrump supports Mike Johnson for Speaker (as he supported Paul Ryan also)You'll own nothing - Americans can NEVER own their own homes, but here's a solutionCar prices have exploded in the last 5 years and Trump's tariffs would affect low priced cars the mostBiden & "Mr Monsanto' bully Mexico over GMO corn"Romeo & Juliet" and the Hollywood pedophiles that got away with it(44:13) Post ChristmasTrump trolls with Bah HumbugThe state isn't Santa ClausJ Edgar Hoover's FBI had an odd take on "It's a Wonderful Life"Why did Amazon butcher "It's a Wonderful Life" beyond recognitionYouTube finds a new thing to censor(1:09:05) LIVE comments (1:14:06) Hacking the Treasury, Hacking the Global Financial SystemTreasury Dept Hacked by Chinese?   They can't possibly know, so what are they up to?BIS, Bank of International Settlement - the central bank of central banks - is pushing ahead with CBDC.  However, in the USA & other Five Eyes countries it will likely be a stealth move with a defacto public/private version(1:26:55) H1-B Isn't About Free Markets, Government Corruption, Fraud — It's About THIS(1:36:17) A thank you to our producers by name (1:39:59) Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?Crocodile Dundee Star Dies at 90Newsweek (News-Weak) asks what will humans look like in 50,000 years62,000 babies murdered who were well past the point of feeling painAnglican Church tries to normalize transgenders by claiming that eunuchs were "trans"WATCH As churches get desperate over falling attendance, Prestonwood in Dallas goes theatrical with flying Santas, elves, smoke machines.  Maybe they should just convert the building to condos(2:00:10) Handel's Messiah censored for being Christian, Nutcracker censored for being Russian, Jews censored for being Zionists, and SIX MORE GOP dominated states are making it a hate crime to criticize Israel's government — DOES ANYONE SUPPORT FREE SPEECH ANYMORE? (2:09:28) INTERVIEW "Free Indeed" from Addiction and Much More"Doc" Roberts and Jeff Weiss, authors of "Free Indeed" join to talk about the path out of addiction, prison ministries and the persecuted church in Pakistan.  TheWordSays.netIf you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-show Or you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7 Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to DavidKnight.gold for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to TrendsJournal.com and enter the code KNIGHTBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-david-knight-show--2653468/support.

(2:00) News Year EveNYC ramps up the police state for the big NYE partyBilderberg's new personnel and new focusEvery bureaucrat destroys 138 jobsTrump supports Mike Johnson for Speaker (as he supported Paul Ryan also)You'll own nothing - Americans can NEVER own their own homes, but here's a solutionCar prices have exploded in the last 5 years and Trump's tariffs would affect low priced cars the mostBiden & "Mr Monsanto' bully Mexico over GMO corn"Romeo & Juliet" and the Hollywood pedophiles that got away with it(44:13) Post ChristmasTrump trolls with Bah HumbugThe state isn't Santa ClausJ Edgar Hoover's FBI had an odd take on "It's a Wonderful Life"Why did Amazon butcher "It's a Wonderful Life" beyond recognitionYouTube finds a new thing to censor(1:09:05) LIVE comments (1:14:06) Hacking the Treasury, Hacking the Global Financial SystemTreasury Dept Hacked by Chinese?   They can't possibly know, so what are they up to?BIS, Bank of International Settlement - the central bank of central banks - is pushing ahead with CBDC.  However, in the USA & other Five Eyes countries it will likely be a stealth move with a defacto public/private version(1:26:55) H1-B Isn't About Free Markets, Government Corruption, Fraud — It's About THIS(1:36:17) A thank you to our producers by name (1:39:59) Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?Crocodile Dundee Star Dies at 90Newsweek (News-Weak) asks what will humans look like in 50,000 years62,000 babies murdered who were well past the point of feeling painAnglican Church tries to normalize transgenders by claiming that eunuchs were "trans"WATCH As churches get desperate over falling attendance, Prestonwood in Dallas goes theatrical with flying Santas, elves, smoke machines.  Maybe they should just convert the building to condos(2:00:10) Handel's Messiah censored for being Christian, Nutcracker censored for being Russian, Jews censored for being Zionists, and SIX MORE GOP dominated states are making it a hate crime to criticize Israel's government — DOES ANYONE SUPPORT FREE SPEECH ANYMORE? (2:09:28) INTERVIEW "Free Indeed" from Addiction and Much More"Doc" Roberts and Jeff Weiss, authors of "Free Indeed" join to talk about the path out of addiction, prison ministries and the persecuted church in Pakistan.  TheWordSays.netIf you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-show Or you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7 Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to DavidKnight.gold for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to TrendsJournal.com and enter the code KNIGHTBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-david-knight-show--5282736/support.

Hour One:Today on the David Knight Show, guest-host Gardner Goldsmith begins this post-Christmas broadcast by recovering numerous breaking stories that pertain to liberty. First, discusses the news that the Congress has passed an expansion of Social Security that will hand out nearly $200 billion over ten years to government workers who never had to pay into Social Security in the first place. Not only is that immoral, the entire Social Security system is immoral. Then, he looks at the stunning, absurd cultural decision by Amazon to cut more than twenty minutes out of the motion picture, "It's a Wonderful Life," and why that is significant for a writer like him and might reflect on the woke mindset, overall.   Hour Two:Gardner looks at the chaos that US policies and machinations have wrought in Syria, and asks whether it is fair to assess some Trump supporters as wearing blinders, selectively overlooking Trump's inconsistencies and wrongdoing, how even self-described 'conservatives' have bought into collectivist systematology and idol worship. Gardner studies Donald Trump's Christmas message, to ask whether many of the claims he makes are valid, whether Trump displays more than a touch of hypocrisy and selective-memory-in-action. Then, Gard welcomes auto expert and liberty-supporter Eric Peters of Eric Peters Autos dot Com (he can be found on X as @libertariancarG and they recap some of the big news of the past two days, including the growing, perhaps mistaken, excitement, among 'conservatives' for the new Trump Administration.Hour Three:In the Third Hour of the David Knight Show, Gardner Goldsmith and Eric Peters dig deeper into the philosophy of liberty, discussing important principles and how those principles dovetail with the keys of a functional economic system where consumers make free choices, they talk about Elon Musk's close ties to government funds, and they discuss some cultural subjects, as well, including some 'Star Trek' talk, with insights from Gard's days at 'Star Trek: Voyager'" And, finally, Gardner digs into the sad news of the continuing bloodshed in Gaza, and the jaw-dropping contrast between that world of tragic death and loss inside Gaza with the Israeli government creating a 'beachside resort' for its occupying soldiers, there, in Gaza.Many thanks to all the chatters and viewers, and to those who watch or listen, later! Please share the links and tell others, and visit www.theDavidKnightShow.com anytime!Find Gardner on Rumble, Rokfin and his X @gardgoldsmith and stream Liberty Conspiracy each M-F at 6 PM eastern time! And visit Gardner's Substack, for his Sunday News Assembly and more liberty-oriented information! You also can find Gardner's fiction on Amazon. Thank you for watching!"If you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-show Or you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7 Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to DavidKnight.gold for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to TrendsJournal.com and enter the code KNIGHTBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-david-knight-show--2653468/support.

Brent Billings and Reed Dent drive this podcast into a tree and find out how many friends we actually have.It's a Wonderful Life — WikipediaIt's a Wonderful Life — JustWatchReed on LetterboxdBrent on LetterboxdPlanet Money Movie Club: It's a Wonderful Life — NPRCPI Inflation Calculator — US Bureau of Labor StatisticsScorigami

What makes a movie a Christmas movie?When the movie Die Hard was released on Blu Ray a few years back, the studio called it "the greatest Christmas story ever told!" It does take place at an office Christmas party, but is that fact enough to make it a Christmas movie? What about "Elf," "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Eyes Wide Shut" are those Christmas movies? Yes, right? NPR producer Marc Rivers says, "not so fast."Just what makes any Christmas movie a true Christmas movie?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If George and Mary Bailey are annual guests at your home every winter, you already know that It's a Wonderful Life is more than just a holiday tradition--it's a powerful reminder that our lives can change everyone around us, for better or worse. But what can this Christmas classic teach us about our everyday lives? Bob Welch invites us to revisit the defining lessons in Frank Capra's 1946 classic and discover new dimensions of the film you've seen time and again.Become a Parshall Partner: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/inthemarket/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's time for our Holiday Movie Review Spectacular! And what could be more spectacular than reviewing the Netflix movie-of-the-moment “Hot Frosty?” Or should you skip that movie and just watch “It's a Wonderful Life?” Don't worry, we'll tell you how to spend your Yuletide streaming hours… HOUSE BAND Earl Levine Flat Toni never says 'No-a!' to travel!  Take her with you, and post a pic… if you're on instagram, follow @nobodylistenstopaulapoundstone and invite us to be a collaborator on your FLAT TONI post so we can feature it on our grid! Get your very own FLAT TONI here: http://bit.ly/3Bjccrz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top 10 Strangest Christmas Traditions from around from around the world! Also, I started watching Slow Horses, and I have my definitive Xmas Movie List. And as always, I read The Tribune! Plus for the Midnight Patreon Members I tell the story of how It’s A Wonderful Life became the Christmas Classic that it is today.Thank you to Aaron Brungardt for engineering, mixing, and production expertise, Geoffrey Tice for artwork, Bobby TBD for theme music, and All Things Comedy for their support, production, and distribution. Email the show at themidnightmailbag@gmail.com!

C&R in for Dan as Covino explains why Lamar Jackson should NOT watch Beyonce at Halftime on Christmas Day. Rich tries to convince Covino that Home Alone 2 is better than the movie It's A Wonderful Life. The guys list their top five rated-R Holiday movie. The guys take calls on the best R-Rated holiday movie. #crshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's your Daily dose of Human Events with @JackPosobiecStay ahead of what's coming and secure your privacy today. Go to https://www.SLNT.COM/POSO Take advantage of their End of Year Warehouse sale happening right now, saving you up to 70% off. That's up to 70% off and free shipping on qualifying orders. Save up to 65% on MyPillow products by going to https://www.MyPillow.com/POSO and use code POSO Support the show

Today, I'm joined by Peter Zablocki, a professor at Caldwell University, host of the History Shorts podcast, and author of The Death of General Sikorski. I was introduced to Peter after I recorded the episode looking at the death of Sikorski with Chris Wroblewski. Chatting I discovered Peter had researched and written about an entirely different but fascinating subject: Private Snafu (you can read it here). For those unfamiliar, Private Snafu was the star of a series of black-and-white animated shorts produced between 1943 and 1945. These instructional films, aimed at U.S. servicemen, combined irony and humour with serious messages. Amazingly, they were produced by Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life), written by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and voiced by Mel Blanc, the legendary voice behind Bugs Bunny. Despite their playful tone, the films served a crucial role in military training and morale during the war.   patreon.com/ww2podcast  

This Christmas, help people still suffering from Hurricane Helene: https://worldhelp.net/candace Andy Erwin from Kingdom Story Company and Candace Cameron Bure go behind the story of one of everyone's favorite classic Christmas movies: It's a Wonderful Life! Did you know this movie was a total failure at first? Watch The Storytellers Podcast:  https://youtu.be/H9rH1_ml6C8?si=JiKTK12sENyot0mn Keep up with Andy: https://www.instagram.com/andrewerwinofficial/ Keep up with Candace: Candace's Website: https://candacecbure.com/ The Podcast Website: https://ccbpodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics Covered: 02:51 Is It's a Wonderful Life communist (continued from first hour) 16:00 – Heretic 22:00 – Perfect Day 31:46 – The Beast 43:10 – Mission Impossible …

In this message, Pastor Chad Narayan shares a powerful word on living a life of trust and obedience to God. Through the story of the three wise men, he encourages us to follow God's direction, even when the journey feels uncertain. Pastor Chad reminds us that joy and fulfillment come from aligning our lives with God's design. This Christmas season, let's recommit to surrendering to Jesus and embracing the wonderful life He has planned for us. At Zoe, our mission is simple: People Saved, Disciples Made, Leaders Raised, and The Church Released. Through every service, we seek to share the love and hope of Jesus, impact lives, and see transformation in communities in Los Angeles and around the world. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this stream with friends and family!

For a lot of people, It's A Wonderful Life is the Christmas movie. George Bailey's story of learning how much you really matter to the world has family, community, an angel, a mean rich guy, and a little kid playing carols on the piano. It has become a staple of holiday viewing, so we thought it was a perfect time to revisit our discussion about the movie. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What is the best Christmas movie ever? Welcome to VOLUME 155 of The Bracket. Kenjac is host alongside KBnoswag, Nick Turani, Robbie Fox, Eddie and Danny Conrad. Follow The Bracket ►TWITTER - https://twitter.com/BracketPod ►INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/thebracket/ Follow Kenjac ►TWITTER - https://twitter.com/JackKennedy ►INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/jackennedy/ ►TIKTOK - https://www.tiktok.com/@ken_jac Preview - (0:00) Intro - (0:23) The Night Before vs It's A Wonderful Life - (5:30) Bad Santa vs Office Christmas Party - (10:31) Polar Express vs the Grinch - (14:16) Cheah-In Game - (22:24) Cheah in Winner vs Home Alone - (29:14) The Santa Claus vs A Christmas Story - (35:15) Christmas Vacation vs Fred Claus - (42:53) Charlie Brown vs Jingle All The Way - (47:19) Elf vs Four Christmases - (53:34) Playoffs - (57:02) Finals - (1:12:31) Save 20% on your next order at https://pepperpalace.com by using code BRACKET Head to https://FACTORMEALS.com/50lcb and use code 50lcb to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/lightscamerabarstool

GGACP celebrates the birthday (b. November 22) of our friend, fan and frequent guest, the irrepressible RIchard Kind, by revisiting this enjoyable mini-show from 2017. In this episode: Whit Bissell! The beauty of Yvette Mimieux! The genius of Nicholas Meyer! Richard praises “It's a Wonderful Life”! And “the Professor” meets John Wilkes Booth! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices