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Archive 211 BigfootJoin my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
After an odd, new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue. On this week's episode… Join the crew as we discuss Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and one of the greatest horror comedies of all time, Re-Animator (1985). Show Notes: Housekeeping (4:10) Back of the Box/Recommendations (11:50) Spoiler Warning/Full Review: (19:00) Rotten Tomatoes (69:42) Trivia (76:40) Cooter of the Week (81:05) What We've Been Watching (84:28) Hotline Scream: (95:35) Connect with us: Support us on Patreon Website Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Shop
Caleb and Charles take a little break from verses and get into the Halloween spirit with a special Mount Rushmhorrore episode. Each take turns building their own Mount Rushmores for horror movie subgenres—get ready for the four pillars of Gore, Zombie, Monster, Slasher, Paranormal, Comedy, and Psychological horror movies! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Welcome back to Morgan Hasn't Seen with Jeannine Brice & Morgan Robinson!!A Spooky Season series looking at a variety of Zombies and THE LIVING DEAD on screen as Jeannine has selected everything from B-movies, Action Horror, parodies, infected, and reanimation for us to focus on all October long!One half of the Grindhouse project rolls this series along this week as Jeannine and Morgan celebrate filmmakers showing love for movies in their work, and the admirable ability to have such unserious fun while making a great movie in its own right as they talk Robert Rodriguez' PLANET TERROR (2007) starring Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin & Marley Shelton!Our YouTube Channel for all our regular videos:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvACMX8jX1qQ5ClrGW53vowDonate:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ItsAWonderful1Join our Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ItsAWonderful1IT'S A WONDERFUL PODCAST STORE:https://www.teepublic.com/user/g9designSub to the feed and download now on all major podcast platforms and be sure to rate, review and SHARE AROUND!!Keep up with us on (X) Twitter:Podcast:https://twitter.com/ItsAWonderful1Morgan:https://twitter.com/Th3PurpleDonJeannine:https://twitter.com/JeannineDaBean_Keep being wonderful!!
Ghosts Haunt a Transmission ShopIn 2000, a mechanic opened a transmission repair shop in Summerville, adjacent to an automotive shop run by his friend Keith. With help from his nephew Raymond during the day and a friend at night, the business ran smoothly until eerie events began: a shadowy black animal darted past him one morning, tools clattered to the floor inexplicably, and the air carried scents of women's perfume and pipe tobacco. Loud bangs echoed against the building, but investigations revealed nothing. As disturbances intensified, the owner's night helper, Benne, refused to return alone after witnessing a man in a burgundy shirt watching him through a mirror and causing a car lift to malfunction before mysteriously lowering itself. Keith revealed the building's long-haunted resident, a ghost named Henry, whose presence had plagued the site for 20 years. The nephew soon reported similar shadows and noises while working on his race car, and even a visiting friend glimpsed a vanishing figure. The hauntings peaked with physical sensations—a breath on the narrator's neck, a tug on his pocket—and bizarre echoes, like muffled arguments mimicking a customer's dispute. After a year of unrelenting chills, the owner closed the shop and relocated, but decades later, retired and passing by the old building, he still recalls Henry with a shiver.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
Which do you think is scarier - vampires or zombies? That's today's Hot Topic, along with an all-new 2nd Date Update and Chantel's Roses!
Today, I'm diving solo into a topic that's both fascinating and a little bit spooky—senescent cells, also known as “zombie cells.” Understanding zombie cells is a crucial piece of the puzzle if you want to feel younger, stronger, and more resilient as you age. In this episode, I unpack what senescent cells are, why they're not just harmless bystanders, and how their buildup can accelerate the aging process and drive chronic inflammation—one of the hallmarks of aging. I break down the lifestyle habits that might be quietly increasing your zombie cell load, the early warning signs your body could be giving you, and most importantly, the evidence-backed interventions you can start using right now—from exercise and diet, to cutting-edge supplements, peptides, and more. Episode Timestamps: What are Senescent (“Zombie”) Cells and Why They Matter ... 00:00:36 Key Causes and Lifestyle Factors Driving Senescence ... 00:02:40 Dietary Strategies: Mediterranean Diet, Protein, and Polyphenols ... 00:08:57 How Zombie Cells Disrupt Tissue and Drive Chronic Disease ... 00:13:37 Symptoms Linked to Excess Senescent Cells ... 00:20:58 Challenges in Measuring Senescent Cells ... 00:23:31 Senescent Cells: Helpful in Healing, Harmful in Excess ... 00:30:39 Senolytics and Senostatics: Drugs and Natural Compounds ... 00:36:14 Lifestyle and Supplement Strategies to Reduce Zombie Cells ... 00:39:14 Peptides for Advanced Senescence Management ... 00:48:09 Our Amazing Sponsors: Probiotic Breakthrough by Bioptimizers: uses a stress-tested Lactobacillus plantarum strain that showed over 30× greater survival in bile and intestinal fluid vs. generic strains. Save 15% at bioptimizers.com/bionat and use code BIONAT for 15% off any order. Nat's Links: YouTube Channel Join My Membership Community Sign up for My Newsletter Instagram Facebook Group
The Weekly News RundownThe episode opens with a fast-moving retail update. New DataWeave analytics reveal that Nike has raised prices significantly — by 17 percent for footwear and 14 percent for apparel — as tariff cost mounts, potentially disrupting their turnaround plans. Steve and Michael then examine the continuing U.S. government shutdown and its potential economic ripple effects. Despite flagging consumer confidence, September retail sales surged 5.4% year-over-year, led by sporting goods and apparel, while big-ticket categories such as furniture and home improvement stalled. They turn next to Adobe's holiday sales forecast, calling for 5.3 percent online growth — the slowest in years. AI-driven shopping, meanwhile, is expected to grow fivefold, underscoring how rapidly technology can reshape consumer behaviour.The Interview — Scot Wingo on Agentic CommerceReturning guest Scot Wingo brings a veteran entrepreneur's perspective on the next leap in retail innovation. Leveraging his ChannelAdvisor roots to his latest venture, ReFiBuy.ai, Wingo describes how AI agents are poised to reshape the shopping journey — from research, to finding, and buying — through "agentic commerce." He details how ChatGPT's new checkout feature effectively turns it into a merchant-friendly marketplace and why this could challenge Google and Amazon's ad-tax models. Wingo explains how Google is evolving from a search engine to an "answer engine," already costing retailers organic traffic, and outlines the steps brands must take to prepare their catalogues for AI-driven visibility. He also explores how personal-shopping agents and vertical AI start-ups in fashion and re-commerce are creating hyper-custom experiences, while warning retailers not to block "good bots" in their fear of AI scraping.Stories That Spread and A Peek Around the CornerIn their closing segment, Steve and Michael discuss some recent remarkable stories including the revival of brands like Bed Bath & Beyond, Toys "R" Us, and Forever 21, as well as Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's latest shot at his former company. They close by discuss what's on their mutual radar screens for the weeks ahead. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
Dawn of the Dead: Episode 366 - We're picking up Spooktober where we left off with the FATHER of the modern zombie when we cover George Romero's 1978 consumerist satire-horror classic "Dawn of the Dead" on Normies Like Us! Mother, what have you done!? Podcasts. Podcasts everywhere!. Insta: @NormiesLikeUs https://www.instagram.com/normieslikeus/ @jacob https://www.instagram.com/jacob/ @MikeHasInsta https://www.instagram.com/mikehasinsta/ https://letterboxd.com/BabblingBrooksy/ https://letterboxd.com/hobbes72/ https://letterboxd.com/mikejromans/
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Oklahoma Bigfoot Nine Feet TallBorn in 1965 in eastern Oklahoma, he grew up immersed in outdoor life, hunting and fishing with family and best friend Slick. In early spring, they camped in the remote Blue Mountains for a fishing trip. After a quiet first night disturbed by rustling outside their truck, they fished all day but felt watched on the return hike. Hearing knocks from a bluff and rocks splashing into the creek, with a treetop swaying inexplicably, they fired warning shots into the wall and fled to their vehicle, convinced they'd encountered something like Bigfoot, though they saw no figure. At age 12, visiting his brother at a logging camp in Oregon's Monmouth mountains, the narrator spotted enormous, fresh 20-inch barefoot prints in the dusty road while heading to town. Local loggers, familiar with such tracks and even sightings of the creatures, confirmed the phenomenon, leaving the boy terrified and plagued by nightmares for days. In summer 1993, fishing a bass tournament on Greenleaf Lake in Arkansas amid dense woods and military land, the narrator and his brother spotted a massive shadow in shallow water under moonlight. It growled deeply, plowed through the water creating a huge wake, and crashed ashore, barreling uphill through timber like a bulldozer—estimated at nine feet tall. The next day, they found large impressions on the bank and trailed broken arm-thick limbs snapped at seven feet high for 300 yards. Certain it wasn't a bear but a curious Sasquatch, the narrator keeps the story secret to spare his young sons fear while hunting locally.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
Archive 210 The Wart Forest and BigfootJoin my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
Short Stories for Kids: The Magical Podcast of Story Telling
Written by Simon ChadwickCome and follow more adventures on our animated TV show on Youtube!
Halloween plans, getting rid of mice, a cat is here on the camera, doing Furiosa for halloween AGAIN, Jim Lee says no to AI, how to get that ice cream out of the thing, figuring out who Jessie is, finally watching a Zombie movie, and way more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week the boys start off the show with a Josh Thompson question. Also make sure you toon in next week to see if Scott got his new dog Matilda In the news, title run toys showed off a future wrestling figure coming out. Zombie Sailor showed off new figures as well that will be released on black Friday.New style of wrestling figures were shown off from two different companies. Both Pro wrestling tees and KWK showed off their new GI Joe styled figures or O-ring style figures. And the boys round out the show with their new nostalgia segment talking World Championship Wrestling for the NES Pre Orders: Big Rubber Guys - Collectmajor.com - Hercules - Andre the Giant Big Bad Toy Store - Rush - Dralistico - Dragon Lee Fig Collections - shop.figurecollections.com The patriot Buff Bagwell Zombie Sailor - (zombiesailor.com) - Zombie is also on BBTS La Toonie Wrestling Toonstars KWK Shopkwk.com use code Fullyposeable to get 10 percent off your order. Also KWK's month of October figure is Flash Funk Thank you to everyone for keeping this show going!
The Beyond (1981) synopsis: “A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.”Starring: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, and Al CliverDirector: Lucio FulciThis week on Podcasting After Dark, Zak and Corey review Lucio Fulci's The Beyond! Arguably his best and most celebrated film, at least according to our two hosts. This isn't the first Fulci film the boys have covered on PAD, though. Go back and listen to their Zombie review for more fun Italian horror discussions!A huge THANK YOU to Cam for selecting The Beyond for us to review via our highest Patreon tier! You can listen to Cam on The Jacked Up Review Show Podcast - Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Instagram— SUPPORT PODCASTING AFTER DARK —PATREON - Two extra shows a month including Wrap-Up After Dark and The Carpenter Factor, plus other exclusive content!MERCH STORE - We have a fully dedicated merch store at TeePublic with multiple designs and products!INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / LETTERBOXD - Follow us on social media for updates and announcements!This podcast is part of the BFOP Network
Three Ravens Haunting Season continues today with the second of our four 'Trilogies of Terror' across the month of October!We begin, in tried and tested style, with two winning tales from our annual Three Ravens Ghost Story Writing Competition.The first of these, "The Old Way Stone" by Alex Effinger, feels almost like a late Victorian classic, set in Scotland, while the second, "The Descendant" by Tim Lane is a wildly imaginative comedic ghost story, featuring a haunted tea cozy...Lastly comes Eleanor's new story for this week, "Sundowners." Channeling her recent experiences in hospital, it's a twisty one, featuring more than just one kind of creeping dread...We sincerely hope that you enjoy all three, and speak to you again on Thursday for our Three Ravens Bestiary Bonus Episode all about Zombies and Revenants!Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode will expire in 24 hours! Missed an episode? Pick it back up anytime! Want the back catalog? Become a supporter on Patreon! patreon.com/mercuryradio More info about ARTC And Mercury at artc.org/mercury Follow us on Bluesky @mercury870
Wrapping up our INTERNATIONAL EEKS triple feature, we're checking in at the Seven Doors Hotel with screenwriter Eric Miller to meet the very essence of Hell itself in THE BEYOND, starring Catriona MacColl, Cinzia Monreale, David Warbeck, Veronica Lazar, Giovanni De Nava, Laura De Marchi, Maria Pia Marsala, and Antoine Saint-John as Schweik.Pick up Eric Miller's new book Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed? on AmazonVisit Big Time Books for more horror literature from Eric MillerFollow Eric Miller on Instagram Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTubeFor bonus content and commentaries, check out our PatreonFollow the show on Instagram, TikTok, and FacebookWant to support the show and save 20% on Fangoria? Visit Fangoria and enter PROMO CODE: HOWIMETYOURMONSTER at checkout!Looking for How I Met Your Monster merch? Check out TeePublic for shirts, stickers, mugs, and more!Questions and comments: howimetyourmonsterpodcast@gmail.com
The onslaught grows Go to mistymountaingaming.com/DRAGONPUNCHSQUAD and use DragonPunchSquad at checkout for 10% off! Check out our official dice sponsor: Black Oak Workshop Stay up to date with our socials at https://linktr.ee/DragonPunchSquad Theme song made thanks to Tony Chetta @ https://www.tonychetta.com/ Ambiance and music made thanks to www.tabletopaudio.com
Welcome to another episode of Death Don't Do Fiction, the AIPT Movies podcast! The podcast about the enduring legacy of our favorite movies! It's October, so that means it's time for our “Shocktober” series, where we cover movies that go bump in the night! In this week's episode, Alex, Tim, and returning guest Tony Sedani discuss Tom Savini's overlooked 1990 remake of the George Romero classic, Night of the Living Dead!A quick pace! Mild undead nudity! Shocking neck violence! A door you can punch through! A female lead who transitions from damsel in distress to legitimate action hero! Fantastic makeup effects and memorable zombie designs, including one that's twisted up like a pretzel! A great "one awful night in a single location" movie! No real explanation for the horrors that ensue! Social commentary on division and class war! Good ol' boys toying with zombies! Feelings of hopelessness! An impossible Candyman reference! A cast that includes the legendary Tony Todd, Laura Dern's stunt double from Jurassic Park, Patricia Tallman, the writer of The Gingerdead Man, William Butler, an unrecognizable Bill Moseley, and Tom Towles as the worst dude ever! While it may live in the shadow of the 1968 original, it's one of the better remakes and some people's preferred version of Night of the Living Dead! In addition, Alex talks about his favorite movies from Fantastic Fest 2025, including the Iko Uwais-produced martial arts extravaganza Ikatan Darah, Johannes Roberts' monkey-gone-mad creature feature Primate, Justin Long's unique take on corrupt cops in Los Angeles, Night Patrol, Steve Kostanki's Deathstalker, V/H/S/Halloween, the shark thriller Beast of War, and Curry Barker's oddly funny cautionary horror tale, Obsession!Finally, Tony shares his spoiler-free thoughts on The Long Walk, One Battle After Another, Good Boy, and The Smashing Machine, while Alex does the same for the Shudder original Night of the Reaper, and the realization of a plumber's worst nightmare, Scared Shitless!You can find Death Don't Do Fiction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. As always, if you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave us a positive rating, subscribe to the show, and tell your friends!The Death Don't Do Fiction podcast brings you the latest in movie news, reviews, and more! Hosted by supposed “industry vets,” Alex Harris and Tim Gardiner, the show gives you a peek behind the scenes from two filmmakers with oddly nonexistent filmographies. You can find Alex on Twitter, Bluesky, or Letterboxd @actionharris. This episode's guest, Tony Sedani, can be on Instagram @tsedani. Tim can't be found on social media because he doesn't exist. If you have any questions or suggestions for the Death Don't Do Fiction crew, they can be reached at aiptmoviespod@gmail.com, or you can find them on Twitter or Instagram @aiptmoviespod.Theme song is “We Got it Goin On” by Cobra Man.
The Old Man Haunted by BigfootIn a smoky Nashville bar, the Jim buys a beer for the elderly, down-on-his-luck Samuel, a monthly regular living frugally on Social Security in a rooming house. Spotting Samuel's hunger, the narrator orders him food and invites him to join at his table. Over burgers and beers, the narrator introduces himself as Jim from Louisville, fresh from hurricane repair work in Florida. Samuel, born and raised in North Carolina's mountains, opens up about why he left his beloved home at 21—not for war or lack of work, but for a darker reason. Eager for steady pay during scarce times, young Samuel joined a logging company, impressing the foreman with his marksmanship and landing a job as an armed deputy enforcing land evictions on mountain families. Shunned by his community for aiding the bosses, Samuel grew isolated. The story's climax came during the third attempt to evict the reclusive Prater clan from their ancient 1,800-acre forest homestead, led by the fierce Mammy Prater. Using kidnapped six-year-old Jenny as leverage, the deputies arrived to collect weapons and demand departure. The Praters complied eerily, gathering to unleash a haunting, high-pitched chant that summoned massive, hairy ape-like beasts from the woods. The creatures slaughtered the entire eviction party in a frenzy of boulders, gunfire, and gore, sparing only Samuel after Mammy declared him a "token" to flee and never return or speak of it. Traumatized, Samuel was forever exiled from his home and family. Years later, tears in his eyes, he shares the tale with the narrator, who leaves unsettled—haunted by nightmares of the impossible horror, unsure if he believes it but forever changed by the old man's quiet burden.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
It took two decades, but the rage virus is back. Jason and Rachel review 28 Years Later (2025), the shocking sequel from Danny Boyle and Alex Garland — now available on digital. We unpack the performances (Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Kelson, Alfie Williams), the bold genre twists, and whether the film lives up to the 28 Days Later legacy. From the chilling Rudyard Kipling poem to the Lindisfarne setting, the “Bone Temple” setup, and the controversial train sequence — we cover it all. Subscribe to Thumb War for more unhinged reviews of movies and TV you probably shouldn't watch (but we do, so you don't have to). Hit us up: ThumbWarPod@gmail.com Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes + bonus shows: http://bit.ly/44Mo8xU Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
We continue Spooky Season with the founder of our feist, the sexiest voice in podcasting, Horror movie extraordinaire Jay Of The Dead! He brings us 14 horror movie recommendations of increasing intensity! An episode way too scary for Cartoon Joe and sweet sweet Nic. This link here folks https://jordanrannells.com/ https://waywardraven.com/ FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR SOME […]
WELCOME TO MUTANT COUNTY Ep 6 - Zombie Life Awareness Parade Written by Michael P. Thiessen and Peter Church, and features Stephanie Lanting as Rika Mortis, resident Necromancer and Zombie Queen. Special thanks to Cassie Garbutt and Esther Koepnick for the WLFC studio jingle.
Daryl finds himself in limbo between Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the Seven Samurai and the Indiana Jones franchise in this episode of the show that borrows heavily from great IPs but ultimately feels like it's missing its mojo still.
Police Attacked by Paranormal EntityIn the mid-1990s, a night-shift police officer in a quiet small town completed his routine checks and parked near the Masonic Lodge and church just after midnight to finish paperwork. Suddenly, he felt a violent impact jolt his patrol car, shifting it several feet forward and four feet sideways into the road, scattering his belongings. Stepping out, he found no other vehicle, no damage, no tire marks, and utter silence—leaving him stunned and unable to report the impossible event. He vowed never to park there again, haunted by the sensation of an unseen force hurling his cruiser aside. Years later, in the late 1990s, two officers at the town police station before midnight watched a vintage hippie van pull up, from which emerged a young couple dressed in flawless 1960s attire—tie-dye, fringe, and bell-bottoms—who spoke with era-perfect slang. Politely asking for directions to a nearby town, they received a hand-drawn map and left smiling. As the younger officer rushed to return their forgotten directions, he reached the door mere seconds later—only to find the couple, van, and all traces vanished without a sound or mark on the dew-kissed pavement, defying any natural explanation. Both encounters, shared openly among the officers, remain vivid and inexplicable, etching a sense of the uncanny into their memories and reinforcing the town's eerie undercurrents.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
It's our spooky season episode! Remember Shuffle turns to a much requested topic, the zombie films of the 2000s. After tracing the history of zombie media and mythology, they review two major tentpoles of 2000s Zombie films, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's "28 Days Later" (2002) and Zack Snyder and James Gunn's "Dawn of the Dead" (2004). The Shuffle Bois discuss the themes and big ideas of these films, including individualism vs communitarianism, politics and class, as well as their tropes and style.Join the patreon to listen to the 2nd part of this episode on Zombie parody films, dropping next weekend https://www.patreon.com/c/RememberShuffleGive Remember Shuffle a follow on Twitter And on Instagram @RememberShufflePod to interact with the show between episodes. It also makes it easier to book guests.
The Cramps, led by the husband and wife team of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorschach, had one one mission: To save rock n' roll from the corporate monsters who threatened its destruction. The band blended rockabilly, blues, garage rock and the aesthetic of 1950s B-movies into a wholly unique and singular rock and roll concoction that set them apart from their punk contemporaries. But as they began their climb up the music industry's ladder of success, they encountered hordes of brainless zombies who didn't understand their music or their mission, swarms of radioactive bootlegging cockroaches, and a coven of blood-sucking vampires hellbent on destroying the only thing the Cramps held sacred: rock n' roll. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. This episode was originally published on October 14, 2024. If rock n' roll is defined as low down, dirty, fun music for teenagers, what band made the greatest rock n' roll in your estimation? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan Group TikTok 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
Archive 209 BigfootJoin my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
Scott Hendrix Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Scott-Hendrix/author/B09ZLMQP1N?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=f8705893-ce3c-4e50-9014-cbd87482ebefThe Breakout by Scott HendrixIn the summer of his tenth year, young Henry Mason wanders into the barn of the gruff old fisherman known as Chief, sparking an unlikely friendship. Intrigued by the boy's curiosity and appalled that he's never fished, Chief teaches Henry the art of fly casting with rhythmic hand claps and patient guidance. Soon, they share euphoric mornings on the lake, anchoring near a gnarled underwater branch where the scent of bedding bluegill fills the air. Henry's first catch—a shimmering bluegill—hooks him forever, and they fish together for years, forging a bond like father and son. Years later, after college, Henry returns home eager to reunite with Chief, only to learn he's confined to a nursing home. Spotting the frail man gazing longingly at a pond, Henry shares tales of Montana trout fishing, evoking Chief's youthful spirit. When Chief wistfully admits his dying wish is to fish with "his boy" again, Henry hatches a daring plan. Feigning a simple outing, he wheels Chief to the car, and they escape to Chief's overgrown property, adrenaline surging like a prison breakout. Dust-covered treasures await in the barn: fly rods Chief had saved for this very hope. Rigging the canoe and Chief's favorite popping bug, they glide to the familiar spot. As Chief inhales the musty bluegill scent and casts with trembling hands, landing a fish that bends his rod, time reverses. Pride and joy light his face, fulfilling a promise sealed in a framed photo labeled "For Henry," their final cast a triumphant echo of shared beginnings.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
Send us a textA perfect storm of lousy news sees out-of-work podcaster Johnny Wolfenstein spiral into a bender, during which he claims to have been abducted by aliens, and fearing their return, he contacts his old friend MonsterZero to help him gear up for a black light alien fight! On Episode 689 of Trick or Treat Radio we discuss the neon-drenched, drug-fueled alien nightmare Jimmy and Stiggs from director Joe Begos! We also debate whether Waterworld is as bad as everyone remembers, watch the new trailer for the 4K remaster of the cult classic film, Freaked, and ponder if Eli Roth is a better ambassador for horror than he is a filmmaker. So grab your drug of choice, gas up the chainsaw, and strap on for the world's most dangerous podcast!Stuff we talk about: Vinyl, horror soundtracks, Trust Kill Records, Saw VI, Halloween 3, Type O Negative, Mushroomhead, Nightmare on Elm St 4: Dream Master, Bela Lugosi, dimestore Jerry Lewis, Mr. Sardonicus, Children of the Corn, Universal Horror, Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie, Skull and Bones, Hillside Strangler, My Soul To Take, I Spit On Your Grave, Slice and Dice, Navy Seals vs. Zombies, Soul to Keep, Freaky, Wes Craven, Bella Thorn, Nick Cannon, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Prom Night 3, Michael Dudikoff, Alien, Sigourney Weaver, Ghostbusters, Copycat, The Village, Cabin in the Woods, R.L. Stine, Goosebumps, The Black Lagoon, Andromeda Strain, Ray Strickland, The Return of Dracula, The Night Watch, Night of the Bloody Apes, Santo vs The Evil Brain, Patrick Dempsey, Loverboy, Can't Buy Me Love, Sixteen Candles, 3:00 High, Courtney Gains, Witchboard, Freaked 4K Remaster, Tom Stern, Alex Winter, Brooke Shields, Mr. T, Joey Lawrence, William Sadler, Randy Quaid, Bobcat Goldthwaite, Predator: Badlands, Dan Trachtenberg, Elle Fanning, Waterworld, Kevin Costner, Come and See, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Karen Allen, Vibes, Transylvania 6-5000, Satantango, 2001: A Space Odyssey, alien mayhem, Jimmy and Stiggs, Joe Begos, Matt Mercer, Stephen Scarlata, Bride of the Monster, Cannibal Holocaust, Kay Parker, Eli Roth, The Horror Section, Hostel 2, Thanksgiving, championing the Italians, Dream Eater, The Piano Killer, Don't Go In That House Bitch, Traumatika, and what a wonderful Waterworld.Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/trickortreatradioJoin our Discord Community: discord.trickortreatradio.comSend Email/Voicemail: mailto:podcast@trickortreatradio.comVisit our website: http://trickortreatradio.comStart your own podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=386Use our Amazon link: http://amzn.to/2CTdZzKFB Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/trickortreatradioTwitter: http://twitter.com/TrickTreatRadioFacebook: http://facebook.com/TrickOrTreatRadioYouTube: http://youtube.com/TrickOrTreatRadioInstagram: http://instagram.com/TrickorTreatRadioSupport the show
The Halloween Hustle continues and the movie this week blends three things Chris and I love, wrestling, horror and b-movie schlock! Well, maybe just two things for Chris anyway. Anita has gone back to the locker room, so Chris and I are tag teaming this week and it's a hell of a main event! Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/c/homevideohustle More Movie Reviews on LetterBoxd - https://letterboxd.com/hvhpodcast/ Watch Us On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfN67zqLBcbJNJw1cHI0Hlw Get HVH Merch - https://www.teepublic.com/user/hvhpodcast Music By: @tradevoorhees Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Out Now with Aaron and Abe horror specials for 2025 continue, with the guys delving into some firsts. More specifically, The Brandon Peters Show's Brandon Peters and Movies, Films & Flix's Mark Hofmeyer join Aaron and Abe to cover several first-time horror watches. Each member of the group has chosen several horror films they have been meaning to watch for years, and have now finally been able to cross them off the list. Learn what these guys thought of a variety of horror films, ranging from creature features to Japanese ghost stories to splatter flicks to vampire films, and even a musical. So now, if you've got an hour or so to kill… Get yourself a free audiobook and help out the show at AudibleTrial.com/OutNowPodcast! Follow all of us on Twitter: @Outnow_Podcast, @AaronsPS4, @WalrusMoose, @Brandon4KUHD, @MHofmeyer Check out all of our sites, podcasts, and blogs: TheCodeIsZeek.substack.com, Why So Blu?, We Live Entertainment, The Brandon Peters Show, Movies Films & Flix, Deep Blue Sea: The Podcast Next Week: Top 5 V/H/S Segments Check Out All of Our Horror Specials. Every Film Mentioned: Eyes Without a Face, Eaten Alive, Onibaba, Wrong Turn, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, Wrong Turn (2021), Antropophagus, Absurd, Audition, The Changeling, Shock Treatment, Peeping Tom, Eraserhead, The Tingler, I Walked with A Zombie, Vampyr, Ganja & Hess, Grizzly, Messiah of Evil
This episode will expire in 24 hours! Missed an episode? Pick it back up anytime! Want the back catalog? Become a supporter on Patreon! patreon.com/mercuryradio More info about ARTC And Mercury at artc.org/mercury Follow us on Bluesky @mercury870
Promo code of the week Blastaar Trials? Battleworld 2.0 hype levelZombie Kestrel Kit Reveal Undying Events continue Son of Darkness leaderboard auction Are You Bored?what is going on with command centerNew War Season New CC season tomorrow Phantom Rider FTP release this week Living Mummy release tomorrow Sup Spider-Man in anti matter storeRaid difficulty selector fixed see more DorkyDad:https://www.youtube.com/dorkydadmsfhttps://www.twitch.tv/dorky_dadhttps://discord.gg/yRTfxT3GTzDownload RAID today➡️https://t2m.io/ValleyFlyinRaid_Oct25 to get exclusive bonuses available through this link only ✅ 1 - Right Away: Karato, At Level 10: Uugo, At Level 20: Zargala, At Level 30: Tagoar✅ 2 - Legendary SUN WUKONG via promo code MONKEYKING ⚡️ available til OctoberOR Legendary ALICE via promo code GETALICE ⚡️ available til SeptemberOR Legendary GREENWARDEN RURARC via promo code TREEHUGGER ⚡️ available til OctoberOR Legendary TUHANARAK via promo code DESERTQUEEN ⚡️available til OctoberOR Legendary THOLIN FOULBEARD via promo code DEMONSLAYER ⚡️available til DecemberOR Legendary ULTIMATE DEATH KNIGHT via promo code UDKING (You can redeem only 1 promo code of your choice as a new player)Check out the BEST Graphic Tees from INTOTHEAM!Get 10% off site-wide when you click the link below:http://intotheam.com/ValleyFlyin#MarvelStrikeForceValleyFlyin RAID Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ValleyFlyinRAIDOther Sponsors:LD Player: https://bit.ly/LDPMFRBluestacks 5: http://bit.ly/VFBlueMore ValleyFlyin:Valleyflyin Merch: http://bit.ly/VFMerchDiscord: http://bit.ly/valleyflyinTwitter: https://twitter.com/valleyflyinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/valleyflyin/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Valleyflyin/Twitch: http://bit.ly/vftwitchPatreon: http://bit.ly/VFPatreonSupport the show
Batman Confidential #44 (2010)Looks like we're back in Batman town this Halloween season as we check out the BATMAN VS. THE UNDEAD story from BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL! Batman is down in New Orleans tracking down an escaped mad scientist only to find himself up to his neck in reanimated museum corpses and vampire allies.Highlights include:Bruce Wayne suffers an injury whilst congratulating himselfComing to FOX….it's FAT CURATOR!Why doesn't anyone talk about the 2013 NBC DRACULA show?Michael Jackson dangling his child over a railingCanada's serial killer museumdisappointed zombiesAlso, Shawn expands his Underworld cross-over collection and Jen laments unnecessarily stuffed comic books.*** PROPER COMIC BOOK DISCUSSION STARTS AT 00:06:00 ***Promo: HOUSE OF FRANKLIN-STEIN (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-super-mates-podcast/id817576889)Continue the conversation with Shawn and Jen on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Threads / Bluesky or email the show at worstcollectionever@gmail.comAlso, get hip to all of our episodes on YouTube in its own playlist! https://bit.ly/WorstCollectionEverYTDownload the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your favorite shows. Please rate, review, subscribe and tell a friend!
¡Bienvenidos a una nueva sesión de Permanencia Involuntaria! Fausto Ponce y el equipo se meten de lleno en los universos de superhéroes, ciencia ficción y televisión que están redefiniendo el entretenimiento.El debate más explosivo: Marvel Zombies. ¿Podrán los superhéroes lidiar con la amenaza no-muerta? Analizamos los cómics y las posibilidades de una adaptación al live-action en el MCU. ¿Es una historia que funciona mejor en la animación o en un formato más oscuro? Además, revisamos las últimas noticias de Peacemaker y el desarrollo del DCU, y exploramos la nueva serie de ciencia ficción de HBO, Alien Earth. Conduce: Fausto Ponce. Colaborador: Daniel Villamil.Conviértete en un seguidor de este podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/permanencia-involuntaria--2789464/support.Permanencia Involuntaria es creado y conducido por Fausto Ponce. Permanencia Involuntaria está disponible en Spreaker, Youtube, iVoox, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple podcasts y más. Permanencia Involuntaria es un proyecto que forma parte de la revista digital Alta Fidelidad Magazine.
Mendte and Buz crawl out of the crypt to count down Buz's Top 5 most influential zombie movies of all time — and it's a blood-soaked ride. From Dawn of the Dead redefining the undead apocalypse to The Serpent and the Rainbow twisting voodoo horror into nightmare fuel, the guys dig into how these two films along with three more shaped an entire genre. Expect debates, laughs, and some questionable life choices along the way.If you're a fan of classic horror, brain-munching monsters, or just two dudes arguing about who's the real king of the dead — hit that subscribe button, drop a comment with your favorite zombie flick, and join the horde!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/that-comic-podcast--5896499/support.
First Sasquatch CapturedA veterinarian specializing in large animals graduates from the University of Kentucky and opens a private practice in 1995 before joining Tennessee's Elk Reintroduction Program in 2000. There, he monitors radio-collared elk in the North Cumberland Wildlife Area, aiding in anti-poaching efforts and tracking migrations. On September 19, 2017, an erratic signal from a dominant bull elk's collar leads him, a game warden named Rick, and park ranger Brian into the woods to investigate. Tracking blood trails and fleeting signals, they stumble upon carnage from the elk's leg and pursue what seems like a poacher. Instead, an elderly Native American medicine man, the Ayunini, emerges offering the collar, explaining that the Tsul'Kalu—a reclusive, hairy, ape-like creature allied with his people—took the elk to feed its newborn mate. When Rick arrests the man, a massive, nine-foot-tall beast with black eyes, flattened nose, and muscular build roars from the shadows. The vet fires two tranquilizer darts, allowing them to collect samples before the creature staggers away. The medicine man vanishes, leaving behind only discarded handcuffs and fog. Government agents in black SUVs soon confiscate their phones, packs, and evidence, enforcing a cover story of feral dogs killing the elk and threatening their jobs. Digital backups mysteriously vanish, prompting the vet to resign and reopen his practice. He reflects on the secrecy surrounding two Sasquatch tribes—the peaceful, human-avoiding Tsul'Kalu and the predatory Judaculla—questioning the government's motives while vowing to seek answers independently.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
Liam goes ghost hunting with Luke Null, who spends an hour and a half drinking alone in an abandoned asylum. Liam's off the sauce and pretending to be an athlete again, ChatGPT is concerned about Binder's mental health, and Will's starting to feel comfortable in his own skin this Halloween. SUPPORT BLANDINO'S PIZZA: https://fridaybeers.shop/collections/af-pod FOLLOW OUR SOCIALS: https://www.flowcode.com/page/almostfridaypod SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com to get 50% off sitewide, plus an extra 20% off select favorites and more limited-time deals during their Early Black Friday Sale. And use Promo Code FRIDAY at checkout for an extra $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. See site for details. A big thanks to our advertiser, Omaha Steaks! Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/ba1zl21n #CashAppPartner Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Direct deposit, Round ups, Overdraft coverage and Discounts provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. DOWNLOAD BETTERHELP AND GET 10% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH OF ONLINE THERAPY WITH CODE “AFPOD"!!! https://www.betterhelp.com/afpod Head to https://www.squarespace.com/FRIDAY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FRIDAY. Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (02:30) - A Quick Lil Character (03:56) - Celebrity on Liam's Flight?! (05:30) - Zombies & Reboots (07:54) - Palisades Fire Arrest (12:20) - Mug Root Beer Tour & Ghost Hunting (16:01) - Luke Null on the Horn (27:10) - Halloween Costumes & Identity Crisis (32:49) - Off the Sauce (46:04) - Training for Bball (48:54) - Binder's ChatGPT Confession (54:53) - Cracker of the Week (58:08) - Characters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Zombies are on our mind this week as we dive into part 1 of the Gates of Hell Trilogy thanks to Kyle! While this isn't Scott's first experience with the film, it is Matt and Kyles and we are floored by how fun it is (when it's not slow as a zombie)! Strap in from brain rips, evil priests and the end of the world this week on HORROR MOVIE NIGHT!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode will expire in 24 hours! Missed an episode? Pick it back up anytime! Want the back catalog? Become a supporter on Patreon! patreon.com/mercuryradio More info about ARTC And Mercury at artc.org/mercury Follow us on Bluesky @mercury870
Archive 208 BigfootJoin my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support
TW - SA involving a minor October 8th: Shannon Leigh Kos Killed (2000) You never know what danger lurks around the corner. Who has nefarious intentions. On October 8th 2000 a young girl was killed by individuals who wanted nothing more than to have the thrill of the kill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tuesday episodes are back! Sorry about the break. Hinch can't join us today, so Rossi and Tim play another draft game, deciding who from the paddock would do what in a zombie apocalypse. Let us know which picks we got right, or what you would have done differently on social media.+++Off Track is part of the SiriusXM Sports Podcast Network. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please give a 5-star rating and leave a review. Subscribe today wherever you stream your podcasts.Want some Off Track swag? Check out our store!Check out our website, www.askofftrack.comSubscribe to our YouTube Channel.Want some advice? Send your questions in for Ask Alex to AskOffTrack@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter at @askofftrack. Or individually at @Hinchtown, @AlexanderRossi, and @TheTimDurham. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This week we talk about Electronic Arts, 3DO, and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.We also discuss Jared Kushner, leveraged buyouts, and loot boxes.Recommended Book: Bandwidth by Dan CarusoTranscriptElectronic Arts, often shorthanded as EA, was founded in 1982 in California by a former Apple employee named Trip Hawkins, who also went on to found the ill-fated 3DO company, which made video game hardware, and the somewhat more prolific, but also ultimately ill-fated casual game developer Digital Chocolate.EA, though, has been an absolutely astounding success. It's business model was predicated on the premise of selling video games directly to retailers, rather than going through intermediaries. This allowed them to gain more market share than their competitors right off the bat, and it helped them glean higher margins than their competitors from each direct sale, too.EA also established an early reputation for treating its developers really well. They were the first gaming company to feature their developers in advertising and to give them platforms, promoting them as video game artists, basically, and it shared the profits netted from those direct sales with these develops—which in turn meant all the best developers really wanted to work for EA, which led to a beneficial cycle where they created better and better, and more and more financially successful games.In the late-80s, they started deviating from this model somewhat, scooping up a collection of successful independent game development studios and deviating, at times, from the creative lead's vision when releasing their games. They also refocused a fair bit of their resources on franchises, like the immensely successful, as it turned out, Madden NFL series, and they branched out into producing games for the console market, including the still-new Nintendo Entertainment System, in 1990.That same year, EA went public on the NASDAQ, the company got new leadership when Hawkins decided to refocus on his far less successful 3DO hardware startup, and in an interesting twist, the arrival of the Sony Playstation in North America caused EA to drop support for 3DO hardware in the mid-90s so it could refocus on Playstation games, which were a lot more lucrative.By the mid-90s, EA had an astonishingly large and successful software library, including franchises like the aforementioned Madden games and the FIFA soccer games, but also celebrity-tied games like Shaq Fu, and military shooters like Jungle and Urban Strike.By the early-2000s, EA was making exclusive licensing deals with the NFL and ESPN, in order to stave off newfound sports game competitors, and it was the only video game company to consistently make a profit, most others experiencing feast and famine cycles, with periodic wins, but a whole lot of losses they had to cover with the profits from those wins. EA, in contrast, had a reliable stable of profit-sources, and it thus had a whole lot of leverage in terms of attracting and retaining talent, but also getting big names and brands on board, for collaborative projects.What I'd like to talk about today is what happened to EA during and following the 2008 economic crisis, and how and why it recently became an acquisition target for Saudi Arabia.—In 2008, when the global economy was collapsing, EA suffered a bad holiday sales season and fired 1,100 employees and closed 12 of their facilities early the following year. Later in 2009, the company announced the firing of another 1,500 employees, which was about 17% of their total workforce at the time, and in 2010 they acquired a gaming company that focused on mobile games, which were becoming increasingly popular, now that many people had touch-capable smartphones, which brought hot new franchises like Angry Birds under their brand umbrella.On the strength of that acquisition and all those downsizings, in early 2011, EA announced that it hit $3.8 billion in revenue in the financial year for the first time, and in early 2012, it announced it surpassed $1 billion in digital revenue during the previous year, which was a huge figure that early in the digital media landscape. It used some of those profits to scoop up another mobile-first gaming company, adding properties like Plants vs Zombies and Peggle to their library.EA completed another mass-firing in 2013, dismissing 10% of their employees under what they called a reorganization, around the same time they announced an exclusive license with Disney that would allow them to develop Star Wars games.Their stock value boomed in the following years, as a result of those cost-savings measures, and those new relationships, and emboldened by record-high stock valuations, in the mid-20-teens, the company started releasing big-name games, like Star Wars Battlefront 2, with random-content loot boxes and other sorts of microtransactions.This did not go over well with players, who decried these in-game purchasing options as ‘pay to win' mechanics, as players could pay more money to get better characters and equipment, and a lot of the content, even after paying for the expensive games, was still locked behind paywalls, requiring more payments to unlock that content. A bunch of gaming journalists cried foul on this shift as the game careened toward its full release, as did a whole lot of early players, and Disney complained, too, so by the time it hit shelves, the game's loot system was substantially changed, but that whole controversy spooked investors, and led to an 8.5% stock value drop in just a single month, knocking $3.1 billion from the company's valuation. As a result of that controversy, EA also became the face for a larger legal and legislative debate about in-game purchases and how it's kinda sorta like gambling, from that point forward.Soon after, EA experienced a series of bad quarters, including a huge drop of 13.3% to its valuation when a major entry in one of their larger franchises, Battlefield V, was released late, and received very mixed reviews when it was released, which led to a million fewer sold copies than anticipated. The game was also lagging in terms of gameplay behind smaller, nimbler competitors, including then-burgeoning Fortnite.The company saw an overall boost with the surprise success of Apex Legends, and the COVID-19 pandemic boosted sales dramatically for a while, since everyone was staying home, which allowed EA to gobble up a few more competing companies with successful franchises, and they knocked out a few more successful Star Wars games, as well.In early 2021, Saudi Arabia's public investment funds bought 7.4 million shares of EA for about $1.1 billion, which flew under the radar for most gamers, but that'll be important in a moment.Later that year, the company experienced a massive hack, a lot of its data, including the source code for games, stolen and sold on the dark web. EA bought some more competitors, but word on the street in 2022 was the the higher ups at EA were quietly shopping the company around, themselves looking to be acquired by a larger entity, on the scale of Apple or Disney.In early 2023, the company announced more mass-layoffs and launched another internal reorganization. It gutted several of its most popular gaming sub-brands, including BioWare, it cancelled an upcoming Star Wars game, and it announced that it would be shifting away from licensing agreements and refocusing on EA-owned IP.The pattern of layoffs leading to better financial fortunes didn't pay off this time, though. In early 2025, EA divulged that it expected to underperform in the coming year, several of its big-name titles not doing as well as expected; the company cast blame on the market, but players and journalists pointed at the company's gutting of its big-name studios, and the firing of many of its veteran developers to explain the reduced sales.EA had another mass-firing in April of this year, and followed by another in May, which paralleled an announcement that they would no longer be moving forward with a big, planned Black Panther game.In late September of 2025, EA announced that it had reached a deal, worth $55 billion, to go private, no longer selling shares on the stock market, with the financial assistance of a group of investors, which included Affinity Partners, which is led by Jared Kushner, US President Trump's son-in-law, Silver Lake, which is a US-based private equity firm that helps make these sorts of big sales happen, and the aforementioned Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.This deal isn't done yet, it still needs to get regulatory approval and a successful vote by stockholders, but it seems likely to go through, since the US regulatory environment is pretty lax at the moment, and because Kushner is involved, it's unlikely President Trump will take a personal disliking to it.But the big story here seems to be that Saudi Arabia is buying up not just a video game company, but one of the biggest and most successful video gaming companies in the world, which, although it's lost a lot of fan-credibility over the years, still owns some massively influential intellectual property and has just a stunning number of relationships and connections throughout the media world, alongside its huge valuation.If the sale does go through, and we should know for sure by sometime around June 2026, it would be the largest-ever leveraged buyout, which means the purchase was completed by using borrowed money that was borrowed against the asset being purchased; so those investors have taken out debt against EA itself, which is an increasingly common means of buying a large asset on the cheap, but it also typically burdens that asset with a simply astounding amount of debt which must then be recouped, often by selling off undervalued assets.When this happens to a newspaper, for instance, the buyer will often sell off the paper's real estate and fire all their employees, to make money and pay off that debt, and in this case, there's a chance that debt will be paid by throwing up a bunch of new paywalls and really leaning into those in-game transactions that nobody really liked, including politicians, back in the day, but which in this current regulatory environment would probably be allowed, and they would probably make some serious bank off of it initially, before players started getting wise and moving on to other games released by less predatory companies.The really interesting facet of this story, though, is the question of why Saudi Arabia wants a video game company.And to understand that, it's important to understand that, first, the country's Public Investment Fund is meant to help its economy shift away from purely extractive resources, like oil, and it has thus invested in all sorts of things, including luxury beach resorts, minority stakes in financial service companies like Citigroup, stakes in companies like Disney and Boeing and Meta, and increasingly, investments in companies run by allies of President Trump, like the aforementioned Affinity Partners, which was formed by Jared Kushner.So this is an economic play, but also a political play, almost certainly, by the Saudis, to get in good with the people who are in good with the US government.It's also been alleged that this might be an attempt by the Saudis to engage in what's being called game-washing, which is similar to greenwashing, but instead of trying to make a company seem green and sustainable by doing kinda sorta green things, but only as a veneer to cover up the opposite, in this case it means using sports and video games and the like to increase a nation's reputation with humanistic seeming things, despite, well, the truth being much more complicated.Just as when the Fund participated in buying a Premier League football, a soccer team, back in 2021, then, alongside their concomitant establishment of LIV Gold, a golf league meant to compete with the PGA, this investment in EA, and other investments it's made in video game companies like Capcom and Nexon, might be part of a larger effort to diversify the nation's brand, not just its economics. It's human rights record is abysmal, and it's possible they're trying to cover that up, make people forget about it, by creating more connections between Saudi Arabia and more positive things, like sports and games and the like.There are additional concerns about this purchase of EA, too, by the way, because Saudi Arabia's cultural values are very anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-liberal, democratic values. So there are fears that we might see less representation and fewer what we might call western values portrayed in the games released by these studios, as a result of this ownership.The folks running EA have said their core values will remain unchanged by the buyout, but it's expected, bare-minimum, that this will lead to another several restructurings and mass-layoffs throughout the company in the coming years, to help recoup all that debt, at the end of which even the people making those promises might be long gone.Show Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Investment_Fundhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/business/dealbook/electronic-arts-buyout-jared-kushner.htmlhttps://www.wsj.com/business/deals/ea-private-deal-buyout-video-game-maker-808aefechttps://www.ft.com/content/61cef75e-ceba-43ee-80e3-040756c6154f?accessToken=zwAGQAMTiJKIkc9hzvdezrpD7tOA4wQHVsYVTw.MEUCIHND3WOT4rS4frIMIOoeXHQeil_Ma1yGrwOqUD2m306DAiEAtA_QLvpyObai9zoo_9GZSljJuJyTKxJgFHpQDcCcVsE&sharetype=gift&token=03dd6ca5-c34f-4925-8a3d-a89f4058ee80https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/ea-silver-lake-deal-jared-kushner-c145cd55?st=eZghQHhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe
Caleb and Heather are currently in Iceland searching for the mystic creatures and exotic nicotine. Everything tastes better with HOT SALT and your order can help prevent cancer. Use code MILK at firecracker.farm to save money and we donate 10% to Hunter Seven on veterans day.For a limited time, our listeners get 15% off at StopBox when you use code [PIE] at checkout. Head to stop box usa dot com and use code [PIE] for 15% off your entire order. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them our show sent youFor a limited time, our listeners get $10 off at BRUNT when you use code PIE at checkout. Just head to BRUNT workwear dot com, use the code PIE, and you're good to go. And after you order, they'll ask where you heard about BRUNT—do us a favor and tell them it was from this show