Not a Huge Fan

The Assassination of Isaac's Acting Episode by the Coward Erik Escobar

Inspired by a Reddit thread, Isaac has been planning an episode about great acting scenes in movies. Unfortunately, this week's guest is comedian Erik Escobar, who constantly derails the conversation to make bad puns and discuss wrestling. Meanwhile, Charles debuts his new soundboard featuring multiple clips of Isaac's crutch words and laughter. Isaac attempts to conduct a serious episode featuring good acting scenes from There Will Be Blood and Magnolia while Erik giggles hysterically at clips from Tommy Wiseau's Wi-Show. This is probably our greatest/most annoying episode ever.

Minisode: Isaac and Charles Go On Other Podcasts

Isaac and Charles spent some time guesting on other podcasts and the results are examined, including Isaac's VERY CONTROVERSIAL statements. Comedian Erik Escobar is also present to talk about a certain amusement park job and his love of fusion food.

Charles went on Heather Marulli's podcast Unruly: https://soundcloud.com/heather-marulli/charles-disney-raises-my-gd-blood-pressure

Isaac went on Josh Denny's podcast March of the Pigs: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/motp/2017/11/28/220--isaac-simpson-and-josh-give-thanks-on-black-friday

Touch Me! with Conner Habib

Conner Habib is back on the podcast, this time to talk about the Weinstein Effect, and whether people are still able to touch and connect in the same ways that they did before. Isaac and Charles argue over whether it's a sex issue or a power issue. Conner points out that workplace attraction and romance is impossible to avoid because Americans are stuck working all the time. Also covered: the working relationships between porn actors and why they are superior to regular working relationships and Conner's distaste for Jordan Peterson. The "Slate article" referenced multiple times is http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2017/12/where_is_the_line_between_office_flirtation_and_sexual_harassment.html. Conner is reachable on Twitter @ConnerHabib and his podcast "Against Everyone with Conner Habib" is available on all your favorite podcast platforms and the video version is on YouTube.

Minisode: God Hates Fry

A brief followup to "The 8 Worst Podcast Voices on Gimlet Media" episode. Chris Callahan and Rachel Louie lend their opinions to an important question: does Charles have vocal fry? Is he a hypocrite for criticizing Gimlet voices when he himself may be frying away? What does Reddit have to say about this?

Porn is Good For You! with Conner Habib

This week's guest is teacher, thinker, philosopher, podcaster, and gay porn star Conner Habib. Conner shares his background and talks about how he got into porn. Noted anti-porn crusader Isaac questions whether porn is bad for society and why it might be creating the much-discussed "Herbivore Men." Other topics: Trump (of course), why you feel weird after an orgasm, Freud's death drive, and what gay men like to watch, porn-wise. Also Charles embarrasses Isaac by reading from his emails. Follow Conner on Twitter (@ConnerHabib) and subscribe to his podcast "Against Everyone with Conner Habib" on your favorite podcasting platform. Part 1 of 2 episodes.

Minisode: The Shadowbanning of Isaac Simpson

Beloved journalist Isaac Simpson wrote a benign personal essay for Medium about his experience leaving social media (https://medium.com/@IsaacSimpson/how-leaving-social-media-affects-your-mind-c9e22df2c354). When he posted it to a tech subreddit, however, a bunch of commenters freaked out and Isaac's article was removed without his knowledge. Charles and Isaac investigate! Reddit thread in question: https://www.reddit.com/r/tech/comments/7d7ac3/how_leaving_social_media_affected_my_mind/

Minisode: Apple is Screwing You

Isaac and Charles discuss a New York Times article contending that planned obsolescence (the by-design eventual failure of a gadget) is not a real thing. Both disagree and cite their own phone experiences as proof. This leads to an argument over whether news orgs should insert fact-checking parentheticals into their headlines, as well as how Trump's tweets are bad for the country, and if George Soros is too-often unfairly maligned as a dark controller of the left rather than just a liberal version of the Koch brothers. This episode is best listened to on an iPhone that continually crashes.

Southland Tales is a Masterpiece

Audience favorite Evan Williams is back on this week to talk with Charles and Isaac about Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko followup Southland Tales, which was released in the US ten years ago. Charles thinks the film is a flawed masterpiece, Isaac believes it's an ego-driven failure, and Evan falls somewhere in between. Everyone attempts to explain the plot, to little avail. The big question: how does this movie exist? Isaac suggests it's a filmmaker drunk on acclaim and power, Charles claims it is pure artistic expression. The movie's minutia is examined, from the Rock's seemingly-darker skin tone to its possibly red-pilled agenda to anti-Semitism! (Guess who detects anti-Semitism). Also discussed: Isaac's reverse-racist neighbors, adult movie titles, how Obama is the villain of the second Transformers film, and why "the Southland" is the best name for LA County. Southland Tales can be viewed on a variety of streaming services or on Blu-Ray and DVD. Also there are three graphic novels that set up the movie. It's very complicated.

Is This the End of Great Men?

Charles recently read the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs, and that becomes today's jumping-off point for a conversation with Isaac and returning guest Dan D'Aprile about "great men" and whether what fuels them to achieve is also what powers their dark sides, as seen in countless recent examples like Weinstein, Louis CK, and so many others. Are great men so used to imposing their will on the field in which they excel that they begin applying it everywhere else in their lives? Do powerful men harrass women because they can't conceive of a woman not being interested in them? Walter Isaacson argued that Jobs was a great man but could have been a nicer guy. Is that actually true? You can probably guess everyone's answers to these questions.

Episode 666: Elsa Toilet Wedding Prank

Time for an #Elsagate investigation! Charles and Isaac are joined by Evan Williams and Dan D'Aprile for a dark trip down the rabbit hole that is #Elsagate, a broad description for a series of creepy and unsettling videos and cartoons showing up on YouTube, ostensibly aimed at children but featuring inappropriate imagery utilizing pop culture characters like Spider-Man and Elsa from Frozen. Theories abound regarding #Elsagate's origins: is it pedo ring communication? Russian asymmetrical warfare? Corporate intrigue? Everyone presents their own theories, from automation run amok to an attack on Google to force them to more stringently police user content. Everyone plays a game of "Guess Which Conspiracy Isaac Believes In." A very disturbing episode for the whole family!