The US breaks more records. Holograms praise people. Discount full body contact leopard encounter. Diamonds made from the sky. Black Plague remembrance day. Expensive asteroid. Caspian Sea Monster. Misplaced nuclear bombs. Lisbon's destruction in 1755. Jason makes significant advances in Flat Earth Theory. Tigers and a bear predict the upcoming presidential election outcome via watermelons. General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation: The films of Neil Breen: In praise of Neil Breen, an auteur ...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 27 min
We discuss Aaron SOARkin's latest directorial/screenwriting endeavor The Trial of the Chicago 7. Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Chicago 7 prosecutor: ‘They were going to try to destroy our trial. And they did a damn good job.’ The Real Abbie Hoffman by Nathan Robinson The worst song choice for the intro montage of the movie: 'We're Going to Chicago' DANIEL PEMBERTON | The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) Official Song / OST ‘Banality Punctured By Moments Of Sheer Horror:’ A Reporter Remembers ...
Oct 30, 2020•1 hr 54 min
One host tests negative for the novel coronavirus. We discuss the news of Amy Coney Barrett being sworn in for obviously nefarious reasons, the climate continues to catastrophize, and COVID continues to expose the worrisome machinations of capitalism and wreak physiological, psychological, and economic havoc more generally. We also discuss the differences between the South Korean healthcare model vs that of the disastrous US variety. General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation: Doctors Without ...
Oct 28, 2020•1 hr 34 min
We talk about the woefully underreported story of Daniel Hale, who leaked The Drone Papers to the press, and was arrested under the Espionage Act in May 2019. We go on to discuss whistleblowers, dissent, the persecution of Eugene Debs, US drone programs, and more. CORRECTION: The most successful third party run in US history was the Progressive Party in 1912, not Eugene Debs' Socialist Party run during that same year. Stop the Prosecution of Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Tell Lawmakers to Refo...
Oct 22, 2020•1 hr 50 min
We get mildly zooted on the nootropic equivalent of adrenochrome and languidly drift and fiercely machete our way through a very small percentage of the internet. Extraterrestrial life. Vlad the Impaler. Nuclear football. Herd immunity is genocide. COVID Derangement Syndrome. Flights to nowhere. A chicken nugget launched into space. Beheadings. 500 lashings for blasphemy. Beer flood. Kinetoscope anniversary. Top Gun sequel. Woodrow Wilson and Trump join their own pandemics. Nancy Pelosi will kil...
Oct 18, 2020•1 hr 49 min
We experiment with a more freeform style of conversation and then attempt to do a segment we intended to do before Episode 001 where we rifle through births, deaths, events, and holidays that occurred on the day we're recording. We revisit the War on Drugs, Chuck Yeager, Teddy Roosevelt's thwarted assassination attempt, and the underlying connections between National Dessert Day, National Pet Obesity Day, and National Fossil Day, among other meandering mental associations. General Recommendation...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 44 min
QAnon is still too idiotic to live. Trump still has COVID and is in a perpetually manic state. Biden is still depressingly terrible in every way. David Brooks is still a bloviating, smug moron. The Roaring Twenties still should not be idealized. The future is still a sprawling landmine field of "unknown unknowns." General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: Hades JNM's Recommendations: Swallow Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Read The most unhinged Trump conspiracy theory comes from – who el...
Oct 08, 2020•1 hr 23 min
We mark the horrific milestone of passing one million COVID deaths (roughly 25% in the US which has 4% of the population), briefly rehash the grotesquery of the Presidential Debate, contemplate the possibility of a Trump coup, face the fact that many other experts and politicians were just as deceitful about the reality of COVID as Trump was in the early days of the pandemic, and do a thorough read-through of a classic Current Affairs article by Luke Savage ( @LukewSavage ) about the "Curse of B...
Oct 05, 2020•2 hr 17 min
Hoped for something truly unhinged and hilarious and got more bleak mediocrity instead. Again. The funniest part is that we got up early in the morning to watch this shit. Joke's on us. Again. Locationless Locations Every show-related link is corralled and available here . Heat Death of the Universe - @heatdeathpod JD Newland - @jdnewland Joshua Nomen-Mutatio - @ImbalancingAct Please send all Letters of Derision, Indifference, Inquiry, Mild Elation, et cetera to: heatdeathoftheuniversepodcast@gm...
Oct 01, 2020•1 hr 25 min
We talk over and about large chunks of the 2012 HBO Original Film Game Change. Josh uses his midwestern roots to replicate Sarah Palin's Fargo-esque accent. Jason refuses to pronounce her name correctly. We give sweeping takes on the last two decades in the realm of political theater and/or circuses. We agonized over which of the following political films to do a commentary track for: First round picks: Man of the Year (2006) An American Carol (2008) Recount (2008) Swing Vote (2008) W. (2008) Wa...
Sep 28, 2020•2 hr 5 min
Things get pretty loose on today's edition of Clickbait Roulette. We also went on to record a movie commentary for Game Change immediately after this. General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation: How It's Made JD's Recommendation: A Visit From the Goon Squad Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Read Meet Mongolia's most eligible eagle hunter We're all medieval monks now 'Most clothes can be recycled' and 8 other myths 'Killer whales attacked my yacht for 45 minutes' Scientists win award for givi...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 31 min
We glance into the fascinating and interlinked historical events of the Business Plot (to overthrow FDR's White House on behalf of a handful of wealthy industrialists), the Bonus Army's March upon Washington DC, and the figure of Major General Smedley Darlington Butler and his rallying cry against the profit motive as connected to warfare, in his book War is a Racket. General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: Internet Archive: Classic PC Games JNM's Recommendation: They Shall Not Grow Old Fur...
Sep 23, 2020•1 hr 39 min
In this late night edition, we talk about wishful thinking, hero-worship, myth-making, cults of personality, et cetera, within in the political realm, be it through mind-numbingly inane fanfiction, terrible Hollywood screenwriters, or the delusional cries into the chasm of twitter and reddit and the like. General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: The Boys (again, oops) & Psycho Mall Walker JNM's Recommendation: One Strange Rock Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Read No Politician Deserv...
Sep 22, 2020•1 hr 33 min
Our mid week early morning episode centers around two of the latest articles from Luke Savage ( @LukewSavage ) in the ideologically-aligned warm embrace of Jacobin. The first regarding the absolute imperative need for a Green New Deal to even possibly combat the effects of climate change. The second deals with the perpetual disappointment of the Biden campaign, which not only will never be pushed leftward, but won't even deliver on its own lukewarm platform and promises. General Recommendations ...
Sep 17, 2020•1 hr 32 min
Round three of the adrenaline-surging, highest of high stakes endeavor of Clickbait Roulette. It's a fun one. Or it isn't. You be the judge. Our fate is in your hands while our mouths are in your ears. General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation: In Fabric JD's Recommendation: Liveship Traders Trilogy Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Read 4 insane things just happened to Tesla FBI investigating report of 'guy in jetpack' World's slowest musical composition changes chord Talking robots could ...
Sep 13, 2020•1 hr 44 min
But seriously, of course clean water is a right and not, as some seem to believe, a privileged commodity. The Biden campaign's recent, gleeful acceptance and touting of the endorsement from former Michigan GOP Governor, and obvious angel of death, Rick Snyder—this sparked an interest in taking a closer, retrospective look at the still ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Ways to help: 6 Flint Area Organizations That Are Making a Difference General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: Raised ...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr 27 min
We take a much needed breather from all things psychologically-battering and ulcer-inducing (politics, climate catastrophe, pandemics, Aaron Sorkin) in order to discuss and recount the brand new (and extremely anticipated by yours truly) Charlie Kaufman film I'm Thinking of Ending Things and delve into Kaufman's magnificent filmography more generally. There will be significant spoilers—including this one: we highly recommend the movie, so go check it out (possibly more than once) on netflixdotco...
Sep 08, 2020•3 hr 2 min
Watch along with us. It's better than just watching this piece of shit without us. "The original draft of the screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, is said to have been harder-hitting and to have ended by explicitly linking American support for the mujahideen to 9/11. Reportedly, Tom Hanks found this too "political". Instead of 9/11, then, Charlie Wilson's War ends with Wilson failing to persuade Congress to invest positively in Afghanistan. "We fucked up the endgame", a title ca...
Sep 03, 2020•1 hr 46 min
We wanted to hand over a lighthearted episode after the dark clouds of the DNC/RNC and we did! Lighthearted is a synonym for three-fourths drunk, yes? Yes. We recorded a commentary track for 2007's dull and infuriating Aaron Sorkin penned, conveniently glossed over, slice of modern US imperialist Cold War history, Charlie Wilson's War . Immediately after this we continued to celebrate everything and nothing by consuming more alcohol and attempted to make an episode reflecting upon the film and o...
Sep 03, 2020•1 hr 11 min
We attempt to countenance the disorienting glare of the flag-draped COVID-19 vector euphemized as the "Republican National Convention." We cause vital blood vessels to explode in our brains by bearing witness to the all-sensory bombardment of a turbo-speed edit of the "highlights." Afterward, we try to supply the ballast needed for our RNC-battered minds by listening to Chris Hedges explain why "lesser of two evil"-ism is a dead end and cannot be an option in electoral politics, as well as the i...
Aug 30, 2020•1 hr 56 min
Chronic sleep-deprivation collides with another early midweek recording session and a few rounds of Clickbait Roulette™. Patents were proposed. Goof-abouts were gathered. News headline veils were lifted. Typhoon "Barbie" was on its way as well. General Recommendations JD's recommendation: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin 刘慈欣 ( @liu_cixin ) JNM's recommendation: Broadcast (in general) - Tender Buttons (more specifically) Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Read Information about the 2019 film ...
Aug 26, 2020•1 hr 17 min
After surviving the psychic gulag of watching all eight Fast & Furious movies, we jumped ship out of that frying pan into the fire of the 2020 Democratic National Convention and said our piece. Come for the livid reactions from yours truly, stay for the markedly better explanations from Briahna Joy Gray. General Recommendations JD's recommendation: Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was JNM's recomendation: Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot Further Reading, View...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 56 min
Right before we summarized the madness glimpsed by our non-stop watching of all eight Fast & Furious movies, we watched and spoke over the trailer for the upcoming, ninth installment of the sprawling franchise, F9. Trailer: FAST 9 Super Bowl Trailer (2020) Fast And Furious 9, John Cena Send us a text Support the show...
Aug 19, 2020•5 min
Listen and watch along with us and our unhinged rambling, while cars become Cars, family becomes Family, Ja Rule and nü-metal triumph together, and product placement reaches into your brain, causing an insatiable thirst for Corona (cerveza, non-virulent), nitrous oxide, and a Sobe/Snapple/Pizza Hut chaser to be smashed into your face as you drive your skydiving car out of an airplane one quarter mile at a time. § Also, you'll hear literal crickets throughout the track due to my window being open...
Aug 19, 2020•2 hr 18 min
Immediately after recording our previous episode, we moved the recording equipment in front of the TV, and began to watch all eight of the movies from the Fast & Furious franchise, in a single, virtually uninterrupted, sitting. We'd never seen any of these movies prior. We laughed and cried ( and cried and laughed about it all again ) through approximately 16 hours of running time. We reflect upon this very ill-advised act during today's episode. General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation:...
Aug 19, 2020•1 hr 9 min
We've returned, against the odds, with a conversation centered around the news of Kamala Harris becoming the VP candidate alongside Joe "C'mon, Man" Biden. The centerpiece of the episode was the Jacobin article "Joe Biden Has Found His Neoliberal Match in Kamala Harris" by Branko Marcetic . General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: 7 Wonders JNM's Recommendation: Cinemania Further Reading, Viewing, Listening Colbert & Kamala: It was a de-BATE! IT WAS A DEBATE! DEBATE! DEBATE! Richard Medh...
Aug 16, 2020•1 hr 32 min
After pushing through the knotty chaos of equipment acquisition stumbling blocks, a self-taught crash course in sound engineering and editing, relearning how to think and speak in the context of Podcast, and the evergreen, debilitating, self-conscious states of our very minds, we offer up this inaugural episode. We blindly delve into some truncated and often misleading news headlines, predict their contents, then reveal the actual gristle and bone behind their clickbait exteriors. General Recomm...
Aug 14, 2020•1 hr 13 min
