9to5.cc Podcasts: Including Go Plug Yourself (GPYS) & 9to5 Entertainment System (9ES)

We’ve been doing 9ES for something like 13 years now and when we started we usually did a “best of” episode to close out the year. Kind of like the Much Music Holiday Wrap. We’d go over all the best things we watched, played and experience throughout the year and pick our favorites.

13 years ago we were all much younger people who were much more plugged into the pop-culture zeitgeist of the world. Now? We are old men in our 40s. Two of us are parents and Keith has spent most of his time playing video games and reading comic books from when he was in high-school.

Perhaps we are not in the best position to provide any sort of quantitative judgement upon what the “best of 2024” even looks like. So we talk about Marvel Snap and League of Legends instead.

“Faker is GOAT in a gigabanger” is a sentence I want to send back in time 100 years to see what they can make of it.

To close it all off we talk a little about the conviction of 51 rapists in France and whether or not Trudeau steps down as Prime Minister. You know, holiday stuff.

Meanwhile over on Garbage Time we take a trip down memory lane and consult an actual newspaper from 1988 to see what the best toys of that year were. That spins off nicely into us just talking about what some of our favorite toys of the 80s were in general and opens up some deep wounds from Keith because he never got a slot car racing set.  If you would like to show your support and head over to Patreon and subscribe at the 9ES Deluxe tier to listen to this and all past episodes of Garbage Time that would be appreciated.

Our intro song is a brand new jam cooked up by OKU-DA just for us, do yourself a favour and check out his SoundCloud).

The post 9ES 326: Wait, This Was 2024? appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

The Montreal podcast that asks the founder of therover.ca Christopher Curtis: “Who was the artist that got you into the particular art form that you love?” – that question asked by Jared Wilder back in episode 307.

I think it’s no surprise that both Sarah and I are pretty big fans of investigative journalism in one form or another. From my college years poring over exposés in VICE to our more recent obsessions with deep-dive audio investigations we’ve been avid supporters of journalism that uncovers hard to-tell (and sometimes hard to read) stories and contextualizes them in meaningful ways. All that to say – we’ve been fans of The Rover for some time now and we’re thrilled to finally have Christopher Curtis on the show.

If you’re not familiar The Rover is a Montreal based investigative journalism project that focuses on Montreal and Quebec but also turns towards Canada and the rest of the world from time to time. Honestly, they do some of the best investigative journalism you’ll read on the internet and the fact that it is local and mostly focuses on Montreal and Quebec is a nice bonus if you’re the average Go Plug Yourself listener. Anyways, it’s fundraising time for The Rover so I urge you to head over to therover.ca, read a few articles and if you like what you’re reading consider hitting that “Support Us” button in the top right corner of the page if you’ve got the means. At the time of writing they’re about 50% of their way to their $10,000 goal for this year.

Anyhow – Chris joins Sarah and I to talk about the rover, the state of Canadian politics and so much more. Enjoy the show!

Oh and by the way – the defunct journalism website that Sarah and I could not remember the name of was The Correspondent – which sadly stopped publishing in January 0f 2021.

As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Leighland Beckman and Aural Turpitude!

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and sometimes blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.

The post Christopher Curtis (TheRover.ca) – GPYS 308 appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

If you haven’t been following the saga of Luigi Mangione and the assassination of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson well – I don’t know what to tell you. I guess listen to this episode since I think we do a pretty good job of running through the main talking points.

Anyways, let me tell you about Andrew Witty.

Andrew Witty is the new CEO of UnitedHealth – he makes 23.5 million dollars a year (here’s a fun tool here to tell you how much CEOs make with a helpful relation to how much more they make than the median employee, in Witty’s case he makes 352 times more than the median employee).

That’s well over double the amount of his recently assassinated by predecessor Brian Thompson – who apparently made about 10 million a year.

Despite all that – a video has leaked from after said assassination where Witty doubles down and informed shareholders that denying claims is actually in the best interest of everyone involved:

In a video recorded after the Dec. 4 murder of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said his company’s policy of rejecting a certain percentage of claims for coverage was in the best interests of all stakeholders—because the alternative would be a worst-case scenario of a systemic collapse in the health care system.“We guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe or unnecessary care to be delivered in a way that makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable,” he told employees.

That’s right. By denying insurance claims they’re actually keeping the entire health care system! It’s the insurance companies that are the real heroes! Not the Luigi Mangione’s of the world!

deep breath

We also have now all watched “The Batman”.

Meanwhile over on Garbage Time we shift back to our usual pop-culture driven silliness. Keith continues to spend as much time in the late 90s as possible by almost exclusively reading comics and playing video games from when he was in highschool. Scott and Keith are both watching Interior Chinatown and we fan-cast the inevitable Fast and the Furious reboot. If you would like to show your support and head over to Patreon and subscribe at the 9ES Deluxe tier to listen to this and all past episodes of Garbage Time that would be appreciated.

Our intro song is a brand new jam cooked up by OKU-DA just for us, do yourself a favour and check out his SoundCloud).

One more thing – we mention Jon’s beat poetry of the Luca Mangione “happening” but it truly must be observed to be appreciated. Like a modern e e cummings.

Enjoy:

deny defend depose

assassinate Brian Thompson

united health claim refusal 10.9%->22.7%

NYSE:UNH 2022 profit 20.6b on 324b rev

ai refusal bot

4chan hit list Brian only made 10 million $/yr (list 9 med ins CEOs > 20 mil)

book: delay deny defend by jay feinman

whistleblower claim 2011 unh defraud medicare billions

monopoly money bag in central park

jon’s dza dza insurance

equally bear risks not equally bear costs

righteous justice vs vigilantism

im spartacus

The post 9ES325: Deny Depose Delita appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

The Montreal podcast that asks New York comedian Jared Wilder: “Which of your friend’s parents did you want to hook up with?” returns for another chaotic freewheeling round of podcasting gold. That question asked of course by none other than the Hardcore Hero – The Green Phantom back in episode 306 (the views and opinions of The Green Phantom do not represent those of this podcast or its hosts).

So breaking slightly from tradition I must first admit that Jared Wilder is not from Montreal. However, he co-hosts a football show over on YouTube called “In the Trenches” with our very own Chris Venditto so we’re going to consider him an honorary Montrealer for the purposes of this show.

Jared Wilder has been all over the place in New York City and Los Angeles, performing with The Groundlings and Second City and having studied and performed at some of New York’s finest acting schools. *cough cough Stella Adler cough cough*

Obviously with a classy guest like that we spend a bunch of time talking about pro-wrestling and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. That’s how we roll!

You should definitely check out “In the Trenches” to support our boy Venditto and Jared and you can keep up to date with Jared on Instagram and Facebook too.

Go Plug Yourself! Be somebody!

As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Leighland Beckman and Aural Turpitude!

Chris Venditto is another funny person in Montreal who you can see all over the place and if you don’t want to miss him take the stage you should follow him on all the socials. He’s @chrisvenditto on Twitter and Instagram so you should follow him on those two things. He also produces shows with the guys at Perfect Bite Productions who you should also follow on Instagram and on Facebook.

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and sometimes blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.

The post Jared Wilder – GPYS 307 appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

The Montreal podcast that really enjoyed Transformers: One and thinks Hasbro sucks returns to the airwaves for another episode of podcasting goodness.

To say that Scott really enjoys Transformers is an understatement. He clarifies in this episode that he is really only a mega-fan of what’s known as “Transformers G1” which specifically refers to the original run of toys and accompanying cartoons from 1984 to 1990 (or 1992, depending on how you’re counting). But still – that man has seen Transformers: The Movie well over a hundred times. So it was with mild trepidation that we entered into a viewing of 2024’s “Transformers: One”.

But guess what? It was pretty good. Was it the greatest thing to ever happen to transforming robots? No. But few things are in the last 20 to 30 years. It was an effective telling of a bit of Transformers lore that most fans might only have a cursory knowledge of. Namely the story of the friendship between Orion Pax and D-16 that would devolve into the generational conflict between Optimus Prime and the Autobots against Megatron and the Decepticons. That’s good shit man. It’s a good version of a story that only the most diehard fans are even aware of.

You know what wasn’t as entertaining as Transformers: One? That Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, the less said about that the better. So obviously we devote like 20 minutes to it.

Scott also shares his professional “comic book guy” opinion on Deadpool & Wolverine and his takes are so hot you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out what they are.

Meanwhile, over on Garbage Time – Keith is almost finished with Peter David’s 12 year run on The Incredible Hulk so we talk about that. Scott finished off Agatha All Along and makes Keith try to guess that wacky and wild origins of the comic character Jimmy Woo. If that sounds up your alley do yourself a favour and subscribe to the I <3 9ES level over on our Patreon.

Enjoy the show!

Our intro song is a brand new jam cooked up by OKU-DA just for us, do yourself a favour and check out his SoundCloud).

The post 9ES 324: Hasbro Sucks in a Million Ways appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

The Montreal podcast that asks The Green Phantom (Hardcore Hero, Canadian Table Breaker, Wrestling Legend): Did you ever shoplift as a kid? That question asked by Coolopolis Montreal’s Kristian Gravenor back in episode 304.

It’s been a few years since we’ve had Green Phantom (or “Phantom” to his friends) on the show but the door is always open for him to return. It has to be, otherwise he will just kick it down. As always this episode is a must if you’re an indie wrestling fan. Green Phantom shoots on greedy promoters, shares stories about wrestling legends and gives us a run-down of his tour of wrestling in Japan! He teamed up with Violent J from the Insane Clown Posse!

Walter J. Lyng returns again to co-host and as tends to happen Troy Stark comes along for the ride.

You can catch The Green Phantom in wrestling action next month celebrating his own very special, very violent holiday tradition: The Hardcore Holidaze Match! That will be a part of “Seasons Beatings” on December 21st at MTELUS presented by the IWS. Check out the event page on Facebook and get your tickets here.

Also, if you’re a fan of trivia: Green Phantom hosts trivia night at Brutopia every Monday – sometimes you get to meet his dog!

A true legend of Montreal. So sit back, relax, enjoy the show and try not to get thrown through a Christmas Tree.

As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Leighland Beckman and Aural Turpitude!

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and sometimes blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.

Walter J. Lyng is a stand-up comedian based out of Montreal, you should follow him on Twitter @wallygoodtimes and on Facebook: Walter J. Lyng

The post Green Phantom Returns – GPYS 306 appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

If you’re into horror movies (and if you’re a devout 9ES listening you just might be) I don’t mind telling you that ‘The Substance’ might be my favorite horror movie of 2024.

I think the shortlist here includes Longlegs and maybe Cuckoo but The Substance is an easy pick over both of those films if only because it is more interesting to look at it and sticks with you in a much, much more visceral way. The Substance also has a lot more to actually “say” than those other films and that counts for a lot too.

Donald Trump is going to be President again and there was kind of no way we weren’t going to talk about it a little, but I promise we try not to wallow too much and keep it as light as we can. Also, we recorded this on Monday so when Keith was like “Elon Musk might definitely be a part of this government”, it hadn’t happened yet. Womp womp. He gets his own whole new department of the government! What a fun and cool turn of events!

Meanwhile over on Garbage Time… we finally finish off going over Rolling Stone’s “Top 150 Best Science Fiction Movies” list that came out earlier this year. That means we finally get through the Top 10! Honestly we were pretty sure of a lot of these before we went further into the list but there were still a few surprises. Hot take – we have hot takes. If you would like to show your support and head over to Patreon and subscribe at the 9ES Deluxe tier to listen to this and all past episodes of Garbage Time that would be appreciated.

PS: Sorry this episode is a little late – Jono has strep throat so has been down for the count this week.

Our intro song is a brand new jam cooked up by OKU-DA just for us, do yourself a favour and check out his SoundCloud).

The post 9ES 323: There Is So Much Batman appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

The Montreal podcast that is proud to plug our own Lawrence Corber’s upcoming album recording “Lully” is giving you a free master class in recording a comedy album!

Walter J. Lyng, Troy Stark and now Lawrence Corber (Lully to his friends) have all been working on comedy albums in 2024 and we’re lucky enough to have all three of them on this show to (mostly) talk about just that. Honestly if you’re a fan of comedy at all you owe it to yourself to listen to this episode. It’s one part round-table discussion and one part shooting the shit by three of Montreal’s best comedians so it doesn’t get much better than that.

If you want to check out Lawrence Corber’s live album recording of “Lully” you can still get tickets! He’s recording for two nights at Montreal’s historic Comedy Nest on November 12th and 13th and tickets are available over at eventbrite.ca so get yours right now and then sit back and listen to this episode..

As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Leighland Beckman and Aural Turpitude!

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and sometimes blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.

Lawrence Corber also produces some shows you may have heard of (you should probably check out the next Healthy Living show when you get a chance) and if you’re close with him you can call him Lully. The other way to call him “Lully” is to follow him on his socials. @Lully514 on Instagram.

Walter J. Lyng is a stand-up comedian based out of Montreal, you should follow him on Twitter @wallygoodtimes and on Facebook: Walter J. Lyng

The post Lawrence Corber Album Recording “Lully” – GPYS 305 appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

I think when it comes to movies taking insane swings I am firmly “for”. Sure Francis Ford Coppola might regret spending $120 million of his own money on Megalopolis, a film that I’m told is “an overstuffed opus that’s equal parts stimulating and slapdash”, but isn’t that better than just being Avengers 11 or whatever?

It’s why a part of me (Keith) has a special place in my heart for films like Cats and Southland Tales. Cats is arguably terrible and Southland Tales is a disjointed mess of ideas that never come to fruition. But aren’t we happy they exist?

I’ll definitely see Megalopolis eventually, if only to form my opinions but also to see what the hubbub is about. (See also Joker 2). We’re kind of lead to believe that studios and producers are constantly standing in the way of visionary directors but maybe they’re actually sometimes really good at their jobs and are actually reigning in terrible ideas?

Speaking of visionary directors – we take a crack at populating the “Mount Rushmore” of horror film directors. I’m not sure if we land on a definitive four or not but we certainly make some compelling cases.

Meanwhile over on Garbage Time… we continue to dig into Rolling Stone’s “Top 150 Best Science Fiction Movies” list that came out earlier this year and we make it through another 15 movies. That means after this we will only have the Top 10 movies left to go over! We’ve got so many more opinions about the top ranked movies than the bottom ones obviously. If you would like to show your support and head over to Patreon and subscribe at the 9ES Deluxe tier to listen to this and all past episodes of Garbage Time that would be appreciated.

Our intro song is a brand new jam cooked up by OKU-DA just for us, do yourself a favour and check out his SoundCloud).

The post 9ES322: It Stinks! appeared first on 9to5 (dot cc).

Don’t call it a comeback! Loyal Go Plug Yourself listeners have noted that we haven’t had Chris Venditto on the show in a couple of months. He’s been on our Long Term Injured Reserve list for the last few months while he took care of a few things but guess what?

Chris Venditto is back, baby!

Tell your friends (and book him)!

In all seriousness it was extremely special for me to be able to have Chris back with us at the back of Grumpy’s and I thought we should celebrate his return by not having a “usual” guest and instead getting Walter J. Lyng and Troy Stark to come out and just have a free-form roundtable discussion about whatever nonsense happens to come to mind.

It was great. If it’s not for you – well, I dunno, listen to it anyways and leave a 5-star review on whatever platform you listen on. What do you want me to say?

You should be hearing more from Chris Venditto on this very podcast and you should also being seeing more of Chris around town lighting up microphones as one of this city’s finest comedians. So what are you waiting for? Listen to the show already, let’s go!

Go Plug Yourself!

As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Leighland Beckman and Aural Turpitude!

Chris Venditto is another funny person in Montreal who you can see all over the place and if you don’t want to miss him take the stage you should follow him on all the socials. He’s @chrisvenditto on Twitter and Instagram so you should follow him on those two things. He also produces shows with the guys at Perfect Bite Productions who you should also follow on Instagram and on Facebook.

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and sometimes blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.

Walter J. Lyng is a stand-up comedian based out of Montreal, you should follow him on Twitter @wallygoodtimes and on Facebook: Walter J. Lyng

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