We talk the Tomie manga by Junji Ito, The Northman, Kendrick's new album, culture before and after Odd Future, 12-year cycles, the death of wokeism, not thinking about the art we create, and how Tyler Durden is the male version of Tomie. Lots of rap talk on this one with rapper Luna D.

Opening song: "Run" by Lunv D and Lord Bile

Closing song: "Nobody" by Lunv D

On this episode, we invited Adam Lehrer (Safety Propaganda, System of Systems, Communions), to talk about Ryu Murakami’s Piercing and In the Miso Soup. Topics discussed include obssessive compulsion, perversion, creativity requiring sacrifices (being sacred), and lots of other shit. We had a lot of laughs on this one. But at what cost.

I wasn’t close enough to my mic in this one, sorry about that.

Kelby and I discuss Vols. 14-21 of the Berserk manga. Have you ever heard two guys discuss philosophy? How about in the context of a cartoon? Does that sound like a good time? Let me tell you this: trust your instincts. We talk betrayal, loyalty, and badass stuff. Powerful episode.

Is Metal Gear Solid the best game to ever exist on the PS1? Yes indeed.

On this episode, we talk:

Ethics in games journalism, how we got into gaming, Sega Saturn, the history of Metal Gear, motion blur creating a dreamlike state, predetermined fate, the life-affirming nature of Kojima’s work, The Creative Gene, reinserting cringe joy into art, the goofy brilliance of Kojima’s character names, Snake’s horniness, and our favorite MGS games. Fella knows so much about Metal Gear, and he gets on a roll in this episode. A must-listen for Metal Gear Solid fans.

Follow Fella on Twitter @outer_zon3

On this episode, we talk about 2015's Bloodborne with return guest David Simmons, an ex-drug dealer and scholar of the game. David tells us about discovering the game in a Baltimore trap house, and we talk about the lore, writing the game as you play it, performing creativity, and favorite bosses/moments. Is Bloodborne the most nihilistic game ever made? Is it the hardest? What does "Victorian" mean?

Deep episode. It's Gus's first birthday, which leads us to talk about our own families. We also talk about Elden Ring, upside-down titties, our recent explosion of creativity, swords, and trying to get our fathers' approval.

Here's the audiobook of my first novel, By the Time We Leave Here, We'll be Friends, narrated by Kelby Losack. It won the Wonderland Award in 2010 for Best Novel. It's surreal and cold and takes place in a Soviet gulag in 1952. Here's the description:

By the Time We Leave Here, We'll Be Friends is the story of four prisoners who must escape from a Siberian gulag overrun by violent gangsters circa 1952. In order to successfully make it across the tundra, they must trick a fellow prisoner into following them, so that they can cannibalize him when they run out of food. Meticulously researched and darkly surreal, By the Time blends historical fiction with haunting imagery and brutal body horror, culminating in an ending that readers have been talking about since the book debuted.

Depression is real, but there's also nothing you can do about it. In this episode, we are talking about REALITY. We'll be back to talking about movies in May, but for now we're taking a break to read American sci-fi and play Elden Ring. Gus wouldn't sleep in this episode, which where the title comes from. Peek inside for a look at real fatherhood hours. The desperation, the rants, the losing of the mind...enjoy. There are two recordings of piss in this episode.

Kelby and I chat on the phone for a bit. We're taking a few weeks off from watching movies for the podcast, so instead we talk about haters, Ninja Turtles, and writing. Nice soundtrack from my kid's toys.

This is a big day for the Agitator boys. We have Jack from the Perfume Nationalist come through to talk about Miike's breakout hit, the 1999 romantic comedy/torture porn Audition.