Culture Dumps

Oh to be alive during the great Sheen meltdown of 2011. It was a glorious time for tabloid culture and social media and content hosting platforms. The tale of Charlie Sheen is long and complex with inexplicable ups and downs. Ryan is joined by Eric D of Meth Syndicate to get to the bottom of what was really going on, and they attempt to answer the age old question, “was he actually winning?” 

This is the harrowing conclusion of our two part interview with the icon Vanessa “Daisy” de la Hoya. Vanessa explains the origins of Daisy and tells the true story of “Daisy of Love.” Complete with bed bugs, on camera brawls, love, loss, and plenty more that truly makes this series one of our all time best. Her story is complex and not an easy one to tell so who better to sum it all up than Daisy herself.

The dump gods have smiled upon all of us! This is part one of our interview with the legendary Vanessa “Daisy” de la Hoya, yes, Daisy from DAISY OF LOVE and ROCK OF LOVE. This is a true glimpse into the world of some of the most notorious reality television of all time. As Daisy, Vanessa moved to LA specifically to be on Rock of Love season two.  Her charm, humor, and honesty landed her her very own dating show where a house full of hooligans competed for her love and the rest is history.

Our latest special guest is Jeff Uncapher, an accomplished reality tv producer and director with hundreds of episodes worth of credits under his belt. Jeff specializes in home renovation shows which is a realm of reality tv we have yet to dive into on this show. There’s a lot more to it than just fixing houses, there’s also grizzly bears, on site accidents, and deep personal connections to the folks Jeff and his team aim to please by helping them build their dream homes.

The term “found footage” gets thrown around a lot within the world of media nerddom but our pal Bret Berg is definitely an authority on the subject. Bret and Ryan discuss the many facets of the world of found footage and niche media in general.
*this was originally a patreon exclusive but we decided to make it available for all dumpers!

While the entertainer that came to be known solely as “Gallagher” made his name smashing watermelons, he was actually a fully developed comedic powerhouse, until he wasn’t. Gallagher’s signature bit overshadowed much of his other work, which was, in reality, about 95% of what he did on stage. On this episode we breakdown how a silly melon smashing jester became the target of harsh criticism who was washed away in the changing tide of the times.

Scot Sothern is a true outlaw artist. Sothern made his name by photographing society’s most looked down upon, particularly, street prostitutes. Never exploitative and always humanizing, Scot’s work truly shines a light on the dark corners of the city of Los Angeles. His book “Curb Service” is one of Ryan’s all time favorites and his new book “Look at Me” is just as incredible. Whether you love his work or hate it, one thing is for sure, this guy is a fucking bad ass.

For this incredibly bleak dump Ryan is joined by comedian and smoker Ian Fidance to discuss the backwards world of anti-smoking ads. Big Tobacco has a long history of questionable advertising but none more questionable than their “youth prevention” programs. How does one advertise how bad a product is while simultaneously advertising how cool that product is? Tune in to find out!

It had to happen, we had to cover one of the most infamous internet figures of all time, Harambe. Join us as we discover how a tragic day at the zoo became the stuff of internet legends for years to come. Ryan is joined by James Ford to discuss the brief, yet impactful history of the most memeable gorilla of all time.

Following the fall out of 9/11, America turned its guns toward Afghanistan and Iraq. France, a long time ally, did not sanction or support the US’s interest in fighting Iraq and Saddam Hussein. In an effort of Bush era lunacy, Americans started renaming French Fries in “Freedom Fries.” In an act of Patriotic fervor, the trend of Freedom Fries quickly took hold. In true dump fashion, the entire phenomenon seems completely silly in retrospect