Don't Encourage Us

Don't Encourage Us

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Don't Encourage Us episodes

  • The Last of Us: Why FEDRA Isn't the Villain the Show Thinks It Is

    We open with a look ahead at upcoming episodes covering Remo Williams (1985), the Expeditionary Force audiobook series, Chrysalis (2020), One Cut of the Dead (2017), and Invincible (2021).

    Then: a deep dive into the first two episodes of HBO's The Last of Us.

    Topics discussed:

    • Why FEDRA's actions seem justified and the show hasn't earned its villain framing
    • The game killed an ally via FEDRA soldiers — the show made a different choice and it may cost them
    • Cordyceps transmission logic: if it's not airborne, why does a bite matter more than a scratch?
    • The tendril signal network: how does a fungus without a nervous system communicate instantly?
    • Is the show accidentally executing immune humans with its scanning protocol?
    • The Walking Dead structural trap: can two characters sustain a multi-season series?
    • Zombie genre saturation: is this the wrong time for another post-apocalyptic show?
    • What parallel storylines could prevent the show from becoming a repetitive survival march

      • Train alongside Remo Williams on YouTube or Tubi

      Celebrate Columbus Day with the Amazon Audible Audiobook

      Chrysalis is everywhere but here it is on YouTube:

      One Cut of the Dead is available on Shudder or to rent on Amazon

      Tag along with Invincible's wild ride 

       

      Reach the show at [email protected]
      Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

      https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

      Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

      1 hr 16 min
    • Story Break: Jagged — Building a Yeti Horror Film from Scratch

      We develop an original horror film concept in real time — three ice climbers, an uncharted Himalayan peak, and a creature that's been there longer than anyone knew.

      Topics discussed:

      • The Jagged pitch: climate change opens a never-summited peak, elite climbers document the ascent, things go wrong
      • Creature feature vs. ecological thriller: two different films from the same concept
      • Found footage structure and when it serves a story
      • How late can you introduce the monster? Seeding vs. surprise
      • Character arcs in horror: self-centeredness as a fatal flaw
      • The Descent and Prey as structural models
      • The community-Yeti relationship: sacrifice, warning, or ecosystem?

        • Also in this episode:

        • Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Always Sunny podcast breaking down The Nightman Cometh
        • Noma closing: what the death of the world's best restaurant says about the industry
        • The Dana Carvey Show documentary: Too Funny to Fail
        • Phil Hartman, News Radio, and the Andy Dick story
        • The Dice Man (1971): randomness as identity deconstruction
        • Happy Endings and New Girl as attempts to clone Friends

          • Links:

          Listen to the Gang talk about The Nightman Cometh! https://thealwayssunnypod.com/blogs/news/the-nightman-cometh-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia

          Read more about The Dice Man (1971) here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man

          Head to CBS News to find out more about the Jon Lovitz and Andy Dick feud: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lovitz-speaks-out-on-dustup-with-andy-dick/

          Get to Noma quickly before it closes and use this article to help pass the time on your flight: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/noma-restaurant-closing

          Re-live comedy history on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/too-funny-to-fail-the-life-death-of-the-dana-carvey-show-c6c29995-0c40-4442-aed6-156bd11e2d9e

          Reach the show at [email protected]
          Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

          https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

          Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

          1 hr 10 min
        • Aniara (2018): When a $40K Swedish Film Answers the Big Questions Hollywood Won't

          Guest: A. Mert Erdem — filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist (azmimerterdem.net / Instagram: @artamnesis)

          Topics discussed:

          • Aniara (2018): a $40K Swedish sci-fi film based on a 1956 Nobel Prize–winning epic poem
          • The Mina parallel: an AI comfort device and the main character follow the same arc — absorb despair, project hope, self-destruct
          • Religion as social structure: why the film may argue that abandoning structured belief accelerates collapse
          • The captain's pragmatism: stripping burial shrouds as the moment ritual dies on the ship
          • The cult sequence: when manufactured religion replaces authentic belief
          • The astronomer as acceptance: the bubble-in-glass speech and what it means about meaning
          • Extreme close-ups on a micro budget: how the camera work creates claustrophobic intimacy and prevents logical questions
          • The artificial probe: 2001-style ambiguity that fits because the film doesn't try to resolve it
          • The final shot: a habitable planet six million years too late — hopeful or devastating?
          • The Swedish cultural lens: what an American remake would change and lose
          • Harry Martinson: the poet who won the Nobel Prize and committed suicide four years later
          • Foundation series (Asimov): books vs. Apple TV+ adaptation, the psychohistory concept, religion as first empire-building tool
          • The backstory problem: how Dune, Lord of the Rings, Watchmen, and Black Panther solve it differently
          • IP development: what a Mars-side companion piece or short film treatment could look like

            • Links:

            • Explore the collected works of A. Mert Erdem at https://www.azmimerterdem.net/ and on Instagram @artamnesis
            • Read the Nobel-Prize Winning epic poem, Aniara, here: https://gsproject.edublogs.org/gs-texts/texts-used-in-2017/aniara-by-harry-martinson-3/
            • The Swedish independent film, Aniara (2018), is available to buy, rent, and stream with ads on most major platforms.
            • Head to Apple TV+ and stream The Foundation Series.

              •  

              Reach the show at [email protected]
              Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

              https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

              Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

              1 hr 19 min
            • Is Netflix Making Bad Shows on Purpose? How Algorithms Shape What You Watch

              Topics discussed: 

              • How streaming algorithms manufacture viewer preference instead of measuring it
              • Netflix's big-budget strategy vs. the low-budget YouTube model nobody's tried
              • Why platforms bury your saved content to push their recommendations
              • The Pepsi vs. Coke taste test as a model for short-term data misleading long-term behavior
              • Avenue 5 (HBO): a brilliant script undermined by direction that kills its own jokes
              • MrBeast and the economics of algorithmic optimization
              • Jump-cut editing: why YouTube's visual grammar is replacing traditional film editing
              • YouTube's structural advantage over every subscription streaming service

                •  Further reading and references:  

                • Avenue 5 (HBO) — Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods
                • Red Notice (Netflix) — the big-budget strategy in action
                • MrBeast's approach to thumbnail and watch-time optimization
                • The Cobra Kai / YouTube-to-Netflix pipeline

                  • Reach the show at [email protected]
                  Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                  https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                  Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                  48 min
                • The Cult of the Creator: Art Forgery, Attribution & Building a Creative Business

                  Part I — The Cult of the Creator (0:00 – 0:31) 

                  Starting from Daniel Silva's spy novel Portrait of an Unknown Woman, the hosts examine how the fine art world assigns value — and how easily that system is exploited. The conversation moves from provenance and forgery into a broader question: why do we need to attach a single name to every achievement, and what does that cost us? In this section:

                  • How 20% of museum art may be forged — and why the forgeries are good enough that it doesn't matter
                  • Provenance explained: the chain of ownership that determines whether a painting is priceless or worthless
                  • The Da Vinci workshop problem: when the student is as good as the master, what are you actually paying for?
                  • Western attribution culture versus collective creation — is this a human instinct or a cultural habit?
                  • Newton, the plague, and the accidental conditions that produce breakthroughs
                  • The information age burial problem: world-changing ideas that are already out there but invisible

                    • Part II — From Idea to Product (0:31 onward)

                    • Using Canva as a visual brainstorming and design tool
                    • Digital products on Etsy: stickers, planners, templates, invitations
                    • Print-on-demand through Redbubble: how it works, what the margins look like
                    • Shopify vs. marketplace platforms: the trade-off between traffic and margin
                    • Building a physical product business: lessons from starting a candle company
                    • Proof of concept before investment: testing with CashDrop, Venmo, and PDF brochures
                    • Learning resources: Udemy, Coursera, YouTube tutorials References: Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva, Master Boot Record (artist), Wednesday (Netflix), Mindhunter, Knives Out, The Addams Family

                      • Links:

                      • Portrait of an Unknown Woman: https://danielsilvabooks.com/books/portrait-of-an-unknown-woman/
                      • Canva: https://www.canva.com/
                      • Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/
                      • Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/
                      • Audacity: https://www.audacityteam.org/
                      • Master Boot Record: https://mbrserver.com/

                        • Reach the show at [email protected]
                        Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                        https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                        Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                        1 hr 8 min
                      • Top Gun: Maverick (2022) The Billion-Dollar Paint-By-Numbers Hit

                        Top Gun: Maverick kept things simple in a franchise landscape that never does. The hosts break down the decisions behind that restraint and where the franchise can and can't go from here. In this episode:

                        • Why the most formulaic blockbuster in years was also one of the most disciplined
                        • The case for keeping Rooster simple and why more character depth would have been the wrong call
                        • The torch-passing problem across legacy franchises: Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, and the conditions that make succession work
                        • How the unnamed enemy was a design decision, not a shortcut
                        • The practical effects gamble: IMAX cameras on fighter jets and what it cost
                        • The Val Kilmer documentary and what it adds to his scene
                        • A sequel pitch built from the franchise's structural constraints
                        • The IP rights lawsuit behind the property 

                          • Also discussed: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager, Reacher, The Grey Man, Bullet Train, The Lost City

                          Reach the show at [email protected]
                          Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                          https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                          Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                          1 hr 1 min
                        • Story Break: War Zone – Terrorists vs Drug Dealers

                          The hosts of Don't Encourage Us ditch their original interview and dive headfirst into "Warzone," an original high-concept pitch: a gritty action thriller about an all-out, no-heroes conflict between a ruthless international drug cartel and a powerful terrorist organization.

                          The hosts work through the full architecture of the film — three-act structure, dual lead dynamics, escalating set pieces, and a character arc framework built around a single shared question: what does it actually mean to be free when every institution you've climbed through uses that promise to keep you in place?

                          What's being developed in this episode:

                          • The "no good guys" premise and what it demands structurally from character and plot
                          • Why the Die Hard principle matters: how much plot does an action film actually need?
                          • Dual lead construction and how to introduce a second protagonist 25 minutes in without losing the audience
                          • The three-act escalation: from street-level enforcement to cartel compound invasion
                          • Character arcs built around the myth of freedom at the top. Why both leads are wrong about what escape looks like
                          • The twist architecture: how to plant evidence for a reveal without telegraphing it
                          • Real-world source material: the Sinaloa cartel standoff and what truth-is-stranger-than-fiction means for action filmmaking

                            • Story Break is a recurring segment where the hosts develop original creative concepts from scratch — screenplays, series, games, and formats that don't exist yet. If you make something with one of these ideas, tell us.

                            Reach the show at [email protected]
                            Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                            https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                            Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                            47 min
                          • The Lost City (2022): The Romancing the Stone Blueprint

                            The Lost City (2022) arrives with two recognizable stars, a massive production budget, and a formula that worked 40 years ago. The hosts take it apart to figure out why it's still flat — examining the structural problem at the film's core: two neurotic leads with no compensatory dynamic, a villain with half a motivation, and a stunt casting decision that inadvertently exposes everything the script can't do on its own.

                            In this episode:

                            • Why putting two neurotic leads at the center of an adventure-romance breaks the formula
                            • The Brad Pitt problem: when a supporting performance reveals what the leads are missing
                            • What Romancing the Stone understood about romantic tension that this film doesn't
                            • The deliberately obscured husband — sequel bait, or a missed story opportunity?
                            • Daniel Radcliffe as a villain with half a dimension, and what adequate motivation looks like
                            • The wig, the haircut, and what the film's visual choices signal about who Channing Tatum's character is supposed to be
                            • Where the IP could go: the sequel pitch, and why the trailer has to do the heavy lifting

                              • Referenced films:

                              Romancing the Stone (1984) | 21 Jump Street (2012) | The Rundown (2003) | Back to the Future (1985) | Stranger Than Fiction (2006) | Train to Busan 2: Peninsula (2020)

                              Reach the show at [email protected]
                              Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                              https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                              Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                              1 hr 7 min
                            • Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006): What Happens When You Remake a Film That Isn't Trying to Entertain You

                              ⚠️ This episode discusses themes of suicidal ideation in the context of character development. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

                              VS. Series | Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006)

                              Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse (Kairo, 2001) is one of the stranger objects in J-horror: technically rough, deliberately alienating, and built around a thesis — that loneliness isn't cured by connection, it's just transferred. The hosts reverse-engineer why it works as art even as it fails as entertainment, then put it against the 2006 PG-13 American remake to examine exactly what gets smoothed out when a disturbing idea gets processed for a mainstream audience.

                              In this episode:

                              • The dot simulation: the film's actual structural argument about relationships
                              • Why the 2001 film's visual and audio choices are either intentional or catastrophically bad. Ambiguity is the point
                              • What the remake gets right, what it can't help getting wrong, and what Wes Craven's draft might tell us
                              • The surprise apocalypse as a horror device and why most films flinch
                              • The cultural context: isolation deaths in Japan, the early internet
                              • Where a sequel could go without violating the spirit of the original

                                • Where to watch:

                                Pulse (2001) — free on Internet Archive

                                Pulse (2006) — free on Tubi

                                Reach the show at [email protected]
                                Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                                https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                                Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                                1 hr 6 min
                              • Story Break: Gravity Lost - Developing an Original Sci-Fi Short Film

                                ⚠️ This episode discusses themes of suicidal ideation in the context of character development. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

                                What's being developed: Gravity Lost — an original sci-fi short film about a man whose grip on gravity loosens as his grip on his own life does. The hosts work through character psychology, tone, genre, visual language, budget constraints, and ending structure in real time.

                                In this episode:

                                • The magical realism framework and why it protects the concept from over-explanation
                                • The psychological core: passive coping, loss of efficacy, and the inverse Peter Pan structure
                                • Why the ending cannot be decided in the writing — it lives in the edit
                                • Low-budget execution: what you actually need to make this film
                                • The Cixin Liu approach to hard sci-fi versus the open metaphysical version
                                • What question you want the audience sitting with when the screen goes dark

                                  • Gravity Lost is an original concept developed on Don't Encourage Us. If you make something with it, tell us.

                                  ---

                                  Story Break is a recurring segment where the hosts develop original creative concepts from scratch — films, series, games, and formats that don't exist yet. No existing IP. No reviews. Just the work of making something.

                                  Reach the show at [email protected]
                                  Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

                                  https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

                                  Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

                                  55 min

                                About Don't Encourage Us

                                From the publisher's feed

                                Most people watch a movie. We use it to generate new ideas.