July 13, 2026

Ep. 449 - Gathering Lavender, with Jesse Thorn

1 hour 37 minutes

Legendary podcaster and founder of Maximum Fun Jesse Thorn joins Ash and Brandon for summer speedruns, a Def Jam: Vendetta update, and the besta Bethesda. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield, and Jesse Thorn. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

Vampire

Diphthong

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

“Striker to the line! Leg it! Leg it!”

selectbutton podcast

Topher Florence

GameRankings.com

WatchMojo

Splitscreen

Kotaku

Retronauts

Bonk series

PC Engine

Sega Saturn

Taito

Gamasutra

GDC

Jordan, Jesse, Go!

Jordan Morris

Judge John Hodgman

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Maximum Fun

Jesse Thorn

Monk

Never Not Funny

Archive.org

1: What’s going on with speedrunning lately? (04:30)

Summer Games Done Quick

Kotaku: 8 Incredible Speedruns You Have To Watch Right Now

Balatro by adef in 1:04:49

Tetris by meme and huff 36:00

Sonic Dream Team by huds601 and Argick in 1:06:25

Hollow Knight: Silksong by mathulu in 1:42:41

Peanut Butter the Speedrunning Dog

Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB by Peanut Butter the Dog & JSR_ in 29:48

Mr. Bones by shmumbler and Spectral in 36:09

Ep. 423 - Explode My Bones

Gracie’s Game Gauntlet

Superman 64

Wayne’s World

Costco Connection

Gray Matter Inc.

The Crow: City of Angels

God Hand

2: How are old bad games bad differently from how new bad games are bad? (11:32)

PowerWash Simulator

Roblox

Call of Ponchy: Mahjong Warfare

3: Design a new Def Jam fighting game for 2026 (17:11)

Def Jam: Vendetta

PaRappa the Rapper

Scarface

Ludacris

Jay-Z

Mankind

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style

Shaq Fu

Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver

Evan Narcisse

Zoe Tunnell

Carmen Electra

Lil’ Kim

Megan Thee Stallion

Bayonetta

Umamusume: Pretty Derby

Crazy Taxi series

Cappadonna

Chap hop

MC Chris

They Might Be Giants

John Hodgman

Musique concrète

Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer

Trap

Grime

Drill

King of Fighters series

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2

Snoop Dogg

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Too Short

Roxanne Shante

Yakuza series

E-40

4: Are video games artsy? (25:27)

Katamari Damacy

Walking simulator

Yume Nikki

Tactile Dome

Viewfinder

5: LeFish asks, would you rather live one year of your life with big head mode, loudly speak like a Mario, or only be able to walk like you’re tank controlled? (34:07)

Big Head Mode

Mario

Tank controls

Charles Martinet

Metaphor: ReFantazio

Yes Man

Eat Pray Love

Granada

Pop’n Tanks!

Bolo

Girls und Panzer series

Armored Core series

Cowboy Bebop

Yoko Kanno

6: What’s the best-a Bethesda? (43:27)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Starfield

Fallout series

IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005

Mass Effect series

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Wolfenstein 3D

Ghost of Yotei

Kumail Nanjiani

Fallout

Taskmaster

Peacemaker

Steve Agee

Paul Scheer

Suicide Squad

John Ostrander

John Economos

James Gunn

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

Paul Rubens

Dana Gould

Gex

Dr. Zaius

Hanging With Dr. Z

Planet of the Apes series

Blaine Capatch

The Merv Griffin Show (Seinfeld)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Equip This On (56:33)

Iori Yagami

Red

Soma Cruz

Kazuma Kiryu

The Bouncer (Sion Barzahd)

Sora

Kefka

Luso Clemens

Alucard

Tingle

Recommendations and Outro (01:21:18):

Jesse: Delete Out of the Park Baseball off your work computer, The Larry Sanders Show, Vincent Price Art Museum, Vincent Price vs. Peter Lorre in Wine Tasting Contest

Ash: Unbeatable OST, Theater of Blood (1973)

Brandon: Stella Chang’s music, the films of Marc Price

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