Finally, the podcast name gets the appreciation it deserves! We discuss the car games we played with our dads (and one mum). Jackie’s Bob Dylan impression is back, and she gets corrected about LotR.  Theo gets a little bit nervous, for good reason.  Surprisingly, Jacob makes a dinosaur joke.  Rachel dunks on supermen.  Topics include: Alice & Sons, Kate Bush, Bible/science class, Tolkien, the Beatles, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, anoraks, trainspotting, alien disco, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Thanks again to our guest, Jacob (@bigyellowpraxis)!

White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane

The Cask of Amontillado - The Alan Parsons Project

The Eve of War - Jeff Wayne, Richard Burton

Anthem - Rush

Link to playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lEojWu6ZZLkICVn3rJwPI?si=84035ccbb529410b

Check out Jacob's podcast Underrated/Overhated: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/underrated-overhated/id1509426734

We’ve come to the end of L. Frank Baum’s masterpiece(?), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!  Dorothy & co. finally reach the end of their journey.  Will she make it back to Kansas at last? (Yes.)  Jackie walks around and looks at stuff.  Rachel puts an end to this charade.  Theo uses friend power.  Topics include: dropping the Baum, Alice in Wonderland, Ellie and Totoshka, Balaam and his donkey, St. Augustine, WWBWitSD?, nerfing, populous metropolises, spider-like creatures, Daredevil, brozards, the chilly downs from Labyrinth, Tim Burton, and Big Bang.

Content warning: animal death, death in general, and violence.

We read chapters 7 through 16 of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Dorothy and her comrades finally reach the Emerald City, and then things *really* take a turn!  Theo gets ready for Halloween.  Jackie calls shenanigans immediately.  Rachel is just a very bad wizard.  Topics include: ragged hay fingers, comradezoning, childhood nightmares, The Lion’s Cookbook, clams casino, septicles and octicles, Wolf Level, an attempted murder of crows, Rankin/Bass’ Frosty the Snowman, and liquid courage. 

Content Warning: animal violence, violence in general, death, slavery

We read the first six chapters of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!  The book is somehow even stranger than the famously strange film.  Come along with us and find out how that’s possible.  Jackie faces the end of childhood and BSes her way into the right answer.  Theo is put on the spot.  Rachel gets gently doxxed.  Jackie’s dog Grover makes a cameo.  Topics include: wizcraft, zards, Pokemon, Sigmund Freud, Tin Cheney and Dick Man, cyclone science, Greg Fishel, the talk, the W.C., the ship of Theseus, a 100% all-beef dog, sociopaths, Job, and a Baum attack.

Content Warning: racism, genocide, heart attacks, death, slavery

Wow! What an ending. Come on by and listen to us discuss the final act of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. When Act 4 begins, John Proctor finds himself imprisoned in Salem as a witch. Let’s find out what happens to him together. Jackie confesses to an actual crime. Theo is walkin’ here. Rachel finally tells the tale of the time she was accused of witchcraft. Topics include: traffic stories, the devil, The Shining, Bruce Bogtrotter, bad drivers, passionate kisses, Halloween parties, Samhain, Kiki’s Delivery Service, libertarians, Paddington 2, Citizen Kane, and the Tick Whisperer.

Just when we thought we were out, they (witches) pull us back in. Time for Act 3 of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible - the famous courtroom scene. Such drama! Very suspense. Rachel gives off an aura of love. Theo is the self-proclaimed potion master. Jackie knows she’s gettin’ it in somewhere, and is very hard to impress. The gang learns that life’s too short to emphasize weird things. Topics include: bat drool, frog gloop, an impressive prom trick, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, Theo’s catchphrase, the history of “fart,” spirit needles, poppet prodigies, Sir Mix-a-Lot, and ole hickory ham mike.

Content warning: violence, death, sexism.

Our best episode yet, or just our episode with the most Bests? We discuss Richard Connell’s 1924 short story, The Most Dangerous Game. Big game hunter Rainsford falls off a boat in the middle of the night and manages to swim to an island where he meets the mysterious General Zaroff, hunter of the most dangerous game. Jackie unveils her Mickey Mouse impression. Bekah spills all her hottest takes. Theo contemplates learning his lesson. Rachel tells the tale of the boat thief. Topics include: vagina dentata, 20th grade, Edgar Allan Poe, Theooze, the Twilight Zone, the Turtle Club, paraphersailia, The Master of Disguise, man vs. octopus, man vs. mosquito, Scandinavian noodle-slicers, and Yuri on Ice.

Content warning: murder, violence, cannibalism, animal death, racism, ableism.

We discuss Act 2 of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. In both Salem and the pod, wild accusations fly left and right! The Proctors have a tense conversation. A weird poppet becomes significant. Abigail’s accusations start to lead to arrests. Rachel doesn’t give a *$#& and Theo can’t believe it. Jackie experiences a miraculous transformation. Topics include: 99 problems, Korean kiss cams, Chekhov’s whip, Veggie Tales, Theo’s macho past, the Ten Commandments, a witch deer, the secret menu, going hard, Lister’s Marvelous Tonic, Happy Days, Breaking Bad, and The Munsters.

We discuss Act 1 of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller! Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Giles Corey - the gang’s all here for this fictionalized version of the Salem witch trials. Jackie keeps insisting she’s a beautiful genius. Rachel transforms magical girl-style into Marge. Theo doesn’t like the optics on this. Topics include: Chekhov’s trip to Salem, Cueball Chandler, the hero’s journey, eyeballing vs. earholing, pearls before swine, schlubs, Daniel Day-Lewis facts, psychedelic corn smut, frog soup, FTC: Witch Detectives, perfect frog posture, Judge Dredd, Doctor Dreadful, and dinosaur cakes.

Content warning: drug use, suicide, ableism, slavery, assault.

We discuss chapters 1, 3, 5, and 16-18 of Story of the Stone (aka Dream of the Red Chamber) by Cao Xueqin, perhaps THE canonical Chinese novel. All sorts of bizarre and amazing things happen! A stone becomes a boy, a flower becomes a girl, and characters we think will be important totally disappear. We have a very special guest with us this week: Jeannette Ng, author of Under the Pendulum Sun, a book Rachel recommends you read. Jackie re-tells a joke! The truth comes to light, in terms of who cares about Rachel’s opinion. Theo makes a few good zingers. Topics include: frivolity immersion therapy, Chekhov’s spice, definitive endings, historical fanfiction, the debut of Mupp Chat, and Jackie’s new French accent.

Content warning: dysphoria, death, sexual assault, and slavery.