Fruitless

It is a tradition now to kick off the new year with a low effort episode so that I can recover from the holidays. So this year, Chris Barker and Jake the Lawyer join Josiah to hang out and talk about craft beer and coffee, the "seizing"/"capture"/"kidnapping"/"abduction" of Maduro, declining literacy, and some sports.

• Become a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141
• Check out Fruitless on YouTube
• Find more of Josiah’s work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsutton
• Follow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsutton

Reference

• "Venezuelan Exiles Root for U.S. Military Action. Those Left Behind Oppose It," Ryan Dubé in The Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/venezuelan-exiles-root-for-u-s-military-action-those-left-behind-oppose-it-01d3afe0

Music & Audio credits

• Yesterday – bloom.
• One - Metallica

THIS IS A PREVIEW. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE, CHECK OUT FRUITLESS ON PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141

EPISODE ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/posts/146548844/

For the final episode of 2025, Phil Cozzi returns to talk about The Bishop's Wife (1947), a Christmas movie about an angel teaching a workaholic Episcopal bishop to be nice to his wife. We also talk about Christmas movie tropes in general, and Phil does some theologizing.

Music by SHADE08

This is the last episode of 2025 on the free feed. Josh, Alien, and Josiah take you on a journey through Kevin Smith's filmography. I'm so sorry that we're ending the year on this note.

• Become a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141
• Check out Fruitless on YouTube
• Find more of Josiah’s work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsutton
• Follow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsutton

Music & Audio credits

• Hungry - Liadiii
• Yesterday – bloom.
• We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off - Jermaine Stewart

THIS IS A PREVIEW. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE, CHECK OUT FRUITLESS ON PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141

EPISODE ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/posts/146403025

It's a very special holiday Christmas music exchange! In this installment, Josh and I discuss The Lost Christmas Eve by Trans-Siberian Orchestra and If I Should Fall From Grace with God by The Pogues. Also not being in the Christmas spirit. 

Music by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Pogues, and SHADE08

After a year long hiatus, the Fruitless Bookclub is back. This is the seventh installment of that show-within-a-show, featuring Chris Barker and Jake the Lawyer, where we read all those nonfiction books we've been meaning to read. Today's episode is about The Invention of Decolonization: The Algerian War and the Remaking of France by Todd Shepard, a dense, academic look at the confusing constitutional crisis France experienced in the wake of Algerian independence. Join us as we discuss France's strange attempt to deny that Algeria was a colony, the racial implications of that denial, and how Charles de Gaulle used the crisis for his own political aims.

• Become a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141
• Check out Fruitless on YouTube
• Find more of Josiah’s work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsutton
• Follow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsutton

Music & Audio credits

• Yesterday – bloom.
• Mao Boy - Indochine

THIS IS A PREVIEW. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE, CHECK OUT FRUITLESS ON PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141

EPISODE ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/posts/144831017

More and more people are calling December 1st really just November 31st. That's right, it's the November music exchange. In this installment, Josh and I discuss The Dismemberment Plan is Terrified by Dismemberment Plan and My Life as a Woman by Couch Slut. Also we talk about the movies and the state of cinema. Content warning on this one.

Music by Dismemberment Plan, Couch Slut, and SHADE08

HELLO! Just a brief announcement here that I'll be co-hosting a horror movie trivia night as a part of Iowa CCI's year end fundraiser on December 2 at 6:00pm CT.

Link to event here: https://iowacci.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=260
More about Iowa CCI here: https://www.iowacci.org/history
Link to a previous episode with Iowa CCI members: https://share.transistor.fm/s/5a64e736

THIS IS A PREVIEW. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE, CHECK OUT FRUITLESS ON PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141

EPISODE ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/posts/even-my-escapism-144196927

Welcome to the Fruitless Sports Corner (FSC): a semi-reoccurring series where Josiah, Nathan Thiessen, Chris Barker, and Jake the Lawyer talk about sports. On today's episode we talk about white boys going woo, the World Series, how hard it is to be a Texas/Iowa college football fan, the martyrdom of Carson Wentz, playing while injured, generational wealth, Rooney Mara, World Cup qualifiers, Manchester United being good now, and the MLS schedule change. Also Jake tries to get Josiah sued by Robert Kraft. 

Music by Viagra Boys, Steve Reich, and SHADE08

On today's episode, Rike (@rikeyboi) and Finch (@finchowar) join Josiah to discuss Manoel de Oliveira's No, or the Vain Glory of Command (1990), a film looking at various extravagant and pathetic episodes in Portuguese history through a discussion between conscripted soldiers during the war in Angola.

No, or the Vain Glory of Command (1990) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc5BTW7l9J8

• Follow Rike on Twitter @rikeyboi
• Follow Finch on Twitter @finchowar or Bluesky @finchowar.bsky.social
• Become a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141
• Check out Fruitless on YouTube
• Find more of Josiah’s work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsutton
• Follow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsutton or Bluesky @josiahwsutton.bsky.social

Audio credits

• Yesterday - bloom.
• Music from No, or the Vain Glory of Command (1990)

On today's episode, Josh and Josiah discuss Peter Watkin's 1971 film, Punishment Park, a mockumentary about the United States arresting political radicals and draft dodgers to use for police training.

• Become a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141
• Check out Fruitless on YouTube
• Find more of Josiah’s work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsutton
• Follow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsutton

Audio credits

• Yesterday - bloom.
• Audio from Punishment Park (1971)
• The Price of Living By Delinquent Ideals - Magrudergrind