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Hot on the heels of Saint and Jim's controversial food takes last week, this edition of FYF digs through the Trick or Treat bag, and throws back to the halcyon haunts of history's Halloweens — before our boys' pancreases declared mutiny on their glucose levels. The topic? Candy. Which sugary nuggets from your repurposed pillowcases were trash, and which were treasure? Are you more of a sucker for Snickers, or bonkers for a Butterfinger? Are two Twix better than one KitKat? Will you trade us two Almond Joys for a Reese's? And who's eating the Circus Peanuts? Let's all use our sweet tooth to dig into some treat truth, and break down the best and worst of your begged-for bon-bons.    

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There are a lot of weird quirks inherent to being human. Everyone has different fashion sense, different thought processes, and a different worldview. But one of the biggest things that truly makes us all individual? Our palates. One person's yum is another's yuck when it comes to all things food. On this edition of FYF, Saint and Jim break down controversial food opinions, e.g. — Does cilantro taste like soap to you? What are your feelings on tomatoes? Does pineapple belong on pizza? What's the most repulsive food in the world, and why is it mayonnaise? Plus, all the news that's fit to nerd. Eat up!   

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A bit of trivia: did you know that the largest toy distributor in the world is way better known for selling billions of burgers? The humble McDonald's Happy Meal has been a staple of American kids' diets for decades. But as much as everyone loves McNuggets and fries, the real appeal of those brightly-colored little boxes has always been the plaything inside. Whether you preferred Barbies, Hot Wheels or Beanie Babies, there was always something cool in there to help fill up our toy box. In this edition of FYF, Saint and Jim take a look back at some of the best, worst, weirdest and most collectible Happy Meal toys of the last 50 years.

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What's the first film you think of when you see the words "Cult Movie"? Chances are, it's either some perennial classic full of fishnets, gold lamé shorts and rolls of toilet paper being lobbed at the screen, or a pulpy grindhouse thriller that's hardly ever seen the light of day — because it's only ever screened in seedy cinemas at midnight. Or, maybe it's even a deeply personal picture you and a small group of friends got together to watch over and over in college. That's really the beauty of the cult movie — any one can be a quotable quip-off that holds up to repeated viewing. On this edition of FYF, Saint and Jim take a look at the phenomenon of cult films, discuss what makes for the perfect flick-with-a-following, and go over some of the biggest movies to have ever earned the label.

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The world still isn't sure what to do with (or ABOUT) AI. On the one hand, you have breathless tech bros sinking trillions into "innovations" they swear will revolutionize the world, even as the coffers drain and the oceans boil from the power consumption. On the other, you have everyday folks wondering when the droids are gonna take our jobs, and if so, will we be able to get a little UBI for the trouble. And on yet a third hand, we have like seven or eight fingers. So nobody's really sure what's going to happen. At least in the meantime, we have some cool toys to play with! And on this episode, that's exactly what Saint and Jim get up to. SUNO is an AI music generator with the capability to create fully produced songs in any style, and about any subject, just based on a text description. They've played with it a bit on previous installments. But this time out, they decided to drop some impromptu prompts into it, and react to the results in real time. And like most things AI, the results are equal parts cool, fascinating, terrifying and a little unethical. But what the hell? It's the future. PLUS: Diddy, or didn't he?

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Wow. Episode #200 already?!? What else is there to say but "Thank You"? You the listener have helped the humble Fuel Your Fandom podcast reach this major milestone, and the gratitude on our side is truly massive. For their part, Saint and Jim kicked around a whole lot of ideas on possible ways to commemorate this benchmark...and then promptly chucked 'em all right straight out the window since SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK, and we had to get to it all. So earhole up for the triumphant return of the Nerd News Nexus — now with a snappy new theme song!  

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"Billionaire." Even saying the word in 2024 prompts eye rolls, rants, and memes about guillotines. And when it comes to the real-world wealthy, it's possible that reaction isn't entirely unwarranted. But what about the filthy rich of fiction? Are they just as worthy of envy and ire, or are their considerable resources just as much detriments as they are literal assets? In this edition of FYF, Saint and Jim do a deep dive (like Scrooge McDuck into a vault of cash) into the finances of fiction's most fiduciarily fluid folks to see if they're using their gold for good, or...if they're more like the kind we actually have. 

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Relationships are funny things. They can take a lot of forms, too. Family, romantic, friendship...even emnity counts. But the rise of the internet, celebrity culture and social media has give rise to a bizarre variant: the parasocial relationship. Loosely defined, a parasocial relationship is any one-sided situation wherein one individual invests time and emotion in the other, while party two is completely unaware of the first person's existence. Sometimes, these relationships are just fine: I like the singer, I went to the show, I bought the t-shirt. Other times, these bonds can border on worshipful, cult-like behavior. So, in the wake of some public figures (e.g. Chappell Roan) having to be pretty clear as of late about establishing clearer boundaries surrounding their public vs. private personas, Saint and Jim thought they'd take a look at some of the underlying issues surrounding parasocial behavior. 

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A month has passed. The spoiler moratorium is up. The movie made more than $1.2 billion. And listeners of this podcast have no doubt seen it twice already, just like Saint and Jim each have. So, it's time to talk about it. And if you somehow HAVEN'T seen it yet? Then you are hereby instructed to neither read, nor listen further — because the boys are gonna break it down. The action! The Easter eggs! The cameos! The story! The parts where there could've been more story! The parts that weren't even remotely necessary for the story, but were still pretty fun anyway! Sure, Wade & Logan's Excellent Adventure was a fanservice-filled romp, but there were still some chaotic head-scrathers to discuss as they make their way into the MCU, and leave the last shreds of the former Fox-verse in tatters. So LFG.     

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Sometimes, Saint and Jim talk about light, fluffy stuff like their favorite burgers, or whether or not the Hulk could beat up Superman. Other times, they get taken with the intricacies of a particularly hard-to-pin-down subject. This would be an episode of the second kind. “Monoculture” — at least in popular fiction — is a term often used to describe a given race, species, or group within the story. Specifically, one that exhibits a limited, universally common cultural trait their creators use to define them. Think, “Klingons are warlike,” or “Dwarves are good blacksmiths.” It's a way for writers to project aspects of human existence onto fantasy characters, usually in order to examine said aspects without the risk of the analysis hitting too close to home. So because they're diving into a complex subject, Saint and Jim knew they’d need a guest who was up to the task of helping them break it all down. And when it comes to examining nuanced concepts in fiction and how they apply to real life, there's just no better person to talk to than "Mission Log" co-host and friend of the show John Champion…since that's really his jam. So earhole it up with your intrepid co-hosts and their esteemed guest as they take a look at monocultures in storytelling, and puzzle out what they can teach us about our own idiosyncrasies.