Les Rallizes Dénudés were a pioneer of the psychedelic drone rock sound, but no one knows about them. With the help of our friend Zach, we get into their history and try to figure out what happened to derail this bands career.

Hosted by Liam, Abram, and Zach.

Further Reading

Was King Arthur an Englishman? Did ancient Turks build every civilization in history? What do ice cream men in Istanbul have in common with reindeer herders in northeast Siberia?

Liam and the two Sams answer these questions and more as they dive into the mythology of nationalism and political abuses of the ancient past.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

To Live tells the story of a degenerate gambler and his shadow puppets. But it also tells the story of one family living through the Chinese Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

This film and its reception would also mirror a process which has been ongoing since the beginning of Xi Jinping’s tenure: the battle against so-called “historical nihilism”. We look to the CPC, and Xi himself, to learn what historical nihilism is and how they are seeking to fight against it.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Cnut.

In 2002, S1m0ne posed the question of what would happen if we were to replace actors with computers. What 20 years ago seemed like a fantasy in the realm of science fiction has increasingly begun to rear its head in our world, and we as a society are still grappling with the consequences and implications of our increasingly virtual reality.

Computer-generated actors, models, influencers, and pop stars, we’ve got them all on this week's episode.

Hosted by Liam, Abram, and Pam.

Further reading

Beware of the Car is a Soviet-era Russian film about an insurance agent who moonlights as a car thief who steals cars from various crooks.

You can watch the full movie on Youtube.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and Abram.

Hernán is a Mexican series that revolves around the story of Hernán Cortés, the Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century.

To discuss this story, and this series, we’re joined by Paul Guinan, the writer working on Aztec Empire, a graphic novel recounting the dramatic fall of the mightiest empire in the Americas, only three years after the arrival of strangers from another world.

You can read the comic online for free at bigredhair.com

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and Paul Guinan.

The Parallax View starts with a spectacular public assassination of a popular senator atop the Seattle Space Needle. In the years after, many of the witnesses to the crime have died under mysterious circumstances. An ambitious reporter (Warren Beatty) investigating the senator's death discovers the Parallax Corporation, which he thinks is the key to understanding who or what is behind all of this.

We’re joined by our friend James to discuss the movie, and the real life political assassinations this movie reminds us of.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and James.