Episode 21. Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is an extended conversation about Thomas Pynchon's brand new novel Shadow Ticket, featuring special guests Ben Lobel and Sean Fahey! 11 minutes 10 seconds, the opening quote is introduced. 15 minutes 16 seconds page 1 is talked about. 18 minutes 26 seconds, Sean says John Turturro reads the audiobook for Philip Roth's novel Sabbath's Theater. Context of how Ben read the book at 19 minutes 32 seconds. 20 minutes 22 seconds in Ben explains the context of how the line from The Black Cat comes up in that movie. 22 minutes 49 seconds Zach describes how one of April's songs sets the mood. 24 minutes 31 seconds "he loves doing scenes where you go into like a bar." 27 minutes 6 seconds recurring characters from Pynchon novels. 28 minutes 31 seconds the rogue submarine in Lake Michigan. 29 minutes 25 seconds Sean says the scene Hicks says goodbye to April in the train station is one of his favorite scenes. 30 minutes 4 seconds Lew Basnight. 35 minutes 26 seconds Shadow Ticket's anger towards fascism. 39 minutes 55 seconds "Jonathan Franzen is a must read." 40 minutes 57 seconds "the 90's were packed." 42 minutes 3 seconds Pynchon stylistic overlap with Coen brothers, and technology in Pynchon is talked about. 48 minutes 17 seconds artist who make shorter works later in their career often times had already made epics earlier on in life. 50 minutes 20 seconds comparisons to Bleeding Edge are made. 54 minutes 38 seconds William Gass and his ideas are brought up. "Fascism of the heart." 56 minutes 59 seconds "you saved me so now I owe you my life" line from Inherent Vice appears in Shadow Ticket. 57 minutes 33 seconds "getting to this whole cheese thing." 1 hour 2 minutes 7 seconds "Cheese Fraud" quote. 1 hour 5 minutes 52 seconds "Do you think that Pynchon is playing the new Simpsons Fortnite that's dropping right now?" 1 hour 7 minutes 25 seconds "No I can't do it, Homer is my hero." 1 hour 10 minutes 1 second, how Hicks gets to Europe. 1 hour 14 minutes 53 seconds "Wait did we even talk about the elves?" 1 hour 18 minutes 21 seconds William Gass hated Pynchon, but was incorrect about his criticism. 1 hour 21 minutes 11 seconds Gass on Gertrude Stein. 1 hour 23 minutes 31 seconds on William Gass novel The Tunnel. 1 hour 27 minutes 9 seconds Zach on William Gaddis. 1 hour 34 minutes 51 seconds will Shadow Ticket get new readers into Pynchon? 1 hour 36 minutes 32 seconds Porfirio del Vasto appears. 1 hour 38 minutes 36 seconds Jules Verne type imagery in novels set before WWI and WW2. 1 hour 40 minutes 41 seconds Dziga Vertov appearance. 1 hour 44 minutes 20 seconds on the Al Capone of Cheese. 1 hour 49 minutes 22 seconds Zach debates Sean and Ben over if a sex scene occurs. 1 hour 50 minutes 49 seconds quotes from pages 203 and 204. 2 hours 2 minutes 8 seconds Ben's slutty Halloween costume. 2 hours 4 minutes 56 seconds Daphne's scene with Bruno. 2 hours 6 minutes 33 seconds page 224 referenced. 2 hours 9 minutes 50 seconds characters who appeared in second half. 2 hours 11 minutes 25 seconds Zach completely misses a massive aspect of the ending. 2 hours 14 minutes 26 seconds Zach explains an old teacher's theory about Gravity's Rainbow. 2 hours 16 minutes 6 second Hicks and Terike scene. 2 hours 17 minutes 20 seconds Sean brings receipts on massive spoiler alert. 2 hours 26 minutes 9 seconds Zach reads one of his favorite passages from page 268. 2 hours 34 minutes 27 seconds ending of book is discussed.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is a conversation about the new Yorgos Lanthimos movie Bugonia. We talk about the Stavros cameo at the 26 minute 24 second mark.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. At long last here is our episode on PTA's new film One Battle After Another, featuring special guest Ben Lobel! We begin the conversation talking about our first impressions of the film, and react to the unanimous praise it's getting so far. 52 minutes 16 seconds: Ben describes the rivalry between his high school's show choir and Chase Infiniti's high school in Indiana. 56 minutes 2 seconds: "My buddy texted me today and said 'I'm reading the Wiki for Judge Holden, this guy's kind of fucked up.' " 59 minutes 8 seconds: "You wanna hear a story I heard about Pynchon?" 1 hour 3 minutes 12 seconds: direct quote from Vineland. 1 hour 4 minutes 11 seconds: the password Leo's character Bob can't remember. 1 hour 17 minutes 47 seconds: J. Edgar Hoover assassinating MLK Jr. and infiltrating peace movement. 1 hour 28 minutes 34 seconds: we begin talking about the ending scenes of the movie. 1 hour 32 minutes 54 seconds: Sean Penn's last scenes are discussed. 1 hour 34 minutes 31 seconds: Jim Downey's cameo is brought up. 1 hour 36 minutes 15 seconds: Epstein's birthday book and the power elite who run society are mentioned. 1 hour 38 minutes 19 seconds: "all the people who are in the Christmas Adventurers Club would probably like Netanyahu." 1 hour 39 minutes 55 seconds: "Quick question for the group, do we think Mike Johnson the Speaker of the House is in the Christmas Adventurers Club?" 1 hour 41 minutes 32 seconds: on Sean Penn's performance. 1 hour 45 minutes 17 seconds: Sean Penn's performance being similar to George C. Scott from Dr. Strangelove. 1 hour 54 minutes 29 seconds: "Do you think Epstein and Ghislaine killed Stanley Kubrick?" 1 hour 56 minutes 5 seconds: Kubrick faked Moon landing debunked. 1 hour 56 minutes 49 seconds: Zach's unhinged Moon landing opinions. 2 hours 0 minutes 26 seconds: "the footage looks fake to me, Kubrick would have done a better job." 2 hours 1 minute 33 seconds: "Dude PTA would have done a better job faking the Moon landing." 2 hours 6 minutes 40 seconds: "You're one dangerous hombre." 2 hours 8 minutes 51 seconds: Ben explains how the guy who played Billygoat did the score for the Safdie brothers movie Heaven Knows What. That this guy is a professor of philosophy at Yale.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is an in depth discussion of September 11th, 2001 featuring special guests Niko Robledo and Eamonn Kreitzer! The conversation begins with Niko sharing his memory of that day, seeing his uncle react on TV before going to work. Then at 21 minutes 53 seconds we start breaking down everything that's weird with 9/11. At 31 minutes 7 seconds "Why this event doesn't pass the smell test." At 33 minutes 24 seconds Building 7. At 37 minutes 15 seconds what was on each floor of Building 7. 48 minutes 25 seconds in is a direct quote from Osama bin Laden. At 1 hour 14 minutes 45 seconds "Mossad had penetrated al-Qaeda." 1 hour 17 minutes 14 seconds Operation Able Danger is explained. At 1 hour 19 minutes 55 seconds Osama is thrown in sea "like Megatron!" 1 hour 21 minutes 48 seconds in are direct quotes of US government foreknowledge of the event. At 1 hour 25 minutes 58 seconds Zach gives one of his baseless conspiracy theories about the planes. And then 1 hour 37 minutes 12 seconds in we wonder if the buildings were wired with explosives.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is about Spike Lee's new film Highest 2 Lowest, featuring special guest Eamonn Kreitzer! Second half (starting at 38 minute mark) is about Spike's underrated masterpiece Summer of Sam. We go into what makes that movie especially transgressive and incredible, and even describe the real world details of the Son of Sam murders and how David Berkowitz had accomplices.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is a conversation about Warren Beatty's 1998 political satire Bulworth. The discussion focuses on how the movie predicted Trump, showing that even in the 90's people were tired of robotic politicians. Also Beatty's frustration with the Clinton administration is analyzed.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is a conversation about Ari Aster's new movie Eddington. The discussion covers the film's depiction of the height of covid, and its portrayal of MAGA and politics in general. Author Robert Coover's potential influence on the film is also considered.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is a conversation about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, featuring special guest George Bye! Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's life and connections are discussed, including their relationship with Robert Maxwell and a massive assortment of celebrities/world leaders.

Intro by Sampson Hollander. This episode is a discussion of the new Adam Curtis series Shifty. Austin and Zach talk about how Curtis portrays international political figures, and celebrities throughout his work, and how his style has evolved away from his iconic voice-over. Some of Adam Curtis' artistic influences are also brought up.