Artist and author Ryan Estrada joins me to talk about the 1986 Korean drama Gilsotteum, and he reveals why a 2016 screening of the film moved him and the entire audience to tears.

Is farting in front of someone the ultimate act intimacy? How do we decide when to follow—or to break—the unwritten rules of life? Terra, of the Atomic Pixies, joins me to talk about this and more on an episode about Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan's 2016 flatulence-filled fantasy Swiss Army Man.

Damien Vincent, host of Remain, Roam, Return, joins me to talk about childhood dreams, family, and loss on this episode about Disney-Pixar's Coco.

It's undeniably tragic, but is Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby enough to make a person cry? Cody Biedenbender—a one-time boxing contender in the Sugar Land Backyard Amateur Conference— joins me to talk about the fragility of autonomy and why this 2004 Academy Award winner once caused him to tear up.

Derick McDuff, host of the Underrated Movie Podcast, joins me to talk about David Lynch's 1980 film The Elephant Man — and why it brings him to tears.

In part one of A Brief History of Crying at the Movies, I take you to the shores of Lake Tahoe where my obsession with movies led me to the accidental discovery of Dick Badenhop and Eileen Fletcher.

From there, I explore my first encounter with Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time, which leads to an intriguing question: Is there a difference between crying and weeping?

In August 1950, the people of Great Britain received a survey that asked: Have you ever cried at the cinema? Now, 75 years later, I'm asking asking the same question.

But I'm also interested in more than that.

This mini-episode introduces the launch of a new miniseries: A Brief History of Crying at the Movies.

This week's episode is all about The Great Beyond. Not death, but the infinite expanse of space that extends far beyond our own planet. Marcus Zavala joins me to talk about why Christopher Nolan's Interstellar makes him cry, what Space Cowboy Matthew McConaughey can teach us about fatherhood, and the pervasive sense of disquiet that stems from seeing Matt Damon onscreen.

Intro music: Out of the Skies, Under the Earth by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

The author Tucker Leighty-Phillips joins me to talk about the 1999 documentary American Movie, why it made him cry, and what it can teach us about craft, relationships, and chasing down the American Dream.

What can Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) teach us about the trials and tribulations of being 22? Is Adam Sandler's 2006 comedy Click a modern-day It's a Wonderful Life? This week's episode features our first double feature discussion of sad movies, big heartbreaks, and Zohran Mamdani's electoral victory.