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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink these kids today and their rainbow part… no, wait, that’s not it. Their slang. They overthink their slang. Specifically, they develop a theory of cringe in that it (a) regulates in-grouping and out-grouping; (b) involves embarrassment; (c) requires obliviousness; (d) modulates status; and (e) presupposes an audience. We run through a couple of examples, including the recent coronation of His Majesty King Charles III (as interpreted by Michael Strahan).

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Episode 775: This is the Most Sacred Part of a Kanye West Song originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather are struck by South Korea’s President Yoon performing a karaoke “American Pie” during his state visit to the United States, and overthink the song, it’s much-parsed but frustratingly elusive lyrics, and why a leader might choose to bust it out on the world stage.

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Episode 774: This’ll be the Day That I Die… I Just Ate a Brownie. originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Season 3 of Mandalorian, focusing on what exactly the way is, why the show seems to be pulling its punches, and how it compares (unfavorably, alas!) to Andor.

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Episode 773: This is the Why originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the sitcom Derry Girls, talking about the relationship between time and retro-time (“Retro time, Data, retro time!”), between the ex post facto view of history and the experience of living through it, and the difference or relationship between comedy, tragedy, and historical events.

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Episode 772: I’m Not a Derry Girl, Not Yet a Derry Woman originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink John Wick: Chapter 4, exploring its Downton Abbey moment (amazingly, not when tea is served!), its expectation-defying schema of light, the world of the franchise and how it got that way, the one relationship that moves beyond the transactional, and the film’s climactic dogpotheosis.

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Episode 771: …Yeah originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink the objects we keep in our (zippered, vest) pockets every day, and enter a sub-culture that can verge at times on military cosplay.

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Episode 770: The Electric Daisy Carnival originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather overthink The Menu and Triangle of Sadness, movies in which the rich eat, and we are encouraged to eat the rich. Focusing mostly on the longer and more analytical Triangle, the crew of the S.S. Overthinking It tends to the needs of our guests, the audience without question or pause. How extreme wealth is represented, the intersectional social commentary that includes class, race, and disability in its account, and what really happens at the end of the film all come up in the lively discussion.

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Episode 769: Just a Plain Giovanni, Salt of the Medici originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink a video of the actor Jonathan Majors giving a speech praising and celebrating his friend and colleague Michael B. Jordan, on the occasion of Jordan’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame being unveiled. They discuss the moving sincerity of their friendship, the place of oratory among actors (just around the corner from where the Oscars are held), the antithetical structure of the speech, and some resonant and touching moments in it, each of which creates a world in a sentence or two.

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Episode 768: The Labors of Brocules originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, focusing on the effect of the unexpected point of view and the film’s decidedly Lhurmannesque style.

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Episode 767: Exegesis on Luhrmannism originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather take the kids to a concert of kids’ music. They consider how even to describe a theater to a children, and how they function within the various social-cultural institutions at play.

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Episode 766: Dad Also Has a Cow on His Head originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]