Overthinking It Podcast

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Overthinking It Podcast episodes

July 03, 2023 Episode 783: Will She or Won’t She (Launch a Cruise Missile)?
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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink The Diplomat starring Keri Russell as the Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. They consider the show’s very strong writing, its examination of diplomacy as a type of relationship and relationship as a type of diplomacy, its many satisfying plot twists, and its ending which is either infuriating or exciting.
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Episode 783: Will She or Won’t She (Launch a Cruise Missile)? 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)]
1 hr
June 26, 2023Episode 782: Meetings for the Meeting God, Briefings for His Briefing Throne
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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather really build out the world of the podcast.
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Further Reading
The Complete Paladin’s Handbook
Episode 782: Meetings for the Meeting God, Briefings for His Briefing Throne 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)]
1 hr 1 min
June 19, 2023 Episode 781: Fast Ten… Your Seatbelts
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Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, and Matthew Wrather pop a Corona and settle down for a BBQ to overthink Fast X
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Episode 781: Fast Ten… Your Seatbelts 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)]
1 hr 7 min
June 12, 2023Episode 780: Art is a Converation
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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather debrief after Matt’s honeymoon, and zero in on the phenomenon of museum going, and sometimes jarring recontextualization of art and artifacts that museums entail. Pete has also been to a museum of a kind, except is a Monster Truck rally, and the experience left him hungry for discourse. (Drink!)
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Further Reading
Saturn (Museo del Prado)
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Episode 780: Art is a Converation 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)]
1 hr 7 min
June 05, 2023Episode 779: THREE??!
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Mark Lee and Peter Fenzel overthink a big show they are both watching: the assembly of a single, notional, 360 degree virtual reality Taylor Swift show happening everywhere at once and in all possible times.
As Instagram stories from friends and celebrities alike from various stops along the Eras Tour coalesce into a presentation with coherent and singular characteristics, Mark and Pete discuss the cognitive mechanisms that make it seem to take on a life of its own, as well as one view of the social media history and emergent dynamics leading this event to be experienced in this way.
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Further Reading
Overthinking It Episode 106: 4channic Discourse
Mark’s tweet about a unicorn
Mark’s tweet about a Sound of Music video game
Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life, by Karen and Barbara Fields
Namárië: Altariello nainië Lóriendessë, or Farewell: Galadriel’s Lament in Lorien, performed in the original Quenya by Miriam Peirone
Episode 779: THREE??! 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)]
1 hr 9 min
May 29, 2023Episode 778: Press F to Gouge Your Eyes Out
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Peter Fenzel and Mark Lee overthink video game slang as emergent phenomena, starting with a stroll through the many meanings of “cheese” that starts in 1992 and ends, predictably, in the Ardennes Forest. Plus, we’re big mad about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and “Is Paul Phoenix’s new Karen haircut a buff or nerf?”
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Further Reading
How to Cheese the Rancor – Jedi Survivor
One HOUR of Cannonrushing | Cheesiest Man Alive by Harstem
Kaizo Mario | The Story of the HARDEST Mario Game
Plants vs. Zombies [Any%] speedrun by Oneeyeddeacon at ESA Winter 2023.
Professor Robert Sapolsky on animal and human language acquisition
Tekken 8 Community gets PISSED OFF at Paul Phoenix NEW Hair Style!
CORRECTION: In this podcast we described Paul Phoenix from the Tekken series wearing a karate gi. We should have mentioned this is a secondary costume; his primary is generally a biker outfit with a skull and crossbones or the American flag on it, depending. Overthinking It regrets the error. Also, 1 v 1 me bro.
Episode 778: Press F to Gouge Your Eyes Out 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)]
1 hr 11 min
May 22, 2023Episode 777: Jarnathan
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Ben Adams, Peter Fenzel, and Mark Lee overthink Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, using their own past and current games as context to interpret the narrative conventions of the movie and larger D&D culture.
Further Reading
Plane Scene from Game Night (spoilers)
Polygon’s Lore Deep Dive on Themberchaud, the “Chonky Dragon”
Full d20 SRD on True Dragons, 3.5 edition
Matt Colville’s Running the Game, Episode 14: Alignment
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Further Reading
Episode 777: Jarnathan 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)]
1 hr 19 min
May 15, 2023Episode 776: You Gotta Have an Aggro Crag
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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, giving a little bit of history and explanation of why this year’s result was anomalous and controversial. We ponder the elite’s triumph over populism in the context of global geopolitics, and wonder what it means for future participation in the contest.
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Further Reading
Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Episode 776: You Gotta Have an Aggro Crag 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)]
1 hr 11 min
May 08, 2023Episode 775: This is the Most Sacred Part of a Kanye West Song
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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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Further Reading
“Seventeen” by Winger Lyrics (Rap Genius)
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)]
1 hr 6 min
May 01, 2023Episode 774: This’ll be the Day That I Die… I Just Ate a Brownie.
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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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Further Reading
“American Pie”: Wikipedia, Genius.com
“Tyson Fury sings ‘American Pie’ after beating Deontay Wilder during postfight interview” (YouTube)
Poems: “The Second Coming” and “England in 1819”
“50 Years After Hitting No. 1, The Meaning of ‘American Pie’ Then and Now” (American Songwriter)
“Grammys flashback: Has Marc Cohn’s Best New Artist win over Boyz II Men and Seal aged well?” (Gold Derby)
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)]
1 hr 16 min