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• What we've been Doing:

  • BJ performed at the Monrovia Pride Book Festival!

• What we've been Reading:

  • Ben read One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad.

  • Jacob read London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, Checkmate by Ben Mezrich, Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Angel Down by Daniel Kraus.

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben rewatched Ocean's Twelve.

  • Jacob started watching Invincible, and saw The Furious.

  • HT watched Widow's Bay, The Other Bennett Sister, is pretty into The Vampire Lestat, and has been rewatching Fringe (where else, on Pluto TV).

  • BJ watched The Little Rascals, Get Real, Jackass 2, and Call Me By Your Name

We're making this episode free for everyone. We'd love for you to subscribe at patreon.com/popcultured and join us for regular box office discussions, our Simpsons rewatch podcast, and an ad-free experience.

Since the big new releases this week didn't spark any worthy ideas, Ben, Jacob, BJ, and Brad decided to provide some personalized recommendations for things that are streaming right now. Hopefully you find some things to add to your watch lists! (Update: Ben screwed up and said "Spy" is streaming on HBO Max. In fact, it's streaming on Disney+/Hulu. Sorry about that!)

If you want to respond to anything we've said, offer any feedback, suggest topics of conversation, or just say hello, you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you soon.

Since this is only the free feed, we encourage you to visit patreon.com/popcultured to get access to the huge pile of other episodes you're missing out on!

• What we've been Doing:

  • Ben went to Walt Disney World to interview some Muppets and saw a Muppet concert.

  • Jacob attended Universal's one-year Epic Universe victory lap.

  • BJ has been in junket city and went to the CCA LGBTQ+ Celebration

  • Brad has gotten into stickers

• What we've been Reading:

  • Jacob read A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman, This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog by Marc Torices, and Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido.

  • Brad listened to Dungeon Crawler Carl and is in the middle of Carl's Doomsday Scenario.

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben watched Spider-Noir and Affection.

  • Jacob watched Masters of the Universe, Backrooms, Widow's Bay, and The Righteous Gemstones.

  • BJ watched Carolina Caroline, I Am Frankelda, The Incredibly True Story of Two Girls in Love, and Strip Law

  • Brad watched Doc Meets World, The Sheep Detectives, and Masters of the Universe.

• What we've been Eating:

  • BJ had the Supergirl x KFC collaboration meal

  • Brad tried the Blue Berry Typhoon Hawaiian Punch C4, Sour Strips Ghost Energy, Dot's Snack Mix, Hawaiian BBQ Pringles, Banana Mudslide Cutwater, wants to recommend Kinder's Founder's Reserve BBQ Sauce

• What we've been Playing:

  • Brad started playing LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

Hey everyone. There are going to be some changes to the podcast(s) coming soon. The audio explains everything. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you soon!

Subscribe at patreon.com/popcultured to hear every episode of this show, plus two others — a weekly box office discussion, and a Simpsons rewatch podcast!

• What we've been Doing:

  • BJ went Bowling and got to show Diane Franklin her TerrorVision cosplay!

• What we've been Reading:

  • Brad listened to Project Hail Mary

  • BJ started Amy Spaulding's "Out in Hollywood" series of sapphic romance novels (finished - For Her Consideration)

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben watched The Punisher: One Last Kill and wants to follow up about Titanic.

  • Brad watched The Breadwinner

  • BJ's watching Half Man, The Mandalorian and Grogu, and revisited 2GE+HER and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

• What we've been Eating:

  • Brad went to the National Restaurant Association Show and tried a breakfast gyro, his own ketchup flavor, and Dr. Pepper Dippin Dots. He also tried Root Beer Float Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Blackberry Boom Uncrustables, and Strawberry Cheesecake Pop-Tarts

  • BJ tried Banana Mudslide Cutwater (oh my god good but please be careful)

If you're only listening in this feed, you're missing out on more than half of what we're releasing. We recently came up with our own cast for the next X-Men movie, talked about some of our favorite cinematic outfits, and broke down several directors who made their feature directorial debuts at age 30 or younger. Plus, we have weekly episodes analyzing the latest box office numbers, and two episodes per month of our rewatch podcast dedicated to The Simpsons. Join us at patreon.com/popcultured to hear it all!

• What we've been Reading:

  • Ben read part of The Odyssey, but gave up.

  • Jacob is still plugging away at the Red Rising series, but is also reading North American Lake Monsters and There is No Antimemetics Division.

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben is watching Widow's Bay, and saw Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Only Angels Have Wings.

  • Jacob started watching Hacks and Long Story Short, and saw The Sheep Detectives.

• What we've been Doing:
• Jacob accidentally stumbled into a small Texas town festival.
• BJ went to an Adult Swim FYC event
• What we've been Reading:
• Jacob read Red Rising and Golden Son by Pierce Brown, and Mister Magic by Kiersten White.
• BJ read Rachel Reid's non-Game Changer hockey romance books – Time to Shine and The Shots You Take
• What we've been Watching:
• Ben watched Caught Stealing, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and The Firm.
• Jacob is catching up on For All Mankind, is currently bingeing My Adventures With Superman, and saw Hokum.
• BJ saw Devil Wears Prada 2, The Warriors (on the big screen!), The Saviors, and the L.A. premiere of Blue Film.
• What we've been Playing:
• BJ joined the Filmcast for the Summer Movie Wager

We'd love for you to join us at patreon.com/popcultured, where you can hear everything we release each week, including ad-free and exclusive episodes that won't be in this feed!

• What we've been Doing:

  • Ben went to Orlando to see The Midnight and visit EPIC Universe.

  • Brad went to Disneyland for a Toy Story 5 early press day, went to see Michael Longfellow at The Den Theatre in Chicago

  • BJ saw Purity Ring in concert, went to the Overlook Film Fest & CinemaCon, and moderated at The Academy

  • This is very late but HT went to SXSW (fave movies there: I Love Boosters & Hokum); also saw Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf in Death of a Salesman

• What we've been Reading:

  • BJ started reading Verity and it's about to be a DNF.

  • HT has been reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben rewatched Titanic (and wants to talk about the hand in the car).

  • Brad watched Faces of Death and is enjoying season 21 of Taskmaster so far.

  • BJ has started a full-series rewatch of The Drew Carey Show, saw a lot of great stuff at Overlook, and checked out Connor Storrie's surrealist short film, Jerry the Ginger Eater.

  • HT saw Speed Racer again in theaters, and her latest Pluto TV marathon resparked the ultimate debate: who is hotter, young Pacino or young De Niro?

• What we've been Eating:

  • Brad ate some tasty food at Disneyland's Avengers Campus and Big Hero 6's San Fransokyo, also tried Liquid Death Pop-Tarts Carnage Iced Tea, Dirty Mountain Dew, Birthday Cake Pebbles marshmallow treats.

  • Ben ate some EPIC Universe food.

Join us at patreon.com/popcultured for ad-free and exclusive episodes you won't hear in this feed!

• What we've been Reading:

  • Jacob read Cue the Sun by Emily Nussbaum, got completely caught up with the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and is deep in the classic manga Berserk.

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben watched DTF St. Louis and rewatched Key Largo.

  • Brad watched Love on the Spectrum season 4, Lorne, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and The Drama

  • Jacob watched The Drama and the season finale of Shrinking.

• What we've been Eating:

  • Brad tried the KPop Demon Hunters items from McDonald's, Dill Pickle Oreos, Root Beer Float Ryse Energy Drink, Cadbury Biscoff Filled Chocolate Egg

Join us at patreon.com/popcultured for ad-free and exclusive episodes you won't hear in this feed!

• What we've been Doing:

  • Jacob saw Steven Spielberg get interviewed in-person.

  • Brad is starting to do video content for Brad's Junk, so follow him on TikTok and whatnot.

  • BJ got a tattoo in honor of The Bride! And went to The Saturn Awards

• What we've been Reading:

  • Ben read Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.

  • Jacob read Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard, Strange Pictures and Strange Houses by Uketsu, Images Comics' Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Creature From the Black Lagoon Lives!, and the first omnibus of Invincible.

  • BJ has entered her fanfic era.

• What we've been Watching:

  • Ben watched Pompei: Below the Clouds.

  • Jacob watched Project Hail Mary, the new seasons of The Traitors and The Traitors UK, and has thoughts on Shrinking season 3.

  • Brad watched Death of a Unicorn and a couple episodes of Neighbors.

  • BJ watched Below the Belt, Forbidden Fruits, and Deadloch seasons 1 & 2

• What we've been Eating:

  • Brad tried the KPop Demon Hunters Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavors, Black Pepper Cheddar Cheez-Its, Little Debbie Banana Puddin and Boston Creme Pies, KFC Colonel's Favorite Jelly Beans, and Alfredo's Pizza Cafe from Scranton, PA.

• What we've been Playing:

  • Jacob is playing Resident Evil 9.