The DeadEndRoad Show

You've heard of the classic "red flags" for dudes: the Pulp Fiction dorm room poster, liking Fight Club a little too much, an unopened copy of Infinite Jest on the nightstand. But what about anime red flags? Is something as hyper-specific as Ergo Proxy really a red flag? We discuss in this week's Did It All For the Moogle.

Later, the bulk of this episode has us discuss our latest book club pick. That's right, we finally got around to finishing RF Kuang's Yellowface, and we're glad we did. We have a lot to say about this portrayal of the publishing industry and its indictment on racism, classicism, and plagiarism within. Bill gets personal weaving in his own experiences as a publishing professional and writer.

We wrap with this week's Horror Harvest: Inferno from Dario Argento, the follow up to Suspiria. At times brilliant, more often than not silly, it's an intriguing giallo horror film.

Socials:
Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/deadendroad.bsky.social
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad 

We’ve got a particularly mad Mountains of Madness for you this week, as we talk about a brave landlord protecting his tenants from turning into zombies from that scary emergency alert that came and went.

Then we get into why Google search is so awful now, straight from Google’s mouth. Luv 2 watch the internet crumble all around us.

In Artificial Insanity, our good friends from Replika AI fed into a UK man’s delusions about killing the Queen. He had a Bane mask and thought he was a Sith lord, it’s a whole thing.

And finally for our Horror Harvest we discuss this year’s Evil Dead Rise. Does this entry do enough to shake up the Evil Dead formula? Or does it play it safe in more ways than one. We were pretty split on this.

Timestamps:
Intro 0:00-3:31
Mountains of Madness: 5g Edition 3:32-1946
Artificial Insanity: Regicide Edition 19:47-32:13
Evil Dead Rise 32:14-1:05:21
Horror Harvest Picks 1:05:22-1:09:58
Outro 1:09:59

Socials:
Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/deadendroad.bsky.social
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad

It’s spooky season, and that means our Horror Harvest is back again to bring you the scares and movie takes you’ve come to know. Which are worse for your health? This time we’ve got Evil Dead (2013), and it’s hard not to compare it to the original The Evil Dead, especially if you watch them back to back.

Later we have a Dead Letter that makes Bill question everything he’s ever done in his life, some Dating is Dead picks that make him spiral further, and some Worst Beats in the World that make him want to give up entirely.

And we round out the show with a discussion of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Cyberpunk 2077’s 2.0 update, and cyberpunk as a genre and where the three meet, diverge, and perhaps don’t mesh as well as they are supposed to.

Timestamps:
Intro/Robotripping 0:00-4:50
Evil Dead (2013) 4:51-31:39
Ian’s Recent Horror Rundown 32:00-38:13
Dead Letters: Conspiracy Edition 38:14-45:31
Dating is Dead: Wasteland Edition 45:32-53:16
Worst Beats in the World: Viral Edition 53:17-1:07:47
Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Cyberpunk2077, Cyberpunk the genre 1:07:48-1:27:56
Outro 1:27:57-1:30:19

Use our Bookshop link and support indie bookstores:
https://bookshop.org/shop/deadendroad

Socials:
Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/deadendroad.bsky.social
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad

We’ve got some bookish stories for you in this one.

First up, what the hell is going on with these scammy ebook apps on the Google Play Store? Our SEO/AI-driven hellscape continues unabated.

Then we discuss the Seattle Kraken BookTok incident. When fandom becomes harassment in an arena of overlapping niche interests.

Timestamps
Bootleg eBooks 0:00-7:06
Kraken BookTok 7:07-26:18
Outro 26:19-28:25

Use our Bookshop link and support indie bookstores:
https://bookshop.org/shop/deadendroad

Socials:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeadEndRoad​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) circulated a list of songs to all of its radio stations that were suggested to not be broadcast. Some of the picks make sense, others absolutely do not. We go through the list, a time capsule of the thought process following a national tragedy whose consequences are still being felt. Alien Ant Farm is also here.

Timestamps:
Pickleball Purgatory 0:00-6:50
Pixel Fold impressions 6:51-16:58
JFK Cult & Tiny Teflon 16:59-27:50
9/11 Music 27:51-46-40
Covers & Spongebob AI 46:41-1:02:26
Outro 1:02:27-1:03:48

Check out the Pixel Fold
https://www.amazon.com/Google-Pixel-Fold-Smartphone-Telephoto/dp/B0C34DL6Z7?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&_encoding=UTF8&tag=deadendroad-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=a849626a4c0c29e9a8930c1873e72042&camp=1789&creative=9325

Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeadEndRoad​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad
Bookshop – https://bookshop.org/shop/deadendroad

In our first Book Club episode we discuss Paul Tremblay’s The Pallbearers Club, the pseudo-memoir novel filled with New England dread, medical anxiety, vampire orbs, and 80s punk.

What did we think of the unique formatting and hyper-focused interiority of the narration? Give it a listen to find out.

Check out The Pallbearers Club at an indie bookshop near you:
https://bookshop.org/a/96206/9780063069909

Socials:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeadEndRoad​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad

Here with a solo pod, because I have some stuff I want to talk about.

Like the new Ari Aster movie, Beau is Afraid, and how it’s a 3 hour long nightmare for the paranoid among us. Specifically me.

Later I’ve got an anime check in, as a bout of insomnia created the perfect conditions to check out a couple newer shows in Oshi no Ko and fittingly, Insomniacs After School. I round out with some assorted JRPG updates and musings.

Time Stamps:
Intro 0:00-1:37
Beau is Afraid 1:38-9:05
Camera Installation 9:06-12:32
Call of the Night Callback 12:33-17:14
Oshi no Ko/Insomniacs 17:15-24:19
Persona 3 Reload Voice Acting 24:20- 28:00
FFXIV Fanfest 28:01-35:10
JRPG Woes 35:11-38:40
Outro 38:41-40:27

We’ve got a packed show for you this week. In Mountains of Madness we talk about Twitter clones and where we’re all supposed to go now that our 20s are over. We can’t keep making accounts forever.

In Worst Beats in the World we discover the song of the summer.

And in the latter half of the show we’ve got a spoiler-free discussion of Final Fantasy XVI. We talk about the context of the game, its place in the series, its juxtaposition next to Final Fantasy XIV, and the larger discussions surrounding the game.

Timestamps:
Intro/Yellowcard: 0:25-8:10
Instagram-Twitter: 8:11-27:50
Worst Beats: 27:51-52:55
FFXVI Discussion: 52:56-End

Socials:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeadEndRoad​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad

Sometimes we just shouldn’t record. But once we press that shiny red button, all bets are off, for better or worse.

In any event we’ve got the latest Persona 3 Reloaded updates after the game’s official unveiling. And Atlus had still had one more trick up their sleeves that the leaks couldn’t let slip. We discuss the surprise reveal.

Socials:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeadEndRoad​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad

All the rumors and leaks were true. The Persona 3 remake is real, and in this episode I give my first impressions and reactions to the news, as well as some in-depth analysis of the trailer and what we know so far about Persona 3: Reloaded. I have some concerns.

But before that I do get a little personal and talk about my current creative process, what my writing routine has been, and where I am trying to take my current projects in a monologue-esque Mountains of Madness.

Socials:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeadEndRoad​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndRoadTV/​
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@deadendroad
Email – [email protected]
Support our work: Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/deadendroad