the link

APRIL MADNESS

All throughout April, we're keeping the bracket theme alive. It's what makes March so fun, and we're not ready to give it up yet.

If you go all the way back to E30, you'll hear the first bracket ep that we on the pod, all about Disney-Pixar movies. Last week we kept that theme going with the best actors. Now? We're onto something a little more spicy...

My friend Chad joined me in debating the best fast food chain of them all. 

What's the connection between a Rabbi, an Amish man, and Santa Claus? Listen now to find out, and bring your appetite.

While you're on your phone, or however the kids listen these days, head over to @thelink_podcast Instagram (of course follow the Twitter too but for this purpose, IG will do), and if you're listening the week the pod comes out, you can make your fan votes in the stories! We found our winner...does yours match up?

More brackets to come throughout April, so hit that follow button and stay tuned...

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

APRIL MADNESS

Yeah, I get it, the name is weird, but if you just click that play button, I'm happy to explain!

All throughout April, we're keeping the bracket theme alive. It's what makes March so fun, and we're not ready to give it up yet.

If you go all the way back to E30, you'll hear the first bracket ep that we did together, all about Disney-Pixar movies. On the back of the Oscars' episodes, we had to keep the movie theme going, so we chose 16 of the best living actors and actresses, randomized the bracket, and deliberated for a long time. Thank God for editing.  Plus, you'll get to hear the MASSIVE list of honorable mentions, which I'm sure some people would fight for, but the bracket is set, and we're ready to find the winner.

While you're on your phone, or however the kids listen these days, head over to @thelink_podcast Instagram (of course follow the Twitter too but for this purpose, IG will do), and if you're listening the week the pod comes out, you can make your fan votes in the stories! We found our winner...does yours match up?

Plenty more brackets to come, so hit that follow button and stay tuned...

---

If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

It's Part 2 of 2, what kind of description do you need?

If you didn't catch the first part, go back to E57. If you're caught up, good on you, and you get rewarded with full breakdowns of all the Best Picture nominees, and the other major awards we didn't predict before. 

This is why I take all the notes folks.

If you haven't listened to the other episodes with TJ, you're in luck. Check out E4, E9, E32, and needless to say, E57 where we kicked off the 2022 Oscars talk. There just might be a few more planned for the future, but more on that later.

For now give TJ's YouTube channel a follow where he's constantly breaking down movies. Don't forget his Instagram stories where he rates every movie he sees (spoiler: it's a ton, and it's a great barometer to have). While you're on the world wide web, give me a follow @thelink_podcast on Twitter & Instagram, and if you listen all the way through the end...you'll know what to do.

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

Finally TJ has come BACK to the link podcast. If the Rock is reading this, TJ might have words about you in the pod, but I had your back man, don't forget that. 

It's our second annual Academy Awards breakdown, but this year is bigger and better. This is just part 1 of 2 covering the entire landscape of film in 2022, the Oscar nominees, film breakdowns, potential winners, fixes for the award show, and a ton of other hilarious but semi-useless ramblings.

Oh, and yes, we got off track and discussed The Batman for a while in this, but it links back up to the awards talk, I swear. 

If you haven't listened to the other episodes with TJ, you're in luck. Check out E4, E9, and E32 (and E58 if you're a time traveler). There just might be a few more planned for the future, but more on that later.

For now give TJ's YouTube channel a follow where he's constantly breaking down movies. Don't forget his Instagram stories where he rates every movie he sees (spoiler: it's a ton, and it's a great barometer to have). While you're on the world wide web, give me a follow @thelink_podcast on Twitter & Instagram, and if you listen all the way through the end...you'll know what to do.

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

I love playing the bass, and I appreciate a good groove like nothing else in this world. While I was strolling through the airport, jamming out to the new Earthgang album - Ghetto Gods - I was thinking to myself, who the hell is laying down the bass line on this song? I tweeted @Earthgang to find out, and they graciously pointed me to Benji. 

He was cool enough to come on the pod and talk music, his journey from athlete-to-musician, into Spillage Village, and now going on tour with Earthgang (you can find the tour dates here, and when you listen, be sure to let me know if you want to go on the link podcast's field trip to Brooklyn on May 18th to see Benji and the gang play).

We had an awesome conversation about his history, his play-style, his Pittsburgh-roots, and love for his adopted home: Atlanta. 

Do yourself a favor and give "Smile, You're Alive" a spin after you put this pod down. You won't regret getting in on the ground floor of Benji's solo career. Big things to come, I'm sure...including a potential second podcast episode, and some producer credits...but you'll have to listen for all that.

Follow Benji. @avatarbenji on Twitter & Instagram. While you're on there, give me a follow @thelink_podcast on Twitter & Instagram, and if you listen all the way through the end...you'll know what to do.

For now: let's jam.

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

Not enough video game episodes on the pod quite yet, so let's try to tip the scales. The first time Sal came on, we talked about the Mortal Kombat movies, and dipped a little bit into the games, but not nearly enough.

This time around, we got nerdy. 

How did Nintendo shape our lives? What would have happened if they didn't win the original console wars? Which characters led the way, and how would life look like without our beloved plumber (and his brother...and weird cousins)?

All that plus a ton of fun facts, like the star of this Super Nintendo commercial... which I almost re-enacted but there wasn't enough dialogue. 

Want more tidbits like that, rants, and me trying to do my best renditions of classic Nintendo theme songs? Well this episode is for you.

I'll share some of the things we referred to in the episode, and any more Easter eggs (why only eggs on Easter? eggs are great year round...and why a bunny? Although we did reference "Buster Busts Loose" in this episode too...full circle) throughout the week, head over to @thelink_podcast on Twitter and Instagram. 

While we're talking gaming, follow Sal on Twitch! Now slide that purple button up, switch your TV to channel 3, and let's game.

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

During the pandemic, the collectible market skyrocketed to heights never seen before. At the heart of that market are trading cards.

I grew up in the perfect time to get hooked on Pokemon as a kid. Little did I know, that love (obsession, Blastoise is king) would come back around later in life. 

As the market surged, I kept my eye on it, observing from the sidelines. One day, I ran into my friend Gio at a party, who I hadn't seen in a while, and we got into a long conversation (shocking for me, I know), about how he had been collecting, buying, selling, and taking advantage of this movement that was happening. Most importantly, it sounded like he was having a great time along the way.

I was hooked, I had to know more. I also had to share it with all of you, so I stopped the conversation in its tracks, and told him lets finish it when the mics were on...and here we are.

If you're already in the market, or looking to get your feet wet with it, this is a crash-course. If you're ready to buy, Gio has an eBay store where you can get started right now. 

Are things surging to new heights? Can it keep up? Where is the best value? We got into all of that and more.

If you want to see some of the goodies we referred to in the episode, head over to @thelink_podcast on Twitter and Instagram. Your new obsession awaits, and it just might make you a few bucks.

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

Does the title make sense now? It's intriguing, that's for sure. Will it makes sense after you listen? Oh that's also quite hard to say...

You never know where these solo episodes are going to go, but I do know that this one will make you cry, make you laugh, make you friendly with your staff. Maybe not all of those things right away, but I bet you'll do all three of them in time, and you'll think of me, Mike Szego, who you can follow @thelink_pocast on both Twitter & Instagram!

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

Somehow, we haven't done a Star Wars episode on the pod yet, and what better time than now with the whole Disney+ universe expanding at a rapid pace.

My good friend Luke (not Skywalker, but you gotta start somewhere) and I broke down where Star Wars stands now as a brand, what's to come, natural comparisons to Marvel, and of course, now that the finale has aired, we got deep into "The Book of Boba Fett" in the 2nd half of the episode (don't worry, no spoilers in the 1st half if you haven't finished yet).

All aboard Slave-1 (we're not changing the name)...we're about to travel through hyperspace and onto Nerdia-9 (excellent fake Star Wars planet name if you ask me).

Enjoy the episode? You can follow me @thelink_podcast on Twitter and/or Instagram.

Until next time...

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If you're into sports, like I am, I have a second podcast/YouTube channel called MikeTheMush Sports. We're live on YouTube multiple times per week. I'd love if you would check that out, subscribe and follow, and give us a look on Twitter & Instagram there too, because more me is always good, right? Plus who doesn't want to rant about sports?

Listen to me for ~4 minutes, laugh once, check your bank account, see how much you can spare, and put it toward a good cause.  

Here's some options: 

St. Jude Children's Hospital 

National Pediatric Cancer Foundation 

Ronald McDonald House Charities 

Alex's Lemonade Stand 

No plugs. See ya'll next week (I'm sure there will be more than enough plugs there to make up for it).