The Middlebrow Multiverse

The lads dive into the mailbag to answer questions about AI, freeway ne'er-do-wells, and irony.  We blame society's ills on finance bros and ponder the definitional contours of middlebrow.

Our champions are back at it with a look at the news. They ponder why Trump and Taylor Swift are so ever-present, when did America hit its peak foreign power, and wow, what a time to be a Gen-Xer. Finally, they discuss a little-known army of smart home products and its nefarious deeds.

We get our first report card from our Middlebrow Ombudsman, who is watching out for our dear listeners and making sure Danny and Pete keep their content as middlebrow as possible. What is the definition of middlebrow? And do the lads hit the mark or fuck it up completely?

The lads splash some cash to determine which of the Oscar Best Picture winners from the 2001-2010 decade is the zenith of middlebrow entertainment. Cash is King as they examine (WITH SPOILERS) Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, The Departed, No Country for Old Men, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Hurt Locker. There can be only one winner.

The guys start off with Danny's top 3 things that have grabbed his attention, then challenge Left Coast conventional wisdom 5 times and round it out with some Fuck 'Ems and Cheers. 

Our heroes dig deep into the mailbag and answer questions about Pete's fancy car, an illicit fireworks show, the numbing sameness and mediocrity of modern life, the illusive concept that is middlebrow, and elite travel status. Ka-chow!

The fellas discuss peoples' secret beliefs then dive into the news to cover Canada's superpig problem, the return of the secession fantasy, and Harvard's dark web body snatching scandal. 

The lads begin their spirited inquest into prize-winning middlebrow culture by sending three of these four Pulitzer Winners for Fiction to a grisly and untimely end: The Shipping News, The Road, American Pastoral, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Only one will survive to advance to the next round.

Danny misses a primo opportunity to do something whimsical and instead fumbles up some rather alarming statistics, setting the tone for a darker-than-usual episode. Then the fellas read you the news, including Boeing's problems, the self-taught savant that is decimating the pro bowling circuit, and the sad practical death of cryptids and UFOs. Finally, why is Joe Biden so unpopular, and what could be better than Balloon Boy?

In the first installment of this intentionally myopic series, Pete shares the various forms of moral anxiety that accompanied his finger injury, the guys divulge what numbers they track most obsessively, and Pete offers a refreshing tonic to Dad bod shame.