This Is Your Afterlife

Just what the title says. For next week's bonus episode, I am going to do a listener mailbag, and it will be very awkward with no input from you, a listener! So send your questions to my or the podcast's DMs on Instagram (@thisisdavemaher/@thisisyourafterlife) or my email: [email protected]. Voice notes welcome! (I assume by sending you're giving me permission to include them in the episode.)

I'll answer questions about me or the show, requests for unqualified advice, or whatever else you can think of, probably. Just send it now!

This Is Your Afterlife is made possible by listeners like you on Patreon. Support the show & get bonus episodes—LIKE THE MAILBAG—by subscribing to TIYA After Dark:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

I met rapper, writer, visual artist, and technical octuple threat Rhys Langston when he opened for This Is Your Afterlife's 200th guest, Open Mike Eagle, at a show in Cleveland. As I say to him in this episode, there were telltale signs he was my type of guy. I think he'll be your type of guy too. We recorded near the end of the NBA playoffs, as my partner and I were deepening our Cavs and general basketball fandom, and it just so happens Rhys has an entire former life as a basketball player. And that's not even his coma! Enjoy our conversation, and do yourself the favor of checking out his music. It's especially good for summer.

We talk about: working in multiple art forms, the tingle vs. the cold sweats, being too intense, amassing an archive of your own work, brain breaking after calling off an engagement, how many notebooks he uses at once, (Long) COVID & brain fog, wishing your art was more of a conversation, anhedonia, berries from the neighbor's yard, George Jackson, Octavia Butler, My Life as a Night Elf Priest.

This Is Your Afterlife is made possible by listeners like you on Patreon. Support the show and get bonus episodes by subscribing to TIYA After Dark:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Rhys:

https://rhyslangston.substack.com/

https://rhyslangston.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/rhyslangston/

Need a starting point with his massive music catalog? Try...

Pale Black Negative:

https://rhyslangston.bandcamp.com/album/pale-black-negative

and/or

Language Arts Unit:

https://rhyslangston.bandcamp.com/album/language-arts-unit

Especially be on the lookout for his Pacific Northwest tour dates June 29–July 4 (details on IG) + his album and debut book of poetry, both coming in October (on his birthday, of course).

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a preview of a bonus episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear this full episode and all the others for just $5 a month.

This solo episode was an experiment. Of the things that have occupied my thoughts recently, I picked two, made one a starting point and the other an endpoint, and improvised my way from A to B. I'm pretty happy with it! As always, I'd love to know what you think.

I talk about: no one actually understands AI, harm reduction, bubbles bursting, property over people, inane job interviews, reckoning with Tarkovsky, echo chambers, losing dreams, news flash: unemployment is hard and sad.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Dr. Fatima: How to (Anti) AI Better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y85nqc2zm7M

Anthopic, OpenAI Should Not Be Allowed to IPO, Says Ed Zitron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKDmkJPVvI

FracTracker's U.S. Data Centers Tracker:

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/5a4d072ad01449bba5698a80103fb909/page/Map

Stop Bad Data Centers:

https://datacenters.halttheharm.net/

Food & Water Watch

No More New Data Centers!:

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/11/06/no-more-new-data-centers/

How to Stop a Data Center Near You:

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2026/03/05/how-to-stop-a-data-center-near-you/

Stop Data Centers Now! Campaign Toolkit:

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOR-WEB-Toolkit_-Stop-the-Data-Center-Buildout-2.pdf

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

Cultural critic & friend of the show Madeline Lane-McKinley joins my conversation with Sean O'Brien about their book The Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present for the end of another two-episode week! Or am I joining their conversation? Doesn't matter! It's a great one because not only do we get to explore in greater depth the project of the book, in the back half of the episode it gets personal, as we explore how the project of periodization has affected them as people. Plus, we all share our "most 90s" memories.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

The Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present:

https://www.plutobooks.com/product/the-return-of-the-90s/

Solidarity with Children: An Essay Against Adult Supremacy:

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2610-solidarity-with-children

Follow them both and find out about book events:

https://twitter.com/la_louve_rouge_

https://www.instagram.com/la_louve_rouge_/

https://twitter.com/sean_obee

https://www.instagram.com/sean_ob/

Be on the lookout for Sean's Keywords for Value and Culture, edited with Thomas Waller for CLCWeb, and Growing Pains, coming out through Textual Practice:

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/

https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rtpr20

Listen to Sean on Genre Reveal Party!, my movie podcast with Madeline:

https://pod.link/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vZ2VucmUtcmV2ZWFsLXBhcnR5Lw/episode/N2VkOTY1M2ItOTgwMy00OWQwLWIyZmQtYzdlNDA2M2QyYTlm

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

I don't tend to use the word "periodizing" for the project of This Is Your Afterlife, but when I ask my guests, "What's your coma?," I'm absolutely "categorizing the past into discrete, quantified, and named blocks of time for the purpose of study or analysis" (thanks, Wikipedia). Periodization is the explicit project of The Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present, a new book edited by Sean O'Brien and TIYA friend Madeline Lane-McKinley. In another two-episode week, I'm talking to them about this cultural criticism project and personalizing it. What world did the 90s leave us with? What do we make of the decade's resurgence? And what does it mean if the world we remember never existed in the first place?

First up is Sean's solo episode, in which I roll out the purple carpet to give him the same TIYA treatment Madeline got with her solo episode. Then on Friday, I talk to them both in a more free-form conversation about the book, so stay tuned!

We talk: an intro to Marxism, the need for sleep, WIRED magazine, afterlife as anti-work utopia, prostrating at the altar of academia, lessons he learned from watching his mother die with grace.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

The Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present:

https://www.plutobooks.com/product/the-return-of-the-90s/

Follow Sean and find out about book events:

https://twitter.com/sean_obee

https://www.instagram.com/sean_ob/

Listen to Sean on Genre Reveal Party!, my movie podcast with Madeline:

https://pod.link/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vZ2VucmUtcmV2ZWFsLXBhcnR5Lw/episode/N2VkOTY1M2ItOTgwMy00OWQwLWIyZmQtYzdlNDA2M2QyYTlm

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a bonus episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear all the other After Dark episodes for just $5 a month.

I asked, subscribers voted, and we're doing it: watching all seven Andrei Tarkovsky feature films this summer! Here's an "episode zero" for this bonus miniseries, in which I explain the genesis of the idea, my approach, and my general insecurities for good measure. This thing is so new I didn't even have the name "Podcasting in Time" until writing this blurb after recording. Real-time creative process!

Enjoy, chime in on Patreon with your thoughts, and get ready for the first episode of Podcasting in Time by watch Tarkovsky's 1962 debut, Ivan's Childhood.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

Is gossip the only thing people want from their media these days? Is your own taste to the contrary evidence of an audience for something different? What do you do when you want to create work that engages culture thoughtfully in a format longer than a single TikTok? The answer for Jeff Weiss is: double down on the publication you started as a rap blog in 2005, which has launched the careers of many excellent writers and influenced culture in mind-boggling ways, like helping to solve murders and free people from prison.

Upon launching a subscription model for POW MAG, Jeff wrote an essay that resonated with frequent This Is Your Afterlife concerns: transformation, physical media, and creating sustainably outside the boundaries of corporations. I had to talk to him. In this conversation, I related to Jeff's fullness of opinions while deeply resisting the take-based attention economy. It's not that we hate gossip. We just don't want it forced on us!

We talk about: manifestos, information DOESN'T want to be free, finally becoming the writer he wants to be in 200 years, boring ancestors, Drakeo the Ruler and a couple grisly details of his murder, searching for justice in the U.S. criminal legal system, the existence of evil, being an L.A. times bestseller.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Subscribe to POW MAG:

https://www.powmag.net/

Follow Jeff, POW, The Truth Hurts podcast & POW Recordings:

https://www.instagram.com/passionweiss/

https://www.instagram.com/pow.mag/

https://www.instagram.com/thetruthhurtspod/

https://www.instagram.com/powrecordings/

Jeff's "manifesto" for the new era of POW MAG:

https://www.powmag.net/p/pow-mag-enters-a-new-era

Jeff's book, Waiting for Britney Spears:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/waiting-for-britney-spears-a-true-story-allegedly-jeff-weiss/b171e91273f92b93

And as I promise in the episode, here are links to some key pieces Jeff wrote about Drakeo the Ruler.

Death:

https://lamag.com/theindustry/the-assassination-of-drakeo-the-ruler/

Legacy and family three years after his death:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-02-25/commentary-still-no-justice-for-rapper-drakeo-three-years-after-killing

Murder trial:

https://www.thefader.com/2019/07/11/drakeo-the-ruler-murder-trial-los-angeles-report

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a preview of a bonus episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear this full episode and all the others for just $5 a month.

You can also purchase just this standalone episode for $3 here: patreon.com/posts/nasty-squeezes-158644003

Sarah Knittel is a clown, actor, producer, deviser, previous TIYA guest, my close friend, a comrade-in-arms when it comes to DIY solo performance, and one of the people I consult most often on creative process questions. Her show Nightmare Fuel, which she brought to the Edinburgh Fringe the first year I went before we'd even met, includes a concept called "nasty squeezes." A nasty squeeze may contain elements of pubescent longing, anticipation, danger, sexual fantasy, and joie de vivre. Yet it's more than any one of those things, and there's no set formula. It's a fecund topic, and I've thought for a while it would make for a great podcast.

So here it is, episode 00001 of Nasty Squeezes, in which Sarah explains the genesis of the phrase, we struggle to define the concept succinctly, and we lay the groundwork for future episodes of Nasty Squeezes. This was a blast to do, so if you like it, let us know! We'd love to do more under the umbrella of TIYA After Dark for now, but we've got nothing set in stone.

We talk about: getting your tit touched, Mark Hoppus, cautionary tales (DO NOT DO THESE THINGS WE ARE DESCRIBING), Hard Copy, Jerry Springer, no-ring wrestling, Yahoo! checkers.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Sarah:

https://www.instagram.com/sarahkmonster/

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

Pod Casty for Me week on This Is Your Afterlife concludes with a silly, serious, thorough, and discursive episode with that podcast's other host, Jake Serwin. I'm pleased to say our internet interactions have blossomed into an actual friendship, and I'm not at all insecure about how much I text him after the bit about "Lisa Lampanelli" he does at the top of the episode. Nah nah nah, c'mon, Jake is quick, funny, perceptive, irreverent, and a great hang. Enjoy the second of these episodes with my favorite movie guys who are also political guys.

We talk about: toilet humor, being the sibling of a cancer kid, Y2K fear, depression, artful droppings, poststructural theory, ketamine therapy, hyper-vigilance, the poor timing of 9/11, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Old Guard, the Universal Studios backlot tram tour, another Pod Casty hiking memory, what red Gatorade is made for, his movie recs for TIYA listeners.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Pod Casty for Me:

https://www.podcastyforme.com/

https://patreon.com/PodCastyForMe

https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/

https://twitter.com/podcastyforme

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

Ian Rhine is "one of the guys" who host Pod Casty for Me, my current favorite podcast. He and Jake Serwin talk about film and politics, and their deep friendship is evident in every episode. I find it illuminating and comforting and fun, and, wouldn't you know it, that's also how I feel about this conversation with Ian. I split him from Jake for another two-episode week, so stay tuned for Jake on Part 2. Ian and Jake joined me on a bonus episode a few months back to talk about Exorcist III, so these appearances on TIYA proper are overdue! I really love these guys, and I hope you do too.

We talk about: each other's podcasts, bodies of work, depression, suicidal ideation, cognitive behavioral therapy, the stuff you're worried about mostly not happening, becoming a Movie Guy, the liberation theology to Politics Guy pipeline, hiking in Glacier National Park, his movie rec for TIYA listeners.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Pod Casty for Me:

https://www.podcastyforme.com/

https://patreon.com/PodCastyForMe

https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/

https://twitter.com/podcastyforme

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/