Sure, we may have done an episode on card games, but we’re narrowing our focus to collectible card games in this episode. We welcome our friend Tim Lenard into the studio, and he gives us his hot take on Netrunner. We also talk about some of

Episode 55 - Good Eats

Sep 4th, 2019

This week we’re talking about the return of Good Eats. We discuss the show’s influence on the broader ecosystem of food shows, and we also talk a bit about food’s connection to culture. Get into it!

Emergent Culture 8 - GateHouse/Gannett Merger

Aug 19th, 2019

We’re back from summer vacation with another Emergent Culture episode. In this one, we’re talking about a large merger in the newspaper industry, which will combine GateHouse Media and Gannett. We talk about the implications of the merger, wh

Episode 54 - Children's Programming (TV & Movies)

Jul 16th, 2019

Ben and Roberta are expecting a baby girl in October, which means Ben has been thinking about children’s programming again. In this episode, we talk about our early memories of watching television as kids, some of the dominant themes across th

Emergent Culture 7 - The UMG Fire

Jul 8th, 2019

In this installment of emergent culture, we talk about the fire at the Universal Music Group studio that burned hundreds of master tapes from famous musicians. We talk about why master recordings are important, the extent of the damage, and th

Episode 53 - Comedy with Rachel Katz

Jul 4th, 2019

Just a warning that this episode has some curse words in it.We’re talking comedy again! This time we welcome in our friend Rachel Katz to talk about her experience with writing and performing comedy. Rachel founded the Wolf Pack Comedy Club at

Emergent Culture 6 - no more iTunes

Jun 27th, 2019

On this weeks episode of Emergent Culture Ben and Joey talk about the news that Apple is doing away with their longtime software iTunes. In its place will be several services including Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV. While it’s the en

Episode 52 - Curb Your Enthusiasm

Jun 18th, 2019

Pretty, pretty, pretty good episode here. We’re talking about Curb Your Enthusiasm, primarily, but we also talk about Seinfeld and Larry David too. We comment on the nature of the comedy in the shows, why some people love it and others…well…d

Emergent Culture 5 - Bill Clinton Gets a Podcast

Jun 10th, 2019

For this Emergent Culture episode, we discuss recent reports that former President Bill Clinton will be starting a podcast with his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, called “Why Am I Telling You This?” The podcast is aimed at being a promotional tool

Episode 51 - Reggae, Ska, Dancehall

May 29th, 2019

In this episode, we welcome Prince Nesta, aka The Reggae General, into the studio to talk about reggae, ska, dancehall, and other related music. Prince Nesta worked as a reggae DJ in Nairobi, Kenya, and we talk about his love for the music as

Emergent Culture 4 - Too Many Streaming Services

May 22nd, 2019

In this Emergent Culture episode, we discuss the proliferation of streaming platforms, especially in light of Disney’s upcoming Disney+ streaming platform. We discuss various services and also comment on the historical push to have “a la carte

Episode 50 - James Bond

May 14th, 2019

We’re back with another full-length episode of Residual Culture. This week, we welcome Isaac Morrison, who recently watched ALL the James Bond films. We begin with some general discussion of Bond as a cultural figure, and how he has changed o

Emergent Culture 3 - Social Media Banning Extreme Views

May 7th, 2019

We’re back with another Emergent Culture episode where we discuss a news story related to the media and/or cultural production. In this episode, we talk about Facebook’s recent decision to ban extreme views on its platform, including people li

Episode 49 - Game of Thrones

Apr 23rd, 2019

This week Joey and Ben are joined by Jacob Solis, a friend of theirs who has seen a little bit more of Game of Thrones than Joey. They get into why it’s so popular, what makes it good (and bad) and how to end a show with such a huge fan base be

Emergent Culture 2 - Disney Takes Over 21st Century Fox

Apr 18th, 2019

The Walt Disney Company has acquired most of the media properties of 21st Century Fox. We discuss the implications of this merger, as well as how this positions Disney to dominate culture. We also talk about the history of Disney a bit, inclu

Episode 48 - Live Music

Apr 9th, 2019

In this episode we talk about our experiences with live music. We talk about our best and worst concert experiences, the most popular and most obscure artists we’ve seen, and other memorable concert-going experiences. Get into it!

Emergent Culture 1 - The Race for the Podcast Market

Apr 3rd, 2019

We’re trying something new! We’ve turned our Emergent Culture segments into shorter episodes where we provide brief commentary on how emerging issues will affect some of the cultural products we consume. In this first episode, we discuss the

Episode 47 - Jim Carrey

Mar 18th, 2019

All-righty, then! In this episode, we welcome special guest Daniel Rothberg onto the podcast to discuss the career of Jim Carrey. From his early movies to his zany comedies and eventually his serious dramatic roles, we reflect on the actor’s

Episode 46 - Deep Cuts (movies)

Mar 7th, 2019

The Deep Cuts series continues! In this episode, we talk about some of our favorite movies, whether they are lesser-known movies from well-known directors or simply obscure films that we think you should see. Do you have a favorite? Have you

Episode 45 - Deep Cuts (music)

Feb 26th, 2019

We’re starting a new mini-series on “deep cuts,” which highlights some of our favorite obscure elements of culture. In this first episode, we talk about obscure music. Deep cuts can be either relatively unknown or under-appreciated songs from

Episode 44 - Card Games

Feb 20th, 2019

Are card games “media?” We say “yes,” and discuss some of our favorites in this episode. We begin with some early memories of playing card games, then we talk about the significance of collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering and Hear

Episode 43 - What's Going On with Paul Mitchell

Feb 12th, 2019

What’s going on? Oh us? We’re just sitting down for a talk with Dr. Paul Mitchell in this episode. He recommended we listen to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” so we could discuss its influence on Dr. Mitchell’s life, the ways in which it re

Episode 42 - Reboots and Remakes

Feb 5th, 2019

This week Ben and Joey talk about the phenomena that has been dominating the film industry for the last several years, reboots and remakes. The guys talk about all the good and bad that comes with remaking a movie or rebooting a franchise. Joey

Episode 41 - Buster Scruggs

Jan 21st, 2019

Joey and Ben watched The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and talked about all 6 of its acts and what works and what didn’t. Later on they dive into the connecting theme and where it lies in the Coen brothers catalog of movies. Ben and Joey disagree on

Episode 40 - Home for the Holidays

Jan 15th, 2019

In this special episode, Ben takes the show on the road back to Wisconsin, and his son, Caden, serves as a special guest host. Ben and Caden talk about the media that is important to Caden, including some of his favorites from 2018. Caden mak