Not A Huge Fan

Isaac Simpson is a married man! Listen along with Charles and guest Toby Louie for the hottest details of the celebrity wedding of the year!

SPOILERS AHEAD! Isaac and Charles review Jordan Peele's Us along with guests Toby Louie and Heather Marulli! Does this episode rapidly go off the rails? Do you need to ask?

NAHF Mascot Sam Harris's podcast Making Sense recently had on Roger McNamee, a key adviser in the early days of Facebook, who has since heavily criticized tech giants like Facebook and Google for their business practices. Along with guest Toby Louie, Isaac and Charles examine McNamee's appearance, with Isaac reacting strongly to McNamee's "toxic boomerality." Also discussed: the annoyance of storytelling within conversations, as well as Isaac and Charles both telling their own horrifying stories about storytelling. Sam Harris/Roger McNamee episode: https://samharris.org/podcasts/152-trouble-facebook/

Someone has been sending angry missives again, and we take a few minutes to talk about it! Also: a soundboard challenge for our listeners.

A minisode covering a host of movie and TV-related topics: the Swedish film Border, Black Panther's questionable quality, True Detective Season 3 is boring but The Americans is great, the end of HBO's prestige period, and Isaac's feverish consumption of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America. 

It wouldn't be Not a Huge Fan if there wasn't an episode about something that was prominent in the cultural zeitgeist months ago: it's time to talk about the Fyre Festival documentaries, and specifically this: what led to the disaster? Isaac and Charles have the same answer: a discomfort with skeptics! Also discussed, Momo, Caroline Calloway, Theranos, Jussie Smollett, and all the hottest topics from February!

A bridge-burning interaction with a former mentor leads to this week's topic: social media alcoholism. Are Extremely Online people so addicted to fighting and feuding on social media that they lash out even worse when their opponent tries to back off? Is humanity simply turning into phone-obsessed bugs prompted only by signals? Does Isaac look constipated in his headshot or does everyone actually love it? PLUS: More listener email, Howard Schultz is annoying, and how The Daily Show is responsible for modern day "you got owned!" culture. Charles's controversial Apple bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFLJ4YTh73I

Senator Amy Klobuchar is the chief topic of this week's Klobu-chat! The good Senator from Minnesota was the subject of a recent NYT profile (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-staff.html) which listed a number of horror stories about Klobuchar's management style. Charles and Isaac examine the comb salad story, what makes an evil boss vs. a merely bad one, and whether women managers have an easier time being bad than men. Also discussed: Andrew Yang, the crime of insurmountable student debt, and whether we will ever have a weirdly-named President.

An email from a "fan" prompts a discussion about the purpose of the show. PLUS: even more gay talk, the value of Alex Jones, and our very first negative iTunes review!

A final statement on the question of whether the show is too gay. Featuring guest commentary by Adam Tod Brown (Unpops.com) 

Friend of the show Mike Nieman joins Isaac and Charles for the state-mandated discussion of the MAGA Teen/Native American drummer confrontation. Nobody understands why everybody cared so much about this encounter. Are we doomed to years of everything getting Rashomoned to death? Also discussed: whether Charles is an impossibly difficult person, Isaac's infamous Robin Williams post, and the importance of keeping a list of enemies.

Mattio Martinez returns to talk with Charles and Isaac about the "imperial phase:" the segment of certain artists's careers when they are at their critical, commercial, and cultural peak. More interestingly, the show focuses on the post-imperial phase, where the artist feels most free to create but almost always ends up making something weird. Examples cited: Garth Brooks' alter ego Chris Gaines, the films of Steven Spielberg from AI onwards, and whether Kanye has exited his imperial phase. Also discussed: Mattio's drag experience and his distaste for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Articles: Wikipedia on the imperial phase - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_phase FT on the end of incrementalism - https://www.ft.com/content/12ab216c-1587-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e

The holiday hiatus is over and the show is back! Hot news updates: Isaac is reading Harry Potter for some reason and Charles was almost bumped off a comedy show in London. Comedian Mattio Martinez makes his return to the podcast after two years away! This week's topic: the recent argument over Louis CK's alleged new, mean-spirited comedic tone. Is this actually new or is it just that the lens on him has shifted since his predilections were revealed? Was CK's public persona legitimate or just a faked creation to advance his comedy career? Also discussed: Isaac's distress at being called a skinny fat, why it's such a turnon to be desired, and whether the era of alpha males is over. Buzzfeed call for podcasts: https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/podcast-suggestions-2019