Ep. 115: State of the dystopia

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We’re not usually a current events pod, but it’s been quite a week between the rapid shutdown of Britain’s major industries, Elon Musk’s continous spiral into fascism, and Mark’s march toward death (aka his birthday). So it’s time for a little State of the Dystopia chat!

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark tells CoRri

[17:18] We chat about active imaginations and nightmares, Mark’s birthday, aging, and some surprising “facts” about time

[40:35] What we watched! With a LOT of side discussions.

[80:04] We’ve got a lot of anxiety about the breakdowns of our societies.

Stuff we watched:

Ep. 114: Cousins’ kids and kidnappings

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We’re coming in hot with a discussion of one of society’s greatest taboos: Inbreeding! Plus, we share some cultural exchange, our watches this week cause us to think some deep thoughts about humanity, and we discuss a few cases of extremely long term kidnapping.

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri explains the science of human inbreeding… and why it might be less of a problem than we think? Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.
[29:16] We discuss Montell Jordan, pop music, an unusual brotherly Christmas tradition in the Lewis household, a ranking of Russells and other such pressing business
[53:00] What we watched!
[81:13] We talk about a few cases of kidnapping that went on a really long time

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Ep. 113: Ball so hard (you die)

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This week Mark returns to his favorite topic: The brain! (The brain, the center of the chain!) And then on the advice of his son Owen, we talk about times that people have died on the field while playing sports. Or sport, if you’re British.

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark tells CoRri some stories about the resilience of the human brain
[18:30] We talk about the darkness of winter, the lightness in CoRri’s soul, and how Mark is reframing his sleep struggles
[0:00] Mark tells CoRri some stories about the resilience of the human brain
[18:30] We talk about the darkness of winter, the lightness in CoRri’s soul, and how Mark is reframing his sleep struggles
[31:39] CoRri corrects a mistake she made about lead in water last week. Also, if you want Christmas JoAG mail, make sure you sign up on our Ko-Fi at the Great Bunch of Lads level!
[37:50] What we watched! A lot going on in this one! There is much to recommend!
[69:30] We talk about times people have died while playing sports
[100:18] We discuss the divisive Tik Tok favorite film Skinamarink!

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Ep. 112: Lead heads

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We’ve got existential dread up to our ears this week! We talk about the ways in which lead may have destroyed generations of brains, climate and covid anxiety, stupid deaths, and the things that caused our nightmares growing up.

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri explains the lead-crime hypothesis to Mark
[24:49] We chat about our current climate catastrophe anxiety
[29:00] Mark has COVID again and CoRri wants to know why so many people just keep passing it around; we discuss whether CoRri has any criminality in her; and CoRri has a dumb cultural exchange question
[49:20] It’s time for listener shoutouts! Mark gives all of our Ko-Fi supporters a story about a stupid death
[73:20] What we watched!
[96:00] We discuss strange and pervasive fears we’ve had throughout our lives

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Scanners, VHS99, Dead Asleep, Smile, Girl in the Picture, The Wonder

Ep. 110: A bag o’ bodies

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If you live in a big city, you probably pass dozens of people every day hauling their luggage down the sidewalks and subway platforms. But have you ever stopped to wonder if there’s something more sinister in those valises than t-shirts and spare underwear?

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark tells CoRri about the science of decomposition

[16:50] In his own weird way, Mark offers some inspiration, and we talk about our “floating door” getting us through life.

[21:40] Cultural exchange time! We discuss the 5th of November celebrations in the UK, and CoRri talks about her road trip through the South.

[44:00] Should we delete Twitter?

[60:00] What we watched!

[93:00] We discuss people caught on CCTV carting corpses in suitcases

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Ep. 109: Ghost science

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Nothing says Halloween like good old fashioned ghosts! This week we’re diving into the world of ghost hunting. Is there science to back up the existence of ghosts? Listen and find out!

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri tells Mark why, if there were a hell, Ed and Lorraine Warren would most certainly be there
[29:43] We discuss how a demon would get into Mark and learn a little more about Welsh Halloween in the ’80s
[46:48] What we watched! (If the discussion of Barbarian sounds choppy, it’s because we spoiled the shit out of it and I had to cut it out. Sorry!)
[65:00] We get into discussing the science of ghosts and ghost hunting

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Frankenhooker, The Batman, As Above So Below, Barbarian, Trick ‘r Treat, The Burning, Pearl

Ep. 108: When teens fly

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It’s back to the gruesome twosome this week after back to back episodes with excellent guests. In this episode, we discuss an intense story of survival in the Peruvian rainforest, check-in with a little JoAG therapy, and lay out some of our essential viewing and traditions for the Halloween season.

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri tells Mark the story of super badass German teenager Juliane Koepcke, who survived a plane crash and ten days solo in the Peruvian rainforest
[18:42] Mark joins QAnon?
[31:34] Our minds and bodies are broken
[40:30] Our con day is sold out and Snack of All Graves is coming on Monday so make sure you subscribe to hear it!
[42:05] Our no-spoiler thoughts on Halloween Ends and Terrifier 2
[55:35] We chat about our favorite Halloween season movies and traditions

Stuff we referenced:

What we watched:

Terrifier 2, Halloween Ends

Ep. 107: Games that go bump in the night

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This week we have the absolute pleasure of having Chris Porritt from the Helix Cloud Games network of podcasts with us to talk about the world of horror games and why they’re such fertile ground for innovation.

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark tells the story of a man and his unlicensed zoo
[16:49] We introduce our guest Chris Porritt, what tf cloud gaming is, and why Google is so good at killing stuff
[40:44] We announce our MCM Comic-Con Birmingham panel and other such JoAG business! Get your ticket and come see us do our first live appearance on Saturday, November 12th, 2022 at 3:10pm on the Live Stage!
[48:00] We talk about Deadstream and some of the movies that scarred Chris
[58:50] We discuss horror games!

Stuff we referenced:

Ep. 106: Forensic psychiatry

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It’s a VERY special JoAG this week as we’re joined by Dr. Ben Duffin-Jones, a forensic psychiatrist with years of experience working in the Welsh penal system. We learn the ins, outs, ups, and downs of working to understand what makes criminals tick, and why empathy is the most important requirement for the job. Plus: Ben ranks our perfect murder strategies from episode 31!

Ep. 105: Murphy’s law

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Oh boy. Right before recording this episode, our dear scheduled guest had an emergency and had to cancel, so… um… we talked about everything from bird migration to the genius of She-Hulk to what the Dahmer Netflix series can tell us about the true crime landscape.

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark introduces CoRri to three minor deities, with one catch… one of them he made up. Can she guess which?
[10:50] We have a little JoAG therapy sesh about why we’re both feeling a little off at the moment. Plus, our next watch-along is October 8th!
[24:30] We discuss the autumnal equinox and CoRri has a revelation about birds, which leads Mark to tell her about the Jews of Aberystwyth
[36:00] We deep dive into the Netflix Dahmer series and what it does differently from other true crime
[53:30] We watched The Munsters so you don’t have to
[63:00] What else we watched! From the glorious twitter drama of Don’t Worry Darling to the beautiful meditation on grief that is The Night House.
[90:00] The answer to which deity Mark fabricated.

What we watched: