Ep. 70: Flappy leg nubbins

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Inspired by a photo from last week’s conversation about Thalidomide, we’re discussing the wild world of prosthetics throughout history, what disability means, and better living through body augmentation.

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark gives a very affecting lesson on why you shouldn’t keep wild animals as pets

[17:10] CoRri is kind of on holiday in the Hawaiian Twin Peaks

[26:16] We talk a bit about wrasslin’ and why everyone should be watching it

[33:20] John Carpenter’s The Thing is the zeitgeist this week, and we talk about the other 1980s horror flicks we consumed over the past few days

[57:00] We look at various prosthetic technologies throughout history

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Movies: Aliens, The Thing, The Kindred

Ep. 69 (nice): Happy new fear

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It’s a brand new year, and with it comes, well, some of the same old anxieties. We’re diving deep into what makes us nervous in 2022, but cutting it with some movie talk and some optimistic thoughts about capybaras.

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri tells Mark about the devastatingly dangerous 1950s morning sickness cure, Thalidomide

[17:50] We talk about our attitudes toward the new year and go on quite a spiral about capybaras

[31:50] Mark’s annual new year’s dead pool takes a shocking plot twist. Plus, our next book club is January 22nd and our next watch-along is January 29th, so mark your calendars!

[50:20] We face a rare disagreement in the types of movies we like to watch

[1hr8:30] We discuss what we’re anxious about in 2022, and why we respond differently to Don’t Look Up. (we get past talking about the movie specifically at 1hr16)

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Movies: My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, Trilogy of Terror, Don’t Look Up

Ep. 68: Technologies of murder

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We’re keeping it real festive this post-Christmas week with a deep dive into the circle of life, starting with a discussion of the ways in which evolution does wild things to keep organisms alive, and journeying on to a chat about how steadfastly committed humans are to ending other humans’ lives in creative ways.

Highlights:

[0:00] The wild spread of Omicron has Mark thinking about all the ways in which life finds an evolutionary way — from Inuit Ketosis to viral mutations.

[17:15] We talk about what the fuck is up with Kermit the Frog’s voice, our Christmas experiences

[29:20] We discuss what we watched this week, complete with a tangent on why weird looking actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Adam Driver are proof we should have more body diversity in Hollywood

[52:40] We opened by talking about how life finds a way, but we’re spending the rest of the episode talking about things people have created in order to kill other people.

Stuff we watched:

Movies: Don’t Look Up, Matrix: Resurrections, Encanto, The Last Duel

Ep. 67: Miracles is it lads

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This week we’re following up on a viewing assignment from last week with Silent Night, and we’re talking about whether or not miracles are all around us (after a cold open about whatever the exact opposite of a medical miracle is).

Highlights:

[0:00} CoRri tells Mark about the medical mystery of the Toxic Lady. Thanks to Ryan Joiner for the story tip!

[21:00] Mark wants jingle bells in our theme tune, we are in the liminal Christmas space and have all the anxiety… but watch CoRri’s Wisecrack writing debut about Hallmark Christmas movies! Plus, book club is coming after the holidays, and perhaps we’ll do a post-Christmas watch-along? Aaaand Omicron is even more of a buzzkill!

[38:00] We talk about what we’ve watched this week, CoRri’s nightmare Spider-Man viewing experience, and the potential repercussions of studios catering the content of films too much to the audience in order to get butts in seats.

[1hr] We get into a spoilery discussion of Silent Night, the movie we tasked our listeners with watching this week

[1hr15] We discuss some supposed modern miracles, what other explanations might exist, and whether we’re too wrapped up in scientism to allow that there might be some things science can’t explain

Things we referenced:

Things we watched:

Movie: Antlers, Better Watch Out, Home Alone 2, Red Snow, Silent Night, Spider-Man: No Way Home

Ep. 66: Your dog’s got ghosts (and other tales from the internet)

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Every day folks post bananas stories about the world in our Facebook group. This week we delve a little further into some of the incredible things that have come across our group, from dog exorcisms to suicide pods.

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark shares some terrifying AI… art?

[12:00] We explain where the fuck we’ve been, thank you all for your Spotify Wrapped posts

[25:20] We check in on the state of Covid in the UK

[32:30] We dive into what we’ve watched the past two weeks and CoRri explains what you can and can’t show on television in the U.S.

[57:00] We sift through some of the bonkers stories that people have posted in our facebook group

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Movies: The Shining, Dashcam, Black Friday, The Beta Test, Silent Night, Slumber Party Massacre

Ep. 65: Steve’s vast deferens

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In an epic Jack of All Graves/Dead and Lovely crossover event, Hollywood Steve is here to talk with us about his reproductive organs! Make sure you check out Dead & Lovely episode #242 to hear the three of us talk about the cannibal horror western “Ravenous.”

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark tells CoRri and Steve the story of Jean Hilliard, the woman who froze solid and lived to talk about it

[14:00] We introduce Hollywood Steve and get going with some cultural exchange as we discuss eating habits in the UK, the American South, and on the U.S. coasts.

[36:00] Onto what we’ve watched! We also chat about our lockdown lives and trauma.

[59:00] We talk about Steve’s massive vas deferens and why it caused his doctor some deep psychological scars during his vasectomy.

[1hr14min] We briefly talk about some ridiculous historical birth control methods and bad vasectomies

Stuff we referenced:

  • Dead and Lovely links! (Their original Ravenous episode is #139)

Stuff we watched:

Skyrim, Dr. Caligari, Umbrella Academy

Ep. 64: The boffin

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The time has finally arrived for us to ask JoAG’s resident boffin, Eileen Marks-Nelson, some of our listeners’ weirdest science questions! If you’ve ever wondered how vampires get it up, or how long you’re alive after decapitation, or whether it’s possible there’s a branch of human evolution that turned into merpeople, you’re in the right place!

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri tells Mark about the infamous Australian “shark arm case.” Thanks to Jason Chodera for the tip!

[16:55] We briefly discuss some weird and probably not real legal loopholes to keep out of trouble, and Mark is unimpressed by the concept of the pot luck.

[27:00] We talk about what we watched this week

[52:50] Brief One Night in Soho spoiler

[54:30] Spoilers over! We discuss how supernatural horror movies are too often ruined by twist endings

[1hr4min] We bring Eileen on to answer our “science” questions

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Movies: Vampire’s Kiss, Last Night in Soho, Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Ep. 63: Apocalypse soon

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Let’s be real: It can feel to all of us like the end is nigh, but we mean that in an ambiguous sense generally. For some folks, though, they’re pretty sure there’s a concrete date when all this is over. We’re looking at who some of those people are, and what they do when the date comes and goes without incident.

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark explains the process that will occur when the Queen kicks the bucket… which he’s pretty sure is gonna happen this week

[19:36] We discuss how we deal with the darkness of this time of year and talk through our latest watch-along

[30:50] We need your questions for our boffin! Also, CoRri’s house is mayhem

[35:00] It’s the what we watched segment

[49:20] We end up on a short diversion about the guy who went to space with William Shatner and then died in a small plane crash weeks later

[52:00] We discuss people who have prophesied specific dates for the end of the world

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Movies: Dreamcatcher, Llamageddon, King of New York, Joe Pera Talks With You

Ep. 62: Wholesome paraphilia

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An absolutely tragic and horrendous news story out of the UK has sexual deviance in the news, but not all unusual sexual desires are created equal. This week we’re delving into the difference between paraphilic disorders and paraphilias, and looking at some actually kind of nice ways people get turned on.

Highlights:

[0:00] CoRri tells Mark about the Great Molasses Flood of 1919

[20:00] We come in hot with an off-topic rant about Chris Pratt

[25:50] We put the watch-along poll up, and we talk about receiving our inaugural one-star review

[31:30] It’s the what-we-watched segment (plus something Mark’s reading!)

[55:00] Mark talks about the horrific murder and necrophilia case that’s rocking the UK, and we talk about the difference between paraphilic disorders and paraphilias more broadly.

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Ep. 61: Remember me

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Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos have us thinking about death, so we’re talking this week about ways in which people try to keep the memories of their dead loved ones alive, and how we deal with our own grief when it comes to loss. 

Highlights:

[0:00] Mark tells CoRri about some Halloween tragedies

[15:00] CoRri corrects her Bella in the Wych Elm story from last week’s cold open

[21:40] We talk about setting a book club date and our next watch-along, which will be Saturday, November 13th! Plus, we discuss library fines and video stores

[33:00] We get into what we watched this week

[1hr8:45] We talk about the ways people memorialize the dead, how we deal with remembering our own lost loved ones, and how we’d like to be remembered

Stuff we referenced:

Stuff we watched:

Movies: Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight, Dune, Ernest Scared Stupid, Violation, Lamb, They