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PODCAST

Gobbledygeek

Paul Smith and Arlo J. Wiley

A more-or-less weekly podcast dedicated to all things geeky in pop culture and entertainment. We talk about everything from film and television to books, comics, video games, and more.

All Episodes

01:24:01

413 - Action Park: Everything is Legal in New Jersey

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/09/03

As Hamilton taught us, everything is legal in New Jersey. So we shouldn’t be surprised that it was once home to Action Park, the most dangerous amusement park in the world. Eugene Mulvihill’s vision of a lawless hellscape with pleasure as its only principle is the American Dream in miniature, with a guest appearance by Donald Trump himself! Paul and Arlo discuss the new HBO Max documentary Class Action Park, which brought the Mulvihill legend to their attention; some ancillary material available on

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02:46:31

412 - folklore (feat. Joseph Lewis)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/09/01

Paul and Arlo are doin' good, they're on some new shit: actually talking at length about music! A/V director and founding Gobbler Joseph Lewis joins the boys to rave about Taylor Swift's newest (and best) album, Folklore. The gang discusses how Folklore offers a more mature and introspective look at Swift’s pop star persona, how the collaboration with The National’s Aaron Dessner enhances her sonic palette, the drama of the Teenage Love Trilogy, the beautiful video for "cardigan," and more. Next:

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01:38:44

411 - Biennial Torture Session (feat. Chance Mazzia)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/08/20

He wasn't going to get away that easy. Just in time for his biennial torture session, Chance Mazzia has been roped into another episode of Gobbledygeek. Since his last go-round, Chance has become a high school teacher, thereby automatically becoming a more productive member of society than either Paul or Arlo. Chance tells us about the esports team he coaches at school, Paul and Arlo share a rare moment of commiseration by not knowing any of the games Chance mentions, the gang is bummed out by the

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01:49:35

410 - Geek Challenge: Puppet Master vs. Seed of Chucky

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/08/05

They’ll tear you a new puppet hole, bitch! The worlds of Charles Band and Don Mancini collide in a pre-Gobbledyween Geek Challenge. Paul sends Arlo a psychic alert letting him know to watch 1989’s Puppet Master, the first of producer Band’s direct-to-VHS Full Moon Features and the source of approximately one trillion sequels. In turn, Arlo goes meta and has a doll voiced by him call Paul while the real Arlo is tied to a bed behind him, commanding Paul to watch 2004’s Seed of Chucky. Paul recounts

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02:15:20

409 - Hamilton (feat. Sarah Kosheff)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/07/25

2020 may be an absolute shitshow, but thanks to Disney+, we can all be in the living room where it happens: the filmed performance of Hamilton, recorded in 2016 with the original Broadway cast, is now available to stream. Paul and Arlo may have talked about Hamilton, oh, once or twice or 18 times since its debut five years ago, but luckily über-fan Sarah Kosheff is on hand to help them find new things to say. Arlo talks about getting to see an actual production of Hamilton for the first time, Paul

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02:55:48

408 - The Last of Us Part II (feat. Kenn Edwards)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/07/21

A deadly virus rages across the world. The U.S. is in shambles. Despite the imminent threat, humans have started to turn on one another. And in other news, this week Paul and Arlo are talking about Naughty Dog's highly anticipated zombie apocalypse sequel The Last of Us Part II. Joining them for a discussion of this brutal, beautiful game is none other than Alex Jonestown Massacre guitarist Kenn Edwards. The gang discusses how the game departs from its predecessor, the incredible acting of Ashley

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01:49:41

407 - Chucky at the Blockbuster Museum

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/07/06

The beauty of Gobbledygeek freestyle episodes is that Paul and Arlo will hop on the microphone and start yammering about something or other, then next thing you know, bam, it’s been a tight 45 on the Child’s Play franchise. Killer doll movies, killer German time travel shows (what up, Dark), killer longings for idealized video stores of yesteryear, killer viruses--this episode’s got it all. It will kill you. Next: speaking of somebody who got killed, Hamilton: An American Musical comes to Disney+

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01:40:35

406 - Jimmy Cliff and the Apocalypse

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/06/26

The world is, yet again, a much different place than when we last recorded an episode of Gobbledygeek. In the month since the police killing of George Floyd, there have been a wave of protests worldwide and renewed conversations about what role police have in society, if any at all. We--Paul and Arlo--are not sure we should be part of this conversation. After postponing recording for many reasons, our initial urge to record some deep, thought-provoking discussion about racial injustice has subsided

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01:31:39

405 - Moonshadow and Slyfox

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/06/01

Ah, youth. A time of joy and comfort, of excitement and adventure. Also pain and fear and anxiety and awkwardness and all that fun stuff. Spinning out of their recent conversation with senior British correspondent Wesley Mead, Paul and Arlo talk about nostalgia (Greek for “pain from an old wound,” according to Don Draper). They regale the listener with tales of their misbegotten youths, from chronic illness and cutting class to oddball rebellion and a very memorable chauffeur experience. Is any of

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01:53:56

404 - Monty Wezzo’s Flying Quarantine

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/05/18

Rule, Wezzo! Wezzo, rule the podcast! Gobbledygeek’s senior British correspondent, Wesley “Wezzo” Mead, returns after a truly mind-boggling 22-month gap to fill us in on how exactly the UK is falling apart. Boris Johnson is handling the COVID-19 pandemic very poorly, especially for someone who nearly died from the virus--but still not as poorly as Galactic Emperor Trump, with his Space Forces and super-duper missiles. You’ve heard all about how Paul and Arlo are coping with quarantine, but what’s

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01:37:21

403 - Normal People Like Peanut Butter

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/05/14

Another week, another reckoning with the apocalypse. As the country gears up to reopen, Paul and Arlo discuss how their home states of Alabama and Ohio are handling things. They are not optimistic! Crowds packed close, restaurants teeming with teens, maskless mugs--these things, and more, contribute to our hosts’ reluctance to get this society back on the road. After they’re done ruminating on our impending doom, Paul raves about Hulu’s Normal People; Arlo recommends two more Hulu series, PEN15 and

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01:48:58

402 - West Side Story

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/05/09

When you’re a geek, you’re a geek til ya die, from the stupid reviews to the heaviest sighs. And so, tonight, tonight, the geeks are out tonight--we’re talkin’ finger-snappin’, toe-tappin’ street gangs, daddy-o! Out of seemingly nowhere, Arlo pressures Paul into watching Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ 1961 adaptation of the 1957 Broadway show West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein. You might have heard of it! Somehow, though both of them love musicals--as

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01:58:02

401 - Texed

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/04/24

We’re all responding to quarantine (semi- or otherwise) in different ways. Paul seems to be practicing some sort of immersion therapy, living out the post-apocalypse in games like The Last of Us and shows like The Leftovers. Arlo, meanwhile, reaches for the comfort of old reliable favorites like the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie or the modern classic sketch comedy series Key and Peele. Have you ever realized they’re different people? The boys discuss texting syntax, Paul’s genuine

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03:02:27

Bonus - Feels Like the First Time

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/04/18

Once upon a time, three idiots did a podcast. Their names were Paul Smith, Arlo “AJ” Wiley, and Joseph “Will Penley” Lewis. And no, we’re not talking about Gobbledygeek episode 400--we’re talking about the very first episode, recorded a full decade ago. This painful, awkward reminder of where it all began has been lost to time and/or the BlogTalkRadio servers for at least a few years now. Now, it has been restored--but never remastered--to its proper glory. Relive the earliest day of the podcast,

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02:18:41

400 - Feels Like the 400th Time (feat. Joseph Lewis)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/04/15

A global pandemic. Britain leaving the European Union. Donald Trump being elected president. FX canceling Terriers after one goddamn season. It has been, without question, the dumbest decade. Add to that list the strange, mystifying endurance of Gobbledygeek. A podcast hosted by two straight cis white male idiots, ostensibly devoted to the discussion of “popular culture,” and listened to by only a small handful of reprobates, has somehow lasted ten years and 400 episodes. Many other, arguably better

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02:08:54

399 - Disclaimer: Not a Criminal Act

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/03/23

FIRST THING’S FIRST: Paul obliquely confesses a past sin during this episode, it’s kind of a super tense moment, but Arlo has cleared off-mic that it was not a criminal act! So...do with that what you will! Elsewhere, the world is fucking ending, so you might as well watch The End of the Fucking World. Paul and Arlo muse on the collapse of civilization, discuss proper social distancing etiquette, and recommend things to watch and read as society dissolves. Some of those recommendations: The Hunt,

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01:46:31

398 - Freegobble: Of Mouse Print and Madness

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/03/12

We start with frozen dairy dessert. We end with a world on the brink of madness. Between that gulf lies...nothing, everything. Paul chides Arlo for becoming obsessed with Black Hammer. The boys laugh about getting the @Gobbledygeek Twitter handle back. Good stuff. You like that, right? Well, guess what? Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have coronavirus, the NBA has suspended the season, all travel from the EU to the US has been stopped, our president appears to be slowly dying on national television. All

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02:33:49

397 - FCF: Black Hammer

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/03/06

Don’t you just hate it when you’re a superhero who saves the world and then gets zapped to a shitty little farm town in another dimension that you literally cannot leave? In Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Dark Horse series Black Hammer, Abraham Slam, Golden Gail, Barbalien, Talky-Walky, Colonel Weird, and Madame Dragonfly sure do. For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo discuss the recently concluded “main” storyline of Lemire and Ormston’s ever-expanding creation, consisting of Black

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02:32:51

396 - FCF Bonus: HBO’s Watchmen (feat. Greg Sahadachny)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/03/03

No one, especially not Alan Moore, ever really wanted a Watchmen sequel. Which is exactly why handing the reins to Damon Lindelof, who has a history of disorienting and upsetting expectations, is a stroke of genius. Last year’s HBO series, spearheaded by Lindelof, is a bold, startling continuation of Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel masterpiece--so of course, after talking about the book, Paul, Arlo, and reformed podcaster Greg Sahadachny had to discuss the TV show. The gang talks about the

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01:50:43

395 - FCF: Watchmen (feat. Greg Sahadachny)

Gobbledygeek ·

2020/02/02

After a year of pointedly discussing no superhero stories, Paul and Arlo revive Four-Color Flashback for a new decade with the big kahuna of all superhero stories: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1986-87 maxi-series Watchmen. Aided by emotional sherpa Greg Sahadachny, once and future host of The Debatable Podcast, the boys openly admit there is no new light to shed on perhaps the most analyzed comic book of all time--then get to shedding. What’s it like reading Watchmen in 2020? In the wake of Damon

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