x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Michael and Us

Luke Savage and Will Sloan

A podcast about culture, politics, and our crumbling world. Hosted by Luke Savage and Will Sloan. Exclusive subscriber-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/overview

tv & film

All Episodes

00:45:52

#606 - Sound of Freedom Fries

Michael and Us ·

2025/03/13

From immigration anxieties to "enhanced interrogation" to globalism to elite sex trafficking, TAKEN (2008) is a virtual dictionary of right-wing grievances - including some that weren't even popular yet. We discuss the most entertaining reactionary action movie of its time. PLUS: Mark Carney, Mahmoud Khalil, Mel Gibson, and of course, Donald Trump.Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus See Will present VEERANA at the Fox Theatre on April 8 at 9pm

en

00:02:28

PREVIEW - #605 - Fahrenheit 5/11 (Newsroom Part 7)

Michael and Us ·

2025/03/10

We finally arrive at the legendary Bin Laden episode of THE NEWSROOM ("5/11") and discover that surrounding that iconic clip on the airplane is Aaron Sorkin's most revealing meditation yet on what he thinks journalism should be. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/124082719

en

00:45:28

#604 - Prestige Slop, Part 2

Michael and Us ·

2025/03/05

We return to Netflix's political miniseries ZERO DAY to find out what happened to Robert De Niro's Biden-ish ex-president... and discover something startlingly close to a liberal QAnon. PLUS: Well it turns out the U.S./Canada trade war is on!Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "Is Lenny Bruce Funny?" by Will Sloan - https://hazlitt.net/feature/lenny-bruce-funny

en

00:03:39

PREVIEW - #603 - Hail, Coens!

Michael and Us ·

2025/03/04

The Coen Brothers' BURN AFTER READING (2008) offers a jaundiced take on Washington and its institutions at the tail end of the Bush era. We were in a desperate need of a good time, and the Coen Brothers can always be depended on to deliver. PLUS: Chinese blockbusters vs. American blockbusters - who will own this century? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/123667636

en

00:54:17

#602 - Prestige Slop

Michael and Us ·

2025/03/01

Imagine someone fed the last 10-or-so years of American liberal politics into an A.I. machine and told it to create a Netflix miniseries. Friends... you don't have to imagine. We discuss Robert De Niro in ZERO DAY (2025), the bilge water at the bottom of the prestige-TV. PLUS: Checking in on the Canadian Liberal Party leadership race, and what ever happened to the Garfield Eats guy?Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "The problem with

en

00:01:27

PREVIEW - #601 - Machine Gun Preacher (w/ Alex Shephard)

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/26

What if the makers of the God's Not Dead movies attempted a violent action film that combined John Wick and Taken with a Christian message? Friends, you don't have to imagine. Alex Shephard steps in for Luke on this episode to discuss David A.R. White (aka "Pastor Dave") in BECKMAN (2020). PLUS: What does Jeff Bezos's takeover of the Washington Post opinion section mean for journalism? And how long will the Trump/Musk honeymoon period last? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE -

en

00:49:32

#600 - The 600th Episode Spectacular

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/23

When you speak into a microphone for 600 episodes across nine years, you're going to forget a lot of it. So to celebrate a very special anniversary, Will quizzes Luke about some of the most forgotten-about episode in Michael & Us history. Do YOU remember that Jerry Springer starred in a movie?? PLUS: SNL, James Bond, and a brief history of Keith Olbermann.Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus Will's Substack -

en

00:08:36

PREVIEW - #599 - Olbermanncore Newsroom Part 6wav

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/20

In episode six of THE NEWSROOM ("Bullies"), Aaron Sorkin brings some much-needed shading and complexity to the character of Will McAvoy. But of course, "complexity" and "self-flattery" can sometimes overlap.PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/599-newsroom-6

en

00:50:44

#598 - We Have Lingered In Puddles of Melted Gremlins

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/15

With its Trumpian billionaire presiding over a steamrolling everything-company, Joe Dante's GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990) satirized the 1980s while also predicting the present day. We discuss a classic anti-Spielbergian blockbuster that wasn't. PLUS: Updates on the Canada/U.S. tariff battle, and who are the most readable conservative writers?Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

en

00:04:22

PREVIEW - #597 - Live from Tahrir Square (Newsroom...

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/12

The Arab Spring hits THE NEWSROOM in its fifth episode ("Amen"), but once again Aaron Sorkin finds himself more concerned with Will McAvoy's workplace dramas, including a nefarious attempt by the ACN morning show to bring his downfall. PLUS: Was the '60s "the decade where everything changed"? At least one magazine cover believes so! PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/122160705

en

00:47:25

#596 - The Union Forever

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/05

Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR (1978) follows three struggling auto workers who rob their union office and uncover a world of corruption. It's one of the great films about organized labour because it's one of the great films about solidarity. PLUS: We celebrate Canada's victory in the trade war, and check in on the politics of "Art the Clown."Check out Luke's Substack - https://www.lukewsavage.com/ Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

en

00:04:39

PREVIEW - #595 - On High in Blue Tomorrows Part 2

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/03

David Lynch's most frightening and abrasive movie leads to his most hopeful conclusion. It's part two of our discussion of INLAND EMPIRE (2006). PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/595-on-high-in-2-121440636

en

00:57:53

#594 - Guilty Pleasures (Newsroom Part 4)

Michael and Us ·

2025/02/01

Our journey through Aaron Sorkin's THE NEWSROOM arrives at Episode 4 ("I'll Try to Fix You"), in which the power of a conscientiously-run newsroom helps save Gabby Giffords' life, and Will McAvoy takes a courageous stand against gossip in all its forms. The news is overwhelmingly bad right now, so we frankly had a nice time retreating to 2012.Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

en

00:55:01

#593 - On High in Blue Tomorrows (Part 1)

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/29

We pay tribute to the late, great David Lynch with a two-part discussion of his strangest, most abrasive, and arguably most innovative feature. We discuss how INLAND EMPIRE (2006) confounded expectations with its low-budget production, free-associative style, and startling use of digital video, and begin to unpacked its multilayered story.Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

en

00:04:57

PREVIEW - #592 - West's Side Story

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/25

We recap the first week-or-so of Trump Era 2.0, and then, because we can all use a larf right now, discuss LOOKWELL (1991), the legendary unsold sitcom pilot starring Adam West and written by Conan O'Brian and Robert Smigel.PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/120760912

en

00:04:54

PREVIEW - #591 - Facts are the Center (Newsroom Part 3)

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/24

In episode three of THE NEWSROOM, "The 112th Congress," Will McAvoy finally runs afoul of the people who really run the network. We discuss what Aaron Sorkin gets right about news media and the people who own it, in addition to all the things he gets wrong. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/591-facts-are-3-120499773

en

00:59:06

#590 - Nasty Hero

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/18

With the reigning governments in both Canada and the United States spurting their last few dribbles, we're in a bit of a political limbo period... so what better time to watch a bad direct-to-video '80s action movie? We discuss something called NASTY HERO (1987). PLUS: Obama and Trump, the Canadian Liberal Party leadership race, Armond White, and a few words on the passing of David Lynch.Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus Yes, you can watch

en

00:04:36

PREVIEW - #589 - The X Factor (Newsroom Part 2)

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/14

In the second episode of THE NEWSROOM, MacKenzie lays out her theory of what a quality news broadcast should look like, and Will McAvoy presides over one of the worst broadcasts of his career. It's one of the Sorkinest Sorkin shows we've ever seen - it's "News Night 2.0" PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/589-x-factor-2-120060633

en

00:48:02

#588 - Lubrication Theory Simulations

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/09

The White House has been destroyed by an earthquake, President Sean Young is trapped under the rubble, and House Speaker Eric Roberts wants to take over America in DC DOWN (2023), a low-budget disaster movie from the most trusted names in entertainment, Tubi and The Asylum. We treated ourselves to a good old-fashioned "good movie movie." PLUS: How seriously should we be taking Trump's threat to annex Canada?Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week -

en

00:02:19

PREVIEW - #587 - Action Will Be Taken

Michael and Us ·

2025/01/07

When the possibility of positive political change seems so distant, and the stakes are so high, at one point is radical action advisable? This was a question posed by the Earth Liberation Front, the environmental group that became synonymous with "eco-terrorism." We watch the Academy Award-nominated documentary IF A TREE FALLS: THE STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT (2011), which charts the group's rise and fall.PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE -

en

194 results

Similar Podcasts

BEHIND THE VELVET ROPE

David Yontef

Nerd Culture - A Gamekings Podcast

Blammo Media

UPodcast

UPodcast

The Writers Hangout

Sandy Adomaitis

The Sarah Fraser Show

Sarah Fraser