Media/Lit

Happy Halloween, Podlings! As the leaves turn and the air grows crisp, we're diving into our annual tradition: the Poe episode. This year, Randy and Kris explore the intertwining of Edgar Allan Poe's works with the spirit of Halloween, all while sharing their own spooky season experiences. Nevermore. Want to get in touch? Visit our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Randy and Kris are back to dissect episode two of Knights of Guinevere, “Wolves Around the Corner," from Glitch Productions and creator Dana Terrace. The guys dive into the darker themes and the evolution of characters within this indie animation darling. They are pleasantly surprised by the tonal shift in this episode, emphasizing Terrace’s willingness to venture into uncharted territory wit...

Randy and Kris welcome back Amanda Rivas of The Pop Break to dive into one of the most influential albums of the 1990s: The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails. This album, released in 1994, not only defined a genre but also sparked conversations around its controversial themes. As the discussion unfolds, the trio reflects on how The Downward Spiral influenced contemporary music and the ongoing rel...

It has been a busy year at Media/Lit, and hosts Randy & Kris need to catch up! The guys take an episode to catch up on some of their favorite recent media and get hyped for some of the biggest releases on the horizon. They also take some time to preview what’s ahead for Media/Lit, including some big teases for our upcoming 100th episode and the blockbuster release of Avengers: Doomsday. Join u...

Shaken or stirred? Do we look like we give a damn? Randy and Kris are joined by special guest Bill George of the Should I Go See It? podcast to revisit Casino Royale (2006). This gritty reboot of a beloved franchise took many fans by surprise when it dropped twenty years ago, but our special guest was always a true believer. Join our panel as we review our personal histories with James Bond and ex...

Welcome back to Remedial Rewatch: Community 101 Yes, the Greendale gang misses a step or two without Dan Harmon at the helm, but our beloved study group continues to charm us and bring the laughs. Your hosts try to figure out what is missing this season while getting hyped for season five! Please enjoy the latest episode. We hope you'll register at Greendale Community College and share YOUR fa...

Film is a powerful medium, and when film incorporates music, the storytelling can become magical. Here at Media/Lit , we love to celebrate the ways that stories can enrich our souls and bring us closer together. Our friends Jen and Sarah of the Movies & Us podcast have embraced a very similar mission for the past eight years. We couldn’t think of a better duo to join us for a discussion of our...

Another season of X-Men ‘97 is in the books, and our good friend, Doctor John Aspler , is back to help us examine how it measured up to season one! After unpacking the full season and digging in to the most essential themes and story beats, we set out to look at the trajectory of the series after two seasons with our DEFINITIVE RANKING OF MUTANTS in X-Men ‘97 . Of course, this is Media/Lit , so we...

It’s time to turn the clock back and hit the playground. Grab your pogs and toss on your finest Starter jacket.  We’ve assembled an all-star team of millennial podcasters with some of our buddies from The Pop Break in order to draft lineups of our favorite 90s television shows and films. We pull shows from some of your favorite programming blocks and celebrate the movies that wowed you in the thea...

In this Media/Lite minisode, Randy and Kris team up to share their reactions to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey . Randy liked the movie quite a bit, but Kris LOVED it. Together they dig into some of the powerful adaptive choices and debate the merits of the film vs. the epic poem. In the middle of the chat, they take a break to hear from a few of their wonderful podcast pals. Be sure to stick arou...

You spoke. We listened. This week, Randy and Kris back up their appreciation for Carey Mulligan by digging into her Academy Award nominated performance as Cassandra in Promising Young Woman (2020). The guys focus on what viewers, particularly men, can learn from spending time with this award-winning film. They also celebrate Carey's incredible performance and explore the presence of comedians...

Welcome back to Remedial Rewatch: Community 101 Kris, Randy, and Tyler are here to look back on the first three seasons of Community and explore the impact of creator Dan Harmon on the initial run of the series before his ouster. They also reflect on the Chevy of it all and discuss the Harmontown podcast. In addition to reviewing on-set drama, the guys imagine what they might have done if they had...

This week, we are men of constant sorrow.  Randy and Kris are joined by special guest Bill Bodkin, Editor in Chief of The Pop Break , to revisit O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). It’s a deep dive into the Coen Brothers adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey that embraces the hero’s journey, the power of character actors, and the blustering blatherskite who spawned a whole Ocean’s 11 franchise: Ulysses...

Welcome to the Midnight Coterie of Cinephile Podcasters. What would happen if Wes Anderson were trapped in a dreamscape with a team of his own misfit characters? Media/Lit has several answers for you. In this episode, Randy crosses another item off of his podcast bucket list by celebrating the filmography of auteur Wes Anderson. In yet another signature Media/Lit draft, the guys turn these quirky...

Randy and Kris are getting hyped to return to Westeros and the Game of Thrones universe with the impending premiere of House of the Dragon S3! In fact, their hype is so big that a simple draft of their favorite characters wasn’t enough. Instead, Randy built an entire gamified draft that also serves as a multiversal battle for the Iron Throne!  Joining the guys on this adventure are Anna Stone of S...

Randy and Kris celebrate the upcoming 25th anniversary of The Fast and the Furious (2001) with a couple who have embraced the “Fast” franchise as a staple of their shared watch list. Liz Sherry and Andy Apperson are a research librarian and a high school history teacher who celebrate the franchise with an annual “fast” in which they rewatch all of the films to remember what it truly means to be fa...

Welcome back to Remedial Rewatch: Community 101 Kris, Randy, and Tyler are here to welcome Dean Pelton to the inner circle and celebrate Community’s ability to balance the silly and absurd with truly epic stakes.  Please enjoy the latest episode. We hope you'll register at Greendale Community College and share YOUR favorite moments at media.slash.lit@gmail.com! If we prove to be untutorable, y...

Randy and Kris take a break from their regularly scheduled programming to get HYPED for the summer cinema landscape in 2026. They subject each film to a litmus test and reveal their top five most anticipated movies of the summer. Only time will tell if their hype is rewarded or blown off course with the force of a bag of wind from Aeolus himself - but no matter what, the summer is sure to bring so...

Hey dol! Merry dol! Ring a dong dillo! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo! Randy and Kris head to Tolkien’s Middle Earth and take a detour through the Old Forest with ⁠⁠Doug Lief⁠⁠ , host of the ⁠ ⁠Nostalgium Arcanum⁠⁠ podcast. Together, we make the case for Tom Bombadil: The Eldest, and Master of the Old Forest.  We don’t accuse any of our beloved adaptations of missing the mark, but we do take t...

Randy and Kris are joined by their good friend, and Editor-in-Chief of The Pop Break , Bill Bodkin. The boys follow up the Easter season and their recent podcast on Wake Up Dead Man for another examination of Catholicism and faith in popular culture. This time, the crew dives into the View Askewniverse to revisit the 1999 classic Dogma and embrace its message of kindness, support, and personal gro...

Here at Media/Lit, we are always ready to return to the land Down Under, but this time we get to do it in scholarly style. Randy and Kris are joined by returning guest Timm Freitas, the English teacher and creative mind behind the Garden of English YouTube channel. Together, these dads jump into the world of Bluey to dive deep into S3 episode, “Curry Quest” as a vehicle for teaching the Hero’s Jou...

Have you ever locked eyes with your crush and felt like time stood still? If so, it’s time for you to join us as we enter the world of K-Dramas. Pop Break entertainment writer Nynoshka Vazquez-Suazo stops by the pod to introduce Randy and Kris to a bold new world of TV entertainment with the first episode of “Business Proposal,” a K-Drama romance marked by heightened reality and big emotional swin...

Welcome back to Remedial Rewatch: Community 101 Kris, Randy, and Tyler are here to dissociate from reality with our favorite Greendale study group as they unleash a full multiverse on the sitcom landscape. Please enjoy the latest episode. We hope you'll register at Greendale Community College and share YOUR favorite moments at media.slash.lit@gmail.com! If we prove to be untutorable, you can s...

We do it all for you, Mulder!  Randy and Kris are joined by world-class Dana Scully cosplayer Xandra Michele and her own personal Fox Mulder: Pete Richards ! These panelists know that the truth is out there, so they dig deep into what makes The X-Files fandom click with a deep dive into a fan favorite one-off episode: “Bad Blood.” Join us for the conversation and then let us know if you think Scul...

Young men love risks because they can't imagine the consequences… This week we’ll risk spoiling Mad Men by jumping straight to the season three finale. Randy and Kris welcome Mad Men expert Alex Marcus of ⁠ the ⁠Pop Break⁠⁠⁠⁠ to introduce them to one of their biggest pop culture blind spots. The panel explores why this show was so special and why it has such a devoted following. Then, Alex edu...