Michael and Us

the past is always present - but especially at a Christmas dinner party in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century. We discuss John Huston's THE DEAD (1987), his film adaptation of the great final story from Joyce's Dubliners. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/703-dubliners-154688385

He was one of the biggest recording artists of his time, but it took Hollywood to make him safe for your parents. We discuss the Eminem vehicle 8 MILE (2002), a true landmark of millennial culture. PLUS: Bidding a fond (?) farewell to Robert Mueller. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus For two weeks we're offering HEAVILY DISCOUNTED PAID SUBSCR...

Is life worth living? That's the question at the core of Abbas Kiarostami's masterpiece TASTE OF CHERRY (1997), which raises another question: is death really such a good option if you'll never again experience the taste of cherries? PLUS: Checking in on the leader of Canada's conservative movement, Pierre Poilievre. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/701-taste-of-153968176

Towards the end of the George W. Bush administration, Fox News tried to create a right-wing equivalent of The Daily Show. It became a legendary failure. To celebrate our 700th episode, we discuss THE 1/2 HOUR NEWS HOUR (2007), a truly foundational piece of right-wing culture. Join us on Patreon for an extra. episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus For two week's we're offering HE...

Amazon spent $75 million and resurrected Brett Ratner to curry favor with the incoming Trump administration. The result is MELANIA (2026), a highly airbrushed portrait of the First Lady. We watched Melania Trump board limousines and airplanes for 104 gruelling minutes and lived to tell the tale. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/153296412

What is it actually like to live as a manosphere influencer? We discuss LOUIS THEROUX: INSIDE THE MANOSPHERE (2026), in which the veteran British documentary presenter travels to the dark heart of Miami. PLUS: Taking the temperature of the Canadian left. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

The Daily Wire and Adam Carolla teamed up to make a conservative answer to Family Guy and The Simpsons. God help us, we discuss the short-lived right-wing animated show MR. BIRCHUM (2024). God damn this one was rough. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/697-donkey-152831913

As a grotesque war engulfs the Middle East, it's time to look back at how we got here. Will is joined by longtime friend of the show Violet Lucca to discuss END OF EMPIRE (1985), a British documentary series on the fizzling-out of Britain's colonial adventure. We focus on the episodes about Palestine and Iran. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/c/michaelan...

In Yorgos Lanthimos's BUGONIA (2025), an internet-addled conspiracy guy kidnaps a pharmaceutical CEO girlboss, in a story that ultimately asks: is the human race worth saving? PLUS: We discuss the U.S. and Israel's war in Iran, and also interrogate the most pressing issue of our time: has Jim Carrey been killed and replaced by a clone? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/1521...

What would happen if the Christian movie industry tried to make its own Everything Everywhere All at Once? Brother, you don't have to imagine! We discuss Angel Studios' THE SHIFT (2023), starring our favourite actor, Neal McDonough. PLUS: We check Keir Starmer's pulse after last week's UK by-election, and assess the looming Warner/Paramount merger. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every wee...

In 1968, Frederick Wiseman embedded with the Kansas City Police Department. He emerged with LAW AND ORDER (1969), a sobering portrait of what it meant to "serve and protect" at the dawn of the Nixon era. We mark Frederick Wiseman's passing by discussing one of his quintessential films. PLUS: We check in on our fallen British comrades (ex-)Prince Andrew and Keir Starmer. JOIN US ON PATREON FOR AN E...

Batten down the hatches, because Kevin Sorbo has a son who's even worse than him. We discuss A WAVE OF KINDNESS (2023), a very amateurish vehicle for rising right-wing influencer Braeden Sorbo (and his wretched father) that plumbs new depths even for a Christian movie. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/692-son-of-sorbo-151037135

Energized by Turning Points USA's Kid Rock-led alternative Superbowl Halftime Show, we turn our attention to a slightly more mainstream example of conservative art: Tim Allen's new sitcom SHIFTING GEARS. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "The Hilarious Decline of MAGA's Brief Cultural Relevance" by Alex Shephard - https://newrepublic.com/arti...

Who says a 23-year-old WASP can't be the long-lost son of an Armenian immigrant family? That's the question asked by the protagonist of Atom Egoyan's debut feature NEXT OF KIN (1984), a moving and sometimes troubling film about identity and class in 1980s Canada. PLUS: We survey the wreckage from Jeff Bezos's Washington Post layoffs. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/690-eg...

With Jeffrey Epstein dominating the news, we turn to Clint Eastwood for wisdom and guidance. In ABSOLUTE POWER (1997), cinema's most legendary tough-guy faces his greatest opponents yet: the Clinton Crime Cabal. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Our Superdelegate patron tier voted for us to discuss GROUNDHOG DAY (1993), which we're pleased to bring you on Groundhog Day. We discuss Bill Murray's much-loved spiritual journey and ask the question: what is happiness? PLUS: You'll never guess which celebrities are endorsing a new right-wing bourbon. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/149771474

We finally discuss Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025), which takes place in a dystopian America not too dissimilar from the current one. PLUS: The Conservative movement reclaims an artist we were really happy to be rid of. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "Chaos: Behind the Scenes of Amazon's Melania Trump Documentary" by...

We watch the short documentary MICHAEL MOORE MAKES A MOVIE (2018) - a bonus feature on the Criterion release of Bowling for Columbine - and consider how it both challenges and affirms certain of our preconceptions about this podcast's patron saint. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE CONTENT - https://www.patreon.com/posts/149365674

It's a heavy news week, and we're catching up. As Canadians, we are honour-bound to comment on Mark Carney's acclaimed speech at the World Economic Forum. Is the rules-based international order dead? And what does it mean that our banker-in-chief is the one to bury it? PLUS: A word of solidarity to our friends in Minneapolis. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon...

Rob Reiner's SHOCK AND AWE (2017) looks back at a handful of journalists who stood against the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq. Released in the first year of the Trump administration, it looks squarely back to the Bush era - in more ways that one. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/148618908

We return to our roots by discussing a conservative documentary that attempts to take down Michael Moore. In MICHAEL & ME (2004), buffoonish talk-radio personality Larry Elder has a bone to pick with Bowling for Columbine, using facts + logic to show why gun control is racist, sexist, and anti-American. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "God...

We catch up on a very grim news week, and then discuss a documentary about a journalist who has reported a lot of very grim news weeks. In COVER-UP (2025), Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus paint a sympathetic portrait of Seymour Hirsch, the journalist who exposed everything from the My Lai massacre to Abu Ghraib. PLUS: Folks, it seems the right is cancelling Plato? Join us on Patreon for an extra e...

Raoul Peck's new documentary ORWELL: 2+2=5 (2025) seeks to show how George Orwell's warnings from the past are being made reality today. The results are less than the sum of their parts. PLUS: We note the passing of Norman Podhoretz. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/147746762

We say goodbye to 2025 and offer a skeptical welcome to 2026 with a very special call-in episode. Topics range from Marshall McLuhan to Michael Jackson and beyond. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

What happens when a historian who loves the American presidency is faced with a president like Donald Trump? We discuss the HBO documentary THE SOUL OF AMERICA (2020), about Joe Biden's favourite historian, Jon Meacham, as he struggles to make sense of the Trump era. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "The Man Who Loved Presidents" by Thomas F...