The Occasionalists Podcast

We're keeping the ball rolling on techno horror, and as promised, we take a deep dive into the 2006 movie Pulse. A port of a Japanese horror movie that, by all accounts, is significantly better than this one! However, there are still some interesting strings to pick at, even with a poor adaptation led by a cast that's usually pretty good but is completely wrong for almost all of these roles. Sit b...

Our next episode looks at the emergence of a very particular brand of techno-horror focused on the increasing intrusion of the internet into our everyday lives. Prior to the early 2000s, the internet was a tool that few accessed regularly. By 2006, broadband internet flipped the switch on cyberspace, keeping it permanently on and making the web a sometimes inescapable nightmare for its users.  Hav...

The first full-length episode of Fright Fest 8 is here! In it, we have a great big discussion about the emergence of a new type of violent, nihilistic horror movie that was sweeping the nation in 2006: Torture Porn. The subgenre was brutal, visceral, bleak, and unforgiving, yet somehow managed to be a massive box office draw for the next decade. How did this happen? Blame the terrorists, of course...

We are back with our 8th installment of the much heralded Fright Fest! That's right, folks, it's October, and all things scary are at the top of mind here on the podcast. However, we are not abandoning the year format; we are talking about what scared us in 2006. To kick off this month, we start with a little movie trivia about 2006 horror movies.

The space-time anomaly has provided us with a glimpse into the sports world of 2051. Sad to say, it feels kind of the same as it ever was.

Our final episode of Sports in '61 looks at one of the most famous seasons in any sport, ever. The season Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle went swing for swing in pursuit of the most hallowed record in baseball and likely, all of sports: Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. In 1927, Babe Ruth slugged a truly astonishing 60 HRs, a record most considered impossible to break. Until a former high s...

In our next episode of Sports in '61, we examine a tragedy that reshaped American sports overnight: the crash of Sabena Flight 548, a disaster that claimed the lives of the entire elite tier of U.S. Figure Skating. In the wake of the disaster, hard lessons were learned about everything from team travel protocols and national sports administration to international aviation safety standards.

We are back with our second full episode of Sports in '61, as we take a look at the television deal that would shape the NFL and other sports in America for the next six decades: The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.

New month! New year! New theme! We step into 1961 to take a look at the sports landscape. Yes, a full month of sports episodes all centered around that specific year. Is that even possible? Oh buddy, you have no idea just how possible it is. But first, some trivia about some major people, places, and things from the sports world of 1961.

Once again, the Einstein-Rosen Bridge has provided us with a news brief. This time from the year...2065! Bad time to be part of the online outrage mob. Great time to be a Browns fan!

Our last episode of this potpourri 1985 month finds us turning our oversized Sherlock-esque magnifying glass toward one of the 20th century's most infamous terrorists, Ted Kaczynski, aka The Unabomber. While his run of horrific bombings extended before and after 1985, this year proved to be one of the most active and pivotal times in his 17-year reign of terror, including the first time his bombs...

Our second potpourri episode for 1985 is live, and we are tackling (trying to!) what might be the greatest team in NFL history, the Monsters of the Midway, the 1985 Chicago Bears. If not the greatest team of all time, it is undeniable they had the most dominant season in NFL history, only to cap it with an even more historically dominant playoff run that saw them bully and demolish every single op...

We are in the hot, sweaty dog days of summer, folks. Which means it's a new month and a new year.  For August, we are taking things back to 1985! A pivotal year in the middle of a bunch of really important years for both pop culture and the world at large. Which means, we kind of miss out on some major events and critical pieces of art. But that means we get to freestyle a little bit this whole mo...

Since you asked for it no one at all asked for this here's the Silas Crane cut of OCC Headline News for July 31 2100. Amazing that I was able to clear up the signal!

We've once again found a frequency emanating from deep inside the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There's some temporal jumbling happening, but this signal is the farthest in the future we've been able to intercept thus far.  Wait, this is actually two separate signals, but they are riding into our space-time together all the way from the year 2100! Spoiler alert: Sounds great! OR IS IT?!

We wrap up this month's episodes covering the events of 1999 with a look at two of the most impactful, world-changing events of the last millennium: The Battle in Seattle (WTO Ministerial Conference) and the Columbine High School Shooting. One forever changed our economies and dealt a blow to domestic labor and the environment and the other fundamentally shook every American to their core in a way...

Our second 1999 episode takes a wide look at the movies and musical acts dominating their respective charts, how consumer and studio habits have changed the movie landscape, and why certain musicians are just so indescribably "millennial."  

Was it a hoax? A fear-mongering tactic? A crisis that was carefully averted? A little bit of all of the above? One thing is for sure, though: Y2K was THE hot topic of 1999.

July is here, which means hot dogs, fireworks, swimming, and a new theme month! It's 1999 all month long on the podcast, and what better way to introduce some of the big things we're going to be talking about than with some pop culture trivia?! Is that your final answer?

An oddity sprang up today, as if having an Einstein-Rosen Bridge in your house wasn't enough of an oddity, but we received our first broadcast signal from the past. This is a very exciting development in the short existence of this seemingly one-way street of communication. More puzzling is that it seems to be a combination of two distinct signals from different times in the past. It's getting wei...

Our final episode of 1959 takes us to Moscow to fight the Soviets on unusual turf: the kitchen! While scientific and medical leaps defined the Space Race and the broader Cold War, the geopolitical and ideological struggle had a tangible impact on the American household. Rapid advancements in consumer technology and everyday goods dramatically elevated the domestic standard of living, placing the U...

The next episode in The Gateway to Tomorrow series has us rediscovering the incredible medical breakthroughs of 1959 that changed disease treatment for millions worldwide. We also look at how stigma and shame around diseases perpetuate the barbaric treatment of the most vulnerable in society.

Our first full topic episode of the month takes us back to when the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union really kicked into high gear. By 1959, the Soviet Union held a massive technological lead in the Space Race. Driven by intense Cold War geopolitics, the United States and its newly formed space agency, NASA, went all-in on a singular, daring goal: beat the Soviets to the Mo...

It's June, and you know what that means....new month, new year! We are stepping into the WAAAYback Machine to take a look at the year 1959. The earliest possible year for this year's parameters and very likely, one of the farthest looks back ever on this podcast. This whole month, we will be focusing on the pivotal scientific advancements from this year that touched the lives of everyone on Earth...

Once again, the spatial anomaly in my house has delivered, albeit later than usual, a radio signal from the future. We are checking back in with the movie review tandem of Brayson Lee and King Garcia Sato Jr. and their long-running movie review show, From The Balcony.  This time, they are tackling some legacy sequels, including a new Star Wars installment. Shocking, I know!