Agitator

Today, we have fellow Broken River novelists David Simmons and Grant Wamack on the show to talk everything John Wick 4 . In this episode: Waiting on Grant, Baltimore accents, Anthony Hopkins - y'all think he's a good actor? For real?, Bill Skarsgård's acting range, when your homies act out in odd ways, when snitching isn't snitching anymore, John Wick's speaking vs killing ratio, Colored People Ti...

In loving memory of Kahlua. Our Broken River collaborator and good friend E Rathke joins us to talk about how all three of us were recently shot down in an open call to work with CD Projekt Red. What do you do with rejection? Is there a point to the effort even if it doesn't turn out how you'd hoped? We explore all this as well as chop it up a bit about Cyberpunk 2077 and some things we would like...

We're on a path of healing and fulfilling our purpose. We're learning what it means to pay back karmic debt. We're performing magic rituals with our hearts and ears open to the universe. We're also talking Lara Croft S&M hentai, AI boyfriends joining ISIS, our progress in Cyberpunk 2077 , the tension sustained through every mission and errand in the game, playing on Hard mode, impossible NCPD...

This episode was recorded the night before Kelby had a major health emergency. He is currently undergoing treatment for erosions in his stomach and bouncing around doctors to find the root cause of what's tearing up his insides. If you'd like to support a hard-working father and an irreplaceable writer and co-host of this show, you can do so by clicking HERE .  Lady Snowblood (1973) Dir. Toshiya F...

Today on the show, JDO and Kelby discuss everything nu-metal: the history, the appeal, and how it's the perfect template for a radical movement. Also, David recaps Sick New World and Kelby's health and mental state continue to rapidly deteriorate. Over on the Patreon: Inside scoop on some Broken River/Hollywood happenings, how to break into the mainstream independently, brand sponsorship face tatt...

JDO gives some thought to the idea to writing for an established audience. Are you giving up some kind of authenticity by making your book fit into a genre? Is there value in standing out from other artists? Probably not. But it's complicated.

We did this one extremely last minute, and life is crazy right now, so the description will be short. The first hour, Kelby and I talk about anime. I tell him about  Gantz: O, The Way of the Househusband,  and  Demon Slayer. Then we had on Glen & Psi from the Rare Candy podcast to talk about whether or not the moon was installed by aliens, Heaven's Gate cult, how to make a successful podcast,...

Today on the show, we're talking the art of acting, the process of dub, occult stage practices, and much more with actor/writer Luis Galindo , our H-Town homie and the voice of Vinland Saga 's King Sweyn. Topics discussed: Performing in Je'Caryous Johnson's stage rendition of New Jack City, tour life, tripping on cough syrup in school, dealing with sickness, meeting through Rune Soup , writing The...

Big time ASMR episode this week. David drives in the rain to pick up breakfast for his family, while Kelby tells him about Sand Land. Then, the boys talk about the process behind Kelby’s serialized cyberpunk book, Samurai Jesus. We talk: Getting in the car to get some breakfast, adjusting the levels, two tracks, black hole episodes, talking about writing, petrichor, Kelby’s love for mountains, Dav...

On this episode, there’s about five minutes of wind fifteen minutes in, but then it gets better. We talk: A journey outside, the insidiousness of screen time, teenage drug addicts, racially ambiguous babies, David’s unlikeability, ghetto trash services, eating leaves, Agitator mission statement, figuring out what people like to read, Will Wight’s background, having a team behind your books, three...

On this episode, Kelby and David try something new. They each focused on a different piece of media, and during the episode, they tell each other about it. David read Hideyuki Kikuchi's 1983 novel Vampire Hunter D , and Kelby watched Space Dandy. We talk: Scottish accents, people falling is hilarious, Kelby’s sleep schedule, David’s spooky dream, tax talk, only keeping 72% of what you earn, Mary K...

On this episode, we continue our conversation with Jay. We talk about: Voting on whether to drop the episodes all at once, listening to podcasts at 3x speed, LitRPGs, the Cradle series , SimLit , KickFlipLit, finding yourself fascinated by things you “shouldn’t” like, Beware of Chicken , Travis Baldree’s books , Scott McClanahan , prose doesn’t always have to be amazing, The Corporation Wars , Ala...

On this episode we have the host of 301 , Jay Springett , on to talk about Izumi Suzuki’s proto-cyberpunk, character-based short story collection Terminal Boredom . This is a unique episode of Agitator, in that we actually talk about the book. As Jay puts it, it’s “punk as f**k.” We talk about: Foghorn Leghorn, guests who listen to the show, Hit Parade of Tears , Suzuki's hand in inventing cyberpu...

Tampopo (1985) Dir. Juzo Itami Starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe On this episode: How time works and what is now considered classic, the luckiest child actor ever, calling actors by the movies they're in, the Patreon economy, cyberpunk and weeb marketing, having no takes, "Black Pander," getting a kick out of being wrong, curiosity vs morality brain, the fr...

Jay Springett sent me this Esquire article about a woman who feels like she let her parents down in their time of need by pursuing the low-income life of a writer. It's a great article, well worth the read, that gave me about 18 minutes' worth of thoughts. I can certainly relate to what Chung is saying. So what do we do about it?

Putting y'all on game in this one. Also:  Porsche Cayenne - why?, wheres981 , loaded guns in music videos , Peter Singer and the ethics of charity (fart noise), scam ideas, rubber trees, cyberpunk infrastructure, everything is god, the yen-to-dollar conversion rate, the Publishers Marketplace game, Gus is on evil mode, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing , ICECOLDBISHOP's Generational Curse , JPEG...

Survive Style 5+ (2004) dir. Gen Sekiguchi Toilet training our kids, abandoning desire for privacy or quiet or rest, daily check lists to gamify your life, functioning and scheduling around chaos, non-stop teething, being a good dad, how old is too old to share a bed with your kids?, create-a-school shooter, how to spot genuine diversity vs box-checking, Nigerian comedian recall, the black Dilbert...

Kelby and I continue our discussion of Shinya Tsukamoto's Nightmare Detective films. Part 2 is so completely different from part 1, stylistically and artistically speaking. You see elements of proto-Kotoko in there, leading to another Tsukamoto parental nightmare. We also explore the fact that, in this movie, people who are deeply afraid are the villains and the killers. Is fear the root of all ev...

This week, we're pitting two Tsukamoto films against each other: Nightmare Detective and Nightmare Detective 2 . What was the GOAT going for here, and did he pull it off? Which attempt was better and why? Can auteurs succeed in the mainstream, or do pop sensibilities not compute in the mind of the experimental artist? We tackle the first entry on the free episode, and follow up with Tsukamoto's re...

We are a hot topic podcast, so we are covering the Oscars! We also present our own awards for the best (and worst) episodes of Agitator for 2022. Topics covered: Celeb massacre, who won the Oscars, the first time two sequels were nominated, cutting off fingers, Tampa by Alissa Nutting, the greatness of The Banshees of Inisherin, The Elephant Whisperers, what does woke mean, and Irish goodbye is a...

Versus (2000) dir. Ryuhei Kitamura Stranglehold (2007) dir. Brian Eddy On this episode we talk DIY filmmaking in the woods, with a backing soundtrack of a Youtube playthrough of Stranglehold, the video game sequel to Hard Boiled. Topics covered: Ain’t It Cool News hype, the Blade 2 wave, Matrix homage, Midnight Meat Train, philosophy puts me to sleep, wolves turning into anuses, 666 portals, punch...

This was our first time fielding your questions. Lots of great stuff here. We had fun. Let's do it again sometime. The eras of Agitator, scaring babies by showing them that they’re babies, using Royal Road, evolving ideas, holding ideas loosely, don’t put your preciousness on other people, some books don’t need editing, what do you want out of writing?, see what works, don’t use Upwork, proving yo...

Kelby and JDO talk Katsuhito Ishii's 1998 ensemble crime film SSMaPHG. Having a face for movies, proto-Kakihara, Takeo Kiuchi designer wear, becoming a 40-year-old hypebeast, defense of Shark Skin Man, Agitator boys cameo, not being able to kill people who are too cool, the cringeness of conscious rap, the texture of shark skin, a crew having fun on set, writing one book for you and one for “them,...

I did the dishes during this one, and my TASCAM seemed to love the sound of the water and the dishwasher. Good to know. Still a great episode! Burning the boats, owning a UPS store, Ichi the Killer manga recap, submissive sadism and aggressive masochism, the people who act like clowns are the actual psychopaths, Ichi as a representative of the political class, yakuza as dogs, torturing the audienc...