Critical Wade Theory

My podcast can be about anything! Here I review a local restaurant.

Every year, many movies are released. Some dominate the box office for a few weeks before fading from memory. Others become cultural landmarks that people continue watching, quoting, and recommending decades later. That raises an interesting question: What are the key features that make a film enduringly popular?

Alex Jones influencer Gary Allen was a prominent member of Robert W. Welch Jr.'s John Birch Society, which is why I am looking at Welch as the 3rd part of this examination of Alex Jones's paranoid ideology (if it could even be called an ideology). The biggest, most defining scandal of Robert W. Welch Jr.’s life centered on his conspiratorial book, *The Politician*. Written in 1956 and late...

Who is Gary Allen? Good question. I never heard of him, either...until I looked into who influenced Alex Jones. Gary Allen was one such infuence, at least to an extent. Let's look at some of the basic ideas Allen espoused and apply an anarchic deconstruction of right-wing populism. That photo is of Alex Jones, of course...because, again, most people won't even know who the hell Gary Allen...

For years, Alex Orbison has been recognized as the son of the legendary Roy Orbison and as the drummer for the Allman Betts Band. Now, he's embarking on a new chapter as a solo artist with his debut album Love and Loss. In this conversation (for VENTS Magazine online) Orbison discusses the long road that led him to writing his own songs, overcoming self-doubt, honoring authenticity over perfec...

Is it true that each generation is condemned to making the mistakes of the past?

In this episode I'm looking at one of the largest and most ambitious war films ever made: "A Bridge Too Far," released in 1977.

Husband-and-wife filmmakers Britt Bankhead and Grace Patterson discuss their film "The Town That Takes."

What would happen if traditional cultures around the world disappeared? Though technically not entirely possible, it is an interesting question...and I try to answer it here.

This episode moves through two very different topics: electricity and pop law. We’re starting with a question about stun guns and whether you can accidentally shock yourself while using one, then we’ll zoom out into the changing legal landscape around cannabis in 2026.

I have mixed feelings about The Onion's satirical takeover of Alex Jones's Infowars. Here's why...

Today, we’re taking a journey through cinema, looking at five massive films between 1968 and 1979 that completely redefined sci-fi and horror, with memorable aliens involved. We’re cutting right to the core of what made them work, with a closer look at the incredible casts who brought these worlds to life.

I am doing an open mic standup thing tomorrow night, and here are some of the ideas I will likely incorporate into my act.

Generally speaking, most people would consider me to be on the left. In fact, to hopefully make my podcast more interesting (and because I find it practical), I often try to view topics through sort of an anarchic lens, critical of power, critical of authority, the state, etc. So you might be surprised that, in some key ways, I can respect tradition. And, actually, sometimes I think we'd be fa...

Today we’re talking about Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15 by Lilys. Yep, that’s a mouthful—but trust me, there’s something interesting going on here.

Today we're exploring something that sits at the heart of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and magical realism — the idea that imagination isn't an escape from reality. Instead, it's one of the deepest ways we can understand it.

How accurately does science fiction portray aliens? Are there any examples where the depiction of aliens is scientifically plausible in terms of their biology?

In this episode, I'm taking a look at Facelift, the groundbreaking debut album from Alice in Chains, a record that arrived before grunge became a cultural phenomenon and helped set the stage for the explosion of Seattle rock that would soon change popular music.

The acclaimed documentary podcast  Suspicious Minds  returns for a second season, expanding far beyond the personal stories explored in its debut. While Season One examined how artificial intelligence can fracture individual minds, the new season looks at the broader societal implications of AI, from military applications and collective psychology to belief systems, antinatalism, and even the poss...

Out of Order is a fast-paced comedy that follows John Slater, a struggling young lawyer who tries to win back his glamorous ex by landing a job at a prestigious law firm. Things quickly spiral out of control when he ends up representing both sides of the same lawsuit while disguised under a second identity. Starring Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Brooke Shields, Tao Okamoto, and Cristal Rodriguez,...

A MAGA YouTube comment went after me for...criticizing a Nazi-linked bank...while arguing that ANTIFA is actually the real thing to criticize (though they did not get into specifics about ANTIAFA, of course). Anyway, this episode is my response to all that nonsense. And yes, Deutsche Bank is rotten, which already explains why they are so closely aligned with Trump.

Today I'm talking about one of the most exciting revival bands in rock history — a group that proved 1950s-like music could still sound fresh and kinda cool in the MTV era. Now, look, I would be lying my head off if I said the Stray Cats "made rock sound dangerous", or something like that. I doubt many people were afraid of them, aside from the Satanic panic religious types. But they...

Today I'm talking about a band that never really fit the box they were put in… and probably never wanted to. Deftones formed in 1988 in Sacramento, California. On paper, they came up in the same wave as late-90s nu-metal. But if you’ve listened to them for more than five minutes, you know that label never quite sticks.

If the upcoming midterms swing toward a major victory for the Democrats (especially more progressive ones), the post-election conversation shouldn't just be a victory lap. It could be a moment for big demands. Today, I'm presenting a theoretical framework for reform — a blueprint of what we could put on the table.

Here I am tackling a tired, cynical talking point that routinely circulates in right-wing media: the claim that the Southern Poverty Law Center is "manufacturing racism" or "ginning up hate" just to stay relevant. It is a sick joke.