Critical Wade Theory

There are guitar solos that impress you. And then there are guitar moments that feel like maybe someone's put an onion right under your eye.

There is something strange about stories. They are actually everything, and everywhere. [IMAGE: Unknown source, but linked to George Orwell's classic and powerful (and all-too relevant) story "1984."]

his normally isn't a humor podcast, but here is the standup comedy routine I am doing tonight...kind of. It's subject to variation when it's actually live in front of people. Am I looking for feedback? Maybe, a little bit. However, I don't need generic dumb-ass "critiques" like "Don't quit your day job." For one thing, I realize I am probably not the greates...

Yes, there were mandates — but limited and specific. That's what I explain to this YouTube comment. Photo: RFJ Jr., a famed anti-vaxxer, swimming in some sewage water. Ostensibly, we are supposed to take medical advice from him.

NOTE: This interview is completely unedited, and both Thomas G. Waites and I can be opinionated. This interview is also available in interview form at this link: https://pophorror.com/thomas-g-waites-reflects-on-the-thing-1982-and-his-new-music/ That interview piece is fine, but here you get to potentially see the interview as it happened. The intro to that article:"Respected actor, writer, d...

The episode is potentially (though not necessarily) offensive. It explores Michel Foucault’s idea that “monsters” are not simply outsiders to society, but political tools used to define what counts as normal, human, and governable. Through the concept of biopower, Foucault argues that modern states manage populations by separating acceptable lives from “abnormal” ones. Historically, intersex peopl...

Ted Kacsynski (AKA "The Unabomber") wasn't always right about everything. Who knew?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scared_to_Death_(2024_film)

This episode is about something dystopian fiction understands deeply: the moment a government stops seeing people as human beings and starts seeing them as resources. Not citizens. Not neighbors. Not individuals with memories, desires, or histories. Just functions. A labor unit. A reproductive unit. A security threat. A statistic. And once that shift happens, identity itself becomes dangerous...

Some bad news for potheads...but how bad, and how true is the bad news? And who cares anyway?

Who is Omeed Malik and why is he so lame? This episode's about that.

Some songs define a genre. Others define a feeling. Portishead’s “Glory Box” is both.

Today I'm talking about a film that still feels unsettling more than twenty years after its release. A movie that refuses to explain itself, refuses to comfort the audience, and refuses to turn tragedy into entertainment. That film is Elephant, directed by Gus Van Sant.

Today we’re heading back to Oz. But this isn’t the Oz of ruby slippers and yellow brick roads. This is Oz in Times Square. Oz with memory loss, magical keys, and Christopher Lloyd chewing the scenery as the Wizard.

This episode is about three New York City kids who started in the hardcore punk scene, accidentally helped reshape hip-hop, and somehow made chaos, humor, rebellion, and serious musicianship all work together. This is the story of the Beastie Boys.

I'm diving into one of the most influential and controversial ideas in modern philosophy and feminism. A single sentence that changed how millions of people think about gender, identity, and society: “One is not born, but becomes, a woman.”

This episode is about one of the strangest success stories in British rock history. A band that emerged during the chaos of the 1970s punk explosion, but never really fit inside the punk label. A band loved by outsiders, feared by critics, and impossible to imitate. This is the story of The Stranglers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Chynoweth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scared_to_Death_(2024_film)

Questions surrounding wealthy elites and their long-running connections to Jeffrey Epstein continue to expose how insulated political and financial power can be from public accountability. Also, Howard Lutnick apparently stumbled into a strange wormhole that mysteriously brought him and his family to Epstein's island once, and potentially some other wormholes that magically gave him business t...

Before grunge took over MTV… before alternative rock became the mainstream… there was Jane’s Addiction.

If you grew up listening to alternative rock in the 90s, you’ve possibly heard The Vaselines. Even if you don’t realize it.

There are albums that become popular. And then there are albums that seem to escape popularity entirely and move into mythology. In 1973, The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd did exactly that.

Today I'm talking about one of the weirdest, smartest, and most unforgettable shows Nickelodeon ever aired: KaBlam! (1996) and the episode "All Purpose Kablam!"

Today, I'm talking about Throbbing Gristle. A group so confrontational, strange, and influential that they effectively created an entirely new genre: industrial music.

This episode is about a band that never really fit neatly into one scene, one genre, or one era. A band that started in the chaos of late 1970s London and went on to influence everyone from post-punk outsiders to industrial metal giants.