Fat Guy, Jacked Guy

The "War on Christmas" isn't real. But you didn't need us to tell you that. This week, we're going in on our discussion of this Conservative talking point and getting the heart of why it keeps coming up in our culture. We talk the over 100 year history of the "War on Christmas," why Conservatives love to bring it up so much, and why Liberals need to stop trying to engage with it. We're not getting...

This week, we're going all-in on one of Brendan's favorite frivolous pleasures: the Netflix dating show. He performed six whole months of experiential research to bring you (and me) these power rankings. Of course, we also get into the ins and outs of the shows and share some criticisms about their concepts. Brendan's rankings are likely to surprise and delight you! You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Gu...

This week, an unfortunate conversation Brendan had with his students led us to investigate this whole spreading conspiracy theories on TikTok a little further. In this episode, we're talking about the very real person Helen Keller, for sure, but we're also talking about how we're stuck in a cycle of DISinformation that is bolstering our predatory capitalist society and changing our realities as we...

This week, we have a very special treat for you all (and for us)! We invited the cohost of one of our favorite podcasts, You Are Good , to come talk autumnal films with us and he accepted. In this episode, we break down our favorite fall movies with Alex Steed and get to listen to him talk about his, as well. This is a real treat for those of you who love to hear three brothers goofing about the m...

Aside from being the spookiest month of the year, October is also LGBTQ History Month and you should know by now that this is a queer and queer-adjacent podcast, so we conceived this episode in the spirit of that. In this episode, Stef gets into some of their own personal experiences at gay bars and lesbian bars (and "queer nights") over the years and also gives both a very brief history of the co...

Well, folks, Halloween is literally right around the corner, so we thought we'd take some time to talk about it. This week, we’re introducing you to some "Halloween" traditions from our own childhoods to those of our ancestors and of other places we care about. We get into the spooky origins of Halloween and how it differs from place to place. Along the way, we ask some questions, have some laughs...

Since it's "spooky season" (as the kids say), we've been talking a lot about our opinions on some of the most popular horror films of all time. For this episode, we're doing something a little different. Brendan challenged us both (himself and Stef) to come up with our OWN ideas for horror movies we'd like to see on the big (or little) screen. We recorded our pitches and our discussion of them, so...

For this week's episode, we asked our dear patrons over at the Fat Guy, Jacked Guy Patreon to help us pick a year in horror to review together, and we ended up with 1979! So, we spent several hours together watching, taking notes on, and discussing some of the landmark horror films of that year. In this episode, we give your our thoughts, our opinions, our analyses, AND our rankings of these impor...

Well, it's October and y'all know what that means...it's time to talk about some spooky shit. This week, we're easing into a month's worth of spooky, scary, creepy, crawly content by discussing our individual top 5 "favorite" horror films we've ever seen. We also discuss our relationships to horror films and how we came to love them. Of course, we'll get into some of the specifics of the films we...

Well, September is coming to a close which means it's time for us to close out this accidental Cryptozoology-themed month we've been having here at FGJG. This week, we're mostly talking about some of the lesser known, less talked about, more "indie" (if you will) cryptids from around the world. We get into some of the weirder ones, discuss what they are and their origins, and just talk very genera...

This week's episode is a little bit of a crossover because we're talking about Florida's one and only cryptid: the Skunk Ape. We're going deep into Skunk Ape lore and discussing the history of Skunk Ape sightings, along with the possible origins of this Everglades mystery. Don't worry, Florida heads, we also discuss Dave Shealy's role in what we currently know about the Skunk Ape. Even if you thin...

It's a BIG week over here at Fat Guy, Jacked Guy, folks. And that's not hyperbole! Why? Because this week we're diving headfirst into the murky depths of the cryptozoology world and exploring one of Brendan's childhood (and lifelong) passions: lake monsters! We'll get into some of the myths about lake monsters, why these myths might have popped up in the first place, and we'll talk about some lake...

This week, we're talking about UFOs and aliens and the roles these mysterious aircrafts and beings play in our collective imagination and in popular culture. We get into the history of UFO sightings and how stories of travelers from far off space places came into our cultural consciousness and the "lessons" those narratives are trying to impart on us. We also goof about our experiences with aliens...

This week, it's our 30th episode! Can you believe it? 30 weeks of FGJG! To celebrate, we had an illustrious guest and our friend, Dustin Brookshire, with us to discuss the beauty and horror that is HBOMax's F-Boy Island. We get into the ins and outs of the show, talk about the F-boy aesthetic, the reasons we all watch the show in the first place, and which F-Boys and Nice Guys really left a lastin...

Your brothers have been having a rough time getting back into the swing of things at school given all the stuff teachers have to deal with right now, especially those of us who teach in Florida. So this week, we're talking about the ways teachers have been maligned over the last few years, how that's helping stoke the fires of the nationwide teacher shortage, and how these wild, new laws are impac...

You've seen 'em on the streets of your favorite cities. You've heard people talking about them. Maybe you've even had a few friends who said "Goodbye" to all this capitalist bullshit and joined ranks with other people just like them. This week, we're talking about all things gutter punk: the music, the style, and, especially, the CULTURE. We explore some of the main particularities of the gutter/c...

This week, we did something we've been meaning to do for y'all for a while. It's a little bit of a surprise so we won't give too much away here, but let's just say things get very vulnerable and a little goofy (as always). If you've ever wondered about some of our deepest and most intimate thoughts on our lives and how we live, this is the episode for you. You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitt...

You read that correctly, folks. This week, we're stone lifting and bench pressing our way through the history of one of the most niche and mysterious sports in the world: the Strongman competition. In this episode, we get into some of the lore surrounding Strongman's history, the ancient roots of the sport, what it's like now, and the back stories of some of the most famous Strongmen and strength...

You can probably already tell from the title, but we'll just tell you anyways: this week, we're talking all about survivalism and prepping. No, not the kind you're thinking of...the kind where people believe the world is going to end (soon) and do everything in their power to get prepared to live in a post-apocalyptic future. We get into some of the specific orientations survivalists have in terms...

This week, we're going around the world with just the clothes on our backs and one change of underwear and socks. That's right, folks, we're talking about the worldwide phenomenon known as backpacking. In this episode, we get into the very early history of backpacking as a concept, how backpacking has evolved since then, and what backpacking looks like now. Along the way, we discuss some of the pr...

In the newest installment of our series "From Where We're From," we're exploring the history and culture of Wilton Manors, FL, A.K.A the gayest island in the world. We dive deep into some basic facts about Wilton Manors, its history, and how it became the little haven for LGBTQ people that is today. Along the way, we discuss some of what's missing in the historical record on Wilton Manors and why...

You read that correctly...we're back again with another deep dive on animals. This time, we're talkin' American Literature's favorite creature: the sperm whale. In the episode, we talk sperm whale basics and why such a large industry was built around the mysterious substance they carry in their heads. We also get into Herman Melville's relationship with these illustrious creatures and how much bet...

This week, your brothers aren't teaching...they're getting taught! That's right. For the first time in the history of this podcast, we have a special guest: our brother-in-teaching and Mobile Suit Gundam enthusiast, Mark Sturdivant! In this episode, Mark teaches us all about the somewhat underground craze that is Mobile Suit Gundam model kit production. He gives us a brief history of the Mobile Su...

It's our 20th episode (!!!!), so we thought we'd go big for y'all. This week, we took on a topic that's a little bit of a point of contention for your favorite brothers: the work of M. Night Shyamalan.  We ranked our top 5 Shyamalan films, and then, in this episode, we discuss our rankings and broke down why we made those choices. Overall, Brendan has a hard time really buying what Shyamalan...

Did you ever completely bomb an assignment that, in retrospect, seemed really easy for your young self to do? Well, in this episode, Brendan is taking us back in time to his 4th grade classroom in order to redo his state project on the state of Louisiana. Brendan blasts us with facts about the amazing Bayou State, and in between, we talk about our experiences in Louisiana and what we love about Ne...