Gobbledygeek

Proving definitively that America and Britain are allies, the very British Wesley Mead joins the very American duo of Paul and AJ. Wesley--or Wezzo, as the cool kids call him--is one of AJ's fellow Ann Arbor Review of Books contributors. They've also been good friends for years...yet this is the first time they've ever communicated vocally. It is literally history in the making. As they speak voic...

Jason Tabrys of The BastardCast joins Paul and AJ for a weird, wild, blasphemous, and--yes--sexy experience. Everything from the new Pope to Jurassic Park IV gets discussed, including thoughtful ruminations (sure) on the Veronica Mars Kickstarter and whether or not digital comics will destroy the print market. Very little of it makes any kind of sense, which we suppose is par for the course. Next:...

Hip hop? Bluegrass? The two genres might not be as different as you think, which Paul and AJ learn this week by talkng to Gangstagrass mastermind Rench. Rench discusses his attempt to bridge the gap and of how the fusion came about. Along the way, there's talk of Whedon, Axe Cop , and of course, Justified . Plus, AJ raves about Enlightened , Paul chats about the new comic Helheim , and there's mor...

The Oscars were over a week ago, you say? Who cares, when we're joined by Kenn Edwards, host of the podcasts So Let's Get to the Point and Project Batman ? In addition to Hollywood's big night, Paul, AJ, and Kenn discuss Kenn's forthcoming podcast ventures, the unimportant death of an important Batman character, and whether or not The Office is worth watching in its final season. Next: the boys ar...

Noble Wisdom joins Paul and AJ to chat about his book The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life , his forthcoming series The Warrior Trilogy , the work of Tolkien, and so much more. Including but not limited to: the time he watched The Empire Strikes Back with Irvin Kershner, his experience as a veteran of the video game industry, and the ridiculousness of LEGOs. Next: it's (...

Joanna Gaskell and Rob Hunt of the webseries Standard Action return to discuss their second season, dead squirrels, board games, and dehydrated pepperoni. Plus, Paul and AJ talk about their Scott Pilgrim Twitter party and FX's great new series The Americans . Next: Noble Smith, author of The Wisdom of the Shire , joins the boys to geek out about, well...everything.

What does it mean to be a hero? Does "escapism" have to be a derogatory term? Can good guys be as compelling as their supporting casts and villains? To explore these questions, Paul and AJ are joined by friend of the show/ Broken Magic author Eric Sipple and TV writer/producer (of Angel , among other things) Mere Smith. There's Angel talk, obviously, but also some Spider-Man and some Rurouni Kensh...

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Die Hard --and the impending release of the cringingly-titled A Good Day to Die Hard --Paul and AJ have recorded a commentary track for John McTiernan's 1988 action classic. The boys discuss a feminist interpretation of the film, the movie's real love story (it ain't between McClane and his wife), and why in the hell a terrorist would wear sweatpants.

It may still be freezing cold in your area, but spring is on its way, believe it or not. To point you in the right cinematic direction this spring movie-going season, Paul and AJ have chosen 20 movies to look out for (and maybe one to actively avoid). They've got it all covered, from hypnotic tone poems like Upstream Color and To the Wonder ; to CGI-packed epics like Oz the Great and Powerful and...

This week, Paul and AJ are joined by stuntwoman, martial artist, fight choreographer, and all-around badass Clodagh Power (those aren't even all of her credentials!). They discuss her experience getting into stuntwork, the insanely violent art of ninjitsu, filming the movie Evil Alive and the television pilot Hitting Home , and her deep love of Liam Neeson, among other subjects. Plus, the boys acc...

It's been a long, grueling month, but Paul and AJ have finally awoken from their slumber. Which, as it turns out, was not so slumber-y; there was much to survive, from bouts of the plague to the holidays to all this Superior Spider-Man nonsense. And if that's not enough for you, the boys close things out by discussing truth and perception of same in the media. Ooh, intellectual! But fear not: the...

Bat-Turkey is still in hibernation/terribly hungover, but Paul and AJ managed to tiptoe around him to bring this very special Django Unchained bonus episode to you. The boys geek out over Tarantino's latest opus, a Spaghetti Southern that tackles the lunacy and brutality of racism head-on. There is much pontification in regards to the more straightforward narrative, the great performances, how Tar...

Another year coming to an end. Another season of Gobbledygeek over. Before you begin your mourning process, Paul and AJ have a lot--and we do mean a LOT--to say in this super-sized finale, gabbing about their favorite movies (superheroes and tigers get a nod), music (they really don't have the same taste at all), books (haha, they're illiterate), and much more. It's been a great year for the show;...

Christmas is upon us once more, which can only mean one thing: it's time to get twisted. I don't know what that means, but how about you join us in watching The Nightmare Before Christmas ? The boys take a look back at the 1993 stop-motion classic, raving about its music (even misguidedly singing a bar or two), praising its glorious stop-motion animation, and take an honest look at Jack's (possibl...

The season of giving is once more upon us. Ever helpful, Paul and AJ list a number of Christmas gift options for that special geek in your life--from movies (like In the Mood for Love on Criterion Collection Blu-ray) to TV (the complete series of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ), comics ( Saga: Vol. 1 ) to books (Alan Sepinwall's The Revolution Was Televised ), toys (cute lil' Funko Pop figures) to ga...

It's time for another Gobbledygeek Thanksgiving! This year, in lieu of being sociable and actually talking to other human beings, Paul and AJ decided to watch the Bat-Turkey-approved ThanksKilling and ThanksKilling 3 , all about a murderous turkey being all murder-y. While they find the first ThanksKilling awful but sort of funny, they have not a single nice thing to say about ThanksKilling 3 . Th...

Gobbledygeek is no stranger to generations-spanning epics; the whole show has been an experimental piece showing how different pop culture artifacts complement and dovetail with one another, and of how the love of two co-hosts will endure for the rest of history. Haha, just kidding, we're just a dumb podcast, but this week we are talking about something that is certainly not dumb and is most defin...

This week, Paul and AJ are joined by Eric Sipple, author of the new YA novel Broken Magic . Eric talks about what led him to write this story, the challenges of finishing a novel, adventures in self-publishing, and how much he loves Steven Moffat. Plus, the guys attempt to get out the vote and discuss why or why not Disney buying Lucasfilm is actually a big deal. Next: Paul will be a young Asian w...

This week, Paul and AJ put a stake through the heart of Gobbledyween 2012 with a look at Psych 's "This Episode Sucks." AJ has never seen an episode of Psych , so according to him, this is what the show is about: the Santa Barbara Police Department is attempting to investigate a murder whose perpetrator may or may not be a vampire, and while doing so, Turk and J.D. pop up for some reason and start...

For the penultimate episode of Gobbledyween 2012, Paul and AJ take a break from being all reflective and whatnot for the zombie antics of Community 's "Epidemiology." There's a whole lotta zombies, a whole lotta ABBA, and a whole lotta hilarity. Highlights include Troy's Sexy Dracula costume, Chang being the "racist prover," and Chiquita M.D. It's a good time. Plus, Paul talks about loyal listener...

Gobbledyween 2012 continues with a discussion of Freaks and Geeks ' one and only (cue sad music) Halloween episode, "Tricks and Treats." Lindsay is trying to transition from passing out candy with her mom to knocking down mailboxes with the freaks; Sam feels like he's too old to trick-or-treat, but it sure seems more fun than reading Crime and Punishment for school; and their mother has to come to...

Are you ready for Gobbledyween 2012?! Well, even if you're not, it's here now, so. This year, we're looking at a different Halloween-themed TV episode each week in October. First up is "Fear, Itself," from the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer . The gang's fears are all made real at a haunted house that's a little more haunted than your average house. Paul and AJ talk about how the group's...

Is it just us, or are the works of Jim Henson kind of making a comeback? Then again, they never really went away. Paul and AJ discuss Henson's life and career, including such legendary projects as The Muppet Show , Sesame Street , Fraggle Rock , The Dark Crystal , and more. Plus, the boys geek out over the Avengers Blu-ray and Paul lets us know how his cassowary presentation went. Next: Halloween'...

We're taking a trip to outer space this week as we look at Brian K. Vaughan's latest comic book series, Saga , which just wrapped its first arc last month; and Joss Whedon's Firefly , which just celebrated its tenth anniversary. Paul and AJ discuss the weirdness and gorgeousness of Saga , then think about where they were when Firefly first aired and how they felt watching it become a cult phenomen...

It's been a recurring theme throughout the show, so it's inevitable that it was going to come to the forefront at some point: Paul and AJ have different attitudes about the art (or lack thereof) of film criticism. In broad/reductive strokes, AJ thinks that critics provide a valuable public service to their audience while Paul isn't sure why someone should tell anybody why they shouldn't like what...