Love Hate Relationship

 Love: Batman Beyond Andy takes his Love time this episode to discuss one of the under-appreciated gems of Bruce Timm's DC animated universe, Batman Beyond . He talks about what makes it special and unique compared to most Batman and comic book character stories, his personal connection to its run, and the greatness of the Terry McGuiness character. Alex meanwhile talks up production fun fact...

Love: Rom-Coms Alex gets uncharacteristically sentimental this episode to talk up one of his favorite genres of film, the Romantic Comedy. After some history and some definitions, he talks at length about the versatility of the Rom-Com formula, the value of both diverting from and embracing a formula, and why you should all go watch Music and Lyrics immediately. Andy meanwhile extolls the value of...

Love: Jason Aaron's Thor Andy takes the Love segment this time to gush about one of his favorite recent comic book runs, Thor , as written by Jason Aaron. He discusses how the seven-year run successfully pulled off the long game of gradually taking years to pay off plot points, how it introduced characters (and character interpretations) that are being used for current comic events and the upcomin...

Love: Carol Kaye Alex takes his Love this episode to discuss one of unsung heroes of music history, bassist Carol Kaye. He goes into her biography, her bad-assitude, and the controversial aspects of her career, from pick-playing to Motown. Andy gets forgiven for confusing her with Carol Kane, gets a much-needed reminder for how terrible a person Berry Gordy truly was. (And for those interested, he...

Love: Ducktales Andy brings the love this episode to discuss a Disney reboot that he actually enjoys, the 2017 Ducktales cartoon. He talks about the rich voiceover cast, the deep storylines and lengthened character work the creators brought to the franchise, and just how much it's taken over his Disney Plus experience. Alex meanwhile talks about how kids are way smarter than anyone gives them cred...

Love: Tofu Alex starts this episode with a food that he very much enjoys despite every negative association thrown at it: Tofu. He discusses a little of its history and a lot of its misunderstood nature, particularly in the pop culture landscape, and debunks a couple of myths . Andy is reminded of the importance of seasoning and reminds everyone that carrots are not as good as hotdogs, and everyon...

Love: Collectable Card Games Andy opens this episode with another nostalgia point, bringing everyone into the world of collectable card games. He details the history of the nerd niche, both generally and his own, Alex owns up to being both a Pokémon and a Yu-Gi-Oh! kid, and both of them take entirely too much time talking about a Christian CCG called "Redemption," because of course they did. Hate:...

For the latest Triple Love Special, Andy and Alex explore everyone's favorite long-running Super Spy franchise, James Bond. Alex starts in with a primer on the origins of the character, specifically as a literary entity, and the formulaic approach used by most of the stories, and its influence on every spy story to come after. Andy follows up with a breakdown of the various actors and portrayals o...

Love: The Blues Alex kicks off this triumphant return to the podcast with an episode that was recorded before the hiatus even started, and he's talking Blues Music in it. He gives a brief history and characterization of the Mother of All Music genres, complete with a recommendation for one of its finest new artists (seriously, y'all, listen to Christone "Kingfish" Ingram ). Andy meanewhile doesn't...

A brief statement from Andy to let you all know that we'll be taking the month of October off to play some catch up. COVID's a thing, work stress is a thing, balance and rest are a thing. We know you'll understand. See you all in November!

Love: Rob Reiner Alex takes a page from Andy's usual wheelhouse to discuss director, actor, writer, and activist Rob Reiner. He talks up the highlights of his career, from Meathead Michael Stivic in All In The Family to the 80's and 90's heyay of his directing to his recent turns on New Girl  and Hollywood . Andy tries to nail down exactly how he pulled off so many monumental movies in about...

Love: Redwall Andy takes his love time this episode to bring up a childhood favorite, Brian Jacques Redwall series. He discusses its broad, sweeping chronology, ambiguous but awesome use of animal characters, and how ity taught him to love huge, contained universes. Alex, meanwhile, asks about he dark stuff, like torture, and defends showing kids mature content. Hate: Gun Culture Alex tips his hat...

Love: Mythology Andy decides to keep things nice and light to discuss his love of the entire pantheon of mythology. He and Alex compare favorites (yes, we like the Greeks--we're boring like that), they get into a lot of comparative anthropology, what happens after you die (not us, you specifically, reading this), and of course, a prominent Simpsons reference. Hate: Van Halen Alex takes his Hate ti...

Alex uses his Love segment this episode to talk about arguably the biggest woman of color working in the world of voice acting today, Cree Summer ( @IAmCreeSummer ). He runs down her extensive career on and off camera, her little-known and under appreciated music career, and teaches everyone about A Different World . Andy helps him count up her roles and asks a poignant question about the differen...

Love: Power Rangers Andy takes his Love time this episode to discuss an old childhood favorite, the Power Rangers franchise. He talks his personal history as tiny diehard who fell out with the TV show due to childhood bullying, his incredible crush on Amy Jo Johnson's Pink Ranger, and even some of his favorite YouTube Resources for enjoying the show if you don't want to dive into two decades of ac...

Love: The Boondocks Alex finally pulls out one of the Loves he's been talking about on multiple previous episodes, and brings up the comic strip and TV show for The Boondocks . He gives a full history of the property in both formats, discussing the hellish intelligence and integrity of creator Aaron McGruder, favorite characters and moments , and does a terrible Martin Luther King impression. Andy...

Love: Zero Punctuation Andy uses his time this episode to talk up his singular favorite YouTube series, the long-running video game review show, Zero Punctuation. He highlights some favorite reviews to emphasize the special kind of dark, unique, biting, mean-spirited humor he's so enjoyed over the show's 13 years of production. Alex, meanwhile, reminisces about Resident Evil , and the two of them...

Love: Carly Rae Jepson Alex takes his Love segment this episode to talk about the arguably slept-on Canadian pop star, Carly Rae Jepson. He and Andy work through her life an career, from a third-place finish on Canadian Idol to a subpar Taylor Swift rip-off debut to a decade of spaced-out but unquestionable bangers. Andy admits that he confused her for years with Miranda Lambert and Alex somehow s...

For episode 45, Alex and Andy attempt a deep-dive into what they consider one of the root causes for everything wrong with American politics, the Two-Party System. Andy begins by getting out of the way the how there TECHNICALLY aren't only two political parties, and why that EFFECTIVELY isn't the case, before digging into how this system is responsible for voter apathy, low turn-out, despite being...

Love: Mads Mikkelson Andy spends his Love this episode talking up Danish actor and master of the villainous look, Mads Mikkelson. He delves into the well-knowns and little knowns of his career, including his star turns in Casino Royale and Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money." Alex meanwhile contextualizes why some actors take certain roles over others and finally tells Andy he'll watch Hannibal...

Love: Chess Alex takes the episode way down into the quiet and cerebral with a discussion of the OG nerd game, Chess. Andy reminds him of some fond and beautiful memories from their pre-LHR days, Alex gets equal parts technical and sentimental, and somehow, they also find room to say way too much about Scrabble. Hate: Mass Panic Andy keeps it topical by hating on the various forms of mass panic we...

Andy takes his episode time to talk up arguably the single most popular topic LHR has ever discussed, pizza. He gives some history, including the surprisingly class-based politics surrounding its popularity, and he and Alex argue about which of the fast-food pizza chains is the best (spoilers, it ain't Papa John's). Hate: CrossFit Haters For the first time since he didn't quite defend Nickelback A...

Love: Ocean Vuong In an LHR first, Alex begins the episode talking about a poet, and starts his segment with a reading of " Aubade with Burning City " by Ocean Vuong. He discusses Vuong's short but meteoric career, what his unique identity and backstory means specifically when combined with his amazing gifts as a novelist and poet, and what an educated refugee/genius means in the age of Donald Tru...

Love: Star Trek Andy comes back hard from the hiatus to talk about arguably the most beloved sci-fi franchise of all time, Star Trek . He relates his generational connection to it and makes a plea for the Utopian vision that it presents. Alex, meanwhile, talks about how dumb and bad the comparisons to Star Wars are, and everyone agrees that Wrath of Khan is the best movie. Hate: Quantized Drums Al...

Hey y'all, Terribly sorry, but for the first time in about a year-and-a-half, we're gonna be missing an episode. Andy will fill everyone in, but a confluence of illnesses, travel, funerals, and assorted crap have meant that we're finally behind schedule enough to be late on one of these. Thankfully, we have the bet audience on the Internet, a back-catalog of 39 other, mostly fantastic episodes, an...