Pol and Pop (Politics/Pop Culture)

This may be our most controversial episode yet. Along with addressing various recent news events, Woody and I discuss college educations, expertise, learning, and readjusting today's world... then we get into the good and bad sides of religion, compared with morality in general. We wrap up with carefully treading the line of cancellation by saying some things that really need to be said. And,...

In this episode, I talk with renowned family Daredevil expert Amy Comberiate, as well as renowned assistant family Daredevil expert, Joe Comberiate.  Major topic covered include: -Catholicism and its depictions in Daredevil and otherwise. -Daredevil's relationships with the other major characters from the 2015 series-- Foggy, Karen, Claire Temple, Stick, The Punisher, Elektra, Dex (Bullseye),...

This is that "Christmas Special" Woody was talking about.  Well, kind of.  It's a potpourri of all sorts of topics as they stand within the context of recent news.  We even branch out into some whole new topics like modern artificial intelligence with self-driving cars, and radio transmission.  And we discuss valuing American culture, valuing expertise, and valuing learning in gener...

In this episode, I give my quick (and sometimes not as quick) impressions for the next 20(ish) of the 50 Metroidvania games I've played through in recent years.  Some of these games are relatively well-known, others are pretty obscure... but hopefully this will give you enough of a feel for each one to determine which ones you might enjoy playing yourself! Part 3 will address the remaining 10...

In this episode, Woody and I discuss or touch on all of the following: Candidate intelligence (or the lack thereof), how some people succeed with easily disproveable lies, if Trump supporters would vote for DeSantis, the benefit of having over 50 Senators, college debt, Warnock's credentials, House Republicans potentially impeaching Biden and the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, Dr. Fauci and wor...

In this episode, I explain what a Metroidvania video game is, and give my quick impressions for the first 20 of 50 Metroidvania games I've played through in recent years.  Some of these games are relatively well-known, others are pretty obscure... but hopefully this will give you enough of a feel for each one to determine which ones you might enjoy playing yourself! Games addressed in this ep...

In this episode, Woody and I review the election results (as of Thursday night) and see how the predictions worked out.  And, of course, it wouldn't be a politics episode of Pol and Pop if Woody and I didn't tie in some other things (like gerrymandering) and go on for a little while about speed limits and traffic in the DC area after that. Since this recording, the Democrats have been de...

In this episode, Woody and I delve into different race outcome probabilities for the 2022 mid-term elections and discuss how women and others can take back their power after Dobbs.  And Woody says some things that really need to be said about the real issues facing poor people in the U.S. today.  Plus, a big vehicle crashes into some stuff and we catch it on tape!

In this episode, Woody and I discuss and tie together all sorts of relevant topics in politics right now, including: Trump's recent legal woes, Republicans who live in their own reality, why Trump getting the '24 nomination means they're more likely to lose, false equivalencies and exaggerations, stunt casting Senate candidates, riding on coattails, how Presidents can deal with nucl...

In this episode, John and I discuss the MCU She-Hulk TV show, which just concluded its first season last week. Full spoilers for the She-Hulk series, and light spoilers for the MCU in general. Special guest MCU expert: John Comberiate

In this episode, Woody and I discuss illegal immigrants, racism and voting, the Texas mindset, metro inefficiencies, and Russia vs. Ukraine.

In this episode, I interview our family's biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe expert.  We discuss how the various character relationships throughout the movies work together to make them great.  This is part 2 of 2 from our interview. Various levels of spoilers throughout for many different MCU movies from 2008 to the present, and for the MCU TV shows from the last two years. Special guest bigg...

Woody and I discuss the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and Liz Truss starting as Prime Minister in the UK.  We also cover a hodgepodge of topics related to current politics in the US.

In this episode, I interview our family's biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe expert.  We discuss how the various character relationships throughout the movies work together to make them great.  This is part 1 of 2 from our interview. Various levels of spoilers throughout for many different MCU movies from 2008 to the present, and for the MCU TV shows from the last two years. Special guest bigg...

The main subject of the night for Woody and I stemmed from the FBI search and seizure of documents at Mar-a-Lago: how protecting classified information works in the United States.  We don't have or share any inside information about it, of course.  But we go into the general mindset and how seriously these types of things are taken. We also talk some about various current political topics lik...

This is a full episode delving into the MCU, with analysis and various insights mixed in with fan appreciation.  Spoilers for The Infinity Saga and some of Phase 4, but no spoilers for The Eternals, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, or Thor: Love and Thunder. Special guest MCU expert: Joe Comberiate

Woody and I started off this episode with the Maryland primaries.  Then we delved into our main issue for the night-- trying to understand what exactly is going on with pro-life thinking, and with other religious beliefs on social issues.  This episode should give any open-minded, rational person a lot to think about.

This is a full Spoilercast delving into details, themes, music, and many other things about Stranger Things Season 4. Special guest Stranger Things expert: Amy Comberiate

My friends like talking about politics.  My family likes talking about pop culture.  I like talking about both, so I'm doing two podcasts in one. Episode 1 here is a politics episode-- this is from June 30th, just after the Supreme Court finished up its 2021-2022 term.  So, Woody and I had quite a bit to say about their rulings.  And then we segued into a bunch of other stuff from there. We&a...