Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

This week brings with it some pretty monumental news, as we not only get to talk about the announcement of the 13th Doctor on Doctor Who, but that Jodie Whittaker will be the first woman to take up the iconic role. It’s a huge moment for the series, an exciting one that brings so many possibilities, some of which we ponder here. Sean also talks about the Destiny 2 beta, Jonathan looks back on the...

It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally able to talk about another good Spider-Man movie with Spider-Man Homecoming, a wonderful addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that is endlessly charming and fun, and a pitch-perfect representation of one of our favorite fictional characters. We offer a full spoiler review of the film, along with our continued thoughts on Twin Peaks: The Return,...

It’s an all Doctor Who all-the-time episode on the show this week, as this weekend saw the 10th series reach its dramatic conclusion with “The Doctor Falls,” an episode that instantly enters the show’s pantheon as an all-timer. On its own, the episode gave us plenty to talk about, but we also had to consider the hour in context of the season preceding it, discuss how well this season fared on the...

It was a wild weekend for our two favorite TV shows of the moment, as Doctor Who aired an incredibly dark and surprising penultimate episode for its tenth season, and saying Twin Peaks delivered its strangest hour to date is somehow a gross understatement. Both episodes gave us a ton to talk about, making for a long episode filled with in-depth conversations. We also touch upon some recent news, s...

It’s a week jam-packed with spoiler discussions, as we get to talk about another great episode of Doctor Who – “The Eaters of Light,” easily one of the season’s best installments – and another wonderful chapter in the return of Twin Peaks – the unusually plot-heavy “Part 7” – alongside our belated discussion of Wonder Woman, which everyone on earth has probably seen at least once by now. It’s a mo...

In our longest episode to date, we offer our fifth annual E3 in-depth analysis, where we go show-by-show, analyzing every announcement, preview, and detail revealed across the six press conferences at this year’s big gaming show. From Microsoft’s unveiling of the hilariously-named Xbox One X, to amazing trailers for games like Spider-Man and Wolfenstein II, to Nintendo’s day of surprises, we analy...

In today’s packed show, we gear up for next week’s annual E3 extravaganza, making predictions and analyzing the state of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and more heading into the big show. We cover a few other pieces of news, including Nintendo’s partial unveiling of their new online service, before diving into our big topics with spoiler-filled reviews of the latest Doctor Who episode, “The Lie of the...

In a slightly less busy week than usual here, we present our usual Doctor Who review in addition to a wide-ranging grab-bag of topics. From Jonathan’s continued thoughts on Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and the end of Supergirl Season 2, to Sean discussing the latest Mobile Suit Gundam anime, to a tribute to the late, great Roger Moore, to mocking the new Spider-Man Homecoming poster, an...

It's time for a special bonus episode of The Weekly Stuff Podcast! If you’ve been listening to the show for any length of time, you know that one of our favorite things to discuss is the Japanese RPG series Persona. So throughout the month of April, once Persona 5 was released in the US, we did big spoiler-chats on the podcast every week as we progressed through the game – talking about all the ch...

It’s a fun, busy week on the show, as we get to talk about a ton of interesting, weird stuff. First, Jonathan shares his thoughts on the new Alien Covenant and the Alien franchise in general. Then, Jonathan and Sean dive into the week’s news, including the gameplay reveal of Destiny 2, Universal’s inexplicable unveiling of the so-called ‘Dark Universe,’ and more. For our main topics, Jonathan give...

On the second podcast of the week, we finally deliver our long-promised Twin Peaks retrospective. With the show returning a full 25 years later for a new 18-episode run this weekend, we thought it high time to finally dive into one of our favorite TV series of all time and, by extension, into the wonderful world of the great David Lynch. We discuss the entire TV series, talk about our favorite cha...

It’s a two-podcast (and slightly belated) week here on the show, as we’re offering one episode today and another later this week. On today’s show, we talk the new black-and-white version of Logan, ‘Logan Noir’, Sean continues his journey through ancient Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we break down the unfortunate news about Hitman developed IO Interactive, and most importantly, we di...

In what might be our longest episode ever, we offer three big spoiler chats. First up is Guardains of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and one of their best, most entertaining sequels to date. Next is this week’s episode of Doctor Who, “Knock Knock,” in which the show tries on a genuine horror setting and produces perhaps the best episode of the season so far (a...

In one of our longest episodes ever, we tackle a wide variety of topics, from Jonathan’s thoughts on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and PuyoPuyo Tetris, to Sean’s adventures getting into the wide world of Dragon Quest. We discuss some news, including Nintendo’s surprise announcement of the New 2DS XL. And for our main topics, we discuss the third episode of the new Doctor Who season, “Thin Ice,” and offer ou...

Our adventures in the wonderful Persona 5 continue this week, as we offer our third spoiler-filled chat on the game, with thoughts and analysis on the fifth and sixth palaces/story arcs in the game (along with some responses to recent media kerfuffles over translation issues in the English release). Before that, though, we have several other topics, including our review of this week’s Doctor Who,...

The ludicrously busy month of April kicks into high gear as Doctor Who returns after a year-and-a-half since its last regular season episode, with a new companion in tow. We give our spoiler-filled thoughts on the first episode, cheekily titled “The Pilot,” as we always do when it comes to Doctor Who. But that’s only a third of this week’s episode, as we also have a mountain of news to discuss – i...

After years of waiting, it is finally time – Persona 5 has arrived stateside, which means we can finally dive in deep with the next entry in our favorite video game series. We touch on a few pieces of gaming news – including Mass Effect Andromeda controversies and the newly unveiled Xbox Scorpio specs – before devoting the majority of the show to Persona 5. It’s not quite ‘first’ impressions – Sea...

After a week off, we’re back with an extra-long episode clearing the deck before Persona 5 launches around the world this week – and commences to overwhelm our podcast in the weeks to come. Jonathan and Sean both chat about what they’ve been up to lately, Jonathan shares more thoughts on the Nintendo Switch – including games like Snake Pass, the Splatoon 2 testfire, and Shovel Knight and its lates...

Our very busy Spring continues with another grab bag style episode, as Jonathan shares his impressions from the first hours of Mass Effect Andromeda and opinion on Disney’s smash hit Beauty and the Beast remake, and, for our main topic, we dive in even deeper to the wonderful world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sean has finally had the chance to start playing it, so there’s a lot to...

We may be a day late this week, but we make up for it with a podcast jam-packed with topics and featuring, for the first time in a long while, a special guest! Jonathan’s brother Thomas joins us to follow up on our discussions about the Nintendo Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and chats with us about his recent discovery of Persona 3 at the end of the show (just in case you hav...

In our second podcast of the week, we take an in-depth look at James Mangold’s outstanding superhero drama Logan, the last film to feature Hugh Jackman’s iconic performance as Wolverine. We think this is, simply put, one of the best films the genre has offered to date, a thoughtful, emotional, and surprisingly timely film that breaks most every rule in the Hollywood blockbuster playbook. There’s a...

It’s a very busy week, so we’re releasing two podcasts this time around – one today, and an extra one on Wednesday, in which we will be reviewing James Mangold’s outstanding superhero drama Logan in depth. Today’s episode, though, is all about video games – as in the span of one week we got the latest major PS4 exclusive, Horizon Zero Dawn, a brand new console in the Nintendo Switch, and the long-...

In a packed grab-bag style episode, Sean and Jonathan tackle a variety of topics, from a Nintendo Switch pre-release news roundup to Xbox One complaints, another round of Sean’s Beta Corner, and so much more! For our first main topic, we prepare for the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with a retrospective of our experiences with the Zelda series and thoughts on how it’s evolved...

In a particularly eclectic episode, Sean and Jonathan review a wide variety of content. Sean gives his final thoughts on the amazing Yakuza 0 for PS4, while Jonathan talks about the insightful hilarity of The Lego Batman Movie. Then it’s time for two in-depth spoiler chats, as we break down the incredible set-pieces and awe-inspiring visuals of the outstanding John Wick Chapter 2 and revisit Gravi...

This week brings us our first Doctor Who topic of the year – albeit not one we hoped to talk about for quite some time. 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi has elected to leave the show at the end of 2017, and as he’s given us one of the greatest performances to ever grace the series, it’s a real bummer, even as it makes the show’s uncertain future more exciting than ever. We also talk a little bit more abo...