The Macademia Nuts

It’s the Macademia Nuts’ 50th Episode Extravaganza! To celebrate, Alec pitches a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spinoff podcast idea that is promptly rejected by his colleagues. In turn, David plans an adventure to see Oppenheimer in IMAX. The Nuts discuss the difference between actual 70mm IMAX screens and the “Liemax” format used in most theaters. A planned battle about the show The Bear turns out...

Is The Idol the worst television show ever made? The Nuts discuss. In other terrible media news, the Nuts discuss the box office struggles of multiple tentpole motion pictures this summer, with the discussion turning to larger media financial struggles, including Disney’s issues with Disney+ and ESPN. Finally, the Nuts discuss the concept of jumping the shark in the context of one of their favorit...

A submarine imploded on the way to the Titanic, and the Nuts have thoughts. Alec’s Yellowstone journey has started, and he’s self-reflective, David and Lindsey don’t like sad Pixar movies - so, all of them - and the Nuts discuss actors who are indistinguishable from their iconic characters. Alec compares media addiction to travel sports, and the Nuts begin a conversation about Shiny Happy People. 

This week’s conversation starts with a skeptical discussion of the newly announced Apple Vision. The Nuts are not pleased with the price point. However, the Nuts are pleased with the upcoming Wes Anderson movie, Asteroid City. The Nuts discuss their favorite Wes Anderson movies. Somehow this leads to a discussion of controversial picks for overrated actors. Watch out, Seth Rogen and Tom Hanks. Dav...

This week, the Nuts have a lot of doubts about Disney+’s content strategy as the Network begins removing low-rated original programming from their network. The Nuts also discuss the end of the Galactic Starcruiser experience at Disney. Show discussions include The Great, dated media on streaming, Class of 2009, and Bama Rush. 

As is typical, the Nuts talk about food. Specifically, they discuss how channels like the Food Network are necessarily focused on sight over flavor and smell, and what this means for foodie culture. A discussion of Silo turns to the series Lost and J.J. Abrams’ “mystery box.” Alec confuses David and Lindsey by saying “The Beef” when he means “The Bear.” The nuts discuss the controversy over the Ne...

It’s the end of the semester, and the Nuts have a lot to say about the end of spring and pending summer plans. Lindsey expresses her terror at hooding a doctoral student, and the Nuts describe their love/hate relationship with graduation ceremonies. Lindsey gives her opinion of the coronation of King Charles, the team discusses the writer’s strike and its impact on Hollywood content output, and mu...

This week, the Nuts begin with a discussion of prominent media industry layoffs, most notably the firing of top-rated host Tucker Carlson by Fox News. David speculates about a connection between the firing and the settled Dominion lawsuit. From media beef to television beef, the Nuts spend the rest of the episode discussing the Netflix series Beef. Theories, criticisms, and shock are all expressed...

The Macademia Nuts are back at full capacity, and they are eager to discuss the end of the semester and the seasonal nature of professor life. Alec went to see the Super Mario Bros. movie, and much ado is made about the movie and the future of the franchise in entertainment. David wants Alec to see the new Evil Dead movie, and the Nuts are excited to finally catch up on many new television offerin...

This week, two Nuts begin with a discussion of travel and the benefits of academia. David and Lindsey chat about the entertainment industry pay gap. David speculates about the plot of the new Barbie movie. Excitement breaks out when the conversation turns to the characters in the HBO hit show Succession. A trip down AEJMC memory lane leaves Lindsey and David questioning their career choices.

Sans Lindsey, David, and Alec plow ahead with an episode-long conversation about the Netflix survival series, Outlast. The discussion focuses on the series’ villains and the limits of extrapolating reality show behaviors to the real world. Throw in a little bit of psychology, a lot of reality television production techniques, and some media theory, and somehow this conversation became a complete e...

The Macademia Nuts finally catch up on the Oscars, and express a lack of enthusiasm for future viewing. Other topics include controversies surrounding superhero actors, Christian re-editing services, The Mandalorian, and the history of Tex-Mex food. This leads to an extended discussion of food, including robot food delivery. The Nuts shamelessly beg Panda Express for a sponsorship.

Spring Break keeps Lindsey from joining the podcast, and so David and Alec are forced to discuss Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Is Marvel struggling to find its footing managing its streaming strategy? This leads to a larger discussion of Disney’s streaming strategy with so many fractured offerings. Finally, the Nuts dive into this year’s Oscars, with much discussion of the failing broadcast a...

Spring Break has Alec on a camping trip, so David and Lindsey discuss one of Lindsey’s upcoming research projects and what all they have been watching. Joking over Alec’s Glamping spills over into a review of the jungle landscape that is Lindsey’s campus office. Discourse over Lindsey’s research project digresses to comfort watching picks. David trying to explain the highs and lows of the MCU to L...

This week is a meandering discussion that includes NCAA conference expansion and media rights, streaming television numbers, cocaine, board game debates, nerd culture, and Marshall McLuhan. And not necessarily in that order. We also discuss iMDB, which once again causes the podcast to spiral. Good luck, listeners.

This week, Alec and David are forced to record sans Lindsey due to Lindsey’s service commitments, though Alec makes an accusation involving Mardi Gras. This leads to a discussion of class attendance policies and changes to the classroom after COVID-19. The Nuts dissect how Zoom was able to become the dominant streaming meeting brand over Skype. The weekly media consumption discussion focuses on On...

The NFL championship was this week, and without fail the Macademia Nuts have opinions. Everything was fair game, including the halftime show, the game itself, and – of course – the commercials. The Nuts imagine who would be involved in the greatest halftime show ever. David argues Alec’s and Lindsey’s tastes when recommending the series Legend of Vox Machina. A discussion of the fate of Rick and M...

This week, the Nuts talk about the Oscar nomination controversy surrounding Andrea Riseborough, which leads to a larger conversation about how technology rules typically trail technology innovation. David watched the much-maligned series Velma so the rest of us don’t have to. Other topics include the streaming show Poker Face , streaming movies You People and Vengeance , and the debate over whethe...

The Oscar nominations are out, and the Macademia Nuts have opinions. The Nuts discuss the frontrunners, and Alec proposes a theory based on the success of last year’s best picture winner and Apple TV’s new commercial starring Timothy Chalamet. David provides his parameters for eating crow on Avatar 2’s box office success. Weekly viewing discussions include Willow, Mayfair Witches, The Last of Us,...

The new season and new year of the Macademia Nuts podcast begins! The Nuts discuss their holiday adventures and the pending semester. Other topics include the Golden Globes, David’s Avatar 2 prediction, and the challenges faced by movie theaters. Will the end of the superhero fad signal the end of moviegoing as we know it? This leads David to discuss his obsession with a terrible network televisio...

Alec proposes a new podcast introduction as written by ChatGPT, a new AI writing tool. The Nuts discuss the implications of AI for college assignments and writing, in general. The Nuts evaluate their weekly viewing, including Andor and Wednesday, which somehow devolves into a discussion of the War of 1812. The Nuts rely on ChatGPT to resolve all conflicts in the episode. A discussion of the new Ch...

This week, the Macademia Nuts make bets on whether or not Avatar 2 will recoup its outlandish budget, and its potential impact on the recent replacement of Disney C.E.O. Bob Chapek by former C.E.O. Robert Iger. The Nuts dissect a flurry of recently available movie trailers, with too much attention given to Cocaine Bear. Other topics include Timothy Chalamet in cannibalism movies, and Kanye West’s...

A discussion of professorly expectations and schedules around the holidays somehow leads the Macademia Nuts to defend Nickelback, for some reason. This leads to a larger discussion of 90s music and the “post-grunge” era. The Nuts consider which artists are the Nickelback of other genres. Highlights of the episode include the Eddie Vedder impressions. Finally, the conversation turns to Twitter, and...

Somehow, Lindsey and Alec’s overeagerness for the Christmas season dominates the conversation, despite the fact that we have not yet reached Thanksgiving. David reveals his distaste for Christmas due to growing up on a Christmas Tree farm. This leads to a fantastic brainstorm of a Hallmark-style Christmas movie based on David’s childhood. Favorite Christmas movies are discussed, and Die Hard’s sta...

The Nuts begin the episode with brief discussions of Lindsey’s collegiate sports alliances, Kanye’s collapse, and the fresh reality of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. A discussion of the Lord of the Rings franchise leads to some unique ideas regarding adult versions of children’s properties. Finally, the Nuts break down the streaming landscape and the challenges of finding an audience, before bei...