The Moon Under Water: A Pubcast with Kel Daniels and Steve Jones

The bros invite another bro, filmmaker Harry Walker, to talk about 1986's The Hitcher. But first, Kelly provides a report from academia, the inside scoop about the university chancellor who got fired for making and posting porn movies of him and his wife. A rollicking convo ensues. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3512053/ https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-hitcher-1986/ This is a public episode. If...

The script is flipped from last time. Kelly doesn't like to mix magic with his sci-fi; Steve just thinks it's an enjoyable movie. Without any love in his heart, Kelly turns to smut and DEI jokes. It ain't pretty. From Slate: Whose idea was it to turn Minority Report into a mushy declaration of humanism? It ends up as less of a warning about an Orwellian police state than a protest that Pre-Cogs ar...

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Who cares? The fresh question is about Terry Gilliam's gonzo dystopia, Brazil! , set in a bleak industrial wasteland and taking place over the Christmas holiday. You've got jackbooted goons singing carols, mall shopping with the Consumers for Christ, and Santa hats galore in this delicious piece of grotesque weirdness. Also, Steve uses the episode to introduce the "S...

Steve traipsed around Morocco last summer, breaking from his 5-Star comfort zone into (gasp) a room without air conditioning, among other horrors. This hardship prompted a dive into the warped fiction of the great Paul Bowles--buddy of William S. Burroughs, acclaimed author and composer, famous ex-pat, lover of men back when that kind of thing could get you in trouble, and generally an interesting...

The Paris Review is one of the most iconic literary magazines in America. They've also got a podcast. It's good (the podcast, but also the magazine), self-consciously artsy, with all kinds of content from the mag's illustrious history. On this episode, Dude One and Dude Two discuss a couple of edgy PR stories: "A Dark and Winding Road" by Ottessa Moshfegh, and Sam Lipsyte's "The Worm in Philly" (r...

Daniels's recent trip to Ireland inspires this discussion of two great Irish short stories, one modernist, the other contemporary, linked by sexual perverts. You're going to want to keep your tab open for this one. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2814/2814-h/2814-h.htm https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/claire-keegan/antarctica-2/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

If you're going to talk about 1984 , it's only fair to flip the coin to it's counterpart, from brutal oppression to death by pleasure. So hail a taxicopter and join the dudes for a scintillating discussion on happiness: what is it, exactly, and how much are we willing to sacrifice for it? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access t...

In keeping with the Pubcast's commitment to transparency, here's the full recording of their first official business meeting. Tune in to learn all the ways that Jones must do better in the future, and other big dreams for the 'cast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.substack.com

Maybe you saw that YouTube music and cartoon vid about George Washington? If not, you're in for a treat. If so, I bet you haven't seen the other short clips on discussion. So here's your assignment: Click on the links below and enjoy. Play our episode and enjoy. Give us and Brad five star reviews. Follow these steps and you'll receive an A+ from the Professor Brothers. https://www....

The cast's fave poet is back,. this time hauling a pocket full of lit to the gents' home turf. Ideas abound, trains shudder by, and the Big Muddy just keeps on flowing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptWE8DAVl5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VypaE6kKJ8 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.su...

The gents couldn't resist the chance to catch the first Mad Max, in public at a place that sells beer. Somehow, it wasn't the same film they'd both seen decades ago when they were young. Who switched it, and why isn't anyone talking about this conspiracy? Tune in for answers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus e...

Steve wants to talk America's pastime--little league, minors, and The Show; Kelly, who through no fault of his own ended up an Los Angeles of Anaheim California Angels fan, is not really following the action this year. Instead, he tries to introduce Steve to some serious LITERATURE, which Steve naturally resists. If this sounds fun, then you've got good instincts. Pull up a stool and ask t...

The gents close out the Gonzo trilogy with a pod-fave: the great David Foster Wallace's great mega-essay: "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." Daniels has loved essay and author for years. Jones is a new superfan. Tune in for cringy middle aged bromance vibes toward the late author. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

The fellas take it on the road, the I-80 to be precise, over yonder to Iowa City's The Vine Tavern, the very setting (in a way) of the episode's subject story. More importantly, they actually TURN DOWN, while recording, an offer of FREE BOOZE, in the form of scary and confusing giant syringes full of alcohol-infused gelatin. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/11/14/work https://www.ne...

The fellas don Hawaiian shirts and dive into the repulsively appealing world of Hunter S. Thompson and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo: Destination, the Las Vegas of the mind. Serious consideration of the legacy of Gonzo Journalism is cut with generalized shenanigans, including Kelly trying to drop in a dirty joke he read on the internet, to awkward effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_...

Jones wants to take us there, to Orwell's dark opus. Daniels--the self-affirmed Orwell scholar--can't get past chapter one. Instead, he tries to save face by bringing in his own favorite novel of authoritarian dystopia. Stalin sits at the head of the table in both novels, and we're all reminded of what can happen when individuals surrender their power to orthodoxy. https://www.theguard...

The fellas hate on the video version of the trippy and cool sci-fi novel. Also, the Cultural Revolution was worse than you thought. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.substack.com

A poet, a tech guy, and a fiction writer walk into a bar. They have a great time, and so will you if you pull up a stool and join in. Also, switching from PBR to a craft IPA has consequences. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.substack.com

Kelly, an unabashed Linklater fanboy, has long been dismayed by the critical and popular invisibility Everybody Wants Some , the best college party movie you've never heard of. Steve took a watch and emerged a fan. This film has it all: drinking, pot smoking, sex, cars, baseball, male bonding, purpose of life philosophical musings, romance, the never-ending search for identity, and finally, lo...

Steve thought the pubcast should talk about Animal House , arguably the source of all college party movies. It was on Netflix so why not? Kelly brought in an article critical of residence life programs, hoping to class the episode up a little. His attempt failed. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.sub...

It's open season for journalists and freshmen alike, in this cinephile tryptic recorded in the lounge of Davenport's The Last Picture House . See, the guys decided to be timely for once and also professional for once by rushing through production a discussion of the new blockbuster, Civil War , an Orwellian dystopia if ever there was one. To prepare, they even vowed to watch the film not o...

Turns out, Blade Runner , the 1982 film, is really, really different from the novel it's based on, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The pubcast hosts dig into all the messy discrepancies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.substack.com

Steve didn't get to talk about his car modification character arc last time, and Kelly hadn't finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for what should have been this episode, so a two-parter on automobiles it is! Before recording, Steve primed Kelly with a hair-raising drive along the Mississippi River in the little rocket car. Buckle your safety harnesses, secure your helmets...

Steve, an autophile, speaks to Kelly, an autophobe. They agree, disagree, agree to disagree, and even agree to agree on a few points. Rev up your engines and put the pedal to the metal in this high speed episode! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniels.substack.com

Steve's obsessed with North Korea. Kelly watches The Interview, a Hollywood film that annoyed the secretive nation. At one point, the guys fall into a giggle fest. It's embarrassing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview http://myholidayinnorthkorea.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keldaniel...