The Con Men

This week the Con Men roam free through the pop culture wilderness—favorite podcasts, Star Trek legends, celebrity panels, forgotten comedy bits, Mountain Dew flavors, and the strange joy of media that sticks with you for decades. Along the way, Dan and Adrian trade stories from conventions, movie theaters, fandom life, and the kinds of random conversations that somehow become the best conversatio...

Dan and Adrian enter the arena this week with a surprise deep dive into the strange golden age of video game movies. From Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. to arcade glory days, console wars, and the beautiful nonsense of 90s pop culture, the guys revisit an era when every cartridge eventually became a questionable screenplay. Along the way, they give flowers to Raúl Juliá, debate who their tru...

This week on  The Con Men Show , we somehow start with StreamYard sabotage and a typo-born “hoyman” identity crisis, then slingshot straight into Artemis, moon missions, pale blue dot philosophy, claustrophobic space toilets, and why humanity probably ought to keep doing hard things even when the payoff isn’t immediate. Because apparently this episode came with actual feelings hidden inside the no...

This week on  The Con Men Show , we go full kaiju mode—digging into Godzilla, the wild world of niche conventions, and the kind of fandom rabbit holes that start innocent and end with you pricing flights to Chicago for G-Fest. From classic rubber-suit chaos to modern takes like  Shin Godzilla  and  Minus One , we unpack what makes the King of the Monsters stick around for 70 years—and why sometime...

Dan and Adrian are back to chat about the enduring legacy of 80s action, the creation of internet myths, and the art of keeping our heroes legendary. And guess what? We’re even talking about actual continuity! We’re sharing our thoughts on Chuck Norris’s passing, mixing humor, nostalgia, and respect as we consider his cultural impact—from his martial arts credentials to his 80s action reign and hi...

Dan and Adrian kick things off with speculation around a possible  Firefly reunion , sparked by Nathan Fillion making the rounds with the cast and teasing a March announcement. From there, things unfold exactly as you’d expect—by which I mean  completely unpredictably . What starts as sci-fi hype quickly spirals into: A love letter to  short-lived but legendary shows A deep dive into  absurdist ci...

This week The Con Men start with a deep dive into the early days of color film and television, sparked by a discussion of The Wizard of Oz and how groundbreaking the transition from sepia to Technicolor really was. Dan and Adrian explore the strange technical tricks used in early filmmaking — including painted sets, body doubles, and bizarre makeup palettes designed specifically for black-and-whit...

Dan and Adrian break down the  Mandalorian & Grogu  preview, talk about why fandom sometimes turns toxic, and introduce a simple rule for judging movies: Consider the premise. "Is it a good film… or a good giant-fighting-robot movie?" Rather than nitpicking every frame, the conversation centers on a bigger question:  how should fans judge the media they love? Dan introduces the idea of  “consi...

The week The Con Men stumble from Deep Space Nine, into Picard, Discovery, and Admiral Vance’s… culinary revelations. Then we pivot hard into 80s nostalgia, Galaxy Quest, Saturday morning cartoons, Mr. Rogers, Kevin Smith, and our most controversial segment yet: cinematic confession hour. Some of the greatest films ever made? We’re not all convinced. Plus — listener emails, five-star gratitude, an...

Storm of the century? Please. We’re talking about the con of the century. This week on  The Con Men Show , we trace Star Trek’s convention roots back to 1972, when 500 expected fans turned into 3,000 shoulder-to-shoulder Trekkies — and accidentally built the blueprint for modern con culture. Then we boldly go into  Starfleet Academy  — Holly Hunter’s commandant chaos energy, contemporary slang in...

In this episode, The Con Men recap convention life from the inside — from guest relations duties and celebrity interactions to the real logistics behind running a successful show. The conversation drifts into underrated films, 90s soundtrack culture, and how streaming platforms quietly game subscription timing. The guys also talk Trek — respectfully, honestly — and close with a reminder about comm...

This week The Con Men kick things off with collector talk and  Transformers: The Movie  nostalgia before tumbling headfirst into a discovery:  1986 might be one of the most stacked pop-culture years ever. From childhood-defining movies to “it was on HBO every weekend so we watched it 400 times,” we break down the difference between true classics and nostalgia classics — and accidentally map out fu...

In this episode, The Con Men unpack the idea of “movies that lost their innocence” — not because the films changed, but because  we did . From Dragnet’s jokes that flew over childhood heads to the cultural whiplash of Revenge of the Nerds, Bill & Ted, Big Trouble in Little China, and Cannonball Run, the conversation drifts through ratings systems, generational context, and how nostalgia collid...

The Con Men Bounce from the death of the penny, into the metric system’s shipwrecked origin story, and why America refuses to measure things like a normal country. From there, the show veers into tabletop RPG war stories (including a near-fatal Alien RPG dice roll), Kickstarter confessions, and the strange poetry of declaring “intent to do harm” in Powered by the Apocalypse systems. The back half...

How about an in-person field report straight from the con floor? The Con Men finally record in the same room while working Central Carolina Comic Con, trading remote latency for real-world chaos, side chatter, and the kind of conversations you only get after a full day of badges, handlers, and folding tables. The episode pulls back the curtain on the less glamorous—but far more interesting—side of...

Episode 12 of   The Con Men Show   starts exactly where it should: mid-thought, mid-argument, and somehow mid–Golden Girls appreciation. From there, Dan and Adrian take a lovingly chaotic stroll through the golden age of television—sitcoms, spin-offs, theme songs, VHS wizardry, and the unspoken social contract of  “you missed it, too bad.” What begins as a riff on why certain shows worked (and why...

Dan and Adrian start by tumbling headfirst into a conversation about aging bodies, playground-safe anatomy jokes, and the eternal comedy supremacy of “bingo wings” and the weenus. From there, the episode settles into a warm, nostalgic groove—snacks, chips, French onion dip, and the quiet tragedy of modern convenience foods. The conversation widens into holiday realities: Christmas budgeting, pract...

This time around we enter the sacred halls of fast–food anthropology: Arby’s Gobbler, McRib nostalgia lies, flaming-hot Funyuns, Checkers fries, Burger Con, fake burger franchises, Pluto TV comfort programming, and holiday survival without shame. Double digits, baby—we’re official. 🎧 Listen now & send us your burger lore.

Dan kicks things off with a birthday rundown: his wife’s big day, a middle child who showed out with a from-scratch chocolate fudgy bundt cake and homemade ganache, and a family trip to Chewy’s in Conway that landed squarely in “perfectly fine..." Adrian follows with his own downtown Italian misadventure: greasy calamari swimming in oil, kids’ menu “New York slices” that turned out to be Domino’s-...

In this episode, we slide from fall vibes into full-on holiday chaos: Conway’s infamous “largest outdoor artificial Christmas tree” (paid for by the fast-food “fat tax”), $11 million jewel-covered trees in Abu Dhabi, tree-lighting ceremonies, frozen choir kids, and the eternal showdown of  hot cider vs. hot chocolate —with detours into homemade eggnog, White Russians, and a Russian “Crazy Cow” con...

The Con Men are back, rolling straight into spooky season with the kind of warm chaos only Adrian and Dan can conjure. This week we hit everything from kids leveling up into double digits to the newest  Fantastic Four  (the “fourth first one”) and why it might secretly be the best FF movie yet — which, yeah, is kind of a low bar. We also dive into  Thunderbolts , convention adventures, and Adrian’...

Adrian (Nerd @ Heart) and Dan (deckr.media) dive into Renaissance Faires—what they are, why they work, and how they mash state fair chaos with con culture. We hit themed weekends (Pirate, Scottish, Time Traveler), vendors who commit to the bit, touring acts (shoutout Barely Balanced), kid-magnet games, and the big arena: full-plate jousts with story arcs. Adrian shares a kilt mishap PSA (choose yo...

Join in with Adrian & Dan as we delve into fall traditions, and a lot of CONversation about pie. We also try to determine exactly how much Cool Whip is a dollop, and is it enough? Whether you take your slice on the side, or a la mode, this pie's for you!

In this episode, The Con Men (Adrian & Dan) stumble into the idea of Century Con™ – wherein we outline the idea to celebrate the last century decade-by-decade. With a brief detour to a Galaxy Far Away to discuss a Li'l Green Fella and his Shiny Space Dad and whether or not "some Star Wars is better than none Star Wars..." or is it? Also, you can email the show with your ideas or...

The Con Men start off this week checking in on Adrian after a recent trip to The House of Mouse™. Join in for anecdotes and new con ideas! Just as Adrian is about to outline a brilliant plan for a *British TV Con... ** record scratch ** Due to technical difficulties we cut back to the disappointing nature of Guest cancelations. *Tune in to a future installment of The Con Men Show wherein we shall...