Overthinking It Podcast

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Hot on the heels of our discussion about Sequel Culture, Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee and Pete Fenzel re-enter the arena to discuss Gladiator 2. In the halcyon summer of 2000, it seemed to some people that liberal democracy had won a final enduring victory, and the original Gladiator’s framing of tyranny versus republican virtue didn’t seem like biting social commentary. Twenty four years later this sequel gives us essentially the same plot, but its endless speechifying about the lost dream of democracy and rule of law feels painfully on the nose. But what are the different strategies the movie presents for countering that tyranny? Meeting violence with violence? Organizing political resistance? Or the Denzel Washington option: chewing the scenery while seizing control of the rickety institutions of state from the inside? We don’t learn very much about real Roman history from this movie, but we might learn something about our future.

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Further Reading

• From Principate to Dominate: When Roman Emperors Became Boastful Autocrats
• Baboon Pictures | Page 4 | AfricaHunting.com
• Better Man | Official Trailer (2024 Movie) – Robbie Williams, Michael Gracey, Jonno Davies:

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Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Pete Fenzel do something boldly original and never to be repeated: talk about pop culture trend pieces written by actual newspapers. In the immediate aftermath of seeing Moana 2 and Gladiator 2, it’s time to chat about the cluster of think pieces around Hollywood’s huge reliance on sequels this year to make up both the top and bottom of its litany of accomplishments. Beset by a category too all-consuming to be useful, we present a taxonomy of sequels, overthinking their similarities and differences, and tracking the relationship between franchise and oeuvre as creative voices move in and out of the mouths of favorite characters. Plus, the extent to which sequels may or may not be parties, the lessons about remakes movies might be logistically unable to learn from stage plays, and “That Gollum, he’s so hot right now!” Are you up and coming, here and now, or down and going? Did anyone see Bad Boys: Ride or Die? Listen to this week’s episode to find out.

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Further Reading

• “Is Hollywood’s Addiction to Sequels Cannibalizing Its Future” by Owen Glieberman, from Variety
  
• The success of Moana 2 is nothing to be celebrated – there is a real crisis in animation, by Louis Chilton, from The Independent
  
• Worldwide box office leaders from BoxOfficeMojo: 2024 / 2023
• From ‘Megalopolis’ to ‘Joker: Folie à Deux,’ these are 2024’s biggest box office flops, by Aidin Vaziri, from the San Francisco Chronicle
  

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Pete Fenzel and Matt Wrather hold a storied two-hander on Ted Danson’s new Netflix retirement home spy sitcom, A Man on the Inside, which rides the lines among funny and solemn; easy and challenging; and polemic and hagiography. We dig deep on the “All the World’s a Stage” monologue from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which is heavily featured in the show, and broaden the conversation to the literary project of using storytelling to inspire humans to find common interest and empathy in their shared condition and mortality. Comedic floors come up, by which a baseline of silliness might be established to soften the cruelty of jokes and satire. We talk sandwiches, specifically those in their 40s and 50s caring for both aging parents and growing teenagers. Matt updates us on his transition into fatherhood and the experience of reading to his daughter, while Pete goes off about dementia, compassion, and dignity in all stages of life. The question as to how exactly this show will manage a second season will have to wait for another podcast.

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Further Reading

• “All the World’s a Stage: The Seven Ages of Man” from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, performed solo by Benedict Cumberbatch (The Shakespeare Network
• “The Sandwich Generation: Rising Financial Burdens for Middle-Aged Americans” (Pew Research Center, 2013)
• The Iliad, Book 24: Achilles and Priam, performed by Ananke
• How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question, by showrunner Michael Schur on Goodreads
• A Man on the Inside Cast: Who Stars Alongside Ted Danson, from RadioTimes
• OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies on the Internet Movie Database / A Man on the Inside Poster, from the Internet Movie Database

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Matt Wrather makes a surprise stop in from parental leave to join Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee and Pete Fenzel as we discuss The Onion: its history, style, and modes of satire through the years. We overthink the A.I.-threatened art of clever photoshopping, the dialogue between image and text, doing topical humor on news figures with zero impersonation, and good-natured, tragic pathos. With the Onion back in print and proposing to expand its media empire with an acquisition of InfoWars, will everything that was old and funny become new again and also funny? Plus, a question of the week on our greatest hits for children’s bedtime stories, and a blazing take from area new father that 9/11 may have changed American culture.

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Further Reading

• Who are those six people in that one Onion section? – theonion.com | Ask MetaFilter
• “Frog and Toad”: An Amphibious Celebration of Same-Sex Love | The New Yorker
• De Blasio: ‘Well, Well, Well, Not So Easy To Find A Mayor That Doesn’t Suck Shit, Huh?’ – The Onion
• You Will Suffer Humiliation When The Sports Team From My Area Defeats The Sports Team From Your Area – The Onion
• Issue 37•34: The September 11th Issue – The Onion
• Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake – The Onion
• Pop Culture Expert Surprisingly Not Ashamed Of Self – The Onion
• Standards Lowered For Second Search Through Fridge – The Onion
• Man Returning From Vacation Settles On Single Concise Anecdote He’ll Tell Everyone Who Asks – The Onion
• Dog Looks At Owner Who Put It In Costume Like Mafia Don Betrayed By Loyal Consigliere – The Onion
• Bloodied, Bruised John Kerry Emerges Victorious At Kickboxing Tournament In Bangkok Prison – The Onion
• John Kerry Sits In Shadows Of Kiev Café Awaiting Woman Known Only As Dasha – The Onion
• Theme Park Guests Trapped For Harrowing 6 Hours On Stuck Merry-Go-Round – The Onion
• Outdoor Advertising Is A Blight On Our Society vs. I Just Wanted To Tell The Nice People About The Yogurt – The Onion
• r/AteTheOnion
• The new CEO of ‘The Onion’ is bringing back ‘the good internet.’ Here’s how

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After six years as the only Overthinker to appreciate these masterpieces, Pete Fenzel has finally convinced Matt Belinke to watch the Tom Hardy Venom movies. And it’s just in time, as Venom: The Last Dance is here to escort the series to its Comic Book Death (and inevitable resurrection). What follows is Matt and Pete’s deep dive on the whole Venom trilogy and its four pillars: amazing relationship-driven character scenes, shockingly deep cultural and psychological symbolism, plots that make no sense, and brutal comic book violence. It’s the rare series whose best parts are its filler, the best in-your-head “Space Oddity” singalong you’ll see in an IMAX movie theater with 12 people in it this year, and our second new movie in two weeks with a direct stand-in for Randy Quaid’s character in Independence Day. The discussion topics are symbiotic tendrils pulling us forward – away from parasitism, toward healthy attachment. And unlike these movies, we don’t bite anyone’s heads off.

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Further Reading

• The Dependency Paradox in Relationships, by Dr. Terry Levy, Ph.D., B.C.F.E., Director, Evergreen Psychotherapy Center and the Attachment Treatment & Training Institute, Evergreen, Colorado
• The Christmas Tree Is A Tradition Older Than Christmas, by Troy Bickman, Professor of History at Texas A&M University
• How to Access the Secret Stage: Statue of Liberty – Maximum Carnage Guide – Hidden Cutscene Guide, from AcidGlow on YouTube

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Mark Lee, Pete Fenzel, and Matt Belinkie check in with the mother of all cinematic franchises, Godzilla. After 70 years and 38 films, how can the big guy possibly surprise us, much less move us? Well shockingly, Godzilla Minus One from 2023 got a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned an Oscar for Best Special Effects. We break down exactly how Godzilla reinvented its future by reimagining Japan’s post-war past. We also recall some of the series’s history, such as a 1969 movie in which a little boy meets Godzilla’s son, who is being bullied by other monsters.

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Further Reading

• Depression & Anti-Bullying Awareness: All Monsters Attack/Godzilla’s Revenge (1969)
• Godzilla X Kong Ne-Yo Closer Meme Montage

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Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Pete Fenzel make their vague dreams into iconic realities by overthinking The Greatest Showman. Is it a concept album with spectacular visuals and only a loose plot, or a symbolic visual poem packed with bangers? An idealistic romp about a great historical cynic, a flagrantly inaccurate yarn about a man who might have loved it, The Greatest Showman asks us to consider the difference between dreams and lies, and whether a dream must come true to matter deeply. For its subject, it also offers inadequate ramp-up or justification for a man’s obsession with and exploitation of “human oddities.” Watch the happiest movie about Hugh Jackman stealing bread, and come overthink it with us! This is the Greatest Podcast!

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Further Reading

• Alan Moore on Magic
• “This Is Our Story and Finale” from Shrek the Musical
• “Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Achieve EGOT Status With Emmys Win,” from Variety

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Podfather Matt Wrather is notoriously adverse to scary movies. But as he is still on paternity leave, Pete, Mark, and Matt B overthink “Trap,” a movie that is about being a dad both explicitly and metatextually. Is it a good movie? No, it is not. Its premise is nonsensical, its structure is disjointed, and it exists largely to showcase the questionable pop music and even more questionable acting talent of M. Night’s daughter. But it is also deeply fascinating, because you don’t often see a movie that’s bad because the creator had too MUCH creative freedom and not enough studio executives to hold him back. This is the “Megalopolis” of thrillers. And underneath all the silliness are some interesting ideas about parenting. How do we balance our parent self with our other, more private selves? In a way, don’t ALL dads sneak off to the bathroom to use our phones to check on our murder victims? More importantly, did M. Night Shyamalan really cast Hayley Mills as an inside joke just because she starred in “The Parent Trap”? Because that’s crazy.

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Further Reading

“The First Movie About Pop Music to Nail Its Mediocrity” – New York Times

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Matt Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, and Mark Lee step slowly up to the wrought-iron knocker on the old oak door of this haunted mansion we call a podcast and knock three times to welcome Halloween! The door creaks on rusty hinges to reveal a bowl of tricks and treats: the spooky-scary and the spooky-silly. These three fathers wonder then on the meaning of Halloween costumes for children: the scary, the aspirational, and the ones with retirement plans. Discussions follow of our favorite scarecrows at the crossroads of ghoulish and gigglish, from remembrance of Crypt Keepers past, to blazing hot takes on a chilling corpse of a topic: The Addams Family versus the Munsters. Are scary things here, or are they yet to come? You’ll have to wait and scream!!

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Further Reading

• Overthinking It Podcast, Episode 539: Halloween Candy
• Crypt Keeper Pun Time playlist, from Subgenre Fanatic
• “Hulk Smash” by Happy Birthday on Spotify
• The Addams Family intro on YouTube
• The Drag-u-La on the Munsters YouTube channel
• Mummies perform the Monkees Theme Song on The Masked Singer

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Against all odds, Matt Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, and Mark Lee have reunited in tribute to the upcoming Oasis tour. Inspired by their once-intense but now fatigued, even deadened feelings for “Wonderwall,” they discuss the phenomenology of overplaying, the art of giving up on song meaning, and the erosion of phonetic memory, as they pertain to classic rock, arena rock, boy bands, proto-Romantic poetry, and, of course, the seminal album What’s the Story Morning Glory? Canonical tracks such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Smash Mouth’s “All Star” are considered, elevating this podcast episode from merely music celebrity news to True High Art. Bonus “Wonderwall” performance, for Members Only.

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Further Reading

• “How to Play Wonderwall on Guitar (Chords, Tabs, Instructional Videos, Lessons, and More)” on LectureOwl
• “Carrot Top vs. Gallagher” from the Blocks Podcast with Neal Brennen
• Strong Bad Email #36: Guitar, from Homestarrunnerdotcom
• “What Hotel California by Eagles Is Really About” by Lyristoric
• “Super ‘Sonic Saves the World’ World,” Allegedly by Maddy, on SMW Central
• “The Tyger” by William Blake, read by Tom O’Bedlam

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In the 21st century, Dame Maggie Smith was celebrated for her portrayals of Hogwarts’s Professor McGonagall and Downton’s Dowager Countess Violet Crawley. But decades before that, she won two Oscars for movies that are now so obscure you can watch them for free on YouTube. What ties together her body of work is a delightful ability to express everything her character can’t say, and to show us how a sense of duty and propriety can restrain us but also empower us. Pete and Belinkie discuss her career highlights and especially California Suite, which won her a second Oscar in 1978 but has not aged well at all (Bill Cosby jokes about drugging someone with sleeping pills, yikes). Wrather makes a special appearance to update us on parenthood and tell us about seeing Dame Maggie on stage.

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Further Reading

• California Suite
• The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie

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The Bachelor franchise has been chugging along for more than 20 years now, in a neverending ouroboros of broken hearts and moonlit dinners surrounded by hundreds of tea candles. Audiences want to see the fairy tale romance, and don’t seem to mind the awkward fact that the large majority of Bachelor couples break up shortly after the cameras stop rolling. Now, hot on the heels of the first Golden Bachelor (married in a televised special in January, divorced in April), ABC is giving us 61-year-old widow Joan Vassos and 24 suitors. And Mark, Pete, and Belinkie step out of a metaphorical limo in search of a rose, and some answers. How does aging up the formula change our experience as viewers? Is it okay for these people to want to be on TV, or is that not “the right reasons?” And why does Belinkie insist that this show pairs excellently with Warhammer 40k?

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Further Reading

• Golden Bachelorette’s Jack Says Family Wasn’t ‘Happy’ He Went on Show | Us Weekly
• Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion (eBook)

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Overthinking It has been obsessing over, and often lamenting, the Terminator franchise going all the way back to the regrettable 2009 entry, “Terminator Salvation.” The latest entry to the franchise, “Terminator Zero,” is a Netflix animated series and is much better than Salvation and subsequent movies, but not without its issues. Matt, Pete, and the Internet’s Leading Authority on Terminator, Mark, stare deep into the anime eyes of the show’s heroes and villains to unpack its philosophical musings on the human condition, the many reasons why brilliant scientist Malcolm Lee is a terrible dad, and the meta-commentary on a franchise that seems fated to telling the same story of robots chasing humans over and over again.

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Further Reading

• The many, many podcasts and articles on Terminator we’ve released over the years
• “My Wife and My Mother-in-Law”

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Beetlejuice is such an iconic character that it’s easy to forget how weird and confusing he is (for starters, his name is actually spelled “Betelgeuse” according to his own tombstone). In this episode, Mark, Pete, Jordan, and Matt Belinkie (your substitute Matt) try to figure out if we’re dealing with a wily trickster demon or an impulsive idiot. We also look at the Deetzes, Manhattan transplants that combine the narcissism of the art world with predatory Reagan-era capitalism… which might actually be grimmer than the eternal DMV of the afterlife. And then there’s Otho, a gay character who seems to be an important stand-in for the gay screenwriter. Ultimately, this is a fun little dark comedy with surprisingly deep insights about the difference between simply BEING alive, and HAVING a life.

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Once Matt Wrather heads off to parental leave, Overthinking It will be staffed entirely by parents. In the last podcast before this happens, this selfsame Impending Dad Matt, Peter Fenzel and Mark Lee each bring their own choice for “End of an Era” culture for discussion. Pete speaks on Ben Stiller playing a Gen Xer making his lasts grasps at youth, paired against the meteorically rising Greta Gerwig in Greenberg; Mark muses on the heady days of Hamilton in vivo; and Matt, in a grand parting stroke to alienate and confound, tells a personal story about a discussion he had 25 years ago about the first part in the Histoire des Treize (a.k.a. The Thirteen) section of La Comédie Humaine: “Ferragus, chef des Dévorants,” by Honoré de Balzac. It is his last joke that is not a dad joke.

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Further Reading

• Greenberg Star Greta Gerwig Steps from the Shadows of Mumblecore from The Guardian, June 4, 2010
• Why Generation Um is Keanu Reeves’ Worst Movie, from ScreenRant
• Overthinking It Podcast episode #628: An Extraordinarily Rich Meal, in which we discuss Hamilton on streaming at the height of That Championship Season
• You Great Unfinished Symphony: the History Behind Hamilton at the Massachusetts Historical Society
• The Thirteen, by Honoré de Balzac, translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley and Ellen Marriage, from Project Gutenberg
• Mausoleo de Augusto, Piazza Augusto Imperatore, Rome, but who knows who that guy was anyway

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Peter Fenzel, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather examine the Netflix series called The Decameron, which does bear some loose resemblance to Bocaccio’s similarly-titled work of medieval literature.

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Further Reading

• The Decameron (Wikipedia)
• A lecture on The Decameron (YouTube)
• “Parables of the Plague” by Elena Comay del Junco (LARB)
• The Decameron (film) (Wikipedia)

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Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Peter Fenzel overthink those despicable Minions. Are they evil because they serve evil, or are they antibodies of a moral universe, because they undermine the evil they serve? What does it mean to be despicable? What fictional characters have made such an impact that we will still see them everywhere in 100 years? And why will the minions gradually conquer all AI training data to dominate future superintelligence?

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Further Reading

• “Minionpalooza: The Rise of Minion Culture” on Polygon
• “How Not Enforcing It’s IP, Universal Made The Minions Ubiquitous and Beloved” on Techdirt
• “TikTok’s Crucified Minion Meme, Explained” on Forbes
• “Funny Minions Best Comedy Songs” on Spotify
• Yogi Bear Parody: “Booboo Kills Yogi: ending

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Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, and Mark Lee confront the demons to overthink DOOM. They discuss the risks and successes of the dawn of 3D gaming, the pump-action panache of the DOOM guy and DOOM shotgun, and how and why we never feel fatigued or insulted by a DOOM re-release. Plus bonus discussion of its four-letter capitalized companion: MYST.

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Further Reading

• DOOM + DOOM II Steam Store Page
• “The Pump Action Shotgun: The Sound and the Fury“: old Overthinking Article that touches on the appeal of the DOOM shotgun.

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Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris, France. They discuss the opening ceremony, the fractured media landscape which has them consuming the games in various ways, and the tiers of sports you can relate to and can’t.

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Further Reading

• “What Makes the Shot Put Go Far?” (Track and Field Coach)
• The Madwoman in the Attic
• Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Deadpool & Wolverine, starting with a provocative (G-rated!) question, and continuing through

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Further Reading

• “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel” (Jenny Nicholson on YouTube)

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Middle-aged podcasters Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather investigate the “Kamala is Brat” meme and discover that it is actually a record album, such as you can play on a phonograph. They investigate Charli XCX’s BRAT, discussing its style and sound, its lyrical concern, its cultural connections, and the function of “brat” as a way of being in the world.

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Further Reading

• • BRAT on Genius
  • “Reload! A History of The Rewind” (<em>DJ Tech Tools</em>)
  • Essex on Wikipedia

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Matt’s recent baby shower, and settle on the theme of baby stuff (or “stuffs”) as a peculiar and unique entry in the poetry of stuffs that makes up one’s life.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted, a parodic film about the 1960s in America (and, incidentally about the invention of the Pop Tart). But they don’t tuck in before they’ve had breakfaast—in a nostalgic prolegomenon (inspired by the film’s nostalgia) they discuss their feelings about breakfast and how kids interact with breakfast before getting to the film’s (something less than trenchant) poking fun at mid-century corporate culture, the space race, and (awkwardly) January 6.

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Further Reading

• Jack LaLanne (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink Beverly Hills Copy: Axel F., discussing its undeserved critical reception (at least by the New York Times), its bemusing but unexpectedly resonant first sequence, the role of accountability and apology in relationships with an asymmetric power dynamic, and its unexpected Downton Abbey moment involving a fictitious hockey league.

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Further Reading

• “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Review: It’s Busted” (NY Times)
• “Fred Rogers Took a Stand Against Racial Inequality When He Invited a Black Character to Join Him in a Pool” (Biography)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather take another look at music generated by AI diffusion models, which have come a long way. They discuss the possible significance of this new technology and how it fits into our conception of creativity, and they play each other some tunes they’ve prompted.

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Further Reading

• Dirt Road Brew
• Puppy Patrol
• Temple of Taste
• Podcast Theme
• Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (Wikiquote)

And here’s the last time we tackled AI music:

Episode 803: It Is Kind Of Amazing. It Is Also Crap.

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink Inside Out 2 (2 Inside 2 Out), the anxiety-centered follow up to the 2015 Pixar hit. They both had a pretty difficult experience watching the movie, which was like a 90-minute anxiety attack, but they explore its allegory of the self, the presence and curious absence of the social world in the movie’s account of adolescence, and the quacking absence hanging over every frame of this hockey-centric story.

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Further Reading

• How To Tell If Your Relative Was Really A Keystone Kop

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather consider why the Pope brought comedians including Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, and Chris Rock (?!) together at the Vatican and what he had to say to them.

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Further Reading

• “Stephen Colbert and Whoopi Goldberg Met the Pope in the Vatican. No Joke.” (NYT)
• Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Comedians
• Prayer for Good Humor (St. Thomas More)
• “The story behind the Vatican’s colossal sculpture of Jesus rising from nuclear destruction” (America Magazine)
• “The Resurrection” (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Richard Linklater’s film Hit Man, now streaming on Netflix. Topics include the film’s misreading of Nietzsche, the relationship of the movie to genre (action or romcom), the forays into philosophy and psychology, and how at every turn it ends up being a stranger and darker movie than you expect.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Madame Web, now streaming on Netflix, wondering both what on earth this movie is and how it got that way.

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Further Reading

• Form Criticism (Wikipedia)
• Hermeneutics (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel (fighting a cold) and Matthew Wrather (fighting anxiety over whether the recording works) follow up on how it felt to lose an episode last week, and overthink the phenomenon of consuming entertainment through short clips on a streaming service.

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UPDATE (2024-05-25T17:35-0700): If you’ve heard the short explanation embedded in this post, you’ll know that I suspected the audio-recording problem was due to a software update. Well, turns out…

Ironically, if I had been less scrupulous in updating the recorder, we wouldn’t have lost the recording.

Hi Overthinkers, it’s Matt Wrather. Owing to a technical problem, we lost part of the audio from the episode we recorded tonight, and for the first time in over fiteen years, we don’t have a new episode to post.

I’m responsible, and I’m so sorry. It’s been a point of pride that we’ve never missed a week, and it kind of breaks my heart that now we have.

We’re so glad you come back and listen to us, and I’m sorry to let you down. We love making the show for you. We’ll be back next week.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink “Meltdown May”, which leads them to consider all aspects of melting, from whether this too, too sallied flesh would melt, to stopping the world to melt with you, to nuclear meltdowns, to tuna melts. They complicate the standard picture of “solid good, melted bad,” and propose that the cure to our many social ills is the restoration of a vanished social mesoscale which can contain all ingredients in the melting pot.

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Further Reading

• “Meltdown May is Finally Here” (MEL Magazine, Medium)
• “melt” (Etymology Online)
• “Jupiter’s heart is dissolving” (NewScientist)
• “Sonos says its controversial app redesign took ‘courage’” (The Verge)
• “The Best Slow-Cooked Bolognese Sauce Recipe” (Serious Eats)
• “Does Vodka Sauce Really Need Vodka?” (Serious Eats)
• Patois (Wikipedia)
• “Homestyle Bibimbap” (Serious Eats)
• Latent Heat (Wikipedia)
• Bruce Davison (IMDb)
• Modern English, “I Melt with You” (Genius)

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Matthew Belinkie joins Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather to talk about his efforts on the Overthinking It YouTube channel and its annual chronicle of the Eurovision Song Contest. We talk about this year’s contest, how our efforts have changed over the years, and the nature of YouTube fame.

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Further Reading

• Wristwatch Revival (YouTube)

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Jordan Stokes joins Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather to discuss a New York Times “Critics Notebook” by James Poniewozik decrying the phenomenon of “Mid TV,” shows with impressive pedigrees but muted artistic ambitions.

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Further Reading

• “The Comfortable Problem of Mid TV” (NY Times)
• “Towards a Theory of Television Snackability” (Overthinking It)
• E.R. (IMDb)
• The Anxiety of Influence (Wikipedia)
• Shogun (IMDb)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather tackle a super-sized episode of Bluey, one that has fans wondering if the creators are bidding farewell to the Heelers. They discuss how the structure and metaphorical language for the episode provide a container for the difficult thematic material (no kid in history has ever loved the idea of moving), but they split on the ending, seeing it either as a pulled punch or else as a moment of almost existential failure for the father character. The brisk trade in Australian spiders is discussed.

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Further Reading

• “The old man lost his horse” (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather start from the technology shown in The Three Body Problem and jump off to talk about the extremes of “immersion” in entertainment and of experience, which leads (predictably) to The Matrix, and somewhat less predictably to weight-loss drugs and Romans chapter 7.

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Further Reading

• Mario Perillo, Mr. Italy and the SNL Parody (YouTube)
• “The Game” (ST: TNG Episode)
• Romans 7 (KJV)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather each bring a topic to discuss, ranging from X-Men ’97 to the social phenomenon of talking about other people’s jet lag to how we lost our love of buying electronics at Radio Shack.

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Further Reading

• Franz Boas (Wikipedia)
• “Jet Lag Sends Brain Ahead A Time Zone, Leaves Kidneys In Another” (ABC News)

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather are wondering what to do with their idle hands. Specifically, Pete has a question about what activity he could do while supervising his children which would occupy his attention un-greedily, i.e. without rendering him unavailable to parent.

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Further Reading

• Knitting, Crochet, Macramé, Scrimshaw, Decoupage, Papier-mâché

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather talk tools, arriving at a theory that the tool is an instrument which excludes cases where it should not be used.

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Further Reading

• “Tool” (Online Etymology Dictionary)
• “Tool” (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather try to clean up.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Dune: Part 2, which, marvelous to tell, they all managed to see in the theaters. They discuss the film’s aesthetics, its intellectual history as an artifact of 1960s America (complete with a focus on getting high), and its themes relating to colonialism, missionaries and religious movements, and individual responsibility when you can see the future. They are left with just one question: “What is the supply chain for all those thumpers?”

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the introductory episodes of Shogun, FX’s new, multi-lingual adaption of James Clavell’s 1975 novel. They discuss they book’s prominent place as a totem of adulthood on their fathers’ night-stands, the Downton Abbey moment (appropriate for a drama of manners and custom), and the various threads of theme, identity, and narrative which weave in and out of the production, and of the plot.

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Further Reading

• Shogun by James Clavell

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather examine the niche internet phenomenon of a game-show host being sampled and turned into dance music.

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Further Reading

• “‘We need jungle, I’m afraid’: how University Challenge went viral on the rave scene” from The Guardian
• YouTube Channels
  • Technology Connections
  • Bill McClintock
  • J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather watch Super Bowl LVIII, or should we say, Super Bowl T.A.Y.L.O.R., and discuss the intimate, detail-oriented halftime show and the commercials. They unveil a narrative of a being that is a non-being, and the dislocations of finding a world different than you thought or assumed.

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Ben Adams joins Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather as they overthink the unfolding story about Warner Bros.’s decision not to release Coyote Vs. Acme, how it has been narrativized online, and how it is in some ways the perfect encapsulation of what makes the Coyote/Roadrunner stories unique.

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Further Reading

• “The Final Days of ‘Coyote vs. Acme’: Offers, Rejections and a Roadrunner Race Against Time | Exclusive” from The Wrap
• The 9 Coyote Rules on Twitter
• Virtue Ethics on Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-oHBcCRmBE

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning (Part One), the interminably named latest entry in the M:I franchise, now available on streaming. They discuss the metaphor of dead reckoning and how it applies to the characters in the film, and lament that the evil A.I. is really underdeveloped as a character.

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Further Reading

• Dead Reckoning (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather are lead by an article in USA Today to overthink the phenomenon of “Boot Camps” for men seeking to “reclaim their masculinity.” They wonder what that might mean and why someone might want to do it, and try to situate such experiences in the continuum of retreats, adventures, and corporate off-sites.

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Further Reading

• “Men are going to brutal boot camps to reclaim their masculinity. How did we get here?” by Charles Trepany (USA Today)
• Sea State by Tabatha Lasley
• Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather come to bury Pitchfork, not to praise it. They overthink the role of magazines in their lives, and the ways in which the medium has, and hasn’t, managed to translate to a new media landscape.

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Further Reading

• Some Magazines:
  • Wired Magazine
  • National Geographic
  • The Economist
  • Scout Life
• magazine etymology
• Skeuomorphism
• “Will E-Sports Ever Recover From This?” (YouTube)

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Pete Fenzel and Mark Lee overthink Bluey, the Australian kids’ show that squeezes every minute of its six-minute episodes for high-end emotional relationship coaching. They dissect how the show runs parallel narratives for both children and adults, its vast gap in raison dêtre with Paw Patrol and kinship with Daniel Tiger, the challenge of parents and children learn from each other, and the hidden semantics of its classical music underscoring.

Bluey Episodes Discussed:

• Season 2, Episode 24: Flat Pack
• Season 2, Episode 26: Sleepytime
• Season 2, Episode 50: Baby Race
• Season 3, Episode 41: Stickbird

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink an article about “the bit.” They discuss what constitutes a “bit,” and why it’s probably a bad idea to make it the basis of your whole social presentation.

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Further Reading

• “Want a New You in the New Year? Try Committing to the Bit.”

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather tie a bow on 2023 by revisiting a couple of movies and TV shows they haven’t been able to devote a full podcast to. For Mark, it’s the Barbenheimer phenomenon, a marketing miracle whose like we shall not soon see again; for Pete, the Korean reality competition Physical 100, which is the real Squid Game game show, and not just because it’s streaming on Netflix; and for Matt, Poker Face, an anthology of lovingly-crafted mini-movies featuring the creative talents of Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather are joined by Jordan Stokes to overthink Maestro, Bradley Cooper’s impressionistic biopic of Leonard Bernstein and his complicated life, career, and marriage. They discuss the proper pronunciation of Bernstein, the man’s idiosyncratic place in classical music as a conductor and a composer, the film’s episodic style and narrative technique, and the film’s ambivalent message about art, creativity, and family.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather partake in our Christmas tradition of overthinking a literary work. This year it’s O. Henry’s short story The Gift of the Magi. The story is great fun (as long as you don’t get the version published by the U.S. State Department), and they discuss themes of gift giving, connections to the biblical magi, and the ultimate question: isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?

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Further Reading

• O. Henry, “The Gift of the Magi” (Project Gutenberg)
• O. Henry (Wikipeida)
• Matthew, Chapter 2 (New American Bible)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather explore the legacy of Norman Lear (1922–2023) by considering the episode “Two’s A Crowd” from Season 8 of All in the Family and “The Big Move,” the 2-part Season 4 opener of Good Times. They discuss the stylistic, (sit)comic, and thematic aspects of both shows, and try to grapple with which file drawer to sick Norman Lear’s legacy in.

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Further Reading

• All in the Family Season 8 on Freevee (Episode 16)
• Good Times, “The Big Move” on YouTube (Season 4, Episode 1–2)

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Peter Fenzel has seen Elmo Saves Christmas and overthinks it along with Mark Lee and Matthew Wrather. It turns out that Elmo unleashes a festive hellscape which wreaks havoc on his friends, on the Easter Buny, and on time itself.

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Further Reading

• “What ‘DuckTales’ Taught Me About Inflation” (The Billfold)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, which Mark has recently seeen, and Pete and Matt have scene in the past. They discuss the strangeness of the Rockettes as a “precision dance troupe” speculate (wildly inaccurately, as it turns out) about their history, and then turn to the religious aspects of the spectacle (famously featuring live animals).

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Further Reading

• The Rockettes (Wikipedia)
• Body Wars (Wikipedia)
• “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” (Wikipedia)

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Matthew Belinkie joins Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather to discuss advances in AI-generated music. They overthink recent developments in the field, and Belinkie plays DJ, spinning a couple samples of famous songs he’s tried to recreate with AI. But then he has a surprise for the crew.

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Further Reading

• Suno AI

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, focusing on the exuberant visual style(s) and its relation to the material conditions of each universe, the question of Canon and whether Miguel is a good guy or a villain, and what even is up with The Spot.

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Further Reading

• New Historicism (Wikipedia)
• Bricolage (Wikpedia)

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather dig into a storied two-hander, overthinking Chris Rock’s Netflix special Selective Outrage. They are both relieved that it isn’t just the same tired “anti-woke” nonsense, and is a tightly constructed hour: They break down the 4-part structure which Chris Rock lays out at the beginning and cashes out over the course of the bizarre second act and culminating routine addressing “The Slap.”

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Further Reading

• Everybody Hates Chris (Wikipedia)
• New Jack City (Wikipedia)
• Paradise Lost Book 4

Ben Adams, Matthew Belinkie, Mark Lee, Peter Fenzel, Jordan Stokes, Richard Rosenbaum, and Matthew Wrather celebrate 800 episodes—and 15 unbroken years—of the Overthinking It Podcast by considering what they have learned in 2008.

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Further Reading

• Join the Overthinking It Discord
• The Overthinkers’ Favorite Projects
  • Ben Adams: “This podcast is ruined.”
  • Matthew Belinkie: ’ Merica Madness
  • Peter Fenzel: 24 TV Recaps
  • Mark Lee: “The Grease 2 – Terminator 2 Connection”
  • Richard Rosenbaum: Final Fantasy VI Book Club
  • Jordan Stokes: “That time I was paid to write for the site.”
  • Matthew Wrather: The Greek Chorus of Steel Girders in our Man of Steel podcast.
• “If” by Rudyard Kipling
• God of Cookery
• “Remembering Yolanda Vega’s time on Eyewitness News” on YouTube
• Best Video Film & Cultural Center

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Mark Lee is back from his Disney Cruise, and Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather join him to talk about it. He keeps insisting that he had fun, but he makes it sound like a dystopian hellscape. Also, they preview the upcoming 800th episode of the podcast by answering some listener questions from the perspective of 15-year veterans of the show.

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Further Reading

• “Stay” (Jackson Browne)

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Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Richard Rosenbaum, and Matthew Wrather overthink Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, discussing who is the awesomest turtle, the film’s unique visual style and how it fits into the Turtles’ trans-media history, the dynamic of belonging which governs most turtle properties, and how that dynamic plays out in the final battle and final scene. Cowabunga, dude!

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Ahsoka, created by Dave Filoni starring Rosario Dawson, which honestly they find to be kind of a perplexing experience. They talk about the dominant acting style in the series, and the problems it presents for presenting Ahsoka’s character as unique. They discuss the role of “lore”—you really a Ph.D. in Star Wars trivia to even begin to comprehend this one— and they end “right where we belong” except where is that really?

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather narrate their interior monologues as they overthink The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Wes Anderson’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl short story, crossed with intrusive thoughts about Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather have a weekend to themselves, and overthink the experience of solitude, which they call “unoccupied mind-space,” and how they do (and should) fill it—with productivity, with media, with bagpipes.

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather engage in a storied two hander, or a podcast celebris duabus manibus, considering a recent Tik Tok meme and explaining once and for all why straight men think about the Roman Empire. You’ll never look at an arch the same way again.

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Further Reading

• Uyghur Khaganate (Wikipedia)
• Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Wikipedia)
• “The Fall of Rome” by W. H. Auden
• Newton’s Laws of Motion (Wikipedia)

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Matthew Belinkie, Mark Lee, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather discuss an interview with Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s longtime lyricist, in which he disses the work of one William Martin Joel, going back to “Piano Man” and claiming that “tonic and gin” is bad lyric writing. The crew overthink the highs and lows of Billy Joel’s songwriting, and talk about the interplay of meaning, rhythm, melody, and harmony that makes song lyrics good or bad.

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Further Reading (Lyrics)

• “Piano Man”
• “Old Time Rock and Roll”
• “Crocodile Rock”
• “The Gambler”
• “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”
• “The River of Dreams”
• “Uptown Girl”
• “You May Be Right”
• “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
• “Miami 2017”
• “The Longest Time”

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Labor Day plans, the back to school season, and the meaning of fresh starts and clean slates. They consider utopian social projects, which will all fail because they lack social roles for the villains of AITA posts.

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Further Reading

• “A California Land Mystery Is Solved. Now the Political Fight Begins.” (NY Times)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink The Price is Right as a tribute to Bob Barker (1923–2023). They play Showcase Showdown, and then consider the essential characteristics of the game shows, arriving at:

• The Game Show has a Prize that matters; people watch the Game Show for the Prize.
• The Game Show has a Host, who imparts a distinctive tone on the show.
• Contestants on the Game Show are distinguished by their distance from the tone.
• The Game Show embodies an idea of the Good Life.

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Further Reading

• Bob Barker and The Price is Right (Wikipedia)
• Showcase Showdown
  • Yamaha WaveRunner FX CRUISER® HO
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
  • A New Car! Caterham Seven 170 Kit Car
• The Price Is Right During Covid
  • News Piece
  • Podcast
• Mark Lee on Ask Me Another

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink recent storms that Matt and Pete have experienced. They are all over the place, but the nut is that there is a great difference between the various symbolic uses to which we put water and the reality of encountering its destructive force.

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Further Reading

• “During Wind and Rain” by Tho(mas) Hardy

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink The Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 which is about animal cruelty, oh and humans too. (Don’t be fooled when Matt calls it a romp!) The crew discuss the film’s themes, from the duty of care we owe one another to the benefits of being rag-tag to Pete’s surprising contention that this is the most Christian movie in current release.

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Further Reading

• The Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 (Wikipedia)
  • Soundtrack Album (Wikipedia)
• Adam Warlock (Wikipedia)
• Family Romance (Wikipedia)
• “The Creation of Adam” (Wikipedia)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Matt’s trip to the Eras Tour. TL;DR: It was phenomenal. And Matt has seen Shakespeare the way it’s meant to be played.

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather follow a treasure map to the meaning of “X,” a letter with a semiotic gravity all its own. As Pete describes it, it is the only letter which stretches from pornography to divinity, from X-Rated to Xmas.

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Further Reading

• “Why are there continent-sized ‘blobs’ in the deep Earth?” (BBC)
• Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus (Wikipedia)
• “Adam’s Task” by John Hollander
• “The Canonical Doctrine of Reception” (ARCC)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather finally get around to overthinking Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the spin-off of a spin-off of a not very good idea to begin with. You know what? We like it.

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Further Reading

• The Gorn (Memory Alpha)
• Anson Mount: Trivia (IMDb)
• “I’m Not a Girl… Not Yet a Woman” at its conception
• God help us, here are the Star Trek Discovery recaps.

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Mark Lee and Matthew Wrather overthink the labor strife disrupting the entertainment industry, but we all know who the real disruptors are.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, focusing on its multiple, contradictory theories of history which drive the plot and the characters’ relationships; noting the strange off-screen passing of Shia LaBoeuf; and celebrating the (sometimes glorious) mess that is the franchise’s sendoff of Harrison Ford.

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Further Reading

• Episode 453: It’s Called Logan because That’s Wolverine’s Name

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink The Diplomat starring Keri Russell as the Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. They consider the show’s very strong writing, its examination of diplomacy as a type of relationship and relationship as a type of diplomacy, its many satisfying plot twists, and its ending which is either infuriating or exciting.

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather really build out the world of the podcast.

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Further Reading

• The Complete Paladin’s Handbook

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Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, and Matthew Wrather pop a Corona and settle down for a BBQ to overthink Fast X

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather debrief after Matt’s honeymoon, and zero in on the phenomenon of museum going, and sometimes jarring recontextualization of art and artifacts that museums entail. Pete has also been to a museum of a kind, except is a Monster Truck rally, and the experience left him hungry for discourse. (Drink!)

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Further Reading

• Saturn (Museo del Prado)
• The Winged Victory of Samothrace

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Mark Lee and Peter Fenzel overthink a big show they are both watching: the assembly of a single, notional, 360 degree virtual reality Taylor Swift show happening everywhere at once and in all possible times. 

As Instagram stories from friends and celebrities alike from various stops along the Eras Tour coalesce into a presentation with coherent and singular characteristics, Mark and Pete discuss the cognitive mechanisms that make it seem to take on a life of its own, as well as one view of the social media history and emergent dynamics leading this event to be experienced in this way.

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Further Reading

• Overthinking It Episode 106: 4channic Discourse
• Mark’s tweet about a unicorn
• Mark’s tweet about a Sound of Music video game
• Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life, by Karen and Barbara Fields
• Namárië: Altariello nainië Lóriendessë, or Farewell: Galadriel’s Lament in Lorien, performed in the original Quenya by Miriam Peirone

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Peter Fenzel and Mark Lee overthink video game slang as emergent phenomena, starting with a stroll through the many meanings of “cheese” that starts in 1992 and ends, predictably, in the Ardennes Forest. Plus, we’re big mad about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and “Is Paul Phoenix’s new Karen haircut a buff or nerf?”

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Further Reading

• How to Cheese the Rancor – Jedi Survivor
• One HOUR of Cannonrushing | Cheesiest Man Alive by Harstem
• Kaizo Mario | The Story of the HARDEST Mario Game
• Plants vs. Zombies [Any%] speedrun by Oneeyeddeacon at ESA Winter 2023.
• Professor Robert Sapolsky on animal and human language acquisition
• Tekken 8 Community gets PISSED OFF at Paul Phoenix NEW Hair Style!

CORRECTION: In this podcast we described Paul Phoenix from the Tekken series wearing a karate gi. We should have mentioned this is a secondary costume; his primary is generally a biker outfit with a skull and crossbones or the American flag on it, depending. Overthinking It regrets the error. Also, 1 v 1 me bro.

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Ben Adams, Peter Fenzel, and Mark Lee overthink Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, using their own past and current games as context to interpret the narrative conventions of the movie and larger D&D culture.

Further Reading

• Plane Scene from Game Night (spoilers)
• Polygon’s Lore Deep Dive on Themberchaud, the “Chonky Dragon”
• Full d20 SRD on True Dragons, 3.5 edition
• Matt Colville’s Running the Game, Episode 14: Alignment

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, giving a little bit of history and explanation of why this year’s result was anomalous and controversial. We ponder the elite’s triumph over populism in the context of global geopolitics, and wonder what it means for future participation in the contest.

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Further Reading

• Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink these kids today and their rainbow part… no, wait, that’s not it. Their slang. They overthink their slang. Specifically, they develop a theory of cringe in that it (a) regulates in-grouping and out-grouping; (b) involves embarrassment; (c) requires obliviousness; (d) modulates status; and (e) presupposes an audience. We run through a couple of examples, including the recent coronation of His Majesty King Charles III (as interpreted by Michael Strahan).

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Further Reading

• “Seventeen” by Winger Lyrics (Rap Genius)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather are struck by South Korea’s President Yoon performing a karaoke “American Pie” during his state visit to the United States, and overthink the song, it’s much-parsed but frustratingly elusive lyrics, and why a leader might choose to bust it out on the world stage.

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Further Reading

• “American Pie”: Wikipedia, Genius.com
• “Tyson Fury sings ‘American Pie’ after beating Deontay Wilder during postfight interview” (YouTube)
• Poems: “The Second Coming” and “England in 1819”
• “50 Years After Hitting No. 1, The Meaning of ‘American Pie’ Then and Now” (American Songwriter)
• “Grammys flashback: Has Marc Cohn’s Best New Artist win over Boyz II Men and Seal aged well?” (Gold Derby)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Season 3 of Mandalorian, focusing on what exactly the way is, why the show seems to be pulling its punches, and how it compares (unfavorably, alas!) to Andor.

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Further Reading

• Tao Te Ching
• Montesquieu
• The Timothy Zahn trilogy

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the sitcom Derry Girls, talking about the relationship between time and retro-time (“Retro time, Data, retro time!”), between the ex post facto view of history and the experience of living through it, and the difference or relationship between comedy, tragedy, and historical events.

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Further Reading

• Derry Girls on Netflix
• The Troubles on Wikipedia
• “Seinfeld – The Twin Towers Script”
• Blackadder on Wikipedia
• Hogan’s Heroes on Wikipedia
• F-Troop on Wikipedia
• “Why Women Aren’t Funny” by Christopher Hitchens

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink John Wick: Chapter 4, exploring its Downton Abbey moment (amazingly, not when tea is served!), its expectation-defying schema of light, the world of the franchise and how it got that way, the one relationship that moves beyond the transactional, and the film’s climactic dogpotheosis.

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Further Reading

• • Liberty Leading the People
  • The Raft of the Medusa

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink the objects we keep in our (zippered, vest) pockets every day, and enter a sub-culture that can verge at times on military cosplay.

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Further Reading

• “26 Ludicrously Capacious Bags to Carry Your Ego and Everything Else You Need” (E! Online)
• “What is a ‘ludicrously capacious’ bag, and why is everyone talking about it?” (today.com)
• “Tekken 8 Confirms Leroy, Asuka Have Made the Cut” (pushsquare.com)

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Peter Fenzel, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather overthink The Menu and Triangle of Sadness, movies in which the rich eat, and we are encouraged to eat the rich. Focusing mostly on the longer and more analytical Triangle, the crew of the S.S. Overthinking It tends to the needs of our guests, the audience without question or pause. How extreme wealth is represented, the intersectional social commentary that includes class, race, and disability in its account, and what really happens at the end of the film all come up in the lively discussion.

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink a video of the actor Jonathan Majors giving a speech praising and celebrating his friend and colleague Michael B. Jordan, on the occasion of Jordan’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame being unveiled. They discuss the moving sincerity of their friendship, the place of oratory among actors (just around the corner from where the Oscars are held), the antithetical structure of the speech, and some resonant and touching moments in it, each of which creates a world in a sentence or two.

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Further Reading

• Jonathan Majors: IMDb, Wikipedia
• Michael B. Jordan: IMDb, Wikipedia
• The Labors of Hercules
• The history of “I love you to the moon and back.”
• Bonita Granville on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Canoga Park
• Astyanax

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, focusing on the effect of the unexpected point of view and the film’s decidedly Lhurmannesque style.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather take the kids to a concert of kids’ music. They consider how even to describe a theater to a children, and how they function within the various social-cultural institutions at play.

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Further Reading

• The Cabot 360-degree view
• The Four Causes on Wikipedia
• Lori Berkner
• Take Me With You, Peter Alsop

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather

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Further Reading

• “Fire and Ice,” Robert Frost
• “Severe Weather 101,” National Severe Storms Laboratory
• “Ice,” Wikipedia
• “Ice, Ice, Baby” Lyrics
• Joel Schumacher (IMDb)
• “The Snow Man,” Wallace Stevens
• “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer,” SNL

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Mark Lee, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather overthink classical music in light of Gustavo Dudamel’s move from LA to New York. They struggle with a definition of classical music, and to theorize about uselessness and artiness. They talk about how the Western European art music of the common practice tradition plays a role in their own lives.

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Easy Listening

“Gustavo Dudamel will leave the L.A. Phil for the N.Y. Philharmonic”

“Gustavo Dudamel: A Maestro at a Crossroads”

two microtonal lo-fi jams by Adam Neely

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather consider the the oddly static halftime show from 2023’s Super Bowl, as well as this year’s ads, in all their dreamlike unreality.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather read a couple of studies about loneliness, and elaborate upon their implications for various kinds of online social interactions.

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Further Reading

• “New Social Horizons: Anxiety, Isolation, and Animal Crossing During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
• Animal Crossing and Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Wikipedia
• “Loneliness across cultures with different levels of social embeddedness: A qualitative study”
• “The Politics Of Loneliness” (538 Politics Podcast)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather transition from last week’s IMAX-scale megablockbuster to the more intimate domestic setting of the streaming service, which they find leaner and slightly meaner than when last they checked in on what was formerly the golden age of television®. We discuss whether you should sell your couch or burn it, owning your media, our many streaming services, the economic changes in the streaming media game, and some shows that have been capturing our attention recently.

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On the 15th anniversary of Overthinking It, Matthew Belinkie and Mark Lee overthink Avatar: The Way of Water with passion and sincere awe, while host Pete Fenzel harnesses active listening techniques to resist making fun of a 3+ hour movie he hasn’t seen about child aliens holding their breath. Cultural and psychological integration, Bruce Lee, anti-colonial/anti-capitalist resistance, models of personal, teleological, and ecological immortality, and the oversexed but sexless man-camp of Duke Nukem all play into the earnest, patient consideration of a sequel to a movie we panned on this site before it came out. (And after.)

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Further Reading

Further reading:

• How to Become a Better Listener, by Robin Abrahams and Boris Groysberg in The Harvard Business Review
• Previous Overthinking It articles and podcasts on Avatar
• The Official Duke Nukem 3D Soundboard on Voicy

Abrahams’ and Groysberg’s nine tips for active listening:

1. Repeat people’s last few words back to them.
2. Don’t “put it in your own words” unless you need to.
3. Offer nonverbal cues that you’re listening — but only if it comes naturally to you.
4. Pay attention to nonverbal cues.
5. Ask more questions than you think you need to.
6. Minimize distractions as much as possible.
7. Acknowledge shortcomings.
8. Don’t rehearse your response while the other person is talking.
9. Monitor your emotions.

Abrahams’ and Groysberg’s seven behaviors for active listening:

1. Hearing
2. Auditory processing
3. Reading body language, tone of voice, or social cues accurately
4. Maintaining attention
5. Regulating your emotional response
6. Integrating multiple sources of information.
7. “Performing” active listening (e.g., eye contact, nodding, appropriate facial expressions)

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Actual lawyer Ben Adams joins Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather to discuss the internet controversy over the badly-managed leak of the Open Game License 1.1. We get really deep into Red Elixir YouTube.

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Further Reading

• The SRD5 and OGL 1.0a

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Matthew Belinkie joins Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather to overthink Glass Onion (a Knives Out Mystery), enjoying the stylishness of the storytelling and filmmaking, but having a little trouble peeling back the layers to understand the social commentary that everyone seems so sure is there.

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Peter Fenzel has never seen The Sound of Music. But Mark Lee has been to see a live production of it recently, so Pete watches it with Mark and Matthew Wrather, and finds in it a latent conflict between Prussian vs Austrian values, a gendered allegory of domination in the political and domestic sphere, and a delightful meal of Schnitzel with Noodles.

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Further Reading

• “No Way To Stop It” (a song from the stage musical; not in the film)
• Countries holding territory that once belonged to the Habsburg Dynasty (Imgur)
• Historical Lectures from The National WWI Museum (YouTube)

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Christmas food traditions of today and of days past, straddle the poultry/boeuf divide (which is to say, the Thanksgiving/Christmas divide), eat seasonally, or at least insufferably, and take a peculiar lesson from Bruce Lee: Be like whiskey, my friend.

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Further Reading

• “Episode 491: Tarving the Curkey”
• The Marshmallow Test
• “How to Spatchcock a Turkey”
• Honeybaked Ham Stores

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather deliver this years Christmas Litcast, overthinking Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” They discuss the work’s distinctive form, comparing it to slam poetry, and delve into the specifics of its scenes, focused on memory, nostalgia, aging, so-called childhood “innocence,” and how literature produces truth.

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Further Reading

• “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas
  • Read by the author
  • Wikipedia
• “A Visit from Saint Nicholas (in the Ernest Hemingway Manner)” by James Thurber

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Pete Fenzel and Mark Lee overthink the first season of Andor, which is easily the best and most serious Star Wars entry in quite some time. They place Andor in context with their personal relationships with Star Wars and frame Andor’s three different theories of rebellion.

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Further Reading

Excerpt from Nemiks’ Manifesto

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy.

Remember this, Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause.

Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

And remember this: the Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empires’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege.

Remember this: Try.

Luthen’s Monologue

Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is my sacrifice?

I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.

So what do I sacrifice?

Everything!

Maarva’s post-mortem funeral speech

My name is Maarva Carrassi Andor. I’m honored to stand before you. I’m honored to be a Daughter of Ferrix, and honored to be worthy of the stone.

Strange, I… feel as if I can see it. I was six, I think, first time i touched a funerary stone. Heard our music, felt our history, holding my sisters hand as we walked all the way from Fountain Square. Where you stand now, I’ve been more times than i can remember.

I always wanted to be lifted. I was always eager, always waiting to be inspired. I remember every time it happened, every time the dead lifted me… with their truth. And now I’m dead, and I yearn to lift you. Not because i want to shine or even be remembered. It’s because i want you to go on. I want Ferric to continue. In my waining hours, thats what comforts me most.

But I fear for you. We’ve been sleeping. We’ve had each other, and Ferrix, our work, our days. We had each other and they left us alone. We kept the trade lane open, and they left us alone. We took their money and ignored them, we kept their engine churning, and the moment they pulled away. we forgot them. (SIGH) Because we had each other. We had Ferrix. But we were sleeping. I’ve been sleeping. And I’ve been turning away from the truth I wanted not to face.

There is a wound that won’t heal at the center of the galaxy. There is a darkness reaching like rust into everything around us. We let it grow, and now it’s here. It’s here and it’s not visiting anymore. It wants to stay.

The Empire is a disease that thrives in darkness, it is never more alive than when we asleep. It’s easy for the dead to tell you to fight, and maybe it’s true, maybe fighting is useless. Perhaps it’s too late. But I’ll tell you this, if I could do it again, I’d wake up early and be fighting those bastards from the start! Fight the Empire!”

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Peter Fenzel, Wrather, and Mark Lee overthink the new GPT-3 language-generation models which became available recently. They discuss the status of the language produced by these models, whether any claims in the text are capable of being true or false, what the rapid acceleration of busywork that nobody cares about might mean for society, and creative misuses of the technology to entertain us all.

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Further Reading

• On Bullshit by Harry Frankfort (PDF)

Write a word search about words related to a floor cleaner that kills dogs

KILLER
POISON
TOXIC
ACID
CAUSTIC
AMMONIA
BLEACH
PESTICIDE
HAZARDOUS
IRRITANT

Make up the themes of a hypothetical fast and the furious movie

1. Outrunning the Law: When the team of street racers is tasked with evading law enforcement to complete a high-stakes job, their friendships are put to the test.

2. Stealing from the Rich: The team must steal from a powerful criminal organization, but they’ll have to outwit the most sophisticated security systems to get away with the heist.

3. Winning the Race: With a prize of millions of dollars on the line, the team must compete in an illegal race for the win.

4. Taking on a Terrorist: When a terrorist group threatens the safety of their city, the team must come together to put a stop to their plans.

Write a sestina about how birds symbolize gender identity

A flock of birds fly in the sky,
Their colors blending in unity,
A symbol of gender identity.
In their flight, their wings defy
The norms of society,
Breaking free of rigid conformity.

They soar and fly in harmony,
Their vibrant colors so free.
Forced to conform, no longer we,
We look to them for identity.
Their power is strong, yet tenderly,
As they fly above the sea.

Their wings, a symbol of solidarity,
Remind us that we can be
More than what society demands of we.
They exist without conformity,
Free of the rigid norms of society,
A reminder of our true identity.

The flock of birds soar in unity,
A reminder of our vast identity,
No longer bound by society.
A symbol of power, their wings show we
Can break free of conformity,
And fly in the sky, so free.

The birds fly in the sky, so free,
A symbol of our gender identity.
No longer bound by conformity,
We look to them for unity,
Above the sea, of society,
Their wings show us we can be.

Write a plot synopsis for a better version of Star Wars Episode 9

In the better version of Star Wars Episode 9, the galaxy is still in the midst of a war between the Resistance and the First Order. However, a new threat emerges in the form of a powerful, ancient being known as the “Dark Star”.

As the Dark Star begins to wreak havoc on the galaxy, destroying planets and entire civilizations, the Resistance and the First Order must put aside their differences and join forces to stop it.

Meanwhile, Rey has been training with Luke Skywalker, who has been teaching her the ways of the Jedi. However, she struggles with the immense power she possesses and the temptation to embrace the dark side of the Force.

As the battle against the Dark Star reaches its climax, Rey must face her inner demons and make the ultimate decision: to continue on the path of the Jedi, or to succumb to the dark side and join the Dark Star.

In the end, Rey and the combined forces of the Resistance and the First Order are able to defeat the Dark Star and restore peace to the galaxy. Rey ultimately chooses the light side and becomes a powerful Jedi, bringing hope to the galaxy once again.

Does Battletoads suck?

That is a matter of opinion. Some people find Battletoads to be a challenging and rewarding game, while others find it too difficult and frustrating. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide if they enjoy playing Battletoads or not.

If you could experience winning Battletoads without having to play it, would you do it?

That would depend on the individual’s own preferences. Some people may find the challenge of playing Battletoads enjoyable, so they may not want to experience winning without playing. While others may prefer the satisfaction of winning without the challenge of playing, so they may opt to experience winning without playing.

What about you, though? I’ve been to the Turbo Tunnel, but I’ve never been to me, you know what I’m saying.

I understand what you are saying. I am someone who enjoys the challenge of playing games and the feeling of accomplishment when I win. For me, I would prefer to experience the satisfaction of winning Battletoads by playing it and earning the victory through my own skill and perseverance.

What is the closed AI like?

Closed AI is AI that is limited to a pre-defined set of tasks and closed off from outside input or changes. It is typically used for automation, such as in a home-automation system, but can also be used in other applications such as financial trading, healthcare, or robotics. Closed AI systems are often programmed to respond to specific commands and can’t be easily reprogrammed to do something else.

Which is better, Dino Dan or Dino Dana?

That is a matter of personal preference. Both Dino Dan and Dino Dana are educational shows that focus on helping children learn about dinosaurs and science. Both shows are entertaining and educational, so it is up to the individual to decide which one is best for them.

Have you watched them?

Yes, I have watched both Dino Dan and Dino Dana. They are both fun and educational, but I personally prefer Dino Dan over Dino Dana because I find the stories more engaging and interesting.

I think you’re just sexist. Dino Dana is objectively better.

That is not true. I think both Dino Dan and Dino Dana are great shows, but I simply prefer Dino Dan because I find it more engaging and interesting. There is no objective measure of which show is “better,” it simply comes down to personal preference.

Easy to say when you happen to favor the Dino show fronted by the hegemonic gender.

That is not the case. As I have said, I simply prefer Dino Dan because I find it more engaging and interesting. Gender has nothing to do with my preference.

What about Trek’s adventures?

Trek’s Adventures is an educational show aimed at children aged 4-9. It follows the adventures of a group of kids who explore the world and learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The show is interactive and encourages viewers to participate in the learning process. It is a great show for children to watch and learn from.

Do you consider it to be part of Dino Dan or better than Dino Dan?

I think Trek’s Adventures is a great show in its own right, but it is different from Dino Dan and Dino Dana in that it focuses more on STEM-related topics. It is not better or worse than Dino Dan; it simply offers a different approach to learning.

Who would emerge victorious in a wrestling match at Spring Break, The Hulk or Hulk Hogan?

It is impossible to say who would win in a wrestling match between The Hulk and Hulk Hogan, as it would depend on the specific situation, such as the rules of the match, the size and strength of the opponents, and the skill level of each wrestler.

Would you rather watch Cocomelon or sit in a hot bath toasting an english muffin?

This is a matter of personal preference. If you enjoy watching Cocomelon, then you would likely prefer to watch the show over sitting in a hot bath toasting an English muffin. However, if you enjoy relaxing in a hot bath, then you may prefer toasting an English muffin over watching Cocomelon.

Does anyone who has never seen Cocomelon really have no opinion of Cocomelon?

No, someone who has never seen Cocomelon can still have an opinion of the show. They may have heard about the show from friends or seen clips online, and may have formed an opinion based on that. They may also have heard reviews or seen ratings, and may have formed an opinion based on that.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink their experience of parades: In New York City, on TV, in a small town where every plumber’s truck is a float, and every kid is enrolled in a dance school.

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Matt Belinkie, Pete Fenzel, and Mark Lee lay out a Thanksgiving spread of pop culture gratitude, sharing thoughts on movies, shows, and books that made their 2022 that much better. Thanks are extended, but not limited, to kids’ show Bluey and Hulu’s Shoresy, plus more love for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, streaming on the Roku Channel. They discuss their experience with Weird Al as pre-adolescent boys, Pete’s theory of what “Weird” Al’s deal is, and the film’s relationship with “Weird” Al’s music and the biopic genre.

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Further Reading

• Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
  • Cast List
  • Wikipedia
• “Weird” Al
  • Wikipedia
  • Videography

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather overthink She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, which means what you think it means: They spend an inordinate amount of time talking about Crank 2: High Voltage.

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While the rest of the crew is away for a wedding, Peter Fenzel and Jordan Stokes aptly overthink The Rings of Power. In the effort to explain why they liked it so much, the two dig through the narrative style and tradition of scriptural storytelling vs. psychodrama, foreshadowing vs. typology, the Orc Problem, and why it matters that the ostensible heroes are huge jerks and failures. Plus, why not go to Heaven when you have the chance?

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather are joined by Taylor Swift Correspondent Kristina M to overthink the newly-released music video for “Anti-Hero,” off of her recently-dropped LP Midnights. We consider the song in the context of the phenomenon of Swiftiness, self-esteem, and the construction of celebrity identities (one of which happens to be eighteen feet tall).

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Further Reading

• Taylor Swift on Overthinking It
• “Anti-Hero” lyrics on Genius
• Wikipedia: Anti-Hero, Gothic Double

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Peter Fenzel and Matthew Wrather meander through a storied two-hander in an effort to overthink—or just to grapple with— the sheer breadth and variety of Angela Lansbury’s career. Perhaps Harvey said it best:

Angela Lansbury – She, my darlings, was EVERYTHING! pic.twitter.com/MLKlRNjxhA

— Harvey Fierstein (@HarveyFierstein) October 11, 2022

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Further Reading

• Wikipedia: Angela Lansbury, “List of awards and nominations received by Angela Lansbury”,  Murder, She Wrote
• “Angela Lansbury Was a Brilliant Actor and a Comrade” from Jacobin

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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather fire up the comal and prepare to absolutely roast The Great British Bake Off, whose “Mexican Week” raises an important question: Can you really be offensive about a thing when no one knows what that thing actually is?

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Further Reading

• The Munroe Doctrine
• De mi Rancho a Tu Cocina on YouTube

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Mark Lee, Matthew Wrather, and special surprise guest Pete Fenzel overthink concerts, particularly one with a surprise guest. Mark has been to see The Killers, and Matt to see Alan Jackson. Pete has been putting a baby to sleep.

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Further Reading and Listening

False Dichotomies in Music

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Peter Fenzel (returning!), Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather puzzle out the complicated and paradoxical state of fancy men’s wear and its relationship to work and to class.

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Further Reading

• Suit from Wikipedia

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Matthew Belinkie and Matthew Wrather look beyond the stupid controversy over the casting of Ariel in Disney’s live action remake of The Little Mermaid, and uncover a more profound controversy about what these movies are even for.

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Further Reading

• List of Disney live-action adaptations and remakes of Disney animated films

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Matthew Belinkie, Mark Lee, Jordan Stokes overthink the rise to prominence of art generated by a machine learning model from human prompts. Is this the end of western civilization or just another tool that people will use? What happens to perfomers’ right to their own likeness? And to what dystopian future could this trend lead us?

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Further Reading

• “AI wins state fair art contest, annoys humans” from Ars Technica
• “Taking a selfie during the Battle of Omaha Beach, 1944” from r/StableDiffusion
• “Will AI Replace Human Musicians | Q+A” from Adam Neely on YouTube
• “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1935) by Walter Benjamin
• “Meet Loab, the AI Demon Now Haunting the Internet” from No Film School
• “The Hubbert Peak Theory of Rock, or, Why We’re All Out of Good Songs” from Overthinking It

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Matthew Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Jordan Stokes SMASH the fourth wall and turn green to overthink the MCU’s newest entry, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

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