or "World on a Wire for stupid people". This is Grim Tones because Ben and Tim needed to do an emergency mini episode about "Beyond: Citadel" aka COOM (2025). Erik is back in the country and we will be back for real this time very soon <3

On the next Watching the End of History:

Ghost in The Shell (1995) b/w Ghost in the Shell (2017).

Michael Fassbender, the link between heredity and crime.

Happy ThanKKK$giving you hogs <3. Erik is finally back and the serious stuff will be returning soon. In the meantime, here is Ben and Tim sitting down and talking out another film made by an idiosyncratic weirdo who created something incredible that speaks to our hellish current moment and were hated for telling the truth.

Next on Watching the End of History:

Tim and Ben return to the true muse of the pod, Michael Fassbender as we discuss Justin Kurzel's 2016 film "Assassin's Creed".

Followed by: the return of Grim Tones:

SOMA (2015, dev. Frictional Games)

Erik is still gone so the horrors of the past and present will be waiting a little longer! In the meantime, Ben and Tim are lucky enough to be joined by both Molly O'Brien and Chris Wade (And Introducing, Infinite Cast). We tap into their shared expertise of both music and DFW's novel for a freewheeling chat about Luca Guadagnino's tennis love triangle drama Challengers, the total banger score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, David Foster Wallace's tennis magnum opus and plenty about the beautiful game (non-team division) itself. All of that plus Honeyduces, Skyline chili, Joe Jonas, awkward Bowie needledrops, Andre Aggasi's autobiography and the trauma of child sports. Enjoy the extra dessert, vegetables will return next week.

Join Tim and Ben during a happier time (before Israel killed Nasrallah) for the conclusion of Ridley Scott Summer. You know the drill, everyone thinks this movie sucks ass but actually we think it's good.

Erik, Ben and Tim are all together to celebrate another 9/11 along with the less crazy but still wild three year anniversary of the podcast. Everyone made the mistake of listening to Ben and we wound up watching and talking 2006's bewildering Death of a President. We wade through an insanely twisty 96 minutes that left all us scratching our heads trying to figure out what the hell this movie is actually supposed to be about. We also talk Syria, Bush era derangement syndrome, Green Day. We marvel at James Urbaniak's show stealing bit part, do competing W impressions and end with not one but two big announcements about the future of the show. Neither involves us quitting, sorry to the haters and nothing but love for the rest of you xoxo

Welcome to the week of 9/11, and the third anniversary of PNAC pod! As a special treat this week, we're releasing a bit of a prototype episode in which Erik does a solo scene talking about Gary Berntsen's 2005 book, Jawbreaker. This is the first in a rolling series of more book report episodes to come, hopefully each successive entry more streamlined than the last. Check back next week for 1-2 episodes in this same vein that will go a bit more indepth than this one on Patrick Seale's 1991 book, Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire.

Ben and Erik are joined all the way from Beiruit by independent journalist Séamus Malekafzali (@seamus_malek) to get a firsthand report of a week where Israel only continues to ramp up regional aggression and murder civilians (and journalists, and humanitarian aid workers). Together, we talk about the twin assassinations by Israel that sparked a response from Hezbollah while Iran continues to leave us all guessing. We also talk Sinwar hiding in women's clothes (?), Rape Rebellion vets on the Israeli talk show circuit, Judith Miller, polio, and grim future plans for Egypt & Jordan. All that, plus US CENTOM goes looking for love in all the right places.

Check out Sèamus' excellent substack:
https://www.seamus-malekafzali.com/

And stay tuned some more fun guests as we celebrate the build up to the 3 (!!) year anniversary of us starting the show. Thanks as always for listening, some exciting news will be coming soon!