Synecdoche Media

Thanks for joining us on another episode of While My Son Sleeps: A horror podcast. In this episode, Foster sleeps through his dad and I discussing Karyn Kusama’s 2015 film The Invitation and Ari Aster’s very recent Hereditary. We call back to a concept introduced in our very first episode: the idea of a horror film that moves from simmer to boil. this is total spoiler territory, so if you’ve been waiting to watch either film DO NOT listen to this podcast. Or do listen to it so you can know where the scary happens in each film.

On this episode, Todd and Ryan discuss the following thinkers: Martin Heidegger (Start to 18 minutes) Recommended: Being and Time Alain Badiou (18 min to 35) Recommended: Philosophy and Event, Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism, Theory of the Subject Giorgio Agamben (35 to 43:40) Recommended: Homo Sacer, Means Without Ends Judith Butler (43:55 to 55ish) Recommended: Gender Trouble, Subjects of Desire Jacques Derrida (56 to End) Recommended: Specters of Marx, Positions, "Freud and the Scene of Writing"

This world may be wrong but this podcast is prettttty on point. In this episode of synecdoche TV, Ryan and I discuss Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Westworld. We take a deep dive into season two’s game changing episode “The Riddle of the Sphinx.” Contextualizing a show this big and thoughtful is not easy so, for a guide, begins with a discussion of Jonathan Nolan’s short story “Memento Mori.” There we find some big themes, specifically how time, memory, and the body interact that resonate strongly with what Nolan and co develop in Westworld. At the hour twenty mark Ryan and I start to talk about what might be “beyond” Westworld and get into some pretty speculative speculation. I bring this up only because if we predicted a major twist for the show I want everybody to know about it ahead of the finale airing this sunday. Thanks as always to everybody who listens. We hope you enjoy this conversation. 0-15 "Memento Mori" 16-40 "The Riddle of the Sphinx" 41-End Westworld Season 2, Comments, Predictions, Speculation

Just in time for the World Cup to have already started comes this episode of Why Theory on Sports, Ideology, Enjoyment, and Contradiction. Todd and I are huge sports fans and teased an episode on sports and theory all the way back in our first episode on theories of comedy. We hope this conversation is worth the wait. As always, thanks so much for listening.

This episode sees Todd and Ryan give their recommendations on where to start (and where not to start) reading Hegel, Marx, Fanon, Deleuze, and Foucault. Recommended in this episode: Hegel Preface to Phenomenology of Spirit; Lesser Logic; Introduction to History of Philosophy Marx "The Commodity" from Capital vol. 1; Grundrisse; The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Fanon Black Skin, White Mask; The Wretched of the Earth Deleuze "The Death Instinct" from Coldness and Cruelty; Difference & Repetition; Spinoza: Practical Philosophy Foucault Discipline & Punish (Listen to hear what is NOT recommended.)

This is the start of a special series of episodes from While My Son Sleeps: A Horror Podcast. On this episode, Taylor and I discuss the first five minutes of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic, The Shining. This is the first episode of what will be an ambitious series for us. We are going to record podcasts on every five minutes of the Shining. This is our first attempt and hopefully, some time in the year 2021 or beyond, we will be recording the final episode. Get excited for the concept, the conversation, and, of course, the first five minutes of The Shining. As always, thanks for listening.

Oooooh boy. This is a long podcast. In the first 15-20 minutes: Taylor & I talk about Lovecraftian horror being crucial to our definition of what constitutes "horror" (this in the context of Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt). 20-30: I tell two stories of movie heckling/ open reaction (one about A Quiet Place, the other about Danny Boyle's 127 Hours). Starting at 31 minutes we begin to get in to A Quiet Place, Dad Stuff, Dad Stuff in other media, Film Logic, Film criticism and more. It's a big podcast. Digest in chunks. T As always, thanks so much for listening.

Thanks for joining us on Why Theory. In this episode, Todd and I give a few recommendations on where to start and where not start introductory readings from six psychoanalytic theorists: Freud, Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, Joan Copjec, Alenka Zupancic, and Mari Ruti. This is the first iteration of what will hopefully be a mini series on where to start and where not to start with different thinkers. We both think this is a fine start but who are we to judge. Thanks for listening, as always. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Recommended in this episode: Freud: "A Note Upon the Mystic Writing Pad," "Negation," "Fetishism," The Interpretation of Dreams Lacan: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, Anxiety Zizek: Looking Awry, The Plague of Fantasies, The Fright of Real Tears, The Parallax View, Less Than Nothing Copjec: "The Orthopsychic Subject," "Sex and the Euthanasia of Reason" Zupancic: The Odd One In, Ethics of the Real Ruti: The Call of Character: Living a Life Worth Living; Between Levinas and Lacan: Self, Other, Ethics; The Ethics of Opting Out

As Freud famously said to Jung upon their arrival in the United States for a lecture series at Clark University, “They don’t realize we are bringing them the plague.” Now, lots of people say Freud never said this, upon seeing the Statue of Liberty, referring to psychoanalysis as “the plague,” but Lacan said that Jung said that Freud said it, and who among us is going to let a possibly dodgy game of telephone get in the way of a good story? Either way, bringing the plague to your ears is this episode of Why Theory. Recorded with special guest Hugh Manon of Clark University, the only place Freud ever lectured in America, we discuss CGI, Anxiety, The Last Jedi and a whole bunch of other stuff. Get excited. Get the plague and, as always, thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining us on another episode of While My Son Sleeps: A horror podcast. In this episode, Foster sleeps through his dad and I discussing Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation, both the book and Alex Garland’s recent film adaptation. Taylor and I go through each text on its own before bringing the two together, offering that Garland’s film adaptation is not, as most critics put it, “loosely based” on Vandermeer’s book but instead shares a number of subtle and unlikely thematic and imagistic similarities. Understanding these, we argue, helps to illuminate both texts. Thanks for listening, as always.

Thanks for tuning in to this TV Time Capsule episode of Synecdoche. What’s a TV time capsule episode? Well, it’s when Ryan and I take an extra deep dive into a classic or personal favorite television series, selecting two episodes of that show that we believe deserve to preserved in a hypothetical “TV time capsule.” For our inaugural episode we discuss “The Marine Biologist” and “The Opposite,” both season five episodes of Seinfeld. There’s a lot to get to in this episode so I’m going to cut it short here and say simply that this is our most comprehensive TV conversation to date. We hope you enjoy it. *There was a slight audio issue with the previous file that has been corrected with this one.

This is our first "TV Time Capsule" episode of Synecdoche TV. We're delighted to be talking about Seinfeld. These episodes are extra deep dives into classic television series or personal favorites. This podcast focuses on "The Marine Biologist" and "The Opposite," two episodes that demonstrate what makes Seinfeld such a triumph of episodic storytelling and a mainstay in the cultural imagination. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

In this episode, Foster sleeps through his dad and I discussing our first ever video game: 2015’s Bloodborne, a Lovecratfian horror action RPG released for the Playstation 4. If many of those terms—Lovecraftian, RPG, action, 4—are unfamiliar to you, we go over them in working through Bloodborne’s rich and opaque story. It’s hard to talk about a game this inscrutable even to people who have played it but Taylor and I try to make the conversation inviting and accessible to those who may be hearing about it for the first time 20 seconds ago. Lastly, There’s also an oblique reference to Adult Swim’s classic animated comedy Home Movies that I keep making throughout the episode. Here’s the context and thanks for listening.

On this episode, Todd and I discuss the Oscars. We make an argument for the importance of this oftentimes maddening awards ceremony by going over famous slights in Oscars history, like Citizen Kane not winning best picture in 1941, while Todd makes the claim that 1989 might be the greatest year in film history. The latter half of the episode sees us give extended takes on a number of the best picture nominees this year, with the most substantive conversation centering on The Shape of Water and Get Out. There are a lot of hot Oscars takes in this episode and we cover a lot of ground in just over an hour. We hope you all enjoy the conversation and, as always, thanks for listening.

Welcome to Part Two, which will likely be listed first wherever you see this. Make sure to listen to Part One where Taylor and I gush over A Dark Song. Here Taylor and I discuss tropes of bad media criticism, The Void and The Devil’s Candy.