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The Well

Author: Anson Mount & Branan Edgens

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Tired of interviews with celebrities answering all the same questions that have already been asked a thousand times? Good. So are we. Instead, we focus on how our guests force themselves to think outside-the-box; or on that moment that served as inspiration for what they do now. Come and join us as we dive deep into the source that fuels everything.
103 Episodes
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Anson and Branan are still banging on about OUT OF DARKNESS and we are thrilled to have the film’s director Andrew Cumming join us for a chat from the far-flung Shetland islands. Mentioned in this episode: Learning to be a caveman, William Golding’s “The Inheritors”, “Quest for Fire”. “Clan of Cave Bear”, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari and shooting in remote locations during COVID in the harsh Scottish winter. WARNING: Spoilers within! If you have not seen the film we suggest seeing it now that it is streaming. #OutOfDarkness @SignatureEntUK https://youtu.be/U5xMX1OZr24
When actor Kenneth Mitchell was given a life altering medical diagnosis, it forced him to change his relationship to the concept of time itself. Join us for our first LIVE episode recording from April, 2022 reposted in remembrance. https://youtu.be/VKD-FniubEs?si=u-9KfvIDpaXm8dIO
In this episode: OUT OF DARKNESS, amateur speculation regarding the provenance of our species, recent vacations where Anson and Branan both experience passport issues, volcanoes in Iceland and an actual dick measuring contest (not ours). https://youtu.be/tzSijwuEjs4
The Drop – part 19

The Drop – part 19

2024-01-3128:191

In this episode: Learning Sequences, Mosquitoes on Rainy Lake and other mosquito nightmares, BEEF,  painted nails, pizza tours, THE HARVEST, attending the world premiere of OPPENHEIMER, SAG Strike, the heaviest film ever made and what we all suspected about men and sports cars in now scientific fact.  https://youtu.be/ByLSaZN7x9I
Anson and Branan take on the weighty subject of gravity and gravity waves with our guest Daniel Reardon doing most of the heavy lifting. Please enjoy this fun and fact-filled historical romp though time and space. https://youtu.be/5FqEVMsL_Jk?si=PuCjGKPXwCL2KTDL
The Drop – Part 18

The Drop – Part 18

2023-12-0718:20

In this short Drop Anson and Branan discus STILL, the documentary about Michael J. Fox, BARRY, Beavis and Butthead, Something in the Dirt and new music from Little Moon.
Doua Moua's tireless pursuit of his dream to produce his screenplay, "The Harvest," finally paid off. We are joined by Doua and his co-star, Perry Yung, who dedicated himself to understanding Hmong culture to portray the father in this deeply personal story.
Did you know Anson used to be a Dungeon Master? In this episode Branan lures Anson into a surprise reunion with his old campaign players under the pretext of interviewing Nathan Stewart of Wizards of the Coast about his role as advisor on the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Nathan does eventually join the conversation, it's like two episodes in one!
The Drop – Part 17

The Drop – Part 17

2023-06-1238:20

In this episode: Branan discusses his oceanic adventure turning 50, Anson recommends Dan Simmon's 'Hyperion', and they both catch-up on 'Succession', 'Beau Is Afraid', The Dungeons & Dragons movie, meeting John Cleese, some new music and the unforgivable desecration of Jimi Hendrix's guitar at the hands of he-who-shall-not-be named.
Eric and his buddies decided they would make a shot-for-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".  The only problem?  They were just kids.  But they had a secret weapon at their disposal: they were just kids. Interested listeners may watch the fan film itself, and see those moments as described, at threaderskids.com Special thanks to John Hudgens.  Additional music for this episode provided by Audiorezout under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International license.
We are not finished talking about ATHENA by Romain Gavras. This time we let film critic Bilgi Ebiri do all the talking. We also get into marketing versus promotion and how even a film like ATHENA can get lost in all the noise.
In this installment of The Drop Branan and Anson discuss and highly recommend the astonishing film ATHENA by Romain Gavras and film critic Bilgi Ebiri stops by to help us articulate what makes this such an amazing film. Also, Branan and Anson perform an original play written by artificial intelligence.
One of our cultural heroes, Jello Biafra is a legendary figure in the punk rock scene and a spoken word artist and politician. He joins us to discus how he found his unique voice and how to weather the slings and arrows of our chaotic political reality. His solution? Wicked humor.
Just in time for Halloween Branan sits down with author Marshall Julius and legendary makeup FX maestro Howard Berger to discuss their new book, and Branan gets nostalgic and wistful thinking back upon his own almost makeup career.
The Drop – Part 15

The Drop – Part 15

2022-09-0337:33

We were so taken with S.S. Rajamouli's landmark film, RRR, we deciated a whole Drop to it! Also, odd news stories and a subtle plea for a new watch.
Back in April of 2020 author and journalist Jack Hitt sat down with us to discuss the beginings of the pandemic and make a few predictions. Over two years later we emerge from our basements and closets to check the accuracy of those predictions and we are once again visted by the ghost of Ignaz Semmelweis. What did we get right and what did we get wrong? Have any lessons been learned?
Imagine getting an anonymous phone call.  The person on the other end tells you that, not only has your work been recognized by group of world recognized artists and innovators, but they are also going to inject your bank account with enough money to change your work and, yes, your life.  That's what happened to Vijay Gupta.  Here's our episode about Vijay's induction into the MacArthur Foundation's Fellows program and the strange history of the so-called "Genius Grant." Vijay's album "When the Violin..." can be found here.
When a virtuoso violinist realizes he has yet to develop his own artistic voice, nor any idea of how to accomplish that task, he is face with a choice: continue a lonely descent into angst, or learn to say "yes". Here's the story of how he chose the latter and developed a powerful friendship in the process. You can find Vijay's album "When the Violin" here. You can find out more about "Street Symphony" here. You can find Steve Lopez's book "The Soloist" here.
The Drop – Part 14

The Drop – Part 14

2022-05-1641:50

In this episode Branan and Anson discuss: An evil & drugged cat, The STAR TREK: SNW premiere, SEVERANCE, TOP GUN 2, PAM & TOMMY, Robert Egger's THE NORTHMAN, Cixin Liu's The Poetry Cloud (can be read here) And Euphemisms That Get on My You-Know-Whats by Adam Sharp. Cat illustration by Louis Wain
When actor Kenneth Mitchell was given a life altering medical diagnosis, it forced him to change his relationship to the concept of time itself.  Join us for our first LIVE episode recording. Additional music provided by Kevin McLeod under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license.
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Comments (17)

Debbie D

Agent Kay had it right. "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it." - Kay, Men In Black (1997)

Jul 16th
Reply

Joe Thomann

LeVar mentioned a book about an African-American driver who battles racist witches but never mentioned the name of the book or author.

Feb 27th
Reply

Joe Thomann

If you think Robert Eggers has a hard on for authenticity check out Akira Kurosawa.

Dec 6th
Reply

Joe Thomann

If you're into Fleabag, there's another BBC show,a hilarious sitcom with American standup Rob Delaney and Irish actress Sharon Horgan called Catastrophe. Might be one of the funniest things I've ever watched.

Dec 6th
Reply

Joe Thomann

Well, I just went from barely ever having heard of Reggie Watts to needing to Google and YouTube everything I can about him and his performaces. Thanks a lot, jerks.

Sep 20th
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Joe Thomann

Making sure you use the paper in a way that honors the tree's sacrifice has a very Native American attitude akin to honoring the animal you kill by thanking it and using every part, wasting none of its sacrifice. Beautiful.

Sep 20th
Reply

Mali Lu

Really loved the David Waddell episode!

May 5th
Reply

cbrand72@yahoo.com

n

Dec 11th
Reply (1)

constantlyinflux

I wanted to start running again. Also I always wanted to listen to podcasts, but I’m not good at only listening. I tend to drift off to my own stories. I always need to do something else, but it needs to be something that doesn’t keep me from actually listening. In comes The Well. And here we are. Running again and listening to this podcast. One keeps me occupied while listening, the other keeps me from thinking “Oh god, I can’t take another step.” Works wonders. Being amazed by Melissa McCracken’s work because I have synesthesia too and I love that she’s making art to that. Telling my best friend about MacBarnett, the Golden Ticket and the Pirate Shop because I can take a lot from that. Running with Todd Komarnicki and stopping in the middle of the forest to cry to his story. Clinging to my headphones with Jake Weber’s story because it sounds better than most movies. Listening to Kelly Gleason Keogh after watching In the Heart of the Sea. Laughing so hard at Branan recounting how he t

Aug 20th
Reply

David McDowall

I just met Anson Mount at Montreal Comic Con. My only regret is that I didn't start listening to The Well BEFORE I met him as there are now so many things I want to talk to him about: Life, the universe and everything (just not football). Great approach and a great series, guys! Well done!

Jul 10th
Reply

Desislava Vancheva

First ever podcast for me… I enjoyed it – thank you. Interesting subject which could sprout many other lines of thought. In this one, the conversation went on about only the personal aspects of synaesthesia, based on one’s individual memories, but there is another fascinating aspect of this phenomenon, I think – the cultural aspect, based on the collective memory and cultural archetypes. Different cultures may assign different meanings to colours, sound, touch, scent; and this opens another myriad of horizons to art creation and interpretation. Trying to track and understand the workings of our associations could take us on a wonderful journey to and through the richly branched roots of our modern intertwined cultural conscious and unconscious…

May 25th
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Melissa Pace

amazing. loved all the podcast I've listen so far.

Apr 10th
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Carol F. M “Peye”

You have made me day! 😁

Apr 3rd
Reply

Carriejovan

**********

Apr 12th
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LeighAnn Daugherty

Sometimes, not talking about something is just the way a person chooses to deal with what has happened. I lost a cousin last year to suicide....28 years old...two small kids and an absent wife. It's hard. His mom talks about him constantly and with every word...you can hear that pain. I do agree with you... talking about them keeps their memory alive but everyone grieves differently.

Oct 4th
Reply

LeighAnn Daugherty

Canabalism is creepy but you do what you must. Very good podcast.

Oct 4th
Reply
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