Episodes
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Check out Cam's latest novel / audio drama here!
This is the episode we've been waiting to do since the very beginning of Second Breakfast. The Witch is our favorite film of all time, and today we're going to dig deep and find out why. Spoiler alert: it's a magical medley of the power of suggestion, curveball slasher structure, mutually assured destruction, and a beautifully binary / reversible theology.
Come for the cavalcade of theological grindstones, fresh observations, and echoes from throughout Robert Eggers' legendary filmography, stay for Maggie's absolutely blockbuster theory about the shattering of the ten commandments. And yes, there's a little Doctor Faustus thrown in for good measure, alongside some rumination on The Godfather and The Exorcist.
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Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Woohoo! Cam's latest novel / audio drama (Lemon Tarts in Space!) is available right now, right here!
This is the first Targaryen checkpoint that looks to the past as much as it previews the future. Maggie tracks the theme of cross-pollination to find some surprising parallels between Dany and Sansa, and resolves her running theory of childhood and children’s perspectives. Cam follows the narrowing of scope in this chapter and the broadening of sigils to become almost allegorical – Dany is starting to act like a dragon. We consider the explicit imagery of nostalgic wine being poisoned in terms of homecomings, scattered futures, and denied destinies.
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Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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A behind-the-scenes exploration of Cam's latest audio drama / novel, Lemon Tarts in Space! In this interview, Maggie interviews Cam and Tristan about audio dramas, voice acting, foley work, and the act of directing.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
00:00 Introduction: Voice Actors
01:23 Casting Captain Arugula
04:42 Finding Duncan’s Voice
08:35 Finding Frank’s Voice
12:12 The Recording Process
20:24 Creative Evolution
25:14 Directing the Action
26:29 The Story Comes to Life
28:18 Doubling Decisions
30:14 Narrators as Characters
32:57 Theater Adjacent Acting
36:19 Finding the Problem’s Voice
40:39 Closing Thoughts
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To prepare for Nosferatu, we're revisiting all of Robert Eggers' films. These are some of our favorite works of art of all time, so no pressure! We were lucky enough to see The Lighthouse in IMAX a few weeks ago, and it was a revelatory experience. Topics include: impressions five years later, Lovecraftian lust and homoerotic symbology, and a cascade of echoes leading us back through The Shining into Cam's beloved Doctor Faustus.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Woohoo! Cam's latest novel / audio drama (Lemon Tarts in Space!) is available right now, right here!
The breaking of the Stark fellowship has paid dividends for our discussions. This chapter is a thematic echo chamber of the last four chapters, and we’re spotlighting eight of the most revealing echoes and distillations. After that, we’ll zoom out to reconsider the impressionistic theology of Westeros and make a bold claim about the true god of this story.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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A behind-the-scenes exploration of Cam's latest audio drama / novel, Lemon Tarts in Space! In this interview, we break down the many wonders and miseries of the writing process.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
00:00 Introduction: Three Interviews
02:06 A Four Year Origin Story
08:39 A New / Old Genre
12:51 Light Science Fiction
17:43 Creative Limitations
23:34 The Writing Process
26:26 Musical Inspiration
30:03 Audio Drama Forever
37:15 Novelization & Adaptation
42:40 The Cancer Allegory
51:03 Art Imitates Life
56:54 Closing Thoughts
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The Shining is a Doctor Faustus retelling, but that's not the headline here. In this brand new theory, Cam argues that The Shining is a wholly unique restaging of Marlowe's original that expands the spotlight to not just focus on Jack Torrance as the current Faustus-analogue, but the legion of 'caretakers' that have come before him. In this framing, Mephisopheles stops being a singular character and instead expands to become the Overlook Hotel itself, a place for him to horde all of his ill-gotten souls.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Woohoo! Cam's latest novel / audio drama (Lemon Tarts in Space!) is available right now, right here!
It’s Episode 450, and the white walkers came back to celebrate. This action-packed chapter made us unusually reflective and contemplative. We’re looking beyond the Wall only to find Dante’s Purgatory looking back at us. The ranks of the narrative undead grow with every passing page. Arya, Benjen, Dany, and even the white walkers themselves have ascended into this messy and metaphysical realm. Cam thinks he’s finally found the “moral of the story” (if there is one). Maggie examines the unexpected virtue of children’s perspectives in an increasingly cruel world.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Surprise! Cam's brand new audio drama / novel Lemon Tarts in Space! is available right now, right here!
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Get bonus episodes on Patreon!
Diablo IV's sixth season is a mixed bag. The gameplay is great, the underlying systems are better than they've ever been - it's just that there's not that much to actually do beyond the standard endgame grind. Is this even a problem? How could things have been different? And how does the new Spiritborn class evolve through the paragon boards? Let's dive in!
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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When in doubt, don’t leave a paper trail. Sansa’s treasonous letters are the latest in a long line of smoking gun documents that have incriminated and condemned our favorite characters. This chapter is all about books and songs and letters – and the stories we tell ourselves. Is Sansa’s idealism a naïve delusion or an aspirational faith in humanity? Is her self-interest par for the course in Westeros or uniquely treasonous? Can we condemn her? Can we forgive her? And what do we learn from this moral stalemate?
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Cam had a lightbulb moment after our latest rewatch of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Franklin is Leatherface. This episode charts Cam's new theory from that initial germ of an idea through a series of Franklin's most conspicuous and recurring resentments before building to a brand new, revelatory reframing of the entire Sawyer family. Eureka!
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Can we ever escape our narrative expectations? Can a hero’s defeat ever feel satisfying? This chapter foreshadows an eight-season / seven-book arc for Arya Stark that cannot come to pass. We are forced to challenge our conception of heroes and unshakeable desire for happy endings. At the same time, this story’s central binary of life and death is transgressed and complicated half a dozen times. All of our big ideas and theories just got thrown into the blender. Let’s see what the smoothie tastes like!
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Cam and Tristan go deep on one of the greatest love stories and television miniseries of our time, Normal People. Topics include: narrative two-handers, literary depth, onscreen masculinity, epic structure, viewing habits, the language of color, and the uncertain prospect of a sequel.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Get bonus episodes on Patreon!
The king is dead, long live the king. Joffrey’s ascension surprises us by eerily mirroring Jon Snow’s induction into the Night’s Watch. Maggie tracks some color theory to reveal the power dynamics of the throne room coup. We stop to consider Ned Stark and all of his various principles, shortcomings, and tragedies. When does he lose? Why does he lose? And more importantly, why do the Lannisters allow him to survive past this pivotal chapter?
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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The Venom movies are not good or bad, they are fun -- and that's something worth celebrating / discussing. Topics include: Tom Hardy's indelible chemistry with Tom Hardy, comic book pacing, Woody Harrelson's commitment, the ongoing misuse of Reid Scott, and Eddie / Venom shippers. Oh and somewhere in there we take a look at Venom: The Last Dance, which is very not good.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Oh look, even more evidence that Jon is the Prince That Was Promised. Maggie’s got a blockbuster theory that unites all of our outstanding prophecies around Jon Snow in an avalanche of fire and blood imagery. Cam examines this chapter as a complex restaging of the Prologue that elevates the series’ preoccupation with death to new heights.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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The apt comparison when discussing the first expansion of Diablo IV has to be the first expansion for Diablo III, and let's just say this -- Vessel of Hatred is no Reaper of Souls. In this episode, we'll break down this comparison in terms of aesthetic and plot before diving into the new class offered by each expansion. We also discuss some unfortunate technical bugs, the game's sudden hostility to couch co-op, and the more general state of the game in October 2024. Finally, we close with a meditation on the 'fun factor' of this disappointing release, and consider the future of Diablo IV.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
00:00 Introduction / Outline
01:20 The Shadow of Reaper of Souls
02:42 Aesthetic (VOH / ROS)
10:21 Plots (VOH / ROS)
17:36 New Class (VOH / ROS)
25:03 Theory: Choice Paralysis
30:43 Is Spiritborn a New Experience?
35:42 Updated Class Ranking
37:17 Technical Bugs
42:38 State of the Game
46:34 Fun Factor / Closing Thoughts
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Happy Halloween! This chapter is a ghost story. Cam analyzes the death of King Robert in concert with Viserys Targaryen’s death in the last chapter. What sets apart these two failed conquerors who died without an heir? We build to a broader discussion of what defines a character in this series – their memorable deaths or their fateful decisions? Maggie deepens the analysis with a discussion on Ned’s haunted dreams and the many ‘promises’ weighing him down. We close with the next phase of our ‘Prince That Was Promised’ theory crafting.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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Cam revisits one of his very favorite works of science fiction, Halo: Combat Evolved, only to find that the game has changed. This is a conversation about rose-tinted nostalgia, art direction, the heresy of video game remasters, and the enduring magic of Master Chief.
LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam’s stories
Feedback & Theories: [email protected]
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