Michael and Us

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PREVIEW - #291 - The Simpsons: A New Legacy Dec 06, 2021

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= PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/59599572 Everyone has their price. Anything that has ever meant anything to you will be corrupted. No artwork you love really belongs to you. This is the dark message of the new Disney+ short film THE SIMPSONS IN PLUSAVERSARY (2021). PLUS: we talk about a range of TV and film, including Parks & Recreation, 2012, and the cinema of Fred Halstead.

#290 - Promiscuous Dope Fiends Dec 05, 2021

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With the Beatles once again in the zeitgeist, we decided to revisit the jukebox musical ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007), which positioned the lads' music as a backdrop to the social upheavals of the 1960s. Does it completely misunderstand both the music and the milieu? (Spoiler: yes)

PREVIEW - #289 - For Pete's Sake (w/ Josh Olson and Dave Anthony) Nov 30, 2021

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PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/289-for-petes-w-59307399 In a jumbo-sized crossover with The West Wing Thing podcast, Luke discusses Amazon's new Pete Buttigieg documentary MAYOR PETE (2021) with Josh Olson and Dave Anthony. Relive the magic and fun of those early primaries with Pete, Chasten, Lis Smith, and the whole gang! And fall in love with the sitting United States secretary of transportation all over again! (NOTE: cohost Will is off this episode because, sadly, he has fallen down a well. Rescue teams are at the scene, and we all pray for his speedy recovery) Check out The West Wing Thing- https://westwingthing.libsyn.com/

#288 - Team Avengers: World Police Nov 27, 2021

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Before there was Elon Musk, there was Tony Stark. We travelled back to 2008 to look at IRON MAN, the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and were excited to find that it serves its ideology on a big platter and with minimal ornamentation. A video on the filming of Iron Man 2 at Edwards Air Force Base - https://vimeo.com/191818335?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=4293012

PREVIEW - #287 - Malcolm McDowell, Do Better Nov 22, 2021

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PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/287-malcolm-do-59024249 Sometimes it's fun to reach for the low-hanging fruit. On this episode, we tackle the right-wing anti-Bernie Sanders comedy FREE LUNCH EXPRESS (2021) - co-starring Kevin Sorbo, Eric Roberts, and (*deep, heavy sigh*) Malcolm McDowell - and actually learn a few things about how the right views the left.

#286 - The Outsider Nov 20, 2021

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With its story of an idealistic political outsider who arrives in Washington to shake things up, Frank Capra's MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) helped codify what is perhaps the quintessential archetype of American politics. But... what does the movie actually say? To find out, we sat down and actually watched it. This one has been a long time coming, folks!

PREVIEW - #285 - The Michael & Us Film Festival Nov 15, 2021

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PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/58734680 In this very special episode, the boys have a riff session about a range of movies of wildly varying quality, from the McDonald's biopic THE FOUNDER (2016) to Edgar Wright's quasi-quasi-feminist horror film LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021) to BERGMAN ISLAND (2021) to the hilarious Christian oddity BILL WALLACE OF CHINA (1967)

#284 - The Gnome in the Garden Part II: The Dialectic of Cool Britannia Nov 14, 2021

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THE QUEEN (2006) brings together a mismatched-buddy duo — one a symbol of stiff-upper-lipped British tradition (Liz Windsor), the other a radical left-wing politician (uh... Tony Blair?) — who both slowly realize that they might be able to learn from each other. We discuss why this is the ultimate film of the New Labour era.

PREVIEW - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Pyramid Schemes w/ Robert FitzPatrick Nov 12, 2021

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PATREON EXCLUSIVE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/58634648 Multilevel marketing is a scam. But thanks to protection by political elites and well-funded industry propaganda, it keeps growing. Cracking down on it would be as simple as enforcing the laws against fraud — if only the political will could be found. Luke talks to MLM expert Robert FitzPatrick for a wide-ranging conversation about the history, scale, and structure of MLMs, and why there’s no such thing as a legitimate MLM.

UNLOCKED: The Problem Is Neoliberalism w/George Monbiot Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

A month or so on, we're releasing this one from behind its Patreon paywall. If you want to hear more interviews like this, and get an extra episode each week, sign up at Patreon.com/MichaelandUs. In this interview, recorded in September, Luke talks to Guardian columnist and activist George Monbiot about the extreme right’s appropriation of countercultural idioms and revolutionary language in the age of QAnon and COVID; the corrosion of community in the neoliberal era; and the desperate need for a new narrative of solidarity and common good in an age of resurgent fascism and ecological collapse. "It’s shocking to see so many leftwingers lured to the far right by conspiracy theories" by George Monbiot - www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2…i-vaxxers-power

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