We're settling back in from Sacred Symbols 300 live in New York City, and the experience has us (The Brothers Moriarty) feeling nostalgic, which is a good thing for our retro-and-nostalgia-themed show. We're particularly sentimental about our parents, who both attended the show, and who -- at 73 years old, both -- have always come through for us, even if the path wasn't always linear, or even clear. We love making fun of our mom and dad on KnockBack; it's a staple of Dagan and Colin podcasts. But we thought we'd go in the other direction today, and talk about all the ways we love and appreciate our parents, how we think they helped form us into the people we are today, and add to the deep Moriarty lore that only grows by leaps and bounds here at Last Stand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dagan's best friend and Colin's other older brother finally arrives on the KnockBack scene to discuss skateboarding, video games, and growing up on the sometimes shady streets of Long Island. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With all of the hullabaloo surrounding Arrowhead's hit PS5 and PC game Helldivers 2, we figured we'd delve into its most obvious inspiration: Starship Troopers. Most people know Starship Troopers as the 1997 Paul Verhoeven sci-fi flick, but it's actually much more than that. It all started as an award-winning novel written back in 1959 by an author named Robert Heinlein, and strangely, the film and book couldn't possibly be more different in many respects. But because the book (which is awesome) is a quick read, and the film (which is good, but not nearly as good as the book) is comparatively short, too, so we figured we'd digest both, take lots of notes, and compare and contrast the two. The result is an interesting conversation, one that asks questions like: Is the book really fascist-aligned, as often claimed? Are the bugs the victims of human aggression, and could we ever come to terms with such a race? Does the idea of earning one's citizenship actually not sound that crazy, after all? Could every human have a deathwish, deep down inside? Clearly, we've much to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For this week's KnockBack, we thought we'd do something a little bit different. A major fuel source for the origins of our podcast back in 2018 was our shared love of the NES: The hardware, its games, and the community that's long surrounded it. So we thought we'd delve back into that subject matter by each constructing a Top 10 NES Games list and then trying to fuse them together, a task we almost immediately abandoned when we realized we approached our respective lists quite differently. Thus, what emerges is a robust talk about many of the games from our respective childhoods, and how we still grapple with their undeniable greatness to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1975's Jaws is a seminal work in the thriller genre, and it was somehow delivered by an overwhelmed, overworked, and over-his-head Steven Spielberg, directing only his second theatrically-released film. With a bloated budget more than twice as high as originally anticipated -- and filmed on-location with great difficulty, sending it more than three months beyond its planned schedule -- Jaws had everything working against it. But in the cauldron, something rather revolutionary cooked. From score to acting performances to an oceanic foe that's rarely seen for technical reasons (greatly benefiting the movie!), everything works serendipitously, making Jaws one of the '70s most iconic and important films, and something we simply had to cover here on KnockBack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While we certainly neither condone nor encourage underage drinking, the reality is that both of us did plenty of it in our heyday. Indeed, drinking before you're 21 in the US is basically a rite of passage for generations of young people. (And yes, the drinking age should be 18.) And while we absolutely don't endorse our past behavior, we thought we would have some fun talking about our respective introductions to drinking: Trying our first beer, going to our first party, getting drunk for the first time, and -- god forbid! -- hungover. From Bud Heavies and Mike's Hard Lemonade to tequila and scotch... well... we may have been a little over our heads. Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For our 'holiday' episode of KnockBack this year, we thought we'd do something special. As such, please welcome our mom to the show, BettyAnn Moriarty. The reality is this: Our mother comes up on the show constantly. In fact, if you guys are on social media, you may even interact with her. Needless to say, she's one of the most special people in our lives, and thus, we thought we'd take some time to reminisce, tell some old stories, ask probing questions about the past, and add to the extensive tome of Moriarty lore that we can all probably agree is already a little too long. Without further ado, please enjoy. And Happy New Year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the Brothers Moriarty, Final Fantasy IV -- or Final Fantasy II, as we once knew it on SNES way back when -- is a uniquely nostalgic product. Upon its release in the west, we played the game together, often with me (Colin) sneaking into Dagan's room after I was 'put to bed' so I could watch him conquer the tale. Thus, we eagerly revisit this all-time JRPG classic in KnockBack style, but it's not the first time we've done so. Long-time listeners will recall that one of the very first KB offerings in 2018 was FFIV (Episode 16, in fact). But our show today is a lot different than it was then, and frankly, this is a far deeper and more comprehensive look at Squaresoft's classic than the earlier podcast, as we've both come off a fresh playthrough via the Pixel Remaster. Cecil's tale of darkness-to-light -- and the many stories of the lovable cast that surround him -- helped catapult an entire genre into the hearts of gamers worldwide. Some would even argue IV is the best Final Fantasy, full-stop. We think you could easily make that argument, yes, but such a deep topic deserves much more nuance. Three hours' worth, in fact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For this week's episode of KnockBack, we thought we'd do things a little differently. Indeed, there's no specific topic to discuss per se. Instead, we thought we'd ask each other a few random questions about our respective childhoods to see where the conversation might lead. So let's get into the nitty-gritty about Dagan's most memorable youth sports triumph, Colin's frightened remembrances of the unnecessarily scary Unsolved Mysteries theme song, the GI Joe Dagan fruitlessly hunted down around the Island for months and years, Colin's regret that he didn't realize he loved football at an earlier age, and much more. We recorded this on Thanksgiving because we love you that much. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While KnockBack typically revolves around the video games, films, TV shows, and so on of the past, some of the most-popular and most-requested episodes of the show over the last six-ish years relate to Moriarty family stories. Today's release is one such episode. Using a certain recent wedding as a jumping-off point, we thought we'd go a level or two deeper and discuss the physics and chemistry of a typical family gathering in the Moriarty family, both yesterday and today. After all, endless interactions with those closest to us helped morph us into who we are, and so really, you can only know the Brothers Moriarty if you know about the many foundational elements around them, sometimes only occasionally seen at a dinner or event, but nonetheless fundamentally central to the entire story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices