At their cores, the guys (particularly Tim) exude Dad Energy. That's surely been evident this entire podcast, but it's heightened here when they get to talk about early 19th century American history, specifically the Monroe Doctrine. See how the West was metaphorically won, or vaguely claimed, in Missing and The Mosquito Coast.

Actually okay timing here with Drake having just released a new album. Matt won't "get" that one just like he doesn't "get" Take Care...or Lana Del Ray's Ultraviolence or Father John Misty's Pure Comedy. Decade defining artists of the 2010s all, and unequivocally absent from any of Matt's personal playlists or rankings. Listen to Matt and Tim embrace their inner Abe Simpson as they ponder how they once had "it" but then "it" changed under their feet.

Dr. Strangelove is as much a movie of incredible sight gags and one-liners as it is profound political commentary. Tim and Matt share their favorites, naturally, before Tim frames the film as the more successful Twin to a similar, proximate movie. He then considers William Wyler’s Jezebel and Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street in a similar vein, wondering what makes them more popular, successful, and ultimately lasting.

A whole host of albums on the docket in this one! Matt gives Tim the choice of two sets to be considered alongside Eric B. and Rakim’s stone-cold classic Paid in Full. (If you haven’t heard Eric B. and, especially, Rakim directly, you’ve heard them in other artists.) Tim chooses the DMX and Busta Rhymes route as Matt outlines their cases as foundational, formative acts in hip-hop.

The famous addition to the movie version of Sound of Music, "Something Good" speaks to that (realized) hope of doing something, anything helpful for others. Tim tracks that theme of I Must Have Done Something Good through Crossing Delancey (Joan Micklin Silver) and Manhunter (Michael Mann) and how that sentiment often lives somewhere between exhausted relief and neurotic yearning. p.s. This episode was recorded before our hiatus, please ignore any dated references.

We love a good genre episode and here’s a big one from the 90s, which has influenced everything from Bjork to the theme song of House. Portishead’s Dummy sets the stage for the forlorn, downtempo, psychedelic mix of jazz, dub, and soul that is Trip-Hop. Neither Massive Attack nor Lamb has the secret ingredient that is Beth Gibbons, but both offer unique, compelling visions of Trip-Hop’s range with the former’s demented house beats in Mezzanine and the latter’s insistent break-beats in Lamb. p.s. This episode was recorded before our hiatus, please ignore any dated references.

Tim is here doing serious things and giving some love to the old studio model of movie making along with the peak and power of MGM. Meanwhile, Matt is being a nudnik and subjecting Tim and everyone else to a ranking of Butt Rock songs. Where else can you hear about Naughty Marietta, Breaking Benjamin, various Mickey Rooney joints, and Staind all at once? Where else would you even want to?! p.s. This episode was recorded before our hiatus, please ignore any dated references.

“It was beauty killed the beast.” So ends King Kong (1933), whom Matt and Tim love very much. A memorable last line goes a long way in establishing a film’s legacy, especially when it encapsulates the spirit of the film so perfectly. Tim looks at Back to the Future and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang as other instances of movies that tie a perfect bow on their journeys. (As a bonus, see how much Matt can annoy Tim with that Pretenders song.) p.s. This episode was recorded before our hiatus, please ignore any dated references.

Matt is feeling his oats in this one and ready to confront you all with the legacies of Mumford and Sons and Nickelback. Vampire Weekend feel like a Matt band, but they aren't. What they undoubtedly are is a King of 21st Century Rock, emblematic of a larger genre movement. So, too, were Mumford and Nickelback. Love them or (most likely) hate them, they allow us to track the ebbs and flows of popular rock in the current century. p.s. This episode was recorded before our hiatus, please ignore any dated references.

Though I would have appreciated the bit of running La La Land into this for no reason, Tim has standards. He's looking at the classic crime film as a Three Decade Period Piece. In other words, the movie released roughly three decades after the bit of history it covers. We're going to small town Indiana and big, seedy L.A. as we discuss Hoosiers and Farewell, My Lovely and consider the significance of time difference the same as our ages. p.s. This episode was recorded before our hiatus, please ignore any dated references.