On this week's show, Dave's friend and comedian Adam Burke returns to talk about humor, laughter, and joy. We chat about today's comedy scene and culture, in Chicago and beyond. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:01 - Teeth and lips 4:16 - Welcome back, Adam 9:31 - Old guest, new job 11:35 - Adam's comedy origins 19:55 - Adam's new book 33:19 - Doing comedy 47:26 - Getting cancelled 49:58 - Comedians Adam likes 54:50 - Has comedy changed, or us? 1:02:03 - Where to find Adam 1:03:46 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

Shane's on vacation this week so Dave and Stan bring back friend of the show Jason (aka KilgoreTrout) to talk Control, Vampire Crawlers, Spider-Man, and dad stuff. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN2025 for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - On Following Shane's Rules 13:45 - Control 29:21 - Vampire Crawlers 38:22 - Spider Mans 51:10 - #dadlife Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

On this week's episode, Dave and Shane first discuss their experiences with the critically acclaimed co-op game Big Walk, then massage their sore calves as they talk about seeing some music shows. Have Zoomers figured out how concerts should work? Finally, Shane shares his thoughts after a few days with the Retroid Pocket Nova, the latest in a series of "endgame" retro handhelds. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN Timestamps: 0:01 - Wisconsin 2: The Squeakquel 8:31 - This week's episode 9:10 - Big Walk with us 28:11 - Dave saw The Smashing Pumpkins 39:16 - Shane saw American Football 52:15 - The Retroid Pocket Nova 1:06:03 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

On this week's show, Jason returns to talk about The Odyssey, the latest international blockbuster from the visionary mind of Christopher Nolan. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:01 - Kilgore is back 6:28 - This week's episode 7:58 - Jason played... Magic? (and Stan did, too) 17:23 - Our Odyssey begins 22:10 - Our history with Nolan 30:24 - How we saw it 42:50 - IMAX and locking in 50:45 - The actual film 1:07:50 - The performances 1:18:40 - Our favorite scenes - SPOILERS HERE 1:20:54 - SPOILERS OVER - where does Nolan go from here? 1:24:28 - Our Nolan tier lists 1:29:51 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

On this week's show, Dave and Shane talk about their sordid adventures in Cyberpunk, while Stan tries to save what's left of the western United States in Horizon Forbidden West. Also Stan discovers and beats an apparently important indie game called Bastion. And Shane relives his high school years in Rock Star's Bully. We wrap with some public comments about fatherhood (and unclehood). Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN2025 for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:01 - Shane got caught having fun while old 6:18 - Dave's AI band name quiz 17:18 - The cold open is too warm 18:20 - Old Business: Shane dodged AI convo 20:21 - We decided to check out Cyberpunk 2077 38:14 - New Business: Stan is playing a lot of Horizon Forbidden West 47:07 - Stan beat Bastion 50:28 - Shane is playing Bully 55:20 - Public Comments: Dad memories 1:05:36 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

On this week's show, we share a couple of our deepest spiritual awakenings, then rant for a while about our weird feelings on AI and LLMs. Then we manage to keep the mood lively with public comments about MTG's Universes Beyond. We're not glazing AI. Don't be mad at us. Timestamps: 0:23 — Dudes Rock 4:40 — Space Rocks 7:48 — Intro: We Had a Terrible Idea to Talk About AI 13:40 — A Little Background on Us 20:05 — Stuff We Hear About Every Day 24:17 — The Misgivings Begin 31:42 — New Kinds of Learning 34:42 — The Misgivings Continue 35:02 — Is AI the Source of Existential Enshittification? 42:33 — The Dunning Kruger Machine 48:52 — Thoughts on Future Work 50:05 — Could Some Good Outcomes Make It Worth It? 52:14 — Some Things We Actually Do 59:24 — Dreams of the Apocalypse 1:06:23 — Public Comment from The Stalk Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

On this week's show, Stan wears a sports vest to religitate some of his favorite 2026 movies, Shane arrives with notes, Dave discovers chiral matter, and the boys watch Widow's Bay. Timestamps: 0:01 - The devil on Shane's shoulder 6:36 - This week's episode, sort of 9:43 - Old business: Shane watched Send Help 18:46 - Shane also watched The Furious 22:50 - Shane ALSO finished Resident Evil 4 Remake 28:46 - Dave plays PS5 33:29 - New business: Widow's Bay 55:54 - Public comment: Our guilty pleasures 1:06:20 - Wrapping up Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

On this week's show, we're covering another cinema blind spot. Dave has never seen John Wick, so Shane came all the way from Ohio to make him watch it. Stan watched too. Then we tell Dave what to play on his new PS5. Turns out he's really into some lewd stuff! Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:01 - Shane's crabby, and there's a bird 8:11 - This week's show - John Wick 10:38 - Our history with the Wick 16:08 - Dave's first watch 26:10 - Getting into Wick 36:40 - Why did this movie hit? 42:35 - Tying a bow on Wick 46:28 - Dave got a PS5 Pro 1:06:35 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

Well you did it. You've made it through another half a year. But... we have some things we need to talk about. Like all this amazing media we've enjoyed in 2026! Tune in for our favorites of our favorites from movies, games, music, TV and a few other things. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN2025 for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:01 - Shane gets fired 2:27 - We're Mad Men 7:30 - This weeks episode: a first half review 9:35 - Oldish business: Takes on the Steam Machine 20:54 - New business: The best movies of the first half of the year 36:50 - The best music 54:05 - The best games 1:05:03 - The best TV 1:13:42 - Public comment: Games that surprised us 1:19:00 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down

As promised, we welcome Jason, aka Kilgore Trout, to the podcast to spend far too long talking to Shane about one of the best games of 2024: Metaphor: ReFantazio. We get into the mechanics, the gameplay, the writing, the themes, and even spend some time talking about our favorite fast food meals. Contemporary? Kinda. Thorough? Definitely. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 0:01 - CamelStan 4:21 - Who is this guy? 6:10 - This week's episode 13:37 - So what is Metaphor: ReFantazio? 18:04 - How does this compare to Persona? 32:24 - How we played it 35:09 - Plot takes 38:50 - The Archetype system 44:50 - The combat 53:39 - Friendships 1:01:40 - Writing good 1:03:40 - Using guides and managing your calendar 1:11:30 - Politics & religion 1:25:28 - Grief 1:30:31 - What a twist! 1:34:00 - Quick topics 1:43:24 - Where this game ranks in our RPGs, and comparisons to other RPGs 1:50:08 - Public comments: Our favorite fast food meals 1:52:10 - SPOILER ZONE BEGINS 1:59:46 - What's next? 2:01:42 - Wrapping up Links from this week's episode: TenSquare3's amazing Metaphor guide: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/xbox-series-x/409958-metaphor-refantazio/faqs/81526/introduction Buy Metaphor for PS5: https://amzn.to/4g2nQZJ Buy Metaphor for XBOX: https://amzn.to/4gEacMv Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] The Dive Down