Useless Opinions
Useless Opinions
Blair Nodelman and Dan Bachman
Have you ever had an inconsequential thought that felt so resonant you absolutely had to share it with anyone in earshot? Well, welcome to Useless Opinions, where Blair Nodelman and Dan Bachman do exactly that. Every episode Dan and Blair pick an opinion from their list of opinions at random and see where that thought takes them. Will it be discussions on Mamma Mia 2 Here We Go Again? Or perhaps a deep-seated debate on pronunciation? Perhaps the dehumanization of making art in late-stage capitalism? Who knows! We certainly don’t. Blair Nodelman is a theatre maker. Dan Bachman is a teacher. They met through a mutual friend by way of a now defunct meme group on Facebook. The rest is this podcast. You can follow them on Twitter @blairnecessity and @dan_m_bachman respectively.
Beanies Are Good, Actually
We’re back! Now on Fridays! Blair can’t handle her liquor. Dan’s grandma is worried about his socks. At a certain point one of us sings Roundabout. This was supposed to be a podcast about beanies.
May 21, 2021
39 min
Fun Words to Say: Pithy, Ampersand, Bubble, Proselytizing
BLAIR AND DAN ARE BACK IN THE SAME ROOM! And we celebrate that by, like usual, being all over the place. Everyone is hungry and a little silly. I can’t believe we’ve done this 30 times! 
May 5, 2021
41 min
The 24th Season of the Bachelor is Good, Actually.
Two episodes where Dan simply talks too much! An extraordinarily long intro with a lot of talk about an American third party bridges to a very long discussion about the most cruel and brilliant invention in the history of reality television. Names will be dropped, segments will be done, and hopefully Blair will get to talk about something that she’s obsessed with one day.
Apr 1, 2021
50 min
We Must Protect Phoebe Bridgers at All Costs
Full disclosure, we no longer believe this opinion that we wrote almost a year ago. Phoebe can take care of herself! But if you give a listen, after a few bits about one of the more serious Jewish holidays, we present to you a pretty earnest and passionate discussion of an artist we admire and her work! Dan quotes a lot of lyrics, Blair makes excellent points about the creative process, and we discuss our opposite experiences seeing Fall Out Boy in our adolescence.
Mar 24, 2021
46 min
It’s Pronounced “Cran”
Our longest intro ever! We celebrate the birthday week of one of our hosts, and then pivot briefly into discussing the theme of the episode before various tangents. We read a LISTENER opinion!!!! We discuss our complicated feelings about jam bands and Ben & Jerrys! It’s a good time! 
Mar 18, 2021
46 min
Colin Farrell is the Hottest Person Currently Living
Be warned guys this one is a little THIRSTY!!! Blair and Dan talk about the people and things they find hot, Mamma Mia 2, Pancakes, Dan being sick, and we see a triumphant double dose of Why Am I Like This, our great new segment. We hope you enjoy! 
Mar 10, 2021
48 min
I Hate That I Don’t Love Broccoli
WELCOME TO THE BRAIN CHASM. Blair loses her shit about ricotta, Dan’s reality TV addiction might have gone too far, and what was the point of this episode? We don’t remember. Chaos encapsulated. No, no, YOU’RE welcome. 
Feb 24, 2021
40 min
Authorial Intent Doesn’t Matter, But “Death of the Author” is Impossible
It’s a heady opinion, but don’t worry, we don’t stay there for long. We talk about this complicated concept for a second and then, as per usual, break into a bunch of different nonsense, including a brand new, Dan led segment, that may or may not be a winner. Will you listen to this one more than the Twilight one? We’ll see! 
Feb 17, 2021
47 min
Twilight Should Have Been About Carlisle
THE PROPHESIED DAY HAS ARRIVED! After 22 grueling episodes, Dan is rewarded with an opportunity to talk about Twilight, only for his wifi to go down. After Blair brilliantly stalls for time, this episode gives you a long monologue about Stephanie Meyer’s deeply strange, committed, and arresting fantasy world, as well as, somehow, the state of the Adult Musical. It’s a wild one! 
Feb 3, 2021
59 min
Viva La Vida is a Great Album
Welcome back! After a week off, Blair regales us with a tale of their digital LSAT experience! We then dig into Britain’s second best blonde tenor-lead rock band, Coldplay! We then end up talking about a lot of stuff including our respective favorite Pokemon, and Dan tells Blair how many canonical Pokemon exist (it’s a lot). All and all, this is everything you should expect from us if you listened to the last 21 episodes.  
Jan 20, 2021
49 min
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