Existential Shred

Ep. 11 - Longlegs

Part of me wants to write an episode description in the tone of a TikTok / Instagram reel where someone pops in with that influencer voice and is like “ALRIGHT GUYS TODAY WERE LISTING THE TOP 5 SPIDERS STARTING WITH THE DADDY LONGLEG…”, but I already used a spider joke to start the episode. I’m just going to fill up the description with some quick rambling as I listen to “LOADED” by HMLTD.  You know what would be sick?  A “Bone Tomahawk”-eqsue Western with Nic Cage.  Like, just throw him into a Weird West movie and have him play it completely straight.  I feel like that would be gold. Just throwing this out there, but could you get SPIRITWORLD to make some original songs for the sound track too.  Man… I can’t wait until I can be an old man and just spend my nights reading books about the Old West by the light of a bed side lamp.  Just reading about how Cowboys were really only around for 30 years and audibly going “huh, how interesting” with my glasses on the tip of my nose.  That’s going to be the life.  Insta: @existentialshredcast  Theme Song: SWISS by D3adrum (Insta: @d3adrum)  Artwork by Garlic Hero (Insta: @thegarlichero)

What’s Going On - I

On this episode of What’s Going On we decide to take a step away from examining some existential horrors and just talk about the existential horrors of our own lives. Topics include: Marvel Rivals, Pokemon Showdown, Captain America: Brave New World, will the MCU ever die, Companion, Stephen King’s The Monkey, Mickey 17, the nightmare of having to get up to use the bathroom in a movie theatre, the jubilation that is sneaking multiple ice cold Iron City beers into a movie theatre, progressive bluegrass (thanks Levi), jazz fusion (thanks Levi), the band Organ Freeman (3 for 3 there Levi…),the new Lady Gaga album, the new Russian Village Boys album, the new clipping album, Robert McCammon’s novel Stinger, Emily St. John Mandel’s novel The Lola Quartet, some other nerdy sci-fi books, and how America ruined Godzilla. Phew… a lot of topics going on here. Insta: @existentialshredcast Theme Song: SWISS by D3adrum (Insta: @d3adrum) Artwork by Garlic Hero (Insta: @thegarlichero)

Ep. 10 - You Were Never Really Here

Well he's gone and done it again, Levi has picked another topic that has given us polarizing views, maybe he really does hate doing the cast, maybe he just enjoys making Jordan sit through things he won't like. Who are we to really say? Join us as we discuss Lynne Ramsay’s 2017 crime thriller “You Were Never Really Here” about a deeply disturbed veteran who saves girls from human trafficking rings. I know what you are thinking but no this isn't Taxi Driver Insta: @existentialshredcast Theme Song: SWISS by D3adrum (Insta: @d3adrum) Artwork by Garlic Hero (Insta: @thegarlichero)

Our Top 5 Favorite Albums of All-Time

On this week's episode, we talk about our Top 5 Favorite Albums of All-Time, which should come as no surprise since you saw the episode title. What should come as a surprise to you is that historians have almost unanimously agreed that the year 536 CE (or AD if you’re still into that) was the worst year in human history to be alive. Let’s start off with the big dawg in this whole conversation, there was a volcanic eruption that caused a VOLCANIC WINTER. What kind of land before time type of disaster is that!? Turns out that the volcanic eruption was so bad that it actually caused the average temperature in Europe and China to fall to the point where they experienced crop failure and famine for over a year. It’s not like they could just order something on GrubHub either, I mean this era literally just figured out what static electricity was from rubbing amber with silk. All the while, the Byzantine Empire was waging war on the Goths over in Italy-land because they were tired of listening to The Cure and being mandated by the government to wear Tripp pants and studded belts. Don’t even get me started on the mutiny that was happening in Carthage (now Tunisia). Also, I know what you’re thinking. “But Existential Shred, what about 1346 when the Black Plague was decimating Europe’s population?” Which is a valid question, but that volcano really messed things up for a while for a lot of people. If you’re really curious check out the podcast “Oral Presentations” episode 47 “The Worst Year to Be Alive”. Unironically, it’s my favorite podcast of all time and you can say you listened to something educational today if you do. Anyway… oh yeah, we talk about 5 albums that we would call “pretty great”. Insta: @existentialshredcast Theme Song: SWISS by D3adrum (Insta: @d3adrum) Artwork by Garlic Hero (Insta: @thegarlichero)

Ep. 9 - David Berman & Purple Mountains

“A second New York is being built a little west of the old one. Why another, no one asks, just build it, and they do. The city is still closed off to all but the work crews who claim it’s a perfect mirror image. Truthfully, each man works on the replica of the apartment building he lives in, adding new touches, like cologne dispensers, rock gardens, and doorknobs marked for the grand hotels. Improvements here and there, done secretly and off the books. None of the supervisors notice or mind. Everyone’s in a wonderful mood, joking, taking walks through the side streets that the single reporter allowed inside has described as “unleavened with reminders of the old city’s complicated past, but giving off some blue perfume from the early years of earth.” The men grow to love the peaceful town. It becomes more difficult to return home at night, which sets the wives to worrying. The yellow soups are cold, the sunsets quick. The men take long breaks on the fire escapes, waving across the quiet spaces to other workers meditating on their perches. Until one day… The sky fills with charred clouds. Toolbelts rattle in the rising wind. Something is wrong. A foreman stands in the avenue pointing binoculars at a massive gray mark moving towards us in the eastern sky. Several voices, What, What is it? Pigeons, he yells through the wind.” “New York, New York” by David Berman Insta: @existentialshredcast Theme Song: SWISS by D3adrum (Insta: @d3adrum) Artwork by Garlic Hero (Insta: @thegarlichero)