Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 54: Wrap-up Mailbag Now that Twin Peaks The Return has concluded, we look to the true hero of the show—Deputy Chad—to provide a model of how we should close out the final episode of Twin Peaks Rewatch. So, like Chad, we've been rooting through all the mail that's come in lately and pocketing the most interesting letters, right under your noses! Join us for our final thoughts on Twin Peaks (for now!), along with a deep dive into the Twin Peaks Rewatch mailbag, full of questions, insights and ideas from all of you. Thanks again for spending this season of Twin Peaks with us! We hope to see all of you again. Every one of you. Keep the Twin Peaks conversation going, by talking with other listeners in the Twin Peaks Rewatch forum. We'll keep the forum open basically forever, so come by any time! Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Twin Peaks Rewatch 19: Masked Ball We've now solidly put the murder of Laura Palmer behind us, but the rest of Twin Peaks keeps ticking along—with the scene-stealing introduction of David Duchovny as DEA agent Denise Bryson. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe on iTunes Episode 19 Pre-Discussion Thread Catching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive.

The Idle Book Club Episode 2: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Chris and Sean heap praise upon the masterful David Mitchell, revel in their favorite passages of the book, and ponder the importance (or lack thereof) of authorial intent. Also Sean watches a film trailer and wishes he hadn't. Listen on the Episode Page Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed Missed this month and want to catch up? Buy Cloud Atlas in paperback from Amazon Buy Cloud Atlas Kindle edition from Amazon Buy Cloud Atlas iBook from iTunes Looking to discuss next month's book? Episode 3: Telegraph Avenue pre-discussion thread

Idle Thumbs 275: The Robot's Lips The cockpit lid closes, the engines fire up, the atmosphere melts away, and the infinite vastness of space is laid before you. "VHERH THOO?" flap the disgustingly real rubber lips protruding from your cockpit dashboard. "STHOMWHER NICE I THOOPE." You know the lips are still learning, but this knowledge does not endear you to them. You zoom out to check the galactic map, enter a destination for yourself, and prepare for a long trip. "DTHID YOU KNOW" the lips started, "I KNOOW THREE DITHVERENT PLEPLE NAMMED SEAN MURRAY?" You violently claw at the cockpit lid, spring it open and are sucked into the void, barely missing a resplendent space whale that happened to be cruising by. You think there's something written on the side of the whale, but before you can read it, you die in space. Discussed: No Man's Sky, Overcooked, Spaceteam (card game), Pandemic: Legacy, House of the Dying Son, RimWorld, Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Important If True 12: Once You Start, You Can't Stop One day you open the photos app on your cell phone and find it's identified and categorized all of your best friends. Why look, there's a whole album of Chris playing Jurassicanji. Do you even know anyone named Chris? And there's your buddy Herbert. You don't recognize him, but your phone does, so you go with it. It even correctly sorted all of your anthropomorphic candy friends -- including the skinless ones. But why does it think the genie from Aladdin is also this disheveled man covered in dirt? And it has the new Jaws, but why doesn't it have the old Jaws? How is it saying this chicken is a dinosaur? And why is it confusing your dad with a werewolf? We're out of ideas, but we'll be happy to pass you on to a support manager. Please enjoy this podcast while you hold. Send us email at questions@importantiftrue.com. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Discussed: Jurassicanji by Nick Breckon, iOS photos app, unwanted facial recognition, the largest M&Ms Store in the world, Universal Studios Florida, Disney MGM Studios, Jaws Chris' Endorsement: Review (Amazon, iTunes) Nick's Endorsement: Actually get a flu shot. Jake's Endorsement: Cybernetic memory enhancement Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

The End of Mad Men 5: Lost Horizon Fire up the old organ and lace up your roller skates for one last ride around Sterling Cooper as we take a look at Mad Men's third-to-last episode, "Lost Horizon." Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe in iTunes

Twin Peaks Rewatch 13: The Orchid's Curse We're deep in the heart of Twin Peaks-as-ongoing-TV-series now, as a bunch of action-packed sneaking around happens, while Donna carries the emotional weight of the series herself, in her seemingly-solo search to understand Laura's murder. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe on iTunes Episode 14 Pre-Discussion ThreadCatching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive. --- my original pre-discussion first post: I'm admittedly pretty lost in my memory of what happens next, other than some very very big beats. This is a strange part of the show for me, on this watch-through, because I thought I actually had a pretty good handle on when things happen, when certain arcs wrap up, etc, but I guess I totally don't.

Important If True 56: In the Shade of the Puffin To learn the answers to life's biggest questions, we must evolve, change, become worse. This week: Can an artificial intelligence programmed with the mind of the Zodiac killer pierce your heart, with haunting original poems? Why does a puffin's beak glow, and why did someone care to find that out? How hard is curling, really? Will Chewbacca get hit by that rock? (Yes.) Fasten your seat belt, put on your sickest pair of mirrored sunglasses, and bask in the blinding ultraviolet rays of discovery, as we find the answers out together. Discussed: Solo: A Star Wars Story, Chewbacca, Ron Howard, Rob Howard, fluorescent puffin beaks, sweet puffin shades, Copiale cipher, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, Zodiac killer case-solving robot writing poetry, future human Graham who evolves to survive car crashes, Marbled Crayfish: The Crayfish That Clones, Graham's asexually-reproducing lobster children Send us your questions at questions@importantiftrue.com. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Jake's Endorsement: SN30 Pro Controller to play modern video games with an SNES-like controller Chris' Boring Endorsement: UGREEN External Hard Drive Enclosure to root through and your old hard drives and copy the important stuff to your new huge hard drive Nick's Canadian Endorsement: The great Canadian sport of curling (see photographic evidence here) Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend February 5, 2018: An Underrated Trek This week, we welcome freelance writer Dia Lacina to the Idle Weekend world in order to discuss lesser entries in franchises or series that everyone shits on, but we love them. There’s a whole lot of Star Trek Talk in this one, a serious appreciation for Michael Mann’s Manhunter, and a slew of delicious trashcan eclairs. Discussed: Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Bourne Legacy, Manhunter, Banjo-Tooie, BioShock 2, Dark Souls 2, Jupiter Ascending, Guardians of the Galaxy, Legend of Galactic Heroes, Bloodborne, Forever Knight, The City in the City by China Mieville, Dark Matter Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Something True 3: Malpaso In 1852, one of the wealthiest landowners in California drowned crossing a river. The ensuing scramble for his fortune spilled blood and broke hearts. Note: The area in which this story takes place is now Gilroy, California, home of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. Adult general admission is $20, parking $10 per day. Wear comfortable shoes. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Tate Peterson – Theme in G Cory Gray – Low Rollers Josh Woodward – I’m not Dreaming Krackatoa – Long White Cloud Blue Dot Sessions – Stillness Josh Woodward – Invisible Light* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Important If True 48: Mystery of the Crows There are Great Mysteries out there. Conundrums so staggering and profound they can only be resolved by the world's greatest minds. What do you do when your barista knows your name, but you've never managed to learn theirs? How can Mario crush his enemies when he knows the pathetic, lonely lives they lead? And, is that crow trying to sell you cigarettes? We think if these are the sorts of questions you're looking to have answered, we will do a very servicable job. Join us! Discussed: Inaccurate rules of the universe regarding monthly transitions, video of cat on bowl on Roomba, paying it forward at a local coffe shop, not paying it forward, instant dread and shame, getting to know your local barista, completely failing to know your local barista after dozens of visits and the silent-but-deadly social death spiral that transpires as a result, Tim Horton's, Timmy's, Dunkie's, Georgie, the time Georgie burned the Dunkie's, Unkie Dunkie the Baloney Slicer, crow cleanup crews, Crowded Cities, the crowbar, The Official Crow Box, craving a smoke thanks to crows, Joe Camel, ravens, Her Majesty's Ravenmaster, raven seeking attention, shitty teens, Larry the Crow, childhood misconceptions, Koopa Troopas, Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, Proust's "madeleine" moment from Remembrance of Things Past, headcanon, the impossibility of communicating your deepest most tragic interiority across language and age barriers, being waxed house baby, being wax house babied, even longer hypothetical Wikipedia cons, hit film "Wax House, Baby," fictional film "Wax House, Baby" within the hit film "Wax House, Baby", hit song "Wax House, Baby" Send us your questions at questions@importantiftrue.com. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Chris' Endorsement: iOS and Android telemarketer-identifying and -blocking app Hiya Jake's Endorsement: Alternative 1980s comic book compendium Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway (digitally on Comixology or in the beautiful Eisner-nominated Anniversary edition designed by our very own Jake!) Nick's Endorsement: SyncSketch, for collaborative online sketching Sponsored By: Steam virtual inventory buyer and reseller Captain Invictus, aka A Vacuum Full of Bees (also listen to the Hat Baron saga as recounted on the Idle Thumbs Podcast), Quip electric toothbrushes with your first brush head refill free Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Something True 4: Ruska Pravda The prince was murdered, and the princess given two demands: surrender the kingdom, and marry the enemy prince. She said yes—but what she did instead, nobody saw coming. If this were a video podcast, it'd be banned in all territories. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Kosta T – Red in Black Jon Luc Hefferman – Ascent* Free Piece of Tape – Burning School* Paniks – Homage* Kosta T – The Spirit of Russian Love (violin) Paniks – Jelena* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

The End of Mad Men 7: Person to Person The stories of Don Draper, his family, his co-workers at Sterling Cooper, and The End Of Mad Men podcast conclude. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe in iTunes

Something True 5: Entourage John Swartwout was minding his own business—scheming against the United States government with his friend, vice president Aaron Burr—when a senator slandered him as a scoundrel. A scoundrel! What was Swartwout to do? Challenge the senator to a duel, of course. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Fabrizio Paterlini – Veloma Jahzzar – Fastest Man on Earth* Josh Woodward – Oh Mallory* Yair Yona – Pharoah 2011 Chris Zabriskie – Prelude No. 23 *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend January 24, 2018: It’s Back, Baby! with copy! Idle Weekend 1/21/18 It’s Back, Baby! This weekend, we talk about what it takes to make a game come back into the conversation, even if it’s just our little corner of the internet. It’s because we have a little Bloodborne on the brain, and a little Darkest Dungeon in the hands. And Strangers Things afoot. Note! Rob’s audio is a little funky in this episode, but he’ll have his proper mic back next week. Discussed: Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Darkest Dungeon, Stardew Valley, LA Noire, Night in the Woods, GTA V, BioShock: Infinite, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Quantic Dream, Battlestar Galactica (with spoilers!), Counting Crows, Star Wars, Blade Runner: 2049, Stranger Things, The Shape of Water Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Broadcast Jones is my father. Idle Thumbs 66: It's Broadcast Jones! Please firmly affix your paperboard keyboard overlay (included) for an easy overview of all options made available during this podcast. Q: Witness Chris experience Dota 2 for the first time, W: Discover which games secretly co-exist in the Silent Scope universe, A: Wrestle with what makes games exciting as a medium, S: Toggle shield configuration (forward, rear, or balanced). Games Discussed: Fez, Dota 2, Driver: San Francisco, Skate, Demon Souls, Burnout Paradise, Journey Direct episode download. iTunes page. Keep the RSS fed!

Something True 2.6: L'Arme X Nobody in France had seen anything like it. The boy, Tarrare, could eat whatever he wanted, in enormous quantities, and never felt full or put on weight. Tarrare was just hungry. He was hungry all the time. And as he wandered Paris, eating anything he pleased, he would, in turn, be swallowed up by forces great and sinister. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: David Szesztay – Above Us 2* Kevin MacLeod – Enchanted Journey* Oskar Schuster – Sneeuwland* Robert Farmer – Turn the old; return to them* Jahzzar – Guilty* Scott Holmes – Close To The Distance* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend January 5, 2018: The Bomb Cyclone of Podcasts In the extreme(ly bad) weather, it’s important to note one thing: we all have to work together to survive. Hence, we recount our favorite games and movies with extreme weather, from the comfort of our snowed-in houses. Discussed: Max Payne, The Grey, The Long Dark, Kona, The Division, Super Mario 3D World, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nightwing, Grayson, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

The Cutdown 1, 2, and 3: Episode 1: Welcome to The Cutdown It's the first episode of The Cutdown, a podcast all about the art of trailer editing! We talk about why we started the show, our plans for future episodes, the history of our interest in trailers, how we became trailer editors, why we love doing it, and some of our favorites. Whether you want to learn about the industry, you're an amateur or professional editor, or you just like watching them, we hope you enjoy learning all about the art of making movie and game trailers! Trailers Discussed: Bee Movie, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Comedian, The Birds, The Caveman's Valentine, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Episode 2: Spoilers Why do trailer editors "spoil the movies"? In this episode we talk about the difficult balance of teasing in trailers, when to hold back and when to show more - and the importance of storytelling. Trailers Discussed: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Terminator Genisys, Castaway, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Dead Cells, Get Out, Black Panther, Hereditary, Unbroken, Red Eye, Welcome to Marwen, The Avengers: Infinity War. Episode 3: Trailer Trends In this episode we discuss trailer trends, and how the trailer industry keeps evolving. From the move to playing out scenes longer to - yes - the Inception Braaaam, we've got you covered. We also dive into the creation of the trailers for It: Chapter 2 and everyone's favorite anthropomorphic hedgehog, Sonic. Trailers Discussed: It Chapter 2, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Sonic The Hedgehog, Detective Pikachu Full Movie Clip, Gemini Man, Sleepless trailer, Kong Skull Island, Good Omens. Kingsmen The Golden Circle, The Social Network, Maleficent, Fade to Silence, The Innocents, Godzilla King of Monsters, Inception, The Island, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, Joy. If you have questions or comments please send them to cutdown@idlethumbs.net. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud

Tone COntrol Neil Druckmann Steve sits down with Neil Druckmann at the Naughty Dog offices to talk about his long and winding path to becoming Creative Director of The Last of Us. Explore the origins of the critically acclaimed game's world and characters. It's possible Joel, Ellie, Hartigan from Sin City, and a certain ottsel share more history than you'd expect... Games Discussed: Crash Bandicoot, Crash Team Racing, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, The Last of Us Listen on the Episode Page Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Important If True 47: The Shitty Wizard This week's episode is about Trust: when to extend it, when to withhold it, and when to cling to it because nothing else makes sense. When the same person you don't know sends you a Christmas card every year, do you trust your mom that it's "just some friend's parents you've forgotten," or do you follow your heart and grift them before they can grift you first? Do we let ourselves believe a robot can write poetry, or is there just some hippie hiding in there? If a voice on the other end of a phone asks "can you hear me?" why not tell them "yes?" Plus, we manage to uncover the truth behind the mysterious "Cut Your Hair" phone calls, and receive a transmission from a universe long ago banished and thought to be lost. Discussed: Receiving Christmas cards from people you don't know, misguided counter-espionage, de-scrambling anagrams, chatbot poetry, Racter, Eliza, deconstructing Racter, bots as reflections of their creators, the problems with using machine learning to create an artificial Frasier, embracing the flaws of an artificial Frasier as an aesthetic, the standalone tonal language of Kelsey Grammer, poop-related topics leaking in from a banned dimension, Utah-based flat vocal affect call centers, robocalls recording your voice to turn identity into an Arnold Schwarzenegger soundboard, the bizarre grift outlined in Reply All: The Phantom Caller, the truth about the Cut Your Hair phone call, Sneakers Send us your questions at questions@importantiftrue.com. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Jake's Endorsement: Sneakers (1992) (Amazon, iTunes, ) Accidental Endorsement: Sneak King (Xbox, Xbox 360), a free game from Burger King Nick's Endorsement: Strider video game speed run and live tutorial on speedrunning, a part of Awesome Games Done Quick speedrunning marathon for charity Chris' Endorsement: Darkman (1990) (Amazon, iTunes.) Chris' Real Endorsement: watching clips from Would I Lie To You on YouTube Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend August 1, 2018: Transition Points It’s been a little while since we Idle Weekended, but for good reason! Your fearless hosts have been going through some *life stuff* and playing games that help us cope. Get ready for some talk about comfort games, the place of challenge and difficulty, and getting our brains into better spaces. Welcome back to the weekend! Discussed: Into the Breach, World of Warcraft, Total War, mental health, Sonic Mania, Animal Crossing, health, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, State of Decay 2, Dishonored 2, The Americans, The Last Jedi, Blade Runner 2049, biases in media, New Girl, Party Down, GLOW Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Hey all, we're trying something new: A Patreon for Idle Thumbs! This isnt formally announced (we're pluggging it for real in this week's episodes!) but we wanted to drop it off here in the forums (and Reader's Slack) ahead of time as a sort of "soft launch," while Chris and I figure out how Patreon works. The gist of it is you can become a patron of Idle Thumbs for any amount a month, but if you pledge $5, you get a special advertisement-free feed of Important If True, and 10% off when you shop at the store each month. (For $9 we'll also send you a dumb unique postcard each month, and the store discount is 15%!) We're looking for more things to do with the Patreon over time - it seems like a good opportunity to do weird things for backers - but that's still being sorted out and it's just the big stuff above for now. This'll be announced properly this week as part of Thumbs 300, and the first full episode of Important If True, but for now check it out, become a patron if you'd like (we'd appreciate it!), and let us know what you think and share any feedback here. Thanks all for being here forever and supporting us all this time. EDIT: First goal achieved! EDIT: SECOND GOAL ACHIEVED!

Important If True 23: To Me, To Me, To Me A podcast of deeply important questions, asked by you, answered by us as truthfully as we can. This week: What is Jeff Goldblum doing in hundreds of the world's bathrooms? If an artificial intelligence is forced to speak English, are its civil rights being compromised? Could the government turn your mother into a ringtone? If this episode is found by an Amazon resale bot, we grant you permission to reprint a transcript of its contents on a smartphone case or shower curtain. Discussed: being implicitly hoisted by a fellow old person, ringtones, global government regulation of ringtones, Nick Breckon's mother as a ringtone, Google DeepMind AI learning to walk hilariously, new robot-created negotiation language, new Nick Breckon-created worthless storytelling language, baffling robot-created stock image phone cases, cheese wheel on bady, slightly creepy matched father/daughter love jewelry, slightly baffling matched father/father love jewelry, Jeff Goldblum shower curtain, Dr. Sbaitso digital voice assitant, Windows 95 Dragonforce MIDI smart home, "Siri, play Zombocom on every surface" Send us your questions at questions@importantiftrue.com. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Chris' Endorsement: Travel-related online services Google Flights, TripCase, and Citymapper Nick's Endorsement: Setting up remote computer control apps like Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer to help your parents with computers Jake's Endorsement: Graphing the distribution of English letters towards the beginning, middle or end of words Sponsored By: Quip electric toothbrushes, those little floss picks, those things are great Shoutout To: Jake (not Rodkin), from Ethan—get your own! Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Something True 0: An Introduction Incredible and bizarre stories from the footnotes of history. A dog in the United States Cabinet. A leading rocket scientist who quit his job to make a moonchild. Virginia Woolf donning blackface to prank a navy. Something True brings you these and more. Music on this week’s episode: Podington Bear – Good Times (modified for the podcast) Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes