Jake

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

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

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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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

Idle Thumbs 270: BIG GAME HUCKSTER$$$$ This week we do our best to unpack the criminal scandal surrounding Counter-Strike: GO gambling sites and the streamers who secretly own them while publicly promoting them, then we play a game exclusively about criminals packing things. Discussed: Counter-Strike: GO, Asemblance, Fitz Packerton, Demon's Souls, Imbroglio, Escape Velocity, System Shock (Remastered) Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend February 18, 2018: Sometimes, You Gotta Try Twice Rob and Danielle regale one another with tales of TV shows (and movies, and books, and games!) that they weren't too keen on at first, but those frowns turned upside down with a little persistence. Discussed: Brooklyn 99, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Altered Carbon, Game of Thrones, Tombs of Atuan, The Expanse novels, The 100, 2312, Rubicon, All Our Asias Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Important If True 44: Stream Frasier Online Free It's a brand new year, time for fresh starts, time to throw those old cares away. Well, we know that's easier said than done, so we'll try and take care of a few big questions we know are on everyone's mind going into 2018. Questions like: What is your roommate storing in his conspicuous model ship? Where can I watch free episodes of my favorite TV show, Frasier? And, if someone could inject memories of a fantastic vacation directly into a person's brain, would they charge more to give you one with lots of sleep? The answers, or a close enough facsimile, are right here. Discussed: "2018: Timeless," making the most from Patreon's short-lived new payment plan, Elves Behavin' Badly, Elf on the Shelf, Mensch on a Bench, learning to subvert your Elves Behavin' Badly security system, taking patently bad advice to heart and acting on it, robbing a store by squirting lemon juice on your face to hide your identity, algorithmic biases in Santa's Workshop, extricating yourself from an apartment when roommates have claimed all your stuff as their own, the time Nick Breckon finally hung out with his roommate for a night, creating your own Total Recall vacation, accidentally injecting yourself with the wrong Total Recall movie, itching vs scratching, borrowing vs lending, extreme pedantry, the evolution of language, American English as a melting pot, New York Times dialect quiz, Lexicon Valley podcast Send us your questions at [email protected]. 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: The New York Times Crossword Puzzle (Website, iOS App) Nick's Endorsement: Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program, which is less of a missed gem now than it was when we recorded. Jake's Endorsement: Harry Potter and the Portrait of what Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash, a predictive-text-assisted new novel in the Harry Potter series, and Megan Nicole Dong's Large Pile of Ash illustrations. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Important If True 50: 4468, Y'all On this podcast we explain the unexplainable. We solve the unsolvable. Our method is simple: We take the tiniest problem you might have, the grain of sand scratching at the back of your mind, and we roll it down a hill to see what it might pick up along the way, until that grain of sand has picked up dirt and sticks, until it's grown and grown, until it's the size of the Earth itself. Does that mean that any question, any problem, no matter how small or dumb, when properly spun out past its breaking point, can explain the important truths of life itself, of our existence on this planet? Probably not, but we'll keep trying for some reason. So ask away! Just don't ask us to explain this podcast. Fifty episodes in, it's abundantly clear that's one question we'll never answer. Discussed: Valentine's Day, Valentine's Boxing Day, what this podcast is, David Lynch, a Mythbuster, busting, Thimbleweed Park, real-life hint system, staying on the phone, Albert Brooks, the quantum physics of the universe, y'all, the Google/Facebook mega-matrix, Alexa, J.J. Abrams, 4468 Cloverfield, the incomprehensible infinitude of data we have at our disposal, trading hint futures on Wall St., real-life save system, Edge of Tomorrow, Live Die Repeat, respawning to prevent organ failure, Silicon Valley anti-toxin tech bro Peter Thiel, the most useful life (to benefit Peter Thiel), Lore Lord Bean, Important If True 35: "Hammacher, Schlemmer, and You", the death of tragic goose Thomas, the mixing up of Flemish words, too much clam in the beverage, Clamato, massively popular Canadian drink the Caesar, weathered old bromides Thank you all so much for listening to 50 episodes of Important If True! Send us your questions at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Nick's Endorsement: Blue Planet II (Blu-ray, Amazon Video, Netflix) Jake's Endorsement: Slow Burn, a Slate podcast about the Watergate scandal Chris' Endorsement: A Very Fatal Murder, an Onion podcast satirizing true crime podcasts Chris' Secondary Endorsement: Extra long-handled shoehorn Sponsored By: Quip electric toothbrushes (your first brush head refill free), Tracy Carlson Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Something True 2.4: Okaasan In the 16th century, the Oda and Tokugawa clans sought to unite feudal Japan under their rule. These were big and dangerous boys, but the biggest threat to their political alliance wasn’t any enemy clan, but a rude mother-in-law and a young woman who would do anything to protect her family. 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 – In The Sun Lee Maddeford – Back to Bulgaria Sergey Cheremisinov – Fog* Jahzzar – Liar* Circus Marcus – Cadiquo tu noï* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend January 28, 2018: He Was A Good Captain, Till We Went Out The Airlock What dark depths lie under bright futures we like to imagine? That, and other lofty questions, are addressed on this episode, where we look at the authoritarian side of the sci-fi we love, the colonialism of games we’re enjoying, and the very difficult question of what on earth to do with David Cage Games. Quick content warning: this episode contains discussion of sexual harassment and abuse in media. Discussed: They are Billions, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Roadside Picnic, Battlestar Galactica, Dark Matter, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Black Mirror, Cory Doctorow’s Piece on Cold Equations and Moral Hazards, Quantic Dream and David Cage, Louie CK, James Franco, Person of Interest, Thimbleweed Park Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Twin Peaks Rewatch 22: Checkmate This is it. Twin Peaks is a different show now. In episode 22, amidst genius supervillains and melodrama aplenty, we have ventured further into the land of soap opera bombast than the series has previously dared. We discuss, bemused and baffled. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe on iTunes Episode 23 Pre-Discussion Thread Catching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive.

Something True 2.2: Baatar What if Genghis Khan died, just before he really got going? Thanks to a blacksmith's son called Jelme, we don't have to wonder. We might, however, wonder why Jelme's heroic rescue required so much blood and so little clothing—but thanks to a blacksmith's podcast called Something True, we don't have to wonder. 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: Jahzzar – The Last Ones* Gablé – Gloria* Gablé – Douch OK* Lee Maddeford – Tom's Lullaby (with Les Gauchers Orchestra)* David Szesztay – Bizarre Waltz* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Something True 2.8: Odyssée Guillaume le Gentil didn’t find purpose in the church, seeking it instead in the stars. In 1761, he participated in a global astronomical mission to observe the Transit of Venus from various stations across the globe. But the course of science never did run smooth, and le Gentil’s travels would scatter him far and wide, across time and space, and from toilet-bound depression to true illumination. The Something True season finale. 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: Chris Zabriskie – But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton* Lee Maddeford – Le petit jardin (with Les Gauchers Orchestra)* Dan Warren – Instrumental - Son of God* Jelsonic – Breeeze* Jahzzar – Silver * Scanglobe – Westerlund 1* David Szesztay – Sweeper Chris Zabriskie – John Stockton Slow Drag* Scott Holmes – Green Fields* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Thumbs 317: Press Start Go НДД -*- Cracked by..: WAREZ 1999 :.. -*- ДДН ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Description:.. An episode of the Idle Thumbs podcast in which the guys pretend to be on a different podcast called Press Start Go, but really it's just another Idle Thumbs. Chris and Nick go deep on Into The Breach, which sounds like it's destroying their lives, and Jake talks about some edutainment game. EnJoY EvErYoNe! Do not upload this on inferior boards! ..: ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Discussed: Into the Breach, Sea of Thieves, Warez 1999, Idle Thumbs GDC 2018 Community Meetup, Nt Mini vintage console reconstruction, Super Nt vintage console reconstruction, Dr. Mario, David Lynch Teaches Typing, Nest, Subnautica Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Important If True 4: A Thousand Dormant Machines The road to the truth can take you through some dangerous places, so keep the windows up, the doors locked, and never, ever get out of the car. Or ignore that advice, and follow us down the truth’s seedier and long-forgotten offramps, in search of the really important questions. Like: What happens when your smart house gets a little too smart? Where do those creepy Chuck E. Cheese pizza robots come from? And why is the society depicted in Pixar's Cars a mockery of the living and the dead? If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon. Important Reference Materials: Goldblum noises, Smart House, Alexa, Blank Check, The Rock-Afire Explosion, carbohydrillium, Disney•Pixar Cars, popes, geological butts Chris' Endorsement: Stayfocusd Chrome browser extension Jake's Endorsement: Logan Nick's Endorsement: Calling your aunt back; or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild if you just want to buy something and be a consumer 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 [email protected]. 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

True Detective Weekly 8: Omega Station True Detective Season 2 is over, and it went out with a bang. Well, lots of bangs. It was an unusual season, and an unusual season finale—and as it turns out, we had more than a few conflicting thoughts about it. Tune in, then let us know what you thought! Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Twin Peaks Rewatch 10: Coma The investigation slows as season two's new storylines take center stage this week, in our re-examination of Twin Peaks. Things get weird. There is creamed corn. Do you see it? Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe on iTunes Episode 11 Pre-Discussion ThreadCatching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive.

Twin Peaks Rewatch 11: The Man Behind Glass Twin Peaks quickly dives right into the heart of the Season Two portion of Laura Palmer's mystery, and we follow right behind. Cooper and the crew make some strange breaks in the case, and a love triangle becomes a quadrangle, but there is some worrisome super-strength and regressive memory loss appearing at the edges of things. Join us as we take a look at "The Man Behind Glass." Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe on iTunes Episode 12 Pre-Discussion ThreadCatching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive.

Something True 2.5: The Trip to Telegraph Creek Together they set out to chart wildest Canada: a management consultant, a dental student, a Hollywood cinematographer, an ex-sniper, a mysterious treasure hunter, and a cowboy. Nobody believed in their expedition, saying things like, “You don't have the experience” and, “Your horses are diseased.” But Charles E. Bedaux was determined. For him this trip wasn’t about making maps, but the measure of a man. 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: Lloyd Rogers – Draw Me A Sheep (Act I)* lo-fi is sci-fi – Phase IV* Gablé – grate ok* Jason Shaw – Plantation* Kai Engel – Puddles and Bars* Jahzzar – Dummy* Josh Woodward – Hollow Grove (instrumental Version)* *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

Something True 8: Babylon In the season finale of Something True, we crack the seal on Jack Parsons—a legendary rocket scientist, drummed out of the profession for his overbearing interest in the occult magick of Aleister Crowley. Parsons devoted his early retirement to a full-throated study of the arcane arts. His ambitions were nothing less than to coax an ancient, beautiful goddess from her primal dimension into the spare bedroom of his Pasadena bungalow. Everything proceeded to plan, until Parsons made a famous friend who would not only change his life, but the world... and all the worlds beyond. 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: Anamorphic Orchestra – Stop the Clocks Pictures of the Floating World – Ash Gray* David Szesztay – Cheese Cory Gray – Medieval Tension 60s* Pictures of the Floating World – Cold* Paniks – Clavire Pictures of the Floating World – A Thousand Stars* *modified for the podcast. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes