Podcast
Michael and Us
Hosted by Luke Savage and Will Sloan · EN
A podcast about culture, politics, and our crumbling world. Hosted by Luke Savage and Will Sloan.
Exclusive subscriber-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/overview
39episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#715 - Failure to Communicate (w/ Josh Lewis)
2w ago00:46:15Tap to summarizeOne of the pillars of the cursed "Everything is Connected" trend of the 2000s, Alejandro González Iñárritu's BABEL (2006) offers a de-politicized look at our global village. Josh Lewis (of Sleazoids podcast fame) fills in for Luke to discuss one very heavy exampe of White Elephant Art. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus Check out Sleazoids - https://www.sleazoidspodcast.com/ If you're in Toronto on June 8, 2026, come see Josh present Michael Mann's Blackhat at the Paradise - https://paradiseonbloor.com/movies/blackhat-directors-cut/
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PREVIEW - #714 - Pulp Friction
3w ago00:04:08Tap to summarizeAfter too long a drought, we return to the writing of Armond White, the legendarily contrarian conservative film critic (currently with the National Review) whose writing has texture like no one else's. We focus on his recent defense of Pete Hegseth via Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. PLUS: Is Remains of the Day a #grindset classic? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/714-pulp-158271632
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#713 - Downsize This
3w ago00:44:52Tap to summarizeA year into the Great Recession, one film was brave enough to ask, "But what about the corporate consultants?" We discuss Jason Reitman's onetime critical darling UP IN THE AIR (2009), a film that invites us to have sympathy for the downsizers. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus
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PREVIEW - #712 - Perfect Blue (w/ Talking Simpsons)
3w ago00:03:56Tap to summarizeIn a special collaboration with Bob Mackey and Henry Gilbert of the Talking Simpsons and What A Cartoon! podcasts, we discuss Satoshi Kon's PERFECT BLUE (1997), the anime classic that imagined a world in which obsessive fan culture stoked by the internet leads to the dissolution of one J-pop star's reality. Would you believe that people have called it prescient? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/712-perfect-blue-157652359
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#711 - Beast of Burden
May 400:47:42Tap to summarizeHe's the first YouTube billionaire, and he did it by being more algorithm than man. We discuss Mr. Beast, and the new flesh. PLUS: There's a hot new content creator on the block, and his name is... Bob Dylan? Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "Bob Dylan’s Mysterious AI Experiment: Something Is Happening Here, But We Don’t Know What It Is" by Ian Grant - https://www.gq.com/story/bob-dylans-mysterious-experiment "How a kid cracked YouTube’s secret code" by Lucas Shaw and Mark Bergen - https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/2021/01/01/how-kid-cracked-youtubes-secret-code/4100868001/ "The Beast Within Capitalism" by Nathan J. Robinson - https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2023/02/the-beast-within-capitalism "The Wasteland" by Luke Savage - https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/the-wasteland The specific Mr. Beast video we watched - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3GPea1Tyg&t=1s
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PREVIEW - #710 - An Eephus Pitch
May 100:03:09Tap to summarizeSpring has sprung, which means we're talkin' softball. After briefly ruminating on the beauty of the game, and checking the pulse of our beloved Jays, we discuss one of the best baseball movies of recent (or any) years: EEPHUS (2024), a very funny meditation on friendship, tradition, and the passage of time. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/157037597
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#709 - Symbols of the Sacred Feminine
Apr 2700:52:11Tap to summarizeWe once again travel back to the dark heart of the Bush era by discussing one of the biggest cultural events of the 2000s. Ron Howard's THE DA VINCI CODE (2006) adapted Dan Brown's turgid bestseller into an even more turgid blockbuster. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus
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#708 - You Own Personal Pontiff
Apr 2100:44:52Tap to summarizeWe recap a contentious week between the Trump Administration and the Vatican before moving on to discuss our own true lord and savior, Snake Plissken. At the request of our Superdelegate patron tier, we discuss John Carpenter's immortal tribute to da greatest city in da world, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981). PLUS: It's just like old times... Michael Moore has angered the right. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "The Apocalypse is Here" by Michael Moore - https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/the-apocalypse-is-here
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PREVIEW - #707 - The Chinese Restaurant
Apr 2100:07:55Tap to summarizeAlright what are we talking about today? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/707-chinese-155905797
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#706 - Mother Teresa Conga Line
Apr 1400:48:38Tap to summarizeNo era hits like the late-late-late-Clinton Era. We discuss the shameless Oscar bait that didn't catch anything, PAY IT FORWARD (2000), in which a precocious boy creates a pyramid scheme for kindness. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus TORONTO - See Luke interview Jacobin Magazine founder Bhaskar Sunkara at the 2025 Ellen Meiskins Wood Lecture. Wednesday, April 22 at 6pm, Toronto Metropolitan University, George Vari Engineering and Computer Centre. Get tickets: https://broadbentinstitute.ca/events/2026-ellen-meiksins-wood-lecture/
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