Podcast
Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman
Hosted by Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman · EN
Critics and teachers Jonathan R. Lack and Sean Chapman host this monthly variety series where we talk about our favorite video games, movies, anime, and much more, having fun and maybe even learning something along the way. From the creators of The Weekly Stuff Podcast and Japanimation Station. Visit https://www.jonathanlack.com for more!
28episodes
Episodes
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Purely Academic #15 - Fantastic Four x Four: Reviewing Every Fantastic Four Movie
Jun 27, 202502:50:24Tap to summarizeWith Marvel’s ‘first family’ finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe next month in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we thought it would be a good time to look back at the theatrical history of this extremely troubled franchise. There have been three attempts across four movies to make the Fantastic Four work on the silver screen, from the unreleased 1994 Roger Corman production, to the two Tim Story-directed films at 20th Century Fox in 2005 and 2007, to the ill-fated production of 2015’s Fant4stic, which might just be the worst superhero movie ever made. Some of these movies are better than their reputations suggest – the Tim Story films, with a charming cast and good sense of tone, are fine, if not particularly special – but on the whole, Hollywood has never known what to do with these characters, and surveying these 30 years of failed attempts to bring the Fantastic Four into the cinematic mainstream makes for a fun and fascinating conversation. Enjoy! Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
Transcribe →Purely Academic #14 - Nintendo Switch 2 First Impressions + Doctor Who Season 2 Review
Jun 13, 202503:55:23Tap to summarizeIt’s a jam-packed ‘Monthly Stuff’ episode for June as we give our first impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 at launch and react to the latest season of Doctor Who. First, Sean gives us his review of Doom: The Dark Ages, while Jonathan talks about watching the classic Takahata Isao anime Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Then we go through some not-E3 2025 news, including the announcement of a Persona 4 remake and Xbox’s first branded handheld, before diving into all things Nintendo Switch 2. Jonathan had the system for about 3 days before recording, and played a ton of games, from brand new experiences like Mario Kart World to upgraded classics like Breath of the Wild. There’s a lot to like here, and a lot to talk about. And finally, we break down what the hell happened with this year’s Doctor Who episodes, as the series fully melted down on its way to a surprise regeneration and desperate last-minute twist. Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:22Doom: The Dark Ages: 0:05:22 – 0:19:58Heidi, Girl of the Alps: 0:19:58 – 0:40:53Not-E3 2025 News: 0:40:53 – 1:20:36Nintendo Switch 2 Impressions: 1:20:36 – 2:24:14Doctor Who Season 2: 2:24:14 – 3:32:18Monthly Ten: 3:32:18 – 3:55:24 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
Transcribe →Purely Academic #13 - The DOOM Episode! Classic DOOM Retrospective!
May 23, 202502:00:59Tap to summarizePurely Academic continues its new format, with our second episode for May focusing on the month’s topic: In this case, we’re celebrating the release of DOOM: The Dark Ages with a retrospective on the original PC DOOM games from the 1990s. Over 30 years later, we still find the original DOOM and DOOM II utterly captivating, and we wanted to finally devote a podcast to discussing why they remain such great, singular staples of the first-person shooter genre. And if that wasn’t enough, we also decided to torture ourselves by watching the DOOM movie from 2005, starring Karl Urban and The Rock, which mostly has nothing to do with DOOM, but has one kinda-sorta interesting first-person sequence. It’s bad. But DOOM itself – the real DOOM – is anything but. Enjoy! Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/ Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
Transcribe →Purely Academic #12 - Xbox Price Hikes, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Outlandish Nintendo Switch 2 Accessories & More!
May 9, 202503:00:59Tap to summarizePurely Academic has a new format starting this month, where we’ll be releasing two episodes a month: One focused on a specific topic, and the other featuring all the other up-to-date variety of News, ‘Show n’ Tell,’ the Monthly Ten, and more! The latter, which we’re nostalgically calling ‘The Monthly Stuff,’ is what you’re listening to today, and it’s a busy one! There was some big video game news with Nintendo Switch 2 preorders and enormous Xbox price hikes; Sean has been playing some big PS5 games in Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows; and Jonathan is in charge of May’s ‘Monthly Ten,’ sharing with us 10 increasingly ridiculous ideas for Nintendo Switch 2 accessories that probably won’t happen, but would be very funny if they did. Enjoy, and join us again in 2 weeks for May’s topic, which is all about the classic DOOM games from the 1990s! Time Chart: Intro & Housekeeping: 0:00:00 – 0:17:40News: 0:17:40 – 1:15:02 Thunderbolts: 1:15:02 – 1:28:37Monster Hunter Wilds: 1:28:37 – 1:49:25Forza Horizon 5 on PS5: 1:49:25 – 1:58:20 Assassin’s Creed Shadows: 1:58:20 – 2:35:15 The Monthly Ten: 2:35:15 – 3:00:59 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
Transcribe →Purely Academic #11 – The Great Gatsby 100th Anniversary Celebration Spectacular
Apr 25, 202502:51:56Tap to summarizeThis month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that continues with this month’s main topic, where our resident English teacher, Sean Chapman, assigned us a very important reading: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the Great American Novel turning the ripe old age of 100 this month! We discuss the novel itself, along with two of its cinematic adaptations – the 1974 film directed by Jack Clayton, and the 2013 film directed by Baz Luhrmann – and try to untangle why such an amazing book as never produced a halfway-decent movie. Enjoy! Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
Transcribe →Purely Academic #10 – The Top 10 Most Unlikely Gundam Creative Collaborations
Apr 25, 202500:19:34Tap to summarizeThis month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that concludes with the month’s last segment, but certainly not its least: The Monthly Ten, the part of the show where Sean and Jonathan challenge each other to make increasingly ridiculous Top 10 lists. In this month’s installment, Jonathan tasked Sean with ranking the Top 10 most unlikely creative collaborations for the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, in honor of the currently airing GQuuuuuuX, a partnership between Gundam creators Sunrise and the Neon Genesis Evangelion vets at Studio Khara. What Sean comes up with will surprise you, and maybe just make you wish to see some creative miracles unfold. Enjoy! Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
Transcribe →Purely Academic #9 – Pirate Yakuza, Daredevil, and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Apr 18, 202500:53:20Tap to summarizeThis month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that continues with this week’s ‘Show n’ Tell’ segment, in which Sean and Jonathan discuss what they’ve been watching and playing over the last month. Sean talks about the new Like a Dragon game, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, while Jonathan raves about belatedly catching up on Netflix’s Daredevil and watching the revival series, Born Again, on Disney+. Sean also reviews a classic anime, Studio Gainax’s Jules Verne-inspired Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and Jonathan gives final thoughts on Dynasty Warriors Origins. Enjoy! Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
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The Weekly Stuff #106 - Bloodborne, Persona Q & New Nintendo 3DS
Apr 2, 2015Tap to summarizeIn another ‘grab-bag’ style episode, Sean and Jonathan run the gamut from discussing the recent James Bond Spectre trailer, Trever Noah taking over from Jon Stewart as host of the The Daily Show, recent updates to the PlayStation 4, and all the major announcements from Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct stream. Then, for our main topics, Sean reviews Bloodborne, the new sensation for the PS4, while Jonathan talks Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth after finally finishing it and gives his thoughts on the New Nintendo 3DS. Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
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