Podcast Summary: What's Our Podcast? with Beck Bennett & Kyle Mooney — Featuring Brennan Lee Mulligan

Episode Date: September 24, 2025
Guest: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Main Theme: The search for a podcast identity, with guest Brennan Lee Mulligan pitching "proprietary" as a concept, plus deep dives into improv, D&D, and satire on tech culture.

Episode Overview

This episode continues Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney’s meta-podcast journey, where each week, a guest proposes what their podcast should be “about.” This week, Brennan Lee Mulligan—comedian, writer, and renowned Dungeon Master from Dimension 20—joins to riff, reminisce, and pitch his idea. The episode blends comedic banter, sincere storytelling about growing up nerdy, and a satirical examination of “proprietary” tech-driven media.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Opening Banter & Friendship Dynamics

Early minutes revel in Beck and Kyle’s signature, self-deprecating humor and surreal riffing—Kyle’s feet keep “shooting up,” repeated faux-apologies for “bad things” done to each other, and tongue-in-cheek admissions of their friendship’s absurdities.

• Notable Quote:
  “You stretch my penis hole and put things in there.” —Kyle (03:05)
  “Just to see if—what’s going to happen this time, because I can’t believe it happened the first time…” —Beck (03:08)

2. Podcast About “Nothing”—But Maybe Something

They reset the conceit: they don’t actually know what their podcast is, so each guest pitches a premise. Last week Bobby Moynihan suggested “about beef.” This week, Brennan is handed the reins.

3. Childhood, D&D, and Getting Bullied
   Brennan shares how growing up homeschooled in New York (splitting time between Hell’s Kitchen and upstate) and being bullied in elementary school led him to embrace nerd culture, D&D, and the LARP camp The Wayfinder Experience.

• Notable Quote:
  “I was enough of a dork that the bullying got intense enough that it was like, let’s remove this child from the immediate physical danger he seems to so regularly find himself in.” —Brennan (12:25)
  “Talk about a great called shot—my mom was like, I think D&D would be good for you. And lo and behold…” —Brennan (16:16)

Impact of D&D on Life and Career

• Discovered D&D at age 10, started DMing immediately.
• Ran games through childhood, college, and adulthood—one legendary campaign lasted 14 years.
• Mother’s influence—herself a comic book writer—was seminal.

4. Being a Parent

All three discuss the transition to fatherhood, the hilarity and chaos of having young children, and intergenerational bullying (“my kid bullies me now!”).

• Memorable Moment: Beck recounts cooking an odd meal for his son, who responds: “yucky, yucky, yuck, yuck… Die, Dada.” (19:05)

5. D&D as Lifelong Passion & Modern Boom

• Brennan details his unbroken love of D&D through evolving “chapters”—from playing with local friends to running enormous multi-year campaigns, even as a young camp counselor.
• Explores D&D’s present “golden age”—with more widespread, mainstream engagement thanks to streaming and podcasts.
• Notable Quote:
  “Calling it a resurgence… numerically, this might be more of a golden age than the 70s and 80s… this is kind of the age at this point.” —Brennan (19:48)
• The professionalization of being a DM, including shows like Dimension 20.
  “Without that 14-year home game, there’s no universe where Dimension 20 happens for sure.” —Brennan (27:52)

6. Improv Roots & UCB

Brennan explains his improv and teaching journey at UCB, which led to CollegeHumor—connecting sketch, improv, and nerd culture.

• Notable Quote:
  “I felt like I had to put LARP and D&D behind me. Time to focus… time to get a career going. Let’s go do improv.” —Brennan (32:34)

7. Intersecting Comedy, D&D, and Media

Brennan illustrates how Dropout’s focus on novel, niche programming created the perfect storm for a D&D show—capitalizing on skills from improv, sketch, and geekdom.

8. The Podcast Pitch: “Proprietary” (Main Segment: 37:29–61:00)

Brennan pitches "proprietary" as the subject—a riff on intellectual property and tech’s role in media.

• Argues for viewing content not as art for its own sake, but for its potential to be trademarked, platformed, and monetized—a satire on Silicon Valley’s soulless “innovation.”

• They riff on the podcast as a product-turned-app (with merch, premium tiers, and intrusive data collection), parodying current tech and entertainment trends.

• They joke about collecting data, selling it to “Palantir” (tech surveillance company), and the slippery slope of commodifying art.

• Notable Quote:
  “Rather than making something from the heart… you should be using the most destabilizing innovations of the tech industry to create art and media you can capitalize on…” —Brennan (39:51)

  • Moment of confusion and recursive humor arises as Beck and Kyle try to understand the “nougat” (essence) of what the proprietary podcast would be—leading to a meta-spiral and comic frustration.

• Notable Quote:
  “Everything you said is wrong. I disagree with all of it.” —Brennan to Kyle (51:31)
  “Do people attach to things because it adds value and meaning to their life, or do they attach to things because we got round one funding from venture capital firms?” —Brennan (52:06)

9. Satirical Corporate Brainstorm

The trio satirize the process of commoditizing creativity:

• Pitching proprietary business models
• Talking in circles about branding, apps, and consumer loyalty
• Inventing fake “proprietary” segments (e.g., “Sexiest Proprietary”—Beck names Brennan)
• Notable Quote:
  “You have to be willing to kill some dogs and cats if you’re gonna make...” —Beck (55:28)

10. Deconstructing the Satire

Brennan ultimately “breaks the bit,” explaining his true motivation—that the “proprietary” framing is his way of not imposing a real topic on Beck and Kyle, and, in earnest, is a satire of how soulless tech culture has infected real creativity.

• Notable Quote:
  “This exact kind of soulless, valueless tech language is the vine strangling the tree of our democratic institutions and population, and I hate it…” —Brennan (60:29)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Notable Quote / Moment | |-----------|---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:05 | Kyle | “You stretch my penis hole and put things in there.” (surreal, absurdist friendship riff) | | 12:25 | Brennan | “I was enough of a dork that the bullying got intense enough that it was like, let’s remove this child…”| | 16:16 | Brennan | “Talk about a great called shot—my mom was like, I think D&D would be good for you…” | | 19:05 | Beck | “[My son] looked at me and went, die Dada.” (on the brutal honesty and comic harshness of parenting) | | 19:48 | Brennan | "Calling it a resurgence...numerically, this might be more of a golden age than the 70s and 80s..." | | 27:52 | Brennan | “Without eridan, without that 14-year home game, there’s no universe where Dimension 20 happens…” | | 39:51 | Brennan | “Rather than making something from the heart… you should be using the most destabilizing innovations…” | | 51:31 | Brennan | “Everything you said is wrong. I disagree with all of it.” (meta confusion at pitch) | | 52:06 | Brennan | “Do people attach to things because it adds value… or because… funding from venture capital firms?” | | 55:28 | Beck | “You have to be willing to kill some dogs and cats if you’re gonna make…” (satirical escalation) | | 60:29 | Brennan | “Soulless, valueless tech language is the vine strangling the tree of our democratic institutions…” |

Segment Timestamps

• 00:00–10:00 — Goofy banter & friendship intro
• 10:30–21:00 — Brennan’s backstory, D&D origin, and bullying
• 21:00–28:00 — D&D, LARP, campaigns, and nerd adolescence
• 28:00–37:00 — CollegeHumor, UCB, and building a career as multi-hyphenate nerd
• 37:29–61:00 — Main segment: Brennan’s “proprietary” podcast pitch; recursive meltdown; satire on tech and creativity
• 61:00–63:00 — Brennan plugs upcoming Dimension 20 shows, podcasts, and where to find him

Final Thoughts and Tone

• The episode is a swirling blend of meta-comedy, sincere storytelling, and sharp cultural satire.
• The hosts and guest riff with a unique brand of absurdist, improvisational humor—breaking the fourth wall, lampooning themselves, and skewering contemporary media trends.
• The “proprietary” pitch simultaneously lampoons startup culture and provides a commentary on the pitfalls of tech’s encroachment on creative expression.
• The conclusion is both an intentional anti-climax and a genuine celebration of question-asking, collaboration, and friendship.

For New Listeners

Listening to this episode offers:

• A showcase of Beck and Kyle’s improvisational chemistry and absurdist humor
• Insights into Brennan Lee Mulligan’s creative origins, D&D journey, and comedic perspectives
• A multi-layered satire on the state of media and the urge to monetize art

Don’t miss the “Sexiest Proprietary” segment (56:32) and the meta-meltdown about podcast format (“nougat”) (51:31–54:39)—quintessential moments illustrating both the show’s charm and its wit.

Find Brennan Lee Mulligan:

• [Dimension 20 live shows, including MGM Grand in November (61:00)]
• [Worlds Beyond Number podcast]
• Instagram/Bluesky: @BrennanLeeMulligan

Verdict: Not just a goofball riff-fest—this episode blends irreverence, genuine vulnerability, and sharp critique of modern media, earning its laughs (and its moments of real insight).