Prepopculture

Mike Carlson and Lindsay Katai join Jen this week to talk about all the great Nickelodeon shows of their childhood. From cool gameshows like Nick Arcade and Legends of the Hidden Temple, to weird cartoons like The Ren & Stimpy Show and Rocko's Modern Life, to totally unique live action shows like Clarissa Explains It All and The Adventures of Pete & Pete, there was something on Nickelodeon for every kid. And even though they might get some of the things about old Nickelodeon shows now that they didn't as kids, it doesn't mean they're any less fond of them as adults. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow Mike and Lindsay on Twitter and see them in the Tournament of Nerds at Upright Citizens Brigade, where you can also see Mike on Harold team Kid Grift and check out Lindsay's show Les Sizzlerables. The Adventures of Pete & Pete Are You Afraid of the

DC Pierson joins Jen this week to talk about his latest novel Crap Kingdom, which is about a teenager who discovers he's the Chosen One in a fantasy kingdom that to his disappointment turns out to be, well, crappy. DC also chats about his first book, The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To, and the various ways he interacts with his readers, from writing their names into custom rap songs if they pre-ordered Crap Kingdom, to replying directly to a query about his book on Yahoo Answers. Former theater nerds, current comedy nerds, really nerds of any kind will totally relate to DC's protagonists. And of course, idiot douchebags won't get it at all. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow DC on Twitter, watch sketches by DERRICK comedy, see him in Shitty Jobs on Sundays at 11pm at Upright Citizens Brigade, and check out his weekly stand-up show Big Money on Thu

Jacki Merchant joins Jen this week to talk about the many TV shows that have in some way gotten a second wind. From a Kickstarter-funded movie years after the fact, to fan campaigns reversing cancellations, to changing networks or moving to Netflix, there are tons of examples of TV shows that have been rescued from the grave. Of course, for all the shows that got resuscitated and made good on their second shot at life, there are also a few that fumbled their reprieve. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: Follow Jacki on Twitter Arrested Development Chuck saved by Subway Firefly / Serenity Girl Meets World Jericho Southland Terriers The Veronica Mars movie on Kickstarter Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Alex Berg joins Jen this week to discuss the nerdy wonders that are TED Talks, the lectures on technology, entertainment, and design given throughout the year at various TED events as well as provided free online. From robotics to ancient relics to defining life, love, and consciousness, there's a TED talk for just about everyone, though Alex and Jen admittedly geek out primarily over the talks that fall under TED's "T." Of course, that doesn't mean they haven't also watched talks about porn and sex toys. They are human, after all. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow Alex on Twitter, see his improv group Convoy on Thursdays at 11pm at Upright Citizens Brigade Los Angeles, and check out his movie Hell Baby this fall. TED J.J. Abrams: The mystery box Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth Theo Jansen: My creations, a new form of life Julia Sweeney has "The Ta

Guest James Mulholland returns (sorry, Stephen C. James, he's expanding his lead) for a nearly half-size episode on the internet phenomenon of TL;DR, or "too long; didn't read." Normally episode descriptions are more detailed than that, but when they are does anyone actually read them anyway? Maybe when they also tease exciting tangents, like a John Mayer spotting! If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow James on Twitter, but he doesn't necessarily advise it since he rarely tweets Google Reader and the petition to save it Instapaper The A.V. Club covering Gilmore Girls Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Having finally watched the third installments of the Back to the Future and Star Wars franchises, Jen has Stephen C. James back for his third appearance on PrePopCulture. Though they agree that both movies aren't the most essential parts of their respective franchises, they disagree about which trilogy is better over all. And even though Jen watched all of Return of the Jedi, it's entirely possible she still managed to miss a very pivotal moment. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: Follow Stephen on Twitter and check out his improv show The Sunday Social at iO West. His sketch show Sketch Devils returns to Second City in May. Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Danny Cohen and Farley Elliott return this week to talk with Jen about the extreme ends of the spectrum when it comes to social media use. From why certain people (*ahem* Danny) choose to abstain from Facebook altogether, to why other people seem to think everything about their lives is worth sharing with the world, plus all the privacy issues that crop up in between, these three definitely agree on at least one thing: push notifications are annoying. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: Follow Danny and Farley on Twitter and check out Minutiae. Farley is also one of the hosts of the Manifesto Show. Join Boppbopp Forever Dancer is an album Danny made. You can download it. Seriously. Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Andrew Wollman (Doctor Who Live!) returns to talk with Jen about their favorite toys from the 1980s and early 1990s. From Centurions to Lite-Brite to Skip-It, some of these old favorites have been forgotten, some have been updated for today's kids, and some, in retrospect, were maybe just invented for parents to tire their children out. Plus, Andrew reveals how he cleverly "supplemented" his allowance, and Jen realizes the stories she played out with her toys were not exactly normal. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can check out Andrew's tumblr and see him in Doctor Who Live! at iO West, the Tournament of Nerds at Upright Citizens Brigade, and his indie improv show The 11th Hour Show at the Clubhouse. Centurions Creepy Crawlers G.I. Joe USS Flagg Lite-Brite Pillow People Polly Pocket Teddy Ruxpin Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles slime and pizza thrower vehicle Theme

Leeman Parker (The Filthy Liars) joins Jen this week to discuss the peaks and valleys of the popularity of magic over the years, from the heyday of the '80s and early '90s when magic could sustain a primetime TV special, to the late '90s trend of endurance stunts masquerading as illusions, to a potential resurgence on the horizon given two mainstream movies about magicians are due out within the next three months. Plus Leeman talks about his experiences performing at the Magic Castle, and Jen performs a feat of etymological magic by declaring "heisting" a word. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: See Leeman do improv with Bro Squad 5 at Second City's Saturday Night's Main Event every Saturday at 9:30pm, and perform comedy magic with The Filthy Liars at venues like the Magic Castle and the Hollywood Fringe Festival. 2006's dueling magic movies, The Illusionist and The Pres

Art Tebbel (Box Office Democracy) returns to discuss Horns by Joe Hill. Because what's more appropriate for Valentine's Day than a novel Stephen King's son wrote about a guy who was accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend suddenly waking up one morning to discover devil horns growing out of his head? That's right, nothing! If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow Art on Twitter and check out Box Office Democracy as a blog and podcast Horns And here's a picture of Daniel Radcliffe in costume as Ig Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

This week, Paul Bartunek joins Jen to talk about the all truths the government and big business and the lizard people don't want you to know about. Conspiracy theories run the gamut in terms of scale and scope, from celebrities that aren't really dead to disasters that are inside jobs to the forthcoming destruction of the entire global economy, but weirdly an awful lot of them seem like they might just have a kernel of truth in them. And even if they don't, it can't hurt to put a piece of tape over your webcam just in case someone's watching, right? If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: You can follow Paul on Twitter and Instagram. Above Top Secret Alex Jones' Infowars Bilderberg Group David Icke and the lizard people New World Order The questionable deaths of Andy Kaufman, Paul McCartney, and Tupac Shakur Illuminati symbol from Freevector and used under Creative Commons At

Guest James Mulholland returns to protect his status as most frequent guest, and to talk about the weird cultural thing that happens when something receives more attention for a peripheral aspect of it than for what it is in and of itself. Yikes, that sounds vague, huh? Don't worry, we've got plenty of weird examples ranging from blockbuster movies to bestsellers to fast food. And we even talk a little about BDSM. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: You can follow James on Twitter, but he doesn't necessarily advise it since he rarely tweets Dying is good for Batman Everyone loves a comeback James Frey and his fake memoir Twilight fan fiction Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Danny Mastrangelo (Silhouette Games; Been There, Played That) returns for more gaming talk, this time getting into games for handheld and mobile devices. The gap between these is becoming progressively murkier what with games from each type of device being ported to the other, but Danny and Jen find the differences between these types of games actually go much deeper than what you happen to be playing them on. They also can't help but bring up Animal Crossing again, and it's even sadder this time around. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: Follow Danny on Twitter and check out his video game development site Silhouette Games and video game review site Been There, Played That. Bastion Chaos Rings Jetpack Joyride Sound Shapes Sword & Sorcery Thomas Was Alone Tiny Tower Tiny Wings Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercia

Darien Clark (MurderCliff) and Andrew Wollman (Tournament of Nerds) join Jen to talk about the prolific American author John Irving, and the various ways in which his books have been adapted as movies. If you've read even one book by Irving, you won't be surprised that wrestling, horrific accidents, and bears come up. Jen and Andrew also reveal unusual choices for make-out movies, plus Darien and Jen kiss a little. Or at least Andrew wants you to think they do. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow Darien on Twitter and see her group MurderCliff at Cagematch on January 23 at 11pm at Upright Citizens Brigade. You can check out Andrew's tumblr and see him in the Tournament of Nerds on January 19 at midnight at Upright Citizens Brigade and every other Saturday in Doctor Who Live! at 11:30pm at iO West. The Cider House Rules as a book and a movie The Hotel New Ha

Guest Joel Jensen (Denizen) returns to walk Jen through the ins and outs of viral marketing. From developing ad concepts, to seeding the finished videos, to explaining to clients why it isn't bad that they have random views in Belarus, Joel covers all the bases. Plus he knows secrets about the internet in China, and sometimes he gets to play with cool bugs! If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: You can follow Joel on Twitter and check out his indie improv show Room 101. Check out Joel's company Denizen to view cool viral ads like Bug Circus, Lights Out, One Charge Challenge, Budweiser's Flash Fans, Skittles's Touch, and more. Chatroulette turned viral ad Samsung's Peter the elephant spot The Viral Factory Theme Song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

To kick off season two, Jake Goldman joins Jen to tackle history and mystery in the novel Dissolution by C.J. Sansom. The book takes place in Tudor England and follows a hunchback lawyer as he's sent by Lord Cromwell to investigate a murder at a country monastery during Henry VIII's dissolution of papist religious houses. Naturally Jake and Jen get into relevant details like what constituted getting to third base with someone in 1537. An important note on spoilers! Jake and Jen discuss who the killer is from 50:47-57:33. If you haven't read the book but want to, you can safely listen to the rest of the episode and just avoid that spoiler-y portion. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: You can follow Jake on Twitter and check out new episodes of Futurama this summer. Dissolution SNL's Anne Boleyn sketch And #FindTesla! Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creat

Wrapping up the first season of PrePopCulture, guests Sarah Claspell and Scott Davis return to talk about what they were glad to see get big this year, what they'd hoped would be big in 2012 but wasn't, and what they hope to see get big in 2013. But what it really boils down to is that they all love cute animals on the internet. Thanks for listening to the first season of PrePopCulture! If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show notes: You can follow Sarah and Scott on Twitter. Check out Scott's podcast One Photo Reviews and Sarah's website well that's adorable. David Mitchell: Back Story Game of Thrones Grumpy Cat The Hunger Games Ikea Monkey Magic Mike The Newsroom Side Effects Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

In the first half of a two part episode, guests Danny Cohen and Jon Mackey return to talk about what they were glad to see get big this year, what they'd hoped would be big in 2012 but wasn't, and what they hope to see get big in 2013. Danny also reveals his favorite character in film history, and Jon reveals the secret to putting on weight for a role. Come back next week for part two with Sarah Claspell and Scott Davis! If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: You can follow Danny and Jon on Twitter. Issue #9 of Danny's humor publication Minutiae is available now, and you can see Jon's sketch group Big Grande at the San Francisco Sketchfest on January 25 and 26 at The Dark Room. Arrested Development BFF Homeland Instagram Key & Peele Portlandia Terriers The Walking Dead Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivat

Guest James Mulholland returns to discuss lesser known holiday movies as well as movies that take place around the holidays, which is quickly found to be an important distinction. Apparently the amount of snow shown has a huge impact on whether or not Jen considers it to be a holiday movie, plus she shares her wild New Years plans. If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show links: You can follow James on Twitter, but he doesn't necessarily advise it since he rarely tweets Disney's Christmas special, A Disney Christmas Gift A Garfield Christmas Special Hoops & Yoyo Ruin Christmas The Ice Storm Mickey's Christmas Carol Prancer Check out the Rare Exports trailer or rent/buy it on iTunes Rudolph's Shiny New Year Scrooged Wonder Boys Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Guest Farley Elliott returns to chat about the insta-reporting/comedy we've come to know as liveblogging. From tech events, to bad movies, to politics, to sports, there doesn't seem to be something that isn't liveblog-worthy these days. In fact, somebody's probably liveblogging this episode right now... If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email prepopculture@gmail.com! Show Notes: Follow Farley on Twitter and check out his liveblogs for episode 16: Micro/internet publishing, episode 22: The Gates and The Infernals, episode 25: NaNoWriMo, and episode 26: Six month anniversary!. You can also check out our indie improv show, The Manifesto Show. The Funny Or Die Debate Experts tweets  Grantland Live Je Shirt KimKierkegaardashian Theme song: Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.