The Best Stuff In The World

We're discussing the work of someone who may be America’s greatest living cartoonist - YEAH I SAID IT - Jaime Hernandez!Jaime is best known for his groundbreaking work in the Love and Rockets comic book series and the LOCAS stories which are contained therein. LOCAS follows the tangled lives of a group of primarily chicano characters, from their teenage years in the early days of the California punk scene to the present day - the character themselves age in an approximation of real time. Most of the stories focus on two central characters - Margarita "Maggie" Luisa Chascarrillo and Esperanza "Hopey" Leticia Glass, whose on-again, off-again romance is a focus for many of the storylines. Love and Rockets made its debut in the early 80s, during a time when almost nobody was releasing comics stories that featured women in central roles, that featured characters who are queer, that featured chicano characters or showed any sort of realistic depiction of the punk scene. Jaime’s brother Gilbert is the other major contributor to Love and Rockets and he is deserving of his own episode but for this one we’re focusing on Jaime and Locas and I hope we’re able to impart a little bit of why this is the best American comic book ever made. I’m joined by returning guests Terri Harrington and Ryan Evans and this discussion was a total blast. If you’re a fan of Jaime’s work I hope you enjoy this episode and if you’re not familiar with the Maggie & Hopey comics I hope this inspires you to check them out. You will not be disappointed. Ryan's graphic novel discussion group can be found here: Reading Graphic NovelsTerri has been engaged in volunteer work with Punk Rock Saves Lives, a non-profit that focuses on wellness and equality through the power of music.Kevin recently appeared on The Flopcast, discussing weird Rhode Island public access television shows.

Musician/filmmaker/artist Rebecca Kopycinski joins Kevin to talk about her recent installation/performance The Thotbot Implantation Center, which is one piece of a larger multimedia narrative. Rebecca has created an entire dystopian storyworld through podcasts, installation art, immersive theater and performance. As she explains on her website, the project unfolds through a series of multi-platform "Episodes." While each of these Episodes stands alone narratively, together they weave together the serialized saga of one protagonist, Reagan Esther Myer, across an sprawling post-apocalyptic timeline set in the mid-1990s. At the center of this world is ThotBot, a government-mandated brain implant program instituted by a totalitarian regime known as The ULTRA, a group that seized control after Impact, an apocalyptic event that occurred on June 21, 1995.You can find out more about Rebecca's project at https://getthotbot.com/

We are discussing the work of the great David Lynch. A filmmaker, writer, visual artist, and musician, Lynch spent decades crafting a unique cinematic language that blends the unsettling with the poetic, the surreal juxtaposed with images that could be either nightmarish or heartbreakingly beautiful. There was no one like him and like a lot of people who were affected by his work I was devastated to hear of his recent death. I’m joined by two returning guests: visual artist Emma McDonnell and Greg Bell, who does a lot of work in and around live theater in Baltimore. All three of us, as you’ll hear, have been profoundly moved by David Lynch’s work and my hope is that this episode pays some small tribute to the impact he had on all of us.Emma McDonnell can be found at https://www.ekmcdonnell.com/

Overture! Curtain! Lights! In this episode of The Best Stuff in the World we’re taking a look back at the classic Looney Tunes shorts. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were the umbrella titles for the short cartoons produced by the Warner Brothers studio from the early 1930s through the 1960s, although we’re mostly discussing the shorts released during what I think of as "the golden era" from the 1940s and 1950s, particularly the shorts starring the iconic characters from the studio - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, etc. The best of these shorts are among the greatest art America produced in the 20th century and I’m delighted to be joined by Joe Crowe, the co-director of Dragon Con’s American Sci-Fi Classics Track and by Dave West from the Needless Things YouTube channel and a bunch of other cool stuff (including the documentary Troublemaker about his adventures that he’s currently screening at different conventions) to discuss these masterpieces of American animation. On with the show, this is it!You can find Dragon Con's American Sci-Fi Classics Track at their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/americanscificlassics/Check out what Dave West is up to at The Needless Things YouTube Channel and via his Linktree!

We're diving into the career of the great Charles Entertaiment Chaplin on THE BEST STUFF IN THE WORLD! Chaplin is one of the masters of silent film comedy, blending humor, sentimentality and social commentary - usually channeled through his iconic Little Tramp character. I’m joined this time by writer and podcaster Mike Gordon and artist Denise Lhamon to talk all things Chaplin - the short films, the silent features, and his rocky transition into talkies. A podcast episode with a smile—and perhaps a tear.You can find all of Mike Gordon's various endeavors (Tiki Zombie comic, Dragon Tales book, and his podcasts) at his linktree: https://linktr.ee/newlegendmike or at New Legend Productions.Denise Lhamon's art and historical writings and art about history can be found at https://www.instagram.com/laymonsterms/

We are discussing THE SIMPSONS, the long-running animated sitcom on the FOX network. I’m joined for the episode by my friend Frank Burnham and by Derek B Gayle of the Glitterjaw Podcast Collective. The cover version of our theme song that starts the show this week is by Iron Reverb, the music project from my friend Luke MacPherson.If you ever want to email this podcast you can contact me at gleamingpod@gmail.com.

We're diving deep into the eccentric and pioneering world of Kool Keith, one of the most influential and enigmatic figures in hip-hop. Keith has been around since his time in the 80s with the group ULTRAMAGNETIC MC’s and he first came to my attention for the album he released under the Doctor Octogon name in 1996, which was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. We get heavily into what’s so great about that record during the show, along with Keith’s various releases, his use of personas, and why we find him so fascinating. I’m joined by Michael Brousseau, who some of you may know as the cohost of my other podcast GLEAMING THE TUBE, and by rapper and recording artist Sage Francis who runs the Strange Famous record label and who has released a ton of great hip-hop albums of his own. Sage, Mike and I were all doing shows at the same college radio station around the time the Doctor Octagon album came out and it was awesome getting to chat with them about our shared appreciation for Kool Keith. I hope you enjoy listening!You can find out what Sage Francis is up to at Strange Famous Records website!

For this episode we’re exploring one of the most iconic and enduring games of all time: Dungeons & Dragons!For 50 years, D&D has captivated players with its mix of imagination, strategy, and storytelling. When the game’s at its best it can function as this really fun way to do collaborative storytelling - it can seem life and death while also providing a lot of fodder for dumb jokes with your friends. It’s honestly the best game of all the games - I’d been hoping to do an episode about it since this podcast launched (hence it being referenced in the theme song my friend Mike Brousseau put together) and I was excited to be joined by my pal Gary Mitchel, who co-directs the American Sci-Fi Classics Track at Dragon Con and co-hosts the great horror podcast A PODCASK OF AMONTILLADO and writer James Palmer to talk all things D&D. Let’s roll for initiative and get into it!Gary is the co-host of the horror podcast A PODCASK OF AMONTILLADO!You can find James Palmer's books at https://www.jamespalmerbooks.net/