PODCAST · society
Actually Good
by Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier
The show for anyone who's ever wondered if they should hate stuff less. Each week, a guest contrarian joins hosts Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier as they spotlight a maligned piece of pop culture that deserves a second chance.
Episodes
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040 - Comedians Not "Sticking to Comedy" with Dana Donnelly
Comedian Dana Donnelly joins us to discuss the ever-increasing overlap between the alt comedy and progressive activism scenes and expound her tactic of turning bigots into incels.
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039 - Cancelling the Olympics with Rachel Reyes
Multi-hyphenate ultra-activist Rachel Reyes comes on to get you all off your asses, explain why the Olympics suck, and show how the police crackdowns they come packaged with have quite a bit in common with our current situation.
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037 - Piracy with Justin and Mike
We're back, babyyy. Torrent this episode, every movie discussed within it, and anything else you want. There are no rules anymore.
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036 - Carmen San Diego with Justin and Mike
As you all know, Mike does not wish death upon anyone, so feel free to voice your honest opinions about the show.
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035 - Four Loko Fleshlights with Justin and Mike
I think the episode title speaks for itself.
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034 - Novelty Hot Sauce with Justin and Mike
Justin and Mike talk about hot sauce with Bin Laden's face on it, Midsommar, and Mike's biggest political regret: Stanning Jon Stewart way too hard.
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033 - Grease 2 with Louis Peitzman
Writer Louis Peitzman come on to defend the sequel to Grease that sank and started the careers of its leads. Because podcasts are an auditory experience, you can't see the intricate dance number he did the entire time while chatting, but trust us, it was great.
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032 - Live TV with Austin Highsmith Garces
Multi-hyphenate talent Austin Highsmith Garces takes a break from appearing on the television to defend an antiquated way of consuming its programming: right when they network airs it.
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031 - The Master of Disguise with Jamie Loftus
Comedian Jamie Loftus brings us The Master of Disguise, the 2002 Dana Carvey vehicle that is forever tied to 9/11 and somehow less funny than the attacks. Can she convince the lads that a movie with an unrepentant brownface scene in it is good? Listen and find out.
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030 - Cheating at School with Justin and Mike
Hey kids! We have a lot of fun around here at Actually Good, but here's something that's actually serious: your education. Specifically, how to make it seem like you're doing better at getting one than you really are. The school system is broken, and if you're following all the rules, you're…
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029 - Phone Calls with Harry Cheadle
On their most ambitious and awful-sounding episode to date, the guys hop on a three-way call with VICE West Coast Editor, Harry Cheadle, to discuss how much they all love talking on the phone. You can probably guess how that went.
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028 - Shoplifting with Nate Miller
Stealing is bad. Unless it's not. Editor and director Nate Miller makes the case for tactical small time thievery in this ep.
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027 - Type 1 Diabetes with Dashiell Driscoll
For our first episode featuring a deadly disease, TV writer and internet funny person Dashiell Driscoll comes by to make some profound points about the sweet side of type one diabetes.
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026 - Las Vegas with Justin and Mike
We made all the obvious Vegas reference jokes in the episode, so I've got nothing for you here. Enjoy us discussing whether or not LV is AG.
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025 - Cloud Atlas with Gille Klabin
Filmmaker Gille Klabin joins a sharply divided panel to defend 2012's Cloud Atlas. Justin's thumb is raised to the heavens, while Mike's took up residence in the ninth circle of Hell. It's an incredibly audacious movie about literally everything that, well, not everyone loves a whole lot. But...
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024 - Crocs with Evan Scott
Evan Scott, one half of directorial duo, The Dads, joins the hosts for a conversation about the most derided rubber clogs in the game and makes some salient points about fashion, classism, and the human condition in the process.
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023 - Last Action Hero with Justin and Mike
Critics and audiences hated this big-budget satire of shoot-em-ups in 1993, but was Last Action Hero truly trash or merely ahead of its time? The boys discuss while still in the afterglow of a fresh rewatch.
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022 - Rick Astley with Alison Stevenson
No, you're not going to be unexpectedly directed to any YouTube videos of soulful 80s pop hits. This is a real episode about the "Never Gonna Give You Up" guy. Comedian and writer Alison Stevenson effortlessly makes the case that Astley's brand of uncomplicated, catchy pop, sung in that signature...
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021 - Mimes with Justin and Mike
The guys smash the invisible box containing this emergency host-only ep to dive in on the topic of pantomime performers. But why are these silent clowns so universally loathed across the pop culture landscape? Perhaps things aren't so black and white and our negative perception of mimes has been...
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020 - The Angry Birds Movie with Asterios Kokkinos
Comedian, writer, and exhausted litigant Asterios Kokkinos (@asterios) joins the hosts to discuss, The Angry Birds Movie, the animated children's feature based on a popular mobile game. But is it akchyually good or just another craven cash grab?
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019 - Daredevil with Matthew Jay
Mike and Justin return from a completely excusable hiatus with guest Matthew Jay in tow to try and convince everyone that the extremely 2003 superhero film Daredevil is more than just a bunch of weird fight scenes and Evanescence songs.
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018 - Cocaine with Justin and Mike
Lace up your Peruvian marching boots and join the hosts on their ethically and legally fraught journey toward justifying recreational use of a drug that has directly and indirectly contributed to thousands of deaths.
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017 - The Valley with Cameron Johnson
Comedian and Empire writer Cameron Johnson (@cameronjawesome) brings the topic of the San Fernando Valley to the podcast, along with an almost alarming amount of knowledge on the subject. Could we, like, all be wrong or something about Southern California's favorite regional punch line?
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016 - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with Jack Allison
The most controversial figure in Hollywood, Jack Allison (@jackallisonLOL) joins us to defend the gritty three-hour Zach Snyder fever dream that pits the Dark Knight against the Man of Steel. Are the critics and fans wrong? Is BVS AVG? Listen and find out.
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015 - Bird Scooters with Josh Mattingly
Youtuber and comedian Josh Mattingly (@JoshMattingly) tailwhips into the AG studios with our most contemporary topic yet, Bird scooters. Are these flocks of electric vehicles more VC-funded Silicon Valley trash, or are they potential planet savers?
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014 - Chappie with Justin and Mike
Chappie was a flawed but great film and shame on all of you for not recognizing its merits. We have thoughts.
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013 - Dixieland Jazz with Josh Androsky
Writer, comedian, and lefty-about-town Josh Androsky (@shutupandrosky) takes us back in time to the discuss the one sub-genre of of music that white people successfully appropriated, Dixieland.
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012 - Kevin O'Leary (a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful) with Esther Ku
Though a self-proclaimed jerk, comedian and podcaster Esther Ku (@EstherKuKu) was very nice to us as she tried her best to defend the final boss of capitalism, Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary.
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011 - Guy Fieri with Caroline Goldfarb
We brought on the incomparable multi-hyphenate Caroline Goldfarb (@officialseanpenn) to discuss the living Jimmy Buffett song that is Guy Fieri. If you don't appreciate Guy by the end of this, you're officially banished from Flavortown.
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010 - Paul McCartney and Wings with Grant Pardee
Writer, comedian, and—as you'll soon learn—human Wikipedia page Grant Pardee (@grantpa) joins us on the podcast today. His topic is Wings. (The post-Beatles McCartney project kind, not the TV show. That topic is still up for grabs.)
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009 - Reddit with Justin and Mike
Mike and Justin, free from the shackles of hosting duties, let their hair down and really dig in on the merits of Reddit dot com, one of the most popular websites in the world, and a foremost hub of racism, sexism, fascism, and other sorts of unchill mindsets. Is the front page of the internet...
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008 - Soylent with Eric Downs
Eric Downs is a busy touring drummer, and the composer/creator of the Actually Good theme song. When Eric's not making music, he enjoys Soylent, a notoriously colorless, flavorless food-esque liquid. Eric says he's always pined for something he can sip from an old tuna can in order to stay alive...
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007 - Full House with Paige Devitt
Champions writer (and Mike's girlfriend) Paige Devitt joins us to defend the family-friendly sitcom that helped her through childhood, Full House.
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006 - Encino Man with Allegra Ringo
It looks like we've settled upon Monday as our release date for this podcast, and what better a way to celebrate that commitment to a set schedule than with an episode about an unfrozen caveman familiarizing himself with the scheduling rigors of high school. Hell of a segue, right? This week, our...
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005 - Ashlee Simpson with Alexandra Tweten
Author, podcaster, and Instagram's leading curator of inappropriate DMs (@byefelipe) Alexandra Tweten talks about her how being a punk, emo-hating kid in the smallest town in America's frozen northlands somehow turned her into an Ashlee Simpson fan.
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004 - Southland Tales with Dave Schilling
A goateed Justin Timberlake, The Rock twiddling his fingers like Mr. Burns, and cars having sex. Richard Kelly's sprawling Bush-era epic, Southland Tales, may sound like a fever dream, but our guest, Dave Schilling (@dave_schilling), thinks the unintentionally prescient movie deserves your time…
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003 - The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift with Jen Yamato
In our third ep, LA Times film reporter Jen Yamato (@jenyamato) brings a strong case for the handbrake-induced turning point of the Fast & the Furious film franchise. But does she have enough nitro to win over Justin and Mike and bring them into the family of Tokyo Drift fans?
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002 - Third Wave Ska with Jack Wagner
iTunes no longer hates us so you get to hear Jack Wagner (@jackdwagner) struggle with the Actually Good studio's unorthodox mic setup as he attempts to defend third wave ska and the genre's top acts. Songs fairly used in the ep: The Aquabats - "Red Sweater" The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "The...
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001 - Now You See Me with Demi Adejuyigbe
In Actually Good, hosts Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier bring on a guest to help resuscitate a universally reviled cultural artifact. In our inaugural episode, tv writer and podcaster Demi Adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) attempts to defend the Now You See Me film franchise. Are these performance-packed...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The show for anyone who's ever wondered if they should hate stuff less. Each week, a guest contrarian joins hosts Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier as they spotlight a maligned piece of pop culture that deserves a second chance.
HOSTED BY
Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Actually Good have?
Actually Good currently has 39 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Actually Good about?
The show for anyone who's ever wondered if they should hate stuff less. Each week, a guest contrarian joins hosts Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier as they spotlight a maligned piece of pop culture that deserves a second chance.
How often does Actually Good release new episodes?
Actually Good has 39 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Actually Good?
You can listen to Actually Good on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Actually Good?
Actually Good is created and hosted by Mike Pearl and Justin Caffier.
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