Pop Culture Affidavit – Two True Freaks

90210, The X-Files, The Simpsons, In Living Color, 21 Jump Street, and … Herman’s Head? Join me this episode as I take a trip back into the late 1980s and the first decade of the Fox network. I go into the network’s origins as well as its early programming (some [...]

It’s the most rewritten and confusing backstory in the history of comics. No, not Hawkman. Not The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Not even Jean Grey. It’s Donna Troy. For this episode, I return to the topic of the Wonder Girl herself by taking a quick look at how her origin [...]

In the 1990s and 2000s, VH-1 declared itself “Music First” and began airing original programming. It began with music-related shows and eventually went fully into reality television. But during that time, it was appointment television. For this episode, Amanda joins me to talk about those glory days of VH-1. From [...]

From the DC Vault, it’s the “What If” story that Batman fans had wondered about for years (even though What If is a Marvel book): What if Jason Todd had lived? Join me as I take a look at the alternate version of Batman #428 by Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, [...]

In 1987, White Water Summer, starring Kevin Bacon and Sean Astin, was released. The movie did poorly in theaters but gained a following on cable and video, becoming a coming-of-age cult classic. This episode, I’m joined by Mark Ray, one of the film’s stuntmen. He talks to me about the [...]

It’s time for the fifth annual Uncollecting episode.  This time around, I take a look at an episode of the A&E show Hoarders that features a couple named Claire and Vance, whose enormous book collection has taken over their house and their lives.  Then, I look at the “Where are they [...]

At long last, I’m back! And it’s time for the annual coverage of the Baltimore Comic-Con! Join me as I talk about the con experience, meeting up with a number of geek friends, getting signatures from comics creators and actors, and take a walk down artists alley. Plus: listener feedback! [...]

“You May Be Right,” “Allentown,” “Tell Her About It” … all of these are found on the seminal compilation album Billy Joel Greatest Hits Vol 1 and 2, which came out 40 years ago. Join me as I take a look at the Piano Man’s music throughout the decade of [...]

He-Man and the forces of good fight Skeletor for the freedom of Eternia! Cannon Films presents … MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE! This time around, I’m going to take a look at the 1987 live-action adaptation of the popular toy line, Masters of the Universe, which starred Dolph Lundgern as He-Man, [...]

It’s JSApril! All this month, comics podcasts and blogs are celebrating the original super-hero team, the Justice Society of America. For this episode, I’ll be talking about one of the JSA’s darkest hours, their battle with Extant in Zero Hour, followed by their re-match/redemption in “The Hunt for Extant”. I’ll [...]

Return with me to a galaxy far, far away! My occasional miniseries “Following the Force” is back with a look at Attack of the Clones! In this episode, I’m going to cover four novels that take place between the first two prequels and then look at the film itself along [...]

It’s become an annual tradition at this point to spend my first episode of the year talking about The Uncollecting, which is my effort to downsize my geek stuff. This time around, I’m joined by Relatively Geeky’s own Professor Alan to talk about various aspects of “uncollecting”, from the economics [...]

Beginning a new feature! I’m setting down a path that may or may not dominate my destiny: working my way through Star Wars. With this episode, I begin a reading and watching project that will cover the entire nine-movie Star Wars cycle plus television shows and spin-off films. First up [...]

Just in time for Halloween, it’s mutants vs. vampire courtesy of Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz! I’m joined by Coffee and Comics’ Clinton Robison to talk about Uncanny X-Men #159 and X-Men Annual #6 where Storm becomes a vampire and the team faces off against Dracula! https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Pop-Culture-Affidavit-Episode-159.mp3

It’s time for my annual look at the Baltimore Comic-Con. This year, the convention was held from September 20-22 and as usual, I went to the show on Saturday. It’s a special one this year because it might be Brett’s last convention since they’re a senior in high school So, [...]

In A Death in the Family, Jason Todd died. In A Lonely Place of Dying, we got our first look at Tim Drake. But what happened between? This episode, I take a look at some of the issues in the very brief set of issues following Robin’s death but before [...]

As the 2024 Summer Olympics gets set to begin in Paris, I got together with Professor Alan to talk about our Olympics fandom. Join us as we discuss our love of the Games, my favorite moments, and what makes them so great. https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Pop-Culture-Affidavit-Episode-156.mp3

It’s the 40th anniversary of one of the biggest albums of the Eighties, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. Join me as I go through the album song by song, look at a few of my favorite B-sides, and talk about why it’s one of my favorite albums of all [...]

In 1984, DC Comics published a Robotech miniseries as a tie-in with the Revell model company. But Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Lynn Minmei, the SDF-1 or anything else we know and love from Robotech was nowhere to be seen. Titled Robotech Defenders, it was a three-part miniseries that became a [...]

Maybe it’s a lyric. Or a guitar solo. Or the bridge. Whatever it may be, there’s always small parts to songs that you remember. Taking inspiration from a 2004 Retrocrush post, I’m giving you a list of some of my favorite song parts. From classic tunes of the 1960s and [...]

Worlds lived. Worlds died. The universe was never the same. But it took a little while for that universe to never be the same, and in this episode, I take a look at the period between December 1985 and July 1986 where DC’s titles began their post-Crisis eras, wrapped up [...]

It’s time once again to dive into The Uncollecting! In this year’s episode, I take a look at the PBS series Legacy List With Matt Paxton along with articles that explore the “legacies” of our generations’ past, like brown furniture and memorabilia collections that are left behind. I also give [...]

It’s episode 150 of the show, and for this episode, I revisit my series of episodes about America: its history, its people, and its culture. After talking about my interest in books about American “stories” (and the many books I’ve read over the years), I return to Peter Jenkins’ A [...]

A corporation is blasting and drilling for oil and if they don’t find it at Site A, they’re going to dynamite a Site B and that means killing Santa! Take a trip back with me to North Pole City in 1984 as I review the TV movie The Night They [...]

Set at the end of the 1980s, Déjà View is a coming of age novel with a supernatural elements, and joining me for this episode is its author, Michael Thomas Perone. We sit down to talk about his novels Déjà View and Danger Peak and the inspirations behind them. https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Pop-Culture-Affidavit-Episode-148.mp3

My trilogy of nostalgia-fueled movies comes to an end with a look at The Big Chill, Lawrence Kasdan’s iconic 1983 film that was a touchstone for the Baby Boomer generation. Along for the ride with me is Michael Bailey, who talks about the film and its impact on us as [...]

It’s that time of year again! The Baltimore Comic-Con was held the weekend of September 8-10 and once again Tom and Brett were there. Join us as we talk about what we saw and what we bought; plus, interviews with Joe Staton and John K. Snyder III. Music in this [...]

My look at nostalgia-themed movies continues! This time around, Amanda joins me to sit down and talk about a formative movie for the two of us: Dazed and Confused, the 1993 Richard Linklater film that takes place during one night in 1976. We look at the movie, its soundtrack, and [...]

It’s the first of three episodes that look at the nostalgia subgenre of films, and I’m starting with the granddaddy of all of them, 1973’s American Graffiti. Directed by George Lucas, this is a seminal film and soundtrack that takes a look back at the teenage years of a generation, [...]

It’s JLMay 2023! Join me as I take a look at issue #10 of the 2007 version of DC’s classic team-up series, The Brave and the Bold. The Challengers of the Unknown! Superman! The Silent Knight! Aquaman! The Teen Titans! It’s some Silver Age DC goodness brought to you by [...]

It’s the first part of an EXTRA-SIZED CROSSOVER with Fire and Water Records! Ryan and Neil, The Brothers Daly, join me for a look at cover songs. What makes a good cover song? Which covers are iconic? What covers have surpassed the originals? Which ones do we personally love? Join [...]

It’s been twenty years since the United States invaded Iraq, a key moment of the last two decades. During the lead-up to war, there were controversies over opinions on the war and support for the military. In this episode, I take a look at two of the more well-known of [...]

If I can point the true origin of my comic book collecting career to one point in time, and especially one character, it’s the spring of 1990 and the character is Batman. For this episode, I’m going to take you through “My Batman Phase,” starting with how I first got [...]

New Year, New You! At least that’s what they tell ourselves. Back in episode 96, I talked about my efforts to “uncollect” the piles of stuff I own. Well, it’s been a few years, so how is it going? That’s what this episode is about. I talk about two books [...]

It’s been TEN YEARS since I started this podcast, and it’s time for my TENTH trip to the Baltimore Comic-Con. Once again, Brett cosplays up and joins me to meet creators and buy comics. I’ve got interviews with Bob Hall, Joe Staton, Jill Thompson, and a number of other creators [...]

It’s third and final episode in a series of three episodes about America: its history, its people, and its culture. This time around, I am looking at walking across America through the lens of the seminal travel memoirs A Walk Across America and The Walk West: A Walk Across America [...]

In 1988, NBC produced three television movies starring a gaggle of teenage stars from some of the most popular sitcoms of the day. And for this episode, I sit down and talk about them. So strap in for “Crash Course,” get on the floor for “Dance ’til Dawn” and set [...]

We’re back to the world of Paper Girls with the release of Amazon Prime’s new series. Once again, Stella joins me to talk about the show and we give our takes on the characters, the story, and its faithfulness to its source material. Warning: Spoilers abound! https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Pop-Culture-Affidavit-Episode-135.mp3  

It’s second of a series of three episodes about America: its history, its people, and its culture. This time around, I am looking at A Day in the Life of America. My coverage includes a 1968 Department of Defense film called “A Day in America”, the 1986 photo book A [...]

After four years and six films, John Hughes left the teen movie subgenre behind in 1987, but not before producing one last film, Some Kind of Wonderful. Join me as I take a look at the film, its novelization, the soundtrack, and evaluate its place in the teen movie canon [...]

It’s first of a series of three episodes about America: its history, its people, and its culture. And to start us off, I’m looking at how American history is related through the comics medium by looking at the comic book “A Picture Story of the United States,” The Cartoon History [...]

It was generic. It was kind of lame. And it was everywhere. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, “Corporate Rock” ruled the airwaves. But what, exactly, was “Corporate Rock”? Join me as I plumb the depths of middling rock radio with a playlist of mid-tempo rockers, power ballads, [...]

Corinne Burns is the teen girl who fronts a band who is scraping to make something of themselves. Ellen Aim is a pop star about to soar into the stratosphere until she’s kidnapped by a biker gang. What do they have in common? They were both characters in 1980s films [...]

When you start reading comic books decades into a character or even an entire publisher’s existence, how do you go back and find out all of the stories that got them to that point, especially when it’s 1991, you’re fourteen, and you don’t have money, a car, or the Internet [...]

It’s the second of a two-part crossover with Required Reading With Tom and Stella. Last week, part one was our discussion of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This time around, we’re looking at a movie that took The Bard’s comedy, updated it, and placed it squarely in the teen comedy genre: [...]

It’s the tenth and final chapter in a podcast miniseries that looks at the fall of the Iron Curtain and the popular culture of the Cold War. To start us off, I look at what happened in Eastern Europe in December 1991 with a special focus on the final days [...]

It’s a holiday-themed follow-up to last episode, as Amanda joins me to talk about what we watch on PBS during the holidays.  From European Christmas Markets to Rick Steves to GBBO, we talk about all of the programming that brings us comfort and joy in December. https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Pop-Culture-Affidavit-Episode-127.mp3  

It’s the ninth chapter in a podcast miniseries that looks at the fall of the Iron Curtain and the popular culture of the Cold War. To start us off, I look at what happened in Eastern Europe from September 1991 to November 1991 with a special focus on real-life spies [...]

From Big Bird to Antiques Roadshow, PBS has programming that is part of our lives from beginning to end. As a longtime viewer, I have a lot of memories and favorite shows and in this episode, I spend time going through them, looking as far back as my preschool days [...]

Fully vaccinated and masked up, Brett and I returned to the Baltimore Comic-Con for the first time since 2019! Join us as we talk about what we bought, who we saw, and interview creators such as Thom Zahler, Cliff Chiang, Wayne Vansant, Angela McKendrick, and Rod Van Blake. Plus: yet [...]