Seated In Action

In the first half of today’s episode, Andrew brags about his movie pass, which initiates a conversation about a famous quotation uttered by the notorious Oscar-award-winning director, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu (you know the quotation). Ryan and Andrew discuss the notion of soft power and the cultural force that is cinema; and, in doing so, they discuss the virtues and vices of the standard American blockbuster as well as the incentive structure of the movie-making process. Andrew forces Ryan into a hot take; Ryan sings the praises of Communist Manifesto; Andrew (poorly) impersonates Alex Jones, takes his shirt off, and shits on prestige pictures; Ryan apologizes to Marshall McLuhan. Hilarity ensues. In the second half of the episode, Ryan and Andrew start off by talking about the issue of representation and diversity within American media; they then dive more deeply into blockbusters that “work.” They discuss the unique strengths of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and explore the meaningful ethical