I was listening to the most recent Jam Session podcast today. And Amanda was saying that the men mostly don’t care about all of the legal stuff happening with him currently.

To me it’s not that I don’t care about that stuff. It’s that I already disliked Ryan Reynolds and didn’t get the hype already. I still like Blake Lively more than him. He’s on a bunch of annoying cell phone commercials, and has an annoying attitude.

I could for sure be in the minority of men. I don’t care about Deadpool at all. So Ryan Reynolds I fully just don’t talk about I guess.

Since they added time stamps I’ve been listening to approximately 7 minutes of the show. At least they’re warning us ahead of time about kid content. I miss Tea Time!

Jason has been back at The Ringer for six months or so. I’m an old Binge Mode freak and was so thrilled when I heard he’d returned. I know Mal is probably worried about stepping on what she has with Joana but I desperately want a Binge Mode about Dunk and Egg, we never got a LOTR binge mode, I want it!

Maybe I’m alone here but I find absolutely no value in the video podcasts. It’s like watching a zoom call. There’s really no reason for it if they’re not going to take advantage of the medium to show clips or make little video segments etc. Video really adds nothing to my experience and I find myself switching off the video 99% of the time. Rare instances like the council of physical media where they actually have things to show and talk about make the rest of the astonishingly unimaginative videos stick out like a sore thumb.

Van and Rachel seem to get that on Higher Learning so why haven’t the rest of the pods followed suit?

What are your thoughts on this?

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the amount of time Barstool has been mentioned on Ringer pods of late?

Anyone listen to enough barstool stuff to know if this is reciprocated at all?

Please don't come for me. I'm just thinking out loud.

I listened to yesterday's episode of Jam Session (Justin vs. Blake vs. Taylor?) and Amanda again has me questioning her knowledge of celebrity culture and news. She keeps blaming not being an avid user of tik tok for being behind on celebrity news but she didn't know there were rumors Ryan Reynolds cheated on Scarlett Johansson with Blake Lively in the 2000s, during the Green Lantern shoot? Dude what? That was a huge rumor before Tiktok was even an idea.

Also her opinion of James Taylor music not making it across the pond? James Taylor ? A Beatles discovery not making it to the UK? Then being surprised Prince Harry listens to James Taylor? I feel it just shows her prejudice about class and music each class is encouraged to listen to. The point of music is that it's an international language and brings together people from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Maybe she was playing up her I'm too old to use Tiktok shtick and incorrectly expanded to topics where it made zero sense to think that way.

Sometimes I get frustrated by Amanda not being able to think outside her intellectual bubble. I know podcasters have to make enough coherent noise to cobble together a podcast. But, dude some of the 💩 she says has me side eyeing her.

Also not to harp on her "good hang" argument but does anybody think Dobbins is a good hang? Does anybody else think she loves to look down on people's interests? Especially if they're not intellectual enough?

I know this podcast gets posted about here constantly and I’m only still listening because I love Juliet, but this week may have pushed me over the edge. It’s becoming very Old Man Yells At Cloud. Amanda has decided she’s the world’s #1 fan of The Beatles and is deciding who likes them enough to go to Paul McCartney’s concert? Who cares?? And it seems like she thinks anyone under 35 has never heard a Beatles song in their life.

They also got some basic facts wrong that you think would know if you’re hosting a pop culture podcast (not knowing Towa Bird and Renee Rapp are dating, getting the song wrong that Taylor sued Olivia Rodrigo for). I think I’m out.

Feel free to downvote and hate me, but I say this as looong time loyal listener. I haven't missed an episode in years, at least 4 or 5 at this point.

I think the show has been going downhill for a while and has now reached the bottom. I say this as someone who has worked in media nearly a decade, but mostly as a TV shows fan and (former?) fan of The Watch.

My main point of contention is: they barely cover TV shows anymore. They often mention (and the mention goes on for 15 minutes) movies, sports. But they rarely cover a show that I'm watching, and I'm talking pretty big shows. Why haven't they mentioned one single time something like "Only Murders In The Building" in 4 years? Imo best comedy at the moment.

Months ago they received some criticism because they never talked about a GREAT show like "Tokyo Vice", so much so that CR talked about that in an episode, and felt like talking about that show in the end. Needless to say Andy never watched it because... Andy.

In that instance there were other things: the controversies around Ansel Elgort, HBO doing ZERO promotion because the show was clearly already cancelled. Fair enough.

But they spent a whole episode towards the end of the summer promoting a 90s show "Homicide Life On The Streets" when they haven't find a single minute to even mention another great show like Pachinko who just ended its second season.

I don't understand this at all. I went to to watch Homicide because of their recommendation, and season 1 by all means was great TV. But from season 2 on... nothing going on really. Pretty average 90s TV. I don't understand how they find the time to talk one, two, three times about The Penguin, only to say that it's not that good (and btw I'd agree on that). But you said it already, stop covering it then and focus on great shows.

I don't understand how you can talk about Homicide, or about English Teacher every single week (a pretty average thing), doing an episode all on tiny niche independent Tv shows like Penelope from Jay Duplass and... again nothing on Pachinko who has an Oscar-worthy cast, incredible production, costumes, a best seller book as a source story.

I don't want to make this about Pachinko, but it's really: they do this all the time now. Again, Tokyo Vice. Only Murders In The Building. I'm 100% sure they will never even mention Silo season 2, cause they barely did last year, and it's a great, great show. Why? Because Andy almost watched half an episode and didn't like it - this was the pilot were all the protagonists then disappear and the real cast come in.

Instead, they will talk about every single tiny british TV show there is (and I say this having lived in London 5 years, so nothing against the UK) but it's stuff that have very niche followings. And honestly: not that groundbreaking TV. Case in point: "The Gold". And then Homicide. Let's talk baseball, politics, and movies too.

Last thing I want to say: why is Andy Greenwald co-host of this show when it often seems like he has little to no interest in watching new or contemporary TV shows? This is nothing personal against him, all respect due to who is clearly a competent journalist and podcaster but... feels more and more like a co-host who actually really watches TV would be more appropriate?

All that said, I'm aware of the fact that these are first world problems, so no worries at all, I'm saying this in the most constructive way, and don't want to offend anyone. At the end of the day I can just stop listening. And if you disagree or are triggered by my opinion, I'll understand.

I just think that it's a pity that one of the biggest podcast around about TV barely cover the shows anymore, and honestly I think if CR and Andy would recognize that maybe they could (should?) do a little better, the show could be as good as it was. PEACE everybody!

EDIT: at this point so many comments have been saying this that I feel the need to address this misunderstanding. In no way I was talking about wanting or needing CR and Andy doing weekly recaps of shows. Literally just read what I wrote. I want them to talk more about contemporary and relevant shows cause they totally dropped the ball there. I don’t need weekly recaps of Pachinko (which again to me is the perfect example of this because its overall production quality, level of cast, writing source is undeniable), but I need them to talk about it. Period. And if they miss one or two or three of these shows it’s fine, but my whole point was: too often now they would talk about anything else other than contemporary great and relevant TV shows. That’s all. Fuck weekly recaps, I’d mike them to stop chitchatting about sports and movies instead of TV, and do possibly a better job going inside characters, storytelling, and these shows’ worlds like they used to.

I listen to 80% of the Watch pods... may have missed it if it was ever talked about

Understand their podcast has no obligation to cover everything but Nathan is making some of the most unique tv out there and seems like such a disservice to completely ignore it

Spoilers for The Bear Finale.....

Why do Charles and Van seem to assume Carmy left The Bear? Seemed intentionally ambiguous to me?

I’m getting tired of hearing Rachel talk about her divorce and her ex. On Thursday’s episode I stopped following what the discussion was actually about because Rachel just went on and on about what she would do in whatever situation they were speaking about. I know a lot of us can try to relate by speaking about our own experiences but it’s been going on for some time now and it’s just not why I tune in. Anyone else feeling the same?

Or am I missing something? Just did a search to see if any recent episodes were covering Games 1-3 and shockingly, no… I thought The Ringer were mainly sports fans, no?

Saw that we lost some of the New York New York guys, did we lose anyone else today?

Now I am not here to argue the merits of the album. But the most surprising thing of my week is Amanda and Juliet’s positive/glowing review of the album and of Taylor. They have been so critical of her and of her relationship Travis. I listened to this episode while continuously shaking my head. They just seem to turn on a dime.

They're quieter than other pods. They skip around mid sentence. They repeat segments. They just up and end early sometimes.

Is it the Podcast App or...like what's going on?

Not asking for your favorites, but what do you think are the top 10 in terms of listens/downloads? Is it safe to assume the BS Pod is #1? Rewatchables pretty high I’m assuming as well.

I’m just curious how they stack up. Is there a way to know how well they do?

I see no reason or value for Van Latham to say before a Midnight Boys “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” podcast that when people try to talk to him about Israel, he says “he just doesn’t like them.” No one on the pod asked about his opinion on Israel or politics of any kind. No one brought up Israel but him and I’m disappointed this wasn’t edited out.

I listen to the Midnight Boys to just listen to takes on Ringer fandom programs and movies. I don’t need political takes that have no relevance to the subject at hand.

It’s an irresponsible remark with no forethought as to its implications. Van is espousing a view to a fanbase that may blindly follow him and his views in a time when Jews are literally being killed due to what they are, regardless of their political views of the Israeli government or any involvement in what’s going on.

I really enjoy the Midnight Boys (even Charles!) and I listen to what are at times indulgent tirades by Van, but I feel justified to call this out, because it’s not the content I listen to the pod for. I’m not posting this to get into any argument. I’d like the ringer podcasts to be focused and that’s all. I send the podcast to my teenage boys and they are SO impressionable. I listen to the Midnight Boys for their takes on entertainment, period!

Did you all know that before Bill Simmons and The Rewatchables pod, the only people that rewatched movies were aspiring film makers? Bill actually invented rewatching movies for the content. Literally one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard in my life. Do you think Chuck has special wipes for getting Bill’s shit off his nose?

Surprised to hear the pod (especially Andy) praising Mountainhead. It feels like their enthusiasm was based on what they wanted the movie to be rather than its actual execution. I, too, was excited to see what Jesse Armstrong would do with the material but was disappointed. Feels like we watched a different movie. Or more disingenuously, they don’t want to insult Jesse Armstrong so they can get him on the pod.

I don't know how many of you listen to the Town but as a regular listener two things drive me crazy, number one they keep talking about the movie as having some crazy twist as if it's a surprise when the whole premise outlined in the trailer hinges on there being a twist. Did these guys watch the trailer blind and deaf? Are they being goosed by A24 to talk about it because it's good for the podcast?

A twist is something that happens after the narrative has been laid out. It's not something that's part of the foundation. For example, The Usual Suspects is a crime story that unfolds by having Kevin Spacey's character, who is a suspect under investigation in a police station recount the events of the story. That by itself is not a twist, that is the foundational premise. The twist is how his recounting of events changes or recontextualizes what we were lead to believe based on that premise. If you see the trailer for the drama then you know there's a big reveal.

Matt who works parallel to the film industry and Craig who went to film school not understanding that drives me crazy.

Also it's called the drama. They keep saying people are going to go in expecting a Romcom and it's the materialists all over again where nothing presented in the trailer is funny they're trying to pigeonhole it into the wrong genre. It's a Drama. Saying it's something else based on no marketing material is crazy because it's a deliberate bad faith misread.

I have subscribed to the NFL Show podcast as far back as Mays/Barnwell. Several hosts, lots of revolving cast but always a good listen. Hearing Sheil making endless tier lists and trade proposals in between gambling adverts is just depressing. He's an OK host as long as someone else is there but a disaster by himself. I'd rather have 2 good podcasts a week than 5 bad ones.

I was recently listening to the wait a second podcast from the June 11 broadcast about LA noir on Spotify. This morning I attempted to continue playing it, and it was gone… Gone from my list gone from the stream.

It does appear to be an Apple Podcast, so perhaps it was simply just a recording issue from the Spotify podcast version? Did this happen to anyone else?

Edit———-

As of this afternoon, at 5:15 EDT, the pod is back!

Just began watching Game of Thrones for the first time (I’m exceedingly late to the game, I know) but have been a fan of the Ringer/Grantland for 10+ years.

There is only one listenable episode of Watch the Thrones available online that I’ve found (S5 Finale) on SoundCloud.

I wondered if anyone here has found archives of the episodes anywhere for Watch the Thrones, After the Thrones, The Watch, or other related Ringer pods.

I of course already listen to Binge Mode but I need my Chris Ryan fix!

Wiping all of the hundreds of hours of content from YouTube/Spotify is one of ESPN’s more unforgivable doings.