The lads pledge to the Phoenix Club and destroy democracy as they cover David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s 2010 techbro parable: The Social Network. Topics include Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ iconic score, the polarizing nature of Sorkin’s writing, and what it means to live in a world ruled by Augustus Caesar wannabes like Mark Zuckerberg.

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Want more TWOAPW? Get access to our full back catalogue of premium/bonus episodes by subscribing for $5/month at Patreon.com/worstofall!

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher. 2010
• “10 Years Later, Author Ben Mezrich On The Book Behind ‘The Social Network’” by Anhar Karim. Forbes. October 20th, 2020.
• “A Young Mark Zuckerberg’s Early Mistake” by Shachar Bar-on. 60 Minutes. January 13th, 2008.
• “CONFIRMED: Aaron Sorkin Creates Facebook Page, Writing Facebook Movie” by Dan Kois. Vulture. August 27th, 2008.
• “Facebook’s Other Privacy Issue” by Eriq Gardner. The Hollywood Reporter, November 30, 2007
• “Joe Rogan Experience #2255 - Mark Zuckerberg.”
• “Mark Zuckerberg: How to Build a Future” by Y Combinator.
• “Tell-All Book: Zuckerberg Set Up Facebook To Get Laid” by Nick Douglas. Gawker. May 22nd, 2008.
• “What Producers Do: Explaining The Social Network’s Social Network” by Claude Brodesser-Akner. Vuture. February 24th, 2011.

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “The M.A.R.K.-BOT” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. Brian Alford as “Mark Zuckerberg”

Our interview series about practical tactics to keep yourself and your community safe from the rising tide of fascism continues this week as Josh talks with maia arson crimew (it/she), a hacktivist and past guest on the show. Topics include:

• The mechanics of how corporations and governments identify and track you across virtual and real-world spaces
• Common ways that your devices give away information without your knowledge and how to disable those features
• What encryption is and why it matters, especially when it comes to law enforcement
• Tools that you can use to anonymize your usage online

USEFUL LINKS THAT YOU SHOULD CLICK:

• Get Surveillance Self-Defense basics and tool guides from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
• Get uBlock Origin for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera
• Download Tor Browser for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
• Download Signal Messenger for Android, iPhone, Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Get Mullvad VPN and download Mullvad Browser
• Send maia a donation via ko-fi

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Joe Kassabian (Lions Led by Donkeys) and the lads hop in the Highwind and fly it straight into Sephiroth’s face as they conclude their coverage of Square’s monumental 1997 RPG: Final Fantasy VII. Topics include the wild quests of Yuffie and Vincent, the gamer-rage fueled final dungeon, and what it means to fight the end of the world when you’ve got a Sephiroth still lodged in your head.

Joe Kassabian: Twitter

Lions Led by Donkeys: The Lions Led By Donkeys podcast is a military history podcast for laughing at the worst military failures, inept commanders, and crazy stories from throughout the history of human conflict.

Patreon // Youtube // Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Instagram

TICKETS TO GO SEE JOSH’S PLAY AT THE TANK IN NEW YORK CITY!

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Final Fantasy VII. Square. 1997.
• “Final Fantasy 7: An Oral History” by Matt Leone. Polygon. January 9th, 2017.
• Final Fantasy VII Complete Script
• “The Story of Final Fantasy” by /u/DubTheeBustocles
• Jegged Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
• “Quest 64: Days of Grief and Werehares” by A.J. Ditty

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “Palmer: A Requiem” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “Palmer”

Fighting the tide of rising fascism requires good information. This week, Josh sat down with Isaac Adams, an immigration attorney with nearly a decade of experience defending immigrants in removal proceedings from the United States government, to get a better understanding of the current legal landscape. Among other things, we talked about:

• What is new under the recently inaugurated Trump administration and what is merely a continuation of long-standing government policy
• How the recently signed bipartisan Laken Riley Act expands the authority of ICE to detain undocumented immigrants indefinitely
• How to document what you see effectively and spread useful, accurate information within your community
• How to know your rights and assert them when confronted by enforcement officers

Get equipped and keep your head up. We are going to win.

USEFUL LINKS THAT YOU SHOULD CLICK ON:

• Donate to the Acacia Center for Justice, an immigrant legal defense nonprofit
• Read up on your rights with Know Your Rights documents provided by the ACLU (available in English and Spanish)
• Print up your rights with Know Your Rights flyers for if ICE visits provided by the AILA (available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Arabic, Haitian Creole, and Punjabi)

Joe Kassabian (Lions Led by Donkeys) and the lads grab their buster swords and hit the streets or Midgar as they do battle with the nefarious Shinra Corporation in Square’s monumental 1997 RPG: Final Fantasy VII. Topics include Square’s dramatic split with Nintendo, the eclectic nature of the many, many minigames, and what it means to kill off a major character before the end of the first disc.

Joe Kassabian: Twitter

Lions Led by Donkeys: The Lions Led By Donkeys podcast is a military history podcast for laughing at the worst military failures, inept commanders, and crazy stories from throughout the history of human conflict.

Patreon // Youtube // Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Instagram

TICKETS TO GO SEE JOSH’S PLAY AT THE TANK IN NEW YORK CITY!

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Final Fantasy VII. Square. 1997.

• “Final Fantasy 7: An Oral History” by Matt Leone. Polygon. January 9th, 2017.

• “Final Fantasy Creators Reveal The True Origins of the Franchise’s Name” by Aaron Greenbaum. Den of Geek. July 12th, 2023.

• “The Story of Final Fantasy” by /u/DubTheeBustocles

• Jegged Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough

• “Quest 64: Days of Grief and Werehares” by A.J. Ditty

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “Pazino Pagliacci’s Pizza Parlor” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “Pazino Pagliacci” // Music by A M 4 N “[PlayStation] Final Fantasy VII | Pizza Mission”

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall

The lads once again return to the frontlines of the Korean War as they rejoin 4077th for the first in an ongoing miniseries covering the hit 70s television show: M*A*S*H. Topics include the show’s origins, the gradual evolution beyond the Altman template, and what it means to make a season finale so powerful it resonates 50 years after the fact.

Media referenced in this Episode:

• MASH
  • Season One, Episode One: “Pilot”
  • Season One, Episode Six: “Yankee Doodle Doctor”
  • Season One, Episode Fifteen: “Tuttle”
  • Season Two, Episode Thirteen: “Deal Me Out”
  • Season Three, Episode Twenty-Four: “Abyssinia, Henry”
• Alan Alda discusses how MASH tackled the subject of war - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG
• Bobby Pickett "Monster Swim"
• Jamie Farr on getting cast on "M.A.S.H" - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG
• Larry Gelbart | US comedy writer | Obituary by Michael Carlson. The Guardian. September 13th, 2009.
• MASH Ratings & Rankings - MASH4077TV.com
• MASH’s Revolutionary Gay Episode by Matt Baume

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “A Brief Message from Alan Alda” // Written by Ellie Philips and A.J. Ditty // Featuring Ellie Philips as “Ellie Philips” and A.J. Ditty as “Alan Alda”

Colette Shade [Y2K: How the 2000’s Became Everything (essays on a future that never was)] joins the lads in Odyssey for some eXtreme adventures in cliques, Y2K paranoia, and the Odyssians’ forever war with the people of Rakistan. Topics include Y2K aesthetics, being jumpscared by John Avery Whittaker, and what it means to have nostalgia for an optimistic techno future that never came to pass.

Colette Shade: Website // Instagram // Twitter // Bluesky

Y2K: How the 2000’s Became Everything (essays on a future that never was) (CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY!): In Y2K, one of our most brilliant young critics Colette Shade offers a darkly funny meditation on everything from the pop culture to the political economy of the period. By close reading Y2K artifacts like the Hummer H2, Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” body glitter, AOL chatrooms, Total Request Live, and early internet porn, Shade produces an affectionate yet searing critique of a decade that started with a boom and ended with a crash.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO A MUTUAL AID IN LOS ANGELES TO HELP THOSE AFFECTED BY THE WILDFIRES

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Adventures in Odyssey
  • #427: “Something Cliqued Between Us”
  • #429: “The Y.A.K. Problem”
  • #458: Red Herring
  • #514: “Room Enough for Two”
• “A Peek Inside Chatrooms” by Bob Smithouser. Breakaway: A Focus on the Fmaily Magazine for Teen Guys. 1999.
• Citations Needed: Episode 177: Popular Anti-Union Talking Points and How to Combat Them by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson.
• Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer by Rax King. Vintage Books. 2021.
• Time Bomb Y2K. Dir. Brian Becker and Marley McDonald. HBO Documentary Films.

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “Alistair Adelman” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Brian Alford as “Alistair Adelman”