Nostalgium Arcanum
A Repository For The Pop Culture That Made Us Who We Are
Episodes
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National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
December 2nd, 2024 | 1 hr 59 mins
1980s, 80s, beverly d'angelo, chevy chase, christmas, john hughes, julia louis dreyfus, lampoon, national lampoon, randy quaid, x-mas, xmas
We open our first Christmas podcast of the season as guest Sarah Heath (the RevCovery podcast) invites us over to the Griswolds' house for some egg nog with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We're the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles
November 25th, 2024 | 1 hr 55 mins
1980s, 80s, comedies, comedy, film, films, holiday, homeless, homelessness, john candy, john hughes, movie, movies, road trip, steve martin, thanksgiving
John Hughes' classic Thanksgiving story about Neal Page (Steve Martin) and Del Griffith (John Candy) questing home against geography and Murphy's Law combines stellar comedic performances and a heartbreaking (and ultimately heartwarming) twist to deliver an all-time holiday classic. Guest Dan Oster (MadTV, A Podcast, But Evil) tags along with us to make a meal of a film with far more substance than its Odd Couple trappings would suggest.
Also, please stick around to the end of the episode for special guest Michael Shepherd, who joins us for a discussion on what you can do to help those struggling with homelessness this holiday season.
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Songs of 1989
November 18th, 2024 | 2 hrs 26 mins
1980s, 1989, 80s, aerosmith, depeche mode, hair metal, heavy metal, hip-hop, madonna, metal, metallica, motley crue, music, pop, pop music, queen, rock, rock and roll, skid row, tesla
The music that dominated our radios and walkmen (walkmans?) in 1989 has stood the test of time, and has held up to endless replay. On this podcast we revisit that year with guests Ami Lief, Kyle Lieberman, and Dylan Ris (www.lostmoonradio.com) to see which songs from this banner year still strike the right chord.
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Ernest Goes To Camp
November 11th, 2024 | 1 hr 58 mins
1980s, 80s, camp, cinema, comedies, comedy, ernest, film, films, jim varney, movie, movies
Hey Vern! We're joined by writer/comedian/filmmaker Tarik Davis (@tarikrdavis) to head off to Camp Kikakee with one Ernest P. Worrell. Despite its humble trappings this is, we maintain, a cinematic masterpiece. By the end of this podcast you'll know what we mean, knowwhatImean?
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The World Is Not Enough
November 4th, 2024 | 2 hrs 27 mins
1990s, 90s, action, bond, denise richards, espionage, james bond, judi dench, pierce brosnan, sophie marceau, spy
Christmas comes early this year as we revisit The World Is Not Enough, a James Bond film that leaves us shaken, not stirred. Guest Josh Covel of the Still Loading and Still Bonding podcasts goes on this mission with us to face down memorable villains with Elektra complexes.
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Pirates of the Caribbean (Ride)
October 31st, 2024 | 36 mins 46 secs
adventure, amusement park, amusement parks, disney, disney world, disneyland, geoffrey rush, halloween, horror, johnny depp, pirate, pirates, pirates of the caribbean, ride, rides
Happy Halloween to you villains and knaves! This be a family affair, says I. We be joined by devils, black sheep, and really bad eggs Ami, Celeste (age 8), and Benjamin (age 5) Lief to follow a map to the classic Disney attraction Pirates of the Caribbean and discuss why it's still a pirate's life for me for nearly sixty years since the ride first opened in Anaheim. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
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Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
October 28th, 2024 | 2 hrs 4 mins
1990s, 90s, animated, animation, catherine o'hara, christmas, cinema, danny elfman, disney, film, films, halloween, horror, movie, movies, musical, musicals, puppet, puppets, stop motion, theater, tim burton, x-mas, xmas
This is Halloween! This is Halloween! For our final mainline October episode guest Matt Storm aka Stormageddon of the "Fun" and Games, and Reignite podcasts tricks and treats with us to revisit this masterclass in stop-motion animation that lets us celebrate two holidays for the price of one.
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The Masque of the Red Death
October 26th, 2024 | 25 mins 15 secs
death, disease, edgar allen poe, halloween, horror, literature, masquerade, phantom, phantom of the opera, poe, short stories, short story
It's a bonus episode on top of a bonus episode! We're doing another Halloween reading, this time we're commemorating the Phantom of the Opera's favorite costume by revisiting Edgar Allen Poe's immortal classic, The Masque of the Red Death. The short story features Poe's gloomy mysterious prose, and strikes at our shared anxieties about pestilence and mortality.
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A Nightmare On Elm Street
October 21st, 2024 | 2 hrs 5 mins
1980s, 80s, dreams, freddy, freddy krueger, halloween, horror, johnny depp, nightmare, nightmares, slasher, wes craven
For 40 years Freddy Krueger has stopped us from getting 40 winks. Arguably the king of the 80s slasher villains, Freddy's first outing remains as fresh as a liquified Johnny Depp. This week guests (and huge fans) Ami Lief and Betsy Allen join us to grab their crucifixes, stay up late, and never sleep again.
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The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)
October 18th, 2024 | 2 hrs 3 mins
andrew lloyd weber, film, films, gaston leroux, halloween, hollywood, horror, leroux, lon chaney, makeup, movie, movies, musical, musicals, opera, paris, phantom, phantom of the opera, silent film, silent flims, silent movie, silent movies
We can't stay silent about the classic 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera. From Lon Chaney's iconically inhuman make-up to his all-too-human performance, the film still thrills and chills nearly 100 years later. We're joined once again by writer/director of The Canyon, Alex Sosin, to venture into the depths below the Paris opera house and revel in the true face of what dwells within.
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Return to Oz
October 14th, 2024 | 2 hrs 9 mins
disney, dorothy, elphaba, fairuza balk, glinda, gump, l. frank baum, oz, return to oz, ruby slippers, tik tok, wicked, wizard of oz
Somewhere over the rainbow skies aren't blue, and the nightmares you dare to dream really do come true. Return to Oz ramps up the horror elements in L. Frank Baum's second and third Oz books to child-traumatizing extremes in this 1985 hidden gem about hidden gems. Writer/director of horror short "The Canyon" Alex Sosin joins us as we lose our heads over this terrifying classic.
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Killer Klowns From Outer Space
October 7th, 2024 | 1 hr 42 mins
1980s, 80s, alien, aliens, camp, campy, cinema, circus, clown, clowns, cult classic, cult film, film, films, halloween, horror, horror movies, movie, movies, scifi, slasher
Send in the Klowns, from light years away. Killer Klowns From Outer Space remains a kampy konfection of 1980s klassic horror that still thrills and chills with big top bombast. We're joined by comedians Rich Baker and Merry Mary Hynes to praise this film's tightrope-walking silliness that's as tasty as cotton candy and only slightly less deadly.
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Aerosmith
September 30th, 2024 | 1 hr 46 mins
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 70s, 80s, 90s, aerosmith, alicia silverstone, band, classic rock, guitar, joe perry, music, power ballad, rock, rock and roll, rock band, rock music, steven tyler
We're not worthy! We're not worthy! We're once again joined by musical experts Dylan Ris (www.lostmoonradio.com, The Moon Units) and Kyle Lieberman to Get a Grip and list some Big Ones that'll make you Pump your fist because each song on our Aerosmith top ten lists Rocks.
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Hook
September 23rd, 2024 | 2 hrs 23 mins
1990s, 90s, bob hoskins, dustin hoffman, film, films, john williams, julia roberts, maggie smith, movie, movies, peter pan, robin williams, spielberg, steven spielberg
On this podcast we generally refuse to grow up, but this time we're thinking especially happy thoughts as we head back to Neverland for Hook with filmmaker Ken Cole. Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams' love letter to Peter Pan remains forever young, buoyed by John Williams' inimitable score, and best-in-class character work from Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins.
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In Living Color
September 16th, 2024 | 1 hr 51 mins
1990s, 90s, black, black lives matter, blm, comedy, damon wayans, david alan grier, entertainment, improv, jamie foxx, jim carrey, keenan ivory wayans, marlon wayans, saturday night live, sketch, sketch comedy, snl, television, tv, wayans, wayans brothers
In Livng Color lived up to its theme and proved you could do what you want to do. We recorded a podcast about it. Kinda like it. Like to hear it? Hear it go! Guest Jala Prendes (host of Jala-Chan' Place, Monster, Dear Monster, and Duckfeed.tv's The Level) and Dave Cox (co-host of Monster, Dear Monster) join us to revisit the memorable cast and characters of one of the most important and groundbreaking sketch comedy shows ever made.
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George Carlin
September 9th, 2024 | 1 hr 36 mins
bill & ted, bill & ted's bogus journey, bill & ted's excellent adventure, bill and ted, comedian, comedians, comedy, george carlin, politics, satire, stand-up, stand-up comedy, standup, standup comedy, wyld stallyns
Instead of seven words you can't say, we can't say enough good words about comedy legend George Carlin. Guest comedian Rich Baker (@richbakercoaching) joins us to pay homage to an all-time great who taught us to be excellent to each other, and to never turn off your bullshit detector.