The Worst of All Possible Worlds

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads grab their broomsticks and defy gravity as they cover Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s megahit musical: Wicked. Topics include the twisted mind of Gregory Maguire, the highs and lows of Stephen Schwartz, and how to reckon with a show that is simultaneously trying to tackle the horrors of fascism and the inherent melodrama of wanting to kiss a hot Winkie. Media Referenced in this Episode: Wicked. Book by Winnie Holzman, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Dir. Joe Montello. 2003. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. ReganBooks. 1995. Before 'Wicked' was a smash, it was stumbling in San Francisco by Jenny Singer. The San Francisco Standard. November 23rd, 2024. "Defying Gravity": Queer Conventions in the Musical "Wicked" by Stacy Wolf. Theatre Journal, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar., 2008). The John Hopkins University Press. “Gregory Maguire on Wickedness Post-Bush” by Erika Milvy. Clamour. February 27th, 2009. “John Bucchino and the Origins of Wicked the Broadway Musical” Still Popular: Chenoweth and Menzel Talk ‘Wicked’ by Jackson McHenry. Vulture. October 24th, 2023. “THEATER REVIEW; There’s Trouble in Emerald City” by Ben Brantley. NYTimes. October 31st, 2003. “‘They changed my ending, I felt aghast’: how we made Wicked” by Chris Wiegand. The Guardian. September 27th, 2021. “Wicked Review” by Charles Isherwood. Variety. October 30th, 2003. “Wicked Review” by David Finkle. Theatremania. October 30th, 2003. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Interstitial: “Baritone” // Music by Stephen Schwartz // Lyrics by Dr. Samuel Bultch, D.D.S. // Featuring Dr. Samuel Bultch, D.D.S. as “Dr. Samuel Bultch, D.D.S.” and David Armstrong as “Stephen Schwartz”.

Tom Walker (Tom Walker: Very, Very) joins the lads for his very first trip to Odyssey as they cover adventures in shock-jock DJing, international espionage, and the return of everybody’s favorite encyclopedia writing, ice-cream selling, NSA asset/God King of Odyssey: John Avery Whittaker. Topics include biblical trading cards, the logistics of owning a beef jerky co-op, and how to make propaganda that doesn’t inspire a life-long obsession with hunting down heretical texts.   Tom Walker: Bluesky // Instagram // Twitch // Youtube   Tom Walker: Very, Very: A love letter to mime (and to a coat) written by award-winning idiot Tom Walker, who keeps talking during what he insists is a mime show. Available to Stream on Amazon   Bigsofttitty.png: Demi Lardner and Tom Walker are doing this and no-one can stop them. This is a podcast for no cowards. Available on Spotify // Apple Podcasts   Media Referenced in this Episode: Adventures in Odyssey #313: “Top This!” #355-357: “The Search for Whit, Parts 1-3"   TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com   Interstitial: “A Series of Voicemails Left on Mary Mulligan’s Answering Machine by One Melvin Mulligan, Her Brother and Composer of Corporate Jingles” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Eleanor Philips as “Mary Mulligan” and A.J. Ditty as “Melvin Mulligan” // Piano Cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” by Gleesinnpiano

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall   The lads dare to speak about Christ in the classroom and face the wrath of Ray Wise as they cover Harold Cronk’s 2016 evangelical propaganda film: God’s Not Dead 2. Topics include the horrendous filmmaking, the deeply-flawed rhetoric, and what we can learn about the future of America from a film that posits a world in which the masses will be subjugated by the most annoying people alive.   Media Referenced in this Episode: God’s Not Dead 2. Dir. Harold Cronk. 2016. God’s Not Dead (2014) - Financial Information God’s Not Dead 2 (2016) - Financial Information ‘God’s Not Dead’ Producer Pure Flix Launches Theatrical Distribution Arm God's Not Dead 2: The Escalation of Christian Propaganda | Big Joel   TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com   Interstitial: “Harold Cronk Presents: The Vagina Monologues” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Brian Alford as “Brian Alford” and A.J. Ditty as “Harold Cronk”

This past summer, I wrote an essay about the church and denomination I grew up in, but didn't end up publishing it. The results of the election gave me the push I needed to finish putting it all together. I hope it helps.

Tim Sutton (Marble Hornets) joins the lads for a bit of light camping and intense witch-hunting as they cover Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s 1999 horror phenomenon: The Blair Witch Project. Topics include the film’s DIY filmmaking, the unprecedented marketing, and what it means to reap the consequences of a nation’s wrongdoings when you’re just trying to make a dang student film.   Tim Sutton: Twitter // Instagram   Marble Hornets: Youtube    Media Referenced in this Episode: The Blair Witch Project. Dir. Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick. Haxan Films. 1999 Curse of the Blair Witch. Dir. Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick. Haxan Films. 1999. 8 Days in the Woods: The Making of The Blair Witch Project by Matt Blazi. “The Blair Thumb”. Dir. Steve Odekerk. 2002 The Blair Witch Project: The Dossier by D.A. Stern. Onyx Publishing. 1999. The Blair Witch Project: An Oral History by Scott Meslow. The Week. January 13th, 2015. The Blair Witch Project’s Heather Donahue Is Alive and Well by Scott Meslow. GQ. September 16th, 2016. The Official Blair Witch Website The extended fan cut of The Blair Witch Project Old archived list of Blair Witch parody sites   TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com   Interstitial: “1:49 AM on November 3rd, 2024” // Written And Performed by A.J. Ditty // “Brothers on a Hotel Bed” Piano Cover by Stephen Guilbert

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Donovan Eyre (Radio Free Tote Bag) and the lads grab their plungers and do battle with the toilets as they cover DaFuq!?Boom!’s animated YouTube megahit: Skibidi Toilet. Topics include the origins of machinima, the joys of seeing robots punching each other, and the ramifications of adding Hollywood money into a story about cameramen killing toiletmen. Donovan Eyre: Twitter // Instagram // SoundCloud Radio Free Tote Bag: A weekly relationship advice podcast hosted by Audrey and Donovan. Patreon // Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Twitter // Instagram Media Referenced in this Episode: Skibidi Toilet by Dafuq!?Boom! (Full Playlist) america - season 1 (all episodes) by Dafuq1?Boom! Blugray - demand (Official Music Video) Reupload deleted DaFuq!?Boom! by The Frozen Gorgon. Youtube. 2023. Deus Ex: The Recut (Fullscreen Original Version) by AbbyRemix. August 11th, 2018. “Dom Dom Yes Yes” by Biser King. KVZ Music Publishing. April 17th, 2022. “Garry's Mod/Skibidi Toilet DMCA Claim Has Been 'Resolved,' Creator Garry Newman Says” by Alex Stedman. IGN. July 20th, 2024. “Give It To Me” by Timbaland. Background Records/Interscope Records. January 1st, 2007. Half-Life: Full Life Consequences by squirrelking. Iction. January 23rd, 2008. How Quake Sparked a Filmmaking Revolution by Matthew Byrd. Den of Geek. August 24th, 2017. “[Mature Content] From the skibiditoilet community on Reddit: How do astro toilets reproduce?” by AcanthisittaNo2510. Reddit. October 24th, 2024. “‘Skibidi Toilet’ Film and TV Franchise in the Works From Michael Bay, Adam Goodman — Listen to the Exclusive Interview” by Andrew Wallenstein and Robert Steiner. July 24th, 2024. “Skibidi toilet is now a brand that dafuq SOLD RIGHTS to INVIZ.(IMPORTANT)” by Raptor FN. Skibidi Toilet Wiki. March 2nd, 2024. “YouTube Phenomenon, Skibidi Toilet, Makes a Plunge to the Toy Aisle with Bonkers Toys and Invisible Narratives Licensing Partnership” by Bonkers Toys. PR Newswire. May 22nd, 2024. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Interstitial: “Michael Bay’s Skibidi Toilet” // Written by A.J. Ditty and Eleanor Philips // Featuring Eleanor Philips as “Michael Bay.”

Aysha U. Farah (Life is Strange: Double Exposure) and the lads have some restless dreams and see the titular town of Konami’s 2001 horror classic: Silent Hill 2. Topics include the history of Team Silent, the difficulties of tank controls, and how to cope when you’ve found yourself at the bottom of five holes in a hell of your own making. Aysha U. Farah: Website // Twitter // Instagram Second Star to the Left: Scout-explorer Gwen Hartley has five years to explore and prepare her planet for settlement. With no aid but her robots and the anxious voice of her long-distance scout-minder Bell Summers in her ear, she’s hoping to be ready for anything. Apple Podcasts // Spotify Media Referenced in Episode: Silent Hill 2. Konami. 2001. “The Hidden Math of Silent Hill 2’s Endings” by Punchy Making of Silent Hill 2 - HQ The Making of Silent Hill | 25th Anniversary Creating Silent Hill 2 | How 'Team Silent's Failure Became a Horror Classic | Game Documentary James Sunderland Dancing “E3 2001: Silent Hill 2 Interview” by IGN Saff. IGN. May 17th, 2001. “Interview with Silent Hill 2’s Artist Takayoshi Sato” by IGN Staff. IGN. August 11th, 2001. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Commercial: “Holes” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Brian Alford as “James Sunderland” and A.J. Ditty as “Alan/Max/Sam”

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads protect their precious bodily fluids and fight in the war room as they cover Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War paranoia masterwork: Dr. Strangelove or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Topics include Kubrick’s early career, fluoridation, and what it means to worry about the bomb when the rest of the world is burning. DONATE TO PRISM COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE, PROVIDING SERVICES FOR THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IN COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO. Media Referenced in this Episode: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. 1964. “Armando Iannucci: Why I rewrote Dr Strangelove for our new era of nuclear terror” by Armando Iannucci. The Telegraph. October 5th, 2024. Citations Needed: Episode 134: The 80-Year PR Campaign that Killed Universal Healthcare “Dr. Strangelove (1964): Nightmare Comedy and the Ideology of Liberal Consensus” by Charles Maland. American Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 5, Special Issue: Film and American Studies (Winter, 1979), pp. 697-717. The John Hopkins University Press. “Mr. Roughcut: or: how graphic designer Pablo Ferro learned to split the screen, cut the crap and tell the story (in the time it took to run the titles)” by Steven Heller and Pablo Ferro. Eye Magazine. Summer 1999. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Commercial: “Dr. Strangelove’s Subterranean Swingalows” // Performed and Improvised by David Armstrong // Encouraged by A.J. Ditty

Kevin Vibert (The Penumbra Podcast) and the lads get kidnapped and do battle with demons as they dive into the neurotic mind of one of the pivotal showrunners of Adventures in Odyssey: Paul McCusker. Topics include the utility of goons, the intricacies of sound design, and why Father Gilbert Mysteries might be the show that finally breaks them all. Kevin Vibert: Twitter // Twitch The Penumbra Podcast: At the Penumbra, you might follow Juno Steel, a brooding, sharp-witted private eye on Mars, as he tangles with an elusive homme fatale, tracks dangerous artifacts of an ancient alien civilization, and faces his three greatest fears: heights, blood, and relationships. Or you might enter the world of the Second Citadel, where the merciless Sir Caroline must corral a team of emotionally distraught all-male knights to defend their city against mind-manipulating monsters...even the ones they’ve fallen in love with. These audio dramas and more await you in the Penumbra, dear traveler. We hope you enjoy your stay. Supercast // Website // Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Twitter // Instagram // Tumblr Media Referenced in this Episode: Adventures in Odyssey #309-311: “The Perfect Witness Parts 1-3" Father Gilbert Mysteries #3: “Dead Air” TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Commercial: “Nic Nicea” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Joshua Ilon as “Nic Nicea” // Piano Cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” by Gleesinnpiano

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall The lads grab their chicken picnics and get creative as they dive into the madness and glitter of THIS IS IT’s 2010s horror musical sensation: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. Topics include the virality of the pilot, DIGITAL STYLE, and how to fully express your creativity when you’re trapped in a house of nightmares. Media Referenced in this Episode: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (THIS IS IT, 2011-2016) Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (Blink Industries/Channel 4, 2022). Available at Channel4.com “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared press pack interview with Becky Sloan, Joe Pelling and Baker Terry”, Channel 4. “The creators of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared offer us a glimpse behind the puppets” by Liz Gorny. It’s Nice That. September 23rd, 2022. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Commercial: “Skin” // Music by Donovan Eyre // Book and Lyrics by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “Red Guy/Yellow Guy/Duck” and Donovan Eyre as “Boneman/Skinman”