Fat Guy, Jacked Guy
By Stef Rubino + Brendan Walsh
Fat Guy, Jacked GuySep 06, 2023
What Happened to the Great American Sex Scandal?
The title kind of gives this all away, but let us tell you anyways...This week, we're taking you back to a time when political sex scandals ruled the news & forced us all to learn more about one another than we ever wanted. On one hand, many of these were fun & provided fodder for lots of goofs over the span of several weeks. On the other, we're wondering why we gave so much of shit in the first place. We're talking about it, and reminding you (or teaching you) about some of the biggest ones of the period.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here & Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any & all help you can provide, & we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Men in Transition, Men on a Mission: Examining the Era of Bro Comedies
What's better than getting together with your favorite "guys" & just HANGIN' out & doing STUFF? As two dudes who love that shit, we'd argue NOTHING. And this week, we're examining the era of the return of the bro comedies - those films where it's just a bunch of guys hangin' out & doin' stuff. We'll get into some of the definitions of what makes a bro comedy a Bro Comedy, what made them so attractive to us when we were younger (& why we still like them now), & what these movies can teach us about our lives.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here & Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any & all help you can provide, & we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
"The End of the English Major": A Special Episode from Our Patreon Vault
A lot of changes are happening around FGJG HQ so this week, we're giving you one of the Patreon extras we recorded back in Februrary. In this episode, we discuss Nathan Heller's 2023 article in the New Yorker titled "The End of the English Major." We break down what's good about the article, & we also get into the parts of the article that are completely off base. This a little different than the episodes we normally put out, but we're sure you'll still learn a lot from it (and hopefully, laugh a lot, too)!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here & Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any & all help you can provide, & we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
"Stella" Still Hits: We Talk the Best Absurdist Comedy of the 2000s (& Today!)
Y'all might have forgotten the one season of Stella that premiered on Comedy Central in the summer of 2005, but we certainly haven't! In this episode, we discuss what made Stella so great, how it changed our perceptions of what comedy could be, & how it impacted so much of the work that came after it. Believe us, this episode will have you wanting to binge the show right after.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here & Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any & all help you can provide, & we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
The "Pyah!" That Rocked Politics: Examining the First Viral Political "Gaffe"
In 2004, Howard Dean looked like he was poised to be the Democratic Party's outsider contender for president. Then, he laid down the scream heard around the world & was forced out of the race. Or, at least...that's what we all thought happened. This week, we're examining the "Dean Scream," what really pushed Dean away from political candidacy, & the effect it's had on politics since.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Don't Fight Your Comrades! Season One of 'The Ultimate Fighter' & The Battle for Labor Rights
We're taking y'all into the Octagon in this week's episode on the once beloved but now kind of ignored reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter, where contestants have a shot at winning an exclusive UFC contract. We get into the first season of the show, which premiered in 2005, & discuss its effects on UFC's popularity, then of course, we get into some of the labor issues plaguing The Ultimate Fighter & the UFC more broadly.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Two Dumb Guys Present The Dumb Guys' Guide to the Golden Age of Dumb Guy Movies
This week, we're defining, describing, and rating famous Dumb Guy Movies released in the early 2000s and the aughts. We get into the differences between a Dumb Guy Movie and a regular, run-of-the-mill dumb movie, and take you through some of the most popular ones of the decade (2003 - 2013). We're sure you've experienced this phenomenon in your own life even if you weren't sure what to call it.
If you want to pre-order the shirt mentioned in the introduction to last week's show, you can find it here.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Straight Men Talking (Laughing, Loving, Breathing, Fighting) About "The L Word"
Happy Pride, everyone! In honor of Pride Month, we're diving into the wild universe of the original seasons of The L Word. We know, we know...this has been done many times over before but even though Stef does get into some of why they watched the show from its premiere in 2004 to its end in 2009, we're going to talk about some stuff we don't see other places covering: how straight (presumably white) men felt about the show's premiere and existence. You're probably wondering why their opinions matter, which they don't, but they're a lot funnier than you think.
If you want to pre-order the shirt mentioned in the introduction to this week's show, you can find it here.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
We're Here, We're Beer, Get Used To It! Talkin' America's Craft Beer Boom
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
New Episode Goofin': A Look Back on the Satire of "Reno 911"
If you're as old as we are (or older), there's a good chance you spent some time casually watching Reno 911 during Comedy Central's Golden Age of original programming. This week, we're discussing the show's creation, its premise, its awful and unforgettable cast of characters, and its impact (or lack thereof). We discuss what satire is supposed to do, and why it just never seems to go as far as it needs to.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
A Nation Bushwhacked By Bushisms: Power Ranking George W. Bush's Rhetorical "Errors"
Some people might be trying to rewrite the story of George W. Bush's presidency, but not your brothers here at FGJG. This week, we're discussing Bush's distinct rhetorical style - what people call "Bushisms" - and the ways he used this caricature of himself to convince a nation that the expansion of our imperialism was both inevitable and morally sound. We're getting into the linguistic nitty gritty of it all, AND we're power ranking the top 10 Bushisms of all time.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
A Journey Through The Surreal World Of VH-1's "Celebreality" Television Boom
We've got a special treat in store for all you VH-1 Heads out there in the world this week. We're revisiting the wild, whacky, incredibly self-referential VH-1 "celebreality" universe from its origin: The Surreal Life. We discuss what The Surreal Life was/is, which "celebrities" were on it, and how exactly VH-1 helped usher in the brave, new world of being a celebrity not just for doing something important but also for doing nothing important at all.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Celebrating the People's Champ: The Fat Guy, Jacked Guy Tribute to Paul Wall
The title of this week's episode really says it all. This is the Fat Guy, Jacked Guy tribute to the best white rapper of the aughts: Houston's own Paul Wall. We're giving you all the Paul Wall knowledge you thought you'd never have! We discuss his background, his rise to fame, some of his biggest hits, & a lot of other stuff in between.
Here are some links to the songs & videos we mentioned in the episode:
- Mike Jones ft. Slim Thug & Paul Wall - Still Tippin'
- Paul Wall ft. Big Pokey - Sittin' Sidewayz
- DJ Khaled ft. Paul Wall, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, & Pitbull - Holla At Me
- Nelly ft. Paul Wall, Ali, & Gipp - Grillz
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
"Sissy That Talk": Getting On About "RuPaul's Drag Race" With Dawn
This week, we're joined by one of our beloved former students (& loyal Fat Guy, Jacked Guy listener & patron), Dawn, to talk about RuPaul's Drag Race, which premiered on Logo in 2009. We discuss what Drag Race is, & we ask Dawn about all her favorite Drag Race everything. We also get into the cultural impact of Drag Race & why the queens who competed on the show have become such a mainstay in pop culture. It's a lot more significant than you think, & Dawn breaks it all down for us.
You can find Dawn on Twitter (where she is most active!). You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
The Return of the Shag: On the Garage Rock Revival & "Indie Sleaze"
This week, we're revisiting that moment in the mid-aughts when it seemed like everything underground was finally dredged up for everyone to enjoy. We're talking about the garage rock revival and the emergence of the "indie sleaze" scene, a time when roaring guitar-driven rock & roll helped build a culture of spontaneity and debauchery and...American Apparel bodysuits? It's the last of the youth-created and youth-led do-it-yourself scenes, and we're taking you on a little trip through some of it, particularly the early days of the scene and the music and fashion that defined it.
Stef mentions a Spotify playlist they made for the episode, which you can find here.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Fascism Has Sick Abs: Rewatching Zack Snyder's "300"
In this week's episode, we dive deep into the new millennium's version of Sparta by revisiting 2007's 300. We discuss everything 300 is bringing: the fascist propaganda, the anti-queerness, the idealized masculinity, the connections between the messages in 300 and the American politics of the period, and, of course, the ripped bodies of the actors who starred in the film and how they got them. If you've never seen the film, don't worry. You don't really need to. Plus, we got you covered on all the details you'll need to understand how much it sucks.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
The "War On Terror" 20 Years Later: Somehow, People Still Think It Was A Good Idea
This week, we're wrapping up our month-long relitigation of the media produced in response to the "War on Terror" and the American War in Iraq. We discuss our experiences being part of the anti-war movement as teenagers, get into the criticisms launched by some famous entertainers and performers and the public's reaction to those criticism, and review an editorial written by David Frum for the The Atlantic THIS month. And as always, it's fuck George W. Bush forever in the Fat Guy, Jacked Guy universe.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
"You Should Sit With This": Two Documentaries on the "War on Terror" Everyone Should Watch
March 20th, 2003 was the start of the American War in Iraq. That means this week is the 20th anniversary of that day, and as we've been covering all this month, we're here to talk about some of the most important media of the period. In this episode, we discuss the oft-forgotten "War on Terror" documentaries No End In Sight (2007) and Restrepo (2010). We break down the content of the documentaries, discuss the problems they're highlighting in further detail, and get into why it's so important for people in the U.S. to grapple with this information right now. Today, as it is every day in the FGJG universe, it's fuck George W. Bush forever.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Kathryn Bigelow Takes Us to the "Trenches": Examining "The Hurt Locker" & "Zero Dark Thirty"
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, people were growing wary of the "War on Terror," and Hollywood was starting to respond. In this episode, we examine Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty," two vastly different films where Bigelow and Boal try their best to critique the "war" while also showing the horrifying realities of its perpetuation. We get into our own thoughts on the films, whether or not they're actually successful in conveying what we think they're attempting to say, and seriously question why we dared to watch/rewatch these movies back-to-back in the first place.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Let's Talk WMDs (What Michael Moore Documents): The Power (?) "Fahrenheit 9/11"
Since it's the 20th anniversary of the start of the American War in Iraq this month, we're covering the media produced in response to the start of the war and its immediate aftermath. We're kicking things off by discussing one of the first mainstream documentaries to come out as critical of the war: Michael Moore's 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11. We discuss the content of the film, the strange criticisms of it, and we get into the role of journalists and critics when it comes to addressing horrifying events in our world. We laugh about a few things, particularly what a loser George W. Bush is, too.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Spit In My Food & Call Me "Stupid": The Mean Brit Chef Invasion
In the mid-aughts, a new craze took over American audiences: they wanted to watch mean British people on their TVs talk down to other Americans (and essentially, them, too). This little infatuation, starting with Simon Cowell on American Idol, grew into a full on obsession by the time the late aughts came around. In this episode, we discuss this strange kink and its effect on our culture, specifically as it pertained to American food TV. We'll get into the separate rises of two of the meanest, nastiest British chefs around and discuss why and how each man's legacy still endures.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
It's Guido Time! A Look Back at the Chaos & Beauty of MTV's "Jersey Shore"
The cabs aren't here, but this episode on MTV's Jersey Shore is. Take a little trip with us to Seaside Heights, New Jersey where we'll reminisce on some of the most ridiculous characters that have ever graced our television sets. We'll discuss the concept of the show, Italian-American cultural stereotypes and subcultural performance, and we'll get into just what sets Jersey Shore apart from other reality shows. If you've never seen the show before, don't worry...we got all the details for you.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Taking PEDs (Podcast Enhancing Drugs) To Talk 2008's "Bigger, Stronger, Faster"
The early aughts were filled with steroid and performance enhancing drug usage scandals. Athletes from Barry Bonds to Lance Armstrong were being brought in for questioning related to their uses of these sweet, sweet anabolic elixirs. In 2008, Chris Bell set out to examine the anabolic steroid panic in his documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster. In this episode, we discuss the doc, Bell's actual messages about American culture, and why BSF is still important right now.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
From Borat to Burgundy: A Guide to the Quoting Years
There was a rarely discussed phenomenon going on a little before and all the way through the decade 2003-2013, and this episode is an attempt to set the historical record straight on it. That's right, we're talking about what Brendan has dubbed "The Quoting Years." Remember all that time you spent with your friends repeating lines from your favorite films and television shows? Well, get ready to stroll down memory lane with us.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
"Madonna's 2 Kinky Kisses": The Girl-on-Girl VMAs Kiss That Rocked The World
20 years later, and it seems like the kisses between Madonna, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards have never been more relevant than they are right now. This week, we're examining the legendary kisses, their aftermath, and how they impacted and continue to impact queer culture and the broader culture at large. We get into some reporting from the period, and we discuss the discourse around "queerbaiting."
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Examining "The Massacre": 50 Cent's Tribute To His Own Invulnerability
The title is pretty self-explanatory BUT this week, we're revisiting one of the albums of the decade that dominated the charts even if it ultimately had very little artistic merit: 50 Cent's "The Massacre." We talk about 50 Cent's persona, each track on the album, white listeners' racial imaginations and their impact on commercial hip hop, Brendan's mom's connection to G-Unit, and the album's cultural relevance in 2005 and now.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
We're Entering the New Year's Rockin' Eve Time Warp
All right folks, WE'RE BACK. As you (hopefully) heard in our trailer for Season 2, we're using this new season to do a deep dive into the cultural and political phenomenon that dominated the decade between 2003 and 2013. You might be wondering why we chose this particular time period, and we promise that question is answered very thoroughly in this introductory episode to the new season. We're happy to be back, and we hope you'll join us for all we have in store!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Fat Guy, Jacked Guy Season 2 Coming Soon!
Here's a little trailer for our new season coming to your ear holes and brain matter on January 10th! Get ready!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
All We Want For Christmas is Class Warfare: We Talk Anti-Capitalist Christmas Movies
It's our last episode of the year, y'all! We know that many of you are going to be watching Christmas movies over the next week, so we wanted to weigh in on some of our favorite Christmas movies that urge us to challenge the capitalist hell and system of consumerism we're all forced to live in. We give you the run down on some Christmas holiday history and then get into our critiques of these very fascinating and important films.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Declaring War on the "War on Christmas"
The "War on Christmas" isn't real. But you didn't need us to tell you that. This week, we're going in on our discussion of this Conservative talking point and getting the heart of why it keeps coming up in our culture. We talk the over 100 year history of the "War on Christmas," why Conservatives love to bring it up so much, and why Liberals need to stop trying to engage with it. We're not getting involved in the discourse over whether "Happy Holidays" is more inclusive than "Merry Christmas"...we're just making fun of everyone who does.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
The Definitive Netflix Dating Show Power Rankings
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Sorry TikTok, Helen Keller is REAL
This week, an unfortunate conversation Brendan had with his students led us to investigate this whole spreading conspiracy theories on TikTok a little further. In this episode, we're talking about the very real person Helen Keller, for sure, but we're also talking about how we're stuck in a cycle of DISinformation that is bolstering our predatory capitalist society and changing our realities as we know them. And of course, we can't help goofing about the collapse of society as we know it.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Leaves Falling Have Nothing On These: Our Top 5 Fall Movies with Alex Steed
This week, we have a very special treat for you all (and for us)! We invited the cohost of one of our favorite podcasts, You Are Good, to come talk autumnal films with us and he accepted. In this episode, we break down our favorite fall movies with Alex Steed and get to listen to him talk about his, as well. This is a real treat for those of you who love to hear three brothers goofing about the magic of cinema, the splendor of the fall season, and death.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here. And of course, you can find Alex here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Where Have All The Lesbian Bars Gone?
Aside from being the spookiest month of the year, October is also LGBTQ History Month and you should know by now that this is a queer and queer-adjacent podcast, so we conceived this episode in the spirit of that. In this episode, Stef gets into some of their own personal experiences at gay bars and lesbian bars (and "queer nights") over the years and also gives both a very brief history of the conception and function of the lesbian bar in the U.S. and some perspective on how and why there's only 24 of them left in the whole country. This is a topic we're sure many of you don't know a lot about, so we're positive you'll learn something from it.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Everyone Loves to Feed Ghosts: “Halloween” Around the World
Well, folks, Halloween is literally right around the corner, so we thought we'd take some time to talk about it. This week, we’re introducing you to some "Halloween" traditions from our own childhoods to those of our ancestors and of other places we care about. We get into the spooky origins of Halloween and how it differs from place to place. Along the way, we ask some questions, have some laughs, and talk about the connectedness of everything.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Just Two Brothers Pitching Horror Movie Ideas to Each Other
Since it's "spooky season" (as the kids say), we've been talking a lot about our opinions on some of the most popular horror films of all time. For this episode, we're doing something a little different. Brendan challenged us both (himself and Stef) to come up with our OWN ideas for horror movies we'd like to see on the big (or little) screen. We recorded our pitches and our discussion of them, so you get a front row seat to this horror movie think tank and writing workshop!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
We Watched Some Horror Films From 1979 So YOU Don't Have To!
For this week's episode, we asked our dear patrons over at the Fat Guy, Jacked Guy Patreon to help us pick a year in horror to review together, and we ended up with 1979! So, we spent several hours together watching, taking notes on, and discussing some of the landmark horror films of that year. In this episode, we give your our thoughts, our opinions, our analyses, AND our rankings of these important pieces of terrifying art. Trust us, we get DEEP! Of course, we do goof on a couple of them, too.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Speaking of Patreon...Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Spiraling Into Personal Dread: We Break Down Our Top 5 "Favorite" Horror Films
Well, it's October and y'all know what that means...it's time to talk about some spooky shit. This week, we're easing into a month's worth of spooky, scary, creepy, crawly content by discussing our individual top 5 "favorite" horror films we've ever seen. We also discuss our relationships to horror films and how we came to love them. Of course, we'll get into some of the specifics of the films we chose and why we chose them. We hope you're here for the spooks and goofs because god knows we are!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
"Plucky Upstart Cryptids": A Round-up of Some Other Cryptids We Love
Well, September is coming to a close which means it's time for us to close out this accidental Cryptozoology-themed month we've been having here at FGJG. This week, we're mostly talking about some of the lesser known, less talked about, more "indie" (if you will) cryptids from around the world. We get into some of the weirder ones, discuss what they are and their origins, and just talk very generally about what cryptozoology means to us and to the world. We know you'll find some cryptids to love here, too!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
(In the episode, Brendan mentions a product called Cryptid Crate. If you're interested in checking that out, you can here.)
From Where We're From: Skunk Ape, the Official Cryptid of Florida
This week's episode is a little bit of a crossover because we're talking about Florida's one and only cryptid: the Skunk Ape. We're going deep into Skunk Ape lore and discussing the history of Skunk Ape sightings, along with the possible origins of this Everglades mystery. Don't worry, Florida heads, we also discuss Dave Shealy's role in what we currently know about the Skunk Ape. Even if you think you know all you need to know about the Skunk Ape, we guarantee you'll learn even more.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Lake Monsters Are On the Ballot! We Talk Nessie, Champ, & Friends.
It's a BIG week over here at Fat Guy, Jacked Guy, folks. And that's not hyperbole! Why? Because this week we're diving headfirst into the murky depths of the cryptozoology world and exploring one of Brendan's childhood (and lifelong) passions: lake monsters! We'll get into some of the myths about lake monsters, why these myths might have popped up in the first place, and we'll talk about some lake monsters from around the world. Of course, we also get into some deeper stuff about the importance of curiosity and wonder, too.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Extraterrestrial Lifeforms Aren't Colonizers!: Aliens & UFOs in Pop Culture, Pt. 1
This week, we're talking about UFOs and aliens and the roles these mysterious aircrafts and beings play in our collective imagination and in popular culture. We get into the history of UFO sightings and how stories of travelers from far off space places came into our cultural consciousness and the "lessons" those narratives are trying to impart on us. We also goof about our experiences with aliens and alien-related media (and about the government!!), and we each decide which alien film we'd keep if someone made us toss out the rest!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
F-Guy, Fat Bye. J-Guy, Nice Try. Let's Talk "F-Boy Island" with Dustin Brookshire!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Frontline Report: Teaching in the "Stop W.O.K.E." State
Your brothers have been having a rough time getting back into the swing of things at school given all the stuff teachers have to deal with right now, especially those of us who teach in Florida. So this week, we're talking about the ways teachers have been maligned over the last few years, how that's helping stoke the fires of the nationwide teacher shortage, and how these wild, new laws are impacting both our desire to stay in the profession and our ability to do our jobs and do them well. Don't worry, even though all of that is pretty heavy, we're still laughing about it, as usual. It's a very candid conversation, and one we're sure you'll want to hear!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Diogenes Was the First Crust Punk
You've seen 'em on the streets of your favorite cities. You've heard people talking about them. Maybe you've even had a few friends who said "Goodbye" to all this capitalist bullshit and joined ranks with other people just like them. This week, we're talking about all things gutter punk: the music, the style, and, especially, the CULTURE. We explore some of the main particularities of the gutter/crust punk lifestyle, and we discuss the philosophical origins of some of their most important values. Of course, we make a lot jokes about this "totally normal" society we are all forced to live in along the way.
By the way: we reference a documentary in the episode that neither of us could remember the name of. We found it. It's called Catching Out, in case you're interested.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time. Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
46 Questions to Ask Your "Bae" OR Your Brother
This week, we did something we've been meaning to do for y'all for a while. It's a little bit of a surprise so we won't give too much away here, but let's just say things get very vulnerable and a little goofy (as always). If you've ever wondered about some of our deepest and most intimate thoughts on our lives and how we live, this is the episode for you.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
Mustachioed, Big-Bellied Man Meat: A History of Strongman
You read that correctly, folks. This week, we're stone lifting and bench pressing our way through the history of one of the most niche and mysterious sports in the world: the Strongman competition. In this episode, we get into some of the lore surrounding Strongman's history, the ancient roots of the sport, what it's like now, and the back stories of some of the most famous Strongmen and strength performers in all of written history. We know this one's a long one, but that's because there was simply much more to talk about in regards to this topic than we could've ever expected. Come (metaphorically) carry some heavy shit with us!
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
Support us on Patreon!!! There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
You Can't Beat the Apocalypse: On Survivalism and Prepping
You can probably already tell from the title, but we'll just tell you anyways: this week, we're talking all about survivalism and prepping. No, not the kind you're thinking of...the kind where people believe the world is going to end (soon) and do everything in their power to get prepared to live in a post-apocalyptic future. We get into some of the specific orientations survivalists have in terms of what they're prepping for, a brief history of survivalism and prepping as we know it, and why the idea of it bothers us so goddamn much. This is episode is packed with what we know will be new-to-you information and, of course, tons of goofs.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
As we said in the episode, we have a Patreon. Please visit our page and do what you can to support us in producing this podcast and getting better and better at it. There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
A Brief History of Backpacking from an Ambitious Italian Lawyer to Linen Elephant Pants
This week, we're going around the world with just the clothes on our backs and one change of underwear and socks. That's right, folks, we're talking about the worldwide phenomenon known as backpacking. In this episode, we get into the very early history of backpacking as a concept, how backpacking has evolved since then, and what backpacking looks like now. Along the way, we discuss some of the problems inherent with this kind of travel and goof on some of the cultural features that have become characteristic of this popular hobby.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
As we said in the episode, we have a Patreon. Please visit our page and do what you can to support us in producing this podcast and getting better and better at it. There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!
From Where We're From: Wilton Manors is the Gayest Island in the World!
In the newest installment of our series "From Where We're From," we're exploring the history and culture of Wilton Manors, FL, A.K.A the gayest island in the world. We dive deep into some basic facts about Wilton Manors, its history, and how it became the little haven for LGBTQ people that is today. Along the way, we discuss some of what's missing in the historical record on Wilton Manors and why it's important that we fix it. Whether you're from South Florida or not, this episode has a little something for everyone, and as usual, lots of goofs in between.
You can find Fat Guy, Jacked Guy on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find Stef on the web here and Brendan here.
As we said in the episode, we have a Patreon. Please visit our page and do what you can to support us in producing this podcast and getting better and better at it. There's extra content for Patreon supporters, as well as opportunities to interact with us in other ways besides listening to the podcast. We appreciate any and all help you can provide, and we hope to keep this going for a long, long time.
Thank you in advance for your support and love! You are our brothers!