Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

Critics and teachers Jonathan R. Lack and Sean Chapman host this monthly variety series where we talk about our favorite video games, movies, anime, and much more, having fun and maybe even learning something along the way. From the creators of The Weekly Stuff Podcast and Japanimation Station. Visit https://www.jonathanlack.com for more!

Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman is a leisure podcast hosted by Jonathan Lack, with 579 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Jonathan Lack hosts Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman, a leisure show with 579 episodes published.

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  Episode #575

  Purely Academic #37 - Movie News, Genshin Impact, Halo, Street Fighter, and Variant Video Game Futures

  Aug 19, 20263h 26m

  We’re back for a loose, fun ‘Monthly Stuff’ episode diving deep into what we’ve been up to over the summer break. Sean talks about the latest Ultraman series he’s been watching, the new 7.0 update to Genshin Impact, and his continuing adventures with Super Robot Wars, while Jonathan talks about his life-consuming obsession with Street Fighter 6, his journey through the James Bond movies, and his thoughts on the new Halo: Campaign Evolved remake. We also cover some recent news from Marvel Studios and discuss the string of wild successes various films have enjoyed at the box-office this year, as cinema fully rebounds from its post-COVID slump. And finally, we treat you to the darkest Monthly Ten segment we have ever done, as Jonathan counts down 10 variant future for the video game industry, most of which also implicate humanity in various states of decimation. Enjoy? Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:40 Movie News: 0:08:40 – 1:08:45 Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: 1:08:45 – 1:25:34 James Bond: 1:25:34 – 1:37:58 Genshin Impact: 1:37:58 – 1:56:25 Street Fighter: 1:56:25 – 2:13:35 Super Robot Wars V: 2:13:35 – 2:36:45 Halo Campaign Evolved: 2:36:45 – 3:00:54 The Monthly Ten: 3:00:54 – 3:25:40 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com  Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews  in Paperback or on Kindle –  https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station:  https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Original Music by Thomas Lack  https://www.thomaslack.com/ ©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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  Episode #574

  Purely Academic #36 - The ODYSSEY Episode: Homer via Christopher Nolan, Emily Wilson, and more!

  Jul 23, 20263h 8m

  Christopher Nolan is dominating theaters once again with his adaptation of The Odyssey starring Matt Damon, so we’re taking the opportunity to not just talk about the new movie – which is excellent, though our hosts slightly disagree on how much – but the original poem by Homer. Well, not exactly the original, since neither of us read Ancient Greek – but we took a look at the 2017 translation by Emily Wilson for this episode (which partially inspired Nolan’s film), and talk about a few other translations we’ve read over the years, as we appreciate a work that’s endured for millennia for good reason. If you like the ‘academic’ in Purely Academic, this is the episode for you. Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com  Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews  in Paperback or on Kindle –  https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station:  https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Original Music by Thomas Lack  https://www.thomaslack.com/ ©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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  Episode #573

  Purely Academic #35 - The Video Game Apocalypse: Sony Abandons Discs, Xbox Lays Off Everyone, and more

  Jul 15, 20263h 26m

  It’s been perhaps the darkest few weeks for video games in either of our lifetimes, so we’re back to discuss the ongoing Video Game Apocalypse, from Xbox executing thousands of layoffs and divesting themselves of a half-dozen studios, to PlayStation ending physical media on their consoles even as they close the digital storefront on legacy systems, to ongoing price hikes making the entire hobby unaffordable for everyone. It’s really never been this bad, but at least we can commiserate about it together! And after that, this episode has plenty of fun, too, as Sean talks about the latest Ultraman shows he’s seen and ongoing adventures in Super Robot Wars Y, while Jonathan shares his experiences falling down the Street Fighter 6 rabbit hole and watching all the James Bond movies after playing 007: First Light. And we’ve got a great Odyssey- inspired Monthly Ten for you about unlikely adaptation ideas for pre-modern literature. Enjoy! TIME CHART: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:48 Video Game News: 0:04:48 0:23:44 PlayStation News: 0:23:44 0:54:14 Xbox Layoffs: 0:54:14 1:22:28 Doctor Who News: 1:22:28 1:31:54 Ultraman Max & Mebius: 1:31:54 1:44:42 007: 1:44:42 2:01:08 Super Robot Wars Y: 2:01:08 2:34:21 Street Fighter: 2:34:21 2:56:09 Monthly Ten: 2:56:09 3:26:19 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com  Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews  in Paperback or on Kindle –  https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station:  https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Original Music by Thomas Lack  https://www.thomaslack.com/ ©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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  Episode #572

  Purely Academic #34 - ULTRAMAN 60th Anniversary Special! The Jissōji Akio Collection

  Jul 4, 20263h 26m

  This month marks the 60th anniversary of the premiere of Japan’s most iconic tokusatsu franchise: ULTRAMAN! Created by the legendary special effects wizards at Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman premiered on July 17th, 1966, and has been a phenomenon in Japan and around the world ever since. To mark the occasion, today we’re taking a look at 15 episodes from 5 different Ultraman series directed by the series’ most infamous filmmaker: the one and only Jissōji Akio, whose bizarre and innovative camerawork has proved an indelible influence on generation of Japanese filmmakers, including famous anime auteurs like Neon Genesis Evangelion ’s Anno Hideaki. It’s some of the most inspired, bravura directing ever seen on television, and whether you’re a longtime Ultraman super-fan (like Sean) or a relative newcomer (like Jonathan), you will have a blast watching these amazing episodes. Enjoy! TIME CHART: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:18:18 Ultraman History: 0:18:18 – 0:43:30 Ultraman ‘66 Episodes: 0:43:30 – 1:37:08 Ultraseven Episodes: 1:37:08 – 2:20:02 Ultraman Tiga Episodes: 2:20:02 – 2:45:40 Ultraman Dyna Episode: 2:45:40 – 3:00:18 Ultraman Max Episode: 3:00:18 – 3:25:42 The full list of episodes we watched for this podcast: ULTRAMAN (1966) - Episodes 14 (The Pearl Defense Directive), 15 (Terrifying Cosmic Rays), 22 (Overthrow the Surface), 23 (My Home is Earth), 34 (A Gift from the Sky), and 35 (The Monster Graveyard) ULTRASEVEN (1967) - Episodes 8 (The Marked Town), 12 (From Another Planet with Love), 43 (Nightmare of Planet No. 4) and 45 (The Saucers Have Come) ULTRAMAN TIGA (1997) - Episodes 37 (Flower) and 40 (Dream) ULTRAMAN DYNA (1998) - Episode 38 (Kaiju Play) ULTRAMAN MAX (2005) - Episodes 22 (Butterfly Dream) and 24 (The Unmarked Town) Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com  Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews  in Paperback or on Kindle –  https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station:  https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Original Music by Thomas Lack  https://www.thomaslack.com/ ©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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  Episode #571

  Purely Academic #33 - Not-E3 2026! All the Gaming News from Sony, Xbox & More!

  Jun 9, 20263h 47m

  The most wonderful and/or tedious time of the year has come once more: It’s Not-E3 2026, when all of the video game giants share their biggest announcements for the year. As always, we’re here to recap it, with thoughts on Sony’s State of Play, the Summer Game Fest, and the Xbox Showcase, across which we saw the unveiling of God of War Laufey, the sooner-than-expected Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the long-awaited reveal of Persona 6 and more gameplay of Persona 4 Revival, and much more, including Xbox’s completely incoherent exclusivity ‘strategy.’ We also find some time to quickly review Saros, the new PS5 exclusive from Housemarque, and talk about 007 First Light from Hitman developers IO Interactive. A very silly Monthly Ten rounds out the episode, in which Jonathan pitches 10 Star Wars projects for Disney to announce and then quickly abandon. Enjoy! TIME CHART: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:33 General Gaming News: 0:04:33 – 0:31:08 Sony State of Play: 0:31:08 – 1:13:12 Summer Game Fest: 1:13:12 – 1:59:45 Xbox Showcase: 1:59:45 – 2:47:34 Saros: 2:47:34 – 2:53:50 007 First Light: 2:53:50 – 3:14:39 The Monthly Ten: 3:14:39 – 3:46:59 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com  Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews  in Paperback or on Kindle –  https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station:  https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Original Music by Thomas Lack  https://www.thomaslack.com/ ©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

  ListenShow Notes

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