The Middle of Culture

The Middle of Culture is what happens when two siblings with too many opinions and not enough chill dive headfirst into movies, music, video games, and whatever else is rotting our brains this week. It’s part pop culture podcast, part sibling rivalry, and fully unfiltered. Expect passionate arguments, niche references, unsolicited rankings, and the occasional moment of unexpected insight. If you’ve ever wanted to eavesdrop on the kind of argument you’d hear at the family dinner table—only with better audio—this is your show.

The Middle of Culture is a music podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 118 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.

Unknown Host hosts The Middle of Culture, a music show with 118 episodes published.

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  Episode #119

  Six Mt Rushmores, One Foley Catheter

  Sep 6, 20261h 2m

  We open this week with the promise of an 18-day podcastathon — complete with a urologist's catheter and a rectal trumpet — before getting into what we've actually been consuming. Peter is working through The Iliad and saw Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey , which we both agree is a fine three-hour movie saddled with a divisive "wet fart" of an ending. He also brings new albums from Mastodon ( Marrow Deep , a grief-soaked triumph) and Russian Circles ( Nine ), while Eden counters with gloriously bad movies ( Dracula 3000 ), style-over-substance manga, and Marvel's horror-flavored Midnight Universe. The centerpiece is our no-prep game: building Mount Rushmores for six categories and landing on Columbo, Batman, Sherlock Holmes, and Jessica Fletcher for the last one. Show Notes The Odyssey (2026) : We both saw Christopher Nolan's Homer epic and think it a fine, overlong movie whose invented "wet fart" of an ending undercuts the text. The Iliad / The Aeneid : Peter is on a three-book run through the epics, starting with the one (not The Odyssey ) that high school never assigned. The Iliad The Odyssey (1997 miniseries) : Eden argues the Armand Assante version is the actually rewatchable take on Homer over Nolan's film. The Great Mental Models : Peter is chipping through Shane Parrish's series on thinking frameworks. Marrow Deep : Peter calls Mastodon's ninth album — recorded after Brent Hinds' death — a grief-processing triumph and their best since Crack the Skye . Nine : We both agree Russian Circles' ninth album cements them among the post-metal greats alongside Cult of Luna , Neurosis , and Isis . Dracula 3000 : Eden breaks down the 2004 space-vampire disaster starring Casper Van Dien and Coolio, which ends on a startlingly abrupt sex-bot punchline. Spice and Wolf : Eden's mowing-and-audiobook companion about a traveling merchant and a shrewd wolf harvest goddess. Midnight Universe: Eden read early PDFs of Marvel's horror-themed line — Midnight X-Men, Midnight Fantastic Four, Midnight Spider-Man — ahead of its October 7 launch. Fields of Mistria : Eden is deep in the cozy farming sim and teases a possible second dragon in town. Mount Rushmore of sandwiches: PB&J, the deli Italian, BLT, and Reuben — international sandwiches disqualified. Mount Rushmore of doorstopper fantasy: Lord of the Rings , The Wheel of Time , A Song of Ice and Fire , and Dune (argued as much fantasy as sci-fi). Mount Rushmore of movie musicals: West Side Story , The Music Man , Singin' in the Rain , and Hello, Dolly! . Mount Rushmore of Western RPGs: Baldur's Gate II, Skyrim, Diablo II, and the first Mass Effect — janky and all. Mount Rushmore of pizza toppings: pepperoni, ham & pineapple, supreme, and plain cheese. Mount Rushmore of TV detectives: Columbo, Batman, Sherlock Holmes, and Jessica Fletcher as the Teddy Roosevelt fourth.

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  Episode #118

  Conan the Barbarian: The 1982 Masterpiece vs. the 2011 Disaster

  Aug 23, 20261h 2m

  Peter and Eden compare the two Conan the Barbarian movies — the 1982 John Milius original that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star, and the 2011 Jason Momoa remake. Peter, mid-outline on a new novel using Jessica Brody's Save the Cat beat sheet, finds the 1982 film fascinating but slow precisely because it ignores modern story beats in favor of a mythic, Wagnerian hero; the 2011 film follows every rule and lands soulless. They break down why the remake fails on nearly every front, geek out over James Earl Jones' Thulsa Doom and Basil Poledouris' score, and flag two upcoming projects: the Schwarzenegger/Christopher McQuarrie King Conan and the gender-swapped French curio She Is Conann. Before that, they catch up on Peter's 50th in Vegas — the Backstreet Boys at the Sphere and 20 laps in a Ferrari 296 GTB — and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Show Notes The catch-up: Eden's intrusive thoughts won and they dyed their beard purple rather than shave it again, a look they're keeping until they get bored. Lis's new gig: Peter's wife is now voice faculty at Idaho State University, teaching voice lessons to music majors and sitting in on juries. Eden — Rebecca Black: New Rebecca Black songs keep dropping ahead of an album due in two weeks, and they think she's one of the most interesting people working in pop music right now. Eden — Roll Over and Die: They caught up to the current volumes of the gory, action-packed light novel series Roll Over and Die , even if they wish they'd drop the bloated subtitle. Eden — The Credits Roll Into the Sea: The manga about a 70-year-old widow who enrolls in a university film program after her husband dies had a quiet tenderness they loved. The Credits Roll into the Sea Eden — games: They joined a monthly brothers-in-law co-op night playing Heroes of Hammerwatch , which they think the sequel improves on. Eden — Fields of Mistria: The farming sim Fields of Mistria is out of early access and is one of the better Stardew-likes they've played, on the strength of its character writing. Eden — Bad Movie Bros: Movie night returned with the gloriously bad Gor , a Conan knockoff based on John Norman's sword-and-planet novels, with the sequel already queued. Spider-Man: Brand New Day: The fourth Tom Holland Spider-Man is Peter's favorite of the four and Eden's best yet, both crediting Destin Daniel Cretton's direction. Spider-Man's Punisher: They argued the unusually light Punisher is deliberate — the first person Frank Castle has cared about since his family died, so he drops the grimness around Peter. Peter's 50th in Vegas: The whole family of eight came together in Las Vegas, and Peter correctly guessed the Backstreet Boys' Into the Millennium residency at the Sphere was the Saturday show. Ferrari at SpeedVegas: Lis bought him 20 laps in a Ferrari 296 GTB at SpeedVegas , where he hit about 137 mph on the 2,000-foot straightaway under relentless coaching from his instructor, Nico. Lucky: He's caught up through six episodes of Lucky , an Anya Taylor-Joy con-artist thriller that won't win awards but is a ton of fun. Ted Lasso returns: Season four follows Richmond's new women's team and is unapologetic about the shit women's sports has to put up with. Mortal Kombat: The 2021 Mortal Kombat was so flat Peter skipped the sequel, a midi-chlorian-style explanation for character powers that was completely unnecessary. The Expanse: He's halfway through Leviathan Wakes and enjoying the series so far. Beyond Grace: The UK band's Welcome to the New Dark Ages Part Three completes a heavy, ugly, socially conscious death-metal trilogy he's had on repeat. Death: Returning to Death reminded him what a spectacular discography Chuck Schuldiner left behind, with some eerie prescience on The Sound of Perseverance . Main topic: The episode's feature compares the 1982 and 2011 Conan the Barbarian movies. Why 1982 works: Peter, mid-outline using Save the Cat Writes a Novel 's 15 beats, found the Milius film fascinating but slow — a mythic, Wagnerian hero with no B-story and no internal conflict. The 1982 details: Basil Poledouris' score , the Andalusia shoot, and James Earl Jones' scenery-chewing Thulsa Doom carry it, with the riddle-of-steel payoff landing. Why 2011 fails: The remake hits every beat on paper but is soulless — Momoa has no presence, Rose McGowan is the only interesting thing in it, and it's all cheap CGI. 2011 plot holes: Breaking a magic mask into eight pieces instead of a million, elephants dragging a boat through a jungle, and instant travel between far-flung citadels. 2011's politics: Eden flagged how the orcish peoples read as Native American and African while the white characters don't get the same treatment. Financial disaster: The $90 million remake grossed around $60 million, and Peter argues it deserved worse. Worst movies: It sits near the very bottom of everything they've watched, in the running with Knights of the Zodiac and Black Adam. King Conan: A long-in-development King Conan sequel with Schwarzenegger and Christopher McQuarrie is finally moving forward. She Is Conann: Eden discovered She Is Conann , a gender-swapped French take starring five actresses as Conan at different ages, and can't wait to watch it.

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  Episode #115

  Hot Take Factory

  Jun 21, 20261h 2m

  Peter and Eden run through a rapid-fire list of pop culture hot takes covering movies, TV, music, books, and games. The Star Wars watch order debate kicks things off (original trilogy only for Peter, release order for Eden), Eden defends Batman & Robin and F-Boy Island as unironically great, both agree the Beatles are played out, and they end on a shared appreciation for Alpha Centauri as the peak of the Civilization franchise. Show Notes What Eden's Been Into K-pop roundup : LE SSERAFIM 's new album, aespa 's Lemonade LP, and ITZY 's Motto EP (featuring solo tracks from each member) Reading : The web novel Long Awaited Feelings (1,900 pages about a woman who time-travels after her death) and rereading How Do We Relationship? (completed 14-volume yuri romance manga — "the best romance comic I've ever read") Games : Finished PowerWash Simulator (excited for the Star Wars DLC), played Loddlenaut (cute 5-hour pixel-art ocean cleanup game), and the Wuthering Waves x Cyberpunk: Edgerunners crossover event What Peter's Been Into Diablo 4 : Finished the Vessel of Hatred campaign as a Warlock ("killing demons by summoning your own demons is a good time") Reading : 82% through Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam (BookTuber debut from Tor) — enjoying it but struggling with the prickly protagonist Music : New Khemmis self-titled album (Denver doom metal), Cult of Luna 's new single "In the Shadow of Your Shadow" (album out November), and The Ocean 's "Light Pollution" from upcoming Solaris — allaying fears after the post-Holocene lineup change Hot Takes — Movies Star Wars watch order : Peter says 4, 5, 6 + maybe Rogue One, skip everything else. Eden says release order (4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, Rogue One) to preserve cultural/historical context Eden defends Batman & Robin : "It's the second best Batman movie. George Clooney's a bad Batman, he's got nipples on the Batsuit, he's got the Bat credit card — it's great." Eden declares Saving Private Ryan a bad movie to the horror of everyone at the comic book shop Best Pixar : Eden picks Ratatouille (doesn't like most Pixar). Peter picks The Incredibles Correct max runtime : 90 minutes (Eden) vs 120 minutes (Peter) — anything longer needs to earn it Sequel that's better : Peter says Captain America: Winter Soldier > First Avenger . Eden says Tokyo Drift is the best Fast & Furious movie Citizen Kane : Eden concedes it's the rare masterpiece that actually earns its reputation — a bunch of first-time filmmakers who didn't know the rules Hot Takes — TV Shows that stayed too long : The Simpsons (Peter). Nearly every comedy past season 3 (Eden) Best series finale : M*A*S*H's "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" and Babylon 5 (Eden). Brooklyn 99 (Peter) Worst series finale : Battlestar Galactica (new) — "the most incomprehensible finale you'll ever watch" (Eden). Seinfeld (Peter) Reality TV worth defending : F-Boy Island — 24 guys, half are "nice guys" and half are fuckboys, the women pick, and the fuckboys can steal the $100k at the end. Nice guys get a villa; fuckboys get a literal prison camp on the beach Adult animation vs prestige drama : Eden says Bob's Burgers is the only good adult animation show right now. Prestige TV is in a nadir of expensive Game of Thrones clones Hot Takes — Music Never need to hear again : The entire Beatles discography (both agree) Best decade by genre : 80s for rock/pop, 90s for alt, aughts for indie, right now for K-pop (Eden). 2010s for metal — the genre found its stride again after a grim 90s (Peter) Bands that should have stopped : Dream Theater after Awake (Eden). Opeth's last 15 years are all misses (Eden). Peter agrees on both Greatest live album : Rush — Exit...Stage Left (Peter). The Bang on a Can recording of Terry Riley's In C (Eden — "the finest version I've ever seen") Albums > playlists : Both firmly team albums. Eden has a 16-hour "K-pop Brain Rot" playlist for shuffling, but that's the exception Hot Takes — Books Audiobooks = reading? Leans yes from both, but acknowledges the research is contradictory (small sample sizes, brain scan studies on both sides) E-readers vs physical : Peter goes digital 9 times out of 10 (lighter, portable, side-lit). Eden does physical for comics, e-books for prose (form factor matters less for text, but hates reading comics on a screen) Hot Takes — Games Favorite game of all time : Mass Effect 2 (Peter — tighter gameplay than ME1, loyalty missions, assembling the crew). Doom (1993) (Eden — infinitely replayable with new WADs every day, nothing feels as fluid) Best console generation : Xbox 360 / PS3 era (both) — Halo 3 LAN parties, Gears of War couch co-op, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Viva Piñata, and yes, Sneak King Open world vs linear : Both prefer a tight 20-hour experience over a 100-hour open world Franchise that peaked early : Age of Empires II (Peter — nothing since comes close). And Eden's shitpost answer of the day: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is better than every Civilization game that came...

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  Episode #114

  You're Under Arrest (Zero Arrests)

  Jun 7, 202656 minS0

  <p>Eden makes Peter watch the 1994–95 OVA You're Under Arrest, a four-episode anime about two traffic cops in Tokyo. Peter goes in skeptical but comes out admitting it was fun, charming, and visually stunning. The siblings unpack what makes 90s hand-drawn animation special, how the direct-to-video OVA format enabled lavish production values, and why the 2017 revival is a cautionary tale in digital downgrades. Plus: Peter wraps up Dungeon Crawler Carl book 8, Eden makes a pilgrimage to giant troll sculptures in Iowa, a hotel bed that doesn't suck, and Peter's genuine enthusiasm for the new I Built the Sky album.</p><p>...

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  Episode #113

  The Worst Covers in History

  May 25, 20261 hourS0

  <p>Peter and Eden kick off with a leisurely check-in — outdoor Godzilla screenings, Eden's miniature laundry room diorama with a 1/12-scale mahjong set, Peter's Amon Amarth/Dethklok concert recap, and new releases from Periphery and LE SSERAFIM. Then, with an assist from ChatGPT's Codex, Peter has assembled roughly 45 of the internet's most-agreed-upon worst album covers for a tier list ranking — S being the most catastrophically bad. The resulting hour-ish is essentially an appreciation of outsider art, deeply cursed Photoshop, and the specific chaos that was '90s rap cover design. Key revelation: the Rednecks, who made Sex and Violins, are Swed...

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