Robbie & James Talk Music
Robbie & James are writing and film professors who like to talk music.
Episodes
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Christmas music.
– Love Actually facts.
– Artist credibility & Christmas albums.
Tracks: Bleachers’ “Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call” Sufjan Steven’s “Christmas in the Room”
Further Listening/Reading: Bleachers Richard Curtis’s Love Actually (2003) Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens & Lowell Brams’ Aporia (2020) Sufjan Stevens’ Songs for Christmas (2006 Sufjan Stevens’ Silver & Gold, 2012 ...
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Christmas music.
– When we listen to Christmas music.
– The history of Christmas music.
– Die Hard facts.
Tracks: The Oh Hellos’ “Mvmt I: “Rejoice! Rejoice!”” Run–D.M.C.’s “Christmas In Hollis”
Further Listening/Reading: The Oh Hellos “Joy to the World” “Coventry Carol” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” The 2025 Essay Daily Advent Calendar Run–D.M.C. John McTiernan’s Die Hard (1988) Nadia Khomami’s ...
Episode Discussion Topics:
– The historical timeline of Punk music.
– The aesthetic of Punk music.
– The impact and legacy of Punk music.
– Post Punk & New Wave
Tracks: Geese’s “Trinidad” Wire’s “Pink Flag”
Further Listening/Reading: Ramones Patti Smith Sex Pistols The Clash The Damned Geese’s Getting Killed Mike Nagel’s “Orientation” at The Rumpus, Oct. 2, 2025 Mike Nagel’s Duplex, 2022 Mike Nagel’s “Culdesac,” 2024 Autof...
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Brian Jonestown Massacre
– Psychedelic Rock
– Positionality in music
Tracks: Brian Jonestown Massacre’s “Anemone” Brian Jonestown Massacre’s “Pish”
Further Listening/Reading:
Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request (2008)
Ondi Timoner’s Dig! (2004)
Jamie Thompson’s “The Missing Kayaker: What Happened to Ryan Borgwardt?” at The Atlantic
Playlists:
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Hating vs. loving Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl.
– The inherent power of live performances.
– AI and learning spaces.
Tracks: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s “Haunt” Water From Your Eyes’ “Nights in Armor”
Further Listening/Reading: Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl Water From Your Eyes’ It’s a Beautiful Place This Is Lorelai Thanks for Coming Sean Cho A.’s “Human Error Is the Point: ...
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Penny & Sparrow.
– Horror films.
– Harmony.
Tracks: Penny & Sparrow’s “Jeopardy” Penny & Sparrow’s “Cheers to Good Friends”
Further Listening/Reading:
(James really wants you to listen to this Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl
Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone, 2021
Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, 2024
Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs, 2024
Episode Discussion Topics:
– The 1980s.
– The cultural veneer of the 1980s vs. the actuality of the 1980s.
– Ted Williams
– 1986 Youth Cinema
Tracks: Prince and the Revolution’s “Kiss” The Cure’s “Charlotte Sometimes”
Further Listening/Reading:
Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon, 1986
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs of All Time
Richard Ben Cramer’s “What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?” Esquire, 1986
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Melancholy/sad songs.
– Color and contrast to position story.
– Organizing artforms by emotion.
Tracks: Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” DUG’s “In Memorium”
Further Listening/Reading:
Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love
Thom Yorke's defense of sad music
Ander Monson’s “The Sadnesses of March: In Search of Extreme Emotions”
2016 March Sadness Essay Tournament
Playlists:
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Our artistic projects during Fall 2025.
– The purpose of art: Art for art’s sake vs. art with a larger purpose.
Tracks: Public Service Broadcasting’s “The Fun of It (ft. Andreya Casablanca)” Spoon’s “Guess I’m Fallin In Love”
Further Listening/Reading:
Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Adam Curtis’s Shifty
Rick Rubin on “...
Episode Discussion Topics:
– Artistic projects we worked on in Summer 2025.
– Art with a purpose.
Tracks: Oxis’s “Long Sardine” Lupe Fiasco’s “HOMME MADE (feat. Virgil Abloh)”
Further Listening/Reading: “Oxis Dives Into the Unknown Depths of Oceanic Electronica in Debut Album 'Oxis 7'”
Robbie Maakestad’s “The View from Bethlehem” at X-R-A-Y Magazine. W. G. Sebald
Playlists:
Episode Discussion Topics:
– New podcast format.
– Lenses through which we listen to music.
– Shoegaze: the genre.
Tracks: slimdan’s “Weinerschnitzel” The Lees of Memory’s “We Are Siamese”
Further Listening/Reading: Taylor Steele & Chris Malloy’s short film Shelter
Slimdan’s Second Dinner (live from mom’s office)
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation
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