The hoopleheads and Steve discuss the season one finale of The Last of Us. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded March 26, 2023. Released April 2, 2023. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt A, Steve, Matt H, and Mel discuss the premiere of The Last of Us. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded January 18, 2023. Released January 22, 2023. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

The distant future. The year 2052. Western-themed LARPing has inexplicably become a recreational pursuit for the world's wealthy elite. Willing to spend thousands, and risk almost certain personal injury and/or death, the degenerates of the upper crust indulge in their most depraved and violent delights at Westworld, an amusement park where nothing can possib-lie go wrong. Based on Michael Crichton's 1973 film of the same name, Westworld (2016) is an incoherent mess, but boasts a phenomenal cast and glossy production. (13:53 - 1:49:50) ... Somebody's dead in the premiere of Big Little Lies (2017), a pulpy mystery set in the community of Monterey, California. Before we learn the identity of the victim, we rewind to the first day of orientation at Otter Bay Elementary when Ziggy, son of Jane No Middle Name Chapman, is publicly accused of choking a little girl. Battle lines are drawn amongst rich, helicopter parents, and soon the hostilities and secrets buried within this affluent enclave will be brought to the surface. ... Also, The White Lotus, The Gilded Age, Six Feet Under, Michael Kenneth Williams, The Many Saints of Newark, and The Last of Us. (0 - 13:52) Special thanks to this episode's guest, Steven! | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded December 12, 2021. Released February 20, 2022. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

In The Night Of (2016) horny college student Nasir (Riz Ahmed) becomes ensnared by the criminal justice system after he gives a cipher a ride in his dad's timeshared taxicab and--flash forward past the steamy drug-induced knife play--she ends up murdered in the upstairs bedroom of her Bohemian hoarder house. His fingerprints and blood at the crime scene, the murder weapon in his pocket... could Naz BE any more guilty looking? Tattoo this message onto your brains, listeners: COPS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. (6:49 - 1:34:24) ... We're not sure if The Young Pope (2016) is intentional farce or something else entirely, but there's no denying that Jude Law is entertaining as Lenny Belardo, the first American supreme pontiff and Italy's #1 Cherry Coke Zero fanboy. A sociopathic narcissist with bully tendencies, Lenny has somehow hoodwinked enough cardinals to get himself voted into high papal office, and not even his favorite nun/surrogate mother Diane Keaton may be able to control him. On the pod we discuss the Catholic Church's genocide against Canada's First Nations people, and Mother Teresa, hardly a saint. (1:34:25 - 3:36:56) ... Also, Hacks and Our Flag Means Death. (0 - 6:48) | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded June 27, 2021. Released August 14, 2021. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

It's the 1970's and New York City is a grungy, graffiti-tagged, drug-fueled, teetering-on-the-brink of economic collapse urban hellscape. But, holy fuck, what a time to be a music exec. Bobby Cannavale is Richie Finestra, the founder and president of American Century Records, successful enough to have a rotary phone in his car, but unhappy and unfulfilled in that male protagonist of a prestige drama kind of way. With the impending sale of his company, Richie is at a crossroads. Although he's about to offload his debts and responsibilities onto some unsuspecting Germans, Richie still has real passion for the biz, and a jonesing to discover new artists. It'll take the murder of Andrew Dice Clay and a structurally unsound performing arts venue for Richie to recalibrate his life. Vinyl has a plot as overstuffed as its characters' nostrils, but does it earn its feature-length running time and $30 million price tag? (20:38 - 2:19:44) ... Also, In Treatment, The Nevers, and Warrior. (0 - 20:37) | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded April 25, 2021. Released June 6, 2021. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

After two percent of the world's population inexplicably vanishes, the residents of Mapleton, New York are left to grapple with the "whys" and "hows" and "but Gary Buseys" of it all. Adapted from the novel by Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers (2014) is a series about loss and grief and cults and Justin Theroux being the messiah, maybe. Although the premiere (and first season) is a bit of a downer, the series as a whole is an absolutely riveting puzzle box of a mystery. (18:32 - 1:45:37) ... In the late 80's, federal judge Leonard Sand ordered the city of Yonkers, New York to build two hundred units of public housing in an attempt to desegregate the city. The first part of Show Me a Hero (2015) starts with nasally future mayor Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) campaigning for office, and later installments delve into the heated racial politics of the era. Things are about to get very bonkers... in Yonkers. (1:45:38 - 3:20:18) ... Also, The Nevers, Constantine, The Last of Us, and Lovecraft Country. (0 - 18:31) Q: Have you written a "thank you" note to your mayor, yet? | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded February 21, 2021. Released March 26, 2021. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt, Steve, and Will discuss the season (series?) of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 21, 2020. Released October 31, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes eight and nine of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 14, 2020. Released October 18, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes six and seven of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 1, 2020. Released October 18, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes four and five of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded September 16, 2020. Released September 27, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes two and three of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to [email protected]. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded September 1, 2020. Released September 7, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]