This week, Brian reports back on Ariana Grande’s new album Petal, an assignment that somehow leads us to Train covering Led Zeppelin, the limits of musical talent, and the question everybody should be asking: if you can sound like Led Zeppelin, why would you choose to sound like Train?

From there, we return to the watermelon podcast. I’ve got this little bonne mot for you: AI uses for weedkiller dissemination. The Defamation Train leaves the station with a check in on Mitch McConnell. We discuss the fact that Chinese fortune cookies may be interfering in Tennessee elections. Some might speculate about Cort’s method of advance preparation for this recording because he goes off on a rant. Brian seeks Zen.

In the non-listening section of our podcast Brian reports back from Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. This prompts serious discussion of Matt Damon’s abs, the logistical shortcomings of the Trojan Horse, Robert Pattinson’s qualifications as a douche, and whether a 3,000-year-old story really needed to wait until the final act before the hero started kicking ass.

Brian makes an assignment and has even provided specific listening instructions, because apparently simply pressing play is no longer sufficient.

Finally, we meet this week’s randomly generated show, and it’s bloody disgusting.

Cort’s last assignment to Brian: Ariana Grande – Petal https://open.spotify.com/album/2k4FmEtXR0WiDW0Ac2QArT?si=-aKmFSiFQ4CNv_-gOBcjmw

Brian’s next assignment to Cort: Man/Woman/Chainsaw – Cannonball https://open.spotify.com/album/1yN1NPr6d4TvVJyUyuMHpK?si=D5942BnIQw6H3kfXabVq6A

🎶 Theme Song: "Cyrus Oh Cyrus" by The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

📧 listenerslikeyou2023@gmail.com 📱 @listenerslikeyoupod

This week, Brian sends Cort down the Spoon rabbit hole with both a greatest hits collection and a fan-curated playlist, because apparently one assignment wasn't enough. The result? A discussion about indie rock, gateway albums, and the eternal question: is "pretty good" the same thing as "Will I ever voluntarily listen to this again?"

From there, we wander through new releases from The Strokes and Michigander, the increasingly impossible idea of a universal "Song of the Summer," the cinematic value of terrible shark movies, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, and why some people should really think twice before arguing mythology on the internet.

We also spend a little time with horror movies and great books becoming movies. In a new bit Cort likes to call, “How did Memphis get slighted this week?” we discuss a slight to Memphis barbecue. Finally SPOILER ALERT we finish out with a shocking revelation that there is, in fact, a podcast devoted to the watermelon industry.

Brian’s last assignment to Cort: Spoon - Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon https://open.spotify.com/album/5E4CY0Z7SxuIbsviGBhW4L?si=2iZ8hqOgQZOsGXUjfjf2Ow

Bonus Assignment: All the Weird Kids Up Front (More Best of Spoon) (Spotify playlist) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/60iWAXiwBBUw6kvNz3rcaC?si=6431252835f34b4a (Amazon Playlist) https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/5257a2ae50224cfca211dab339f643e9sune?ref=dm_sh_X2oaC3LYzdtUdgJgET0ASicZ1&referrer=dm_sh_messages

Cort’s next assignment to Brian: It’s a surprise! But here’s the link: https://open.spotify.com/album/2k4FmEtXR0WiDW0Ac2QArT?si=-aKmFSiFQ4CNv_-gOBcjmw

🎶 Theme Song: "Cyrus Oh Cyrus" by The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

📧 listenerslikeyou2023@gmail.com 📱 @listenerslikeyoupod

Brian reports back on The Age of the Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets, discovering that Alex Turner's side project sounds less like Arctic Monkeys and more like the soundtrack to a 70s or 80s spy film. The discussion wanders through David Bowie, spaghetti westerns, supergroups, and the unposed question: is being called "background music" a bad thing?

Then things take a turn.

Brian unveils the next "impromptu" game dedicated to the guys' apparent inability to correctly identify famous people named Moore. Mistakes were made and hopefully corrected.

From there it's on to Memphis radio nostalgia, why podcasts have apparently become television, Lionel Messi's remarkable World Cup run, the economics of MLS, and Brian assigns Cort a double spoonful of Spoon.

Cort's Last Assignment to Brian: The Age of the Understatement — The Last Shadow Puppets https://open.spotify.com/album/2y3Rm0cT1xbf2NoTQwKv99?si=u7DCZPL7R-CojeASyerW7g

Brian's Next Assignment to Cort: Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon https://open.spotify.com/album/5E4CY0Z7SxuIbsviGBhW4L?si=2iZ8hqOgQZOsGXUjfjf2Ow

Bonus Assignment: All the Weird Kids Up Front (More Best of Spoon) (Spotify playlist) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/60iWAXiwBBUw6kvNz3rcaC?si=6431252835f34b4a (Amazon Playlist) https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/5257a2ae50224cfca211dab339f643e9sune?ref=dm_sh_X2oaC3LYzdtUdgJgET0ASicZ1&referrer=dm_sh_messages

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus — The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492