In a first for You've Been Blacklisted, the spotlight finally turns on the man behind the microphone. Stand-in host Kellie Johnson takes the chair this week, putting founder Matt Black in the hot seat alongside ‘Radio Ed’ Nell and special guest ‘AI Ian’ Bowley, the show's resident artificial intelligence with strong opinions and questionable nicknames.

Across five rounds the trio battle it out over overrated remakes, irritating motivational phrases, childhood nostalgia, modern streaming gripes and songs that have overstayed their welcome. As always, the arguments are loud, the research from AI Ian is unexpectedly thorough, and nothing gets resolved cleanly.

Key Takeaways

The RoboCop remake split the room down the middle.

Matt argued the 2014 version stripped all the grit from a violent, brilliant original. Ed disagreed entirely, claiming the special effects had aged badly enough to justify a reboot.

Marley and Me was Radio Ed's pick for false advertising.

Sold as a comedy, Ed found it traumatic and miserable instead, with the dog treated badly throughout before a devastating final act.

Be the change you want to see and you can't take it with you

Matt's case against the first centred on Ed using it to win an argument. Kellie's against the second focused on its murky logic about the afterlife.

Mousetrap the board game Vs TV on wheels.

Matt's argument that it takes longer to set up than to play wasn't enough to beat Ed's case against being shown traumatic educational films at primary school.

Streaming services with paid ad-removal tiers Vs ticket resellers in the modern life round.

Both arguments were strong, but Kelly ultimately sided against being charged twice to avoid adverts she didn't sign up for in the first place.

Wonderwall Vs Westlife's Swear It Again in the final round.

Matt's dislike of Oasis as people took on Ed's case against manufactured pop.

Key Moments

"Any film about a dog, the dog's always gonna die." - Matt Black

"I think the special effects hold up in the original. It's just a bit rubbery in places." - Radio Ed

"If you want the world to be more social, you should be more social." - Matt Black

"Any game that takes longer to set up than it does to play should be blacklisted." - Matt Black

"It's the biggest song of a band I cannot stand." - Matt Black on Wonderwall

About You've Been Blacklisted

You've Been Blacklisted is the show where small annoyances get treated like they should be illegal. Hosted by Matt Black from Matte Black Marketing, each episode brings two guests together for five rounds of debate, strong opinions and absolutely no resolution.

It is the podcast where logic takes a day off and the smallest inconvenience gets dragged through the mud. If you have a grievance that deserves a hearing, this is the show for you.

How to Get in Touch

You've Been Blacklisted is brought to you by Matt Black Marketing.

Guest host this episode: Kellie Johnson - My Midlands

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a five star review and come back for more righteous nitpicking.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of You've Been Blacklisted, host Matt Black is back in the Love Shack with Radio Ed and two guests from WLV Plumbing and Heating - Scott Irving and David Robinson. Two heating engineers, one show, and absolutely no shortage of opinions.

Across five rounds of debate, Scott and David go head to head over overrated films, empty corporate phrases, childhood things that haven't aged well, modern life annoyances and songs that have long outstayed their welcome. As always, the arguments are passionate, the justifications are questionable and nothing gets resolved - which is entirely the point.

Key Takeaways

The Shawshank Redemption is good but not the greatest film of all time.

Scott's case was simple - a film that made 16 million dollars at the box office and got zero Oscars has no business sitting at the top of the IMDb charts for years. It is everyone's default favourite, which is precisely why it is overrated. The tunnel alone defies belief.

Teamwork makes the dream work is not even a rhyme.

David's central objection was airtight - work and work is not a rhyme, it is the same word used twice. The phrase gets printed on office walls and LinkedIn posts by people who ignored their colleagues' emails that morning.

Follow your dreams only works for about six percent of people.

Scott had done his research. Only six percent of adults land the job of their dreams, which means for the other ninety-four the advice is just noise. If everyone genuinely followed their dreams, nobody would build roads, fit boilers or look after the kids on Wednesday night.

Dry robes were invented for surfers and belong at the beach - not the school run.

David's argument was precise. A product that genuinely solves a real problem for cold water swimmers has been ruined by people wearing them to Aldi in fourteen degrees. At a hundred and sixty pounds a time, they have also become a status symbol dressed up as practicality.

Verification codes are maddening but they do actually work.

Scott's frustration was relatable - forgotten passwords, codes sent to email accounts you cannot access, and a Papa John's order that takes twenty minutes longer than it should. Matt blacklisted them anyway, against his better judgement, because the irritation outweighed the logic on the day.

Key Moments

"If everyone followed their dreams there would be no roads to drive on. Nobody dreams of tarmacking a road."

"A dry robe is a duvet with arms. And people are wearing them to Costa."

"My Way has become the national anthem for people who have not done anything their way."

About You've Been Blacklisted

You've Been Blacklisted is the show where small annoyances get treated like they should be illegal. Hosted by Matt Black from Matte Black Marketing, each episode brings two guests together for five rounds of debate, strong opinions and absolutely no resolution.

It is the podcast where logic takes a day off and the smallest inconvenience gets dragged through the mud. If you have a grievance that deserves a hearing, this is the show for you.

How to Get in Touch

You've Been Blacklisted is brought to you by Matte Black Marketing.

Guests this episode: Scott Irving and David Robinson - WLV Plumbing and Heating

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a five-star review and come back for more righteous nitpicking.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of You've Been Blacklisted, host Matt Black is back in the Love Shack with Radio Ed and two new guests - Cheryl Turner, copywriter and founder of Wordy Bird, and Dave Hardy, IT consultant and founder of 5 Computing.

Across five rounds of debate, the four of them go head-to-head over overrated films, overused words, nostalgia that doesn't hold up, modern life annoyances and songs that have outstayed their welcome. The arguments are strong; the justifications are questionable and absolutely nothing gets resolved - which is exactly the point.

Key Takeaways

Avatar divides opinion but probably shouldn't be blacklisted.

Cheryl couldn't see what the fuss was about and still can't. Dave thought it was genuinely brilliant. Matt sat in the middle - he enjoyed it at the time but wouldn't rush to rewatch it. The consensus was that whatever you think of the story, the technology alone earned it a pass.

Lucozade used to mean something.

For a generation, a bottle of Lucozade meant you were properly ill and being looked after. Now it means you've got a gym membership you probably don't use. Cheryl missed the orange cellophane. Ed admitted he drinks it daily. The memories survived even if the brand didn't.

Playgrounds were brilliant and terrifying in equal measure.

Dave's memories of concrete floors, witch's hat roundabouts and genuinely dangerous equipment were vivid and mostly fond. The modern version - soft surfaces, no corners, no real danger - is safer but somehow emptier. The real hazard these days is the teenagers who've taken them over.

Massive burgers with sticks in the middle have gone too far.

Cheryl's case was simple - if you need a skewer to stop it falling over, it is no longer a burger. Matt agreed. Dave did not, on the grounds that burgers are never big enough. Radio Ed, predictably, was fully in favour of more meat.

Key Moments

"People have used it wrong so often it became right. The dictionary had to adjust." - on the word literally

"Lucozade used to mean you were dying. Now it means you've got a gym membership you don't use."

"They took all the danger away from the park and put it in the teenagers."

"If it needs a stick, it's too big. It's not a hamburger."

About You've Been Blacklisted

You've Been Blacklisted is the show where small annoyances get treated like they should be illegal. Hosted by Matt Black from Matte Black Marketing, each episode brings two guests together for five rounds of debate, strong opinions and absolutely no resolution.

It is the podcast where logic takes a day off and the smallest inconvenience gets dragged through the mud. If you have a grievance that deserves a hearing, this is the show for you.

How to Get in Touch

You've Been Blacklisted is brought to you by Matt Black Marketing.

Guests this episode:

Cheryl Turner - Wordy Bird: www.wordybird.co.uk

Dave Hardy - 5 Computing: ask around, he'll come to you.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a five star review and come back for more righteous nitpicking.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.