The Worst of All Possible Worlds

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217 - Waiting for Godot

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall

The lads throw on their bowler hats and blame on their shoes the faults of their feet as they cover Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic masterpiece: Waiting for Godot. Topics include the origins of Godot, the benefits of being stabbed in the chest, and the enduring legacy of a stage play where nothing happens twice.

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. 1953.
• Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett by James Knowlson. Simon and Schuster. 1996.
• Panic Attack by John Lahr. The New Yorker. May 11th, 2009.
• SAMUEL BECKETT: Waiting for Godot : Bert Lahr / E. G. Marshall
• The 1957 All-Black Broadway Cast of 'Waiting For Godot' in the Archives | The New York Public Library

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “A Message from Mr. Godot” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. DItty as “Mr. Godot” and Eleanor Philips as “The Weird Brother”.

BOBUS 14 - Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC (feat. What's all This Then?)

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall

We've done it. Charlotte and Libby are back to join us in the Hunter's Nightmare, a blood-drenched valhalla where no one's having a good time.

What’s All This Then?: A podcast about Britain, hosted by Charlotte McDonnell and Libby Watson. Patreon // Spotify // Apple Podcasts

Libby Watson: Twitch // Bluesky

Charlotte McDonnell: Twitch // Bluesky

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

216 - Odyssey: Origins (feat. Kevin T. Porter) [Whit’s Endless Summer 48]

The godfather of Christian media podcasts Kevin T. Porter (Good Christian Fun) joins the lads in Odyssey as they cover three episodes from the series that would one day become Adventures in Odyssey: Family Portraits. Topics include the dangers of yokel discrimination, the bizarro world of pre-Odyssey Odyssey, and what it means to have your mail delivered by a man named George Poindexter.

 

Kevin T. Porter: Instagram // Website

Good Christian Fun: Good Christian Fun is a podcast delving into the strange upside-down world of Christian pop culture. Hosts Kevin T. Porter and Caroline Ely are your tour guides through the weird and hilarious world of faith-based entertainment. GCF is a show for skeptics and believers alike, all are welcome. Don’t worry, they won’t make you go to church ;)

• Patreon // Apple Podcasts // Website
• Listen to Josh’s episode of GCF about Mary Rice Hopkins

Media Referenced in this Episode

• Family Portraits
  • S01E01: “Whit’s Visitor”
  • S01E03: “The New Kid in Town”
  • S01E09: “A New Kind of Peer Pressure”

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “J2o18h15n th11e Fi5rs14t” // Written by A.J. Ditty // feat. Brian Alford as “John/Jimmy/Michael”, A.J. Ditty as “Dr. Oswald Oliver”, and Jessie Cannizzaro as “Dr. Christina Cavalcante” // Violin Cover of “The Chain” by Steve Bingham, Arranged by Rowan Marshall

215 - Columbo (feat. Donovan Eyre)

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall

Donovan Eyre (Radio Free Tote Bag, DonoHell) and the lads throw on their trenchcoats and putter around some crime scenes as they cover the hit NBC/ABC mystery sensation: Columbo. Topics include the genius of Peter Falk, the many crimes of the Kong family, and what we can learn from watching a working class detective one more thing his way towards bringing justice to the bourgeois.

Donovan Eyre: Bluesky  // Instagram // SoundCloud

DonoHell: Streaming Wednesdays 8-10

Radio Free Tote Bag: A weekly relationship advice podcast hosted by Audrey and Donovan.

• Patreon // Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Twitter // Instagram

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Columbo. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link.

  • S02E01: “Étude in Black”

  • S05E05: “Now You See Him”

  • S10E01:“Columbo Goes to College”

• Columbo, Romania and the Communist Party by Radu Pericol Tiganas.

• How Columbo Influenced the Cinematographers of Poker Face by Iain Marks. American Cinematographer. May 21st, 2025.

• “How We Created Columbo and How He Nearly Killed Us” by Richard Levinson and William Link. American Film Magazine. March 1981.

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “Columbo Kong” // Written by A.J. Ditty // feat. Brian Alford as “Bluster Kong/Mainer Kong/Werner”, Josh Boerman as “DK”, and A.J. Ditty as “Columbo Kong”

214 - The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (feat. Jolenta Greenberg)

Jolenta Greenberg (Hot Mess-Terpiece Theatre) and the lads attend the dinner party from hell and down goblets of cocktails as they cover season one of the hit-Bravo reality show: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Topics include the origins of the Real Housewives, the art of the talking head one-liner, and what we can learn from the horrifying darkness that comes with being married to Frasier Crane.

 

Jolenta Greenberg: Website // Instagram

 

Hot Mess-Terpiece Theatre: Comedian & pop culture critic Jolenta Greenberg has a theory: reality TV isn’t ruining culture - it is culture. Join her and a cast of sharp, funny guests as they dig into the details behind the drama and unpack why we can’t get enough of those iconic scenes and unforgettable characters. This is the place for highbrow conversations about “lowbrow” TV.

• Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Podbean // Instagram

 

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
  • S1 E4: “It’s My Party and I’ll Spend If I Want To”
  • S1 E5: “I Would Never Say That”
  • S1 E9: “The Dinner Party From Hell”
  • S1 E13: “Unforgivable”
• “Bravo Adds Fifth Night of Programming, Boosting Original Hours by 20%” by Bill Gorman. Bravo TV Press Release. March 10th, 2010.
• “Bravo’s ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ to premiere March 21st” by Reality Tv World staff. Reality TV World. January 6th, 2006.
• How Andy Cohen Became Famous Enough To End Up On "Riverdale" by Rebecca Farley. Refinery 29. March 22nd, 2018.
• MEDIA; “Bravo Learns to Make Noise and Have Fun” by Abby Ellin. The New York Times. July 5th, 2004.
• “NBC Puts Its Stamp on Bravo” by Allison Romano. Broadcasting and Cable. February 17th, 2003.

 

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

 

Edited by: Brian Alford

 

Interstitial: “The Real Housewives of Carmel-By-The-Sea” // Written by A.J. Ditty // feat. Josh Boerman as “Bravo Announcer”, Eleanor Philips as “Chloe”, Anne Boerman as “Kathy”, and Madeleine Bundy as “Kim”.

213 - Midnight Mass

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall

 

The lads take the Breeze to Crockett island and drink the blood of the angels as they attend Mike Flanagan’s 2021 Catholic horrorfest: Midnight Mass. Topics include the origins of Mike Flanagan, the banal evil of Hamish Linklater, and what it means to try to fight addiction while doing battle with Nosferatu-worshipping vampire-priests.

 

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Midnight Mass. Dir. Mike Flanagan. 2021.
• “The Deeply Personal Horror of Midnight Mass” by Mike Flanagan. Bloody Disgusting. September 27th, 2021.

 

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

 

Interstitial: “James the Lesser” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. Dono Eyre as “Da Pope” // Music: Pipe Organ of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” by Reductio

212 - Bloodborne (feat. What’s All This Then?)

Charlotte and Libby from the What’s All This Then podcast join the lads in Yharnam as they cover the nightmare that is FromSoftware’s 2015 gothic horror opus: Bloodborne. Topics include the steep learning curve, the masterful escalation of horror, and what it means to conquer your anxieties in the greatest Britain simulator ever made.

What’s All This Then?: A podcast about Britain, hosted by Charlotte McDonnell and Libby Watson. Patreon // Spotify // Apple Podcasts

Libby Watson: Twitch // Bluesky

Charlotte McDonnell: Twitch // Bluesky

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Bloodborne. Dir. Hidetaka Miyazaki. FromSoftware. 2015.
• Bloodborne Is Genius, And Here’s Why by Hbomberguy
• The Paleblood Hunt by “Redgrave”

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “The Lads of Yharnam” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. A.J. Ditty as “Claude Pitchfork/The Lads” // Music: “Screaming at the Wailing Wall” by Flogging Molly

211 - Faye Anything (feat. I Hate James Dobson) [Whit’s Endless Summer 47]

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall

Jake from the I Hate James Dobson podcast and the lads return to Odyssey for further adventures in trust funds, marriage counseling, and the next mayor of Odyssey: Margaret Faye. Topics include the never ending Eugene and Katrina will they/won’t they, the effects of bingeing 400 episodes of AiO in an incredibly short amount of time, and the ingrained sexism at the heart of both the evangelical project and John Avery Whittaker.

I Hate James Dobson: Join therapists Jake (a former Evangelical) and Brooke (who knows almost nothing about Evangelical culture) as they read and tear apart Dobson’s works. Get ready to laugh, cry, and rip your hair out as we explore the very many reasons why I Hate James Dobson.

• Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Bluesky // Instagram

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Adventures in Odyssey
  • #372-374: “For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls Parts 1-3”
  • #380-381: “The One About Trust Parts 1 and 2"

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “25 Keys” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. Eliza Martin Simpson as “Mary Mulligan” and A.J. Ditty as “Melvin Mulligan”

210 - Into the Woods (feat. Mattie Lubchansky)

Mattie Lubchansky (Boys Weekend, Simplicity) and the lads grab their cow as white as milk, their cape as red as blood, their hair as yellow as corn, their slipper as pure as gold, and feed a potion to a rapping witch as they cover Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1986 fairy tale musical: Into the Woods. Topics include the massive reworking of the second act, the many allegations against the Big Bad Wolf, and how Sondheim’s most lucrative musical might also be his best.

Mattie Lubchansky: Website // Bluesky // Instagram // Patreon

BUY MATTIE'S BOOKS:

In the Land of…Simplicity: An Account of the Unusual Peoples of the Former United States & A Sojourn Through the Exurb Zones And Other Unsecured Territories By An Intrepid Explorer From the Coalition of Secured City-States: a vibrant new graphic novel about a timid academic sent out from the walled dystopian security territory of New York City to investigate a cult in the wilds of the Catskill Mountains.

Boys Weekend: A hilarious trans-“final girl” horror graphic novel about a bachelor party gone very, very wrong. A witty, tender romp through the cosmic horror of being alive

LISTEN TO MATTIE'S PODCASTS:

No Gods No Mayors: Municipal government: a trap that catches those too incompetent, too corrupt, too strange even for national politics. And the greatest of these, the mayor - the highest political office one can hope to reach with a truly oppositional personality or a crack addiction. Mattie Lubchansky, Riley Quinn and November Kelly are teaming up to make a podcast investigating these mayors. From petty Bonapartes to flagrant mafiosi, these are their stories.

Available on Spotify // Apple Podcasts // RSS Feed

Temporal Culture War: Mattie Lubchansky and Clayton Ashley figure out what the hell was going on in culture in the early 2000s while they wade through episodes of Star Trek Enterprise.

Available on Spotify // Apple Podcasts // RSS Feed

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Into the Woods. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by James Lapine. 1986.
• Bernadette Peters and Original Into the Woods Cast Recall Untold Stories, Backstage Memories and Standouts With Sondheim by Adam Hetrick. Playbill. November 25th, 2014.
• From "Boom Crunch" to "The Last Midnight": How Into the Woods Transformed Throughout the Years by Logan Culwell-Block. Playbill. November 19th, 2014.
• Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany by Stephen Sondheim. Penguin Random House. 2011.
• Into the Woods: A conversation with Sondheim and Lapine – 1991 PBS TV
• Into the Woods - MTI Conversation Piece with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
• Into the Woods SR. at Lenox Hill

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: “There’s a Chance You Might Be Bi” // Music by Stephen Sondheim // Lyrics by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “Himself”