The Worst of All Possible Worlds

EMERGENCY POD - Dobson Died, Dead Dobson

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Well, the dude croaked.

https://jamesdobsonmemorial.com

203 - The Sweatbox/The Emperor’s New Groove

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The lads grab their pencils and go back to the drawing board as they cover the never released behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of The Emperor’s New Groove: The Sweatbox. Topics include the history of Disney animation, the similarities between the animating and acting life, and what it means to make art while walking the llama-llama and taking in the panorama.

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• The Sweatbox. Dir. Trudy Styler. 2000.
• The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. 2000.
• “An Oral History of Disney’s ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’” by Bilge Ebiri. Vulture. July 26th, 2024.

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

Interstitial: “Sting: The Kingdom of the Sun Sessions” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “Sting/Announcer”

202 - Steven Spielberg’s The Dig

The lads grab their engraved rods and play with some loose bones as they cover the LucasArts’ 1995 xenoarchaeologist point-and-click adventure: The Dig. Topics include the gaming prowess of Steven Spielberg, the incredibly fraught production process, and what it means to have have a point and click adventure imprint upon you as a child that requires you to turn a turtle into a bomb.

Want more TWOAPW? Get access to our full back catalogue of premium/bonus episodes by subscribing for $5/month at Patreon.com/worstofall!

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• The Dig. LucasArts. 1995.
• A Conversation with Gary Brubaker. Tech Talk with Daniel Albu. April 6th, 2025.
• “The Dig is a weird LucasArts adventure dreamed up by Steven Spielberg” by Andy Kelly. PC Gamer. May 15th, 2020.
• The Dig by Jimmy Maher. Digital Antiquarian. July 23rd. 2021.
• “Exclusive Interview with Noah Falstein” by Santiago Mendez. The Dig Museum. December 27th, 2004.
• “Interview with Brian Moriarty” by Paco García. Aventura y CÍA. March 2006.
• “LucasArts Secret History #11: The Dig Bills Tiller and Eaken”. The International House of Mojo.
• “LucasArts Secret History #11: The Dig Sean Clark’s Recollections of Joy”. The International House of Mojo.
• Original Design Document for The Dig
• “So, a Giant Asteroid is Heading for Earth…Again…” by Luke Plunkett. Kotaku. November 2nd, 2011.
• “Steven Spielberg Apparently Won’t Play Uncharted Because He’s a Big PC Gamer and Only Likes Mouse and Keyboard” by Kat Bailey. IGN. October 2nd, 2024.

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

Interstitial: “Brink” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “Professor Ludger Brink”

201 - My Big, Fat Shank Wedding [Whit’s Endless Summer 45]

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The lads return once again to Odyssey for further adventures in jet-lag, cyber security, and the long awaited return of the godking of Odyssey: John Avery Whittaker. Topics include the interminable will-they/won’t-they of Eugene and Katrina, the logistics of proposing in the year 1996, and what it means to grow up in a religion that asks you to actively throw your feelings through the No-No Door.

 

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• Adventures in Odyssey
  • #362: The Right Choice Part I
  • #363: The Right Choice Part II
  • #364: Home, Sweet Home
  • #365: Clara

 

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

 

Interstitial: “Evidence #381914: Camcorder Belonging to Chester A. Chandler, Found at the Scene of the Lakeshore Lodge Incident on June 22nd, 1996" // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Brian Alford as “Chester A. Chandler” // “The Chain Piano Cover” by GleesinnPiano

200 - Thief II: The Metal Age

In 1998, Looking Glass Studios released THIEF: THE DARK PROJECT, an unprecedentedly immersive and technically impressive first-person stealth simulator. Two years later, they followed it up with their masterpiece, THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE. After hounding Brian and A.J. to talk about this one for years, Josh finally got his wish. Plus, we got Jay Anthony Franke back to voice JC Denton for the interstitial. Thanks for sticking with us for 200 episodes and here’s to 200 more.

Jay Anthony Franke - Cameo // Instagram

Media Referenced in the Episode:

• Thief II. Looking Glass. 2000.
• Ahead of its time: The history of Looking Glass by Mike Mahardy. Polygon. April 6th, 2015.
• How Thief's Stealth System Almost Didn't Work | War Stories by Ars Technica. February 20th, 2018.
• The Story of Thief & Looking Glass Studios by Noclip. August 10th, 2021.
• Thief-TheCircle.com --- Thief II: The Metal Age Strategy Index
• Thief II - The Metal Age Walkthrough by Orgulo. Gamefaqs. July 5th, 2025
• Thief vs. AAA Gaming by Dom Giuca. March 16th, 2014.
• Through the Looking Glass Forums

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

Interstitial: “The Pigeon Job” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. Josh Boerman as “Garrett”, Brian Alford as “Benny”, A.J. Ditty as “Karras”, and Jay Anthony Franke as “Cramble Grenton.”

199 - What Remains of Edith Finch (feat. Lenore and Aysha U. Farah)

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Aysha U. Farah (All My Maidens) and Lenore (The Socialist Shelf) return to the pod to take the lads on a heartfelt journey of death and birds as they cover Giant Sparrow’s 2017 walking sim megahit: What Remains of Edith Finch. Topics include games about death, the importance of twee in the face of tragedy, and what remains of both the walking sim genre and the titular Edith Finch.

Aysha U. Farah: Website // Bluesky // Instagram

Lenore: Bluesky

BUY AMPLITUDES HERE

PREORDER JACOB’S BOOK HERE

The Socialist Shelf: A podcast where we care about two things: good fiction and changing the world. From your favorite pseudointellectuals, Jacob Dallas-Main and Lenore Olson.

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

All My Maidens: Welcome to All My Maidens, an Elden Ring lore podcast. Have you ever played 100 hours of Elden Ring and then thought, wow. I have no idea what the heck this game is about? Well, join award winning game writer Aysha U. Farah as she invites various friends and confidants to come on and Explain Elden Ring to her. What is an Elden Ring, anyway? What makes it elden? Who are the Tarnished? Why do a bunch of guys have weird horns on their faces? Who is that dude made of roots? Answer all these questions and more, right here!

• Spotify // Apple Podcasts

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• What Remains of Edith Finch. Giant Sparrow. 2017.
• “The making of What Remains of Edith Finch” by Chris Schilling. PC GAMER. June 2nd, 2018.
• “Whitespace: The man behind ‘The Unfinished Swan’” by Evan Shamoon. Polygon. October 9th, 2012.

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

Interstitial: “What Remains of Joshua Boerman” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring A.J. Ditty as “AJ Ditty”, Brian Alford as “Brian Alflord”, Josh Boerman as “Joshua Boerman”

198 - Rambo: First Blood (feat. Andrew Law)

Andrew Law (Boonta Vista) and the lads make for the Pacific Northwest and set up little traps in the woods as they cover Ted Kotcheff’s 1982 debut of Rambo: First Blood. Topics include the joys of practical stunts, the brilliance of Brian Dennehy, and the reactionary politics at the center of both the film and the Italian Stallion himself: Sylvester Stallone.

Boonta Vista: The least consequential news from around the world from the least informed minds in Australia. Andrew, Theo, Lucy and Ben bring you the week’s stories that conveniently fit into one of their countless, concerningly specific segments. Keep up with the latest news from Nature Corner, Paging Dr. Lucy, Planely Speaking, Omens and Portents, The Hole Report and many, many more.

• Patreon // Website // Merch // Spotify // Apple Podcasts

Media Referenced in the Episode:

• First Blood. Dir. Ted Kotcheff. 1982.
• First Blood by David Morrell. Rowman & Littlefield, 1972
• My First Thriller: David Morrell by Rick Pullen. Crime Reads. August 12th, 2020.
• "'Rambo' in the Garden: The POW Film as Pastoral" by Paul Budra. Literature/Film Quarterly, vol 18, no. 3

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

Interstitial: “Rambo: Last Blood Part II” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. A.J. Ditty as “Sly/Sico”

197 - Ghosts From the Internet (feat. Josiah Sutton)

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Josiah Sutton (Fruitless) joins a lads-less Brian as he revisits the inspiration for his first video essay: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse. Topics include revisiting old work, breadtube, and what we can learn from the ghosts from internet eras long past.

 

Josiah Sutton: Twitter // Substack // Instagram

 

Fruitless Podcast: A show about history, politics, faith, media, and the internet hosted by Josiah Sutton.

• Patreon // Apple Podcasts // Spotify

 

Fruitless video essays:

• “A Brief History of Zombie Films”
• “Why You Should Watch Motern Media (feat. Will Sloan)”
• “Everyone Else is an NPC”

 

Media Referenced in the Episode:

• Pulse. Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa. 2001.
• The Tunnel by Friedrich Durrenmatt
• “Pulse (2001): How J-Horror Predicted 2020” by Brian Alford. 2020.
• Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman. Viking Penguin. 1985.
• “I Can’t Stop Watching Contagion” by Folding Ideas. March 31st, 2020.
• “Massacre on Martin and 3rd” by Jack Saint. October 20th, 2018.
• Mike D’Angelo’s Scenic Routes: Pulse. The A.V. Club. April 4th, 2011.
• “The Problem With Video Essays” by Philosophy Tube. June 27th, 2025.
• “Steve Bannon” by Philosophy Tube. February 4th, 2019.
• “Wo Ich Wohne” by Ilsa Aichinger. The Dedalus Book of Austrian Fantasy 1890-2000. Translated by Mike Mitchell. Dedalus Limited. 2003.

 

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

 

Interstitial: “A Little Ditty” // written and performed by A.J. Ditty

196 - 2 Bangers 2 M*A*S*H

The lads hop on their choppers and make for the 4077th as they return to Korea for another installment in their ongoing coverage of the most critically acclaimed sitcoms of all time: MASH. Topics include the evolution of Margaret O’Houlihan, the zaniness of Frank Burns, and how losing some of your best cast members can transform your show into the best version of itself.

GOATMAN: Tickets // Gofundme

2002: Tickets

Media Referenced in this Episode:

• MASH

  • Season Four, Episode One: “Welcome to Korea”

  • Season Four, Episode Two: “Change in Command”

  • Season Five, Episode Two: “Margaret’s Engagement”

  • Season Five, Episode Seven: “Dear Sigmund”

  • Season Five, Episode Twenty-Four: “Margaret’s Marriage”

• Have You Seen This? Episode 135 “It!” feat. Josh Boerman and Brian Alford

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

Interstitial: “Another Brief Message from Alan Alda” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Feat. Eleanor Philips as “Ellie Philips” and A.J. Ditty as “Alan Alda”

BONUS - Western Kabuki: Beast Week Part 1 Ft. The Worst Of All Possible Worlds

We hope you've enjoyed Beast Week. To conclude the week in style, we went on Western Kabuki to observe Mr Beast, learn from Mr Beast, and love Mr Beast.  We watched some of Mr Beast's videos and diagnose the Beast and what he means for the world. Part 2, where we talk about what he's been up to this year specifically, will be released to the Western Kabuki Patreon this weekend. Make sure to subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/c/westernkabuki/posts