But Why Tho? The Podcast

This week, Alex and Jason talk about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, whether it's "bad for kids," if characters need to grow or develop for stories to be good, and why we mix up nostalgia for quality.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Matt talk about the conspiracy theory that the CIA intentionally killed rock music to supress it's anti-governmnet, anti-war, protest nature. They get into the dearth of new political music, why it's hard to find it when it does come out, and why the long history of protest music seems to have died alongside rock music.

Prove You’re Human is a sci-fi narrative adventure game from Sunset Visitor 斜陽過客, the visionary studio behind the Peabody award-winning 1000xRESIST. What's even more exciting is that Prove You're Human is the debut title for new developer-turned-publisher, Black Tabby Publishing. Yup, the developers who brought you the genre-smashing Slay the Princess are in publishing now.We sat down with Black Tabby Publishing co-founders Abby Howard and Tony Howard Arias, and Remy Siu, the Creative Director at Sunset Visitor Studios, to discuss Prove You're Human. In our discussions, we talk about independent game development, why science fiction is such a powerful genre, and for Black Tabby Publishing, why they knew that Sunset Visitor 斜陽過客 was the perfect developer to work with as they took the leap into becoming a publisher.

This week, Alex, Charles, and Neysha take a break from the tougher convos and share their biggest recommendations at the moment, including Trigun Stargaze, live-action One Piece Season 2, and Thundersong by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe.

This week, Alex, Matt, and Jason work through a sci-fi bracket in honor of the Artemis II launch and Project Hail Mary being a 10/10 movie. They debate how cool E.T. can be if he never curses like R2D2 does, whether a Star Trek replicator would shoot an avatar out like a compressed mattress, and if, from a post-modernist approach, it was actually always inevitable that the Fast and Furious movies would go to space.

This week, Alex, Kyle, and Charles discuss photorealism in video games, whether and when it has its place, and whatever is going on with Nvidia's DLSS 5 as AI slop takes over all of our art.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Matt discuss conventions, how their locations have made them more and more inaccessible, unaffordable, and worse, and why more conventions need to be held in more geographically diverse locations (especially the South).

This week, Alex talks to the team at Wizards of the Coast behind Magic: The Gathering's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universes Beyond Set: Eric Engelhard – Senior Game Designer and Set Design Lead, Stephanie Chung – Art Director, and Crystal Frazier – Senior Narrative Game Designer and Worldbuilding Lead. They take a deep dive into the set, from how the art style was decided on, how the set borrows from 40 years of TMNT history, and the mechanics behind the new set.

This week, Alex and Kate talk about how to be good people and neighbors in an age of constant horrors, war, and disappearings. They draw from the examples of Mr. Rogers, Ms. Rachel, the people of Minneapolis, and our own staff to try and find hope and action in dark times.

This week, Alex, Kate, Sarah, and Allyson talk about the Netflix documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model. They discuss the docuseries, the toxicity inherent in America's Next Top Model, and how watching it impacted them, including eating disorders, on-screen representation, and much more.

This week, Alex and Kate talk about the rise of performative consumerism as a form of moralization and how it manifests from Tumblr to Bad Bunny's halftime show. Plus a reminder about some of the politics of some of the most misunderstood musicians. We aren't just the things we consume; go be a community!

This week, Alex, Jason, and Kyle discuss the Muppets, their legacy and impact, what iterations of the Muppets have worked and why, and of course, how they'd like to see the Muppets used in the future.

This week, Alex and Jason talk about the classic depiction≠endorsement argument. They talk about how a lack of media literacy leads to the misconception and when depicting unsavory things is meant to make you think versus when it's unintentionally depicting.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Jason draft their favorite things from different corners of pop culture from 2025. The categories are TV/Film, Books/Comics, Music, Video Games, and Favorite Moments. The picks range from well-known hits to a trifecta of country/folk musicians.

To close out 2025, Alex leads Kate, Matt, and Jason in some trivia about the year in pop culutre, diving into conversations about manners at the movie theater, sub-contracting in video games, the number of teeth on a Labubu, and more.

This week, Alex, Swara, and Charles discuss the Wrapped phenomenon, its intended and unintended consequences, and where they draw lines on engaging with them, personally.

This week, Alex, Adrian, and Charles talk about worldbuilding, continuity, when it's a fun expansion of our understanding of a universe, and when it becomes a source of gatekeeping or overwhelm in a story. Plus, is there a fine line to draw between scrutinizing a timeline and over-analyzing it? And at the end of the day, does any of it really matter?

This week, Alex, Kate, and Neysha talk about adaptations, why we're constantly going back to the same wells for stories, the impact of a good reinterpretation, and how they appreciate when an adaptation has a unique take or perspective on a story.

This week we're talking all about the Predator matters. From comics to films and the lore that its steeped in - yes, even AVP - we dig into why this film that began with Jean-Claude Van Damme in a read monster suit jumping over logs became one of the cornerstones of action and science fiction in the 1980s, 90s, and today. Adrian leads us through the history of the franchise, its technical effects wonders, and more. This is a rerelease of a May 2020 episode with an introduction from Jason to celebrate the release of Predator: Badlands.

This week, Alex and Kate discuss brain rot, what it is, how it's destroying literacy and culture, and ultimately how it helps the rise of fascism, even if some of it is innocuous too. Plus, they have no idea what 6-7 means.