The Earn This Podcast, Episode 27: Top Ten Games #5-1

Download link (you may have to right click and “Save As”)   Listen to Part 1 (#10-6) here. The long-awaited finale is finally here! With their oddball picks out of the way, Dan, Collin, and Brian drill down into the hardcore classics, occasionally challenging and contradicting each other. [wp_biographia user=”dan”] [wp_biographia user=”brian”] [wp_biographia user=”collin”]

Deep Dive: “Begin Again” by Taylor Swift

For no particular reason, here’s an in-depth analysis of the 2012 song “Begin Again” by Taylor Swift Taylor Swift’s fourth album, Red, ends with the ballad “Begin Again.” It’s the closest any of her music has sounded to “country” since her Fearless days. Swift and co. released it as Red’s second single – preceding the…

What Christina Grimmie Meant to Me

In our 2015 end-of-year recap, I declared myself a “freakazoid obsessive of YouTube covers,” which is a bit of an imprecise description. What usually happens is I’ll stumble on a performance I really connect with, then spend the next few weeks listening to every cover by that singer or group. My favorite individual songs will go on…

The Earn This Podcast, Episode 21: Reviewing Zootopia

Download link (you may have to right click and “Save As”) Dan and Kevin of Taestful Reviews check in on the latest animated hit, Zootopia, praising its themes and evaluating its place in recent animated canon. Notes/corrections: We couldn’t remember the name of the studio behind the upcoming The Secret Life of Pets — it’s Illumination…

Dan’s Top 100 Everything: #6 The Simpsons

“Television: Teacher, mother, secret lover!” – Homer Simpson, “Treehouse of Horror V” There are about fifteen reasons it feels impossible for me to write about The Simpsons in any objective, cohesive manner. It’s the greatest TV show of all time, and also the most formative on my life outlook. It’s responsible for some of my…

Songs of the Summer Mixtape Draft, Part 3

Read Part 1 and Part 2 Dan (Feb. 2016) Dear Colton, How time flies! Six months ago, in the middle of the July heat, we brainstormed the idea of a Billboard-based summer mixtape fantasy draft. One month, thirty songs, and 12,000 words later, we sent our mixtapes out to judges for assessment. Another two months…

Songs of the Summer Mixtape Draft, Part 1

Intro from Dan (Feb. 2016) As I write this, February snow falls, the heat of summer far from my mind. But the long-brewing project I’m about to share with you comes from warmer times. Last July, Colton and I came up with the idea of a summer pop fantasy draft, and spent the next couple months…