The Occasionalists Podcast

In Memoriam: Dennis Kisela

This past week has been one of the hardest all of us associated with the podcast have ever had. Our dear friend Dennis Kisela passed away unexpectedly last week. He was a building block of what this show would eventually become, teaming up with me almost two decades(!) ago to produce our stupid little sports and pop culture podcast.
Needless to say everyone who knew him is crushed and words alone cannot do him justice.
I think re-sharing the Drinking W/ Buds episode, Denny's last on the podcast, will give everyone some insight into the funny and kind person he was and why he was a great friend to me for over 20 years.
Dennis Kisela. Gone but not forgotten.

Top 5 of 2025: #4 Musical Movie May Primer - May 2

The #4 episode of 2025 has been revealed and it is...an intro episode?! I'm assuming this is because it's really short and our brains can't focus for more than 30 minutes at a time. I get it!
Enjoy this brief minisode on the goings on for the first ever Musical Movie May.

Top 5 of 2025: #5 The Legend of Zelda - February 21

Today is the first of our look back at the top episodes of the year.
Coming in at #5 for our Top 5 of 2025 is a long-overdue discussion with video game correspondent Greg Cherry about the enduring franchise that is The Legend of Zelda.
Enjoy!

Political Movie Pitch: The Down Bad Caucus

Our final (and slightly delayed!) Political Movie Pitch finds us wandering into a vengeful black comedy that pits aging politicians against their Gen Z congressional counterparts.
Naturally, the older, wiser statesmen do what any normal person would do when annoyed by the younger generation in a public setting: take lots of steroids and set out on a quest for vitality and revenge.
The Down Bad Caucus is ready to throw hands.

Political Movie Pitch: Wolverines!

Our next episode for Political Movie Pitch month tackles the ongoing war in Ukraine and reintroduces the once-popular concept of the "good guy" President in movies and TV shows. Will we ever see it again?
You'll see (well, hear) it in this pitch for the geopolitical action thriller: WOLVERINES!
Betrayed by a corrupt successor and marked for death, a former President and First Lady become fugitives in war-torn Eastern Ukraine—hunted by the Russian president himself in a deadly game of survival where the stakes are nothing less than global catastrophe.
Buckle up, buttercup!

Political Movie Pitch: The Witch Hunt

It's time to dive into the first movie pitch minisode for this politically charged theme month. 
What do you get when you have an aging President with a desire to flout the Constitution and a city (Washington DC) that's been a hotbed for occult conspiracy theories? 
Sounds to me like a body horror movie we're calling 'The Witch Hunt.'

Political Rewind: Fright Fest V - Deathwatch and Day of the Dead

It's November, everyone! By now, you've no doubt been asked if you've voted and then asked if you voted for the people others want you to vote for.
In celebration of this time-honored tradition of hating each other because someone picked the wrong overlords to exploit us, we will be tackling politics all month long.
However, we will start the month with a Political Rewind episode. We flash back to 2023 and the very end of Fright Fest V for a look at a double feature of political horror, focusing on the enforcement arm of the government: the military. For that, we checked out Deathwatch and Day of the Dead.
As we advance, we will have brand-new political movie pitch episodes. For now, enjoy the flashback!

Fright Fest 7 Wrap Up Minisode

We are back with one more episode, which happens when you have 5 Fridays in a month, to give our final thoughts on our annual celebration of all things horror. 
We make some predictions on the future of horror movies, share some of our favorite spooky season songs and albums and we round it out with a little horror movie cast trivia.
Happy Halloween everyone!