The Occasionalists Podcast

Our next 1991 pop culture episode is live. This week, we're looking at how cinema diverged sharply from its past — and discuss whether or not that divergence still holds today.
We're highlighting three movies from 1991 that show how studios and filmmakers were positioning their movies along three distinct tracks, and give the hallmarks for each:
The Silence of the Lambs (Prestige Cinema)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Modern Blockbuster)
Slacker (Indie Film Takeover)
 

Our first episode of February finds us navigating a big year for pop culture, 1991.
We kick off our coverage of this critical numerical palindrome with a look at how the dedicated fans of underreported music genres and proper data collection radically changed the musical identity of an entire decade.
Plus, we talk about how to make your music more mechanical and why it's super chic to rebel against your parents.
Dust off those flannels, we're going back to 1991!
 

In one of the more interesting developments on this podcast, we accidentally found a direct signal from the future. It's only tuned into this one news broadcast, but it seems like a valuable resource we're definitely going to tap every month.
Here's the first dispatch we received from 20 years in the future.
 

We wrap up 1965 with a look at how the media covered the height of the Civil Rights Movement. From the Deep South to the West Coast, America was embroiled in a civil rights battle that the establishment would prefer to have crushed rather than even acknowledge.
The similarities to our present are stark—once more, the establishment is using state-sponsored violence and repression in the face of civil unrest, and is actively trying to rewrite a narrative we are watching in real time.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The second episode of our dive into 1965 is now live.
We pick up and head to Vietnam for the beginnings of a generation-defining conflict that reshaped the government's relationship with the media, showcased the cost of American interventionism, and changed public perception of the US forever.

Our first episode of 2026 is here!
To kick off our brand new theme, we are taking it way back to a year of political turmoil, foreign wars, and true crime. That may sound very current, but that's the point!
We are discussing the year 1965 for all of January, and we are starting with the unprecedented rise in violence in the United States, headlined by America's budding interest in serial killers.

Our final episode of 2025 is a revisit to the top episode of the year, and it's no surprise what's taking the top spot: The Walking Dead!
Specifically, our look at The Walking Dead during Franchise February with Chemma.
This episode's popularity is proof that not only is TWD a legit mega-franchise, but maybe the biggest in television history. Maybe? 
Let's discuss it! 

Our last new episode of 2025 is a look at some of the best of pop culture in 2025. 
Short and sweet synopsis, no?
See you next year, kiddos!