What We Talk About When We Talk About

All good things must come to an end. Which as I type that, it feels like a loaded statement. But I said it, I'm not taking it back. Listen along to our series finale as Alex, Emily, and Levi reflect on their experience of making this show for 3 years, and enjoy one last conversation around the mics.

We're nearly there! And seeing as we're nearly there we wanted to give you all another chance to ask us questions, which you did! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions, we could not do this show without you.

Get ready to learn, nerds! This week Alex, Emily, and Levi take each other on in a comprehensive, six-season-spanning trivia show! Nothing is off limits, and most of it is obscure. We hope you enjoy AND that you learn something from our quick google searches for bits of trivia.

We had joked about doing this as an episode, and as soon as one of you suggested it we decided we definitely needed to. So here is Alex, Emily, and Levi discussing the Raymond Carver short story (and our namesake), What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.

So it's come to this: a finale about finales. This week Alex, Emily, and Levi talk through some of TVs best and worst endings. What makes one good? Can it even be done? Is it just that someone is always bound to be unhappy with you? All this and more this week!

We're nearing the end and thinking about that a lot, so what better way to process than by discussing the swan song. Final games, final performances, final movies. This episode has it all in its fully final glory. Listen along as Alex, Emily, and Levi discuss swan songs and all the bittersweet goodness that comes with them.

It's no wonder why Miyazaki's films are so widely loved. They've got whimsical stories, loveable characters, and gorgeous animation. This famous Japanese animator has found international success, consistently pulls in amazing voice casts even for English dubs, and has defined countless childhoods. But even with all that, we still felt it necessary to discuss just what exactly is going on here. Enjoy!

It's time to stop being polite, and start getting real. And then putting it on TV. Reality TV. That's the topic. How did unscripted television become such a juggernaut in the media? What's the point? Who even watches it? Why? All this and more with Alex, Emily, and Levi.

Did you ever think this day would come? Us neither. I can't speak for the team, actually. I'm just an episode description. This week Alex, Emily, and Levi discuss internet memes. How did they come about? Why do they persist? What even counts? All this and more this week!

Awhile back we covered the Star Wars prequels, but we sorta forgot about the rest. UNTIL NOW. This week Alex, Emily, and Levi take some time to discuss a franchise near and dear to their hearts: Star Wars. Or at least the rest of the movies. The games get an honorable mention. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy Star Wars.

You kids wanna hear about a dead body? Or like, actually, yeah, pretty much just murder. This week we're talking about the pop culture phenomenon that is true crime. From old-timey murder pamphlets to the modern podcast, there is a well documented and long standing interest in true crime. But why? What's the draw? As always, Alex, Emily, and Levi are here to talk you through it. Enjoy!

We haven't talked about a single thing from the Harry Potter franchise this whole season, and it's time to change that! This time around we're talking about the Boy Who Lived! Harry Potter is, we think, a maybe overlooked aspect of his own franchise, but we like him just fine anyway. So how exactly is he seen? Why is he seen that way? What would a true crime podcast look like in the Harry Potter world? All this and more this week with Alex, Emily, and Levi.

It's time to talk about the internet's favorite nice boy: Keanu Reeves. Bill & Ted, The Matrix, Speed, John Wick, Keanu's career is varied, fun, and loved by many. Not to mention all the rumors about his over the top, delightful kindness. But as always... why do we like him so much? Listen along as Alex, Emily, and Levi explore just that.

They're New York's finest (and arguably foine-est). This week, Alex, Emily, and Levi spend some time with their favorite fictional police team, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It's an endlessly endearing show with a cast you can't help but love and an incredibly self assured identity. It's pretty obvious why it works, but we wanted to talk about it anyway.

If ever there was a time to do something different, this is it! If you haven't seen Endgame yet and do care about not having the movie ruined for you, definitely skip this one. IT'S GOT SPOILERS. LIKE A LOT. But also... spoiler for the episode: We all had a really great time watching that movie and were super excited to talk about it.

ARE YOU READY?! Hope so. Because it's happening. From WCW to WWE, this week we're talking about that wildly popular, perpetually questioned, over the top performance art that is pro wrestling. For something so often looked down on, how does it thrive? Why do we like it? Alex, Emily, and Levi (but really, mostly Alex) talk all about it this week.

The gritty reboot no one asked for but (some) people love: Riverdale! It's got musical episodes, melodrama, murder, and drugs with silly names... so just about everything. It's not the Archie you know, but it's certainly something & Alex, Emily and Levi are determined to figure out just what that is.

Whether you're on it or not, you've heard of Facebook at the very least. With some peculiar but well documented origins at Harvard, this social media platform has evolved into something else entirely, a seemingly unstoppable influence in modern culture. But it's not without its share of controversy, so why are we still using it? That's what Alex, Emily, and Levi try to sort out this week.

Space, the final frontier. We are going THERE. Join Alex, Emily, and Levi as they venture through the stars, exploring space with Captains Kirk, Picard, Janeway, and more. This beloved, decades old franchise has had plenty of incarnations, with just as much depth and we want to talk about just what makes it so successful.

You might not know him, but you probably love his work. Rob Reiner has been directing for decades, with a particular hot streak in the 80s and 90s. His beloved movies are still watched and quoted to this day, but as far as genre he's a bit all over the place, so... how does that work? That's what Alex, Emily, and Levi want to find out this week.