OK, this time we're celebrating 200 episodes for real. We reflect on five years in Sicko Mode and bask in the praise and congratulations of our fans and homies. Anime Sickos Podcast forever

Incredible! We've been in Sicko Mode for 200 episodes! What better way to celebrate this incredible achievement than to discuss our favorite dusts and goops! What, you thought we were gonna read a bunch of kind words from fans? That's next episode!

Danette Chavez goes guesto mode! Danette is the new editor-in-chief of the AV Club, an icon of internet culture writing recently freed from a grim period of ownership by the truly boneheaded G/O Media group. We talk about the challenges facing writing online, the pitfalls so many business guys keep stumbling into, and what it takes for a publication to be sustainable and forge an identity. Sites mentioned: avclub.com pajiba.com hellgatenyc.com defector.com aftermath.site

The Sickos yammer. No topic! All minutia! We yap about eating burgers under the L tracks, Home Depot hot dogs, Joe's son getting spooked by the Roomba, Monster Train, and any number of dumb shit. It's fun to hang out with your Sicko homies

Unbelieveable! The Sickos discuss an actual anime: the 2022 Apple TV+ live action thriller Severance starring Adam Scott. This shit is so good. We basically just go nutty over how much we love this show. Some spoilers but we leave the finale and the big twists unrevealed. Also we got a fun sketch with the Worst of All Possible Worlds boys. It's a banger

The Sickos discuss Joe's recent layoff, and how getting laid off is fine, and it's easy to get a new job, and there WILL be a future, and you can depend on it, and it's easy and smart to feel confident in the future, and it's all going to be so normal.

A.J. Ditty from the Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast goes guesto mode! We learn how to act, why seeing your parents shot in the face would make you get all A's in acting school, visual novels, Elden Ring, and the joy of writing lore-heavy serialized interstitial skits to stick in the middle of your chat podcast. You can listen to Volume One of the Odyssey Commercials here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxLT-j2Oh9g

Sitcom pilots tend to suck ass. They have to do boring exposition and the characters haven't settled into a rhythm yet. Well what if we told you there existed a perfect comedy pilot. There does: the pilot for the 2005 Comedy Central series Stella, an episode so good it could have come from season four.

Comedy is an endless playground of creativity and innovation, but some jokes are so good that nothing could ever be better in its niche. We call these "Best in Slot" jokes and most of them are from 30 Rock, The Simpsons, and Venture Bros. Listen to us talk about them!

Remy Siu, creative director of the excellent narrative game 1000xResist, goes guesto mode! We discuss how he & the game's writing staff put together a frankly staggering work that you WILL buy and play, how MMOs were more fun when they made zero concessions to the player, how to use lore for good instead of evil, why only geniuses appreciate Vinland Saga's farm arc, and generally jaw about art and process in a way that you will love. Buy 1000xResist on Steam here:...

The Sickos remembered that we have a form we shared a long time ago where people can submit horror stories from their workplaces, and we finally read some of them! Then, we discuss if Joe should get a Vespa so he can fit in with all the Italian guys. Submit your own cog tales here, perhaps we'll remember to read them one day: https://forms.gle/aBFBueBAGQr4xtcx6

We've had too many high-concept episodes lately that require lots of thought and prep, so we just turned the mic on and had an hour of organic jawing. Just two buds hanging out folks. I think I heard somewhere that people like this sort of thing. Well, I sure hope it's true.

This AI shit sucks so bad folks. We expand on what we found so distasteful about generative AI art and how much it would suck ass to see it expand into mainstream media. The joy of great art comes in contemplating the choices that went into it and what those choices represent. AI makes no choices and sucks ass. Listening to this episode is equivalent to a 4-year degree

The Sickos come bearing eleven killer sketches that will make you hoot and laugh and go nuts. Join us as we travel through time, meet god, become Michelin reviewers, count cards, and more. If you don't listen to this, go to hell! Sketch Timestamps: Austin Powers - 00:00:58 G-Man #1 - 00:06:03 Square Enix Name Consultants - 00:11:28 G-Man #2 - 00:15:20 The Sickos Become Michelin Reviewers - 00:20:07 The Sickos Pray to God - 00:23:57 The Sickos Count Cards - 00:29:36 Peter Francis...

Are you freaks happy? We come from the toilet battered and bloody bearing armfuls of insane and stupid posts that are very funny to think about. Come listen to us caper and howl. Is this not what you love?

Shevvy from the incredible comedy sensation Crawfish Comic goes guesto mode! We go nuts over how much we like Shevvy's work, and they explain the ethos and philosophy that leads to comics where a whale says "im a whale and even i think this is crasy." Culture today is a diseased mutant thing and Crawfish Comic is a beacon of purity and it kicks ass, this ep rules

The Sickos eulogize the best cartoonist to ever live, Akira Toriyama. Rest in peace king. Your art will live forever, and future generations will understand that it's cool when guys wear genie pants with curly shoes

We welcome Josh Boerman from the Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast. We discuss immersive sims, the value of good criticism, trying to make a living off creative work, and whether or not they still make Spree (the candy from Halloween). You can find The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast at https://www.worstpossible.world/

The Sickos do a classic two-segment episode. First, we return to our tier list of Every Game Mechanic and rank a bunch of these suckers. Then, we return to our tier list of—wait that can't be right

Turns out books are not homework, but instead stuff a weirdo wrote down for fun. We go nuts about Moby Dick, Don Quixote, and the works of Don Barthelme. Whoever said this stuff was dry needs to shut up

The Sickos moan about guys who have fallen off. Some fear to do this. We have the courage to do what they won't.

Grant Howitt, a game designer who rules, joins the Sickos (plus Gwynn and Allie from Modesty City, Sicko Shock 2, and Shuffle Quest) for a one-shot game of GOBLIN PUNKS, an RPG where you are s****y goblin teens f*****g around. Will we be able to disrupt the community car wash and become goth? Listen and see a*****e You can get Goblin Punks here: https://gshowitt.itch.io/goblin-punks

Everywhere you look someone's trying to sell you da sludge, and they usually succeed! AI? That's da sludge. Layoffs? Sludge. Airplanes where the walls fall off? Sludge. Some of these folks have replaced their hearts and brains with gray goop. Anyway enjoy the podcast

We unveil a classic new recurring segment in which the Sickos sort every single game mechanic into a tier list. This will definitely not take a long time and will result in a perfect tier list that will help future game designers make every game be flawless. Also, we discuss how we love our induction cooktops which are a type of cooking Anbernic.