It's hard to imagine, but the BFG Podcast celebrates its 150th episode this week. We started out by recording it on a party line on Clubhouse, an app that people thought had potential back in 2021. Then for a while host Neal Pollack interviewed people via Skype. That's why, in its earliest iterations, the show sounds like we recorded it through tin cans at the bottom of a submarine. Gradually, Neal got some decent equipment and learned how to plug in his microphone properly, and we now use...

Host Neal Pollack is full of self-righteous and justified rage this week at the actions of his fellow PEN America members, who absolutely refuse to participate in awards ceremonies or the World Voices Festival until the Zionist menace is eradicated from this Earth. Pollack and BFG contributor Sharyn Vane go off on PEN members in this week's podcast episode, as writers are more concerned with trendy social-justice concerns than freedom of speech, which really should be their primary concern....

As part of the legendary first-ever Book and Film Globe Festival, we recorded an episode of our legendary podcast at The Book House in Long Branch, New Jersey, the hottest new bookstore on the Jersey Shore. Host Neal Pollack traveled thousands of miles to talk to some of his favorite contributors about the important cultural products of the day. It was delightful, and we drank much Pelican Punch. Stephen Garrett and Neal reunited on a couch to talk about Alex Garland's 'Civil War.' Neal...

It's a vibrant BFG podcast this week, as host Neal Pollack just keeps on having opinions about things. Stephen Garrett pops into the scene to discuss 'Monkey Man,' directed, written, and starting Dev Patel. They both find the movie stylish, fun, and exciting, but maybe Dev Patel could have used someone telling him no, and could have used an editor, and could have given some of his characters name. But for everything that's wrong with Monkey Man, there's a lot that's right, and Neal, who went...

Neal Pollack is recovering from gout but still delivers a whopper of a podcast this week, with three familiar guests and a great variety of topics. Stephen Garrett comes in to chat about the bizarre 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' which features his new favorite scene in a movie: King Kong using Baby King Kong as a club to beat up some other super underground apes. What a weird movie this is, perfect for a 10- year-old boy, essentially a Transformers movie starring King Kong and Godzilla...

Spring is here and we have a fun and light spring menu this week on the podcast. Stephen Garrett hops into frame and tries to answer host Neal Pollack's question: Why do we need a Ghostbusters: The Next Generation? Stephen says that 'Frozen Empire' is far better and more fun than the previous maudlin Ghostbusters reboot, but there are too many busters, too much lore, too much reverence. Neal makes the point that the original Ghostbusters was irreverent and almost conservative in its middle...

It's an excellent and thoughtful podcast this week. Host Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane and Michael Washburn to discuss their recent articles about questionable attitudes toward Israel and Jewish people in general in the literary world. Sharyn discusses the cancellation of actor Brett Gelman's recent book tour, tying it to how progressives don't want to approach the Israel-Hamas conflict with anything even close to nuance. Michael, who wrote about a South African writer returning a...

We are finally clear of the Oscars, and host Neal Pollack leads off this week's podcast with an audio version of his rant we published early this week. The Oscars are for the special people, not for the regulars of life. And yet we keep falling into their trap, because we love to watch movies. We do not, however, love to watch 'Spaceman' starring Adam Sandler. Omar Gallaga reviewed Spaceman for us and just does not buy Adam Sandler as a sad Czech astronaut in an alternative 1980s. Dan...

One pop-culture phenomenon blots out the sun over Arrakis this week, and Stephen Garrett joins Neal Pollack on the podcast to talk about Denis Villennueve's 'Dune 2'. Not surprisingly, Stephen likes 'Dune 2' much more than Neal does, though Neal grudgingly admits that you're not going to get a better adaptation of Frank Herbert's 'Dune' novels than this. It is a monumental achievement of pop culture and is the best sci-fi epic of our time. That doesn't mean it's not pretentious and boring in...

This week's show gets right into what's important in our culture. Host Neal Pollack welcomes Jennifer Lopez obsessive Adam Hirschfelder to the podcast, and he is all about 'This Is Me...Now,' J. Lo's music video and album that has recast J. Lo's image as someone who's both ironically and unironically finding herself. She has learned to love herself and Ben Affleck, and the video, airing on Amazon Prime, features her in therapy and also dancing on the set of Singin' In The Rain. Neal can't...

Our podcast has resumed production, though it also never ceased production, which is good because it continues to be an amazing show with an increasingly worldwide reach. This week we talk about 'Madame Web,' the most important bad-good movie of the year so far. Host Neal Pollack welcomes London Faust, an avowed Dakota Johnson fanatic, who did not find succor in the Dakota Johnson-heavy 'Madame Web.' London marvels at the movie's bad voice-dubbing and misuse of Zosia Mamet and Sydney Sweeney....

The Oscars are still a month away for some reason, but it's time for us to offer up our annual Oscar podcast preview episode. Stephen Garrett joins host Neal Pollack to admit that 'Oppenheimer' is going to run rampant over the major awards, though Neal offers up 'The Zone of Interest' as a value upset Best Picture picture and he and Stephen posit that maybe Sterling K. Brown's abs will defeat Robert Downey, Jr. for Best Supporting Actor. They also give love to Da'Vine Joy Randolph from 'The...

Some weeks on the podcast, we discuss things that we love. Other weeks, we discuss things that we do not love, and this is one of those not-love weeks. First, Michael Washburn does not love the way SAG-AFTRA is trying to run cover for Alec Baldwin in the shooting case on the set of the movie 'Rust.' New Mexico brought new charges against Baldwin last week, and Michael breaks down the nature of the charges and the nature of how the Hollywood elite is trying to protect one of its own in one of...

On a packed episode of this week's podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes Sara Stewart to discuss the "snub" of Barbie director Greta Gerwig by the Academy. Neal plays devil's advocate, or maybe just the devil, and points out that Barbie DID get eight nominations. Sara recognizes that but also makes the strong point that only eight woman have been nominated for Best Director in Oscar history, and maybe the director of one of the biggest box-office hits of all time deserves a nod. But they both...

As the Internet explodes with Barbie Oscars debate (a subject we will cover in full soon), our podcast has other interests right now. Host Neal Pollack welcomes in Rebecca Kurson to discuss 'The Zone of Interest,' a chilling and masterful Holocaust picture from director Jonathan Glazer. Both Neal and Rebecca are just amazed at the cold, documentary-style filmmaking, of the matter-of-fact script and performances, and, most importantly, of the film's eerie soundscape. The best, most...

On this week's vital BFG podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes Stephen Garrett to be two white guys talking about a black-directed movie making fun of liberal white people reacting to a black-written book. We're talking, of course, about 'American Fiction,' and while Stephen loved the warm, neurotic upper-middle-class black family saga that the literary satire was hiding, Neal wanted more satire and less family saga, because the trailer promised satire. Neal also wonders if the satire is a...

It's comedy and muscle this week on the BFG Podcast, why not? Host Neal Pollack leans heavily on the expertise of standup comedy expert Robert Dean to discuss the wildly popular new specials from Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais. Robert loves Chappelle but agrees with Neal that he's gotten so famous that he doesn't really need to work out new materials anymore, compared with, say, Joe Rogan, who spends years honing his set in small clubs, perfecting the joke structure. Gervais, Robert likens...

This week on the BFG Podcast, we have a classical-music picture, a car-racing picture, and a wrestling picture. It's not like the 1930s where the studios would crank out dozens of movies in each genre every year, but regardless, these movies fold right into traditional genres. They are pictures, and on the podcast, we present the big picture. First up, darling, Steven Garrett joins host Neal Pollack to discuss 'Maestro,' Bradley Cooper's love letter to Leonard Bernstein. Steven liked this...

It's the last BFG podcast of the year, and we wrap it up with a year's-end roundtable with Omar Gallaga and Scott Gold, who offer their TV-watching perspective with host Neal Pollack, who watches TV 18 to 20 hours a day. Best shows include 'Reservation Dogs,' 'Succession,' 'Scavenger's Reign,' and a sitcom called 'Primo' which Neal has never heard of but which you should watch. Worst shows include Season 3 of 'The Witcher,' 'Squid Game: The Challenge,' and Omar's controversial selection of...

It's a magical, fantastical, confection-filled week on the BFG podcast. Host Neal Pollack welcomes in always-guest Stephen Garrett to talk about 'Wonka,' starring Timothée Chalamet as a truly child-friendly young Willy Wonka, who the movie re-invents as a gee-whiz paragon of goodness and light. Stephen liked the movie more on the show than he did in his review. Neal found it cloying and cynically calculated. They were deeply split on Hugh Grant's Oompa-Loompa, who Neal enjoyed but Stephen...

Happy holiday podcast from all of us at BFG! This week is the podcast of your dreams. First up, contributor Robert Dean joins host Neal Pollack to talk about the Max biopic series 'Julia,' all about the early years of Julia Child, TV chef. It's a delight in troubled times, and Robert assures us that Julia's boeuf bourguignon recipe still holds up. Consume voraciously! Stephen Garrett steps out of Neal's dreams to talk to him about 'Dream Scenario,' which Stephen found "delightful." Neal won't...

Two provocative new movies get the BFG podcast treatment this week. Host Neal Pollack begins the show with a wicked audio rendition of his piece excoriating stupid pundits who say that Hollywood has a new "Blacklist" because some people are expressing dumb opinions about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Spoiler alert: there is no Blacklist, not even a show starring James Spader Let's lay that discussion to rest. JP Guinn appears on leave from his semester at Oxford to discuss 'Saltburn' with Neal....

This week's BFG podcast is a feast for the brain. Michael Washburn engages host Neal Pollack in a discussion of Sandra Newman's provocative and "very raunchy" novel 'Julia', a brilliant and extended riff of the world of Oceania in George Orwell's '1984.' Neal somewhat wondered what Newman was getting at, but Michael found her extension of the world extremely compelling and disturbing, a fresh warning about the dangers of totalitarianism. BFG book club recommends it! 'Napoleon' has finally...

The culture goes up, and the culture goes down, and the BFG Podcast covers it all. On the downward slope this week is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has suffered its first genuine bust with 'The Marvels.' The world is not entirely sure how to handle this phenomenon but host Neal Pollack and guest Scott Gold tackle it. They both agree that Iman Vellani is quite delightful as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, but the rest of the cast seems to be phoning it in. The cringe-inducing musical sequence...

On this week's special episode of the BFG Podcast, host Neal Pollack indulges his nerdy childhood fantasy of hosting a Siskel and Ebert-like movie review show. Frequent contributor Stephen Garrett joins Neal to review four new, or relatively new, movies. The only thing that's missing from the equation is disagreement and mutually despising each other, but that will come in time! First up, Neal and Stephen review 'Priscilla,' the excellent new film from director Sofia Coppola about the young...