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The folks at Taking It Down morn the loss of Tom Verlaine and reflect on his music to begin the podcast (1:02). From there, it's a discussion on what makes Everything Everywhere All At Once worthy of its eleven nominations but a sign of modern culture (4:23). After the break, everyone gives some quick thoughts on Bob Dylan's seventeenth Bootleg Series release, Fragments, which came out last Friday (29:42) before getting into what The Last of Us may need to do to change things up from its second episode (35:25). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going. Find the other podcasts in the podcast network in any podcast app or on the site.

We get right into the fine dining of the HBO Max movie The Menu, which we all liked but only to a point and it doesn't hurt us to try to cram in as many food puns as we possibly can (2:43). After the break, we talk about video games and the first episode of the HBO show The Last of Us (23:26). It's a series that could be tailor made for at least one of our hosts. The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going. Find our other podcasts in your favorite podcast app

To start, we talk the joy of local libraries before we get into White Noise on Netflix and why it reminds us of both Steven Spielberg and David Lynch (3:42). After the break, it's all about the Netflix film Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths and why two of us found it mesmerizing and one of us did not (26:41). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going. Find our other podcasts in your favorite podcast app.

Thoughts on 2023 makes us question if it is the year of A.I. (2:07) which leads to a quick takedown of the movie Moonfall and Natalie's draw to disaster movies (3:15). After that, Blaine makes some revisions to the top television of the previous year as Fleishman Is In Trouble deserves some praise (5:28). The gang then analyze the lovable Glass Onion, which is now on Netflix (8:15), and the drama on recent episodes of this season of The Challenge (26:43). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going. Find our other podcasts in your favorite podcast app or on the site.

For the final show of the year, we recap the year that was (2:47). We give thoughts on such pop culture b.s. as Twitter, crypto, and NFTs (3:56) before getting into what we liked about the year (7:58). After the break, host Blaine previews his top ten television shows of the year (25:55). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going. Find our other podcasts in your favorite podcast app or on the site.

Donovan gets excited when Liberty loses, which is what happened in some recent bowl game action (2:06). This week's podcast primarily focuses on the connection to Showtime's miniseries George and Tammy (2:40); the overview of Michael McDonagh's works (7:21); and some thoughts, analysis, and spoilers for The Banshees of Inisherin (15:24).  

No Natalie this week as she's off working for the joy of the holiday season (3:58). Blaine and Adam are itching to talk about Bono's autobiographical writing Surrender as well as U2 as a whole (4:36). Somehow, we can't avoid Avatar talk (20:51), which leads into not one but two stories about Dances With Wolves (22:36)! Come for the Avatar bashing, stay for the Dances With Wolves childhood tales! From there, it's the bulk of the episode as the gang dissects the enjoyment of the Netflix movie Emily The Criminal (26:14) as well as a very deep dive into the final episodes and overall amazement of The English from Amazon Prime, including why its flawed but still great (42:17). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going.

The whole gang of Taking It Down is back to talk about the latest from legendary rock group Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with their recent release of Live at the Fillmore, a twenty-night stand recorded perfectly (2:30). After the discussion, what's with the hoopla around the new Netflix series Wednesday, an extension in the classic story of The Addams Family (10:31)? After a break, Blaine and Donovan revel in the beauty and fascination of The English on Amazon Prime Video (16:29). To finish the episode, the group questions where The Guardians of the Galaxy's Christmas Special stands in the plethora of similar, holiday-themed television (34:21). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going.  

It's only Blaine and Donovan this week, and they sort through where everyone else is as well as the sincere intricacies of why Taking It Down didn't return for a weekly format until five weeks later (2:00). If you have mental health issues, do what you can do to ensure that you're okay. Speaking of mental health, we also talk about Twitter and its possible demise and its possible replacements if the social media giant does go under (5:18). Then Netflix could very well have a great movie on its hands with the Florence Pugh-led film The Wonder: but how good, exactly (9:05)? We answer that and pondered what it was that made Andor the best Star Wars has delivered perhaps ever (30:54).

After a two-week hiatus due to vacationing, resting, and traveling, Taking It Down, the pop culture podcast from The Alabama Take network, is back to first briefly discuss Halloween and Halloween songs (3:43). Then it's an equally brief and broad talk about the new Taylor Swift album (5:02). It's important that we discuss our disdain for the botched She-Hulk ending, which was good with merely one aspect, but horrible with much more (6:28). After that, the hosts discuss plenty of news from the first two episodes of this season's The Challenge, which is subtitled Ride or Dies. (You can also read a weekly column on The Alabama Take site every Thursday afternoon.) After a short news break, the gang does as deep of a dive as they've ever done and this one is on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power from Amazon Prime with two actual Tolkien scholars (31:14)! Listen on the this site with the player above or in any podcast app by searching for Taking It Down.

Welcome back, Taking It Downers! This week, it's some brief banter about sports, namely college football (2:47) before some heady and serious discussions begin centered around the film Blonde, which was recently released on Netflix (6:27). Keeping with the Netflix motif, the hosts briefly discuss what watching Dahmer says about us as a culture (21:23). After a break, it's a quick check-in with the Disney+ show Andor (28:06) and it's just too fun not to talk about House of the Dragon, which has the hosts talking about the sixth episode of that HBO show (36:03). The Alabama Take brings everyone the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going.

It's autumn music from listeners' suggestions (2:24). House of the Dragon and its stellar "We Light The Way" fifth episode (13:24). We don't talk She-Hulk and it is easy not to do (30:21). There is a plethora of television shows now, and we can't decide what could be next (31:12). We do talk about the premiere of Andor and its three episodes (33:41). There's enough for everyone to come eat at the show that is The Patient (42:56) Listen on the this site with the player above or in any podcast app by searching for Taking It Down.

On Taking It Down this Tuesday, we start with a check-in on the FX/Hulu series Welcome to Wrexham (4:03) before revealing how Twitter can get it done after some college football (8:02). Then it's talk on large swaths of entertainment news: corrections about our episode; the return of The Handmaid's Tale and why it's hard to care; the b.s. online about The Little Mermaid; and a gauge on our interest of the AMC series Interview with the Vampire (12:10). After that, everyone gives a temperature check on the Amazon Prime show The Rings of Power -- good for those who want no spoilers (15:19). However, the conversation about House of the Dragon's fourth episode "The King of the Narrow Sea" is packed with spoilers as we dissect what it has to say for the show now and moving forward and explain why Donovan needed an adult for it(19:36). After the break, we offer what we can about She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (33:29) and enjoy discussing The Patient on FX/Hulu (41:45).

Episode 131 of Taking It Down certainly starts hectic with plenty of talk about the news from Disney on both Star Wars and the M.C.U. and some college football banter (2:53) before things settle in and everyone chimes in on what made the most recent episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law more enjoyable than some other installments of the show (9:20). Then everyone discusses what Welcome to Wrexham gets right as a a sports show about both soccer and people as well as what it could improve upon (19:29). Lastly, the third episode of The Patient is on Hulu, and for what the show is, it's excellent (33:12). But what is it, exactly? Listen to this and the whole family of Alabama Take podcasts on TheAlabamaTake.com or in any podcast player!

This week, we waste no time by starting with general, non-spoiler thoughts on the huge, expensive Amazon Prime show The Rings of Power: the ratings from this group are very high (3:14). There are a few connections made for the lack of Listener of the Week, Dilly Bars, and a shoutout to this week's College Football Pick 'Em winner, and luckily that's all tied into a short segment (11:53). But after that, there is plenty of talk about House of the Dragon's second and third episodes (14:32). After some cool announcements, it's a discussion of the precipitous downfall of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (37:01) before lauding the new FX/Hulu series The Patient, which stars Domhnall Gleeson and Steve Carell in interesting roles; it may be more in how much we believe in the show runners (44:26). The Alabama Take brings a variety of podcasts and writings with no ads, but we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site and podcasts going.

In Taking It Down this week, the gang starts with an ending of Listener of the Week (3:07) before moving into the first episode of the recording-breaking HBO show House of the Dragon (4:14). Although a week behind, Taking It Down can't help but talk about it. After the break, thoughts on the second episode of the Disney+ show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and whether the optimism for the series continues (27:25). Finally, there's discussion on the new soccer reality TV series from FX/Hulu Welcome to Wrexham (37:18). You know, that show about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying a small soccer club over in Whales. Yeah, that one. Who's this one for and is it good? Anyways, it's all that and more in this week's episode of Taking It Down, the 129th episode of this masterpiece of thought. The Alabama Take brings a variety of podcasts and writings with no ads, but we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site and podcasts going.

Taking It Down this week begins with some tales centered on school (1:28) before explaining what exactly happened with Listener of the Week (4:19). The gang then dissect why the Hulu movie Prey deserves better than it's "good B-movie" description (5:42). Natalie is blown away and then solves TikTok (31:00) before the entire group discusses reasons to be optimistic about the new Disney+ entry She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (31:58). Just before ending, Natalie has a Paper Girls question to pose (47:43). All that and more in this week's episode of Taking It Down, the 128th in the bank.   There's always a lot more at The Alabama Take. 

Taking It Down returns this week and as always starts by awarding the Done Up Real Good Listener of the Week as a thank you to a listener for their input (2:48). Then it's some short discussion on how much time we'll give to the upcoming HBO show House of the Dragon (3:52), Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power (6:57), and Disney+'s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (8:17). Next, Adam talks about watching South Park celebrate a long run (10:57) before shifting gears to discuss some of the movie Belfast as it recently became available on HBO Max (13:51). He gives his spoiler-free thoughts on Belfast to explain why it works so well as a movie. Finally the two hosts discuss the urgent, frightening, and well-paced drama on Apple TV+ Five Days at Memorial, which is based on the true events in a hospital in New Orleans just after Hurricane Katrina (20:03). But it's more than just trauma porn, right? As with every episode, listeners can find it in any podcast app, including Spotify, or listen with the embedded player above. The podcast Taking It Down releases weekly on Tuesday mornings. Check out the site TheAlabamaTake.com for a lot more, including the online shop where you can find all kinds of shirts, mugs, and bags with all of the different show logos!

Blaine, Adam, and Donovan award the Listener of the Week, who takes the team into being international (2:30)! Then the group has very specific ideas on how to cast Wolverine in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe adventures -- and it doesn't involve Taron Egerton (3:54). Natalie joins the crew and the four hosts discuss the recent piece by head writer Patrick Akers which posits that Adam Sandler is one of the greatest (8:31). Is he? And what's his best performance? And here's the video referenced in the talk of Sandler's very early MTV days, pre-SNL. After a break, Donovan and Blaine dissect the many threads of the new Jordan Peele film Nope (32:50). The podcast episode of Where's the Line? mentioned in that discussion can be found here on Apple and here in Spotify. As with every episode, listeners can find it in any podcast app, including Spotify, or listen with the embedded player above. The podcast Taking It Down releases weekly on Tuesday mornings. Check out the site TheAlabamaTake.com for a lot more, including the online shop where you can find all kinds of shirts, mugs, and bags with many different shows logos!

Blaine, Adam, and Donovan award the Listener of the Week, who wins this week for a very special reason (2:05). Donovan recounts his time as a Chick-fil-A manager (4:48). That leads to a deep examination of the FX/Hulu series The Bear, which will contain spoilers for the show as the group talks about its music, themes, and foodie culture (8:26). After a short update about the site, there is talk on the FX/Hulu show starring Jeff Bridges, The Old Man, but no spoilers at all (30:35). Blaine suggests the Apple TV+ show Black Bird with spoiler-free reasons on why it's worth the time (33:23). From there, it's a deep dive into the problems of Thor: Love and Thunder (35:44) as well as the MCU at this week's Comic Con (44:54), which could fix some issues. Lastly, everyone makes a promise for the upcoming Amazon Prime show The Rings of Power (53:55). Find our other podcasts in your favorite podcast app or here on the site.