Dean is back from Japan. He will speak about his trip on this week’s show. Phil is grieving the death of his sister. He has some thoughts about her and about grief and about two wishes he has that he will share. If you would like to read about Phil’s sister, he included a tribute to her influence on him in “Haunted”, the most recent essay he published for his The Voice of Los Feliz Substack. Dean and Phil will discuss a wild grab bag of other topics as well, including the city of Glendale, California, improv comedy shows, the ongoing brilliance of “The Simpsons” and the enduring (and growing?) legacy of the British filmmaking team The Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger). Finally, a lightning round of quizzes for Dean will comprise this week’s “Celebrity Deaths”.

It’s a new month, it’s Canada Day and it’s the day before Phil’s first eye surgery and your friends in podcasting have a ton to discuss, from the latest crazy examples of climate change to celebrations of a World War II hero, a romance novelist, a New Orleans music great and an Italian filmmaker-knight-politician. Twelve years ago, Dean and Phil were discussing movie marketing and that is STILL foremost on their minds. What they had not thought about in years was “torture porn” and in the first of what we think will be a weekly “flashback” segment, they play a few minutes from July of 2007, where the controversy surrounding Captivity was at its height. How have times changed and how have they stayed the same? Find out on this week’s show! Plus, you can learn about Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers and the art of screen comedy.