Skyrim, The Star-Spangled Banner, Matthew Perry

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Love: Skyrim

Andy takes an opportunity this episode to cover one of his favorite video games of all time, 2011’s Skyrim. He talks about its expansive gameplay, the hours of time that he’s managed to put into it, and the impressive culture of mods that has kept interest going for all of these years. Alex contributes by talking about his Tetris addiction and enjoying the image of Randy “Macho Man” Savage being turned into a fire-breathing dragon-monster. Seriously.

Hate: The Star-Spangled Banner

Pivoting to a topic that he’s sure will be taken with nuance and respectful dialogue, Alex spends his Hate portion talking about all of the reasons he loathes the United States’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He attempts to do so not by focusing on its contemporary controversies, but rather its poorly understood origins, its terrible, unsingable (British) melody, and the missed opportunity of great American musical traditions that could take its place. Andy learns a little about the War of 1812 and briefly kinda pitches Europe’s “The Final Countdown” as an alternative anthem.

Relationship: Matthew Perry

Our question this episode comes from a white listener looking for advice on respectfully getting his Latin American soon-to-be in-laws to butt out of his and his fiancee’s wedding planning, and stop scapegoating him for the effort at doing so. Andy advises some unity measures, Alex gives some cultural context and a bit of hopeful nihilism, and they talk a a surprising about the criminally underrated movie, Fools Rush In.