Adam McKay's VICE (2018) sought to give Dick Cheney the full reckoning for his crimes through art that he will never receive in life. Is the film necessary cinematic intervention in the ongoing Cheney reclamation project, or a condescending failure? Your hosts disagree sharply on this cinematic polemic. PLUS: fiery hot takes on Elon Musk's Twitter takeover.

"'Damn right,' I said" by Eliot Weinberger - https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n01/eliot-weinberger/damn-right-i-said

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Michael and Us

#378 - Decision Points

A Christian boy goes up against his sinister atheist philosophy teacher (played by Kevin Sorbo!) in GOD'S NOT DEAD (2014), one of the biggest Evangelical blockbusters of all time. Luke and guest host Alex Shephard discuss the film's tone-deaf depiction of academia and its particular streak of right-wing sadism. PLUS: What's next for Tucker Carlson? And is there any life at all in the ol' Ron DeSantis?

Watch the whole damn movie for free on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ek2LEoSut0&ab_channel=Se%C3%B1iorFroggy

"Tucker Carlson Has Already Lost His War With Fox News" by Alex Shephard - https://newrepublic.com/article/172274/tucker-carlson-twitter-video-lost-war-fox-news

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#424 - Know Thyself (w/ Alex Shephard)

What if a middle-aged Toronto-based businessman decided to become Robert De Niro? Friends, you don't have to wonder! We discuss the hilarious vanity project REAL GANGSTERS!™ (2013), by Canada's answer to Tommy Wiseau.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"Ottawa’s Air Canada strike debacle shows it failed to learn from history" by Barry Eidlin - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-air-canada-strike-flight-attendants-union-cupe/

"The Air Canada strike wasn’t just a win for workers. It was also a wrench in Mark Carney’s plans" by Luke Savage - https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/the-air-canada-strike-wasnt-just-a-win-for-workers-it-was-also-a-wrench/article_723e12c5-a225-4565-b044-206eeef18c49.html

Will's classic interview with Tommy Wiseau - https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-will-tommy-22188229

"How Did an Oscar-Nominated Legend End Up in This Painfully Amateurish Horror Film?" by Vadim Rizov - https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/11/james-caan-sicilian-vampire



#649 - Once Upon a Time on King Street

The boys enjoy a nice, casual conversation like friends sometimes have - and invite you along to join! Topics discussed include Trump on the cover of Time Magazine, Bari Weiss at CBS, Justin Trudeau's love life, and films we've been watching.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#663 - A Nice, Chill Episode

Set in a world of young people and old money, Whit Stillman's METROPOLITAN (1990) offers an affectionate but melancholic view of the elite. We sort through the layers of ambiguity in this charming ode to the "Urban Haute Bourgeoisie." PLUS: A spectre is haunting the world - the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and Israel" by Branko Marcetic - https://jacobin.com/2025/11/trump-epstein-israel-intelligence-blackmail

"The Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years: Metropolitan" by Mark Henrie - https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/3-best-conservative-movies-last-25-years-mark-henrie/

#671 - The Discreet Charm of the Urban Haute Bourgeoisie

Ten years before Siri and quarter-century before Grok, Steven Spielberg and the late Stanley Kubrick considered a new form of humanity in A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001). We discuss a meeting of the minds between two very distinctive authorial voices.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"The Best of Both Worlds" by Jonathan Rosenbaum - https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2024/01/the-best-of-both-worlds/

"A Matter of Life and Death" by Jonathan Rosenbaum - https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2024/05/a-matter-of-life-and-death-ai-artificial-intelligence-tk/

Call for submissions: "The Journal of Stoogeological Studies Vol. 2" - https://x.com/WillSloanEsq/status/1995213884635193456

#675 - Where the Lions Weep

On this episode, the hosts divulge some of their guiltiest pleasures, from Judge Judy to Kenny G to the writings of a couple of bona-fide right-wing pundits. They also interrogate the immortal question: should you truly feel guilty about something that brings you pleasure? (Spoiler: Yes. Sometimes you should.) PLUS: the Warner Bros sale, public domain day, an a surprising new front in the right-wing culture war. 

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#677 - Guilty Pleasures

On the eve of the 2020 election, legendary conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza declared war against socialism - which, according to him, encompasses everything from COVID lockdowns to gun control to the Lyin' Fake News Media. We discuss TRUMP CARD (2020).

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/145991797

PREVIEW - #678 - 2020 Dinesh's America

What happens when a historian who loves the American presidency is faced with a president like Donald Trump? We discuss the HBO documentary THE SOUL OF AMERICA (2020), about Joe Biden's favourite historian, Jon Meacham, as he struggles to make sense of the Trump era.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"The Man Who Loved Presidents" by Thomas Frank - https://harpers.org/archive/2021/07/jon-meacham-thomas-frank-soul-of-america/

"The End of Resistance History" by Charlotte E. Rosen - https://proteanmag.com/2025/01/20/the-end-of-resistance-history/

"The Fight for the Four Freedoms" by Harvey J. Kaye - https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/The-Fight-for-the-Four-Freedoms/Harvey-J-Kaye/9781451691443

"Take Hold of Our History" by Harvey J. Kaye - https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/our-books/take-hold-of-our-history

Our two previous episodes on Michael Moore Hates America (2004)

https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us/episode-8-michael-moore-hates-america

https://www.patreon.com/posts/300-300th-61042533

#679 - Manufacturing Consensus

We say goodbye to 2025 and offer a skeptical welcome to 2026 with a very special call-in episode. Topics range from Marshall McLuhan to Michael Jackson and beyond.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#681 - Pre-Taped Call-In Show

Raoul Peck's new documentary ORWELL: 2+2=5 (2025) seeks to show how George Orwell's warnings from the past are being made reality today. The results are less than the sum of their parts. PLUS: We note the passing of Norman Podhoretz.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/147746762

PREVIEW - #682 - Some Footage Is More Equal Than Others

We catch up on a very grim news week, and then discuss a documentary about a journalist who has reported a lot of very grim news weeks. In COVER-UP (2025), Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus paint a sympathetic portrait of Seymour Hirsch, the journalist who exposed everything from the My Lai massacre to Abu Ghraib. PLUS: Folks, it seems the right is cancelling Plato?

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Check out some incredible M&Us fan art by the great Josh Bayer - https://www.patreon.com/posts/fan-art-147656792

#683 - Cancelling Plato

We return to our roots by discussing a conservative documentary that attempts to take down Michael Moore. In MICHAEL & ME (2004), buffoonish talk-radio personality Larry Elder has a bone to pick with Bowling for Columbine, using facts + logic to show why gun control is racist, sexist, and anti-American.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"God of the Gaps" by Robert P. Baird - https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/01/15/god-of-the-gaps-believe-ross-douthat/

#684 - Michael & Me

Rob Reiner's SHOCK AND AWE (2017) looks back at a handful of journalists who stood against the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq. Released in the first year of the Trump administration, it looks squarely back to the Bush era - in more ways that one.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/148618908

PREVIEW - #685 - Truthbombs of Mass Destruction

It's a heavy news week, and we're catching up. As Canadians, we are honour-bound to comment on Mark Carney's acclaimed speech at the World Economic Forum. Is the rules-based international order dead? And what does it mean that our banker-in-chief is the one to bury it? PLUS: A word of solidarity to our friends in Minneapolis.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"Interpreting the Carney Doctrine" by Luke Savage - https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/interpreting-the-carney-doctrine

"Why I'm supporting Avi Lewis" by Luke Savage - https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/why-im-supporting-avi-lewis

"Why Philosophy Matters" by Hilarius Bookbinder - https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/why-philosophy-matters-b35

#686 - Values-Based Podcasting

We watch the short documentary MICHAEL MOORE MAKES A MOVIE (2018) - a bonus feature on the Criterion release of Bowling for Columbine - and consider how it both challenges and affirms certain of our preconceptions about this podcast's patron saint.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE CONTENT - https://www.patreon.com/posts/149365674

PATREON BONUS - Michael Moore Revisited

We finally discuss Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025), which takes place in a dystopian America not too dissimilar from the current one. PLUS: The Conservative movement reclaims an artist we were really happy to be rid of.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"Chaos: Behind the Scenes of Amazon's Melania Trump Documentary" by Tessa Stuart - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/melania-trump-documentary-amazon-behind-the-scenes-1235505208/

#687 - Homeland Empire

Our Superdelegate patron tier voted for us to discuss GROUNDHOG DAY (1993), which we're pleased to bring you on Groundhog Day. We discuss Bill Murray's much-loved spiritual journey and ask the question: what is happiness? PLUS: You'll never guess which celebrities are endorsing a new right-wing bourbon.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/149771474

PREVIEW - #688 - Medium Talents

With Jeffrey Epstein dominating the news, we turn to Clint Eastwood for wisdom and guidance. In ABSOLUTE POWER (1997), cinema's most legendary tough-guy faces his greatest opponents yet: the Clinton Crime Cabal.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#689 - Early Late Style

Who says a 23-year-old WASP can't be the long-lost son of an Armenian immigrant family? That's the question asked by the protagonist of Atom Egoyan's debut feature NEXT OF KIN (1984), a moving and sometimes troubling film about identity and class in 1980s Canada. PLUS: We survey the wreckage from Jeff Bezos's Washington Post layoffs.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/690-egoyan-150508725

PREVIEW - #690 - The Egoyan Identity

Energized by Turning Points USA's Kid Rock-led alternative Superbowl Halftime Show, we turn our attention to a slightly more mainstream example of conservative art: Tim Allen's new sitcom SHIFTING GEARS.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"The Hilarious Decline of MAGA's Brief Cultural Relevance" by Alex Shephard - https://newrepublic.com/article/206276/trump-super-bowl-kid-rock-decline-maga-cultural-relevance

#691 - Jesus Didn't Uber

Batten down the hatches, because Kevin Sorbo has a son who's even worse than him. We discuss A WAVE OF KINDNESS (2023), a very amateurish vehicle for rising right-wing influencer Braeden Sorbo (and his wretched father) that plumbs new depths even for a Christian movie.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/692-son-of-sorbo-151037135

PREVIEW - #692 - Son of Sorbo

In 1968, Frederick Wiseman embedded with the Kansas City Police Department. He emerged with LAW AND ORDER (1969), a sobering portrait of what it meant to "serve and protect" at the dawn of the Nixon era. We mark Frederick Wiseman's passing by discussing one of his quintessential films. PLUS: We check in on our fallen British comrades (ex-)Prince Andrew and Keir Starmer.

JOIN US ON PATREON FOR AN EXTRA EPISODE EVERY WEEK - https://www.patreon.com/posts/693-police-state-151400135

#693 - Police State

What would happen if the Christian movie industry tried to make its own Everything Everywhere All at Once? Brother, you don't have to imagine! We discuss Angel Studios' THE SHIFT (2023), starring our favourite actor, Neal McDonough. PLUS: We check Keir Starmer's pulse after last week's UK by-election, and assess the looming Warner/Paramount merger.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"The Ground Game is Back" by Grace Blakeley - https://substack.com/home/post/p-189343412

"Starmer is Driving Labour to Disaster" by Jon Trickett - https://tribunemag.co.uk/2026/02/starmer-is-driving-labour-to-disaster

#694 - The Kevin Who Refused

In Yorgos Lanthimos's BUGONIA (2025), an internet-addled conspiracy guy kidnaps a pharmaceutical CEO girlboss, in a story that ultimately asks: is the human race worth saving? PLUS: We discuss the U.S. and Israel's war in Iran, and also interrogate the most pressing issue of our time: has Jim Carrey been killed and replaced by a clone?

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/152162364

PREVIEW - #695 - Consensus Reality

As a grotesque war engulfs the Middle East, it's time to look back at how we got here. Will is joined by longtime friend of the show Violet Lucca to discuss END OF EMPIRE (1985), a British documentary series on the fizzling-out of Britain's colonial adventure. We focus on the episodes about Palestine and Iran.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/c/michaelandus

End of Empire Chapter 6: Palestine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ziwuaWLy8A

End of Empire Chapter 7: Iran - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhCgJElpQEQ

#696 - End of Empire (w/ Violet Lucca)

The Daily Wire and Adam Carolla teamed up to make a conservative answer to Family Guy and The Simpsons. God help us, we discuss the short-lived right-wing animated show MR. BIRCHUM (2024). God damn this one was rough.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/697-donkey-152831913

PREVIEW - #697 - The Donkey System

What is it actually like to live as a manosphere influencer? We discuss LOUIS THEROUX: INSIDE THE MANOSPHERE (2026), in which the veteran British documentary presenter travels to the dark heart of Miami. PLUS: Taking the temperature of the Canadian left.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

#698 - In the Company of Men

Amazon spent $75 million and resurrected Brett Ratner to curry favor with the incoming Trump administration. The result is MELANIA (2026), a highly airbrushed portrait of the First Lady. We watched Melania Trump board limousines and airplanes for 104 gruelling minutes and lived to tell the tale.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/153296412

PREVIEW - #699 - We're All Very Grateful

Towards the end of the George W. Bush administration, Fox News tried to create a right-wing equivalent of The Daily Show. It became a legendary failure. To celebrate our 700th episode, we discuss THE 1/2 HOUR NEWS HOUR (2007), a truly foundational piece of right-wing culture.

Join us on Patreon for an extra. episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

For two week's we're offering HEAVILY DISCOUNTED PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS for two weeks, beginning Saturday, March 21 from 9am Eastern Standard Time. Use code 22DE3 to get 50% for your first month.

Our classic episode on Air America - https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us/77-left-of-the-dial

#700 - The 700 Club

A podcast about culture, politics, and our crumbling world. Hosted by Luke Savage and Will Sloan.

Exclusive subscriber-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/overview

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