glop_of_thrones_clean_1024

Back by popular demand, Rob Long, Jonah Goldberg, and John Podhoretz reconvene for another GLoP romp through popular culture. This week: The trials and tribulations of Hillary Clinton, a mid-season look at Game of Thrones, and is Silicon Valley not only the best show on TV but also the most conservative? Also, the Duggars dig in, and Deep Blue Sea is the best shark movie you’ve never seen. You’re welcome.

Do us a solid and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Winter is coming, EJHill!

Help Ricochet by Supporting Our Sponsors!

Screen Shot 2015-02-20 at 8.56.20 AMThis podcast is brought to you by Harry’s Shave. For the finest shave at the best price, go to Harrys.com and use the coupon code GLoP at checkout.

 

 

 

 

Casper-Red-Antler-eyes-mark-011Get premium mattresses for a fraction of the price delivered to your door! Casper is revolutionizing the mattress industry by cutting the cost of dealing with resellers and showrooms and passing that savings directly to the consumer. Get $50 off your first purchase! Go to Casper.com/GLoP and use the coupon code GLoP at checkout.

 

Subscribe to GLoP Culture in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing.

There are 33 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    I think I speak for more than just my self when saying this is well timed.

    • #1
  2. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    John, you are completely wrong about the world or George RR Martin.  The books never lost it.  I agree the way they published things didn’t really work well, but if you read four and five in chronological order it works.  Also, John Snow is not gone he is integral to the story.  Finally, your War of the Roses analysis is crazy.  The ultimate end is going to be the war between the dragons and “the others” everything that has come before it is just the undercard.  The book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire after all.

    • #2
  3. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    1967mustangman:John, you are completely wrong about the world or George RR Martin. The books never lost it. I agree the way they published things didn’t really work well, but if you read four and five in chronological order it works. Also, John Snow is not gone he is integral to the story. Finally, your War of the Roses analysis is crazy. The ultimate end is going to be the war between the dragons and “the others” everything that has come before it is just the undercard. The book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire after all.

    Mustangman,

    You are completely wrong about this.  The books completely lost it.

    • #3
  4. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    Jonah’s rant in the beginning about the Clintons and smoking gun evidence is an all time classic.

    • #4
  5. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Wait, the duggers are beloved by whom?? I don’t know any socons who do anything but roll their eyes. Duggers are beloved by people who argue with socons and feel better about it by pretending that the duggers are somehow representative. good lord.

    • #5
  6. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Frank and Andrew, you are both completely wrong and John is completely wrong and so are Jonah and Rob. I am the only one around here with the good sense to completely ignore game of thrones. ;)

    • #6
  7. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Frank Soto:Jonah’s rant in the beginning about the Clintons and smoking gun evidence is an all time classic.

    You know you dodged me on this one before Frank.  Don’t test me on ASoIaF.  I know it back to front and the books don’t lose it………..and they certainly don’t loose it after the Red Wedding.  Making that claim is simply insanity.

    • #7
  8. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    1967mustangman:

    Frank Soto:Jonah’s rant in the beginning about the Clintons and smoking gun evidence is an all time classic.

    You know you dodged me on this one before Frank. Don’t test me on ASoIaF. I know it back to front and the books don’t lose it………..and they certainly don’t loose it after the Red Wedding. Making that claim is simply insanity.

    I didn’t dodge you.  You are simply as wrong as wrong can be.  I’d have better luck teaching Bernie Sanders basic economics than getting you to acknowledge how awful the last two books are.

    • #8
  9. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Awful?!?!  Did you actually Read a Dance with Dragons????  The plot twists my friend!!!!!! The PLOT TWISTS!!!!!! I will pray that both the Seven and the Old Gods have mercy on your soul.

    • #9
  10. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    1967mustangman:Awful?!?! Did you actually Read a Dance with Dragons???? The plot twists my friend!!!!!! The PLOT TWISTS!!!!!! I will pray that both the Seven and the Old Gods have mercy on your soul.

    You know who else loves plot twists?

    • #10
  11. user_138174 Member
    user_138174
    @AaronSolem

    Regarding the books: A Feast for Crows is an awful book. It might be the worst book I’ve ever read cover to cover. A Dance with Dragons is better, but its clear that Martin is in a rut, and hasn’t figured out how to connect all the threads of the story together.

    • #11
  12. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Aaron Solem:Regarding the books: A Feast for Crows is an awful book. It might be the worst book I’ve ever read cover to cover. A Dance with Dragons is better, but its clear that Martin is in a rut, and hasn’t figured out how to connect all the threads of the story together.

    If that is the worst book you have read cover to cover you have lead a charmed life.

    • #12
  13. Fredösphere Inactive
    Fredösphere
    @Fredosphere

    If I, who have not even read GoT, know it to be terrible, how stupid do they have to be who have read it and thought it good? I mean, this is just simple, basic logic.

    • #13
  14. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Fredösphere:If I, who have not even read GoT, know it to be terrible, how stupid do they have to be who have read it and thought it good? I mean, this is just simple, basic logic.

    That’s a bold thing for an aspiring author to say :-)

    • #14
  15. Ricochet Inactive
    Ricochet
    @DanielWood

    Game of Thrones is the best written series of books which I have found unreadable. Around book three, I simply couldn’t take anymore of the darkness and cynicism. But there’s no doubt that Martin is a supremely gifted writer.

    • #15
  16. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Ryan M:Frank and Andrew, you are both completely wrong and John is completely wrong and so are Jonah and Rob.I am the only one around here with the good sense to completely ignore game of thrones. ;)

    Everything I know about Game of Thrones I know from the 3-part South Park version.  I don’t see how it would be possible for either the books or the HBO series to improve on that.

    • #16
  17. user_150987 Inactive
    user_150987
    @DanielSattelberger

    I’m going to defend A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.  First time around I thought they were slow, but I’ve really come to appreciate them since.  Still, they made a difficult-to-adapt series almost unadaptable, so I understand the objections.  Those two are more for hardcore fans than casual readers.

    But seriously, the series lost itself after the Red Wedding?  Even if you hate AFFC and ADWD, you have to acknowledge that the Purple Wedding was awesome.

    • #17
  18. Ricochet Inactive
    Ricochet
    @SpicyFoodHiccups

    Is it just me or were Rob’s segues approaching Lileksian quality?  (Asymtotically, of course.)

    • #18
  19. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @ArizonaPatriot

    I think Podhoretz is totally wrong about “Wolf Boy” Bran Stark being out of it for good.  I agree with Goldberg that the entire warg/greenseer plot line involving Bran is heading toward control of the dragons.

    I’m not sure if it will be Bran himself who controls the dragons, or whether he’ll teach his half-brother (John Snow) how to do it.  This would work with the whole “the dragon has three heads” prophecy, if Snow is really the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.  Then the “three-headed dragon” would be Danaerys, Aegon (“young Griff”), and Snow.

    • #19
  20. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Arizona Patriot:I think Podhoretz is totally wrong about “Wolf Boy” Bran Stark being out of it for good. I agree with Goldberg that the entire warg/greenseer plot line involving Bran is heading toward control of the dragons.

    I’m not sure if it will be Bran himself who controls the dragons, or whether he’ll teach his half-brother (John Snow) how to do it. This would work with the whole “the dragon has three heads” prophecy, if Snow is really the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Then the “three-headed dragon” would be Danaerys, Aegon (“young Griff”), and Snow.

    Nah I think young Griff is either a fake or will die first.  For my money, the three heads will be John, Dany, and Tyrion.

    • #20
  21. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Glad to hear praise for Silicon Valley, which is incredibly vulgar, but brilliant. That monkey with the robotic arm gag was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on TV (up with last year’s robot car gag on the same show). And yes, it does present business in a more realistic and positive light than about any other TV show.

    • #21
  22. Big John Member
    Big John
    @AllanRutter

    The fellas used the word “insane” with insane frequency.

    • #22
  23. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Eustace C. Scrubb:Glad to hear praise for Silicon Valley, which is incredibly vulgar, but brilliant. That monkey with the robotic arm gag was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on TV (up with last year’s robot car gag on the same show). And yes, it does present business in a more realistic and positive light than about any other TV show.

    What the monkey chooses to do with arm…………..

    • #23
  24. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    Ryan M:Frank and Andrew, you are both completely wrong and John is completely wrong and so are Jonah and Rob.I am the only one around here with the good sense to completely ignore game of thrones. ;)

    No you’re not.

    • #24
  25. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Ryan M:Frank and Andrew, you are both completely wrong and John is completely wrong and so are Jonah and Rob.I am the only one around here with the good sense to completely ignore game of thrones. ;)

    I too have had the good sense to follow your lead, Ryan, on the ignorance of Game of Thrones. Several years ago an advocate described the books to me as Lord Of The Rings with sex. It’s weird to me that people found the lack of sex to be a fault of LotR.

    • #25
  26. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    I hate to sound all hipster here but I kind of liked it back when all you non-fantasy readers didn’t know about ASoIaF…….(the real name for the series) and I could enjoy it without having others cast aspersions upon it.

    • #26
  27. awksedperl Member
    awksedperl
    @ArchieCampbell

    Not sure if everyone was aware of this, but the character of Peter Gregory on the first season of “Silicon Valley” was based on Friend Of Ricochet Peter Thiel. Christopher Evan Welch, the actor who played Peter Gregory, died after a bout of cancer before season two. That was sad both because the character he played was very entertaining, and because Welch sounds like a pretty stand-up guy. (He may have gotten the lung cancer that lead to his death by breathing too much ground zero air while helping out in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 in N.Y.C. Or maybe not. But he still sounds like a mensch.)

    Also, the (in)famous sequence from the end the first season wherein the main characters work to optimize the theoretical rate of pleasure which could be delivered by one person was hilarious, but also a very good illustration of the way engineers think and problem-solve.

    • #27
  28. 1967mustangman Inactive
    1967mustangman
    @1967mustangman

    Archie Campbell:Not sure if everyone was aware of this, but the character of Peter Gregory on the first season of “Silicon Valley” was based on Friend Of Ricochet Peter Thiel. Christopher Evan Welch, the actor who played Peter Gregory, died after a bout of cancer before season two. That was sad both because the character he played was very entertaining, and because Welch sounds like a pretty stand-up guy. (He may have gotten the lung cancer that lead to his death by breathing too much ground zero air while helping out in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 in N.Y.C. Or maybe not. But he still sounds like a mensch.)

    Oh you just bummed me out.  I just got done catching up and I loved his character!

    • #28
  29. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    Ed G.:

    It’s weird to me that people found the lack of sex to be a fault of LotR.

    It’s an unstated criticism, but one we were all thinking as we read it.

    • #29
  30. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Frank Soto:

    Ed G.:

    It’s weird to me that people found the lack of sex to be a fault of LotR.

    It’s an unstated criticism, but one we were all thinking as we read it.

    Sorry Frank, work and life worries have my tongue-in-cheek detector going haywire at the moment; not that it works all that well in the best of times.

    Were you really thinking “Gee, the battle at Helm’s Deep would be so much more interesting if Tolkien had described in great detail some of the last-chance-for-love sex that went on in those caves or if he had described some questionably consensual hookups”? Or “I wish he had described the dark places in which Saruman enjoyed storing that orb when his evil duties were done for the day”?

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.