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The Middle of Culture

The Middle of Culture

By: Peter and Eden Jones
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The Middle of Culture is what happens when two siblings with too many opinions and not enough chill dive headfirst into movies, music, video games, and whatever else is rotting our brains this week. It’s part pop culture podcast, part sibling rivalry, and fully unfiltered. Expect passionate arguments, niche references, unsolicited rankings, and the occasional moment of unexpected insight. If you’ve ever wanted to eavesdrop on the kind of argument you’d hear at the family dinner table—only with better audio—this is your show.© 2026 Peter and Eden Jones Music Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Hot Take Factory

    Hot Take Factory
    Jun 21 2026
    Peter and Eden run through a rapid-fire list of pop culture hot takes covering movies, TV, music, books, and games. The Star Wars watch order debate kicks things off (original trilogy only for Peter, release order for Eden), Eden defends Batman & Robin and F-Boy Island as unironically great, both agree the Beatles are played out, and they end on a shared appreciation for Alpha Centauri as the peak of the Civilization franchise.Show NotesWhat Eden's Been IntoK-pop roundup: LE SSERAFIM's new album, aespa's Lemonade LP, and ITZY's Motto EP (featuring solo tracks from each member)Reading: The web novel Long Awaited Feelings (1,900 pages about a woman who time-travels after her death) and rereading How Do We Relationship? (completed 14-volume yuri romance manga — "the best romance comic I've ever read")Games: Finished PowerWash Simulator (excited for the Star Wars DLC), played Loddlenaut (cute 5-hour pixel-art ocean cleanup game), and the Wuthering Waves x Cyberpunk: Edgerunners crossover eventWhat Peter's Been IntoDiablo 4: Finished the Vessel of Hatred campaign as a Warlock ("killing demons by summoning your own demons is a good time")Reading: 82% through Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam (BookTuber debut from Tor) — enjoying it but struggling with the prickly protagonistMusic: New Khemmis self-titled album (Denver doom metal), Cult of Luna's new single "In the Shadow of Your Shadow" (album out November), and The Ocean's "Light Pollution" from upcoming Solaris — allaying fears after the post-Holocene lineup changeHot Takes — MoviesStar Wars watch order: Peter says 4, 5, 6 + maybe Rogue One, skip everything else. Eden says release order (4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, Rogue One) to preserve cultural/historical contextEden defends Batman & Robin: "It's the second best Batman movie. George Clooney's a bad Batman, he's got nipples on the Batsuit, he's got the Bat credit card — it's great."Eden declares Saving Private Ryan a bad movie to the horror of everyone at the comic book shopBest Pixar: Eden picks Ratatouille (doesn't like most Pixar). Peter picks The IncrediblesCorrect max runtime: 90 minutes (Eden) vs 120 minutes (Peter) — anything longer needs to earn itSequel that's better: Peter says Captain America: Winter Soldier > First Avenger. Eden says Tokyo Drift is the best Fast & Furious movieCitizen Kane: Eden concedes it's the rare masterpiece that actually earns its reputation — a bunch of first-time filmmakers who didn't know the rulesHot Takes — TVShows that stayed too long: The Simpsons (Peter). Nearly every comedy past season 3 (Eden)Best series finale: M*A*S*H's "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" and Babylon 5 (Eden). Brooklyn 99 (Peter)Worst series finale: Battlestar Galactica (new) — "the most incomprehensible finale you'll ever watch" (Eden). Seinfeld (Peter)Reality TV worth defending: F-Boy Island — 24 guys, half are "nice guys" and half are fuckboys, the women pick, and the fuckboys can steal the $100k at the end. Nice guys get a villa; fuckboys get a literal prison camp on the beachAdult animation vs prestige drama: Eden says Bob's Burgers is the only good adult animation show right now. Prestige TV is in a nadir of expensive Game of Thrones clonesHot Takes — MusicNever need to hear again: The entire Beatles discography (both agree)Best decade by genre: 80s for rock/pop, 90s for alt, aughts for indie, right now for K-pop (Eden). 2010s for metal — the genre found its stride again after a grim 90s (Peter)Bands that should have stopped: Dream Theater after Awake (Eden). Opeth's last 15 years are all misses (Eden). Peter agrees on bothGreatest live album: Rush — Exit...Stage Left (Peter). The Bang on a Can recording of Terry Riley's In C (Eden — "the finest version I've ever seen")Albums > playlists: Both firmly team albums. Eden has a 16-hour "K-pop Brain Rot" playlist for shuffling, but that's the exceptionHot Takes — BooksAudiobooks = reading? Leans yes from both, but acknowledges the research is contradictory (small sample sizes, brain scan studies on both sides)E-readers vs physical: Peter goes digital 9 times out of 10 (lighter, portable, side-lit). Eden does physical for comics, e-books for prose (form factor matters less for text, but hates reading comics on a screen)Hot Takes — GamesFavorite game of all time: Mass Effect 2 (Peter — tighter gameplay than ME1, loyalty missions, assembling the crew). Doom (1993) (Eden — infinitely replayable with new WADs every day, nothing feels as fluid)Best console generation: Xbox 360 / PS3 era (both) — Halo 3 LAN parties, Gears of War couch co-op, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Viva Piñata, and yes, Sneak KingOpen world vs linear: Both prefer a tight 20-hour experience over a 100-hour open worldFranchise that peaked early: Age of Empires II (Peter — nothing since comes close). And Eden's shitpost answer of the day: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is better than every Civilization game that came...
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • You're Under Arrest (Zero Arrests)

    You're Under Arrest (Zero Arrests)
    Jun 8 2026
    Eden makes Peter watch the 1994–95 OVA You're Under Arrest, a four-episode anime about two traffic cops in Tokyo. Peter goes in skeptical but comes out admitting it was fun, charming, and visually stunning. The siblings unpack what makes 90s hand-drawn animation special, how the direct-to-video OVA format enabled lavish production values, and why the 2017 revival is a cautionary tale in digital downgrades. Plus: Peter wraps up Dungeon Crawler Carl book 8, Eden makes a pilgrimage to giant troll sculptures in Iowa, a hotel bed that doesn't suck, and Peter's genuine enthusiasm for the new I Built the Sky album.Show NotesYou're Under Arrest OVA (1994–95): A four-episode direct-to-video anime about traffic cops Natsumi Tsujimoto and Miyuki Kobayakawa at Bokuto Station in Tokyo. Despite the title, zero arrests occur across all four episodes — the show is closer to a workplace slice-of-life comedy. Created by Kōsuke Fujishima.The OVA format explained: Original Video Animation — direct-to-video releases that bypassed broadcast TV. In the 90s, OVAs were often more lavish than TV anime because VHS tapes sold for $40–$70 per episode, guaranteeing ROI. OVAs also had fewer content restrictions than broadcast — though You're Under Arrest stays remarkably tame.Kōsuke Fujishima's broader work: Beyond You're Under Arrest, Fujishima created Oh My Goddess! and served as lead character designer for multiple Tales games, including Tales of Phantasia, Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia, and Berseria.The infamous "silly goose" meme: Eden discovered that a reaction image she's been seeing online for 20 years — a character sticking out her tongue with hands on her head — originates from You're Under Arrest (character Yoriko in episode 3).English dub vs. subtitles: Peter found the English dub surprisingly good — the dialogue was looser and more entertaining than the literal subtitle translations. Eden watched subbed. Peter says the dub actually improved the experience for a light show like this.The 2017 revival: Eden showed Peter the opening to the 2017 You're Under Arrest series — cheap digital animation, worse music, and gratuitous bikini volleyball shots. A textbook example of how 90s hand-drawn cel animation aged better than early digipaint.Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 8: A Parade of Horribles: Peter finished it. Covers floors 10 and 11 — down to 23 crawlers alive from an initial ~2 million. Bleak but sets up the final book. Peter's verdict: good, but he mainlined too many DCC books in a row and needs a break.Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam: Peter's next read — a debut fantasy novel from a book influencer he follows. A one-off palate cleanser before diving into Discworld.Forza Horizon 6: Set in Japan, released May 2026. Peter earned his legendary gold wristband. Won the Titan (14.4-mile cross-country race) in a Koenigsegg but hasn't cracked the 54-mile Goliath loop yet.I Built the Sky — Promise Me You'll Thrive: Solo guitarist Rohan Stevenson's latest. Instrumental, joyful, heavy in places. Peter's been listening on repeat since it came out and calls it "next level" — it made him love guitar-centric instrumental music again.Evergrey — Architects of a New Weave: The Swedish progressive metal band's 15th album, out June 5, 2026 via Napalm Records. Peter describes them as melancholy progressive power metal — never cheesy. Tom Englund's voice "could sing the Hallelujah chorus and you'd still be like, this is so sad."Godthrymm — Projections (2026): British doom metal, third album via Profound Lore. Pulls from the My Dying Bride vein — former MDB vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe guests on a track. (Peter refers to their 2020 debut Reflections and 2023 follow-up Distortions.)The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 16: Eden devoured it in a day and a half. Their endorsement: "You want something fun and simple and light and still intriguing? Apothecary Diaries is it."Thomas Dambo trolls in Clinton, Iowa: Danish artist Thomas Dambo builds giant recycled-material troll sculptures worldwide. Clinton has three prominent trolls plus a fourth hidden in a park — the extra one exists because locals were so helpful Dambo had spare time.Moxy Hotels: Marriott's quirky sub-brand. No check-in counter — the bartender handles it with a complimentary drink. Rooms include a guitar and amp. Bedtime stories available by phone. Eden declares the bed the most comfortable hotel bed they've ever slept in.The Lodi Pencil Sharpening: The 5th annual sharpening of a giant pencil at Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. Happened Saturday, June 6, 2026. Eden and Cassi attended for the second year.PowerWash Simulator 2: Eden's catharsis game of choice. Currently 71% through a very large barn.The Batman (2022): Eden rewatched it at the hotel. Still great, still too long — three hours, with "a whole fifth act that didn't need to be there." Cassi fell asleep. The bed was comfortable, so it balanced out.
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    56 mins
  • The Worst Covers in History

    The Worst Covers in History
    May 25 2026

    Peter and Eden kick off with a leisurely check-in — outdoor Godzilla screenings, Eden's miniature laundry room diorama with a 1/12-scale mahjong set, Peter's Amon Amarth/Dethklok concert recap, and new releases from Periphery and LE SSERAFIM. Then, with an assist from ChatGPT's Codex, Peter has assembled roughly 45 of the internet's most-agreed-upon worst album covers for a tier list ranking — S being the most catastrophically bad. The resulting hour-ish is essentially an appreciation of outsider art, deeply cursed Photoshop, and the specific chaos that was '90s rap cover design. Key revelation: the Rednecks, who made Sex and Violins, are Swedish, and that is the Cotton Eye Joe.


    SHOW NOTES

    • Outdoor Movie Night Gone Right: Eden's projector plan collapsed due to daylight, so they wheeled the TV outside and screened the 1998 Godzilla with Matthew Broderick — which Eden argues holds up better than its reputation suggests. Friend L contributed an observation about American Godzilla's gender presentation that Peter and Eden both find compelling.
    • Daikon 3 & 4 / Studio Gainax Origin Story: Eden showed friends the legendary fan animations made for the early-'80s Daikon convention circuit — blatant copyright-violating anime crossovers that nonetheless launched the careers of the people who would go on to found Gainax (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and later Trigger (Delicious in Dungeon, Season 2).
    • Roombox 3 Progress: Eden's current miniature diorama project is a laundry room featuring a vending machine, an arcade cabinet, and a complete 1/112-scale Chinese mahjong set (all 144 tiles). Models are being dressed in fabric soft clothing rather than left as bare plastic.
    • LE SSERAFIM New Album: Eden's favorite K-pop act has a new record out. The second track samples La Macarena, which prompted a mild generational crisis at the comic shop when the younger staff noted it predates them.
    • Dungeon Crawler Carl / Discworld Detour: Peter is finishing Book 8 of Dungeon Crawler Carl (narrated by Jeff Hayes, whose per-character voice work Peter genuinely enjoys despite usually disliking that approach) and has resolved to go into Terry Pratchett's Discworld next as a pressure valve from heavy genre fiction.
    • Amon Amarth / Dethklok Concert: Peter drove to Salt Lake for the Amon Amarth/Dethklok tour. Amon Amarth was a highlight — Johan Hegg commanding a full audience Viking rowing session — while Dethklok left Peter cold; the Metalocalypse spectacle on screen keeps the audience at arm's length from the music. Castle Rat opened and was a solid short set.
    • Forza Horizon 6: Peter is ~15 hours in on the Japan-set new installment and finding it an ideal low-commitment diversion. Fits easily into 20-minute sessions or longer stretches.
    • Periphery — A Pale White Dot: New album from the djent-adjacent prog-metal band. Peter's read: fewer peaks but also fewer low points than usual — more consistent, somewhat more middling. Flagged as interesting rather than essential.
    • Bad Album Art Tier List: The main event. Peter used Codex to compile ~45 covers from various internet "worst of" lists into a tier list app, with S = truly worst. Notable rankings: The Faith Tones' Jesus Use Me nearly got its own tier above S; Rednex' Sex and Violins landed S upon discovering the band is Swedish and responsible for the definitive Cotton Eye Joe; Iron Maiden's Dance of Death — described as looking like "Baby's first Blender" — is an A despite being one of their best 21st-century albums; Badfinger's Ass (donkey with headphones, hand holding a carrot) closed the list as a deserved S.
    • Creed Sidebar: Human Clay cover triggers a genuine conversation about Creed's arc — good debut, one-and-a-half good albums, then nothing. Peter credits Alter Bridge as the redemptive outcome.
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    1 hr
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