The Good Robot Andys

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Joined by our very special guest Hannah Dunleavy off that Standard Issue podcast, we discuss, with many spoilers, season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale. We cover all the important topics such as:

• Can you actually have too much of looking deeply into Elisabeth Moss’s face while she bears suffering?
• What on earth are the programme-makers trying to say, and is it a good thing to be saying?
• Could it be something about anger being OK? But surely if so, they would … etc.
• Do you identify more with Janine or Commander Lawrence?

Don’t worry – conclusions are drawn.

A massive thank you to Hannah Dunleavy – it was a huge pleasure to record with you once, and the fact that technical difficulties meant we had to record again made us doubly grateful. Check out Hannah’s podcasts:

• Standard Issue – By women. For women. About everything.
• The Drink – Journalist Hannah Dunleavy wants to talk about alcohol – what we drink, when we drink and why we drink it.
• What Are You Making Me Watch? – Long-time friends and even longer-time telly reviewers, Paul Kirkley and Hannah Dunleavy, finally force each other to watch the stuff the other has been studiously avoiding.

The art that Andy C mentioned by Danni Cockerill is at society6.com/cockerillart.

More on Andy B’s new job working on Matrix later.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Possessor, a gruey, scary, creepy horror film about taking over other people’s bodies for evil purposes. Or is it really about how difficult it is to live a double life? Andy B starts off thinking it is somehow related to house repossessions, but Andy C sets him a little closer to the right path.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of The Walking Dead season 10. Both Andys are huge fans of TWD: was season 10 more goodness, or a disappointment? How about the extra episodes filmed during lockdown? Listen for a detailed walkthrough of how the Andys felt about each episode.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Army of the Dead. Andy B suggests it might be a Manga zombie war movie, but Andy C explains it’s an amazing-looking zombie/heist combination movie that is funny, with some excellent characters.

That game Andy B wrote is Rightwaves.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Nomadland. Andy B thinks it’s an Idris Elba chipmunk train adventure, but Andy C explains it’s a window into the world of a woman living life and grief her way, with no beginning, middle or end, which he found uplifting despite how bleak it sounds.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Sound of Metal, as well as quite a lot of cobblers about the Oscars.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of News of the World. Andy B thinks it’s a fall-off-the-cliff-of-despair genre moves that starts out like a rom-com about a young journalist navigating newsrooms, but Andy C explains it’s a Western about a former confederate soldier who rescues a lost girl.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Blinded by the Light. Andy B thinks it’s a far-right religious revelation film ending in the destruction of everyone in the world except the pious few, but Andy C explains it’s a joyous tear-inducing coming-of-age film about an Asian British teenager coping with racism and turbulent family relations through his love of the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Those programming videos by Andy B are: Interesting Characters – about Unicode and character sets, and how surprisingly fun and interesting they are, and What Does the Linker Actually Do for Us? – about the C and C++ linker, and what it really does.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Content warning for discussion of a film featuring severe mental health problems and suicide.

Discussion (with spoilers) of Saint Maud. Andy B thinks it’s an Emma Thompson movie about a boarding school but Andy C puts him straight: it’s a heightened drama horror about a woman who believes she is acting on God’s orders and descends into terrible destruction.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Relic. Andy B thinks it’s a rollicking Disney adventure about some mice who can breathe under water, which is an interesting commentary on religion, but Andy C explains it’s a subtle horror that explores generational trauma and the pain of caring for someone with dementia.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Host. Andy B basically thinks it’s The Haunting, but it’s not at all: Andy C explains it’s a lockdown-created Lockdown Zoom Horror, British-made and independent.

[Content warning: a couple of brief mentions of suicide.]

That games site Andy B is working on is smolpxl.artificialworlds.net.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Andy and Andy share some of their favourite scenes from some of their favourite movies.

That podcast by our friends that we think you’ll like is The Disc Dump Podcast. Give it a try!

That games site Andy B is working on is smolpxl.artificialworlds.net.

Those software recommendations were:

• Jitsi video conferencing
• Audacity sound editor
• LMMS music creator
• testdisk broken disk recovery program

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of The Visit. Andy B thinks it’s a sophisticated thriller starring Michelle Pfeifer, but Andy C explains it’s a fun, short creepy horror from good old M. Night Shyamalan.

That podcast by our friends that we think you’ll like is The Disc Dump Podcast. Give it a try!

That games site Andy B is working on is smolpxl.artificialworlds.net.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Everybody Now – Climate Emergency and Sacred Duty

The Good Robot Andys are proud to share with you:

We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and theologians talk bravely and frankly about how our biosphere is changing, about grief and hope in an age of social collapse and mass extinction, and about taking action against all the odds.

On 19th October 2020, Everybody Now is being released by podcasters all over the world as a collective call for awareness, grief and loving action.

With contributions from:

Dr. Gail Bradbrook – scientist and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion
Prof. Kevin Anderson – Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester
Dámaris Albuquerque – works with agricultural communities in Nicaragua
Dr. Rowan Williams – theologian and poet, and a former Archbishop of Canterbury
Pádraig Ó Tuama – poet, theologian and conflict mediator
Rachel Mander – environmental activist with Hope for the Future
John Swales – priest and activist, and part of a community for marginalised people
Zena Kazeme – Persian-Iraqi poet who draws on her experiences as a former refugee to create poetry that explores themes of exile, home, war and heritage
Flo Brady – singer and theatre maker
Hannah Malcolm – Anglican ordinand, climate writer and organiser
Alastair McIntosh is a writer, academic and land rights activist
David Benjamin Blower – musician, poet and podcaster

Funding and Production:

This podcast was crowdfunded by a handful of good souls, and produced by Tim Nash and David Benjamin Blower

Permissions:

The song Happily by Flo Brady is used with permission.
The song The Soil, from We Really Existed and We Really Did This by David Benjamin Blower, used with permission.
The Poem The Tree of Knowledge by Pádraig Ó Tuama used with permission.
The Poem Atlas by Zena Kazeme used with permission.
The Poem What is Man? by Rowan Williams from the book The Other Mountain, used with permission from Carcanet Press.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Snowpiercer. Andy B thinks it might be a live-action ear-piercing-as-a-metaphor-for-emotional-growth movie set in the Frozen universe, but Andy C patiently explains that it’s a Sci Fi where the last remnants of humanity live on a socially-divided train.

The book of lockdown poems Andy B mentioned is Breathing Space.

That games site Andy B is working on is smolpxl.artificialworlds.net.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of Proxima, which is a story about an astronaut overcoming personal circumstances to train for a mission to Mars. Andy B speculates that it features a robot who eats human flesh, but Andy C puts him right: it’s highly recommended because the story is engaging and the performances are excellent.

That games site Andy B is working on is smolpxl.artificialworlds.net.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which is a story without any nasty surprises about the nice man being horrible, but instead a chance to watch an angry man helped by being shown some kindness and empathy. Apparently it’s not as bad as it sounds.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of The Invisible Man. We love Elisabeth Moss (and, it turns out later, Elisabeth Banks) and this stars her (Banks, that is) as a woman terrorised and gaslighted by a controlling husband who just happens to have invented an invisibility suit. Andy C says it’s good and Andy B seems satisified that it handles the inherent creepiness in a reasonable way.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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Discussion (with spoilers) of The Lighthouse. From the title, Andy B thinks it’s a Finnish water-painted animation, with splashes of colour in the mist, but Andy C explains it’s a tense horror film with a couple of mermaids, but mainly two men stuck in a scary place, losing it.

The Good Robot Andys podcasts and web site by Andy Balaam and Andy Cockerill are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque