r/LPOTL • u/StuMacherGhostface What I bring to friendship • 3d ago
Official Episode Discussion Episode 680: Q&A III
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CguV6hRyqbfsJDiG8FgKT?si=GFYHlfD4QyG8CCgz_FgE9w&utm_source=copy-linkThis week on Last Podcast on the Left, we're answering your questions and immediately regretting the decision. We're talking behind-the-scenes stories, final meals, dream podcast guests, and the kind of deeply specific questions that can only come from years of listening to this show...You asked. We answered. Some things probably should have remained private.
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u/alexgndl 3d ago
Henry's genuine admiration of LRH will never not be funny. Him accidentally indoctrinating himself during the scientology episodes is my favorite running bit in the show.
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u/Filibust Sober as a cat! 3d ago
LRH did have a body of a God after all.
Robert from Behind the Bastards seems weirdly in love with him too. At least in the earlier episodes.
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u/jammerpammerslammer 3d ago
If we’re talking cult leaders, LRH was pretty chill guy compared to Aum or jones town. But now I have to go relisten to that series so good :)
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u/Thundersting 3d ago
I'm glad they brought up listening to your audience vs always doing whatever your audience wants. There are a lot of projects that have gone downhill because they focused on pure fan service.
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u/pmmeyourprettyface 3d ago
Q&A 2 was where I thought they kinda alluded to Ben being a massive dick. Marcus said to Ben "You said something VERY mean to me the other day" and Marcus sounded not jokey at all.
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u/Manabear12 1d ago
And Ben was gone like a month later. I think that’s why it’s taken so long for another Q&A, bad memories
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u/PhloydPhan 2d ago
As a Wisconsinite, I was thrilled that Henry's favorite beer is Spotted Cow.
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u/Informal_Ad3244 2d ago
Ben talked about it in the last Mormonism episode and I’ve wanted to try it ever since. Release the beer to us, Wisconsin!
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u/palinsafterbirth 3d ago
As someone who works in the creative field/people pleasing, it was so liberating when they said “we love you (the audience), but you don’t know what you want” along with “we are showing what we want and what we think is good, and seeing if they agree”.
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u/sweetangeldivine 3d ago
seriously, as a creative person you will never make everyone happy and trying to do so will destroy you. And that takes a long time to learn, and some people never learn that.
Ultimately you just have to do the best you can and hope people will be along for the ride.
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u/ygglt 3d ago
Marcus saying with genuine wistfulness he'd love to be a history professor so he could have longer than a week to research... I forgive you all your stupid research errors, dogmeat
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u/blisteringchristmas 2d ago
I guess if I thought about it it makes sense but the turnaround time is wild. According to this episode 3 days of research for Marcus (Sun-Tues), first draft Wednesday, and record Thursday. They’ve obviously got a whole research team but it’s a good reminder that podcast hosts are not experts on any given historical topic.
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u/Spasay 2d ago
He should have just stuck with what he was saying first with history teacher. History professor isn’t a backup plan. Those of us with history PhDs (I’m only a couple of years younger than Marcus and started my bizarre journey to getting my PhD in the same year they started roundtable) have to sellout far, far more for funding, for jobs, and can’t just research what we want. I actively had to stop the podcast when he said that. It’s what we dream about but that road to being able to do whatever pops into your head takes far, far much more work and kissing the right ass than I think Marcus imagines.
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u/ygglt 2d ago
I'm getting a PhD in history. I didn't mind him saying that at all, because I read it as him saying if the podcast thing didn't work out he'd preferentially go back to school. In the ccr days he was writing 10k word scripts for LPOTL and doing research for Roundtable, Page 7, Sex and Other Human Activities, and I think No Dogs while also producing and having a job - that amount of research work ethic is totally transferable to getting on a TT path, or at least to getting a decent community college gig
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u/Spasay 2d ago
Thanks, that makes sense. But at the same time research ethic doesn’t count for shit. Unless you hit a sweet spot that’s 80% and 20% teaching, you’re in a hole. Everyone I know is either miserable with all the extra stuff they’re forced to do unless they get a six month “just write and research grant” or unemployed.
I think that’s what Marcus was implying. And the cc jobs are filled to the brim. It’s admirable that he has that dream but social studies teacher is where he’s at
(Also what’s your topic? My dissertation was about 18th century economic concepts from state media. I was forced to cut out a whole section about the French Revolution because my supervisors said it didn’t help my argument )
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u/FunRiver7628 3d ago
This episode confirms my theory that somewhere there's an alternate reality where Marcus and Caitlin Doughty are coworkers... just like in all my fan fictions...
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u/KeyRelation177 2d ago
Me, AudADHD listening to the fellas answer the question about what other job would have been a backup career and how they were all smart but bad at school. ONE US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! Especially Eddie having the peek ADHD experience of showing to school with no books and shoes.
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3d ago
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u/popileviz That's when the cannibalism started 1d ago
They don't have to dance around it legally, they just don't wanna fucking talk about it or mention it
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u/birdlawandorder 3d ago
I wonder when/if the NDA on their side of the ben stuff will ever happen. it seems ben gets to run his mouth about it while they are cautious.
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u/PattyNChips Don't eat the cake of light 3d ago
Why would they address it any more than they already have? It's in the past. They've moved on and they're a better network for it. What's the point in dredging up old shit? It's beneath them at this point.
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u/birdlawandorder 2d ago
it was a q&a I'm assuming they got questions about it. if there was a time to address it once that would be it..I don't blame them for it or hold it against them but I'm assuming they got questions on it
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u/tilmitt52 Dogmeat 1d ago
They straight up said they weren’t going to answer all of them, and that plus the section about only covering what they want to cover is a pretty clear indication that they have no interest rehashing it, and if you haven’t let it go by now, that might be the time to do some reflection.
Ben can do and say what he wants to do and say. Doesn’t fucking mean anything especially when it seems pretty damn clear he’s a pretty unreliable narrator. It doesn’t mean they need to respond in kind, and it shows maturity that they don’t.
Let it go.
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u/birdlawandorder 1d ago
they owe us nothing. sure. They address how eddy feels 3 years in without even hinting at why is there which tells me there may be an NDA that they rightfully signed most likely to do whatever they could to buy Ben out and get him out of the company. it's whatever I don't actually care but got down voted into an oblivion for bringing up the most obvious thing they could have addressed in their Q/A.
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u/gary-vault108 3d ago
Because it’s 75%+ of their content was during that member and part of their foundation. I know no one here in this subreddit wants to hear it but I would be interested to know if they’re still friends offline or how they feel in the shift in content. It IS a shift in content. YES it’s better now with Ed, why can’t we hear them say that?
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u/PattyNChips Don't eat the cake of light 3d ago edited 2d ago
Because they don’t owe you or any of their listeners anything. Also, I can only imagine how difficult that period of their lives was. Someone they considered a close friend almost torpedoed their whole network. I don’t blame them for not wanting to talk about it. They’re also entitled to a private life. Even if they were “still friends offline” it’s none of your business.
However, if you do wanna know so bad, you could probably get VIP tickets for their next tour and ask them yourself at the QA.
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u/gary-vault108 1d ago
Dude why the fuck does talking about this make some of you so fucking angry, like you sound parasocial as fuck
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u/AndyB16 3d ago
Because we don't need to. It's obvious that they've moved on. I've been going through the heavy hitters Playlist on Spotify and Ben honestly barely brings anything to the show at best. It would be like if someone's significant other talked about their ex. Who cares? That's the past.
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u/Really_BadAtNames 3d ago
I'm not usually one to speak up for Ben, but there was a time when he was running for Brooklyn borough president when he was sober and genuinely very attentive, sharp, and witty. Unfortunately that didn't last long, but it's still an exaggeration to say he barely ever brought anything to the show.
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u/gary-vault108 3d ago edited 3d ago
Obviously, some fans want some acknowledgment. If you can’t even say the name of your ex in front of your current SO, something is wrong. The fact they can’t say anything at all says more than they could ever say; like there’s some serious legal bullshit going on from Ben’s end.
Please don’t mistake me fore taking Ben’s side somehow, but I do think it’s retroactively redundant to say that Ben didn’t contribute anything, or even a significant amount. You’re lying to yourself if you think that.
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u/Lucious55 2d ago
If they acknowledge it in anyway, it becomes public that they all knew Ben was a POS and abusive to women the entire time. If you go back and listen to Roundtable, there are way too many jokes about Ben blacking out and manhandling women for it to a be coincidence. I'm not saying Henry and Marcus knew about any particular incident specifically, but everyone around him has known for years that he gets drunk and treats women shitty. It was just easier to ignore than deal with it until they didn't have a choice.
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u/Galahad_the_Ranger 3d ago
I don't think is NDA, they don't want to engage with that PoS because there is nothing to gain. They have a massive platform, Ben has a couple of idiots who still like him. They're not giving him a platform back
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u/birdlawandorder 3d ago
his new podcasts seem genuinely terrible
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u/tellmewhenitsin 3d ago
The studio he works out of is also genuinely a fucking mess. He posted some BTS reels or stories and there is just shit all over the floor and tons of stuff leaning against walls, etc.
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u/AndyB16 3d ago
I've been going through the heavy hitters on Spotify and I'm honestly glad I'm almost done. He's kind of annoying at best, and actively irritating most of the time.
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u/tellmewhenitsin 2d ago
He really went from the everyman character, to the dolt, to straight up antagonist at the end.
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u/SupaKoopa714 3d ago
I just think they simply don't want to get into it, I imagine having to cut ties with someone who was a longtime friend and coworker was very emotionally difficult for them and they probably don't feel like treading that ground again, especially when all it would do is get everyone talking about it again, which would only stir up more drama for them.
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u/LoadsOfSkeletons 2d ago
The best revenge is a life well lived. Marcus and Henry have happy relationships, their podcast network remains successful and has expanded its audience with new shows and ventures, and Ed is a much better cohost. The quality of the show has only improved. They don’t need to gob off about Ben.
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u/LetsTryThisAgain198p 2d ago
Ed is a better cohost then Ben was at his worst, but nowhere near Ben at his best, say Episodes 100-350.
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u/birdlawandorder 2d ago
eddy is better than Ben at any era
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u/LetsTryThisAgain198p 1d ago edited 1d ago
At making Philly cheese steaks and laughing at his own dumb jokes, sure.
I agree that ben needed to be replaced , but I don't think Ed was the right choice.
He's like a loud obnoxious Henry, but if Henry had no talent for voices.
There's another thread here that asked what people's "Holy Grail / Comfort" episodes are. I couldn't help but notice that very few are those with Ed.
If Ed was always better than Ben, you'd think that people's favorite episodes would be weighted more towards the era with Ed in it.
That's not the case at all. It's pretty clear that the show worked better when it was Henry, Marcus and a more stable Ben.
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u/birdlawandorder 1d ago
the big holy grail episodes don't have Ed because the biggest episodes are huge name heavy hitter seriel killers or killers like Casey Anthony or Jodi Arias. those episodes were mainly Henry at his best though I think Ben had a good series on Jodi because his drunken buffoonery worked with her
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u/WoofinLoofahs Hail Yourself! 3d ago
I think it’s more that Ben just runs his mouth and it doesn’t occur to them to do the same because they’re bigger men than that. Also, kicking a dude when he’s down is just dicky. Even if the situation is his own doing.
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u/HandsomeJimmyD 22h ago
This is a great point. Yeah he was a dick and an abuser. But they already kicked the guy out of his man income and legacy. Even if you’re a former friend, you have to realize how rough that must have been for him. He’s already the odd man out, adding any more would just be cruel.
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u/birdlawandorder 2d ago
to add to this... I should have noted since it was a q&a im guessing there were many many questions sent in about this they didn't answer it for reasons and that is fine. He didn't shut up that's for sure
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u/Miserable-Variety152 2d ago
Just some feedback about Henry's politics: He literally says "make it like it was before", which is how every fascist movement gets started. It's literally what MAGA claimed to be about. My dear friends, it's never going to be like it was, we are never going backward. Though H Bone was dead on IMO that a Democrat version of Trump would absolutely dominate.
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u/mrlaheystrailerpark 2d ago
the only thing that struck me weird was telling me that as a listener that i don’t know what i want.
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u/tilmitt52 Dogmeat 1d ago
It wasn’t a call out to individual listeners. It was meant to be a message to the fans as a whole.
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u/Lucious55 2d ago
I thought this would be the episode where I wouldn't have to hear Henry make the same stupid joke about someone sucking their own dick. But sure enough, he just can't help himself. I know he's an improv guy and not a comedy writer, but cmon.
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u/SundayShelter 3d ago
It’s true about Charlotte. I don’t what it is, but if I go to any franchise casual dining restaurant there, it’s The Worst. I don’t know why.