We have a special Christmas season episode to tide everyone over through the holidays. Steve Hayward sits down with Rob Long, who’s just wrapped his first year at Princeton’s Theological Seminary. They discuss dramatic career changes, the storyteller’s take on the link between show business and the saving souls business, and the modern cultural discomfort with the faith of our fathers.
Welcome to another episode of GLoP, America’s only podcast where three grown men debate television, theology, demon scratch marks, and the cultural meaning of Mr. Ed — all while Rob Long eats shrimp noodles into a muted microphone. On this outing, demonology, alien hive minds, and whether Pluribus is actually a right-wing parable about American exceptionalism disguised as a friendly invasion of body-snatching Marxist Care Bears. Also, the deeply important question of why Hollywood produced a series of Talking Mule movies, and what that has to do with Clint Eastwood, and why turkey Peking Duck is the greatest Thanksgiving delicacy.
Rob Long and John Yoo are reunited with their pal James Lileks to serve up some laughs as they sift through some unpleasant truths that many of us would prefer to ignore. The trio yawns at the conclusion of the record-long government shutdown but sees plenty to worry about in its resuming business as usual; considers some elementary underpinnings of the affordability problem; John Yoo takes a barrage of questions on the SCOTUS term and presidential war powers; and Brother Rob takes us out with some thoughts on walking one’s path even in tough times.
After a brief hiatus, GLoP is back and, well, not much has changed: John can’t remember the month, Rob’s in Los Angeles for reasons unknown, and Jonah is courageously trying to keep the conversation somewhere near coherence. The trio tackle vital topics like bad bosses (biblical and otherwise), forgotten ’70s variety shows, why The Blues Brothers is accidentally beautiful, and how nostalgia has officially gone off the rails. Somewhere along the way, there’s circumcision talk, theological tangents, and at least three references no one under fifty will understand. In short: classic GLoP — smart, ridiculous, and slightly embarrassed of itself.
Steve Hayward is traveling abroad, so Ricochet co-founder Rob Long takes a break from his seminary studies to join James and Charlie in a discussion of worldly ways this week. The trio discusses property taxes, crazies with guns, and Bari Weiss’s making a big deal over The Free Press. Plus, there’s a comedian on trial in the UK, sustained outrage over Trump’s law-and-order blitz, and disappointment among his enemies that he could be away from the cameras and alive at the same time.
– Sounds from this week’s open: Tim Waltz on Donald Trump’s “death” earlier this week, and Donald Trump’s announcement that he was not dead earlier this week.
Yep, it’s another episode of GLoP, where three middle-aged men wander from topic to topic like your drunk uncles at Thanksgiving—except with more references to 1970s TV pilots and less pie. This week’s meandering odyssey covers the full spectrum: wiping Faye Dunaway’s… dignity, debating whether puppies can survive her PR aura, discovering that Superman might be unpopular overseas because America is now “meh,” lamenting the death of big loud comedies (RIP, Naked Gun), and reviewing TV shows no one under 50 has heard of but everyone pretends to watch. Along the way, you’ll get unsolicited opinions on Colbert’s cancellation (spoiler: yay), the economics of late-night TV, why Hungarian tax rebates are the real star of international thrillers, and an extended meditation on historical body odor.
This podcast has never been above (or below) using a title to click-bait you into listening and this episode maintains that high standard. But rest assured, that’s not all that is discussed: the guys delve into F1, that New York Times Top 100 movies of the 21st Century list, the miracle that is Andor, what the Anchorman pitch meeting must have been like, Rob has a moral dilemma in Egypt, a very weird Broadway play, Jonah has a bad experience with an EV, and is Peter Thiel actually the Anti-Christ? We report, you decide.
Why is this GLoP different from all other GLoPs? Because on this GLoP, the principals discuss the future of the show and how to evolve it given their divergent interests. But don’t worry: there’s also plenty of laughs involving Gavin MacLeod, his TV wife Joyce Bulifant (look her up), an actual joke about the holocaust, and another one about the N-word. And even some actual pop culture with some thoughts about Andor, Sinners, and BritBoxTV.
This month on GLoP: Rob has an important announcement to make, some unfortunate serial killer names, The Last of Us, Andor, Wolf Hall, and various other cultural non-sequiturs.
It’s the Hayward and Long Hour this week, meaning it’s TheoBro-PoliPhi time. Since this duo was away for our recent episode featuring questions submitted by Ricochet subscribers, we asked for a new batch of inquiries catered specifically for our blithesome professor and the jocular seminarian. As ever, Ricochet members delivered a surplus of material for us in the chatty corner of showbiz.
Care to get in on the conversation? Join us at Ricochet.com!
Ricochet Co-Founder Rob Long joins Greg for another round of the 3 Martini Lunch! Today, they break down EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s aggressive cuts to government waste, a California lawyer’s disturbing tribute to an alleged murderer, and the media’s latest meltdown over Trump teasing a third term.
First, they cheer Zeldin for shutting down the EPA’s costly and little-visited museum focused on environmental justice and climate change—saving taxpayers millions. With more wasteful spending and burdensome regulations under review, Zeldin is emerging as a major force at the agency and Rob suspects Zeldin will have an even brighter political future.
Among other things, Jonah really wants you to know he’s not Jeff. After clearing that up, he and the rest of the GLoP crew delve into writing with AI, pitch a King Game of Thrones spinoff but in the Burger King extended universe, another look at The Taking of Pelham 123, inflection points and Suits, Wings, and various other pop culture cul-de-sacs.
Immediately upon the president’s return to office, we discovered that stopping the flood of illegal immigrants across the border was as simple as turning off the spigot. While the crisis may be over, the mission has yet to be accomplished. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies and host of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast returns to discuss what follows the end of the beginning efforts to correct the long-neglected immigration mess.
Plus, Rob, James and Steve look forward to the dismantling of the Department of Education; they do their best to ignore the psychopathic attention-seekers in the Middle East; and James finally turns the tables on Rob for a good old-fashioned troll.
Jonah’s got a new pair of specs, the WaPo has a new editorial policy, White Lotus, Severance, Rob studies and watches Tik-Tok, Reacher, and lots of Yiddish. Yep, it’s a new GLoP.
Ross Douthat returns to the Ricochet Podcast to discuss his latest book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. Rob, Steve and James chat with him to get at The Big Everything. Why does a Catholic make the case for broadly-defined belief? Has disillusionment with liberalism provided God an opening to win back lost sheep? Should faith guide us toward practical answers to ordinary problems? Tune in for answers!
Plus, the fellas discuss Voodoo Doll research getting the DOGE treatment; they consider the levels of commitment to America First; and they express their doubts that AfD’s expected gains in the German parliament portend a Nazi revival.
It’s the first GLoP of 2025, so we super-sized it. We’ve got everything from Oscar nominations, to AI everywhere, to David Lynch to Bob Newhart to Nosfertau, some Broadway, a manhood measurer, and even a bit of Bob Dylan. Enjoy!
For the last podcast of the year, Steve, Charles and Rob pull out all the stops to grab the attention of podcast listeners worldwide: some theology here, a little healthcare debate there, and a few notes on Congress’ gargantuan Christmas list. Plus, there’s the WSJ write-up on the efforts to conceal Joe Biden’s decline, Kirsten Gillibrand’s ERA absurdity, and some insights from Rob on how show-biz will be forced to come to its senses.
We’re back after an unavoidable month-long hiatus to comment on all things pop and regular culture. This week, we cover The Odd Couple, Moscow Edition, hot murderers, another episode of GLoP Jokes, and Jonah’s journey to a distant land.
Yep, it’s time for another romp through pop culture and (trigger warning) politics as the men of GLoP riff on college campus antics (one of the panelists is in college at the moment), possible election unrest, Game of Thrones v. Monty Python and The Holy Grail, the problem with liking Hitler’s generals, the greatest Faye Dunaway story you have ever heard, ABC’s Dr. Odyssey, who would win a Harris against Trump IQ test, and Rob makes a very mainstream recommendation.
Rob’s back!
He takes a break from Biblical Greek to catch up with a few of his favorite laypeople. He gives James and Steve his early impressions of the coursework and classmates at Princeton Theological Seminary. Then the trio moves onto our favorite events since we’ve last seen the future father: the post-Brat Summer letdown for Harris and the left’s resurrection of their favorite f-word for Republicans; the meltdown over Trump’s shift at McDonald’s; and the Daily Wire’s latest hit documentary—candid camera done right!
