Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week James brings One Cut of the Dead, the beloved Japanese comedy horror film that is best experienced knowing as little about it as possible. We talk about spoilers, audience expectations, and the rare stories that completely transform once you understand what they’re actually doing.

Curt brings Backrooms, and we dive into liminal horror, internet mythology, and the strange challenge of adapting stories from one medium into another. What happens when a piece of online horror built on mystery and ambiguity becomes a feature film? How much lore is too much lore?

Along the way, the conversation opens up into a broader discussion about adaptation, spoilers, mystery, and our tendency to explain the things we love until there’s nothing left to discover.

We also talk about:
• One Cut of the Dead
• Backrooms
• Spoiler culture
• Lore vs mystery
• Adapting stories across mediums
• Internet horror
• Why some stories work better when they leave questions unanswered
• The difference between explanation and discovery

So… what are you into right now?

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sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

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Getting Lost in the Backrooms and the Problem with Lore

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week Angela Giarratana from Smosh, Starkid and Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists joins us for a conversation about comedy, horror, theater kids, internet comfort creators, and the strange emotional process of growing into yourself creatively. Angela is a comedian, actor, writer, and Smosh cast member whose work also spans projects like StarKid and Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists.

Angela brings:
• Half Man on HBO
• Rewatching Nerdy Prudes Must Die
• TikTok creator Joey Foo

We talk about the brutal and riveting world of Half Man, revisiting creative work years later, and why internet sincerity can feel strangely healing in a cynical online landscape.

From there, the conversation opens up into Angela’s creative journey through theater, improv, sketch comedy, producing, gaming, and online content, and why making things in community can feel so creatively and emotionally vital.

We also get into:
• Comedy horror
• Smosh and online comedy
• Nerdy Prudes Must Die
• Theater kids and collaboration
• Internet comfort creators
• Gaming and escapism
• Creative insecurity and vulnerability
• Why making art with friends matters

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:
sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

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Healing Your Inner Theater Kid with Angela Giarratana

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week we get into West End theatre, indie horror films, nostalgic video games, AI art, and the strange emotional reality of trying to make things for a living.

James talks about choreographing The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals for the West End and what changes when adapting a beloved cult musical for a completely new audience and scale.

Curt talks about working on the newly announced Starkid hybrid feature Miss Holloween and the strange in-between space of making independent art while existing adjacent to larger entertainment industry machinery.

This week’s Intos:

James brings:
• Obsession by Curry Barker

James talks about Curry Barker’s debut feature and how it functions both as an exploration of toxic male loneliness and a deconstruction of familiar coming-of-age movie tropes. We get into projection, emotional isolation, and the dangerous comfort of fantasy.

Curt brings:
• Mixtape

Curt talks about the walking simulator Mixtape and why it resonates emotionally despite not trying to literally recreate teenage life. Instead, it captures the feeling of nostalgia through impressionistic and emotionally heightened storytelling.

Along the way, the conversation spirals into AI-generated art, why increasingly polished artificial media can still feel emotionally hollow, and why struggling through the process of making messy human art may actually be the entire point.

We cover:
• TGWDLM on the West End
• Miss Holloween
• Toxic loneliness and projection
• Why nostalgia works emotionally
• AI and the future of creativity
• Red carpet embarrassment
• Why imperfect art still feels human

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:
sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

TGWDLM on the West End, Miss Holloween, Obsession & Mixtape

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week writer, actor, and Shipwrecked Comedy co-founder Sean Persaud joins us to talk about adapting Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party, the beloved 2016 web series, into a full stage musical premiering this summer at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Los Angeles.

What starts as a conversation about adaptation turns into something much bigger. We get into the strange experience of revisiting work that no longer belongs entirely to you, the pressure of adapting something people already have an emotional relationship with, and the challenge of translating a deeply visual piece of storytelling into the more suggestive language of theatre.

Sean talks about what changes when you move from screen to stage, how creative limitations can actually sharpen storytelling, and why adaptation is less about recreating something exactly and more about preserving the feeling people had when they first experienced it.

We also talk about:
• Adapting beloved cult material
• Why theatre and film tell stories differently
• Suggestion vs realism in storytelling
• How constraints shape creativity
• Making weird art with your friends

Watch now on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:
sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

Follow along:
Instagram + TikTok: @sowhatareyouintopod

Making a Poe Party Musical with Sean Persaud from Shipwrecked Comedy!

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week James brings Boy Band Confidential and a conversation about the machine behind 90s and early 2000s pop stardom. We talk about boy bands, nostalgia, exploitation, bad deals, and what it looks like when young artists are shaped by people with more power than them.

Curt brings the process of pitching a feature film before it exists. He talks about building a pitch deck, cutting a sizzle, communicating tone, and learning how to get people emotionally invested in a movie that has not been made yet.

We also talk about:

• Boy bands and the darker side of the industry

• The pressure placed on young performers

• Pitching a creative vision

• Why feeling matters more than plot

• Getting collaborators on the same wavelength

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:

sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

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The Dark Side of Boy Bands… and What It Takes to Pitch a Dream

George Primavera joins us this week. He’s a Dungeon Master and storyteller whose work spans live performance, immersive storytelling, and tabletop games, including projects like Realm, Hero Club, and his work with Smosh vs. Dread. He builds worlds and shapes stories in real time with other people.

The conversation moves from what we’re into right now into a deeper look at how stories actually get made.

This week’s Intos:

George brings:
• Survivor

George talks about why Survivor still works, how the structure of the game creates natural storytelling, and why watching people navigate alliances, strategy, and pressure is endlessly compelling.

From there, the conversation shifts into George’s work as a Dungeon Master and storyteller.

We get into how he builds worlds, how he guides stories without controlling them, and what it means to create something collaboratively in real time. It becomes a deeper conversation about structure, improvisation, and why some stories feel alive while others don’t.

We also talk about:
• Why games like Survivor create compelling narratives
• The balance between control and discovery
• How structure shapes creativity
• Building worlds people can step into
• What makes a story feel real

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:
sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

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Survivor, Storytelling, and Building Worlds with DM George Primavera

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week we get into weird art. The kind that shouldn’t work, but does.

Curt falls down a rabbit hole with a French-Canadian duo making microtonal, alien-sounding music that feels completely unlike anything else right now. It’s chaotic, technical, a little unsettling, and somehow incredibly satisfying.

James brings in professional wrestling ahead of WrestleMania, breaking down why it’s more than just spectacle. It’s storytelling, performance, choreography, and live audience energy all rolled into one.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, we end up talking about why this kind of work feels so refreshing right now. When so much of culture feels polished, optimized, and predictable, there’s something about messy, human-made art that hits differently.

This week’s Intos:

• Angine de Poitrine 

• Professional Wrestling and WrestleMania

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:

sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

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This Is Theatre?! (Wrestling, Weird Music, and Breaking the Rules)

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

Ali Gordon joins us to talk about writing her novel We Have Reached the End of Our Show, and what it means to protect an idea while it’s still forming. We get into the creative instinct to share too early, how outside feedback can shape or derail a project, and why sometimes the best thing you can do is keep something to yourself until it’s ready.

This week’s Intos:

Ali brings:

• The new Pokémon game Poképia

Ali talks about falling deep into a game that blends Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and environmental storytelling, and why it resonated so strongly. We get into the idea of building a better world, what it says about how we treat our own, and why something playful can still carry real weight.

James brings:

• Taskmaster

James talks about revisiting Taskmaster and why it’s such a perfect showcase for comedians willing to look stupid, take risks, and actually play. We get into the difference between performers protecting their image versus embracing the chaos, and why that shift changes how we experience comedy.

Curt brings:

• The Drama (starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya)

Curt talks about seeing The Drama and why it created such a visceral, uncomfortable, and electric theater experience. We get into stories that push emotional limits, how far honesty can go in relationships, and why sitting in discomfort can be one of the most powerful parts of watching something with an audience.

Along the way, the conversation keeps circling back to a bigger idea: how we engage with art. Whether it’s protecting a creative idea, escaping into a game, performing without self-consciousness, or sitting through something uncomfortable, we talk about what it actually means to be present with the things we’re into.

We talk about:

• Protecting ideas before they’re fully formed

• Why sharing too early can kill momentum

• Escapism vs building something meaningful

• Performers who embrace chaos vs protect their image

• Why discomfort can be a powerful part of storytelling

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:

sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

Follow along:

Instagram + TikTok: @sowhatareyouintopod

We Have Reached the End of Our Show, Pokémon, and Power Trip with Author Ali Gordon

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

This week we get into nostalgia, reboots, and the strange moment we’re in where so much of culture is either being revived, reimagined, or just repackaged. We also get into a bigger question underneath all of it: what actually moves us forward. Through Project Hail Mary, we talk about the idea that hope isn’t naive, it’s necessary for survival, a framework that allows you to take action instead of defaulting to nihilism.

This week’s Intos:

James brings:

• The Scrubs reboot

James brings in the news of the Scrubs reboot as a jumping off point to talk about the current wave of revived IP, and the tension between revisiting something beloved and it feeling unnecessary.

Curt brings:

• Project Hail Mary

Curt talks about revisiting Project Hail Mary and why it hit even harder the second time. Inspired by a piece he wrote, we get into the idea that hope isn’t blind optimism, it’s a conscious choice to keep moving and act even when the outcome feels impossible. Because the alternative is giving up.

Along the way the conversation keeps circling back to a bigger idea: when nostalgia actually works, and when it doesn’t. Are we reinventing ideas, or just repeating them?

We talk about:

• The difference between rebooting and reinventing

• Why some nostalgic projects feel alive

• When familiarity becomes a crutch

• Hope as a framework for action

• Why doing something is better than doing nothing

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:

sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

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Is Nostalgia Ruining Culture… or Reinventing It?

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

Riker talks about making his first feature and what it took to actually start before everything was in place. We get into collaborating with friends, not waiting for creative permission, and how the process of making the film showed up at a moment when he really needed it.

This week’s Intos:

Riker brings:

• Directing his first feature Stakeout, skydiving, Old Dominion’s Barbara

Riker talks about being drawn to things that require full engagement, directing a feature, skydiving, putting yourself in situations where you have to be all in. We get into what it means to commit before you feel ready and how that mindset carried into making Stakeout with his friends.

He also talks about how Old Dominion’s Barbara found him at the exact right time after a difficult season, and how certain pieces of art seem to show up when you need them. Not in an abstract way, but in a way that actually helps you process what you’re going through and keep moving forward.

James brings:

• Jungle’s visual album

James talks about the choreography and visual storytelling across Jungle’s music videos, how it’s directly inspiring two projects he’s working on, and why storytelling through dance in music videos feels like a bit of a lost art.

Curt brings:

• Project Hail Mary

Curt talks about why the book stuck with him and how it frames scientific and emotional curiosity as something that can actually move us forward, and the idea that a better future is possible if we’re willing to stay curious enough to build it.

Along the way the conversation keeps circling back to a bigger idea: what it means to just start, to make something with the people around you, and to trust the process even before you feel ready.

We talk about:

• Starting before you feel ready

• Making things with your friends

• Not waiting for creative permission

• Storytelling through choreography

• Curiosity as a creative engine

So… what are you into right now?

Email us:

sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com

Follow along:

Instagram + TikTok: @sowhatareyouintopod

'Don't Wait for Permission to Start' with Riker Lynch 

A podcast with Curt Mega about stories and the artists who tell them. Special guests and in-depth conversations about the creative process and the art of storytelling.

Story Matters with Curt Mega

Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.

Hosted by James Tolbert and Curt Mega, So, What Are You Into?! is a low-stakes conversation podcast built around interpersonal cultural commentary. Each episode, we bring the movies, shows, music, ideas, and random cultural obsessions we’ve genuinely been engaging with lately. No homework required. Not reviews. Just honest, sometimes ranty conversations about why something’s sticking and what happens when you talk about it with other people.

Curt Mega

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