Heavyweight: #16 Rob
October 4, 2018 9:53 AM - Subscribe

"Rob remembers breaking his arm as a kid. But the rest of his family says it never happened. Did he break his arm? The answer will determine Rob's sanity." No spoilers, but this is definitely recommended for anyone with a good memory, a bad memory, a family, or a memory of the role you play(ed) in your family/families.
posted by maudlin (4 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
The balance J. Goldstein strikes between petulance and self-deprecation is quite addictive. And his instinctive sense for where the hurt lies, and how to make it bubble up, so as to find some sort of healing for those involved, is a strange strain of passive-aggressive empathy that I find fascinating. (Also, his shtick with Jackie.)
posted by progosk at 2:06 PM on October 5, 2018


Yes, I totally understand the people who find him grating, but he's endlessly entertaining for me. And I often tear up at the end of these episodes. They're well put together. Also I love it when he mocks Alex Blumberg.

The episode itself reinforced how tricky memory is, how much we entrench in our own point of view and our family roles. I love how all the joking around camouflages the seriousness of the topics this show tends to address.
posted by rikschell at 3:00 PM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


I have been giggling off and on all weekend over the throwaway joke "Hot Tubs Time Machine one and two." Because the extreme grammar nerdiness of deciding that the titles of those movies are pluralized like Attorneys General is the sort of deep humor that resonates with me, apparently.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 12:44 PM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


After losing my shit with the iOS podcast app some time ago, I started using a new one and forgot a few subscriptions along the way - Heavyweight was one of them.

I've rectified the situation. This was my first one back after some time away from it, and boy. I've concluded that the thing that makes Goldstein's stuff uncomfortable for me (when it becomes so), is how he drills into that nerve of "Oh, shit, I feel this because I've been there," or, worse, "Oh shit. I've DONE that to someone."

He's good, and this was a great episode.

*squirms*
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:20 AM on October 8, 2018


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