“Welcome to Costco. I love you.” Join your favourite TransAtlantic podcasting crew – Ian & Liam – with BFF of the BFE: Synthia beaming in from the not-so-distant future as we crack open the absurd, prophetic, and depressingly accurate Idiocracy (2006). We’re trading shark-infested waters for Gatorade-irrigated crops and President Camacho in our 289th episode as we ask:
- Was Idiocracy always this smart, or has the world just gotten that dumb?
- We explore how a film that bombed at release has somehow become the most referenced dystopia not named Orwell.
- What does it say about society that Mike Judge’s lowbrow future doesn’t seem that far off?
- Synthia breaks down the subtle and not-so-subtle satire—and why this film still hits different in a post-algorithm world.
- Ian wonders whether the comedy lands… or whether it’s just too bleak to laugh anymore.
- Liam confesses which part of the film made him physically cringe (hint: it's not just the opening montage).
- We talk about the difference between satire and smugness, and where Idiocracy walks that tightrope.
- Is the film's central conceit plausible… or offensively oversimplified?
- With the film's conceit being that everyone is stupid, are we allowed to get frustrated with the tone for being too stupid?
- Why Terry Crews as President Camacho might be the most pitch-perfect casting choice in a dystopian comedy ever.
- What modern products or trends Idiocracy weirdly predicted (we’re looking at you, reality TV and clickbait).
- And finally, whether Idiocracy is the Best Film Ever—or just the most important film people still haven’t seen.
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We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:
- Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
- Hermes Auslander
- James DeGuzman
- Synthia
- Shai Bergerfroind
- Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
- Andy Dickson
- Chris Pedersen
- Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
- Randal Silva
- Nate The Great
- Rev Bruce
- Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
- Richard
- Ryan Kuketz
- Dirk Diggler
- Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
- NorfolkDomus
- John Humphrey's Right Foot
- Timmy Tim Tim
- Aashrey
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Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor.
Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/.
