Welcome back to the Frank & Sense newsletter! Did you miss us? It's been almost two months (!) since the last newsletter. Well, fear not, because we are back with a bang with this edition!

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the audience survey. I received 15 responses and a ton of insight into what y'all think about the newsletter and the podcasts. I really appreciate it, and as a thank you to everyone who participated I'm going to give a small prize to everyone who included their email on the survey. Thank you, y'all rule!

Meanwhile, the Frank & Sense podcast and Hoops Crew have been going strong. Since the last newsletter, we've had episodes on the classic Nicolas Cage movie "Face/Off," a fan favorite episode about the Republican National Convention, and an episode about the X-Men. Over on the Hoops Crew, we've talked about the Lympies (aka the Olympics) and the 2006 Amanda Bynes film "She's the Man."

It's a jam-packed newsletter. Are you ready to party? Let's dive right in!

"Face/Off" Pod/Cast with Ali Grusell

It's like looking into a mirror, only...not. On this episode, Frank and his dear friend Ali Grusell discussed the film "Face/Off." And boy, there is a LOT of movie to discuss. Frank and Ali discuss the facial gymnastics of Nic Cage, why he is so inspiring to Ali, and, of course, the importance of time cards. We also attempt to answer some of life's biggest questions. For example, if I were to let you suck my tongue, would you be grateful? (To be clear, that's a quote from the movie, not something we are actually suggesting.) It's a pulse-pounding, action-packed, thrill ride of an episode that will have you touching your face in disbelief. Strap on your magnetic boots, sit back, and enjoy this episode for the next hundred years!

Episode is embedded below and available everywhere you get your podcasts!

Stuff We Talk About:

The Trailer: A great trailer that gives you the premise of the movie and lots of 1990s John Woo action.

"I'm Castor Troy" - For whatever reason, the video for the clip that we spent the most time on isn't available to embed here, so here's a link to some of the greatest face acting of all time. Skip to the one minute mark to watch Nic Cage go through about five emotions in about five seconds. We talked about it on the show. Truly (and unironically) incredible acting.
More faces of Nic Cage: Just because.

A Series of Unprecedented Events with Ross Godwin and Mitch Lerner

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"--Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

In the last two months, we have undergone a series of unprecedented events. We witnessed an all time disaster at a presidential debate, an attempted assassination of former president, and an incumbent president bow out of the race for re-election.

For this episode, Frank is joined by two of his best friends, Ross Godwin of the Washington Post and Mitch Lerner, to discuss all this and more. Ross was at the presidential debate and at the Republican National Convention, and we get his perspective on being in the room with a front row seat to history. We also ask important, hard hitting questions. For example, how was the food at the RNC? Was JD Vance intimate with a couch?

All of that, plus some listener questions, on this episode of "Frank & Sense!" Episode is embedded below and available everywhere you get your podcasts!

Stuff We Talk About:

Fight Fight, Trump Trump, Somebody Scream: Somehow this performance by Kid Rock from the RNC seems to have gone mostly under the radar. If you love bad music, bad performances, and an audience who is unsure of how to dance to the music they are listening to, then this video is sure to delight you. (Ross and Mitch only made it about 30 seconds into the video before they asked Frank to cut it off.)

Illustration from a Japanese newspaper: Here's the illustration from a Japanese newspaper that Ross referenced on the show. The illustration is an explainer for Japanese readers on the differences between Republicans and Democrats, and it is sort of fascinating to see what they consider the values of Republicans vs Democrats. For example, Democrats love sushi and Republicans love fried chicken. Or Democrats loving basketball, and Republicans loving baseball. Here's the source.

X-Men X-travaganza with Zach Fernebok and Matt Sparacino

X-celsior! Frank is joined by X-Men x-pert Zach Fernebok and Matt Sparacino to discuss all things X-Men. They discussed the history of the characters, the arc of the comics, the film adaptations, and the x-cellent new series "X-Men '97." They also discussed their personal history with the X-Men, who would make their X-Men Mt Rushmore, and much more. Put on your black leather (or blue and canary yellow) outfit and join us for an x-tra special episode!

Episode is embedded below and available everywhere you get your podcasts!

Relive the Lympies

The Hoops Crew was not able to be on site in Paris this Olympics due to scheduling conflicts/not being invited, but that didn't slow us down from talking about them! Want to re-capture the spirit of the 2024 Paris games? We got you covered:

Week 1 - The 2024 Lympies and the River of Poop

🥇🥇🥇The Hoops Crew is proud to accept the gold medal in Podcasting from the Olympics this year, and we're thrilled to share all of our thoughts on the 2024 Lympies. It's been a wild and wonderful week in Paris and Greg, Matt, and Frank are here to talk about all sorts of things, including John Williams, the 2021 Lympies, Peacock, and (of course) basketball. Who will fly? Who will rise? And who will surprise?

Week 2 - The Tragedy of the Dick Man

There's so many lympies! Chloe, G2, Matt, and Frank gather together to hold vigil for the poor Dick Man. We also discuss DMV athletes, gold rush weekend, and Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Feel the patriotism!

Closing Ceremony

It's time to say au revoir and bon voyage to the 2024 Lympies. Matt, G2, and Frank gather together to talk about the final week of the Olympics, with a particular focus on the last two games of men's USA Basketball. It's the end of an era, and we're in the endgame now. Let's raise a glass to our big dogs. Plus, our thoughts on Wemby, Jokic, and lots of discussion of which basketball player would be which Marvel character. Excelsior!

Stuff We Talked About:

A Good Explainer on the Imane Khelif Boxing "Controversy" - This article from the CBC is a great explainer on the flood of transphobic and misinformed takes on Algerian boxer Imane Khelif after one of her opponents withdrew from a match. That match led some big dumb idiots like Elon Musk and JK Rowling and Logan Paul to say that she is a trans woman who is ruining dreams for other women. In reality, Khelif is a woman and has always been a woman.
- So how did we get here? To make a long story short, in 2023, Khelif failed a test. This test happened to be administered by a corrupt organization that was banished by the Olympics. This organization has never disclosed what caused her to fail that test.
- Musk, Rowling, and Paul (leaders in the anti-trans inquisition) seized on that as some sort of evidence that Khelif is trans, which resulted in this whole phony culture war.
- Khelif went on to win gold and she's suing JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberbullying. 💪
Ciao Bella: We also paid special tribute to Giorgia Villa, an Italian gymnast who is sponsored by parmesan cheese. 🤌

"She's The Man"

Game on! We're tearing up the rulebook on this episode. We watched the 2006 Amanda Bynes classic "She's the Man." Matt, Frank, and Chloe are joined by returning champion Kyra Corradin to discuss what is quite possibly the platonic ideal of a movie to cover on this show. Shakespeare adaptation? Check. Sports? Check. Early 2000s style comedy? Big time check. Do you like cheese? Then you'll love this episode! This film is a rich text. Smash that play button, I beseech you!

Stuff We Talked About:

The Trailer: It's just a great trailer!

The One Where Amanda Bynes Convinces The Boys She's Got Rizz: Probably one of the highlights of the movie. Amanda Bynes (pretending to be her brother Sebastian) is approached by some of her friends (pretending to be her exes) to convince the guys that Amanda Bynes is actually pretty cool.