Gadgets and Symbols in Twin Peaks (and our lives) • group discussion on objects & much more w/ the "Twin Peaks Grammar" Artists Love Twin Peaks podcast (+ guests Colin, Alison Ivy, Heather Jones, Tommy Jones, Steven Miller & Josh Minton)

Sometimes Anthony, the host of the "Twin Peaks Grammar" YouTube channel, provides an ornate, intense structure for our discussions and sometimes he takes a looser approach to see what bubbles up. This conversation heads in the latter direction - providing some visual reminders of various objects through three seasons and a film but letting the conversation flow where we want to go: not just toward analysis of tokens like the Owl Cave ring but also the process of tracking down props, the ways in which the show's iconography brings fans together, theories of who dreams this narrative, and how this may or may not relate to Carl Jung. Following quickly on the heels of the last group chat just a few weeks ago, this recording includes several of the same participants - Alison, Tommy, myself - along with some new or returning guests. Twin Peaks Blog author and location/prop hunter extraordinaire Steven offers insight into the real-life objects of the show and Dreamer's Diary podcast host Tommy is joined by his wife and co-host Heather. Colin returns to rep the Creamed Corn and the Universe podcast, where I've had several exchanges with him alongside appearances on this channel and my own podcast; likewise Josh and I have spoken across a couple different podcasts. Like last time, I joined late but on this occasion I stuck around until the end for some more deep dives down various rabbit holes with both Anthony and Tommy. (At which point I reference my montage integrating Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern in Blue Velvet and The Return, as well as the film/book A Dangerous Method - here's my review of that one.)

In addition to that video, Anthony also posted this episode in audio form on the Artists Love Twin Peaks feed.

Update 2026: The audio-only version is not currently available on Apple Podcasts, though it may be on other platforms.

Catching Big Fish in Twin Peaks • group discussion w/ the "Twin Peaks Grammar" Artists Love Twin Peaks podcast (w/ guests Colin, Alison Ivy, Josh Minton, John Thorne)

Four months after my last guest appearance on the YouTube channel "Twin Peaks Grammar", host Anthony invited me back - this time for a lively, three-hour group chat. Most of the participants I'd spoken with before (either on their shows or others) but never in this particular configuration, and the result was a wide-ranging consideration of topics including Cooper's experiences in the Red Room; the Fireman's role in this universe; the confused identities of Phillip Gerard, Mike, the Arm, and the Evolution of the Arm; and of course, that perpetual inquiry: "What year is it?" These questions are just a small sample (I'll list the full line-up below) but the answers, non-answers, and further questions were all fun to consider.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - Ultimate Lynch Madness (w/ Mya McBriar, Josh Minton, and John Thorne)

If you haven't listened to the previous four "Madness" podcasts yet, stop reading and check them out now because this episode was determined by those outcomes.

All good things must come to an end. This is true not only of the fun "Madness" exercise of the past two years, where the hosts of Twin Peaks Unwrapped have invited myself and other guests to rank various Peaks and Lynch works in a March Madness-style bracket until only one title remained, but also of Twin Peaks Unwrapped itself. Although Ben and Bryon intended to conclude the show in 2020, the pandemic disrupted their plans. For the past few months they've been working their way through the final community rewatches of season two episodes and will belatedly wrap it all up this month. This will be my last appearance as a guest although not the last time we talk in podcast form (stay tuned).

This was a great way to go out, revisiting our early decisions (all of the guests from previous episodes were supposed to participate, although only four of us could make it) and figuring out which work we wanted to ultimately represent the Lynch canon at its apex: Lost Highway, the season one "Red Room" episode, the season two finale, or the season three finale. I found myself going back and forth so what both we as a group and I individually chose was as much a surprise to me as to the listeners (or viewers, since Unwrapped published the video on YouTube - you can also listen to it here or elsewhere).

The episode was recorded in April and shared in May, but this is the first Thursday I've had open to share it and coincidentally it's the thirtieth anniversary of the episode that ended the original Twin Peaks. Whether or not episode 29 takes the cake (or the cherry pie) I'll leave for you to find out, but if you're a patron - and even if you're not (yet) - keep an eye on my Patreon today...this conversation won't be the only one to highlight that unforgettable finale.

Moving near the edge at night... • discussing the killer's reveal episode w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped (+ John Thorne & Josh Minton)

A year after my last visit to the Twin Peaks Unwrapped community rewatch series (for the first season finale), I'm back to mark another milestone: the killer's reveal in episode 14. I've discussed this arc with hosts Ben and Bryon before, but this time we hone in on the particular episode, joined by fellow guests John Thorne and Josh Minton - who have recently launched their own freeform Twin Peaks podcast, In Our House Now. The discussion is divided into two parts, interspersed with Schäffer the Darklord's re-enactments of the original teleplay (with some intriguing differences from the broadcast version). Topics include Lynch's bold aesthetic transgressions of TV style, whether or not Leland (not Bob) has a motive to kill his niece, the missing "Ben killed Maddy" footage, critics who avoided and confronted the reveal's troubling nature, the appropriateness of "dead Laura" merchandise, and how all of us responded to the shocking climactic moment on our first viewing. It was a great conversation on an iconic moment of television that just celebrated its 30th anniversary.

References: the "Laura Palmer Funko Pop doll" Twitter thread by findom earle (@coherentstates) • excerpts in my Gone Fishin' media round-up: scroll down to December 21, 1990 for the "Incest for the Millions" essay & September 6, 1992 for Jeff Simon's Fire Walk With Me review • my "Dream Souls" video essay on David Lynch & Mary Sweeney • my Patreon coverage of episode 14 (now available for all tiers of patrons)

PART 1

PART 2

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - Season 3 Madness (w/ Josh Minton)

Last year, I joined Ben, Bryon, and rotating guests on the Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast to undertake a ridiculous (and ridiculously enjoyable) attempt to "rank" David Lynch films, as well as the episodes of Twin Peaks seasons one and two, using a "March Madness" style bracket system (see below). Now they are tackling season three, and the results may surprise you; as I put it on Twitter, "I voted correctly...but did everyone else??" This time Peaks commentator Josh Minton - who has written extensively about the Showtime season in his book Skeleton Key to Twin Peaks - is on the panel, often providing the decisive vote after much discussion. You can watch the whole Zoom call above (apologies for my distant gaze, I couldn't find the eyeline on my phone's screen and didn't realize I was visible when I wasn't talking...) or listen to the audio version from iTunes or pretty much anywhere else you download podcasts.

Thanks to the pandemic, the Unwrapped schedule for 2020 has been thrown into disarray. They originally intended to conclude their half-decade run at the end of the year, following months of community rewatches, "Madness" rankings, and other frequent episodes but now they've committed to extend themselves into 2021, the rewatch episodes are delayed (I've already recorded a killer's reveal discussion which is still several steps back in the backlog), and after initially offering a new contest every calendar season, the "Madness" is now finally reaching its last entry. Well, almost its last entry; the final four will get their own face-off with a massive line-up of all the former participants making the call. That should be fun! The contestants, based on previous victors, will be Lost Highway, episode two, episode fourteen, and....well, you'll have to listen to the above conversation to find out.