This week, Cort reports back on Dead Eyes, the podcast written, produced, and narrated by Connor Ratliff, an actor who was fired from Band of Brothers because Tom Hanks thought he had… dead eyes. What starts as a JABA (just another Brian assignment) for Cort quickly morphs into a full-on binge and one very specific expectation about how the story better end.

From there, things go exactly where they tend to go on this show. We revisit just how consistently wrong we’ve been about basically everything, including our firm stance that Paradise would not go exactly where it went in its season finale. That propels us into a broader conversation about timelines, memory, and whether TV and movie writers are just throwing words like “quantum” around, because no one will question their science.

We also take a brief detour into Memphis vs. everybody, defend the city, question LeBron James’s life choices, and continue laying a pretty strong foundation for a record-setting string of “being-wrongness” (trust me it’s a word, don’t look it up). Along the way, Brian boldly shares an opinion about a TV show. His opinion not being based on a fully informed knowledge, or really any knowledge, of the show feels totally on-brand at this point.

There are also warnings about things you should absolutely not watch, a few recently triggered childhood memories, and as always, all the opinions you have come to count on to get through life.

Cort's assignment: Dead Eyes a podcast by Connor Ratcliff - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dead-eyes/id1494539046

https://open.spotify.com/show/5dEsgMhmVy7wK8TSUrVnsQ?si=2a3bc189e1884a8e

Brian's next assignment? Not The Cure. But it is a band from our youth.

A brand-new 2026 album from The Black Crowes, A Pound of Feathers. Make sure you listen before our next episode drops if you want to play along: https://open.spotify.com/album/417zi1WN5yAK4u3VOjZh13?si=O3Hc4p2NQwmm0VR3KY8bDw

📧 Email us: listenerslikeyou2023@gmail.com

📱 Find us: @listenerslikeyoupod

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus - The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

This week, Cort assigned Brian the debut album Sadnecessary by Milky Chance, and what follows is a discussion about:

• The suspicious similarity threaded through half the album’s tracks
• Why both of us had déjà vu listening to songs we swear we’ve heard before by a band we've never heard of
• The fine line between “signature sound” and “they’re just doing the same thing over and over”
• Whether Milky Chance is still milking it

From there, things go exactly where you’d expect: Oscars predictions we absolutely butchered, the ongoing paranoia of being wrong about everything, Memphis vs. Nashville sports drama, a surprising amount of TV talk (Traitors, Jury Duty, Paradise), and a reminder that we are, in fact, not experts on anything. At least not anything we talk about on this show.

Also, Brian gives a correction on a song we unfairly maligned and mentions some hot takes about stuff showing up on his new music radar (Noah Kahan, Death Cab, Modest Mouse, Black Keys, and more).

Cort's next assignment? A podcast. Because we occasionally remember what our show is supposed to be about.

📧 Email us: listenerslikeyou2023@gmail.com

📱 Find us: @listenerslikeyoupod

Brian's last assignment: Sadnecessary by Milky Chance - https://open.spotify.com/album/3AWjk0oVV9YAY9r9boiffN?si=aMq5F6qxQd6IJELLkhsoNQ

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus - The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

In this episode, Brian and Cort celebrate a near-anniversary of Listeners Like You. Cort reports back on Car Seat Headrest’s Teens of Denial. Some songs hit harder than others but not in the way Cort would have expected.

From there, things go into "unstructured land." They talk about Paradise and its questionable version of Memphis geography, the Scrubs revival, the return of U Talkin’ U2 To Me?, Chelsea’s stressful win over Wrexham, Paralympic curling, Banana Ball, and Back to the Future: The Musical.

Brian gets a new assignment from Cort('s daughter by proxy), and the random podcast generator once again proves it is truly random, but that Meta might be listening.

Listening assignment: Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial https://open.spotify.com/album/3KpYyDP8q8sUBxatHaYEsP?si=JX5lYDfPQgepK5NNpWSqMQ

Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus - The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

Cort recommended Rosalía. Brian listened to it. Shockingly, someone loved it. The boys then spiral into a discussion about foreign languages (because Rosalía), cultural barriers, and what it means to enjoy music you don’t fully understand. Also, they talk about the Oscars. Not that anyone asked. Or cares. But opinions are shared anyway.

THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE WEEK: Rosalia - Lux https://open.spotify.com/album/3SUEJULSGgBDG1j4GQhfYY?si=YmJRAlxFROScR7HIs2WjEg

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus - The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

For the first time in show history, Cort reports back on two assignments: Hot Fuss by The Killers and Is This It by The Strokes. Spoiler: in the battle of early-2000s skinny-tie rock, Julian Casablancas and company take the win. While Brandon Flowers receives everything he is due, Is This It ultimately proves to be the better debut. Come see if the guys' argument is compelling.

From there, we dig into possible early similarities between the bands and then track the sharply different directions they took after those first albums. We also compare Casablancas and Flowers themselves: two charismatic frontmen who could not be more different once you look past the eyeliner.

Naturally, the conversation veers into the Super Bowl halftime show, Brian’s Texas travel adventures (including ride-share logistics that apparently require a flowchart), and there's an irresistible return to The Traitors specifically because of one “twist” that might qualify as self-sabotage.

We (almost) close with Brian’s experience seeing Jagged Little Pill, because nothing says seamless podcast structure like pivoting from indie rock revivalism to Alanis Morissette’s Broadway adaptation.

It’s music criticism, travel complaints, reality TV grievances, and musical theater — all in one tidy hour. You’re welcome.

🎧 Is This It - The Strokes https://open.spotify.com/album/2k8KgmDp9oHrmu0MIj4XDE?si=A84nrhe2TE-GdJTVvjQKTA

🎧 Hot Fuss - The Killers https://open.spotify.com/album/4piJq7R3gjUOxnYs6lDCTg?si=qL5lt7zURbuILwd6M6kGXA

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus - The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

Brian doesn't love the honk of Geese? The guys have some corrections to share. It's also episode 75, so there's the "episode 75" game that must be played. We hit a TON of pop culture. Brian is asking the questions, sir! Not Cort! Join us!

Geese - Getting Killed - https://open.spotify.com/album/0eeXb23yMW6EaIgm63xxPC?si=8kgyTiU6T8ixTlsapHwNrQ

Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus - The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

Cort returns with a review of Dove Ellis's Blizzard, a debut album that came out of nowhere. Dove gained notoriety opening for Geese, and Blizzard may have (briefly) consumed Brian's world. The consensus favorite song is “love is,” which sparks the important question: great song… or perfect song?

From there, we do a quick and dirty psychological profile of Dove through his rise to fame, a lecture from Cort on the value of introverts, and authenticity and the “is this a gimmick?” debate. Without much warning there's a hard pivot into Brian’s New Year trip to Spain, complete with a tale of the Catalan log that allegedly poops presents, Caga Tió. Did Caga Tió inspire an American Christmas legend?

We also hit the Counting Crows documentary, the Golden Globes (including the rage-baiting podcasts award category), a little Traitors/Amazing Race reality-TV tangent, and a brief Stranger Things Season 5 postmortem.

Everything old is new again when Cort assigns Brian something a little more musical to listen to for next Ep. What could it be?

And finally, the random podcast generator tries to ruin everyone’s day.

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus — The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

💿 Dove Ellis — Blizzard https://open.spotify.com/album/3Brw2Xdmo6VRPWwOBNye0i?si=etQ5NE9nSbmHwOzhgoJuMA

Brian reports back on his latest assignment from Cort: chapters 6–16 of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Somewhere along the way, Brian may have warmed up to the previously disparaged Owen Teale. The conversation expands to Jones’s broader body of work and why empathy, once activated, can be deeply inconvenient.

From there, things go where they always do. Clare Danes gets a brief nod. The guys half-commit to an end-of-year wrap-up, tie off a few loose threads, and wander through college football, fluoridated water, and the strange realization that talking trash about other podcasters might actually work.

Eddie Murphy enters the chat. Politics follow, because it’s the end of the year and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Brian delivers his latest movie-listening report (The Strangers: Part 2 and Wake Up Dead Man), and the episode closes with a fresh assignment for Cort because the cycle must continue.

Brian’s Assignment from Cort: 📖 The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland, and Owen Teale https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Buffalo-Hunter-Hunter-Audiobook/B0DD52VDNL

📖 Explore Stephen Graham Jones’ work: https://www.demontheory.net

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus — The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492