Shows / the arc.fm
the arc.fm
Join three very different storytellers with three very different personalities, as we bring each other stories to break apart and celebrate. In every episode, we're having the best time exploring what makes a story work, why it moves us, and why we can't stop talking about it. It's not analysis. It's not review. And it's something more than just a conversation about one of the things that makes life worth living... stories.
Episodes
the arc.fmLydia Davis - We Read a One-Minute Short Story and Argue If It's a Story for 49 Minutes
Cole brings us one of the great living short story writers, and we argue whether her stories are stories at all, until Jaclynn gets the last word. EPISODE…
the arc.fmHope (2026) - An Action Movie from Art House Film Director, Na Hong-jin
We went in bracing for a horror movie and got an art house director's monster epic, one we place in the DMZ in the 1990s, and we spend the episode working out…
the arc.fmField of Dreams - Making Grown Men Cry Since 1989
We argue that Field of Dreams isn't really about baseball or fathers so much as the elaborate lengths men will go to instead of just going to therapy, and it…
the arc.fmFast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw - Fighting the Sun with an Actual Astronomer
Hobbs & Shaw has a climactic dawn battle that goes from pitch black to full daylight in about two minutes of screen time. Can the sun really rise that fast? We…
the arc.fmAmores Perros - A Maximalist Masterpiece That Does Not Mean "Love Dogs"
Did you know people HATE Alejandro González Iñárritu's films, walked out of Amores Perros during its Premiere, and stopped being friends with Cole because of…
the arc.fmAirplane! - The Greatest Comedy of All Time is Not a Mel Brooks Movie
This episode argues that Airplane isn't a joke machine bolted onto a plot but a plot that never once stops being played straight — the "clothing line" every…
the arc.fmBack To The Future I - The Original, The Classic, The Most Perfect Movie Ever???
THE ARC'S TAKE This episode argues that Back to the Future's whole plot is smuggled into the audience's lap before Marty's face even appears onscreen, you get…
the arc.fmFleabag - The Stage Play (2019): A Deep Dive Review and Analysis For People Who Have Watched Or Intend To Watch The TV Show
The real argument here is that the stage play and the TV show only look like the same story wearing two outfits, when they're actually two different animals…
the arc.fmFreaky Friday (1976) - Reviewing A Film That AI Doesn't Even Know Exists (UPDATED)
Our argument is that Freaky Friday has "so much plot, no story" — and that its real, unplanned achievement isn't the mother-daughter reckoning it announces but…
the arc.fmMarty Supreme - Elegant Chaos
THE ARC'S TAKE This episode asks whether Marty Supreme is Spielberg's version of Uncut Gems — sumptuous instead of feral, but just as committed to a hero who…
the arc.fmProject Hail Mary - Is "Very, Very Different" from The Martian
THE ARC'S TAKE This episode's argument is that Project Hail Mary only pretends to be hard sci-fi about a dying sun — strip away the spaceships and it's La La…
the arc.fmSinners - The Scariest Thing In This Oscar-Winner Isn't The Vampires
THE ARC'S TAKE This episode's whole argument boils down to Jaclynn'ss tagline, repeated like a confession — "this movie is smarter than me" — and we spend an…
the arc.fmBack To The Future II - Spring Forward Out Of Order Into 2015
THE ARC'S TAKE In the grand tradition of this show, we watched this out of order in order to celebrate springing forward for Daylight Savings Time so true fans…
the arc.fmOur Viral Instagram Reel - 30 Seconds That Strangers Love
Jaclynn made the most viral reel about our friendship, and Robby has never seen Instagram until now- this is a GREAT (all caps episode) about telling a story…
the arc.fmThe Straight Story - David Lynch's "Most Experimental" Film & The Only One He Didn't Write Himself
THE ARC'S TAKE We argue that David Lynch made his most experimental film by removing every tool he usually relies on — no surrealism, no dread-tricks, just a…
the arc.fmMulholland Drive - The Diner Scene - A Five Minute Intro To David Lynch And His Producer & Editor Mary Sweeney
Everything you need to know about David Lynch's style in five minutes! You really should watch the whole film eventually, but a five minute scene that appears…
the arc.fmWomen Talking - Sarah Polley Makes Perfect, Difficult Films
Content & Trigger Warning: this episode discusses sexual assault in the film and in real life. THE ARC'S TAKE We argue that "Women Talking" only looks plotless…
the arc.fmCarol - Happy Holidays & Happy New Year Because Two Women Are In Love and Two Guys Are Mad About It
THE ARC'S TAKE We spend most of Carol braced for the tragic, closeted ending 1950s convention demands, so when Highsmith and Haynes hand the women the reins…
the arc.fmThe Muppet Christmas Carol - Scary Great
THE ARC'S TAKE We argue Michael Caine playing Scrooge dead straight, like Shakespeare, is exactly why the Muppets around him are allowed to be so funny — and…
the arc.fm"The" GameCube Vine - The Perfect Six Second Story
We put a six-second Vine of a guy falling outside a 7-Eleven up against Hemingway's baby shoes and argue the getting-up is the whole story — the difference…
the arc.fmHymns To The Obvious - A Play Written by Robert Weinstein
Robert Weinstein, our far too humble host and resident storytelling teacher has written yet another play, which was performed by the Barrow Group, and we get…
the arc.fmFleabag S02, EP 01 - Writing Three Full Episodes & Throwing Them All Away
We put Jaclynn's favorite writing-room legend on trial — that Phoebe Waller-Bridge scrapped three finished episodes of Fleabag season 2 to open on a 90-second…
the arc.fmDon't Think Twice (with Sophie Long) - Actual Improv On Screen?!
THE ARC'S TAKE We bring on an actual Chicago improviser to argue that "Don't Think Twice" gets the community right and the improv itself completely wrong — and…
the arc.fmFreaky Friday (2003) - What Even Is "Communication?!"
We argue about whether Freaky Friday is a "film" or a "movie" — Cole makes his case on the strength of the cinematography, Robby makes his on how much interior…
the arc.fmFreakier Friday - Nostalgia Cupcakes Taste Pretty Great
We argue Freakier Friday is a box of nostalgia cupcakes that somehow turns into a real conversation about empathy, grief, and exactly how meta you can make a…
the arc.fmCrashing (UK, 2016) - Perfect Heightening in a Silent Scene
We analyze a single sixty-second silent scene from Crashing (UK, 2016) and argue it contains a masterclass in heightening — and a complete portrait of the…
the arc.fmThe Studio, Episode 02, "The Oner" - Put Chekhov's Gun Down! Or Don't, Because This Story Was Perfect
We argue The Studio Episode 02 is structured as a flawless bookend where basically every line is a Chekhov's Gun that goes off — and that someone couldn't…
the arc.fmHobbes & Shaw - Virgo Season Continues with a Story Told Almost Entirely in Visuals
We suspend our disbelief for two straight hours watching The Rock out-muscle a helicopter — and then completely lose it over one shot of a sunrise — which…
the arc.fmMy Life As A Dog - Celebrating Virgo Season with Robby & Kurt Vonnegut's Favorite Film
We argue that "My Life as a Dog" gets sold as the gentlest movie ever made when it's actually a devastating study of a kid coping with his mother's death by…
the arc.fmFantastic Four: First Steps - A Hilarious, Nuanced Discussion of Hot People in Space on a Mission
We take Fantastic Four: First Steps way too seriously — so seriously that it becomes the funniest episode of the year, and we are fully prepared to lose some…
the arc.fmThe Princess Bride - How Has Anyone Not Seen This Fairytale Masterpiece?
The greatest craft of the Princess Bride isn't its superb writing, but is in fact its unwavering sincerity masquerading as a bedtime story. EPISODE SUMMARY The…