What's Eating Chuck? A Podcast with His #1 Phan

We, um, really seem to be into Wednesday Addams, especially Christina Ricci's iconic performance in the early 90s. Yet does the new Netflix series featuring a new actress hold up enough for us to support the latest adaptation into everyone's favorite goth family? 

Apparently it was enough for us to finish the first season. Chuck and His #1 Phan talk about their love of Wednesday and whether they'll be back for Season 2.

(snap snap)

Photo credit: @hanavbara

To put it bluntly, Chuck and His #1 Phan are not into crypto. To them, the tech might be cool, but the culture and recurring downfalls all resemble the chaotic, destructive cycles of multi-level marketing (MLMs), targeting susceptible people who are all looking to get rich quickly. Somehow, this episode goes pretty deep into Chuck's confusing experiences with Asian women on dating apps and their apparent obsession with crypto. We hope you invest wisely out there. 

If you are a "crypto bro," enjoy and come fight us later. You can find us on the blockchain or whatever. Crypto is suck.

There's no simple way to put it: Chuck is a football ("soccer") fan, so much so that he got his #1 Phan to become one, too. This year's World Cup in Qatar, however, has left them both with a uncomfortable feeling, even pushing them to the point of refusing to engage beyond the bare minimum of highlights and score updates. How did these ball-kicking fanatics go from live matches and even practice sessions to ... an overdeveloped sense of wokeness to the corruption of FIFA and its partnering nations? 

This episode is for football fans ... but also for those who ascribe towards a better standard for humanity. Enjoy!

After two months, Phan finally finishes playing the FINAL FANTSY VII: REMAKE on PS5, and ... he has a lot of questions. Turns out, Chuck is a FF7 since it first came out in 1997, and he wants to know what his #1 Phan thinks about the latest endeavor to grab cash in exchange for a presumably upgraded experience. This episode is for Final Fantasy fans of all generations and whether the future looks bright for the franchise.

They pretty much talk about Tifa Lockhart the whole time. Enjoy! 

Content references:

• What's Eating Chuck #16
• FF7: Advent Children
• The Cloud Song

Is it time for Chuck and His #1 Phan to grow up? As one of us are "42 going on 24," we contemplate our tendency to act young and foolish over resign ourselves to boring, bitter adulthood. This episode is entirely done in cosplay in honor of Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. We're really planting our feet into this issue.

"The wind may howl all it wants, but the mountain cannot bow to it." 
- A wise Asian dude 

Chuck & His #2 Phan started this podcast during a difficult time in the world, but now that things are returning to "normal" - what does life look like for each of them? Will it ever be the same again, or are they going to have to figure out ways to move on. Nor more bowling alleys and arcades? The end of buffets? The rise of pickleball (and diva attitudes that come with it?)

Many callbacks to past episode here. The train is never on the rails, so we'll just have to suplex it into shape. Some people get it.

Food is very important to Chuck and His #1 Phan (technically, it's important to everyone, but bear with us). Despite raised by families who pride themselves in excellent, carefully prepared healthy meals, they were raised on fast food as well. In this episode, the two reminisce on their respective experiences with fast food over the years, what impact it had on their young adulthood, and how they've grown out of it. 

Until, of course, the sleeper cell late-night craving kicks in....

Note: this episode is not sponsored by any fast food corporation (or anyone for that matter). Our thoughts are our own, asinine as they may be. 

... or have we become too much like those spoiled brats in the West? In a rather deep and sentimental episode about guilt and entitlement, Chuck and His #1 Phan recall the moments where their parents asked them for what could easily be considered forms of "child labor," from carrying heavy objects to dangerous roof cleanings, from legal and financial counsel to ... even medical procedures? Also, after all these years, where is our lì xì (red envelope) money and our alleged "returns on investment"?

Stick around to the end of the episode: there's a surprise for one of us. =)

Chuck and His #1 Phan made it to 50 episodes ... technically. They look back to the beginning, see how much they've grown, and look forward into the future of the podcast.

Theoretically. What plays out is radically different, full of derails, interruptions, and straight up accusations on whether the co-hosts are actually up to the task of doing a podcast in this day of age. 

Special thanks to Chuck's parents for "guest starring." Apologies for our lack of filial piety in that moment.

Work. Career. Success. How did ... Chuck and His #1 Phan seem to miss the mark so egregiously here? On this special episode of "What's Eating Chuck?" the old boys discuss their parents' expectations, their own aspirations, and, well, the synthesis of the two in an ongoing quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you've ever wondered what it's like to disappoint your family but somehow make it out all right - this episode will appeal to you.

With apologies to the following groups: doctors, lawyers, side hustlers, our fanbase, our family members, and well ... even ourselves. All people who know the struggle.