The Lodgers | A Twin Peaks Podcast

We have a new podcast! It's about Chantal Akerman. We talk about it for a couple of minutes before leaving you alone again. More info on Twitter: twitter.com/akermanpod You can find the first, introductory ep of the pod here: https://akermanyear.fireside.fm/part-0 Thanks to everyone who listened to The Lodgers. We may return, one day...

With The Return long concluded and the once-shiny Blu-Ray sets gathering dust, The Lodgers must come to an end. Opting to try and take things out with a bang, Kate and Simon are joined by not one but two special guests: Dennis Lim, author of David Lynch: The Man From Another Place, and Tom McCarthy, big-deal novelist (Remainder, Satin Island, C) and cultural critic. It’s a wide-ranging conversation we’re pretty sure longtime fans will savor. Special sonic contributions and Lynchian drones courtesy of Matthew Chiang, Jonathan Kennedy, and Olivier Creurer!

Christmas has come early for Kate and Simon, whose gratis copies of Twin Peaks‘ third season on Blu-Ray prompted the first of two concluding episodes of The Lodgers. In this episode, Kate and Simon fly solo to go over the set’s bonus features and take a few minutes to acknowledge the state of the critical discourse surrounding the season.

Part 16 of The Return marks the eventful continuation of the series’ climax, including at least one massive event fans have been anticipating for many weeks: the return of Jerry Horne! And also maybe the thing that happened with Cooper. Writer Miriam Bale (of the NYT, W Magazine, The New Republic, and many other fine establishments) joins Kate and Simon to eulogize several supporting players, ponder our expectations for the series’ endgame, and [say very nice things about the FBI].

An emotionally intense and cathartic episode of The Return sparks a wide-ranging discussion with returning guest Byron Davies. Touched upon: whether we can allow/permit ourselves to accept Ed and Norma’s happy ending, The Return‘s handling of the woods as a space of evil and mystery; the possible fates of Becky and Steven; the implications of Cooper’s possible liberation/awakening via Sunset Boulevard, and, of course, our final goodbye to Margaret Lanterman, the Log Lady, and Catherine Coulson.

After a considerable, scheduling-necessitated delay, we've brought back Adam Nayman to help us consider just where the season’s final episodes take us, how they affect our view of the series as a whole, and just what the hell we’re all going to do with our lives now. Also, we invited former guests of the show to chip in with their finale and series thoughts! Thanks to our listeners for their feedback and attention. RIP Harry Dean Stanton.

After a couple of weeks in which The Return taunted and tantalized viewers by holding back on incident, “Part 14” decided to blitz us with a ton of new, bizarre, and exciting developments. Dr. Sara Ann Swain rejoined Kate and Simon to help try to make sense of it all. Nuts are invoked – often.

Seth Mnookin (of MIT’s Graduate Science Writing program, Vanity Fair, and a whole bunch of other very cool stuff) for some reason felt compelled to ask if he could come onto our little Twin Peaks podcast…and we (reluctantly) obliged. We’re glad we did, as we ended up having yet another wide-ranging look at just what The Return is up to, this time with a special focus on the Lynch/Frost equilibrium, the series’ warped sense of time, and a whole lot more.

Just in time for the episode that frustrated the broadest set of Twin Peaks viewers, New York Times / rogerebert.com (rogerebert.com) writer Glenn Kenny joins us to tackle the upside of frustration, as well as many, many other tangents, including the show’s possible riffing on Lynch’s real-life persona and the new series’ sneaky ties to soap-opera aesthetics.

Special guest and Lynch scholar Joel Bocko (@lostinthemovies), one of the internet’s most prolific Twin Peaks experts, joins us to dissect the intense, hilarious, and momentous “Part 11,” as well as ponder some of the wider questions of the series and its context in Lynch’s overall filmography. It gets real nerdy.

After last week’s recording session from hell (don’t ask), Kate and Simon scale it back and go guest-free to take on one of The Return‘s most tonally dynamic and extreme episodes. Topics include: Dougie and Janey-E’s, er, encounter; the trials of Candie; finally admitting that we miss a few long-absent characters; and we once again revisit the impact of Lynch’s imagery of violence against women.

“Part 7” marks a huge turning point in The Return…or does it? Guest Byron Davies joins us to dive deep into some fresh philosophical tangents as we ponder what it means that the series has (apparently, maybe?) finally decided to please fans of the original run. Discussed: Jacques Rivette, the series’ controversial take on sexual violence, the entrance of Diane, themes of death and decay, and so, so much more.

With no new episode this week, Kate and Simon are joined by guests Adrienne and Jonathan Turnbull-Reilly help us sift through listeners’ (and their!) burning Twin Peaks questions. We didn’t bother with a fancy edit this week, so please enjoy us in our raw, uncut glory.

Jessica Bardsley rejoins us following her triumphant original-run appearance to help Kate and Simon tackle one of the more notoriously talky episodes of The Return: Part 9. We apologize for the lateness, but if you knew the work that went into salvaging this podcast from a disastrous recording situation, your hair would turn as white as Bobby’s.

Twin Peaks trended on Twitter worldwide on the back of its wildest episode yet, but what did its new levels of experimentation amount to? Kate and Simon dive into the episode with returning guest Olivier Creurer, and ponder the series’ (and Lynch’s) broader relationship to experimental cinema, among many, many other open questions.

With the new season’s airing schedule finally normalizing, Kate and Simon are joined by returning guest Justine Smith to try to sort out the new season’s relationship to the original Twin Peaks, the broader TV landscape, as well as Lynch’s other work. Also discussed: Twitter swag, political alienation, electrical currents, Bob, and Caleb Landry Jones’ weird skin and face.

Things get a little more heated than usual at Lodgers HQ when returning guest Matt Croombs joins us to talk “Part 6” of The Return. The more extreme elements of the new season come to the fore as Kate, Simon and Matt weigh the impact of some key sequences. Discussed: Lynch-as-camp, female viewers’ reactions, the hilarity of child murder, what the new Peaks does to the old series’ legacy, and a whole lot more.

As we head into the final stretch of Season 2, things are finally starting to look up – or are they? Guest James Cathcart helps Kate and Simon crawl out from under the worst subplots and new elements of the second season while looking ahead to the (triumphant?) end of the season.

Kate and Simon fly solo, which means a whole lot of tangents, trivia, and goofiness ensue, including a particularly juicy bit of archival goodness that is 100% (to the best of our knowledge) exclusive to this podcast. (Exclusive!) Meanwhile, much energy is spent considering the creative role of Jennifer Lynch, the use of non-actors and the influence of nontraditional casting, and the ballad of Josie Packard. Also, many apologies are given, and Simon ponders one of his most profound regrets. (Not really that profound. But a little bit profound.)

The final episodes of Twin Peaks‘ original ABC run are covered on this week’s podcast, and the momentous occasion brings out a lot of feelings in Kate and Simon – as well as a lot of profound nerdery. A slightly extended episode includes Kate and Simon bonding over their shared hatred of Jacques Tati, a detailed breakdown of the Red Room / Black Lodge sequences, and plenty of questioning as to whether we really needed any of this Miss Twin Peaks business.