Curated by Chance

Whose Cah We Gonna Take?

Episode 78: Whose Cah We Gonna Take? This week’s prompts: Holy, New England, 530 Neal and Lauren welcome listeners to the deep winter doldrums with an episode that starts cozy and conversational… and then quietly spirals into bank robbers, nun masks, American realism, and one of the most haunting paintings of the 20th century. It’s a classic Curated by Chance hang: warm, thoughtful, and gloriously meandering. Neal takes Holy and New England straight into The Town (2010), Ben Affleck’s Boston-set crime thriller that doubles as a love letter to place, loyalty, and impossible escape. He breaks down how Affleck reshaped a bloated studio script into a lean, character-driven heist film; why Charlestown functions as both setting and prison; and how real Boston crime lore — from codes of silence to armored car robberies — found its way into the movie. Along the way, Neal highlights Jeremy Renner’s Oscar-nominated performance, the infamous nun masks, the jaw-dropping Fenway Park climax, and why The Town belongs in the modern heist-movie canon alongside Heat. After the break, Lauren also follows New England, but through art history, with a rich and moving portrait of Andrew Wyeth, one of America’s most iconic — and most misunderstood — painters. She traces Wyeth’s upbringing under illustrator father N.C. Wyeth, his frail childhood and intense artistic training, and the profound impact of loss, isolation, and landscape on his work. Lauren digs deep into Christina’s World: its real-life subject, its emotional ambiguity, and why viewers can read hope, despair, or quiet endurance into the same image. She also explores Wyeth’s mastery of watercolor and egg tempera, the tension between “illustration” and “fine art,” and the controversial, secretive Helga paintings — a body of work that shocked the art world and complicated Wyeth’s legacy. PLUS:Nun masks, Fenway Park, and Boston as a cinematic characterJeremy Renner’s breakout performance and Affleck’s growth as a directorChristina’s World and why it refuses a single interpretationNew England landscapes as emotional terrainAndrew Wyeth, watercolor wizardry, and the thin line between intimacy and obsession Next week’s prompts: Nude, Mirror, 2193 Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CuratedByChance Check out Lauren's Substack: https://ltlikesthis.substack.com/ Follow the show and its creators on Instagram: The Show – @curatedbychanceLauren – @paisleyloNeal – @nealefischer E-mail us: curatedbychance@gmail.com Hear Neal each week on Triviality Podcast – Subscribe now!Listen to Lauren on Miss Information Podcast – Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Betty Spaghetti

Episode 77: Betty Spaghetti This week’s prompts: Peach, Necktie, 309 It’s a solo mission this week as Neal takes the wheel for a heartfelt, history-rich deep dive into one of the most beloved sports movies ever made — a film that still makes audiences laugh, cheer, and maybe tear up just a little. Neal takes Peach straight to A League of Their Own (1992), Penny Marshall’s classic underdog comedy about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. He walks through the film’s origins, from its real-life inspiration to its journey to the big screen, and explains why it remains one of the most enduring sports movies of all time. From John Lovitz’s fast-talking scout and the formation of the Rockford Peaches to the unforgettable chemistry of Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell, Neal breaks down what makes the movie such a perfect balance of comedy, heart, and history. Along the way, he digs into Penny Marshall’s legendary direction style, the intense baseball boot camp that put the cast through their paces, and the behind-the-scenes stories that gave us iconic moments like “There’s no crying in baseball!” Neal also explores the real women behind the story — the trailblazing athletes who kept professional baseball alive on the home front and whose legacy finally received long-overdue recognition at the Baseball Hall of Fame. It’s a love letter to teamwork, sisterhood, representation, and the kind of feel-good storytelling that never goes out of style. PLUS:⚾ The real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League👒 Rockford Peaches, Racine Belles, and the best team names in sports history🎬 Penny Marshall’s boot camp, bruises, and baseball realism💄 Charm school, skirted uniforms, and playing hard in a “ladylike” world🏆 Why A League of Their Own belongs in the sports-movie hall of fame Next week’s prompts: Holy, New England, 530 Join us on Patreon: CLICK HERE Check Out Lauren’s Substack https://ltlikesthis.substack.com/ Join The Curated By Chance Music League (RD 5!) https://app.musicleague.com/l/3d2c21ad32fd4e58add97006df33d0c9/ Follow the show and its creators on Instagram: The Show – @curatedbychanceLauren – @paisleyloNeal – @nealefischer E-mail us: curatedbychance@gmail.com Hear Neal each week on Triviality Podcast – Subscribe now! Listen to Lauren on Miss Information Podcast – Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Pod Full of Tangents

Episode 76: A Pod Full of Tangents This week’s prompts: Peach, Necktie, 309 Neal and Lauren lean fully into chaos this week with an episode that earns its title the old-fashioned way: by going absolutely everywhere. What starts as a quick check-in spirals into a joyful, free-range conversation about internet conspiracies, parasocial fandom, doomscrolling, poetry whispered in the middle of the night, Roman fruit paintings, French Impressionists, and the eternal question of whether Doctor Who has queer time-travel fan fiction (spoiler: obviously). Lauren takes Peach and turns it into an art-history fever dream, beginning with drunken T.S. Eliot recitations (“Do I dare to eat a peach?”) and winding through ancient Roman still lifes, fuzzy fruit symbolism, and the unexpectedly rich visual history of peaches in painting. From there, she launches into a deep, deliciously nerdy deep dive on Pierre-Auguste Renoir — the Impressionist painter of glowing skin, soft pastels, and famously gravity-defying nudes. She traces his journey from porcelain factory apprentice to founding Impressionist, his crisis of confidence after seeing Raphael and Titian in Italy, his pivot toward classical modeling, and the voluptuous excess of works like The Large Bathers. Along the way: invisible corsets, painterly filters, imposter syndrome, arthritis rumors, nepo-baby descendants, and one of the best art quotes ever: “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” By the end, the episode has become exactly what it promised: a pod full of tangents, powered by curiosity, affection, and the belief that sometimes the long way around is the most fun. PLUS:🍑 Ancient Roman peaches and pre-cultivation fruit history📜 Drunk T.S. Eliot poetry as a lifestyle choice🎨 Renoir’s glow, his gravity-defying nudes, and Impressionist rebellion🩰 Invisible corsets, painterly filters, and the fantasy of beauty🧠 Imposter syndrome, artistic reinvention, and why Raphael ruins everything📱 Doomscrolling, fandom conspiracies, and the last good corners of the internet Next week’s prompts: Peach, Necktie, 309 Join us on Patreon! www.Patreon.com/curatedbychance Check out Lauren's Substack: https://ltlikesthis.substack.com/ Join our Music League (Volume Five launches This Friday!)https://app.musicleague.com/l/3d2c21ad32fd4e58add97006df33d0c9/ Follow the creators on Instagram 🎧 The Show – @curatedbychance🎨 Lauren – @paisleylo🎬 Neal – @nealefischer 📧 E-mail us: curatedbychance@gmail.com 🎙️ Hear Neal each week on Triviality Podcast – Subscribe now!🎧 Listen to Lauren on Miss Information Podcast – Subscribe now! 🌐 And for more Neal in your life:www.linktr.ee/nealefischer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To Couture a Mockingbird

Episode 75: To Couture a Mockingbird This week's prompts: Paper White, 1962, Glasses Neal takes 1962 straight to To Kill a Mockingbird, the landmark film adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel that somehow manages to be both gentle and devastating. He talks about Gregory Peck’s towering, quietly radical performance as Atticus Finch; why the movie still holds emotional power decades later; and how its moral clarity feels almost shocking in a modern landscape full of irony and cynicism. Neal also touches on the book’s long history of bans and challenges, why that still matters, and how the film’s restraint — its refusal to sensationalize — is exactly what gives it weight. Meanwhile, Lauren unspools the life and legacy of Yves Saint Laurent, the fashion prodigy who permanently changed how women dress. From his early paper-doll designs and meteoric rise at Dior to the creation of ready-to-wear as a democratizing force, Lauren breaks down how Saint Laurent blurred gender lines, mainstreamed women in pants, and fused art, business, and rebellion into a single brand. She digs into his partnership with Pierre Bergé, his friendships and rivalries (Warhol, Lagerfeld), and the darker side of genius — addiction, burnout, and a career that flickered between brilliance and collapse. Along the way, we get couture history, fashion-week mechanics, and why Saint Laurent’s influence still shapes what hangs in our closets today. PLUS:📚 Why To Kill a Mockingbird still lands — and still gets banned⚖️ Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch as moral north star👖 Yves Saint Laurent and the radical act of putting women in pants🧵 Couture vs. ready-to-wear, and how fashion actually makes money🎨 Genius, excess, and the cost of changing culture Next week’s prompts: Peach, 309, Necktie Join our show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/curatedbychance Lauren's substack: 👉 https://ltlikesthis.substack.com/ Follow the creators: 🎧 The Show – @curatedbychance🎨 Lauren – @paisleylo🎬 Neal – @nealefischer 📧 E-mail us: curatedbychance@gmail.com 🎙️ Hear Neal each week on Triviality Podcast – Subscribe now!🎧 Listen to Lauren on Miss Information Podcast – Subscribe now! 🌐 And for more Neal in your life:www.linktr.ee/nealefischer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Down Ghibli Road

Episode 74: Down Ghibli Road This week’s prompts: Bath, Paper White, 70 It’s New Year’s Eve at Curated by Chance, and Neal and Lauren settle into a quieter, cozier kind of chaos — the kind fueled by lingering colds, holiday brain fog, and the strange emotional clarity that tends to arrive between December 26 and January 1. What starts as a low-key check-in turns into a surprisingly tender conversation about memory, comfort, and the stories that show up exactly when we need them. Lauren takes the prompt “Bath” straight into the warm, surreal waters of Spirited Away (2001). What begins as a rewatch with her son becomes a meditation on growing up, fear, and transformation. She explores Chihiro’s journey from frightened child to quiet hero, the dream logic of the bathhouse, and why Miyazaki’s world never explains itself — it simply invites you to exist inside it. From No-Face’s eerie longing to the film’s gentle emotional pacing, Lauren reflects on how Spirited Away trusts its audience in ways most Western animation never dares to. Meanwhile, Neal brings in Down Cemetery Road, the moody British mystery series that’s become his latest obsession. Set in a quiet English neighborhood with secrets simmering just beneath the surface, the show taps into a very specific kind of storytelling pleasure: slow-burn tension, intimate character work, and the creeping sense that something is deeply off. Neal talks about the show’s measured pacing, lived-in performances, and why British crime dramas hit differently — less spectacle, more unease. It’s less about “whodunit” and more about the emotional fallout of knowing too much. Next week’s prompts: 1962, Glasses, AstroTurf Join us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/curatedbychance 👉 https://ltlikesthis.substack.com/ 👉 https://app.musicleague.com/l/6704df400ff1429186ef8bb85e56a488/ 🎧 The Show – @curatedbychance🎨 Lauren – @paisleylo🎬 Neal – @nealefischer 📧 E-mail us: curatedbychance@gmail.com 🎙️ Hear Neal each week on Triviality Podcast – Subscribe now!🎧 Listen to Lauren on Miss Information Podcast – Subscribe now! 📘 Order Neal’s newest book Law & Order: SVU – Confidential (out October 14):👉 https://geni.us/HPgeZ 🌐 And for more Neal in your life:www.linktr.ee/nealefischer Check Out Lauren’s SubstackJoin The Curated By Chance Music League (Round 4 Sign Up)Follow the show and its creators on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices