Unscripted With John Mathieson

The Beast is back! For the second time on this podcast, we had the privilege of talking to Mr. Dan Severn. We touched upon topics of martial arts and pro wrestling with Dan offering his thoughts on the recent UFC 300, mainly Max Holloway vs Justin Gaethje showdown and who are his pro wrestling dream matches. Dan also spoke about politics and the current situation in the US, his podcast with Don Frye, American vs Dagestan wrestling styles, and others. Enjoy!

If you had the time machine, where would you go? To the future or the past? Who of the great historical figures would you like to meet? We pondered those questions in this episode and discussed modern and classical fiction's best time-traveling subgenre works. Enjoy!

The idea of European Unity could be traced back to the 17th century, attributed to people like Immanuel Kant and William Penn, and now centuries later there is a possibility of it reaching its final form, the United States of Europe. In this episode, we discussed the pros and cons of further integration, how different it would be to an entity like the US, and whether we could be Europeans first and then Montenegrins, French, Hungarians, etc. Enjoy!

It is one of the biggest events of all time for the UFC as it is their 300th PPV and fittingly, the card is stacked. The main event will see the Light Heavyweight belt on the line between current and former champions Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill. Strawweight queen Zhang Weili will defend the throne against her compatriot Yan Xiaonan. At the same time, the lightweight category is represented by exciting match-ups like Holloway v Gaethje and Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan. Check out our predictions and enjoy!

Here we are a few days after Wrestlemania XL and there is no better time to talk about the landscape of WWE and professional wrestling as a whole than now. We discussed the rising mainstream appeal of the business, how much WWE has changed since we started following it, will Cody Rhoades deliver as the champion, and much more. Enjoy!

Extra Large OVERTIME episode for Extra Large Wrestlemania! This weekend in The Steel City - Pittsburgh story may be finished, in one way or another, The Final Boss may be undefeated, paragons of power may be shifted, and challengers may be victorious. With the coming of WrestleMania 40 we will witness brother vs brother when Jay Uso collides with Jimmy Uso, The Man Becky Lynch will come around to try and take what was hers from Rhea Ripley, unstoppable underdog Sami Zayn will meet immovable GUNTHER, Bayley will be in spotlight, Drew McIntyre may relive the best moments of his career, and in the main event of Night 1 there will be betrayals, legacies tarnished and future destroyed as The Rock and Roman Reigns face off with Cody Rhodes and Seth Freakin' Rollins. In the main event of Night 2, the story will reach its peak, the crescendo will come, and the endgame will begin as The American Nightmare collides with The Tribal Chief. Hear our predictions for WrestleMania XL!

Blade Runner, Judge Dredd, Robocop, Akira, and others offered a view into a seemingly realistic future for humanity- cyberpunk reality. A world where humans and technology are inseparable, where mega-corporations dictate the everyday lives of the citizens, and where the bleakness of life outpowers the shining lights of skyscrapers. In this episode, we discussed how much we are already living by these principles, what corporations could rule the world, and what artificial parts will replace the real ones on our bodies. Enjoy!

Our guest at this time made his name on the set of Godfather, but the life of Gianni Russo is a film of its own. Gianni started our talk with his first kill experience, afterward Gianni told us stories about characters like Frank Costello and what he meant to him and the role Gianni had in his organization, he talked about sharing the bed with Marilyn Monroe and sharing time with Frank Sinatra revealing he was bipolar, he talks about his relationship and first encounter with Marlon Brando and Francis Copolla, he talks about the war between Joe Colombo and Paramount and how Godfather movie got made, he talks about his friendship with Robert De Niro and the joint project they have coming up, and exclusively he reveals his version of the story how Jimmy Hoffa was actually killed, and all of that while uncovering the history of organized crime in the United States and giving us snippets of his upcoming book "Mafia Secrets". Enjoy!

UFC returns to Miami with a final PPV before 300, headlined by a bantamweight title blockbuster fight between reigning champion Suga Sean and challenger Marlon Vera. Card will also feature several "old vs. new guard" fights between ranked lightweights, weltrerweights, and bantamweights, while Michael "Venom" Page makes his debut against the always exciting Kevin Holland. Check out our predictions and enjoy!

What weights more satisfaction of accomplishment or the amusement of doing it? We go full thoughtful about the importance of every action’s endgame. We talk about three different joys: joy of beggining, joy of doing, and joy of finishing. Is the destination a constant or is it a pursuit for an endpoint? How others perceive your own journeys and can detours lead to totally different outcomes, checkpoints and final destination! It’s a wrap of Season 5, and thank you all!