Make Time for This - GSPN's Podcast for Pop Culture and Other Things · GSPN, Blue Wire

Previewing and predicting the 96th Academy Awards, and making our own alternate Oscar picks

·2 hr 18 min

Adam McGee and Andrew Snyder open by treating Oscars week like a familiar appointment. They are only a few days out from the 96th Academy Awards, and they are ready to work through the slate. The Academy still matters to them, even if they are more than willing to roll their eyes at it. They frame the ceremony as something that still helps define the movie year. Some years, they say, the Oscars do a better job of celebrating good movies than others. This is one of the stronger years at the top end, which gives the episode a little more edge than a routine prediction show. The hosts lean into the fact that this conversation has become an annual tradition. They joke about the passage of time while still taking the ritual seriously enough to do the work. That mix of sincerity and fatigue gives the discussion its tone. It feels like two people who know the game well and still care enough to keep showing up. The episode moves across the categories with that same balance. They talk through expected winners, then compare them with the picks they would make instead. The goal is not just to forecast the Academy. It is to argue with it. The song categories get especially lively attention. Andrew pushes back on the yearly Diane Warren nomination pattern, and Adam agrees. They are not interested in rewarding the same familiar slot over and over just because the Academy keeps making room for it. They also make room for the songs they would rather have seen recognized. Adam brings up "Dear Alien Who Art in Heaven" from Asteroid City as a personal alt. Andrew has his own favorites too, including a Barbie track that he would have liked to see nominated. The discussion keeps circling back to Barbie because the soundtrack clearly left a mark on both of them. Adam says his favorite song from Barbie is "Dance Tonight" by Dua Lipa, then immediately second-guesses himself. Andrew goes along with the enthusiasm and praises Dua Lipa as an artist. Then the conversation shifts again, because another Barbie song has a stronger hold on Andrew's attention. That kind of self-correction keeps the episode moving without locking either host into one take. They also note how catchy some of the other contenders are. The Charlie XCX song gets singled out as ridiculously catchy. The joke works because it is only half a joke. They are not pretending every nominee is equally serious, but they are also not pretending catchiness does not matter. At one point they drift into pure bit territory about an alternate reality where Matchbox 20's "Push" wins an Oscar. It is dumb in the right way. The humor lands because it sits inside a real awards conversation instead of replacing it. The episode keeps returning to the question of what the Academy should reward. That gives the whole thing more grounding than a standard prediction pod. The hosts are interested in the actual movies and songs, not just the prestige machinery around them. They want the ceremony to mean something, even while they are fully prepared to mock it along the way. They also do not pretend to have equally strong reads on every technical category, and that honesty helps. It keeps the conversation focused on the races where their arguments are strongest and the opinions feel most alive. The result is a conversation that feels seasonal in the best sense. It is tied to a specific moment on the calendar, but it never sounds disposable. The hosts are using the Oscars as a way to talk about taste, memory, and the strange annual habit of caring a little too much about trophies. For listeners who like awards-season chatter with real personality, it offers exactly that. For listeners who want opinionated hosts without a rehearsed tone, it delivers. And for anyone who enjoys hearing two film people talk themselves into and out of their own rankings, this episode has plenty to work with.

As heard by us

A conversational Oscars preview centered on the categories most likely to spark debate.

The episode previews the 96th Academy Awards with Adam McGee and Andrew Snyder, treating Oscars week as a recurring fixture in the movie calendar rather than a one-off news burst.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want Oscars talk that actually sounds like a conversation.

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