Ugh, As If! - contemporary art and culture podcast · Lisa Fevral

We Heated on that Riva 'til we Lry - the pride and shame of Canadian life - 4x10

·1 hr 54 min·5 clips

The hosts say the sex scenes are “so well integrated into the story” and use them to argue the show treats characters “like human beings.”

They start with technical static. The soundboard lives in OBS, Video Ninja does not seem to carry it through, and the hosts spend a beat explaining the problem while still doing the usual back-and-forth. The return gets teased right away. One host gets called the skinny elephant in the room, the other clowns them for vanishing, and the whole thing keeps circling back to the simple fact that they are back with a new shade of the same sweater. Cheeto print gets its own life. So does the pink-edition Red Bull, which lands as both a novelty and a personality clue. The job-market rant lands hard. One host lays out almost 10 workplaces, three to four interviews per company, and a project on top of that, only to hear again and again that the company went with somebody who had already been around. That part is not subtle. The process sounds designed to waste time and squeeze free work out of people who need a job. One company becomes the target. They name Wondershare and connect it to the strange flood of crying-animal clips, happy-bear nonsense, and other AI-looking sludge that makes the brand image feel almost self-parodying. The AI complaint broadens from there. It turns into a larger disgust with companies that want cultural cachet without earning any of it, especially when they are the ones generating the trash. The economy stays in the frame. They ask, with no patience left, whether anything in the work world has really changed at all. Then the mood loosens. Tiny finger instruments, the desire to own the miniature versions, and a video of one host giggling in the infamous yellow sweater push the episode toward a goofy, affectionate finish. The jester bit hangs around too. They end with happy new year, like the whole mess needed a small ceremonial release valve.

As heard by us

A shaggy return that turns work frustration and small pleasures into sharp, profane culture talk.

This episode turns a messy comeback into a fast, funny run through work, AI-made videos, and the small objects that can still improve a bad day.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a chaotic return about work, AI weirdness, and tiny instruments.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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