Blank Check with Griffin & David

If you love movies and have hours to kill on the road, Blank Check with Griffin and David is a fantastic companion. Hosts Griffin Newman (actor, known for The Tick) and David Sims (film critic at The Atlantic) work through a director's entire filmography one movie at a time, focusing on filmmakers who earned a "blank check" from Hollywood after an early hit — the freedom to make whatever they wanted. Each miniseries gets a punny title combining "podcast" with the director's name or a film title, and the deep dives are genuinely thorough. They started in 2015 analyzing the Star Wars prequels and have since covered directors from James Cameron to Hayao Miyazaki to Kathryn Bigelow. Episodes typically run between 90 minutes and two-and-a-half hours, sometimes longer for major films. That length is either a selling point or a dealbreaker depending on your drive, but for an eight-hour haul, three episodes can eat up most of the trip. Griffin brings manic energy and an encyclopedic knowledge of box office numbers (a recurring segment called the "box office game" is a fan favorite). David offers more measured critical analysis grounded in film history. They have terrific chemistry — the kind of rapport that only comes from years of doing a show together. The podcast has built a devoted fanbase (called "Blankies") and a Patreon with additional content. You don't need to have seen every film they discuss to enjoy the episodes, though you'll probably end up adding a dozen movies to your watchlist by the time you arrive.