TV Obsessive
The Renner Files
Ali: If you are a normal person who does not spend the majority of your life online, you may not know that, from March 2017 to September 2019, Oscar-nominated actor and Worst Avenger Jeremy Renner had his own mobile app. While this is bizarre in and of itself—why does an A-list (OK, maybe B-list) actor need his own app?—the actual story of the rise and fall of the Jeremy Renner app is as fascinating as it is comical. The Renner Files, a new podcast hosted by Caroline Goldfarb and Sarah Ramos, explores not only the completely absurd story of Jeremy Renner’s app, but also the completely absurd story of Renner himself. The podcast takes the true crime format and applies it, to hilarious effect, to the Jeremy Renner story.
As a person who happens to know probably a lot more than I should about the life and career of Jeremy Renner, I was not surprised by some of the things discussed in The Renner Files, but that didn’t stop it from being a truly delightful listening experience. Through some extensive Internet sleuthing, Goldfarb and Ramos do a whole lot with the Renner story from the very beginning. Episode 2 (“Renner-sance Man”) is an especially wonderful, and at some points horrifying, exploration of Renner’s music career (including the still-baffling Summer of Jeep period). Whether it’s his early acting career, his musical stylings, or his passion for house flipping, Goldfarb and Ramos delight in exactly how extra Renner is in all things—and he is very extra. Whether you are an Extremely Online person who is already familiar with the story behind Renner and his ill-fated app, or whether you are normal and this is all new to you, The Renner Files will bring you pure joy every Wednesday (aka Rennsday).
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-renner-files/id1530942600
Those are our recommendations this week! What are yours? Let us know in the comments!
