We're back! For no reason! Well, maybe because there's a writer's strike and Anthony has time. And maybe because Will figured out that if he just sent Anthony a scheduled zoom link with no warning, Anthony would accept it! But whatever the reason is, your hosts are back with another "minor obsessions" only episode. We go over apps, books, games, other podcasts and waking up early. Please enjoy this "for no reason" bonus epsiode!
Anthony and Will resurrect the podcast for one episode because... well, just kinda because! No guests! They each describe three minor obsessions. Oddly, their first ones are almost identical. They get into: music, liquor, video games, statistics, social media, Broadway, the pandemic, 9-11 and wondering how they will let anyone know that this episode exists! Thanks to Connor Ratliff for encouraging us to do this!
Final episode! After almost three years, we are ending the podcast! "Why?" you ask, you DEMAND, to know? Well, we just wanted to. We've loved it every step of the way but now we can sense it becoming more of a chore than a labor of love so we're ending it before that happens. In this final episode, we talk about the reasons we started the podcast, the things we tried in our real lives, the nature of adult friendships, Seinfeld, Facebook algorithms, learning new music, Anthony's run of being artistic director of UCB, Will's method of remembering things from the media he absorbs and... that's it! Thank you to everyone who has been on our show, who has listened to it, who's supported it! Seeeee yaaaaaaaaaa!
Hayes Davenport is a co-host of the very funny podcast Hollywood Handbook, as well as being a writer for many great television comedies. We don't talk to him about any of that. We get into his obsession with CITY PLANNING. Why are cities set up the way they are? What are the issues with making them better? What's going with Los Angeles? Who made NYC have all those bike lanes? We love this episode and so will you. Also, Will discusses the cat petting/hair-pulling tool The Furminator and Anthony talks about the online service BookBub.
We break our "not about what you do" rule yet AGAIN to talk to television writer/former UCB Artistic Director Neil Campbell about SKETCH COMEDY. We get nerdy early and often as we go back to Neil's days at the University of Iowa, his thoughts on the early days of the UCB sketch scene, how he adjusts strategies when writing for television and way more! No minor obsessions because why follow ANY RULES?
We talk to Jackie Johnson, comedian actor and host of the hit podcast Natch Beaut, about her jaw-droopingly long obsessing with the SIMS. You know, the virtual family game where you set up a little community and they age and do stuff? Jackie has done this for like 15 years. Holy jeebs. Also, Will talks about the sketch comedy podcast from Austin called Victrola, and Anthony talks about Croation singing sensation Jacques Houdek.
We talk to comedian Beth Appel about ODYSSEY OF THE MIND, the middle-and-high-school competition designed to encourage creative problem solving. What got Beth so obsessed? How is it not like a quiz bowl or a math team or other nerdy competitive things? What's with all the building things out of wood? We get into all that and MORE! Plus Will is into a teahouse he visited in Beijing and Anthony likes Malcolm Gladwell's podcast Revisionist History.
We talk to comedian Will McLaughlin (TBS' show "Wrecked") about the JFK ASSASSINATION. Seeing the Oliver Stone movie JFK set Will on a path of researching President Kennedy's murder to see what parts of the official story really DON'T hold up. Will has three main issues with the official story, and if you listen to the episode you will hear WHAT THOSE ARE. Also, Will (Hines) talks about the Alessi Brothers' song "Seabird" and Anthony, after trying water skiing for the first time in years, ponders about how certain learned skills remain available years after you last use them.
We talk to producer/director David Zwick about the 1924 Democratic National Convention! In what could have been a shoo-in for the Democratic party, infighting and factions led to taking almost 2 weeks to pick someone who turned out to be an incredibly weak candidate! We hear about how the party couldn't decide whether or not to condemn the KKK, and how being Catholic meant you were a political liability! Hoo boy. Plus Will discusses the idea of "competency porn" especially related to the book "The Martian" and Anthony talks about the book "Hatching Twitter" by Nick Bilton.
Comedian Dominique Johnson comes on to talk about LISTENING TO NEW MUSIC. Through Facebook, the hosts realized that Dom had an interesting set of opinions on music: he's both very opinionated but also very open. Meaning: he'll listen to new music, even music that's very outside of his tastes. Yet he doesn't blindly accept artists just because they are widely viewed as good. It turns out there's a reason Dom is so open to music. We get into his childhood, moving from town to town -- black neighborhoods to white ones, places where his friends liked nu metal to places where they liked jazz. And we play a lot of stuff Dom likes, including perhaps most surprisingly John Mayer. Will talks about the George Saunders novel Lincoln in the Bardo and Anthony updates us on his increasingly problematic dependence on the iPhone game Clash Royale.
Comedian/musician/phenomenon Jim Santangeli talks to us about The NFL Draft. "What is it?" asks Will, and Jim answers. We also get into: college football, Connecticut pride, old podcast ideas, forgotten web series and love! Hey and there's more: Will likes Twin Peaks, and Anthony is fascinated by the story of Billy Joel backup singer Mike DelGuidice.
Returning guest Jen Krueger (from the "Notebooks/Day Planners") episode talks to us about her obsession with British Panel Shows. From the perhaps most well-known "QI" to the less-well-known-but-more-fun-named "8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown," she tells us why she likes these shows, which are her favorite guests, why she thinks these types of shows haven't made it in the US and about a reddit user who is a hero for uploading all these shows to YouTube. Plus Will talks about his processes for getting rid of books (unfortunately named the fascist-sounding "book purging") and Anthony raves about the new play "The Antipodes."
Comedy mastermind Ben Rodgers talks to us about audio books. Great books, great narrators, great settings for listening to them. Why are Stephen King books so great? What should a good audiobook reader's IMDB profile be like? And much more! Will talks about watching movies on planes and Anthony discusses the website "Burbankia."
We break our rule (talking to people not about what they do) to talk to UCB co-founder MATT WALSH about IMPROV. We also get into sketch, and live comedy, and old school UCB shows like Robot TV and Killgore, and his time at the Annoyance Theater and improvOlympic, and Will implies that Matt has never done a Harold, which is unfair and untrue. No minor obsessions this week. ALL IMPROV. If you like this, make sure to check out Matt's podcast "UCB Sports and Leisure" which features lotsa UCB stars, including WILL HINES.
Comedian/musician Ariana Lenarsky talks to us about TAROT. Cards, the image, the history, tips of doing a reading, how she got into it, history of the classic cards that you are thinking of, and MORE! Plus Anthony is into the XM radio app and their station "70s on 7." And Will is really into hotels.
We talk to comedian Dru Johnston about EVOLUTION. How did he get interested in it? How much of it is getting mad at creationists? Why DO people get passionate about creationism? What happened to the neanderthals? What books are good to read about this stuff? AND MORE! Plus Anthony talks about the Fijian dish Kokoda, and Will abhors the process of condemning tropes in TV/movies just because they have a cool label.
John Purcell talks about the rock group U2. Why does he love them? Why was he ashamed of that at first? What are some deeper cuts people don't appreciate? Why did he see 4 shows in one week one year when their set list doesn't really change that much? Plus Will talks about both the audio book "The Kid Stays in the Picture" and podcast playing speeds; while Anthony discusses flower gardening. NOT VEGETABLE GARDENING.
Film and television creator Sarah-Violet Bliss talks about sociopaths! What makes one a sociopath, how should you deal with them and what's the difference between them and narcissists? Plus Will discusses the tropes of business self-help books and Anthony talks about a great video for the song "Wyclef Jean" by Young Thug.
Comedian Joel Spence is a multi-talented, well-educated man who knows about a lot of things. Despite that, he choose to talk to us about the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. "Why?" we thought. "Aren't they just a one-hit wonder band from the 80s?" Turns out that they are a several hit wonder band, as well as a group of truly talented musicians and also the creators of a fascinating and ambitious double album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome." We go through it. Plus Will discusses conversation starters he uses and Anthony goes over a twitter account that makes fun of this very podcast, @Parody_DGMS.
Comedy writer Nate Dern discusses author George Saunders! Absurdist! Heartbreaking! Sci-fi-ish? And more! Plus Anthony talks about the strange public domain movies in the Prelinger Archives and Will reminisces about NYC columnist Jimmy Breslin.
Olga Kovaliova
wow, this was great episode! one of my favorite topics and so intertaining as well!