Unpacking Peanuts

<p>The show where three cartoonists take an in-depth look at the greatest comic strip of all time-- Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. <span style="font-weight:400;">Undeniably one of the most influential cartoonists in history, Unpacking Peanuts examines Schulz’s contributions to art, storytelling, and pop culture. Hosts Jimmy Gownley, Harold Buchholz, and Michael Cohen bring their lifelong love and admiration of </span><span style="font-weight:400;">Peanuts </span><span style="font-weight:400;">to the conversation. </span><span style="font-weight:400;">The interaction between the hosts is genuinely funny and insightful as they </span><span style="font-weight:400;">discuss the strip’s impact on the medium and the world.</span></p>

With Andrew Farago: Author of Snoopy: The Story of My Life

Today, the gang welcomes Andrew Farago: Curator of the Cartoon Art Museum, and author of several books on comics and two on Peanuts in particular. We discuss Andrew’s approach to crafting Snoopy’s “autobiography,” his love of comics in general, and his work on properties from Dune to the Ninja Turtles. Andrew's book and other museum events are available here: https://www.cartoonart.org/store/snoopy-the-story-of-my-life-the-myth-the-legend-the-beagle Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

10-28
01:10:24

With Paige Braddock, Creative Director Emeritus for the Schulz Studio

We are thrilled to welcome Paige Braddock, the Creative Director Emeritus for the Schulz Studio. Hired by Charles Schulz himself as Creative Director in 1999, Paige is also the talented cartoonist behind Jane’s World, Peanut, Butter, & Crackers, and more.  Paige recommends the book Love Letters to Jane's World as a place to start. https://janesworld.us/janes-world/ Her current work, Peanut Butter & Crackers, is available from Penguin Books and from Nosy Crow in the UK. https://peanutbutterandcrackers.com/ Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

10-14
01:09:55

Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown!

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, Michael, Harold, and Jimmy each pick their top ten Peanuts strips of all time! Who picks what? Will one character dominate? One Decade? Listen to find out what is the toppermost of the poppermost in Peanuts five decade run of brilliance. You Tube interview Jimmy mentions: https://youtu.be/s_vmm4JW61U?si=lNs3Cqh-aQTz9D6F Our original discussion of Be Of Good Cheer was in our 1955 Part 2 episode from May 24, 2022 at 0:54:42. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

10-02
01:25:13

Understanding Snoopy: Episode 2 - A Few Lines Expressing Joy

Our season-long look at the world famous beagle continues. This week we discuss Snoopy’s metamorphosis from cute puppy to banana nose anarchist to doghouse philosopher. Along the way, we discuss evolving art styles, Ninja High School, and Jeff Smith’s Bone.  The Buzzfeed quiz we talk about: https://www.buzzfeed.com/appletv/this-quiz-will-determine-which-peanuts-character-you-are Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

09-16
01:11:09

Understanding Snoopy: Episode 1 - Super Minimalist Snoopy

We’re back! And we kick off our new era with a season-long examination of the greatest comics character ever, and everyone’s favorite flying ace/grocery store clerk, Snoopy! In this episode we examine Snoopy’s origins as an unassuming little puppy, in an unassuming little comic strip. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

09-02
01:31:59

With Nat Gertler, Eisner-Winning Author and Comics Historian

Eisner-winning author and comics historian Nat Gertler is here to talk about his long association with Peanuts, preserving obscure Schulz art and comics, and why these characters still resonate within culture. Nat is the author of Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects as well as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel. Find out more about Nat at:   blog.aaugh.com and gertler.com   Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

08-19
01:02:36

Wrap-up Season 12 - No One Shook Hands and Said Good Game

We wrap up the Great Peanuts Re-Read and reflect back on the fun and challenges of reading all 17,897 Peanuts comic strips. Then we discuss the death of Charles Schulz, the continued impact of Peanuts, and what’s up next. Plus: Rory goes to college. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

08-05
01:13:24

2000 - Charles Schulz… How Can We Ever Forget Him?

We complete the Great Peanuts Re-read, and bid a tearful farewell to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and Lucy. But wait, there will be more! Listen to find out what’s next for Unpacking Peanuts. Plus: How could it ever get better than this? Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

07-29
30:00

1999 Part 4 - Rerun Would Never Pull the Ball Away

The last full year of Peanuts comes to an end, and it’s a long series of goodbyes… to characters, settings, and famous routines; including the last ever football strip. And it’s a classic. Plus: What do you think of the coloring? Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

07-22
57:01

1999 Part 3 - A Very Public Farewell

Schulz announces his retirement from cartooning which gives the remaining strips an elegiac quality that’s hard to miss. Meanwhile, we say goodbye to Andy and Olaf, but Rerun continues with aplomb as he marches towards his destiny as an underground cartoonist. Plus: We should buy banjos. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

07-15
01:08:42

1999 Part 2 - Snoopy, Woodstock, and the Times That Try Men’s Souls

We inch ever closer to the end of Peanuts, and so we savor each strip (and farewell) even more! Rerun continues to shine, Woodstock appears even smaller and more fragile, and Patriot Snoopy faces the frigid Valley Forge winter…in August. Plus: We agree to differ. (Michael's Red Hand story appears in 1988 Part 1 at 27:07). Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

07-08
59:50

1999 Part 1 - I Am Not A Puppy Dog!

Snoopy will not suffer fools. The gang visits an exhibit featuring Monet and McDonnell.  Even the Little Red Haired Girl’s mom shows up.  Meanwhile, the guys theorize with wild abandon about the coloring of Peanuts in the late 90’s. Plus: The Passive Voice is a pretty good band name. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.  

07-01
01:05:03

1998 Part 3 - Tell Me What I'm Doing Here! That’s All I Ask!

Rerun gets to the existential heart of Peanuts as he continues to shine in these late Peanuts strips. Meanwhile the guys talk about how audiences and critics relate to artists with decades long careers.  Plus: You try to warn them that the world has gone mad, but no one will listen. East Coast Collectors Weekend - https://eastcoastcollectors.com/ Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

06-24
01:09:05

1998 Part 2 - Foxtrotting With The Little Red-haired Girl

Schulz comes as close as he ever will to depicting Charlie Brown’s one true love, and it goes great…for Snoopy anyway. Elsewhere, Woodstock does the Moses bit and parts a birdbath, and Rerun gets a compliment! Plus: Tango Tango, Charles! Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

06-17
01:01:01

1998 Part 1 - Are We Not Beagles? We Are Peanuts!

The daily comics have turned full color, and so the guys get into the nitty gritty of comic strip coloring and wonder if the entire form has de-volved over time. Then they ponder mysteries like “What IS Rerun’s real name anyway?” And we hear from readers answering the question “What is Peanuts?” Plus: Dodging questions from curious outsiders. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

06-10
58:01

1997 Part 3 - Just Out of Curiosity, What Did You Have For Breakfast?

Rerun hides under the bed again. Lucy and Charlie Brown go on a date. Michael causes the gang to have an existential crisis and the very concept of the podcast is shaken to the core! Woodstock leads Olaf and Andy to the edge of the earth. And Zipatone ties the room together. Plus: Al Pacino! Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

05-27
01:13:20

1997 Part 2 - Everyone Needs A Break Now and Then

Charles Schulz announces he will be taking his first five week sabbatical after Jeannie says he’s “getting jumpy.” Then he gets a big thrill from a call by one of his artistic heroes. In the strip, Rerun is in kindergarten and the stress is slowly destroying him! Plus: The Little Pig Haired Girl? Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

05-20
59:57

1997 Part 1 - Every Child Should Be Issued a Dog and a Banjo

After years of hearing Sally’s philosophies, Charlie Brown comes up with one of his own. Rerun and Snoopy have a lot of fun together, even if they don’t know what they’re doing. And the gang takes on perhaps the weirdest Peanuts strip of them all… or maybe it’s just an ad. Plus: Crybaby Boobie, we hardly knew ye. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

05-13
56:26

1996 Part 3 - Automatic for the Beagles

The gang furthers their discussion about what Peanuts is and how it works, and then talks about the difference tools make in the life of an artist. In the strip, Rerun continues to show new aspects of his personality, Lucy isn’t slipping at all, and we bid a fond farewell to one of the oldest Peanuts cast members. Plus: Mutts Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.  

05-06
01:02:32

1996 Part 2 - Angel Food Cake With 7-Minute Frosting and a Side of Attempted Murder

Harold takes us on a deep dive into the back issues of Editor and Publisher to tell a dark tale of real life drama that touched the Schulz universe. But it’s not all gloom and doom. Harriet is back and she brought baked goods! Plus: The One Note Samba Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.   Thanks for listening.

04-29
01:04:04

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