Adult Harder

It’s hard to really appreciate Disneyland when you’re a kid, and when you’re a parent, it’s like, ugh, now I have to go on all the baby rides with my kid, ugh. The best way to go to Disneyland is to go on your own, by your childless self! This week, the Smiths discuss their wasted youths, the much less magical theme parks that their parents dragged them to as kids, and the best ways to enjoy Disneyland like a grown-up, along with the help of best-selling author and Disneyland planning expert, Gavin Doyle!

The post Disneyland Like an Adult first appeared on Adult Harder.

Valentine’s Day is pretty much the worst, and anyone who likes it is dumb. That said, we’ve got some great tips on how to be a better Valentine, and we also have a thing or two to say about the traditional V-Day practice of beating virgins with goat skins. Those Romans, man. They were into some kinky stuff. 

And hey, if you don’t have a Valentine’s date yet, don’t worry! We talk with our good friend Lisette Medina, who has a lot of really super advice on how to use dating apps, including a lot of really super examples of why you should completely and totally avoid dating apps at all cost. Look, we’ll just say it: This episode gets a little weird.

The post Be a Better Valentine. Or Don’t. We Don’t Really Care. first appeared on Adult Harder.

Look, we can’t all just be in everyone else’s space, like, all the time. Sometimes we have to get away into our own little hovels of secrecy and leave-me-aloneness. Those are the places where we can get creative, blow off some steam, or just take a breath surrounded by our very cool Batman figurines THAT ARE ACTION FIGURES, NOT DOLLS, MOM! The Smiths discuss the importance of having your own space, along with some ideas on how to fill that space, and they talk with Nic Parks, CEO of The Pinball Company, about the role pinball and arcade games play in our lives and/or sanity.

The post Get a Room of Your Own first appeared on Adult Harder.

It’s hard to behave well at the bar. We know it’s not your fault, it’s alcohol’s fault. Almost everything is alcohol’s fault. But as adults, we should all take steps to be better bar-goers. That doesn’t just mean not getting into fights and not vomiting on the floor (although those are very, very important). Good behavior goes way beyond that. We’ll prove it with the help of Kelsey Kellgren, bartender at Kasey’s, one of Chicago’s oldest and most cherished beer bars!

The post Behave Yourself at the Bar first appeared on Adult Harder.

Pssst. Hey, you. Do you like food? SHHHH! Not so loud! We’re talking secret menus on the podcast this week…we’re giving a whole rundown of who’s who and what’s what in the dark, seedy underbelly of black market foodstuffs, including a whole segment on calming yourself down because what you probably think is a secret menu isn’t actually a secret menu. Then we open the kimono on a few honest-to-goodness secret menu items in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, and then we’re joined by Austin, Texas food blogger Emily Teachout, who schools us real good on why people love secret menus, and who also gives us the lowdown on the best kept secrets of the Austin food scene!

The post Unlock the Secrets of Secret Menus That are Secret first appeared on Adult Harder.

Look, is it easy to keep yourself from sticking power drills through your palm flesh? No. But is it important to stop doing that? Heck yes! Emergency room visits are no treat, despite the fact that George Clooney was so dreamy in that one show about ERs, so this week, the Professors Smith are giving you some A+ tips on how to not injure the hell out of yourself, with a bit of help from Mandie Czarnecki, a Physician Assistant from St. Louis who has worked in the ER for almost a whole decade now. Also, they discuss ass goblins.

The post Avoid the Emergency Room Like a Responsible Adult first appeared on Adult Harder.

This week, the Smiths dispute the supposed “merits” of New Year’s resolutions and ask that age-old question: “Why don’t we just be better, like, all the time?” They’re joined by professional year-round ass-kicker Beth Ryan, who explains the benefits of doing better all year long, not just in January, and she also opens up about her battle with cancer and the impact the disease had on her outlook on how to tackle life. It’s honestly a raw and important interview, and then we’re joined by some of the Ghosts of Adult Harder past, who tell us how they’re going to adult even harder in 2018!

The post Kiss Those New Year’s Resolutions Goodbye first appeared on Adult Harder.

Setting a trap for Santa Claus is a Christmas Eve tradition as old as time itself. In this episode, the Smiths discuss the most effective types of Santa traps, as well as how they’d spend their three Christmas wishes, since, when it comes to Santa, genie rules do apply.

Well…Clayton discusses these things, really. Ryan mostly just sits there and wonders how he got roped into recording this nonsense.

They also receive the gift of The World’s Best Christmas Cookies from special guest Jordon Quattlebaum, who has his own ideas about trapping Santa.  

The post Capture Santa for Your Own Selfish Purposes first appeared on Adult Harder.

This week, the Smiths are going all in on this whole “family” thing by making the bold suggestion that it’s time for you to adult up and bring some homemade goodness to your holiday party. What’s that, you say? “I’m worse at cooking than I am at adulting”? No problem! The professors have some of their own family recipes for you to try, and because those are destined to probably fail, then they kick it over to a real expert, Rorie Raimondi!

The post Contribute to Christmas Dinner Like a Champ first appeared on Adult Harder.

The holidays are nothing if not the perfect time to practice your latest political diatribes and hygiene-related insults. BUT ALLOW YOURSELF A MOMENT TO DREAM! What if you could go home for the holidays and NOT leave all bruised, bloodied, and emotionally broken?

This week, the Smiths tackle the tough topic of how to handle your unreasonably irrational family members, and they put their money where their mouths are by interviewing Clayton’s greatest political opponent: His mom.

The post Face Your Family Like a Holiday Hero first appeared on Adult Harder.