Amuzed: A Podcast for Geniuses

Kevin Boehm joins Michael and Pat to discuss a more optimistic perspective on the future of restaurants, and the steps we'll need to take to reach that future.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt. It was also brought to you by Chicago indie-rock label Sweet Pea Records.

Show notes:

• Michael on Instagram
• Kevin on Instagram
• Kevin on why we need restaurants now more than ever

Abe Conlon joins Michael and Pat to talk about pivoting the restaurant Fat Rice into a meal kit service, his website video game, and what's coming next for everyone.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt. It was also brought to you by Chicago indie-rock label Sweet Pea Records.

Show notes:

• Michael on Instagram
• Fat Rice

In a time when connecting with your community is more important than ever, no one is as dedicated to his neighborhood as Steve Jensen. Michael and Pat talk to Steve about his community activism, construction around Chicago, and his other surprising job as a dj.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt.

Show notes:

• Michael on Instagram
• Steve's music

Michael and Pat talk shop about Chicago with prolific tour guide JJ Tindall: the history, the culture, and why they're not as excited about Al Capone as you might be.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt. It was also brought to you by Chicago indie-rock label Sweet Pea Records.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser on Instagram
• JJ on Instagram
• Inside Chicago Walking Tours

Michael and Pat talk to Michael's lifelong best friend, Aaron Forbes, about their new lives under lockdown, the media they're consuming, and what they'll be doing day one after the crisis is over.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser on Instagram

Samuel Taylor, co-founder of the Back Room Shakespeare Project, joins Michael and Pat to talk about how the group brings Shakespeare back to its vivid, unruly origins. Also, they talk about pancakes.

Please note: this episode was recorded several months ago.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser on Instagram
• Samuel Taylor
• The Back Room Shakespeare Project

Dan Pilkey worked for years to earn the title of Master Sommelier, an accomplishment that required passing the most rigorous wine tasting test in the world. A month later, he was stunned to learn that his achievement—and the titles of the 22 other Master Sommeliers from his test date—was being nullified. The reason? An unprecedented cheating scandal. Dan talks to Michael and Pat about his life's work that led him to that test, and what the cheating scandal looked like from the perspective of its collateral damage.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt. It was also brought to you by Chicago indie-rock label Sweet Pea Records.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser on Instagram
• Dan Pilkey on Instagram

Peter Sagal is a writer, humorist, and host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He joined Michael and Pat to discuss the rapidly changing world in the face of coronavirus, with plenty of diversions about video games, kid's movies, and Alan Tudyk.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser on Instagram
• Peter Sagal
• Peter Sagal on Twitter

A team of people from across the restaurant industry—food writer Michael Gebert, Chef de Cuisine Justin Selk of Ever, Michelin-starred Chef Phillip Foss of El Ideas, and beverage director Alec Bruggentheis of Smith & Wollensky—join Michael and Pat to discuss the rapidly changing restaurant industry in face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser
• Michael Gebert
• Justin Selk
• Phillip Foss
• Alec Bruggentheis

Scott Ervin is the “Kid Whisperer,” an education expert who has dedicated his life to working with kids and teaching others how to change and manage children's behaviors using Love and Logic(TM) and Calm/Assertive Procedures(TM). He talks about his career experiences and teaches Michael and Pat how to fix their own kid problems.

This podcast was brought to you by the best PR team in the business, Melissa Harris and Jane Hirt.

Show notes:

• Michael Muser on Instagram
• Ervin Educational Consulting
• The Kid Whisperer on Facebook