Don't Get Me Started

Writer and stand-up comedian Amy Silverberg loves wiener dogs, and she tells us all about it. What breeds? What types of coats? What are her preferred names? What is the appropriate voice to make when you are addressing a wiener dog? How about if you are making a voice on BEHALF of a wiener dog? What instagram accounts should you follow? We cover all of this and somehow much more! Also Will and Anthony review the different minor obsession theme songs that listeners have sent in!

We talk to comedian Jamie Lee about her obsession with MOVIES WHERE PEOPLE DIE. Tragedies, preferably involving a fatal disease and a group of tight-knit friends getting even tighter. We're talking "Steel Magnolias," we're talking "Boys on the Side" but we are NOT talking "Forrest Gump!" Why not? Listen to find out! Also, Anthony talks about the Garry Marshall memoir "Wake Me When It's Funny" and Will discusses the creepy/beautiful video game Limbo.

NOTE: The audio starts cutting in and out after 14 minutes. My recording error. It's ironic that a conversation about trying to communicate better is ITSELF having trouble communicating. We're leaving it up but it unfortunately skips. Our apologies. Mary Sasson returns as she, Anthony and Will do a follow-up to their Election 2016 episode, in which they all seemed pretty confident that Hillary Clinton was going to win. Titled "Oops!" this episode gets into why they had gotten so wrongly confident, the nature of arguing in this election cycle, the understandable anger and bewilderment of all of their friends and most of all a reminder that sometimes when you think you know what's going on, you don't.

We talk to comedian Devin Field about FAST-TALKING WEIRDOS IN COMEDY MOVIES. Michael Keaton is the best example, and maybe the only example? No, there are others and we talk about them! Also, Anthony talks about The Seven-Year Itch and Will discusses musician Emilyn Brodsky.

We talk to comedians and Headgum network founders Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld about their obsession with DANCING. These guys get dressed up, hit the bar/clubs (but usually bars) and get into the music. We talk about what kind of bars they like, what kind of music, how the act of dancing fills you with joy, how they got into this and how they are honestly not being creepy but yes incidentally girls like it when you dance. Also Will talks about the Stephen King book "Misery" and Anthony raves about the new Broadway play "The Encounter."

There's not enough talk about the elections, we figured, so here's our contribution. We talk to comedians Travis Helwig and Mary Sasson about the 2016 US presidential election. More than in previous elections, we are fascinating with the race this year. How did Trump get here? What went down with Bernie vs. Hillary? Why does everyone want to think everything is rigged? Will the president and congress ever work together? How did Hillary clean Trump's clock in the debates when no one else could (our interpretation)? Also, are we in the middle of World War III?

We talk to comedian Casey Feigh about the radical idea that Facebook is good and fun. People love to criticize it, but Casey is here to defend it. We get into the main criticisms people have, and Casey has ideas of how one can get around those criticisms. We talk about getting in touch, and posting fun photos, and letting friends know how you're doing and even -- gasp -- having empathy for other people's life choices! Will talks about the first 13 seconds of the song "Dancing in the Moonlight" and Anthony talks about politico David Plouffe's prediction that Trump has very little chance of winning the election. And then we talk about politics for like 20 minutes!

Comedian / writer / director Alex Fernie returns to the podcast to discuss ROBERT KENNEDY. We get into his strengths (committment to civil rights), he weaknesses (er, being real cool with Communist witch-hunting), his impromptu speech on the night Martin Luther King Jr. died, how he might have been a more transformative figure than JFK, and how his assassination in 1968 may have changed American politics forever. Anthony talks about the two different musicals' interpretations of the jazz age poem "The Wild Party," one of which he worked on. And in case this is all too exciting, Will keeps it mundane by giving a very-quickly-researched discussion of local LA political issue Measure M (new sales tax to fund transportation upgrades).

We talk to comedian Nicole Byer, star of the MTV shows "Girl Code" and her own "Loosely Exactly Nicole" about her obsessions STEALING and FAKE HAIR. It's our first two-obsession podcast, including one that is straight-up a criminal activity. First, Nicole talks about her (past) days as a shoplifter, how she got into it, how to do it right, how she eventually stopped. Then we just downshift into fake hair: we get into extensions, weaves and wigs. Anthony and I reminisce on some of Nicole's past hair styles we've seen her with over the years. Nicole is hilarious and great and we are so excited we got her on our show. Also Anthony talks about what's going on in increasingly depopulated shopping malls, and Will discusses the book "Elf Girl," a memoir of the alt-comedy scene in the Lower East Side of NYC.

We talk to comedian Mike Carlson about comics writer Grant Morrison! He's written almost everything in the super hero world! He's into chaos magick! He's cerebral and laid-back and Scottish! We talk about what Mike likes about him so much. We get into several of his famous works, like All-Star Superman, The Invisibles, his run on Batman and X-Men, as well as some more minor but awesome things like We3. Also Anthony talks about Galco's Soda Pop Shop and Will talks about the movie "My Dinner With Andre."