Don't Get Me Started

We talk to actor/writer/comedian Lindsay Katai about children's show creator Fred Rogers, better known as Mister Rogers, and also known (to Lindsay) as an "enlightened being." We talk about Rogers' undeniable goodness, his disarming earnestness, his moving pleas for funding from Congress, his emotionally affecting acceptance speeches, his thoughts on what was important in making a show for kids and his origins as a chubby bullied kid! Also, Anthony talks about the podcast Presidential and Will discusses the Paul Simon co-written hit song "Red Rubber Ball."

We talk to video editor Jason Greene about his obsession with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jason comes armed with cool quotes, interested anecdotes, and even having several years of employment at Apple at their main campus. We talk about Steve's exile from Apple, the impact of his technology, what he learned from Pixar, from getting cancer and just what makes this dude so compelling to so many people. Also, Will talks about the Codex Seriphinianus, a beautiful and fictional almanac from 1980, which he loves even though he mispronounces its name every time he mentions it, and Anthony discusses the intense online backlash he's experience from saying that he liked the recently released (and critically panned) Batman v. Superman.

We talk to comedy writer/actor Gil Ozeri about the smartphone app SnapChat and his recent obsession with it. At the time we recorded this podcast, Gil had only known about Snapchat for 2 weeks and had already recorded 180 videos onto it. They are hilarious, lo-fi and insane. We talk to Gil about how the disposable nature of Snapchat (nothing is stored for more than 24 hours) has inspired him creatively, and about other social media platforms and why they did or did not inspire him. Also, Will discusses the graphic novel The Private Eye and Anthony discusses having steamed coconut milk in your hot tea. Yep.

The subject of this episode is the experience of losing your mom at a young age. After the success of very personal episodes like Eugene's body image one and others, we decided to tackle something personal to us: what it was like to lose your mother much younger than you had expected. In planning the episode, we'd refer to it as the "dead moms" episode and even though that title may seem cavalier, we like that it's blunt and familiar about a topic which many people have trouble discussing. To call it an obsession seems incorrect at first until as Kate points out, you realize that you DO get obsessed with it: how to deal with the absence of a person, the sadness, the resentment, the absurdity, the sanctifying, the ebbing and flowing of grief in the years after and how rarely you get to really talk about it. Things that people said which you appreciated, and things that you didn't. We each tell the story of our mothers' illnesses and then our incomplete thoughts of how we and our families seemed to deal with it. This is difficult territory and there's lots of aspects of it that we don't fully understand, but we believe that for the many people who have to deal with losing a loved one, there's something healing about discussing it and hearing people discuss it, and so here it is. We also, making a hilariously tone deaf moment, get around to reading the names of people kind enough to leave us reviews!

We break our format for a second time to discuss improv with Paul Scheer! One of the original students and performers of the UCB Theatre, Paul gets into the nitty gritty of improv. We get very inside and very nerdy quickly, and then stay there. What drew him to it? What defined the style of his longtime improv group Respecto Montalbon, and its successors, the shows MySpace and Facebook. What's the "right" way to break rules (answer: commit to the insanity)? What kind of improv can Paul not stand? Why is the Facebook show good for winning over audiences that are new to improv? Why is the Harold good for students but maybe not good for shows?

Mike Elder, aspiring actor and creator of the delightful podcast Box Angeles, is our guest to talk about MASCOTS. The characters who represent various sports teams and the people who wear the costumes. Mike was one of the people who performed as "Goldie" the gopher mascot for the University of Minnesota, and he talks about his experiences and advice. What makes a good mascot? Why should you always keep moving? Why should the Lakers definitely get a mascot? What happens at mascot competitions? Who is the least liked college mascot among other college mascots? Also, Will discusses the word "hagiography" and Anthony reveals his secret to happiness: an Imagine/Jump mashup from a DJ named Mighty Mike.

Phil Augusta Jackson, comedy writer and actor as well as UCB improviser, talks to us about his longtime hobby/passion pursuit of recording his own albums. Starting high school when he released songs on a cassette tape, Phil describes how he continued writing and recording songs throughout his adult life, eventually moving on to using a full music studio and mixing facility. We go through his recent album Cold Poems track-by-track. We talk about his writing process, his inspirations, and his record label that he founded while at the University of Virginia. Also, Will talks about some 80s songs that sound alike (Ghostbusters and I Want A New Drug and then Sussidio and 1999), and Anthony discusses a follow-up of his battle with his avocado tree.

We talk to research scientist Matt Giorgianni (specializes in genomics, which is interesting enough that we could have just talked about that but restrained ourselves) to discuss his obsession with President William Howard Taft. After a chance viewing of a portrait of Taft in New Orleans, Matt got obsessed with him. Most people only know that Taft was "the fat president?" but there is a lot more to taft: He was a protege and later rival of Teddy Roosevelt, an incredibly popular student of law and reform and getting things donate governor-general of the Philippines on behalf of the US and then later the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which means he's the only person to be at the had of TWO of the three branches of US government. Man look at all we're writing: this is a great episode! Also, Will talks about the close-up magic of Helder Guimaraes, and Anthony discusses some advice on rewriting from author George Saunders.

We talk to playwright Dan O'Brien about the myth(?) of the Sasquatch and the many stories and types of people who revolve around it. We get into the famous Big Foot film of the late 1960s, the many audio recordings people claim to have made, the varied explanations of why a corpse has never been found, and the mentality that goes into believing and perpetuating tales of this ape-man creature. Also, Anthony talks about the opening number of Chorus Line, and Will talks about a cymbal crash that happens one minute into the song "What A Fool Believes."

Improviser and sketch comedian Ronnie Adrian joins us to discuss Prince. We get into Purple Rain, 1999, unreleased tracks, the Revolution, the New Power Generation, Morris Day and the Time, whatever happened to Wendy and Lisa, Prince's crazy work ethic, the times he actually collaborated with people, and lots of great excerpts of great Prince tracks! ALSO Will discusses the comic All-Star Superman and how great institutions in movies/tv/comics are maybe best left to someone who grew up a fanboy. And Anthony discusses a new iPhone game co-created by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of all people called Churchill's Solitaire.