Downers

#199 – Jack's got a long list of parrots, and we're going to tell you the leadership qualities of each one. That's right: it's another hard-hitting episode of Downers, the only podcast about parrots and leadership qualities. We also dive into our FUNKY NEW WEARABLES that we got for Christmas. All this, and more; and, if you think we're not going to talk about Squawk the Parrot, you're sorely mistaken.

Plugs this week:

• Weird, dry eyeball toy (Hao)
• 100 Gecs' 1000 GECS (Jack)
• SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO and CEMETERY BOYS (Kate)

#198 – Well, the gifting season is upon us, or it was when we recorded this anyway. In this episode, we explore gifts you could be giving to your loves, or common archetypes from monomyth, this winter season. It's never too late to give a gift, or a bullet, to someone! That's the Downers motto.

Plugs this week:

• Underwear pile (Hao)
• Toasted sesame cookies (Kate)
• Go on the internet, go on Google, search for this guy who made the perfect cookie (Jack) [We think it's J. Kenji López-Alt —ed]

#197 – Downers is expanding! We're launching a slate of 10,000 other podcasts, and this episode will be the upfronts/previews for all the content in our pipeline. Hear clips from your soon-to-be-favorite shows like The United Nations and Sad Soups. It's really good. Plugs this week:

• The anti-gift box (Hao)
• Butter cookies (Jack)
• Alexis Hall's BOYFRIEND MATERIAL (Kate)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on twitter • https://www.feedingamerica.org/

#196 – Our friend Doug goes to many concerts, which is something that you can't quite do during COVID. Let's check in with him and see how he's feeling! In many way, Downers is an investigative journalism podcast, except our focus is emotions. Also on the docket: happy lamps, dinner concerts, someone's husband drank a little too much, and soil.

Plugs this week:

• Bandcamp Friday (Doug)
• Dinner with Hao's mom (Jack)
• Birkenstock clogs (Kate), which aren't slippers
• WereSoCool.org (Hao)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org

#195 – This week, we talk about Benjamin Mako Hill's (possibly now a Dr. Benjamin Mako Hill's??) paper "Almost Wikipedia: Eight Early Encyclopedia Projects and the Mechanisms of Collective Action," which essays to explain why Wikipedia succeeded where other, similar projects did not. We also talk about using Wikipedia in its early days, and which kinds of Gloomhaven playing-pieces organizational strategies is best. It's another episode of Downers!

Plugs this week:

• Thanksgiving dinner from BLACK SHEEP RESTAURANT and pumpkin pie from OUTER CAKE SHOP (Kate)
• THE FLOOR IS LAVA (Jack)
  • Seconded by Kate
  • Thirded by Hao
• Giving your sweetie a kiss (Hao, ex post facto)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org

#194 – Downers Radio is proud to present four exclusive scenes from our upcoming production of EMPTY HOUSE, the never-before-heard prequel to FULL HOUSE. Many people are aware of the ABC sitcom that ran from 1987 to 1995, and some are even aware of the sequel. But only on Downers can you hear the classic catchphrases you know and love in PREQUEL FORMAT.

Plugs this week:

• STAR TREK: DISCOVERY (Jack)
• Open Mike Eagle's ANIME, TRAUMA, DIVORCE (Kate)
• Two slippers (Hao)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org

#193 – Having detected a mutated COVID-19 among farms, Denmark is culling its minks. As of writing, gassed minks are reappearing, zombielike, all over this fine country, but, when we recorded this episode, the news had just broke! We talk minks, and shaming, in this rousing episode of Downers. Plugs this week:

• OVERCOOKED 2 (Kate)
• Netflix's DARK (Jack)
• Taking off your socks after a long day (Hao)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org

#192 – Who are you in those first few moments when you wake up each day? This question we pose and attempt to answer in this hour of Downers. We also explore and further Kate's husband's struggles with sleeping next to Kate. Also: mud, soups, being in Hong Kong during the U.S. elections.

Plugs this week:

• Flowers for a friend (Kate)
• Biking through your neighborhood (Hao)
• Anti-plug for Netflix's THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT (Jack)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org/

#191 – Christmas! It's right around the corner, and it can be downright sexy sometimes. In this hour, we devote the hour to thinking about just why Chrimbus is so sexy. This is also the first of two episodes where we talk about throwing blood on people wearing fur. We're calling this series "The Blood-throwing Episodes." The next episode where this happens will be #193. How do I know? I'm from the future.

Plugs this week:

• The nobility of self (Hao)
• Clover honey (Kate), which is different from regular honey
• Vegan cookie dough (Jack) [recipe bravely included]

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org/

#190 – What are your personal strengths? In this episode, we embark on an adventure to answer this question by taking an online personality quiz hosted on VIA's Institute on Character website. We quickly learn that Kate is a very different person from Jack and Hao! We also posit the theory that the bottom five traits (our weakest personality traits) would be good traits to have in a partner.

Plugs this week:

• Netflix's THE QUEENS GAMBIT, if you fast-forward through all the boring relationship/alcoholism stuff (Hao)
• Anti-plug: Netflix's THE QUEENS GAMBIT (Jack)
• Sweaters (Kate)

[email protected] • /r/downersradio • @downersradio on the twittersphere • https://hrf.org/