Mt. Rushmore Podcast

Can you imagine someone having to pretend to be the President of the United States?

No, seriously, we'll wait for you to stop laughing.

We mean REAL ACTORS. After all, our presidents are among some of the most recognizable figures in American history. Whether they are heroes or scoundrels, they cast a large shadow. Put it this way: everyone can do a bad JFK impression, but how many people can do it well enough to be credible in a movie or TV show?

(Answer: Not Greg Kinnear in "The Kennedys")

This week we look at the people who got it right, whether their performance was carefully crafted homage or scathing satire.

SHOW NOTES

• Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in "Lincoln" (Joint Choice)
• Anthony Atamanuik as Donald Trump in "The President Show (Michael's Choice)
• Edward Herrmann as FDR in "Annie" (Richard's Choice)
• Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt in "Night at the Museum (Michael's Choice)
• Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton on "Saturday Night Live" (Richard's Choice)
• Paul Giamatti as John Adams in "John Adams" (Michael's Choice)
• Harry Shearer as George H. W. Bush on "The Simpsons" (Richard's Choice)

Do we have to spell out what this week's episode is about? Well, we probably should. It's all about S to the Izzo, P to the Pizzo, E to the...uh, E-izzo...look, this is getting complicated. Just...we're talking about songs featuring spelling, OK?

And no, we don't mean Tori Spelling. We mean words being spelled out during the course of the song. So get out of here, "Alphabet Song" - you're not spelling anything out. Here's a hint for one of this week's choices: if you don't R-E-S-P-E-C-T our choices, you can P-O-U-N-D S-A-L-T.

SHOW NOTES

"Respect" by Aretha Franklin (Joint Choice)

"Ouija Board, Ouija Board" by Morrissey (Michael's Choice)

"Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers (Richard's Choice)

"Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats (Michael's Choice)

"Gloria" by Them (Richard's Choice)

"F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." by Pulp (Michael's Choice)

"D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Tammy Wynette (Richard's Choice)

Let's PUMP UP THE JAMS! This week we're discussing the songs that get you READY TO ROCK at the stadium when you go to see your favorite sports team. Expect more RADICAL ALL-CAPS WORDS in this episode than ever before.

Seriously, if this episode doesn't get you FULLY READY TO BLOW SOME SHIT UP then you don't have a sports bone in your body.

You kids today, with your iPhones and your podcasts. We didn't have anything like that in our day. If we wanted to hear something interesting, we'd listen to our ears ringing after our Dads boxed our ears in for showing up five minutes late for dinner. That's the way that it was AND WE LIKED IT!

This week we explore all of the things that we're dealing with as we get older. We strongly encourage you to get off of our lawns and want to let you know that your "boy bands" today can't hold a candle to The Monkees.

SHOW NOTES

• Parking in front of your house (Michael's Choice)
• Going to sleep before midnight (Richard's Choice)
• Body aches (Joint Choice)
• Lack of interest in new music/finding new music past 30 (Joint Choice)
• Salad Talk (Michael's Choice)
• Going to Vegas and not drinking or gambling (Richard's Choice)

"In the summertime, when the weather is hot

You ca-..."

GET OUT OF HERE MUNGO JERRY!!! NO ONE LIKES YOUR AWFUL SONG! AND TAKE YOUR CREEPY SIDE BURNS WITH YOU!!

OK, now that we've cleared out the riff-raff . This week we're unpacking stories from our childhood to offer up our Mount Rushmore of Summer as a Kid. You know: those halcyon days when the days, weeks and months stretched on forever and responsibility was nothing more than a spelling bee word you just couldn't get right.

If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to Fast Food Hell is paved with bacon, cheese and more bacon. This week we take a look at the most artery-clogging, gut-busting creations ever to ooze their way from the laboratories of Big Fast Food Inc.

You'll be amazed at some of the things that they thought we would eat! And probably ashamed because you've had several of these. USA! USA!

SHOW NOTES

• Fatburger's The Triple King (Michael's Choice)
• Wendy's The Baconator (Richard's Choice)
• Wendy's Baconator Fries (Michael's Choice)
• KFC's The Double Down (Joint Choice)
• Burger King's Mac n Cheetos (Richard's Choice)
• Hot Dog Crust Pizza (Pizza Hut)
• Frito Chili Cheese Pizza (Papa John's)

Like, TWO SECONDS after mankind created fire you know that he burnt himself with it. Mankind goes on to create the wheel and FOR SURE it rolls over his toes. Yadda yadda yadda. George Jetson is crying for help on his space treadmill.

Rounding out our three weeks of TED Talk episodes we gripe the light fantastic about how lights aren't that fantastic and complain about all these technological terrors that ruin our ordinary lives.

Mankind creates fire. Mankind creates wheel. Mankind decides this remote control isn't working for me, what if it was also a watch?!

This week our Mount Rushmore of Old Electronic gadgets draws from our formative years. From the VCR to the BOOM BOX to Nintendo's Power Glove, we crank the !!!TURBO BASE!!! on nostalgia All. The. Way.

I find it hard to believe that there's a sucker born every minute. After all, people are putting their hard-earned money into Kickstarter campaigns a lot more often than that! This isn't to say that every crowdfunded invention is a grift. It's just that for every Oculus Rift, there are 100 products that don't work as advertised or just plain never see the light of day, leaving "investors" holding the bag – and a worthless receipt.

This week we're looking at the crowdsourced concepts that should have stayed as concepts. We touch on everything from heavy duty coolers that are a bit too heavy duty to movie auteurs panhandling for money online to make their latest dud "with their vision." We hope you enjoy it. Also: remember that with $100 donation, you'll receive a phone call from us thanking you for listening.

This week's episode answers a critical question: if we didn't start the fire, who did? Probably those damned Ruskies, that's who!

A companion piece to last week's episode on REM's "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," this week we delve deep into another list song: "We Didn't Start the Fire" by one William Joel. The whole song is basically just as many political and pop culture references as you can pack into a 3:30 pop song, including some really obscure pulls. We also discuss the iconic music video including Richard being shocked that there was a different mom for each decade.

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SHOW NOTES

• 2:35 – The Ghostly Apparition of Billy Joel (Richard's Choice)
• 8:55 – The Music Video Being Centered Around the Kitchen (Michael's Choice)
• 12:50 – Rock and Roller Cola Wars (Richard's Choice)
• 13:22 – Two Moments of Anger Amongst the Sea of Monotony (Michael's Choice)
• 21:05 – Syngman Rhee (Richard's Choice)
• 28:42 – New Versions of "We Didn't Start the Fire" With Updated Lyrics (Michael's Choice)
• 32:10 – The "Psycho" Strings When He Says the Word "Psycho" (Richard's Choice)
• 34:28 – The Song Feeling Like It's the End of Billy Joel's Career (Michael's Choice)