No Bad Ideas

Welcome to 2020! We start the new year with some BIG decisions. First, Gabriel sends us to customer support hell with the story of a woman’s inspired prank to shrug off unwanted texts. Then, Zach takes us down to Texas, where everything is bigger, including fires started by magnifying glasses. Finally, Sarah offers us a peek into the wacky world of nuclear warfare, and some essential bomb parts the United States may or may not still remember how to manufacture. We did say welcome to 2020…

Plus: Bubbles the Chimp, a half-hearted Santa, a Vegas scene, a  grumpy old men list, and a Destroy Your Life button for dating.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

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This is our last show of the year - and indeed the decade - so we've pulled out all the stops. We recruited one of the most brilliant voice actors and storytellers we know, the international man of mystery, Noah Masur, to join us in the bad ideas hot seat!

First, Sarah slides us details about how a closely guarded Star Wars script ended up on eBay, which leads to a frenetic, cross-country thriller Disney would never, ever allow to be made. Then, Noah turns the tables on us and brings us the story of the man who survived a Samurai sword attack by his girlfriend - which, in our version, was maybe just the spark they both needed. 

Finally, we were lucky enough to trick Noah into sharing some of his thoughts on comedy: why it can be timeless but is always ephemeral, the Internet's effect on comedy and culture, and the challenges of translating humor. 

Plus: going to the paradox place, tracking the Internet, training to be e-thletes, rejecting objective truth, and partying with John Boyega's boys. 

Today's Bad Ideas™: 

Idea #1

Idea #2

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This week on No Bad Ideas: beer, pizza, and divine sausage! 

On our first story, Gabriel brings us the story of a woman who has taken drastic measures to keep her husband from sneaking off to the pub, which leads to a comedy all about petty, competitive divorce revenge. Then, Zach's tale about the lewd details of a stained glass window lead to a story of a scandalous face-off between a small congregation and their mega church neighbors. Finally, Sarah's news story about a bizarre fast food feud leads to a Machiavellian journey into the heart of corporate darkness. 

All of that, plus, sexy sermons, the most Millennial Mood in the whole wide world, cunning references to previous episodes, and Sweaty Eats.

Today's Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1 (https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/wife-builds-pub-back-garden-21033333)

Idea #2 (https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/woman-spots-very-x-rated-20921346)

Idea #3 (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/papa-johns-john-schnatter-40-pizzas_n_5ddd413ae4b00149f724b7cf)

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This week, coming just after Thanksgiving in the US, we’re grateful we get to play with, but not actually been involved in, any of the following ideas. First, Zach takes us to Japan, and specifically to a hotel room that’s a heck of a bargain, but comes with an Internet audience of thousands of voyeurs. Next, Gabriel drives us to Utah, where ten very special billboards near Salt Lake City are getting a response from thousands of women. Finally, Sarah launches into the deep end of celebrity fakes, with a roundtable of Hollywood bigwigs that’s way overproduced.

Plus: the divorce force, trapeze bears and other millionaire things, eyeing Paul Rudd suspiciously, and going through the motions of being Sting.

 

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

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Avast! This week on No Bad Ideas, giant clocks, South American dictators, and pirates!

First, Gabriel takes us to the British town of Penzance, where a piratical rivalry has spiraled completely out of control. Then, Sarah takes us to Bolivia, where Apple's Siri is taking an unexpected political stance. Finally, Zach takes us to the depths of a hollowed-out mountain in Texas, where we embark on a truly ambitious journey through time with a clock built to last. 

Plus, the high seas, peacekeeping troops, future generations of humans, and babies with eyepatches.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

 

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This week, the NBI crew talks through three very different walks on the wild side. First, Sarah takes us into Northern Colombia, where a new invasive species has taken to the rainforest and has great brand tie-in potential. Then, Zach sends us into the seedy underworld of animal shelters, and a cat able to open doors and break all his buddies out. Finally, Gabriel offers us a special kind of free funeral: a funeral... for the living.

Plus, cocaine hippos, connecting with your inner tiger, snap judgements set to high, and a slow-burning pot-boiler.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

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This week on No Bad Ideas: photo manipulation, funerary pranks, and utter inability to stop loved ones from making questionable choices.

On the first idea this episode, Gabriel brings us the story of how a photoshopped sailor hat brought together a police department and the fugitive they'd been looking for. Then, Sarah brings us a delightfully dark tale about a man taking the reigns at his own funeral through a carefully engineered "buried alive" joke. And, finally, Zach tries to out-do his last bad idea involving lions, this time with the story of a woman taunting a one of the big cats at the Bronx Zoo from within its own enclosure.

All of that, plus rawrtongue, murder mystery parties, artistic perfectionism, and increasingly ridiculous costumes. 

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

Check out Zero Hours at www.zerohourspodcast.com

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This week on No Bad Ideas: snakes, mysterious objects from space, and the world's creepiest dolls!

On our first idea this week, Zach brings us the story of a petty theft that slithers in all the wrong directions. Then, Sarah shares the tale of a space selfie gone terribly, terribly wrong, which leads to a series of kids' adventures with a portal-creating phone. Finally, Gabriel subjects everyone to a museum that is hosting a competition to find the world's creepiest dolls, which spawns a mockumentary unlike anything the world has ever seen.

Plus: Cara Delevingne, Contestant 953, photos that will keep you up at night, and amazing things happening on Samsung screens. 

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1 

Idea #2 

Idea #3

The new season of Outliers: Stories from the Edge of History begins November 5th! Tune in at rustyquill.com/outliers/

And check out Zero Hours at www.zerohourspodcast.com

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We’re back this week to our regularly scheduled, awful no-good terrible ideas! First, courtesy of Sarah, we plumb the depths to which some thieves will go to steal pieces of modern art: in this case, a solid gold toilet. Next, thanks to Zach, we engage with the horrifying potential of crowd-sourcing all the information that can be hidden in a selfie. Then, the three of us sit down and talk about how Zero Hours, our new anthology fiction podcast, came together.

Plus: a bad day at Monte Carlo, Lord Whoever Whoever’s Wallet, social media sleuthing, an online mob in action, and the difference between a sketchy plumber... and a plumber.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1 

Idea #2 

Check out Zero Hours at www.zerohourspodcast.com

Note: The second idea we discuss contains a fairly intense case of stalking and cyber-bullying. If you would like to skip it, pause the episode at 21:30 and start it back up again at 36:00.

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Greetings, friends! There is no new episode of No Bad Ideas this week. In its place, we're sharing the first episode from the new fiction anthology podcast that we've been producing for the last month and a half, the entirety of which is now available fine podcasts are acquired! 

Zero Hoursis a seven episode anthology series, where every story is a different take on the end of the world - or at least something that feels like the end of the world. Each episode is organized around a kind of apocalypse, whether the cataclysm is planetary or personal. The stories are also set in succeeding centuries, with 99-year intervals separating each episode. The show begins in the past, catches up to the present, and eventually overtakes it. Some installments are darkly comedic, others grimly contemplative, and others still thrillingly contentious. But they all explore the same question: how do we keep going when the world is crashing down around us?

We think it's pretty neat.

We hope you enjoy this first episode, written by our very own Gabriel Urbina, directed by equally our own Sarah Shachat, and starring both actor extraordinaire Ariela Rotenberg and The Bad Ideas Bat™ himself, Zach Libresco.

We'll be back with a brand-new episode of No Bad Ideas next week. 

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