No Bad Ideas

We're honored to be joined this week by our friend, actor extraordinaire and the official Bad Ideas Bat, Mr. Zach Libresco! Zach brings his incredible intelligence and humor to a pair of truly awful notions from the Internet, and then shares his perspective on craft and inspiration, and what it means to be really present.

But before all the philosophy, Zach Valenti introduces us to an ancient Athenian who lives (and dies!) for the applause; and then Gabriel invites us to a quite diabolical rock-and-roll scene in Springfield, Illinois. Plus, #commentary, new death goals, it always being about the goats, and a Satan played by Judi Dench. 

Today's Bad Ideas™: 

Idea #1

Idea #2

To check out more of Zach Libresco's work, say hi to him on his twitter, @ZachLibresco, or explore his website! 

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Content Warning: The first story this week involves Nazi paraphernalia and war, and the second story centers on sterilization and eugenics. Check out the time-codes below if you want skip one or both of them.

With Sarah gone and a pair of pretty grim-dark ideas on the table, who else would Gabriel and Zach call to join them but dungeon master extraordinaire Josh Perault of the Taking Initiative podcast! First, Gabriel brings us to a nice little German town where a nice German man lives in seclusion... with his basement full of Nazi weaponry and a 45-ton Panzer tank? Then Zach maybe sets a new record for the badness of an idea with a family saga that has everything: betrayal, courtroom drama, vast inheritable fortunes, and (sigh) eugenics and sterilization. Then the guys ask Josh for some of his - very good! - ideas about writing, and reflect on things they've all learned in their journeys as storytellers. Plus: Severus Snape situations, Irishman Joey McGuffin, rewriting history the way that we want, and the dirty business of funding chaos.

Today's Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1 - Begins at 05:27, Ends at 19:11

Idea #2 - Begins at 22:49, Ends at 42:07

Find Josh at  @XiroxisTheBeard on Twitter, and Taking Initiative on their website and wherever fine podcasts are sold.

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For appetizers, Gabriel brings us Fear and Loathing in Logan, Colorado, where we discover an amazing cocktail of whiskey, a rattle snake, and powdered uranium in a stolen automobile.

Sarah follows up with a less bizarre - but equally horrifying - plane story for our entrée, one that makes Zach curse a record number of times before the end of the article.

And, finally, for dessert, a silly, Olympic-sized fail that we hastily cram into a train.

Here’s to that feel when uranium is any card in a local situation, when no one else is locked into the pitch-black plane with you, and nobody appreciates your gravity-defying leaps.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

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This week on No Bad Ideas: badass nurses, killer laptops, a really big sign, and more!

First up, a terrifying kill-or-be-killed tale leads to buddy cop movie with a very unusual protagonist. After that, drastic measures in a small English village lead to a series of P.R. choices so bad they might just fail all the way to the top! And finally, the tale of an auction that is truly fit for both the super villains and the avant-garde artists of the world!

Plus, generic pictures from the Internet, a crazy weekend full of laptop viruses, and very, very high levels of maturity.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

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This week, we’re joined in the studio by Lindsay Amer of Queer Kids Stuff for two bad ideas and a roundtable discussion.

First, we bring a Scooby-Doo-style ghost hunting gang into the YouTube Era and they form an unlikely alliance with an eccentric horror writer fighting off the bank from foreclosing his historically haunted mansion.

Next, faced with an animal rights nightmare from the 1930s, we avoid “Green-Booking” the situation with Hugh Jackman and look for a more nuanced way to approach people with lions in motorcycles racing on walls in the circus with a non-zero amount of mauling.

Finally, we chat with Lindsay about finding universality as storytellers and get a sneak peek into her new fiction storytelling projects.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Today's Idea Worth Sharing By Lindsay (AKA Her TED Talk):

https://www.ted.com/talks/lindsay_amer_why_kids_need_to_learn_about_gender_and_sexuality?language=en

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This week, Sarah, Gabriel, and Zach prove once again the mind-meld is real as we find ourselves with a full set of body-horror bad ideas.

First, we delve into some Cthulhu shit after finding too many teeth in too many walls. Next, we plot out the scam of the century - just not this century - and, boy, does it get *hairy.* Finally, will we find a way to parlay the grim origin of the chainsaw into a satisfying story?

Plus, a dark god seeking an avatar body, Gunther screwing up *again*, and stories safest in print.

**Today’s Bad Ideas™:**

Idea #1: https://mashable.com/article/teeth-inside-wall/

Idea #2: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/06/10/Lock-of-Beethovens-hair-up-for-auction/8931560187534/

Idea #3: https://www.businessinsider.com/chainsaws-were-originally-invented-for-helping-childbirth-not-cutting-wood-2018-6

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This week, Sarah and Zach are joined once again by Gabriel, returned from vacation.

First, we explore all our A.I. feels and once again crib from one of our eternal faves, Gattaca, with a robot that must pretend to be human to follow its dreams. Then, we go through the Snapchat-looking-glass to discover the Grumpy Cat of politics. And then we explore what happens when a small community tries to get rid of time… just for a bit. Plus, mistaking cat pictures for guacamole, a day with no end, cat filtering deep fakes, and a non-zero amount of people yelling at this podcast.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1: https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/c2ft3b/the_google_healthcare_ai_was_shown_a_picture_of_a/

Idea #2: https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/6/17/18681985/facebook-live-press-conference-cat-filter-shaukat-yousafzai-pakistan

Idea #3: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article231718523.html

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This week, Sarah and Zach are joined by the multi-faceted podcaster, historian, writer, and budding wrestler Julia Schifini, of Multitude and The Whisperforge.

First, one of the more delightfully creepy turns we’ve had in a bit as we transform a poorly placed 911 call into a full-blown Sweeney Todd situation. Then, one of the most objectively dangerous ideas we’ve had to-date, inspiring a very Nick Cage like spectrum of emotions. Plus, an unstoppable casual dining for cannibals, real guns being unfortunately less expensive than prop guns, and the 411 on #20FightTeen.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

Idea #1: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/taco-bell-louisiana-police-taco-shells-slidell_n_5cf7debae4b01302de35132c 

Idea #2: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/bps9cn/til_in_the_movie_lord_of_war_starring_nicolas/ 

Follow Julia over on Twitter (https://twitter.com/juliaschifini) and check out her podcast, Spirits (https://spiritspodcast.com), wherever quality podcasts are sold.

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This week, Gabriel is away but Sarah and Zach are joined by none other than voiceover actor and writer Kristen DiMercurio, of Ars Paradoxica and Archive 81 fame. Kristen helps us tackle a pair of true-life tales. First, one of the silliest bad ideas we’ve had in a while, why a hippie community police force has a very specific agenda for Ann Arbor, MI. Then, one of the most objectively bad ideas we’ve had in a while, why tourists taking selfies on indigenous monuments means we can’t have nice things. Plus, Wes Anderson vibes, secret Instagrams, completely imagined crimes, and Ellen Degeneres: Gay Santa.

Today’s Bad Ideas™:

https://aadl.org/node/195895

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/easter-island-nose-pick-selfies_n_5ce83be9e4b0a9a7bdb3dc52

Follow Kristen over at https://twitter.com/kdimerc and check out the new audiobook she narrated, These Witches Don’t Burn, here or wherever fine audiobooks are sold: https://www.audible.com/pd/These-Witches-Dont-Burn-Audiobook/198488607X

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