What is the best thing ever? We've got 8 new nominees forged in the fire of a topic draft. Okay, it was more a friendly discussion but I think it was really interesting. Watch now to find out what the next era of BTE will look like.

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What do you bench, bro? Can you dead lift me? If I'm dead? It's powerlifting and it's good for you body and mind, apparently. At least Rachel likes it, and she's here to tell us why.

Learn the history of powerlifting, learn about a few cool powerlifters including a nine year old who can lift 3x her body weight, and learn about our new funding idea: a brain supplement called Triple Blind where you don't know if you're getting the real supplement or a placebo and we don't know if we own the company or not. Triple Blind Supplements: Bust a Nut In Your Cortex.

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It's our first ever Hunter episode and he takes things in a slightly different direction, deeply personal journey across state lines to his favorite late night eatery, the one and only Waffle House. He teaches you how to order properly, the traps to avoid, and whether or not you should start anything with your server. Plus he calls out David. Seriously, David. What the hell man.

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Writer Sarah Hatheway joins us to talk about a thing that's brought her so much joy over the years, romance novels. She loves them so much she's written her own (more on that soon, we hope). We learn about the history of the genre and a bit more about how genre works in general. It's a really good episode.

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If there's one thing that's a shoe-in for Best Thing Ever it's the thing that our hosts have pursued for a combine 20+ years. But after a great history of standup comedy from Anthony, we prove that we're a lot more conflicted about our careers than even we knew. Is standup the best or is it stinky?

If you're enjoying the show please give us an honest 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and tell us if we're right or wrong in our placement of standup comedy.

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Trees. They're everywhere. Watching. Biding their time. Providing us everything we need to live but always threatening to take it away. They're the beauty and the danger, but are they the best thing ever? Alex gives a presentation on his 15 favorite trees in an effort to convince people they are but where do they end up? Find out.

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It's the moment you've been waiting for, that Anthony has been saving all his political capital for, it's time for the pro wrestling episode. Along with special guest Jamie Carbone, we go on a journey into the world of wrestling and how we can appreciate it more. We learn words and phrases like "the shine", "a work", "gaga", and controversially, "some color." We hope you learn something too and maybe even rank wrestling higher than you ever thought you would.

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As a beverage goblin I'm thrilled to present my strongest application for best thing ever so far, warm beverages. We give you a brief history of coffee and tea as well as a guide for how to find the best coffee shops.

PLUS we're joined by incredible standup comedian Irene Tu (irenetu.com) who recently opened for Patton Oswald and Sarah Silverman and has a new record out that's just the best.

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Everybody connect to your LAN and settle into your hunched-over position so we can tell you the tale of a transformational video game (and masculinity both good and bad). We're talking about communal video games generally and Halo specifically. Grab your Bawls and let's dive in!

Plus this week we've got a very special guest. Laser The Boy just dropped his debut LP and you can (and should) listen to it now.

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Our search for the best thing ever continues with a deep dive into one of the cuddliest movies of all time, Studio Ghibli's "My Neighbor Totoro." Will it unseat bread and cat videos? It's a tough call. Plus the briefest history of Japan you've ever seen and an update on bay leaves.

Explore the My Neighbor Totoro slide deck at your leisure