Recreational Thinking

Contestants: Tucker Warner, Tom Colocci, Marcus Luna

Take us out to the ballgame!  Two of last's seasons most popular contestants and one very entertaining newcomer join us to kick off Season 2 with a game that's not so heavy on the baseball that it doesn't leave room for its cousin from across the pond.  Oh, and plenty of other topics are represented, ranging from ancient Rome to Formula One to Nicktoons.  This is one of our all-time greatest episodes (even if I did stumble slightly on the final hurdle) and yet I can guarantee that at least half a dozen more that are just as good (or better) are on the way!!

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Contestants: Paige Feldman, Mik Larsen, Rajay Kumar

Fight on! This episode sees me (joined once again by Andrew Darby from E7) re-unite with three dear friends from my days at USC, including E15 standout Rajay, as we re-fight the Civil War, re-visit -- appropriately enough -- some old "Friends," and reference Alfred Hitchcock so many times I may as well have used "Funeral March of a Marionette" as the theme music. This episode features some of my all-time favorite questions, and the finale is an absolute masterclass in abductive reasoning.

NOTE: To give you all a sense of the overall "vibe" at the taping, I've included about 2 minutes of chatter at the beginning. Feel free to skip over it if you're not entertained.

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Contestants: Isaac Renert, Milan Fernandez, Max Shatan

Happy Juneteenth! And now for something completely different: An entire episode devoted to the wide world of cinema, with three millennial cinephiles kindly stepping up and allowing me to experiment with the format.

A warning! If you aren't into movies, be prepared to approach this primarily as a learning experience. Also, the subject matter ended up veering a little further from mainstream Hollywood than I predicted, so ... if you are into movies, but your tastes are concentrated on the conventional, you should also be prepared to approach this episode primarily as a learning experience.

It's still a lot of fun! But PLEASE do not use this episode as a barometer of what "Recreational Thinking" is typically like. If you are unfamiliar with the podcast, I'd recommend starting with Episode 6, Episode 10, or Episode 13 and then working your way up to the more niche stuff.

As always: Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Internet personality "Default Friend," Trey Kelso, Tom Colocci

College football, DC Comics, The Office, Wicca, and Donny Osmond are all on the syllabus of an episode bookended, for no particular reason, by the works of Stephen King. Come for the realization that your favorite '80s one-hit wonder also wrote your favorite '90s Disney song; stay for the cautionary tale of what happens when you doodle a drag queen at the wrong moment (not a metaphor); savor hearing me recite the full title of "Marat/Sade" off the top of my head, because that's the kind of person I am.

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Contestants: Dargan Ware, Joshua Hill, Andy Wehrman

Order in the court!! Civil law is on the docket in this episode, alongside geography, religion, business, country music, the Founding Fathers, classic Simpsons, and more! By the way, since this episode taped Dargan Ware has published a second novel, "Old Soldiers Never Die." Check out both it and "The Legend of Colgan Toomey" at your favorite literary retailer!

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Contestants: David Kendall, Brian Hight, Anupama Srirangan

We travel the world in this geography-themed episode (with an emphasis on national flags and anthems), while also covering many other topics, including collegiate sports, organic chemistry, and the Old Dominion state. Like Virginia, this episode is for lovers — lovers of knowledge!

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Contestants: Jesse Palek-Zahn, Rajay Kumar, Steve Winer

We take a grand tour of the humanities, sciences, and pop culture in this episode, with questions covering history, literature, physics, health/medicine, sports, movies, TV, and more! Find out how we go from Walter White to Heisenberg without referencing "Breaking Bad," anticipate the plots of both "Ratched" and "Mank" before either of those were a thing, cover not one but *two* US senators who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics, and decide which David Bowie song might have been a good alternative title for "Pocahontas."

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Contestants: Steve Evenhouse, Bill Pennington, Jonathan Klein

And now "Recreational Thinking" has its first truly international episode, with an American facing off against a Canadian native and an actual Australian who got up early to record with us all the way from the Antipodes! (Dig those exotic bird sounds in the background.) Join us as we learn about Canada, medical research, US history, international development, and of course the invaluable elephant foot yam, plus more, and stay tuned for an ending that is one-of-a-kind in "Recreational Thinking" history!!

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Contestants: Lynn Yu, Arianna Haut, Muffy Marracco

This is it, you guys. Yes, it's our first episode with an all-woman lineup, but more importantly it's our funniest and most energetic episode to date (in spite of the fact that I was still fairly illness-drained, albeit on the upswing, at the time of recording).

Two of the most masterful masterminds from GSN's MASTER MINDS, Arianna Haut and Muffy Marracco, join author and rising Hollywood star Lynn Yu for a raucous journey through Asian food, California cities, Jewish culture, Pixar movies, children's literature, presidents of the USA, and a lot more! You already got to see how entertaining Muffy was back in Episode 1, but this time you'll learn about her "towel-over-the-face" technique ... and find out whether it brings her success.

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Contestants: Todd Hunter, Dillon Edwards, Cheyenne Fletcher

This episode was recorded at the height of my sickness last March, and I can't say I'm at my best. Still, the contestants and I take an entertaining tour of everything from Australian history to TV cooking shows to quantum mechanics, and still find time for an extended discussion of the roots of hip hop music. Join us as we get quantum physical!

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