Spears & Steinberg

Andy made Aries sit through two '70s women-in-prison classics, Caged Heat and The Big Doll House, and Aries is NOT happy about it. Andy makes the case for why these Roger Corman grindhouse flicks matter: they launched Pam Grier, gave Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) his first directing gig, and laid the groundwork for Quentin Tarantino.That opens up the big fight: is Tarantino a genius or just the best thief in Hollywood? From the Pulp Fiction briefcase to the Django sleeve gun, Aries brings receipts and Andy compares it to hip-hop sampling. Plus Aries tells the story of shooting his shot with Pam Grier on the MADtv set, reacts to rumors of a Zendaya-led Bourne movie, roasts Tarantino's "posse" moment on the Django press tour, and gets into the From Dusk Till Dawn foot scene. It all ends with a heated debate over whether a man could really be overpowered in the Jodi Arias case.

00:00 Andy's terrible movie picks: Caged Heat & The Big Doll House02:17 Pam Grier & the queens of Blaxploitation03:56 Zendaya as Jason Bourne?!06:21 Queen Latifah & a women-in-prison remake07:31 Why '70s movies kept it honest09:02 Did anybody actually like these movies?10:00 The history of women-in-prison films10:58 Roger Corman & Jonathan Demme's first movie12:56 Andy's drive-in memories19:06 It's not about prison, it's about women's rights20:46 Is Quentin Tarantino a thief?23:24 What is Tarantino's style? Robert Rodriguez's explosion shot26:27 Hip-hop sampling vs. Tarantino "homage"28:26 Diddy: "I don't write rhymes, I write checks"30:00 The Pulp Fiction briefcase & Kiss Me Deadly32:15 Django's sleeve gun vs. The Mercenary34:17 Ranking Tarantino movies35:38 Pam Grier's cultural impact36:43 Halle Berry vs. Robin Givens37:47 Pam Grier shot Aries down38:59 Everybody borrows: George Lucas & Star Wars42:47 Joker vs. Taxi Driver45:21 Tarantino "talking black" on the Django press tour48:16 Tarantino shouldn't act in his own movies49:27 Tarantino's foot fetish & From Dusk Till Dawn53:18 Could Salma Hayek have said no?56:00 Brendan Fraser & Hollywood power57:29 Nudity in movies & Orange Is the New Black1:00:22 Jodi Arias1:01:23 Could a woman really take a man out?1:07:22 "This ain't a Tootsie Roll Pop commercial"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harland Williams joins Aries Spears, Andy Steinberg and Mark Silverstein for one of the most unpredictable episodes yet. The Rocketman star talks about working with a trained chimp, getting mock-charged by a 500-pound silverback in Rwanda, and his days as a Canadian forest ranger dealing with moose and black bears.

Harland also tells the story of his Sheridan College roommate Steve Williams, who went from making "stupid circles" on VHS to creating the digital T-Rex that changed Jurassic Park. Aries and Harland go back and forth on AI, Neuralink and whether art is evolving or devolving, then the conversation turns to comedy: crowd work, memorial tattoos, "punching down," the power of sitting in silence, and why every emerging comic should get to Austin.

Plus: Harland's new animated series The Art Avengers, the comfort slug from The Harland Highway, and who makes Harland laugh.

🎙️ Behind the scenes on Patreon: patreon.com/spearsbergpod

📞 Leave a voicemail: 617-942-0401

🎟️ Aries' tour dates: ariesspears.com

Follow Harland Williams:

🎟️ Tour: harlandwilliams.com

🎧 The Harland Highway podcast

🎨 The Art Avengers: artvengersworld.com

My website: Tour (tickets), merch and more - http://www.ariesspears.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ariesspears

TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@realariesspears

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ariesspears

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/spearsbergpo

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aries addresses the Vlad fallout head-on this week: an apology to his fans for how he handled it, the lawsuit threat, the "Uncle Tom" jab, and why he says Vlad's claims about his openers and crowds don't hold up. Andy pushes him on accountability, and the conversation turns into a real debate about holding your own community to the same standard you hold yourself to.

Then the crew gets into the Converse ad controversy. Was it a dog whistle, a bad crop that went viral, or both? Andy tells the story of accidentally running a swastika in a college newspaper ad, and Aries asks why these "coincidences" always seem to land on Black people. Plus: a viral take on why Batman is the real villain, Colin Kaepernick comparing the NFL Combine to the slave trade, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Tim Tebow, freedom of speech versus consequences, and a full review of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story with a fact check on what the show made up. Who should Monster do next, Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy? Let us know in the comments.

🎤 SEE ARIES LIVE

Flint, MI – Sept 25

San Antonio, TX – Sept 26

European dates: ariesspears.com

🎤 SEE ANDY STEINBERG

Denver Improv – Oct 29

West Nyack, NY – Nov 5

My website: Tour (tickets), merch and more - http://www.ariesspears.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ariesspears

TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@realariesspears

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ariesspears

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/spearsbergpod

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aries Spears and Andy Steinberg sit down with DJ Vlad (VladTV) to finally hash out the beef that's been brewing between him and Aries for months. What starts as a "let's clear the air" conversation turns into a full-blown confrontation — covering the money dispute that started it all, accusations of lying and narcissism, the "culture vulture" label, a Kung Fu Panda joke controversy, a studio staff incident, and a moment so tense Vlad ends up getting kicked out of the interview before it's smoothed back over.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aries Spears and Andy Steinberg are back in the new studio for another uncensored episode. This week: GTA 6's insane budget and release hype, the return of the infamous Burbank "ass sniffer," a fake NFL player who scammed 26 women out of $1.3 million, a full ranking of the top 10 superhero movies of the last decade, the controversial police shooting of a knife-wielding woman, deadly roller coaster injuries, and Target's racist t-shirt controversy. Plus another round of Stupid Motherfuckers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tony Rock joins Aries Spears and Andy Steinberg in studio for the very first official guest episode of Spears & Steinberg — and it does not disappoint. Tony tells the full story of getting fired by Tracy Morgan (and the wild night that led to it), shares what he learned shadowing Adam Sandler and John Witherspoon early in his career, and opens up about his brother Chris Rock's recent Asperger's diagnosis and how it shaped their family dynamic growing up.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aries Spears and Andy Steinberg are back for another unfiltered episode of Spears & Steinberg. This week: a Cactus Corn popcorn taste test kicks things off before the guys dive into the Lindsay Clancy postpartum psychosis case, the protests and who's really to blame, the WNBA dildo-throwing controversy and the trans athletes in women's sports debate, LA's homeless crisis (including a proposed city-funded "relief" program), a Batman vs. Superman business breakdown, Marvel vs. DC villains, and a raw conversation about race in America sparked by some viral clips. Aries also tells the story of getting passed over for SNL in '98 — and what Darrell Hammond later told him about it.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aries and Andy dig into The Sopranos this week — starting with the episode Aries thinks is the most overrated in the entire series, then running through his personal top 5, closing out with a full debate on whether Tony Soprano was actually a weak man underneath all the bravado, and a breakdown of that infamous finale cut to black.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aries & Andy are back with tour updates, a Phoenix popcorn obsession, and a deep dive into the WNBA's "white privilege" ejection controversy — plus the Jemele Hill fallout, the never-ending "can men beat women's sports" debate, Scottie Pippen vs. LeBron, the Paul Pierce GOAT clips that broke Twitter, a body-rating segment, Stupid Motherfuckers (Chris Brown vs. Michael Jackson edition), and Oprah's GLP-1 / "obesity gene" comments on The View.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spears & Steinberg are back in the new studio and diving straight into it. Aries breaks down his ongoing beef with "Officer Tatum" over chattel slavery, race, and accountability, before the crew argues about code-switching, the best Spider-Man actor of all time, and a viral "I want a divorce" confession that splits the room. Then it's Ariana Grande's body image backlash, the state of women in stand-up, and a real one about whether comedy is actually being censored — plus Aries defends himself on hecklers and shares the story of the fan with Down syndrome that changed how he thinks about "making people uncomfortable." Wrapped up with tour dates, NFL PDA discourse, and the week's dumbest real estate listing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices