That Happens

Spencer goes rogue in Austin, Texas, flying solo this week while Kevin's still off at "business camp", with Wi-Fi, a printer, and an inflatable secretary... we don't ask questions. What starts as a disclaimer about movie spoilers quickly spirals into a full-blown rant from the road, as Spencer narrates his rental car adventures through Texas' baffling highway system, unlevel parking lots, and traffic signals that apparently operate on their own sense of time.

Then we get an extended, surprisingly thoughtful breakdown of the new Street Fighter movie (fight choreography complaints included), a passionate defense of the much-discussed, much-debated film "Digger", as a meditation on art and historical discourse rather than pure doom-and-gloom nihilism, and a deep dive into the Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything", from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, complete with true-crime-style theorizing about manipulation, narcissism, and who's really in control. Plus: gas station chicken sandwich reviews, a eulogy for some cheese grits that may or may not have been a casserole, and a brief cameo from "The Spleen."

Everything you'd expect from a solo episode recorded from the driver's seat of a Texas rental car. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the show, guest Jabloobie (animator, co-founder of Plasma Spin Studios, and creator of Squeep Toons) stops by to explain his new indie animated series Pasta Fazul, a show about an entire city of supervillains with zero heroes in sight. Along the way we cover the sacred art of pasta fazul, the correct way to drizzle Mountain Dew into any recipe, Knott's Scary Farm merch quality discourse, and the ongoing public safety debate around a certain roller coaster that may or may not be murdering people. We also get a rare, exclusive preview of Frank and Lazo, the breakout background characters turned beloved corporate-clone-debt-slave action duo.
Then it's a detour into 9/11 core memories, flash animation nostalgia, Newgrounds lore, couch-surfing through the DMV music scene, and a very contained discussion about a divisive new movie that we are absolutely not trying to spoil for anyone. Plus listener mail about first impressions, eldritch middle-management, and whether Spencer's "say nothing the first time, charm everyone the second time" strategy is a genius social hack or a cry for help.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technical difficulties, mystical Bigfoot radio hosts, and childhood abandonment issues walk into a podcast... Spencer Crittenden flies solo, fighting with a possessed webcam before spiraling into an honestly kind of unhinged seven-minute rant about magic, narrative theory, chaos magic, Alan Moore, and why wizards and conspiracy theorists might secretly be doing the same job. From there we go full therapy-session-meets-improv-show, unpacking parental baggage, motivation issues, and why creative work maybe shouldn't come from a trauma response.

We also pitch our greatest show that never got made: Secret Bigfoot, the saga of a Joe Rogan-esque talk radio cryptid who doesn't know what he is, can't get a mortgage, and accidentally stumbles into right-wing media hell. It's Berserk meets Coast to Coast AM meets your uncle's Facebook feed, and no, it never got picked up.

Also featured: an extremely serious taste test of chicken and waffle Oreos, a passion-fruit Snickers from Brazil, deep thoughts on Oreo flavor fatigue, and a sincere, surprisingly touching monologue about parasocial relationships, internet community, and why making a podcast while depressed is harder than it looks. Equal parts unboxing video, group therapy, and public access TV fever dream.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer goes on a series of car rides trying to populate the episode with content, while another looks down on the experience from a bird's eye view.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer Crittenden holds down the fort with special guest Ryan, and somehow the show still spirals into full Kevin-and-the-Spleen chaos anyway. We cover surveillance doorbell cameras as accidental government confessionals, why the new Wolverine game might be a cautionary tale about third-person action game fatigue, and whether Zelda's weirdly "toyetic" new art style is genius or just uncanny valley Playmobil. Naturally this leads into a deep dive on AI doomerism, tech-bro cult logic, crypto flashbacks, and the eternal question of whether ChatGPT can survive our extinction with a healthy mindset.

Also, a real-time Zoom Pro upsell that briefly derails the entire episode, an ill-fated attempt to workshop a topical joke live on air, a Mitch McConnell conspiracy theory that gets us cease-and-desisted by imaginary lawyers, and a heartfelt tribute to Brad Pitt's drinking-again press tour. We also pitch a full Hollywood reboot starring disgraced international stunt performers instead of celebrities, and preview a listener-requested trip into Serial Experiments Lain and Evangelion territory for a future episode.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on That Happens, Spencer sits down with Steph and Brad from SteelCityMTG to talk about basically everything except the thing we're supposed to be talking about, and then also the thing we're supposed to be talking about.

We cover the important stuff first: Game Boy hoarding, cloning Pokémon in Crystal like absolute criminals, and the golden age of buying cheat codes from magazines because the internet wasn't invented yet. Then we get into how Steph and Brad met in college, bonded over a truly cutthroat Yu-Gi-Oh vs. Magic debate, and somehow turned "playing cardboard games in the basement" into a whole streaming operation without losing their minds or their life savings (mostly).

We talk shop about running a Magic: The Gathering content channel that's actually built for two people instead of chasing the algorithm, the delicate art of getting bulk commons out of your house before they achieve sentience, and why the internet's ongoing beef with blue mana is just a skill issue wearing a costume. Also featured: birria bombs, aggressively burnt apple fritters, sea lion propaganda on TikTok, nostalgic decks from the "$5 build-a-deck" era, and a heartfelt plea for Wizards of the Coast to make full-size sets again instead of whatever we've been getting lately.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin's out this week, which means Spencer is left completely alone with a car, a phone camera, and 39 miles of gas to somehow make a podcast happen. What follows is an existential spiraling about needing other people to function, a full eulogy for Dolly Parton reimagined as a vampire-hunting vampire from a 2000s anime nobody fully remembers, several attempts at "free associating" like a TikTok improv guy that spin wildly out of control, and a confession about relapsing on weed and inventing a cannabis breakfast cereal.

Eventually Editor Spencer cuts in to save us all, reading listener emails about Mountain Dew TikTok guys, why Madame Web should be defended passionately, the ongoing Dan Harmon relationship check-in, an AI-and-coding existential crisis that gets a surprisingly thoughtful non-answer, and a crocheted minion-flower-pot sighting from an anime convention. It's a solo, stream-of-consciousness, driving-around episode that somehow still finds time for a giant 256-episode bracket tournament pitch, a Trinity Blood lore dump, and a promise that Kevin will return to restore order. A solid hour of anime deep cuts, AI anxiety, minions, vampires, and podcasts that fall apart.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We hit a real milestone this week and decided the only appropriate way to celebrate was with the triumphant return of the Dour Hour, a healthy dose of existential dread, and a time-travel plot so convoluted it makes the MCU look coherent. A mysterious, dying visitor claiming to be "us, but from the future" shows up begging for help preventing a mysterious anomaly from destroying the podcast (and possibly the universe), and against our better judgment, we go along with it.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alright, chat, We're back with a Robert De Niro impression that doesn't have legs, a hostile takeover of Schrab Home Video, and a heartfelt discussion about whether saying "chat" out loud in real life is a bit or a cry for help. Spencer breaks down why this podcast is basically a turtle? Surviving 249 episodes purely by refusing to move, grow, or improve, because maybe, just maybe, the Spleen bit has plateaued.Then it's soda review corner, where we crack open an Italian blood orange beverage and a Canada Dry strawberry ginger ale, and we workshop a full unified theory of why "refreshers" are taking over gas stations. From there we spiral into an extremely legally-vetted, extremely non-political metaphor involving an uncle, a barbecue, a stroke, six million dollars of prime rib, missing missiles, and Crazy Jeff doing butterfly knife tricks near the children... pure coincidence if any of it sounds familiar. We also get into some real talk about masking, meatspace vs. podcast-space personalities, psychic drawings, being wrongly (or rightly??) diagnosed as bipolar via email, and why internet micro-celebrities are the new tabloid targets now that actual celebrities are too rich to care. Grab a refresher and settle in. Nothing happens, but it happens with maybe a good episode.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Kevin has lost his voice, so in his place we welcome a very special honk-based replacement guest who may or may not be an actual honk-girl (spoiler: it's Amelia Marino, Doughboys associate producer, professional poop-reviewer, and reluctant TikTok comment-section warlord).

We cover the essentials: why air conditioner repairmen are secretly all undercover conservatives who gaslight you about humidity, the deep lore of curly hair maintenance, and a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Biao, the TikTok legend who dries wet things and wets dry things for reasons no one can fully explain. We also get a rare and vulnerable look behind the curtain of Amelia's ongoing identity crisis: she's tired of being known for her poop-adjacent humor and wants a full image rebrand. So we workshop options like Amelia Bedelia, Ameals on Wheels, and Salvation Armelia, none of which fully escape the poop of it all.

Along the way: a surprisingly deep dive into the emotional economics of being a Doughboys PA, a mutual confession of unclockable improv-anxiety, a very good "Scorpion Tales" podcast pitch involving Amelia's dad, and a rousing round of "What's Kevin's Deal" that gets solved almost immediately, threatening the very structure of the segment itself. Also: bug reviews, marine biology dreams, thrifted Brooks Brothers sweater vests, and a passionate defense of humidity as a personality trait.

This week's focus is mental health, chronic illness, honking, and the eternal question of whether you can ever truly rebrand away from diarrhea-heavy content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices