This Groundskeeper Willie video’s going to have it ALL - the length and girth of a Dan Carlin history podcast, the tightly-scripted humor of a VH1 Behind the Music OR BETTER, that’s just an entry-level promise, and of course we’ll learn a ton of fun facts by cataloging and explaining every single joke or reference Willie’s ever made in an ADD-fueled, Connections-inspired stream-of-consciousness frenzy! By the end of this mind-boggling journey, you’ll ken ‘em all. We’ll also create a full fictive timeline of Willie’s life, track his thirty-year relationship to Skinner and the janitorial arts, construct a couple After Hours-style pop culture theories, play a round of Scottish SLANG-WHANG, and get real about The Problem With Apu - I mean Willie - as a Scottish and blue collar stereotype. Plus I’ll even explain why and how he works as a sitcom character and engine for bits, like I did with my recent Arrested Development video, since people seemed to like that.

Written and Edited by: Michael Swaim

This episode of STME features the one and only Bill Oakley, legendary Simpsons writer, co-creator of Mission Hill, and originator of the Simpsons "Steamed Hams" joke which spiraled into an internet phenomenon and later the namesake of his newfound food influencer career. We talk Simpsons, Mission Hill, The Mullets, and of course, burgers.

This week on The Simpson's Taught Me Everything, Michael Swaim sits down with Robert Brockway of Cracked fame to unpack14 Times Whole Towns Became Delusional Springfield-style.

Michael Swaim brings in Brian Brushwood (Scam School/Scam Nation, Modern Rogue), a magician and his expert witness in scams, for episode three of The Simpsons Taught Me Podcast to delve more into the musical con man influence behind the classic Simpsons episode, Marge vs. The Monorail. They also debate whether the end result determines if someone was truly conned or not.

On episode two of the Simpsons Taught Me Everything Podcast, Michael Swaim is joined by fellow comedy writer, Danielle Radford (Honest Trailers), to continue to delve into more Music Man references from the Conan O'Brien written episode, Marge vs. The Monorail. They also dissect Buddy Hackett's famous duck joke that he told on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the tantalizing romantic fiction of Elinor Glyn, Simpsons Logic Problems and so much more.

Each and every week, Michael Swaim & his guests are going to zoom way, way too far in on a single Simpsons bit and unpack it for a month's worth of jokes, Simpsons games, and education.

Everything Michael Swaim knows about the world, he learned from The Simpsons—and now, he's passing on all that useless information to you. On Simpsons Taught Me Everything, Michael Swaim takes a single joke from The Simpsons and pulls the thread of its origins, unraveling bits of history, pop culture, and otherwise random trivia we never knew we needed. Each week, he’s joined by comedians, Simpsons writers, and pop culture obsessives to break down the gag, decode the references, and school you on all things Simpsons. Class is in session.

Alex Schmidt is joined by Sarah Pappalardo (Reductress) and Dave Weigel (The Washington Post) for a look ahead at an election that’s practically happening tomorrow. Could one party take both houses of Congress? How is the Presidential race shaping up? And will American voters have to jack up their pandemic risk just to plunk down a ballot? 

Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/how-bizarre-or-great-will-2020-election-be

Alex Schmidt is joined by Adam Tod Brown and Chet Wild, the hosts of Unpopular Opinion’s “The 90s Sucked” podcast. They’re exploring huge, meaningful, world-altering ways the 1990s never stopped happening to us. They’ll also reveal which element of the ‘90s stuffs the nation’s landfills to this day, which ‘90s band happily played a show in a living room, and which ‘90s after-effects are most worth looking out for in 2020, 2024, and beyond.

Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-weird-ways-1990s-never-ended/

Alex Schmidt is joined by Jody Avirgan (FiveThirtyEight, 30 For 30) and Nicole Hemmer (historian, author 'Messengers Of The Right'). Jody & Nicole host a fantastic new podcast called 'This Day In Esoteric Political History'. On this show, the three of them share amazing stories from T.D.I.E.P.H., and from elsewhere, about America facing shutdown-level crises. It turns out the United States often faces pandemics, crashes, and weather cataclysms that disrupt national life for months or even years. Those events don't loom large in our collective historical memories, despite being important reminders of our country's resilience in the face of bizarre national danger...and reminders that thoughtful collective action is as American as apple pie, baseball, and revolting against the British.

Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/6-little-known-crises-lockdowns-u.s.-history