This week, we're joined by the current Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. And what an honor it was. Dr. Hayden was nominated to the position by President Obama and was sworn in on September 14, 2016. She's only the 14th Librarian of Congress since 1802, but her role is made even more historic because she's the first woman AND the first African American to hold the position. On top of that, she's the first professional librarian to do the job in more than 60 years. On this episode, we talk to Dr. Hayden about her appointment to the position, her decision to keep the libraries open during the violence in Baltimore, her resistance to the Patriot Act in 2001, how a change in administrations affects her job and the Library as a whole, current and upcoming pop-culture events at the Library, and collaborating with the National Archives. Plus, we find out if she prefers Chicago or New York style pizza.

This week, we welcome Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher to the show. Esposito and Butcher are both seasoned comedians and actors who happen to be married to each other. They also produce, write, and star in the show Take My Wife together; they co-host regular stand-up nights (that are collected in the podcast Put Your Hands Together); and they're currently on tour together traveling around the country in a bus! Whew!

On this episode, we chat about the importance of support when pursuing a creative career, how much of Take My Wife is pure documentary, their current tour, too much of a good thing, and why we need comedy - especially now.

This week, we're chatting with the incomparable Mary Robinette Kowal. Kowal is a (multiple) Hugo Award-winning novelist who is perhaps best known for the Glamourist Histories series of books, which is probably best described as "Jane Austen with magic." On this episode, we chat about her career, how the Hugo affected her career, what draws her to writing about the Regency era, puppetry, and manual typewriters! Buckle up, and keep your hands inside the car at all times.

We're bringing you an extra episode this week! Jamie is freshly back from a six-week adventure through China, and he's got oodles to share. On this episode, we primarily chat about Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland - the differences between them, the pros and cons of both, a look at some of their rides and attractions, and Jamie's honest and unfiltered opinions of both parks. As someone who's lived in Mainland China and has traveled extensively around the country, it's a fairly unique perspective.

After our summer hiatus, The Great Big Beautiful Podcast is back on the air, and we're thrilled to return with the amazing Janet Varney! Varney is, hands down, one of the hardest-working women in show business. Animation fans know her as the voice of Korra on Nickelodeon's The Legend of Korra. Comedy fans know her from her stand up, Thrilling Adventure Hour, and SF Sketchfest. Podcast fans know her show The JV Club. Quirky sketch comedy fans probably know Neil's Puppet Dreams, which she created. TV fans have been glued to the awesome Stan Against Evil.

So yeah, she's kind of busy. And on this episode, we talk about all of that and more. Enjoy!

This week, we're just beyond thrilled to geek out about the brand-new DuckTales! We're joined by executive producers Matt Youngberg and Francisco (Frank) Angones to talk all things Duckburg. We talk about how the show came to be, the long road to finding the new character designs, the balancing act between staying faithful to the original and finding a fresh voice, the absolutely incredible cast they assembled, and how much resistance they've encountered from people afraid of having their childhoods ruined.

We're taking a trip to Super Hero High. You can thank us later. On this episode, we talk to DC Super Hero Girls author Lisa Yee about the lengths she goes to in the name of research (she traveled to Japan for the Katana book), reimagining such popular characters in a brand-new universe, her long and winding road as a writer, getting picked out of the slush pile by Harry Potter's editor, the importance of writing every day, and Winnie the Pooh. Yee happens to own the second-largest Pooh collection in the world.

This week, we're joined by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock: the dynamic duo responsible for Compass South and Knife's Edge, which really should be on your reading list if they're not already. We talk about the books, their creative fears and strengths, diving headlong into such a big project (Compass South was Mock's first book), writing a major superhero for DC, and backpacking around Asia.

This episode is an absolute treat. We're joined by Mark Gagliardi and Hal Lublin to talk about their podcast, We Got This! with Mark and Hal, along with a discussion sampler platter that covers a bit of their diverse careers. In addition to their podcast, we talk about the importance of live audiences, just how real the drunkenness on Drunk History really is, and singing Aladdin twice a day for two years. We also play the home version of their podcast as we throw random meaningless debates at them to see where they stand. Just who is the the best U.S. vice president? Who wins in the epic Tic Tac versus Mentos throwdown? What's the best song in Hamilton? You'll have to listen to find out.

This week, we're changing things up a bit. As Justin explains at the top of the show, this is the first time we've interviewed a personal friend as a guest. But he's oh-so-very-much worthy, don't you worry about that! Christian Lee has a background in stand-up comedy and is the guy behind the YouTube channel DadSews, where he is teaching himself how to sew on camera (and making a lot of mistakes and revelations along the way). On this episode, we chat about why he chose sewing for his niche, adoption, mixed-race families, putting yourself (and your family) "out there" for others to judge, the competitive world of YouTube and how difficult it really is to get noticed and build a following, finding time to pursue your passions while also being a full-time parent, and some advice for people just getting into the whole YouTube thing (which can be incredibly overwhelming, I know).