The Skewer Podcast

19 Skewers in the books and I can say with confidence that we cannot help but kick ass and rule in a major way. Zack Mast helped punch up the jokes of our nation's most treasured comic Mike Huckabee. Will Sonheim shared a horse-based fever dream of glue and politics. Carly Ballerini explored the complicated sexuality of noted shithead and literal motherfucker Mike Pence. Odinaka Ezeokoli took the stage as Sheriff David Clarke to set the record straight on his Trump administration job. Cody Melcher reminded us that the gentleness of Mr. Rogers was and is a precious thing. And Nora Regis triumphed over erica dreisbach to prove the next celebrity President must be The Rock. Lord, but this show owns every single month.

Tom Harrison- 1:51

erica dreisbach- 12:00

Zack Mast- 16:25

Will Sonheim- 23:34

Carly Ballerini- 31:08

Odinaka Ezeokoli- 38:55

Cody Melcher- 48:59

DEBATE: erica dreisbach vs. Nora Regis- 59:53

With a lineup as dope as this, there was little doubt The Skewer 18 would own. And own it did. Ilana Gordon started off the op-eds with a terrifyingly in-depth look at the Unicorn Frappucino. Carl Glick showed us the dark side of jacking in to cyberspace. Erika Price shared the story of her long struggle and eventual victory over her hated rival Bill O'Reilly. Onicia Muller showed us a 7-step program to learn from Juicero and become Silicon Valley VC millionaires. And Mary Tilden gave us a Southerner's perspective on how fucking insane it is that Confederate monuments are just coming down now. In the Skewer debate Sonal Aggarwal and Josh Zagoren had a raucous verbal melee to decide which industry should follow airlines' lead & get inexplicably violent. It was a good one.

Tom Harrison - 0:50

erica dreisbach - 13:30

Ilana Gordon - 17:25

Carl Glick - 25:37

Erika Price - 38:01

Onicia Muller - 48:54

Mary Tilden - 1:01:38

THE SKEWER DEBATE: Sonal Aggarwal vs. Josh Zagoren - 1:14:00

Oh good goddamn, The Skewer was on fire this month. Wall-to-wall dopeness. Host Tom Harrison's opening monologue on February/shock humor/Breitbart was one of the pieces of writing he's been proudest to present. Eric Lutz couldn't be at the show physically but his words on the nature of Kyrie Irving and truth made up for it. Mike Haverty showed us undeniable proof of Trump's lizardish ways. Chloe Riley put her goddamn FEET ON A COUCH for journalism. erica dreisbach taught us about our boy JC the political dissident. Ines Bellina told us how 45 is a despairingly boring rerun and gave tips how to survive his dumb-ass presidency. We capped it with a delightful debate with Erin Klabunde vs Bill Bullock to decide the next Trump spokesperson. Seriously every single person on this lineup tonight killed it. The Skewer is peerless.

Tom Harrison - 1:43

Eric Lutz - 17:15

Mike Haverty - 28:20

Chloe Riley - 37:34

erica dreisbach - 51:49

Ines Bellina - 1:00:00

THE SKEWER DEBATE: Bill Bullock vs. Erin Klabunde - 1:16:15

The Skewer 15 was on point beyond already sky-high expectations. Elizabeth Gomez broke our goddamn hearts with an exploration of America's deadly hypocrisy in its treatment of children. Shannon Noll saw the opening days of DJ Trump's administration through a queer lens. erica dreisbach gave a report on the historic Women's March in DC. Alisa Rosenthal took us on a walking tour of the gems of the 2017 Oscars. And Gwynn Fulcher took us on an erotic journey into the now forever-empty presidential pleasure domes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. To cap it all off, Danette Chavez and Mason Johnson proved merciless verbal gladiators as they debated what the next pope-based HBO show should be, with a truly unexpected victor. Tom and erica also left some dope voicemails on our reps' phones. Guys, this is a spicy one. Skewer forever!

Tom Harrison - 1:10

VOICEMAIL OP-ED from erica dresibach - 15:35

Elizabeth Gomez - 19:20

Shannon Noll - 33:13

erica dreisbach - 42:37

Alisa Rosenthal - 49:50

Gwynn Fulcher - 1:00:51

VOICEMAIL OP-ED from Tom Harrison - 1:11:21

SKEWER DEBATE: Mason Johnson vs. Danette Chavez - 1:16:04

The Skewer roars into the new year with a dope batch of excellent satire, as is our way. Led off by a BRAND NEW SEGMENT: Voicemail Op-Eds, as performed by new Skewer co-producer erica dreisbach. Joe Anderson rightfully exposes the dangerously bland Andy Borowitz for the black hole of comedy he is. Arish Singh takes the left wing media to task for wasting time futzing about with white status wars when there are Nazis to fight, Megan Kirby explores the tenuous place of ephemeral pop-culture comfort food in an increasingly uncomfortable world, and Sameena Mustafa gives us a glimpse into the beating white heart of Pantsuit Nation. Oz Elgun and Nic Wehrwein faced off in the Skewer debate to decide what's the best way to make Americans care about Aleppo: say dogs are being killed instead of humans, or rename Aleppo "White People Town"? OH MAN, guys, this show is incredible. Off the chain--where even is the chain? There is no chain. Enjoy!

Tom Harrison- 1:00

erica dreisbach- 11:30

Joe Anderson- 21:30

Arish Singh- 33:10

Megan Kirby- 46:30

Sameena Mustafa- 57:57

THE SKEWER DEBATE: Oz Elgun vs. Nic Wehrwein- 1:16:48

The Skewer takes ONE MONTH off and the country goes to shit. I can't trust you people for one second. Yes, it's the first edition of The Skewer live news revue since the election of Donald Trump, and we're going to wring every scrap of comedy and satire that we can out of the last few months in which dissent is legal. Elaine Phillips leads off with a discussion on language, comedy, and the truth. Chris Rife takes us on a very serious and real look at the storied life of Fidel Castro. Cory O'Brien couldn't make it to the show, so Tom read his piece about failling in and out of love with FIveThirtyEight. Peter-john Byrnes dismantles the myth of the underrepresented middle American and ruins Field of Dreams (not that it needed much help there). Claire Linic teaches us how to raise hell in a world that traps us in metaphorical and sometimes actual cages for no reason. And in The Skewer Debate, Ilana Gordon faces off against erica dreisbach to decide the future editiorial direction for The Skewer: keep parroting bland leftist opinions, or abandon politics in favor of beer and fart jokes?

Guys! This one is especially fun and good. In times as fraught as these, where so much is at stake and anxiety hangs thick in the air, I kinda needed a show like this. Enjoy!!

Tom Harrison - 1:42

Elaine Phillips - 12:32

Chris Rife - 24:01

Cory O'Brien (as read by Tom) - 31:57

Peter-john Byrnes - 41:07

Claire Linic - 51:35

THE SKEWER DEBATE: Ilana Gordon vs. erica dreisbach - 58:15

THE SKEWER TURNS ONE! A full year of dope satire from your favorite sweeties, and this month is no different. Host Tom Harrison kicks us off with a eulogy for Bake-Off. Tocarra Mallard puts Ted Cruz in his place (a satirist's work is never done). Dominick Mayer dived into Corey Feldman's inscrutable existence/musical career. Bill Bullock delivers a searing piece of satire (that might be one of my favorites?) about the role of police. Cody Melcher explored the morality of celebrity consumption culture, specifically via bidding on Truman Capote's ashes. Alisa Rosenthal reveled in the glorious new world order that has finally realized that RuPaul deserves to be given all the goddamn awards. IN THE SKEWER DEBATE, Elizabeth Gomez and Roxane West debate to decide who will be the Trump Administration's best choice for the empty Supreme Court seat: an Actual Vampire or The Entire Spanish Inquisition? It's a goddamn great one, and features a video appearance from Skewer co-founder and absent father Eric Ruelle. What more could you want? IT'S SO GOOD

Tom Harrison- 2:05

Tocarra Mallard- 13:19

Dominick Mayer - 24:10

Bill Bullock- 33:36

Cody Melcher- 46:48

Alisa Rosenthal - 57:17

THE SKEWER DEBATE: Elizabeth Gomez vs. Roxane West- 1:05:51

Eric Ruelle- 1:32:32

God damn, this edition of the Skewer was one of the all-time greats. Liz Reuss kicks it off with a look at would-be Good Wife and unfortunate victim of Carlos Danger, Huma Abedin. Kayla Lane Freeman took us on a tour of her hyper-aggressive home state of Texas, where puffy pony stickers are criminally underappreciated. Joe Anderson showed us the darker side of fandom culture through the lens of those who would defend Suicide Squad from bad reviews with their lives. Patrick Reilly made a shitton of jokes about crossbows, which was as hilarious as you're imagining (provided you image it as very hilarious). Fran Hoepfner capped off the op-eds by explaining once and for all what food to brew up like some kinda magic potion to get people to fuck, humans of course being notoriously ambivalent about sex. THE DEBATE WAS SO DOPE, with comedy monsters Stephanie Weber and Dan Sheehan competing to see what's the best way to enforce the University of Chicago's no-trigger-warnings policy: hiring scary guys to yell at students, or replacing dorms with haunted houses. People, this one is so good. What a time.

PS. Patrick used both mics for his piece, which was funny in person but leads to slightly blown-out audio in podcast. Our apologies!

Tom Harrison- 1:50

Liz Reuss- 10:15

Kayla Lane Freeman- 18:21

Joe Anderson- 33:41

Patrick Reilly- 44:16

Fran Hoepfner- 55:09

THE SKEWER DEBATE: Dan Sheehan vs. Stephanie Weber- 1:03:24

We're double digits, you guys. Ten Skewers, and what better way to celebrate than by being GODDAMN AMAZING AS ALWAYS? Rachel McCartney demolished Illinois's weird obsession with young people, Shannon Noll took us on a tour of the Juggalos and the GOP, Ian Randall said goodbye to the city with a somber note from an unappreciated tree, and Gwynn Fulcher reviewed a very important movie. The Skewer's own Tom Harrison took on Nora Regis in the debate, to decide once and for all the next feature for the hit mobile game Pokemon Go. Dudes, this shit is SO GOOD. The laffs were overwhelming. MANY GOOFS, I tell ya. You'll love it. I did.

Tom Harrison (intro)-1:24

Rachel McCartney- 8:07

Shannon Noll- 13:07

Ian Randall- 19:21

Gwynn Fulcher- 28:07

SKEWER DEBATE: Nora Regis vs. Tom Harrison- 39:00

Another month of news, another month of unassailably excellent writers and comedians making fun of the news. That's the way we do shit at the Skewer. Sarah Magnuson opens the show with a meditation on childlessness and apes, as all great shows must. Sonia Denis prescribed the sitcom cure for wokeness-related exhaustion. Will Sonheim, son of Arkedelphia, sent off the venerable Prairie Home Companion. Kyle Scanlan took us on a tour through the ghoulish history of basketball draft day suits in a VERY visually-focused bit. Cody Melcher faces off against erica dreisbach in the Skewer debate, deciding once and for all what's the best way to top Brexit: make the NRA our government, or elect the Burger King Mac and Cheeto? It's a goddamn wonderful show. I do hope you like it.

Sarah Magnuson- 1:55

Sonia Denis- 12:16

Will Sonheim- 20:56

Kyle Scanlan- 32:13

SKEWER DEBATE: Cody Melcher vs. erica dreisbach- 43:50

Tom Harrison- 1:09:42

Want to see the slides for Kyle's piece? I got you: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1j18WDCseVJNNuvdJf_SDUXtAhEsIqYRfaBo59V-Kdc0/edit?usp=sharing