This Show Has Everything

You shave the mice and we’ll grab the fries—it’s time to tackle a supersized week of tangents in our latest TBTL Week in Review. Mike “Pastry Pups” Frizzell, Bobby “Debt Payer” Pape and Meredith “Probably Conceived on a Waterbed” Van Harn are ready to be a pisces and jam (!)—even though two of them are capricorns—and are determined to keep it tight, not unlike Andrew’s shoulders.

When you’re done here, go check out GROUP Podcast, and not just because host Rebecca got us out of a couple of jams, but because it has already gotten way more acclaim than LRB probably ever will.

For the inaugural edition of LRB’s Pop Culture Challenge (think Green Eggs and Ham), football non-fans Meredith and Ann watched the Super Bowl, and share their thoughts with resident mansplainers Bobby and Mike. Of our lady scientists, who couldn’t manage to stay awake for the whole game? And who thinks baseball is more arousing than football? You’ll have to listen to find out. One thing is, however, universal: ball-handling talk is always funny.

Plus, Mike has controversial hot takes on both Justin Timberlake and the Belichick sleeveless hoodie look, and Bobby wants a little more protection before he does any teabag jumps.

Note: Bobby is editing this one on the fly late Thursday night, so please excuse any small (or huge) audio hiccups. Thanks!

It’s the second week of the TBTL Vanniversary shows, and Mike, Meredith and Ann are ready to break down every single minute, no matter how long it takes. (Sorry about that!) The guys are crisscrossing the state in the van, and while we go along on the journey we lay down some rules for sexytimes, debate how we would behave in the event of an actual airline disaster, and say goodbye to a good friend. Meredith explains how Apple is ruining her social life, Ann is delighted by Sean’s snore-collection theory, and Mike pays tribute to American hero Eagle Eagleson. Most importantly, we let Rudy know, in true Good Will Hunting fashion, that it’s not her fault.

Hot off her call on the TBTL Vaniversary Special, Lauren in Jacksonville returns to LRB to tell Bobby about Love is Love, a new book she helped create celebrating same-sex marriage, and the industry allies who help make it possible—pre-order it now on Amazon using this handy LRB referral link—as well as her day job in the world of janitorial supply.

Then, we go back to a TBTL radio days classic by way of a May 2015 episode of LRB, when Lauren, Christy and Mike listened to Katie Sprenger’s infamous tips for shopping at Ross Dress for Less. PYGO yo life!

We’re 12 hours, several smoked meatsnacks and one long flight delay into the TBTL 10th Vaniversary marathon episodes, and Mike, Bobby and Ann are ready to air things out a bit. If you couldn’t make it through this week’s extra-long shows don’t despair; our recap will be more helpful than a grocery-bagging training video and a well-timed cortisone shot. Plus, Ann apologizes unnecessarily, Bobby (still) owes the BosTens $40, and Mike hates being white.

It was a long, fun, exhausting weekend in Seattle (the Bay City), so Bobby, Christy, and Ann are gathered to conduct a postmortem on the TBTL 10th Vanniversary show. We get into all the hijinks that happened before, during, and after, from the pre-show brewery meetup to the post-show karaoke madness and everything in between. Along the way we reflect on the real magic of TBTL: the people we met and the friends we made. We’re not crying, we swear - it’s just raining on our faces. Plus, Christy Has Questions and we need your voicemails!

Like most Tens, Meredith and Mike were on the outside looking in for the 10th Anniversary celebration. But don't worry. They rallied, rented a Dodge Caravan, loaded up a guest host (Mike Farnan) and three angry cats for a rollicking recap of a week low on content but high on anxiety. Grab some chips because beef jerky won't be enough to absorb all of the FOMO. Remember to dab your sneezes and don't let the landlord disturb you, poop shower on your downstairs neighbor's head be damned. And always put your best foot/stump (sorry Frizz) forward when setting up a contest (not a contest) to attract new listeners. M&M&M took a chunk of their weekend to discreetly hand you a thumb drive of LRB and make your Monday almost as satisfying as a deep discount on your IKEA latte.

This TBTL week in review recaps episodes 2555 (listener cover songs, Luke’s stolen backpack, Andrew drank too much, pizza volume problems), 2556 (live show stress, live show prep, Greenlake showers, live show strategy, baby Luke sleeps hooked to a fence), 2557 (meditation apps, commercials, Scotty Brown’s, tip talk, stifling sneezes, baseball cap OPP), 2558 (plumbing problems, cuddling, not-a-contest new listener challenge, slave analogy, pastrami-loving animal doctor), 2559 (What The Hell is TBTL, inside-joke explainers, Susie Burbank’s new podcast “Deal With It”, shame eating). 

Everybody find your cool hat, because we’re heading to a hip party. A dinner party, that is. Ann and Christy dive into some memorable TBTL clips concerning awkward dinner parties, including a truly cringe-inducing Jen Andrews story where we try to decide whether Jason is the hero or the villain, a typically Burbankian spur-of-the-moment plan that has some unforeseen complications, a strange brag that has everyone (involved!) scratching their heads, and a fantastic story from listener Sam of what turns out to be a dinner party of a different sort. Plus, we share the perils of having a super social partner, secret weapons to get out of an awkward situation, a story of an uncomfortable encounter with an Italian man (not the good kind), and how we learned that Yemen is a country. And while it may seem otherwise, we really are having a good time at your party - we’ll just be over in the corner, not talking.

Youthful Burbank out!

Turn down the CVS Bangers and turn up Little Red Bandwagon, the ambitious but questionable podcast would be significantly less interesting if Frank Shiers had managed to regroup in 2008. In addition to our latest TBTL Week in Review, Mike defends eagles, Bobby defends free samples, and Ann once again defends human decency vis-à-vis sewing scissors. Plus, we debut our newest segment, the LRB Pop Culture Challenge!

RIP listener Kalena, who lolololololed to death when she heard Luke was going to start reading emails from listeners. She will be missed.

It’s been a few months since the last time we looked through all of the things you bought through littleredbandwagon.com/amazon, and uh … apparently you’re all on your grind now. You serve a lot of coffee. And one of you loves both Justin Bieber and oral hygiene.

Oh, also, one of you is waging war on a serious personal itch. Sorry about that.

All that plus: Christy’s regretful (and sweaty) tale of two refrigerators, Ann’s (excellent) idea for a new LRB segment, and some big news from Bobby.