You know! Those things that are like gumball machines, but for little toys! Growing up in the USA, they usually dispensed a sticky hand, some slime, maybe a lil Homie, but in Japan they’ve been in another league for decades. We unpack (or perhaps unbox) the charm of randomly distributed toys and trinkets, some of our greatest gets, and the backwards order that we’ve become aware of them.Intro contains clips from a Gashapon machine, Dragon Ball and Se7en.

We’ve got another grab bag episode here, or rather, three very different bags: one’s a big paper bag full of dead leaves and grass clippings, another from a shoe store, and the third is from a bakery. This week we’re unpacking our love of gruelling manual labor in the hot sun to make our yards look nice, the timeless appeal of wearing athletic shoes all the time for completely unathletic activities, and cookies. Which are like crackers, but sweet, or cakes that are small and flat and hard. Look, you know what all those things are, just listen to the show.
Intro contains clips from King of the Hill, a shoe store commercial, and Friends.

Ah, hitting the open road! A timeless rite of passage and quintessentially American adventure, unless of course you’re stuck in the car with your whole family, taking the bus or making unexpected pit stops so your driver can hook up with random dudes. We recount some of our most memorable, or in some cases mercifully forgettable automobile journeys.

Intro contains clips from National Lampoon’s Vacation, The Simpsons and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

This week, it’s our most politically-charged and divisive topic yet: Carrot Cake. We’re joined by Alex “Kozibear” Kozina, long time friend of the show and culinary adventurer, to discuss the history and appeal of this vegetable-based confection. If you have any doubt of Kozi’s expertise on the matter, he further demonstrates his familiarity of the matter while making Snake Quake: The Official Cake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wk8nwCMpAk

Intro contains clip from Looney Tunes

It’s another grab bag of odds and ends that we love: lizards, those dogs of the reptile kingdom, tunnels, those underground bridges, and Bubble Bobble, which is sort of about lizards in a tunnel, among other things. Which is your favorite thing?

Intro contains clips from Daylight, a David Attenborough nature film, and Bubble Bobble.

Easily one of the top 5 best dark rooms you pay money to sit inside for several hours, movie theaters make for a singular experience, where people flock together to sit in silence and social interaction is generally frowned upon during the proceedings. We’ve seen this form of entertainment undergo some pretty major changes in our lifetimes, in some ways for the worse, but many for the better. Still, as increasingly expensive and sometimes distracting and occasionally tedious as the theater experience may be, we hope it’s still a thing long after we’re dead.

Intro contains various clips from old movie theater promos and the 1976 film “Murder By Death”

Roald Dahl’s child-endangering chocolatier is one of the most beloved literary characters, turned into an iconic film character by Gene Wilder. We’ve gotten a Timothée Chalamet prequel that’s better than it should be and a Johnny Depp remake that we don’t need to talk about, but let’s unwrap this weirdo. Sure, he’s immensely problematic, but he also makes some cool candy, and he also happens to be rooted in some real world confectionary history. 

Intro contains clips from various films in which Willy Wonka appears.

This episode, we’re joined by our most Santa Claus-like friend, Jared Petty, to discuss the night before Christmas. Like, the actual night, not the poem. We share some of our favorite memories, traditions, weird trivia, and learn a thing or two about the less family friendly ways it’s observed in some other parts of the world.

Intro contains clips from Tenacious D & Sum 41’s “Things I Want,” Bad Santa, Norah Jones’ “Caga Tio,” and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

This week we’re taking a little off the top, and tipping our hat to the age-old ceremony of lowering one’s ears. Or, in laymen’s terms, getting a haircut. We recount some of our proudest coiffures and worst folicular debacles, and lament the challenges of not knowing what to do with the stuff on top of your head as you grow older.

It would totally rule if you helped support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/thisthingrules, You can also show your support by following us on Bluesky and Twitter @ThisThingRules, or find our little corner of our old podcast’s Discord at discord.comedybutton.com - and of course, we’re always happy to get email from listeners at [email protected]

Intro contains clips from Paddington 2, “Devil’s Haircut” by Beck and “Cut The Mullet” by Wesley Willis.

Almost the weekend! Friday is technically a weekday, but it’s not like the other weekdays: it’s a COOL weekday. We discuss the origins, pop cultural significance, and our own personal feelings about this weekly light at the end of the tunnel.

It would totally rule if you helped support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/thisthingrules, You can also show your support by following us on Bluesky and Twitter @ThisThingRules, or find our little corner of our old podcast’s Discord at discord.comedybutton.com - and of course, we’re always happy to get email from listeners at [email protected]

Intro contains clips of Ice Cube’s “Friday,” Loverboy’s “Workin’ For The Weekend” and The Aquabats’ “Pizza Day”