Join Casey and Danielle for their second live show at Largo where Whispering Alene’s came out in full force. The theme of the night was simply: PLEASE DON’T LET IT BE ABOUT TOM. But sadly, it was allllll about Tom. Adam Pally and Morgan Walsh guest and lend their talents to an iconic scene. 

This episode is sponsored by Texture, Adam and Eve, and Conscious Period.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rachel Bloom joins Ronna & Beverly to chat about some of her favorite musicals she did in high school, falling in love with sketch comedy writing in college, recently getting coffee with a childhood bully, and working on the second season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Plus, Ronna and Beverly weigh in on French police making a woman remove clothing on a beach following a burkini ban.

This episode is sponsored by Third Love and Smile Direct Club.

Justin Krebs (Blue in a Red State, Moveon.org) and stand-up comedian Jim David chat with Negin about Trump’s possible shift on immigration and whether or not the Clinton Foundation is evil. They also dig into one of America’s favorite pastimes: segregation. And remember, the first-ever FTN live show is coming up on September 16th. See Negin live at The Greene Space in New York City with special guests including Aasif Mandvi. Tickets are on sale now: http://www.thegreenespace.org/events/thegreenespace/2016/sep/16/fake-nation-live/

Guy Raz has covered conflicts all over the world for NPR, but now he hosts a show called The TED Radio Hour, which is about big ideas. In this episode, he and David talk about how these big ideas fit into their lives.

This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses.

Children’s authors Nance Timberline (Cissy Fenwick) and Phillip Lancelot (Anthony Gioe) bring you Reading Is Living. It’s the essential podcast dedicated to children’s books recorded live from the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. This week they are excited to be joined by one of the greatest children’s book authors Charlize Steinbeck. They’ll discuss her family tree, her romantic involvement with objects, and some of her popular potty based books. Plus, Traci Reardon stops by the library to offer her Twitter followers advice on acceptable children’s book topics and more in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

This episode is sponsored by Bench Made Modern, Mack Weldon, Blue Apron, Eloquii, Magoosh, and the Now Hear This Podcast Festival.

The dogs have turned on us! This week Erin is nursing a dog bite and all Bryan has is a joke to comfort her…friendship. Also the media coverage of the Rio Olympics has been a colossal disaster for the LGBTQ community and women. They’re implying that gay men only watch the Olympics for the hot bods, and relentlessly remind us that women are vaginas first and athletes second. Plus comedian and TSPOD’s new BFF Michelle Collins is here to talk about the trials and tribulations of shopping for shoes, Bachelor in Paradise and her favorite restaurant chains.

Breaking down with David Feldman.

This episode is sponsored by Mack Weldon, Mott & Bow, Harry’s, and Blue Apron.

LIVE from the UCB-Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles, Mark Wahlberg (Daniel Van Kirk) returns to solve the problems of the world (because Donnie can’t) with his very famous friends Harrison Ford (Kenny Stevenson), Alfalfa (Alison Becker), Gwyneth Paltrow (Beth Hoyt), and Andy Wood. They’ll cover very important topics including Ryan Lochte, the Olympics, and more.

If NASA were to give the opportunity to leave everything behind and settle on Mars, with no return ticket, would you take them up on the offer? Some might jump at the offer, but many people haven’t even explored outside of their own country, nonetheless planet. Today, James and Stephen discuss the prospects of leaving the Earth, literally, as well as what other options might present themselves for people who aren’t trying to escape the bulk of humanity.

Under the cover of anonymity people feel emboldened to say hateful things online, which can be hurtful when you are the target. New York Times Deputy Washington Editor Jonathan Weisman explains why he quit Twitter over anti-Semitic bullying — and why he returned. And Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, says that for every big win against hate speech there is inevitably a backlash. Plus, we ask folks in Times Square to tell us their stories of being bullied online.

This episode is sponsored by Remarkable Lives, Tragic Deaths, Close5, The Great Courses, and Casper Mattresses.

Comedian, actress, and writer Negin Farsad joins Kevin and Kamau this week to discuss the 2013 film “2 Guns.” Negin explains how she ended up majoring in African-American Studies, what it was like to grow up Iranian in Palm Springs, and the inspiration for her new movie “3rd Street Blackout.” Then they take “2 Guns” to task over its multiplicity of villains and unnecessary urination scenes before investigating Mark Wahlberg’s checkered past.

This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Sean Conroy, Betsy Sodaro, Jon Gabrus, and special musical guest The Mowgli’s join Matt Besser for a live edition of improv4humans. They champion the rights of water, sustain serious injuries after minor falls, and find out who has it the worst on a subway ride. Plus, The Mowgli’s perform some of their favorite songs which inspire scenes about a vague band manager and a drug dealer who peddles love.

This episode is sponsored by NatureBox and Blue Apron.

To hear more episodes of Next Level —  go to Howl.fm and use promo code NEXT which gives you a 1- month free trial. In this episode, Comedian and Literal “King” Of Podcasting Paul F. Tompkins shows us the best comedy the 70s had to offer, and then we bring in Bryan Fuller – the writer behind “Hannibal,” “Pushing Daisies,” “American Gods,” and the just-announced upcoming Star Trek series.

Are Stephen and James recommending “The Purge”? No, but today they and QOD social media followers are chiming in on what single law they think should be eliminated. James channels his inner-Ron Paul and makes a stance that the FDA should be abolished or drastically weakened, but can he convince Stephen that it’s a legitimately good idea?

Molly Hawkey takes on Ingrid ‘Han M’Boogie’ Walla in Round 5 of Pistol Shrimps Radio: Summer Masters Mini-Golf Tournament.

The Shrimps on Twitter: @pistolshrimpsbb
The Shrimps on Instagram: @thepistolshrimps
Pistol Shrimps Radio on Twitter: ShrimpsRadio

Matt Gourley on Twitter and IG: @MattGourley
Mark McConville on Twitter and IG: @MarkMcConville

This episode is sponsored by Mack Weldon, Blue Apron, Yoga Hosers, and SeatGeek.

Marlo Mack from the wonderful “How to Be a Girl” podcast joins us to talk about raising a girl who seems to have the body of a boy … and what a girl even is in the first place. To join the conversation, go to: www.longestshortesttime.com!

This episode is sponsored by Kiwi Crate, Hooked on Phonics, Chatbooks, Thirdlove and Horizon Organics.

Musical artist Jason Chu returns to join Andrew to talk about current trends including the Ryan Lochte’s Rio robbery lie, the Chinese laundry mat stereotype, and much more. As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

This episode is sponsored by DKMS.

U.S. Olympians Gabby Douglas & Ryan Lochte (Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Drew Tarver) help Hard Nation recap the 2016 Rio Olympics, while educating Mark & Pete on hand jobs, smiling, patriotism, slavery, and Chinese food. Plus: Pete fat-shames Mark.

This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Actress, comedian, and dancer Angela Trimbur joins Howard and Kulap for this week’s Who Charted. She tells all about the Pistol Shrimps documentary before they jump into the charts with Stereogum’s Best 5 Songs of the Week. We hear about Angela’s misophonia and a listener question about horror movies before turning to the TV Chart, where they discuss having fun by being inappropriate and how an app could help you in a fight. Finally, they talk Obama’s trip to Laos and open some tasty gifts during Two Charted.

Make sure to buy Howard’s new album, Oculus Summah, at howardkremer.bandcamp.com/.

What can James take away from having a comedian in the booth with him for four days? Today, on Marina Franklin’s final guest co-hosting episode, James and Stephen give Marina a lightning round of questions about comedy and the comedy business. Some of the topics touched upon include: Getting your set ready for late night talk shows, Jerry Seinfeld’s mom jeans, and Marina’s one piece of advice for up-and-coming comedians.

This episode is sponsored by Magoosh.

Morrissey sings, “It takes strength to be gentle and kind.” Well, Geth hasn’t eaten all day, and this self-avowed “Noodlebody” is about to find out if the two hard-boiled eggs Gethard bought from the midtown 7-11 will provide enough strength for gentleness & kindness.

This episode is sponsored by DKMS, Magoosh, Stamps.com, Stitch Fix, and Talkspace.

Rapper Ryu, producer Divine Styler, and rapper Gravity Christ joins Jensen and Matty to talk about Ryu’s new solo album “Tanks For the Memories,” Livin Colour’s new EP “Mixtape,” vintage BMX bikes, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, Joyner Lucas, Halo Top, and how we were late on King size Casper Mattresses, and many more other things you should know about.

This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron.

LA based comedian Matt LeGrande introduces Deanna & Emily to the gay dating app Scruff on this week’s OMFG! They also chat about Rihanna and Drake’s relationship, the open source meal replacement called Soylent, and which celebs would Matt woof at if he had the chance.

This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Hayes and Sean are joined by Angie Tribeca’s Andrée Vermeulen for a freewheeling discussion of her showbiz journey that’s barely interrupted by stuff going on in Hayes and Sean’s personal lives.

Randy and Jason welcome musician and comedian Tim Convy to the show on this week’s Sklarbro County! Tim talks about his band’s nerdy fanbase and how he broke into the comedy scene. Daniel Van Kirk brings stories about a Canadian dog-walker who boxed a bear, an early-morning fireworks enthusiast, and a man who attempted to rob a Chuck E. Cheese’s. Finally, Jodi Stachowski returns to reconnect with Steven Avery over the phone.

This episode is sponsored by Backblaze, Mack Weldon, Blue Apron, Draft Kings, and Touchofmodern.

So after seven books, eight movies and a trip to Universal Studios, you think you would prefer to go to Hogwarts than live in real life. Everyone gets assigned a very useful pet owl, you can fly around on broomsticks and you don’t have to stick to MLA formatting or learn differential geometry. Sounds great! Except everyone is dying all the time.  Cedric Diggory. Dead. Fred Weasley. Dead. Let’s face it, if there was an evil wizard trying to put an end to humanity on the campus of Ohio State, people would stop going there.

Just to recap – Hogwarts: 

Pros: magic and other cool stuff

Cons: death is everywhere.

By this logic, our goal this episode is to figure out what would be the best fictional school to attend. We found that most schools in fiction have a much higher death rate than the normal high school or university. We’ll take that into consideration. 

Co-hosts Jack O’Brien and Daniel O’Brien are joined by Cracked’s Josh Sargent and Alex Schmidt, and comedians Alison Leiby, Brandie Posey, Riley Silverman and Steven Wilbur to talk Hogwarts, Starfleet Academy, Sunnydale High and more.

Footnotes:

Alison Leiby’s Website: https://goo.gl/Dk4XHS

Alison Leiby’s Standup: https://goo.gl/nFm8P3

Brandie Posey’s Website: http://goo.gl/evH4MH

Brandie Posey’s Standup: https://goo.gl/7gVzdI

Riley Silverman’s Website: http://goo.gl/CNZZYj

Riley Silverman’s Standup: https://goo.gl/ADU1qG

Steven Wilber’s Website: http://goo.gl/OH9jB9

Steven Wilber’s Standup: https://goo.gl/8vJBl1

Cracked: The 5 Most Depraved Sex Scenes Implied By Harry Potter: http://goo.gl/RVSM5

Cracked: 6 Horrifying Implications of the Harry Potter Universe: http://goo.gl/uiaMd

Cracked: Why Hogwarts Was All in Harry’s Head: http://goo.gl/xLALu

Cracked: My Brief Time as a Student at Hogwarts: http://goo.gl/M05Mm

Cracked: After Hours: 5 Movie High Schools That Would Suck To Attend: https://goo.gl/yNRe8H

This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront Veritone, Magoosh, and the Now Hear This Podcast Festival.

Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked) does not throw away her shot in life and career, and definitely not in this episode. She talks about the timelessness of some of the show’s themes, shares what it’s like, on a personal level, when originating cast members pass on the baton, and tells her secret goal of making a rap opera. Also, Lin, if you’re looking for a new Hamilton, Kristin throws her hat into the ring.

This episode is sponsored by Remarkable Lives, Tragic Deaths, Fracture, and Pacific Shaving Company.

I found these resonance stones in Spintax’s old hat.

Credits:

Arnie: Arnie Niekamp

Chunt: Adal Rifai

Usidore: Matt Young

Spintax the Green’s Pandenomicon: Charlie McCrackin

Mysterious Man: Tim Sniffen

Craig: Ryan DiGiorgi

Producers: Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, Ryan DiGiorgi

Editor: Chris Rathjen

Theme Music: Andy Poland

Magic Tavern Logo: Allard Laban

Audio Assistance: Jason Knox

Production Assistance: Garrett Schultz

Episode Art: Vaughn Pinpin

Additional Thanks: Ryan Connor and Josh Richmond with Earwolf, and Mary Beth Smith with Sports Retorts

This episode is sponsored by Cards Against Humanity, Mack Weldon, Blue Apron, and Dungeons and Dragons.