PEOPLE ARE THE ENEMY

Andy (fake) calls Penelope Scott then complains about food, music, and money. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part two of her miniseries on Journey's 1978 album, Infinity. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy sings a Pulp song, drinks a protein shake, then talks about the terror and excitement he's experiencing upon finishing the preliminary edits on his forthcoming work of autofiction, How to Saw a Man in Half. Also, six of Andy's novels are now available as audibooks via Amazon/Audible. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines launches part one of a new miniseries on Journey's 1978 album, Infinity. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy pushes through a headache to talk about seeing Kendrick Lamar and SZA in concert, The Brutalist, disliking when podcasts fade in their outro music, and quitting TikTok. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers even more information about Yes in 1980. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about new music he's been digging, approves of the musical guests on John Mulaney's Netflix show, plays an atypical song from a well known act, gets comments every time he wears a King Crimson shirt, and can't believe how many times Arcade Fire has played SNL compared to other bands. On Rachel's Chart Chat, the topic is the 1980 Yes album Drama. You can follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy sings a Girls song and reads a Guardian piece on Christopher Owens. The Tim Jonze article Andy reads can be found in its entirety here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at Saturday Night Fever's 6 charting singles and reads the Bee Gees chapter from I Wanna Be Sedated. You can follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy sings a Cure B-side, sees a bald eagle, thinks Garden State (2004) is almost good, and admits to liking the Mooch. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines discusses the new restoration of Pink Floyd at Pompeii. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about his family creating new Easter traditions, and we listen to a TikTok clip of Dave Hill recounting the story of Easter. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines talks about titles of #1 pop hits with the name of a real person. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about bands evolving their sound and Weezer's bassist getting into a shootout with the police. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at Billboard #1 Pop Hits with the longest titles (part 2). You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here. Rachel's bed music is by Maurice Daugherty. Check out Maurice's YouTube page here.

Andy remembers seeing a witch, compares Cameron Winter's "Love Takes Miles" to King Harvest's "Dancing in the Moonlight", has a date night at a bad restaurant, and talks about young singers who sound old. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at Billboard #1 Pop Hits with the longest titles (part 1). Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about bands that changed their name, Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence by Will Hodgkinson, and the Shaq-A-Licious XL Sour Pineapple Slurpee. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines shares Hot 100 achievements from the top40weekly website and discusses the music of Young Adult (2011).

Andy has bird envy, plays Kyle M's song "ILY", then we listen to a clip of a guy reflecting on the meaning of "the best day of my life." On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines reviews overlooked songs from the April 11, 1981 Hot 100. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy flirts around and finds out and makes Frito Monterey Jack queso soup. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines shares final thoughts on the Medley miniseries and takes a look at the Close to the Edge super deluxe reissue. You can find a Medley Playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here.

Our guest is Carey Mercer from the band Frog Eyes! Andy speaks with Carey about Frog Eyes' new album, The Open Up. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part 3 of the Medley Craze, 1982 and beyond. You can find a Medley Playlist for Rachel's Chat Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy sings Belle & Sebastian's "I'm a Cuckoo", fights a paper towel dispenser, reads a poem, and cries after listening to a clip of President Dolly Parton. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines covers medley songs of 1981 in the UK and US. You can find a medley playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here.

Andy talks about 100yo saxophonist Marshall Allen's Guinness World Record-setting debut solo album, community theater, and being too busy to eat healthy. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part 1 of her look at Stars on 45 and the Medley Craze. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy sings along with an old reggae song, talks about seeing Geordie Greep in Vermont, then he plays a clip of David Bowie talking about when musicians tend to do their best and worst work. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at Yes singles that share titles with US Hot 100 hits. You can find a playlist for Rachel's latest segment here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Dave Hill! Andy talks with Dave about his new true crime podcast, The Crime Blotter with Dave Hill. Also, Dave tells his Björk Twinkie story. Find links to everything Dave Hill-related, including his podcasts and Patreon, here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers a casual check-in. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here.

Andy hits an emotional wall, complains about a woman at the gym listening to music without headphones, and plays a clip of Ani DiFranko talking about why she never signed a record deal. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at the US Hit singles for the band Supertramp. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Momus! Andy talks with Momus about his album Quietism, Artificial Intelligence, villains, the Minotaur, psychoanalysis, and more. Find all things Momus-related at iMomus.com. Quietism, Momus' latest album, can be streamed and purchased via Bandcamp here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines celbrates the Lunar New Year with the snakes of the Hot 100. You can find a Snake Stuff playlist here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy eulogizes David Lynch, reconnects with an old friend, and wonders why Godzilla and King Kong never teamed up. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at the songs that held the record for most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The table Rachel references can be found here.

Andy gets a new chair, hugs a stranger, runs into the guy who sold him some of his favorite records, is told he's too accessible, and dubs himself and his fellow podcasting friends the Jackal Family. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers Part 2 of songs by Sondheim on the Pop Charts. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy gives the business to podcasts who didn't provide their listeners with new material over the holiday break, then he talks about connecting with colleagues, being called a "geeky dog dad", and finishes his segment by doing a taste test of a chocolate frosted donut flavored Kit Kat for the first time. On Rachel's Chart Chat, the topic is Part 1 of songs by Sondheim on the Pop Charts. You can follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Subscribe to Empathy at the Apocalypse via Spotify here. Subscribe to Empathy at the Apocalypse via Apple Podcasts here. A new podcast collaboration to keep you company. Andy (People are the Enemy) and Josh (Screaming at Clouds) try to make sense of a broken world. New episodes released whenever they are made. First episode available in mid January. (theme song by the Gypsy Moths)

Andy's New Year's resolution is to roll four deep in 2025. Andy congratulates Bingo of halfwayokay on smashing his Cursemas Show marathon live Twitch streaming goal. Andy talks about the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, Jamie Foxx's Netflix "special", What Had Happened Was..., and then plays clips of Americans making fun of Robbie Williams, his Better Man biopic, and England in general. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines offers up a compare/contrast between Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about books, movies, music, cleaning the house, fixing broken things, and an upcoming podcast host team-up show you're not going to want to miss. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at prog rock holiday song selections. You can find a playlist for the prog rock Christmas selections mentioned on this episode here. A user-created Youtube playlist of Jon Anderson's 3 Ships can be found here.

Andy plays a clip of a cop reprimanding an 81yo man outside a supermarket in the American south. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines presents a further discussion of the four #1's off Forever Your Girl and other 1989 chart-toppers. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Bingo, the host of the hilarious show halfwayokay! Andy speaks with Bingo about halfwayokay's evolution, show segments, characters, and plans for a Christmas marathon show. You can find links to halfwayokay's live stream, audio archives, YouTube channel, social media profiles, and merch store here. 

Andy eats peanut butter baking chips and talks about Target's Santa, new music, and completing the first draft of a new manuscript. Also, David Lynch gives a woman a pep talk over the phone. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at Paula Abdul's smash debut album, Forever Your Girl. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy has dipping sauce buyer's remorse, remembers car bras, and plays clips of people analyzing the Wizard of Oz. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at lower charting Beatles singles. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy pays too much for a falafel wrap, thinks Chappell Roan's album is better than Charli XCX's latest, and plays a couple TikTok clips. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at the fictional band Deathtöngue from Bloom County. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy forgives Morrissey and plays clips of Jeff Goldblum quoting George Bernard Shaw and a professor who sings emo songs in sleeping students' faces. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at the '40s pop culture references in the book Starring J. Freedman As Herself. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is the writer Gwen E. Kirby! Andy speaks with Gwen about her hilarious story collection, Shit Cassandra Saw. You can find a link to all things Gwen E. Kirby at her website here. Purchase Shit Cassandra Saw wherever you get your books or via Bookshop.org here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines wraps up her discussion on the Rush albums Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Jason Lambeth from the band Red Pants! Andy speaks with Jason about his band's new EP, Pale Shadows. You can stream Pale Shadows and all of Red Pants' music on your favorite platform, or listen to and buy Red Pants' tunes in digital and physical formats at their Bandcamp site here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines explores Rush's 1981 album, Moving Pictures. You can find a playlist for the Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about buying costumes at Spirit Halloween, Viva Hinds, seeing Todd Rundgren in concert, and the Apprentice biopic. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines explores Rush's 1980 album, Permanent Waves. You can find a playlist for the Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Geordie Greep breaks into Andy's brain, Vocal Fry Cops gets a live promo, and French erotic monster movie The Beast (1975) is embarrassingly bad. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines reads selections from Platforms: A Microwaved Cultural Chronicle of the 1970s by Pagan Kennedy. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy's latest novel, Zero Percent Juice, is out! Buy it in paperback and ebook formats, worldwide, via Amazon here. On the show, Andy doesn't understand why companies can never get artificially flavored apple and banana right., then he introduces his new impression: Vocal Fry Cops. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines takes a look at Mothership Connection by Parliament. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy believes the free toothbrush the denist gives out is intentionally cheap. Also, we listen to a clip of young Brits defining "dad rock". On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines reads chapter 22 of Dellio & Woods' I Wanne Be Sedated. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy eats candy and talks about street bagels, Cormac McCarthy and movies with no film scores. Then he manages to connect Ingmar Bergman to Philip K. Dick and Richard Linklater. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines covers The Cars' debut album from 1978. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about going viral on TikTok, styptic pencils, 90s rockers acting badly, and Cigarettes After Sex being The National if they were horny. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines concludes her look at Led Zeppelin's US singles. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy drinks a grape soda and talks about AirTags, Teslas, Goodwill's CD pricing, subs, lady curmudgeons, BBQ chips, and smoke from your fingertips. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part 1 of her look at Led Zeppelin's singles in the US. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about the Oasis reunion, porch pirates, ironing accidents, and comedians he loves and loathes. Also, Andy's pal Thomas calls in. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part 2 of her compare/contrast between Deep Purple and the Moody Blues. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Devon Torrey Bryant! Andy talks with Devon about his career producing podcasts for Earwolf and Smartless Media and Devon's project Painkiller the Pigeon's new album, Heaven AM. You can listen to and purchase all of Painkiller the Pigeon's music on Bandcamp here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines sees Deep Purple in concert and does a compare/contrast between them and the also-colorful Moody Blues. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy talks about Thurston Moore's memoir, the band Suicide's live performances, flatbread pizza, Nick Swardson's voice, No Country for Old Men, and Twizzlers. Also, we listen to clips of a woman interviewing parents and their young children outside of a movie theater showing the science-fiction horror film Alien in 1979, The Muff's Kim Shattuck talking about her preference of CDs over cassettes, and Margaret Cho talking about the people whom she saw succeed in showbiz vs those who didn't. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines analyzes the soundtrack to Wet Hot American Summer, in honor of the movie taking place on August 18, 1981. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy has a dream that his dog saved his life, talks about Jack White, his wife getting COVID, having to return NKOTB tickets, and being told by a record store clerk that CDs are an ancient format. Also, we listen to clips of Lux Interior talking about mainstream success and The Cramps being a feminist band and Shep Gold talking about artists whose work ethic supersedes their talent. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines talks about Boston's self-titled debut album from 1976. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy sings "New Slang", shares an idea for a restaurant that only sells broth and talks about the Turkish marksman at the Paris Olympics and the TV show Search Party. Also, we listen to clips of a woman losing her shoes at a T.J. Maxx and comedian John Heffron remembering having to sing a song for a record store clerk in the days before the internet. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines shares 10 things she learned from a new book about the album 90125 by Stephen Lambe. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here. You can find a playlist for Rachel's Chart Chat here.

Andy takes another swing at a motivational speech and plays clips of a man talking about patience and Flavor Flav talking about sponsoring the US women's water polo team. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines takes a look at "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and Simple Minds. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy gives a motivational speech and eats Oreos before talking with his friend Thomas Ostien about a recent trip he took to Seattle and Thomas' new podcast, Reel Distracted. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part 2 of '80s Short Covers. You can find an updated playlist for Rachel's segment here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Episode 341 is available. Andy's wife, Juli, joins him in the studio to help recount an adventure they'd had in Boston over the weekend. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines delivers part 1 of '80s Short Covers. You can find a playlist for Rachel's segment here. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Andy recounts an adventure and talks about chicken cordon bleu, REM entering the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Leslie Jones' audiobook. Also we listen to a clip of a young Michael Keaton putting his own spin on a Bazooka Joe comic strip. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines looks at Barbra Streisand's most successful pop singles. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Tim "King of Janitors" Ryan! Andy talks with Tim about his life since leaving X, sandwiches, pets, and the movie career of Pauly Shore. Find Tim on Instagram here. Find Tim's Paypal here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines takes a look at the album Fragile, by Yes. Follow Rachel on Last.fm here.

Our guest is Josh Seybert! Andy talks with Josh about his podcast, Screaming at Clouds. Subscribe to Screaming at Clouds here. On Rachel's Chart Chat, Rachel from Des Moines offers up a discussion of the movie American Graffiti (1973) and its soundtrack.