Recreational Thinking

Contestants: Randall Eng, Andy Greeley, Ewan Munro, Ajay Parasuraman, Jeffrey Seguritan, Jayanthi SrinivasanICE to see you tune in for this latest Directors Set, one so fiendishly challenging that not one but two contestants are seriously considering renouncing their citizenship by the end of it!  From a string of émigrés that causes one contestant to state "I'm all out of Hungarians" (incidentally the title of my second-favorite Air Supply song) to the multifaceted career of a fascinating polymath remembered today only for a (private) dick, this episode contains multiple intriguing factual journeys through the world of cinema.  And also LOTS of Jayanthi's puns.  Lots of 'em.Check out my Patreon for an alternative take on this set with contestants Akiva Fox, Joshua Kreitzer, Raghuveer Mukkamalla, and Jack Rousseau (aka TG Trivia on YouTube)!As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Jonathan Mishory, Raghuveer Mukkamalla, Jack Rousseau, S. A. ShenoyJoin me and four brave playtesters — including one Zooming along the New Jersey Turnpike (not behind the wheel!) — who said "yes" to NO.  Learn about a dizzyingly wide variety of filmmakers, from a professional pickleball player to the mother of rapper-turned-politician "Young Cardamom" to the man who invented the notion that zombies eat brains AND learn about my favorite stupid joke, my favorite Jeopardy! compliment, my favorite mystery novel that is better than either of its movie adaptations, and the director whose marriage I shall never forgive.  All that, plus documentaries by Oppenheimer and about Barbie (sort of) and a final question in which I pronounce eight French names in a row!NOTE: I did use editing to fix a factual error within a question.  Try to figure out which one, and then listen to Ewan Munro et al play this set as a Patreon exclusive to see if you were correct!As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Randall Eng, Jing Feng, Andy Greeley, Ewan Munro, Jeffrey Seguritan, Jayanthi SrinivasanWho needs Gukesh vs. Ding when you have Randall Eng and Ewan Munro duking it out for cinematic-quiz supremacy?  But even as we all compete to mispronounce French names that being with "M," it is Jayanthi who comes out on top with the worst pun--uh, I mean, funniest joke of all.  Sadly, those of you listening to this audio podcast won't get to see Ewan's dancing ... but that's all the more reason to join me in recording future episodes!Thanks to my playtesters Vince Bacani, Mike Cheyne, Charlie Fritz, Chris Grubb, Raghuveer Mukkamalla, Matt Pashby, Tucker Warner, and Emily White.  (Chris was the original source of my "Earwig and the Angry Witch" joke.)As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Dan Blim, Randall Eng, Jayanthi Srinivasan, Ariel WatskyNOTE: This friendly includes 13 images that, for obvious technical reasons, cannot be included; therefore, this audio replay should not be considered a "pure" example of my work.  Keep in mind that the contestants are not big James Bond buffs.  If *you* are, and would like to play this friendly rather than listen to it, please contact me for the TSV and PDF files.As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Kelsey Barcomb, Mike Cheyne, Greg Fanoe, Patrick Friel, Miranda Onnen, Tucker WarnerNOTE: This is a free preview.  Please subscribe to my Patreon to gain access to the rest of the alphabet.I've decided to release three bonus mini-sodes this Thanksgiving (of which this is the second).  Enjoy!Six cinephiles gather in one Zoom room to show off their knowledge of directors with surnames beginning with "H."  What happens next will educate and (hopefully) amuse you!As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Kelsey Barcomb, Paige Feldman, Charlie Fritz, Cari Milowicki, Lindsay Sobczak, Tucker WarnerNOTE: This is a free preview.  Please subscribe to my Patreon to gain access to the rest of the alphabet.Happy Thanksgiving!  This free preview is what you get, as our six cinephile contestants test their knowledge of Radiohead's "Karma Police," Pretty Little Liars, Mission: Impossible, and even Unhappily Ever After in addition to every stripe of feature film imaginable, from the silent era to Bollywood to abstract British art movies that somehow influence How I Met Your Mother.  As I say at one point, "I was thinking of doing an all-normal-movies packet, but then I was like, nah."As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Dan Burgess, Randall Eng, Ewan Munro, Jayanthi Srinivasan, Anupama SriranganNOTE: This is a free preview.  Please subscribe to my Patreon to gain access to the rest of the alphabet.Five cinephiles gather in one Zoom room to show off their knowledge of directors with surnames beginning with "L."  What happens next will shock and amuse you!  (But mostly amuse.)As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Charlie Fritz, Andy Greeley, Lindsay Sobczak, Tucker WarnerNOTE: This is a free preview.  Please subscribe to my Patreon to gain access to the rest of the alphabet.Four cinephiles (including our current OQL commissioner!) compete to show off knowledge of directors with "K" names.  A "From the Vault" cut of these questions, featuring yet another Randall Eng vs. Ewan Munro showdown, will soon be released on my Patreon — along with a few more Directors Sets and a couple of Recreational Thinking Lite episodes!As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via Ko-fi or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

(Note: That's a letter I, not a number 1)Contestants: Ben Kitchen, Ewan Munro, Devin RossiterI recently recorded two new Recreational Thinking Lite episodes; the other (with Aaron Levine, Manas Sarma, and my Jeopardy! compatriot Andrew Whatley), will go up as a Patreon exclusive.  But as I'm working through my editing backlog — a lot of new material, much of it featuring J! superstars, is coming — enjoy some quick bites of snackable content!https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinkinghttps://ko-fi.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Jing Feng, Andy Greeley, Randall Eng, Ewan MunroNOTE: This is a free preview.  Please subscribe to my Patreon to gain access to the rest of the alphabet.Another little taste of my directors sets!  This set, covering I's and some leftover H's, is one of my hardest, but Randall & Ewan and company are more than up to the task.  Perhaps we'll hear these hardcore cinephiles on an all-cinema episode of Recreational Thinking in the not-so-distant future?As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via PayPal or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Frederic Bush, Chris Miller, Greg Weinstein, Tucker Warner, Dan Blim (whole time); Cliff Galiher, Charlie Fritz (part of the time)NOTE: This is a free preview.  Please subscribe to my Patreon to gain access to the rest of the alphabet.Welcome to my new series!  Written by a serious cinephile (me) for an audience of cinephiles, these questions also work as a starting point for anyone who wants to learn about film for quizzing purposes AND anyone looking to go, as Pauline Kael put it, deeper into movies.Each game (of which there are four in this episode) consists of four rounds of play, Mimir-style, with 32 questions in all.  The answer to each question will be the name of a movie director, and all answers in the game will have a surname or mononym starting with the same letter.My goal is to cover all types of cinema — mainstream, arthouse, foreign, experimental, documentary, and more — and all eras of cinema as well, with special emphasis on members of underrepresented groups (e.g. women, POC, LGBT) and underrepresented cinemas.  The questions are hard, but the games are fast-paced and filled with banter.  I hope you enjoy — and don't worry, new episodes in the usual Recreational Thinking format are on their way too!As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via PayPal or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Meredith MacVittie, Ben Rothenberg, Nikhil SonejaFrom the semi-logical to the semiological, this episode examines the JAMES BOND phenomenon at all angles, turning a spyglass on the world's most famous spy.  As we celebrate the rich legacy of the Bond franchise while also reflecting on its many problematic aspects, we additionally draw connections to geography, politics, probability theory, radical feminism, horse racing, the Olympics, Willy Wonka, Orson Welles, and of course gambling and music.  Come to witness Ben's quest to become Recreational Thinking's first ever 3-time loser; stay for an abrupt downer ending that would be right at home in On Her Majesty's Secret Service or No Time to Die.As always, if you like what you hear, consider donating via PayPal or Patreon and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Randall Eng, Doug Behrend, Darren MunkPlay ball!  An episode recorded back in spring is ready just in time for the playoffs, and just like their favorite players, our baseball-loving contestants are all highly skilled contenders vying for a prestigious world championship!  Well, okay, maybe it's not that prestigious, and it's definitely not a world championship (but is the World Series?), but it sure is fun to listen to and — assuming you're a fan of our national pastime — play along with as well.  Oh, but is your favorite team or time period not represented?  Feel free to submit it as one of your own categories when you join me on this podcast!As always: Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Erin Portman, Vince Bacani, Jimmy DavorenI love all my contestants equally, but the moment in this episode when one reasons out the *meter* of the correct answer using her knowledge of prosody is an all-time highlight.  Really, though, there are standout moments from everyone in an episode that covers the 4 C's — curling, Catholicism, cookies, and chess — plus everything from Neil Gaiman to '70s sitcoms to some reminders of the stirring majesty of Hawaiian culture ... and then I make a series of increasingly vulgar puns and stan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (not at the same time).  So join four people who met while taping Jeopardy! as we reunite in a much more relaxed environment for some Recreational Thinking!Enjoy what you hear?  Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Michael Rankins, Dave Ross, Nikhil SonejaNa-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BATMAN!!!  And WONDER WOMAN!!!  And GREEN LANTERN, plus FLASH!!!  All your favorite DC superheroes and supervillains — okay, well, a decent selection of them — turn up in this topic-specific episode that spans the Golden, Silver, Bronze, and modern Ages of DC Comics.  Plus, we cover the ABCs of science fiction.  (I'm aware of their work.)  So tune in!  Come to find out how a magical Rick Springfield ties in to the Brady Bunch universe; stay to hear me pronounce ... "Schneitzhoeffer"?Enjoy what you hear?  Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Ben Bass, Matthew Marcus, Henry Stringer and "gate-crasher" Raghuveer MukkamallaWant to see more of dashing J! champion Matthew Marcus?  Join him and three other fans of Recreational Thinking in the first ever recorded episode of Recreational Thinking Lite!  These were intended as Patreon exclusives, and most of them are, but the public demands More Matthew Marcus!!!, and who am I to deny them?Remember, sign up on Patreon to hear the other six bonus mini-episodes!  https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinking

For the first time, my Patreon followers have something to show for their support other than just a warm, fuzzy feeling!  This past weekend, I quickly threw together seven episodes of what I'm calling Recreational Thinking lite, a fast-and-furious, unstructured, unedited format where everyone works together against my questions and we wrap things up in 40-50 minutes.  It was a total experiment, and the results are unpolished, but I think there's some diamonds in the rough.  So between now and Christmas, I'll be publishing all seven as Patreon exclusives!  Sign up for as little or as much as you want for full access.Just to give you a taste, I'm releasing the sixth episode for free to everyone.  Join Benjamin Kitchen, Dargan Ware, and Chris White as we learn about the AOC of the '70s, find out what Cecil Chubb's wife turned down, and discover the unexpected pedigree that unites The Doors and Dolemite.NOTE: I got my terminology a bit confused when discussing Rupert Mitford.  What I should have said is that he was the youngest life peer to sit in the House of Lords.Remember, sign up on Patreon to hear the other six bonus mini-episodes!  https://www.patreon.com/recreationalthinking

Contestants: Henry Stringer, Akiva Fox, Nathan CrisseyWhat could be scarier than a "deranged cheese monster"?  Well, for quizzers, it would have to be forgetting the name of someone you've spent time with on multiple occasions, right when you're asked a question about them.  Yes, this episode's clever contestants hit highs and lows, mixing painfully close misses with one of the best "fraud" answers I've ever seen, as we traverse worlds as diverse as mathematics, Mario Kart, Shakespeare, cocktails, tuba, Pokémon, and competitive yo-yo'ing (really!).  Plus, just in time for Halloween, there's a deranged cheese monster.Deranged cheese monster.NOTE: Like E35, this one ends with ~15m of wrap-up chatter, including a fascinating callback to E32, a discussion of how to transport giant novelty checks, and some amazing yo-yo tricks that unfortunately don't translate to an audio format.Enjoy what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Dan Blim, Jayanthi Martins, Nick SalyersWe may not have pumpkins, but we do crown a Pun King (or Queen?) in this seasonally appropriate episode featuring vampires, Hitchcock, the Saw franchise, and strained wordplay galore!  From Koopas to Kansas, from Mario to Mitski, from Princess Peach to the Dolphin Princess ... like the humble tomato, this episode traverses the globe, stopping in to quiz our hilarious contestants on folk dancing, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Stephen Sondheim, RuPaul's Drag Race, and much, much more.  Yes, it has more potential for entertainment than a 22-year-old Sutton Foster and will leave you smiling bigger than a Laura Benanti fan in Times Square.  So give it a listen, learn the difference between a kiki and a ceilidh, and get ready to root for that greatest of all superheroes: Bhangra-man!Like what you hear?  Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Nathan Flynn, Bradly Martin, Danny DoggetFull circle!  We recorded this Gilliganverse-heavy episode the day Better Call Saul premiered its final half-season, and I'm releasing it right as that series airs its finale.  Kismet, huh?Welcome to one of our most atypical episodes, as the contestants are recruited not from quizzing circles but from an informal network of podcasters and pop culture commentators that I stumbled into a few years ago ... but don't worry; what they lack in quizzing experience they make up for in humor and high spirits!!  I learned a lot researching some esoteric (even by this podcast's standards) topics that they suggested and I think you'll learn a lot from this episode.NOTE: This is easily our least family-friendly episode, with a toilet literally being worked on in the background and questions built around profanity and sex acts, plus an extended detour into the female reproductive system.  Listener discretion is advised.  Also, this is always the case but I feel a need to reiterate here that opinions expressed by my guests are their own and do NOT necessarily represent the views of this podcast.Like what you hear?  Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Mike Jeziorski, Tucker Warner, Jack RousseauEnjoy Episode 10?  Then you'll love this SUPER SIZED reunion of all three members of that classic lineup, now with 95% less baseball.  Never fear, though, for I Am the Pretty Thing that Writes the Questions, and so we make up for it with more nods to growing up in Illinois than a Sufjan Stevens album, more video games than a Lana Del Rey album, and more references to illicit drugs than a Willie Nelson album.  Get ready to pull the Walker, Texas Ranger lever and discover the hidden connections between Tucker and 24, Conan O'Brien and Jorge Luis Borges, Neil Patrick Harris and ZZ Top, a huntress from Greek mythology and a terrorist action thriller set during Jesus' crucifixion, a billionaire heiress and her desire to cosplay as a poor person, and, of course, Marjorie Merriweather Post and the entire known universe in this longest-ever episode of Recreational Thinking!  (Yes, it's so long that I elected to extend it by including at the end a discussion of how long it is.)Like what you hear?  Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Stay hungry, stay foolish, and stay listening to this SPECIAL CROSSOVER REUNION EVENT in which Recreational Thinking yet again meets The Soccer Thread!  For the first time since Episode 5, the host and the majority of the contestants are occupying the same physical space, and for the first time EVER that space is OUTSIDE!!  Yes, you can listen to the birds chirp and the delivery truck engines idle, as I somehow allowed myself to be dragged into nature for this taping. That's not the only innovation ... pay close attention and see if you can hear our youngest ever guest!  (You can't.)  Come for the Blue Star donuts and the assault on Episode 33's steal record, stay for a "tight 45" on bats, a discussion of comparative health care in Boston and Portland, an introduction to the Sixx Orange oeuvre, and a chance to hear the contestants talk about me behind my back.  Oh, and to find out what Arnold Palmer *really* did that day.NOTE: My cut of this episode comes from a rather rough version of the audio.  The one The Soccer Thread is preparing will be of much higher quality.  Listen to that one as well, and you'll pick up a few extra jokes!Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Matt Jackson, Jenna LaFleur, Ben RothenbergBuon giorno!  A Jeopardy! legend and two of his DC-area pub-quiz-mates join us in this exhilarating episode, albeit with one Zooming remotely from Rome, and as if by magic a surprisingly high number of questions sprout Italian connections.  (These unconscious mini-themes — last time's was Game of Thrones — are starting to become a regular feature of this podcast.)  Whether you prefer tennis or theater, Joss Stone or James Bond, M&Ms or clam chowder, one thing's for certain ... this installment of Recreational Thinking is a LOT shorter than the previous one!  You're welcome.Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: James Lasker, David Plotkin, Manas Sarma"I can't believe that went longer than our technical difficulties episode!" -DavidAs only our second episode to cross the 3-hour mark, this one had better justify its length ... and it does!  Episode 6 was the first truly great episode of this podcast, and though I was only able to reunite 2/3rds of its contestant lineup, I've bottled so much magic here that Dr. House diagnosed me with lupus!  (Deep cut.)  Truly, the limit of this episode's quality does not exist.Did I really construct a question so complicated that I literally consulted four astrophysicists in the process of writing it?  I did!  Do I actually attempt to prove the individual with the (alleged) World's Highest IQ wrong?  I do!  Is this the episode when my hubris finally catches up with me and I fall flat on my face?  Only one way to find out!From Lovecraft to Lagrange, from mathletics to the Mafia, from chess streamers to Chernobyl, this ambitious episode is a banquet for hungry minds.  Enjoy the feast? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Aaron Lichtig, David Goldfarb, Greg FanoeYou know what you doing?  For great justice (and knowledge), make your time for the next 2.5 hours and enjoy this experimental episode of RECREATIONAL THINKING featuring a categorical collision unlike anything we've ever seen before!  If you're curious about superhero comics, Italo Calvino, Janet Jackson, the Hugo Awards, all sorts of bridges (from Staten Island to contract), and the *real* reason the autopilot was invented ... well, like a seemingly washed-up pitcher who strikes out 13 batters in a World Series game, this episode is full of triumphant surprises.NOTE: We wrapped up the tape session a bit early; the last ~15 minutes are just post-mortem'ing.  There's no more Q&A, and it's not fact-checked, but if you stick around you might learn something!Enjoy what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Daryl Sng, Dargan Ware, Anthony GarinoBrain work ahead?  Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does!  Learn about snarky YouTubers, resilient Czechs, murderous Mannerist madrigalists, Freudian chessmasters, poetry-writing Ouija boards, gentleman safecrackers, and technical fouls galore in this installment of RECREATIONAL THINKING so full of meaty twists and turns that one contestant's mother's cousin's husband would feel right at home!  (That will make sense once you've listened to the episode, I promise.)  We run a true gamut here: Poetry, college basketball, classical music, chess, tennis, and the great nation of Singapore are all on the menu.  Oh, and speaking of menus ... is Pepsi okay?  It sure is!Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Alexander Darby, Peter Broda, Ben ZimmerWho made the man behind "Happy" cry?  What are E-Girls, and why are they ruining my life?  What innocuous nursery rhyme did Paul McCartney turn into a UK Top 10 hit?  Which James Bond theme drew inspiration from the Hebrew Bible?  How does one stuff a wild bikini?Let's Talk About Love, learn How to Truly Listen, and study pataphysical science as we tour the world of popular music in this single-subject episode that covers proto-punk, punk-pop, thrash metal, '80s synthpop, '90s indie rock, drummers and drumming, the careers of Stevie Wonder and Frank Zappa, and our friendly neighbors in the Great White North alongside several topics that no one requested, including children's TV, French literature, Hindi slang, historical gangsters, BBC quiz shows, the Queens neighborhood where I used to live, and lots and lots of Beatles content.  And You Will Know These Contestants by The Trail of Knowledge they display!Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Anu Kashyap, Dan Feitel, Chris OttolinoWelcome to 2022!  It's our first episode recorded since May 2021.  (If you're curious what's been going on in the interim, feel free to check out the streaming show I attempted to launch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYyq5QTgHTmLfy4kyrnM7j7fHz87ohqSy .)  A former National Spelling Bee champion joins me alongside two frequent quizzing teammates, one of whom is hoping to make up for his paper-thin loss in E30, so of course the banter flies thick as we cover (among other things) the joy of spelling, the history of Pixar, the fantasy of football, the Silver Age of Comics, and also for some reason ABC's Big Sky, despite no one picking it as a topic.Yes, like an NFL player who gets a PhD in mathematics from MIT, at RECREATIONAL THINKING we don't believe in disciplinary boundaries.  So if you're curious about the non-fun kind of Zoot Suit Riot ... if you want to know which '90s alt-rock icon tells a lie in the very first line of her most famous song ... if you remember Microsoft's short-lived "Ms. Dewey" ... oh, and if you'd like to learn about the NFL player who got a PhD in mathematics from MIT, then this episode is for you.  Enjoy what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Caitlin Joyce, Randall Eng, Chris MillerHow did a college student urinating into a potted plant bring down a national government?  In what way is Staten Island a magical realm?  When does Before come after After?  Can Belgian Waffles ever be wrong?  What is a "mezzo with moves"?  What is "vore"?  (Don't look that up.)  Who is a "pantspreneur"?  How is a hand grenade like an avocado?  We've met before, haven't we?  Do I know anyone in Idaho?  Is "Deuteronomy" or "Æ" a weirder name for a child?  And, most importantly, what did I say that made Caitlin vow to throttle me?Discover the answer to most, if not all, of these questions — and learn about board games, celebrity couples, 21st century opera, mustache-less Sam Elliott, and a prolific 102-year-old character actor who's still lucid enough to give fascinating interviews — in this enigmatic, entertaining, and enlightening episode of one of the Top 25 most-listened-to Education podcasts on Podomatic!Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Ben Rothenberg, Jimmy Li, Chris OttolinoThe Wednesday Academic Purists may be my bitter rivals in CONNECTIONS ONLINE QUIZ LEAGUE and LEARNEDLEAGUE's A Typhoon rundle, but off the quizzing field it's all fun and games ⁠— and besides, now I get to turn them against each other, in a sidesplitting episode that covers everything from RuPaul's Drag Race to 20th century philosophy, the Eurovision Song Contest to comic book superheroes, tennis to professional wrestling, human anatomy to tech start-ups, the history of socialism to my father's taste in comedians ... yeah, this one's syllabus is exceptionally diverse even by RECREATIONAL THINKING standards.  The contestants are all close friends and it shows both in their rollicking chemistry and in the way the lead seesaws back and forth (and forth) until literally the final question.Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Mike Samuelson, Colin Smith, Ryan Palmer, Dan SchroederThey think it's all over!  Well, is it?  Only once you're done listening to my ridiculously entertaining crossover with the hilarious and charming men of THE SOCCER THREAD PODCAST.  Yes, I mocked soccer in my description of E11, and for my sins I designed an entire episode around The Beautiful Game.  Yet as we learn about it we also traverse the fields of geography, history, mathematical topology, pop music, classical music, TV/movies, and the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott (seriously).  These guys brought an all-new dynamic to RECREATIONAL THINKING, and I loved every raucous minute of it.  Listen all the way to the end to find out which boys took a hell of a beating!(And also to hear people pronounce my first name correctly.  A fun novelty!)You can find The Soccer Thread Podcast on your favorite podcasting app or here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soccer-thread-podcast/id1147054293Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Daniel Cohen, Eugene Hung, Lindsay GoldsteinThere are two kinds of RECREATIONAL THINKING episodes: Ones where the contestants already know each other and ones where they find their chemistry over the course of the episode.  This is an excellent example of the latter, along with being a competitive nail-biter in which the lead continually shifts back and forth over the course of the final round.  So enjoy learning about Roman emperors, jukebox musicals, contract bridge, and more in this episode where saying "We are all alive at the end" genuinely counts as a spoiler!Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Victoria Groce, Troy Meyer, Yogesh RautDid you notice that this week UM, ACTUALLY released an episode in which their usual host takes a turn in the contestants' chair?  That must be what Jung called synchronicity!Yes, as a birthday present for me in 2021, several friends arranged to satisfy my long-standing wish to understand and experience my own show from the perspective of a player rather than my usual writer-host spot.  Special thanks to guest host Jason Myrowitz, who also supervised the question-writing, and to the other question writers who graciously volunteered their time and expertise (in alphabetical order): Susannah Brooks, Ronny Jackson, David Plotkin, and Tim Rich.Special thanks also to two of the best quizzers in the world, Victoria Groce and Troy Meyer, for ensuring that this was an uphill battle for me.  Since this episode was recorded, we have gone on to form three-fourths of the team that brought home the 2022 Quizzing World Cup to the USA.  (USA!  USA!)  I'm told that people listen to this podcast in hopes of hearing a Battle of the Titans.  Well, it doesn't get more Titan-ic than this.  [Insert your own iceberg joke here]NOTE: My audio starts off sounding like I'm underwater and gets somewhat better without ever quite reaching adequate quality.  I'm sorry.  But don't worry that this is a feature of all our Zoom episodes; you'll have no trouble hearing me from E28 onward.As always: Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Oishee Shemontee, Drew Scheeler, Charlie FritzIt's appropriate that in our very last episode recorded using Skype (*sob*) we discovered "Together Mode," as this episode's contestants are all very good friends with each other ... or *were*, until that bond was tested by an unprecedented streak of steals!So come cheer on larceny as we delve into the oeuvres of Blackpink, Taylor Swift, and (why not?) Roy Lichtenstein.  Like a Very Special Episode of "Degrassi," this episode has it all: lesbians, supermodels, pirates, 1940s British cinema, and discussions of Florida real estate.  Oh, and a Very Special Episode of "Degrassi."Is there a secret (even to me) hidden theme, like in the two prior episodes?  Listen and find out!As always: Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Ronny Jackson, Joey Goldman, Andrew FisherCheerio from across the pond!  We're joined in this episode by three brilliant UK quizzers, including Mimir's Well co-founder Joey Goldman.  Joey is a past victor on UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE and ONLY CONNECT, but has he met his match in RECREATIONAL THINKING?  Listen and find out!Along the way, you'll learn about roguelike video games, Black Books, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, theoretical math, climbing, and pro wrestling, as well as for some reason anime, even though it wasn't anyone's selected specialty.  You'll see one contestant's incredible streak of bad luck, culminating in the most creative avoidance of an f-bomb in this podcast's history.  Most importantly, you'll get to spend 2.5 hours listening to British accents.Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Lynn Yu, Christine Whelchel, Monya DeTwo of my favorite contestants from last season re-join us alongside a skilled third, and together they uncover a hidden theme to this episode's questions that I wasn't even consciously aware of.  What is it?  Listen and find out!  Also, you'll get to enjoy questions about very recent popular music, very old popular music (so old it's classical, in fact), ER, the Bible, and a lot more -- and that's not even counting all the Shakespeare content I added even though no one asked for it.Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Trevor Alexander, Greg Peterson, Joe TrelaGet ready for a streak of some of my all-time favorite episodes!  Coming up we've got another all-brilliant-women episode, an all-UK-quizzers episode, a crossover episode with a soccer podcast, and even a Very Special Episode where I take a turn in the contestant chair myself.None of which is meant to short-sell the return of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE million dollar winner Joe Trela to take on two extremely knowledgeable challengers.  Chess, ice hockey, the night sky, and the late great Stephen Sondheim (RIP) are all on the menu in another brain-tickling installment of the podcast so demanding that one contestant moved to my hometown just to gain an edge!  (Or so he says.)Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Gavin Byrnes, Ryan Rosenberg, Jason LunaSo I'll start off with an apology.  I kind of let this episode get away from me; I recorded it on way too little sleep, which threw off my energy, and also I tried some experiments in question-writing that, on reflection, didn't pan out.  (None of this is the fault of the contestants, who are awesome.)  Maybe this isn't my favorite episode, but it's still tons of fun as it covers A Song of Ice and Fire, pro wrestling, superheroes, MLB, NBA, and of course oodles of statistics and computational geometry.  I know what you're all here for!Seriously, though, I have nine episodes in the pipeline that range from "solid" to "all-time classic."  We'll be reaching new heights very soon.  Stay tuned!

Contestants: Tucker Warner, Tom Colocci, Marcus LunaTake us out to the ballgame!  Two of last's seasons most popular contestants and one very entertaining newcomer join us to kick off Season 2 with a game that's not so heavy on the baseball that it doesn't leave room for its cousin from across the pond.  Oh, and plenty of other topics are represented, ranging from ancient Rome to Formula One to Nicktoons.  This is one of our all-time greatest episodes (even if I did stumble slightly on the final hurdle) and yet I can guarantee that at least half a dozen more that are just as good (or better) are on the way!!Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Paige Feldman, Mik Larsen, Rajay Kumar Fight on! This episode sees me (joined once again by Andrew Darby from E7) re-unite with three dear friends from my days at USC, including E15 standout Rajay, as we re-fight the Civil War, re-visit -- appropriately enough -- some old "Friends," and reference Alfred Hitchcock so many times I may as well have used "Funeral March of a Marionette" as the theme music. This episode features some of my all-time favorite questions, and the finale is an absolute masterclass in abductive reasoning. NOTE: To give you all a sense of the overall "vibe" at the taping, I've included about 2 minutes of chatter at the beginning. Feel free to skip over it if you're not entertained. Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Isaac Renert, Milan Fernandez, Max Shatan Happy Juneteenth! And now for something completely different: An entire episode devoted to the wide world of cinema, with three millennial cinephiles kindly stepping up and allowing me to experiment with the format. A warning! If you aren't into movies, be prepared to approach this primarily as a learning experience. Also, the subject matter ended up veering a little further from mainstream Hollywood than I predicted, so ... if you are into movies, but your tastes are concentrated on the conventional, you should also be prepared to approach this episode primarily as a learning experience. It's still a lot of fun! But PLEASE do not use this episode as a barometer of what "Recreational Thinking" is typically like. If you are unfamiliar with the podcast, I'd recommend starting with Episode 6, Episode 10, or Episode 13 and then working your way up to the more niche stuff. As always: Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Internet personality "Default Friend," Trey Kelso, Tom Colocci College football, DC Comics, The Office, Wicca, and Donny Osmond are all on the syllabus of an episode bookended, for no particular reason, by the works of Stephen King. Come for the realization that your favorite '80s one-hit wonder also wrote your favorite '90s Disney song; stay for the cautionary tale of what happens when you doodle a drag queen at the wrong moment (not a metaphor); savor hearing me recite the full title of "Marat/Sade" off the top of my head, because that's the kind of person I am. Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Dargan Ware, Joshua Hill, Andy Wehrman Order in the court!! Civil law is on the docket in this episode, alongside geography, religion, business, country music, the Founding Fathers, classic Simpsons, and more! By the way, since this episode taped Dargan Ware has published a second novel, "Old Soldiers Never Die." Check out both it and "The Legend of Colgan Toomey" at your favorite literary retailer! Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: David Kendall, Brian Hight, Anupama Srirangan We travel the world in this geography-themed episode (with an emphasis on national flags and anthems), while also covering many other topics, including collegiate sports, organic chemistry, and the Old Dominion state. Like Virginia, this episode is for lovers — lovers of knowledge! Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a review and/or rating on iTunes!

Contestants: Jesse Palek-Zahn, Rajay Kumar, Steve Winer We take a grand tour of the humanities, sciences, and pop culture in this episode, with questions covering history, literature, physics, health/medicine, sports, movies, TV, and more! Find out how we go from Walter White to Heisenberg without referencing "Breaking Bad," anticipate the plots of both "Ratched" and "Mank" before either of those were a thing, cover not one but *two* US senators who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics, and decide which David Bowie song might have been a good alternative title for "Pocahontas." Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!

Contestants: Steve Evenhouse, Bill Pennington, Jonathan Klein And now "Recreational Thinking" has its first truly international episode, with an American facing off against a Canadian native and an actual Australian who got up early to record with us all the way from the Antipodes! (Dig those exotic bird sounds in the background.) Join us as we learn about Canada, medical research, US history, international development, and of course the invaluable elephant foot yam, plus more, and stay tuned for an ending that is one-of-a-kind in "Recreational Thinking" history!! Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!

Contestants: Lynn Yu, Arianna Haut, Muffy Marracco This is it, you guys. Yes, it's our first episode with an all-woman lineup, but more importantly it's our funniest and most energetic episode to date (in spite of the fact that I was still fairly illness-drained, albeit on the upswing, at the time of recording). Two of the most masterful masterminds from GSN's "Master Minds," Arianna Haut and Muffy Marracco, join author and rising Hollywood star Lynn Yu for a raucous journey through Asian food, California cities, Jewish culture, Pixar movies, children's literature, presidents of the USA, and a lot more! You already got to see how entertaining Muffy was back in Episode 1, but this time you'll learn about her "towel-over-the-face" technique ... and find out whether it brings her success. Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!

Contestants: Todd Hunter, Dillon Edwards, Cheyenne Fletcher This episode was recorded at the height of my sickness last March, and I can't say I'm at my best. Still, the contestants and I take an entertaining tour of everything from Australian history to TV cooking shows to quantum mechanics, and still find time for an extended discussion of the roots of hip hop music. Join us as we get quantum physical! Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!

Contestants: Mehrun Etebari, Christine Grace Whelchel, Devin Landin The outside world rears its ugly head in this episode of "Recreational Thinking," as it is the first of three I recorded while suffering from ... let's call it SOMETHING-19. Luckily, the contestants brought more than enough energy to make up for me as they showed off their knowledge of Parks and Rec, classical music, international geopolitics, and all sorts of other interesting stuff! Plus soccer. Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!

Contestants: Mike Jeziorski, Tucker Warner, Jack Rousseau A true collision of expertise occurs in this episode that's heavy on baseball and cinema but also detours into video games, mythology, alt-rock, and molecular biology! Stay tuned to the end for a discussion that shapes the future direction of the show Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!

Contestants: Steve Oppenheim, Wayne Schiff, Joe Trela Welcome to another episode of the quizzing podcast where even a contestant who earned the TOP PRIZE on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" feels challenged ... and isn't guaranteed to win! Topics include Seinfeld, the Cleveland Indians, the Indianapolis 500, and speculative fiction legend Harlan Ellison Like what you hear? Consider donating via PayPal or Patreon, and remember to leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!