Theme Songs

This week’s theme was Irresistible Dance Music. Dave & Steel were joined by Steel’s old friend Alice to talk about her love of ecstatic dance and play great dance tracks by Michael Jackson, Sly & the Family Stone, Bag Raiders, MGMT, Disclosure, and Tani Diakite & the Afrofunkstars. Links Tommy Franklin [Bag Raiders] appearance on … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 17: Irresistible Dance Music"

This week’s theme was songs you’ve listened to >1000 times. Dave and Steel were joined by Steel’s sister Sarah and played beloved music by the Fruit Bats, Weezer, Sufjan Stevens, The Beatles, Martin Sexton, and Otis Redding.

This week’s theme was hair. Not only did Dave and Steel cover the greatest hair in Minnesota High School boy hockey and their profound appreciation for what Ricky Rubio and Elfrid Payton are doing to revolutionize basketball hair this year, but they also played great hair-related music by P.M. Dawn, Pavement, The Cowsills, Old 97’s, Hunx, … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 15: Hair"

This week’s theme was “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.” Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Mark and played songs by Dan Baird, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, RJD2, and The Ramones. Featured image by Internet Archive Book Images

This week’s theme was robots. Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Spencer to play robot-related music by Rock Plaza Central, Dan Mangan, Grandaddy, Daft Punk, The Flaming Lips, and Andrew Thompson. Featured image by Steel’s co-worker Ken Fager.

This week’s theme was Oceania, meaning that the show focused on music by artists from Australia and New Zealand. This week Steel and Dave played songs by Tjupurru, AC/DC, Sarah Blasko, Flight of the Conchords, Sampa the Great, and Camp Cope. Featured image by Martin Snicer Photography

Happy New Year! Our first episode of the year features sea shanties and is dedicated to the Aubrey-Maturin novels, which Steel read for the first time in 2017. Steel & Dave play classic naval themed songs from Stan Rogers, The Decemberists, Jackshit, Katey Red & Big Freedia, The Beach Boys, Louis Killen, Jeff & Gerrett … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 11: Sea Shanties"

This week Dave and Steel were joined by Dave’s sister Melissa to talk about music to clean your house to, with great tunes from LCD Soundsystem, Rufus Wainwright, James Brown, The Eagles, Radiohead, and Bomba Estéreo. You’re in for a couple of extra special treats this week as well, as they also talked for a while … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 10: Songs to Clean Your House To"

This week’s theme was “kids music you don’t hate.” Every parent knows that there’s plenty of kids music out there that’s just plain dreadful. This episode is designed to help you find great music that you and your kids will both like. Our old friend Amy joined us to play songs our kids like by … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 9: Kids Music You Don’t Hate"

The theme of this week’s episode was “Strange Voices” meaning that we played music by beloved artists with unusual vocal stylings. This week’s show featured music by Victoria Williams, The Mountain Goats, Anonhi (formerly Antony of Antony & the Johnsons), Sigur Ros, Aldous Harding, Tom Waits, and Woods. Enjoy!

Ooooooooooh! This week Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Jordan Faux for a special Halloween edition of Theme Songs. The theme for the week was “spooky songs,” and we played bonechilling tunes by Interpol, Mick Gordon, Napoleon XIV, Monkeygrinder, Phil Collins, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Henry Hall. Featured image by NASA Goddard … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 7: Spooky Songs"

This week’s theme was Codependency/Independence. Steel’s sister-in-law Jennie Bastian joined the two hosts to discuss how we can prevent sexual assault and harassment and best support its victims, and then the trio played great tunes from Waxahatchee, Tina Turner, John Prine, Fiona Apple, Lesley Gore, and the Isley Brothers. Links: Sexual assault is a major … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 6: Codependency/Independence"

Our theme this week: songs that, despite their popularity, were secretly (and sometimes) wildly inappropriate. Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s old friend Katie and play shockers by Benny Mardones, Bob Seger, Lour Reed, The Police, Dave Matthews Band, and Clarence Carter. The lesson of this episode in case you didn’t already know it: … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 5: Secretly Inappropriate"

This week’s theme: “Story Songs,” featuring songs that tell a story and tell it well. This week Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Alan and share miniature gems from The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Cat Power, Jens Lekman, Bishop Allen, and Steve Earle. Featured image: art from The Crane Wife by Carson … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 4: Story Songs"

This week’s theme was Desert + Island = Desert Island. Steel and Dave discuss and play desert music, island music, and pick their ‘desert island’ songs. The episode features music by U2, Steve Reich, Tinariwen, The Mantles, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, The Silver Jews and Otis Redding. Dave’s pick for his “Desert Island” song, “Random Rules” by … Continue reading "Theme Songs 3: Desert + Island = Desert Island"

This week’s theme was ‘That Wasn’t What I Was Expecting’ and we featured songs by bands whose musical sound doesn’t match their name. On this week’s episode Dave & Steel are joined by their old friend Spencer to play music from bands with misleading names, including Los Campesinos!, The Final Solution, Yo La Tengo, Dr. … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 2: “That Wasn’t What I Was Expecting”"

This week Dave and Steel present the first episode of their new podcast Theme Songs. This week the theme is “Firsts!” and they play groundbreaking music by Kono Michi, Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), Bill Haley & His Comets, Harry Belafonte, Bruce Springsteen, Domenico Modugno, Beck, Patty Griffin, and the Rolling Stones. We hope you enjoy … Continue reading "Theme Songs, Episode 1: Firsts!"

We’ve got some bittersweet news. The sweet part: Spencer and Jordan rejoined us for another terrific episode. The bitter part: it’s our last ever Off the Chain. This week, our old friends and frequent guests Spencer and Jordan come back for one last ride, in which we give some pro-level small talk advice (including, for … Continue reading "Episode 77: The Last One"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Dave’s physicist friend Jason. Together the three of them discuss proton therapy, Jason’s top three physicists of all time, describe the new “Physics Hair” calendar they’re working on, answer Dave’s questions about fringe physics concepts, give parenting tips, play science-themed music from The Flaming Lips, Elton John, … Continue reading "Episode 76: Physics Hair"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s friend Sigrid. Together the three of them discuss transportation options for families with tons of kids, Dave and Sig’s shared loved of drawing and illustration, play a few rounds of Indie Band Name Balderdash, present another edition of Small Talk, share great nighttime driving music by … Continue reading "Episode 75: Ken, Yakov, and an Ornamental Hermit Walk Into a Bar …"

This week Dave and Steel by Dave’s high-rent lawyer friend Grayson. Together the three of them discuss quick favorites from this year’s NBA playoffs, do a special legal-themed edition of Ask OTC, rank the on/off chainness of various categories of things, play angsty music from Bleached, Fugazi, The Misfits, The Hotelier, PJ Harvey, and Teenage … Continue reading "Episode 74: Lawyer Up"

This week Dave and Steel were joined by Jack Bangerter to talk about the best haircuts and best names of the year, share spring musical memories from 2007 and 1997 by Okkervil River, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, Rihanna, Wyclef Jean, Ben Folds Five, and Soul Coughing, and share a moving springtime poem by … Continue reading "Episode 73: Mark Davis’ “Rube Do”"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by their old friend and marketing professional Alan Stoffer, who fills us in on top-level marketing strategies, what it’s like to live in Silicon Valley, the joys of having your garage rented out to a guy named Darrell for $1000/mo, and why he’s so relieved not to have … Continue reading "Episode 72: Market This!"

It took Steel three weeks to get this episode edited (which explains all the Valentine’s Day references in early March) but we’re back! This week Dave and Steel make a new induction to the OTC Hall of Fame (congratulations public libraries!), give you some new topics to discuss in another installment of Small Talk, praise … Continue reading "Episode 71: We’re Baaaack!"

Here’s the second part of our 2016 year in review podcast. Think of it as an early Christmas present from us to you! On this episode Jack Bangerter joins us to talk about the year in art, culture and food, and Aaron Peck comes to talk about all things film. We’re pretty happy with how … Continue reading "Episode 69: 2016 in Review, part 2"

This year we’re trying something new (and awesome). We asked six of our friends to join us for a recap of the year that was, with each of them covering a subject that they’re an expert in. We’ll be bringing you our 2016 in review in two episodes (this week and next), but this week … Continue reading "Episode 68: 2016 in Review, part 1"

Ho! Ho! Ho! This week on Off the Chain Dave and Steel are joined by their old friend Jordan to discuss all things Christmas. The three of them share Christmas memories, cover their gift giving guide (with lots of help from Oprah), give a quick run down of the best/worst Christmas movies ever made, share … Continue reading "Episode 67: Our 2016 Guide to Christmas"

Dave was out on vacation for a while, so Steel invited his old buddy Jack Bangerter to fill in for a week. The two of them talked about the latest news in the world of sports hair, ran through a segment of small talk (toilet recommendations and drawings of Buraq!), talked about collecting and collections, … Continue reading "Episode 66: Collections"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s sister-in-law Jennie Bastian, an artist and professional photographer. Together they talk household pets (cats. vs. dogs), take questions from listeners throughout the great state of Illinois, ask Jennie a bunch of questions about her upcoming show on Fear and her photography practice generally, share great music … Continue reading "Episode 65: The Art of Photography"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Spencer to discuss the latest in Vin Diesel news, their favorite fringe presidential candidates, historical also-rans, and fringe political parties, revive Lost the Plot, share outsider classics from Daniel Johnston, Dan Reeder, The Toadies, They Might Be Giants, Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker, and Leonard Cohen, and hear … Continue reading "Episode 64: The Party! Party! Party! party"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Dave’s gaming buddy Zac Beus. Together the three discuss their nerd bona fides, Zac and Dave’s love of board games, a few of Steel’s numerous fringe Game of Thrones theories, and share epic fantasy music by Leonard Nimoy, Rick Wakeman, and Ninja Sex Party, and drop some … Continue reading "Episode 63: On Nerdery and Games"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s old friend Jack Bangerter to talk all things Summer Olympics. We talk about our lack of world-class talent, they also throw in a segment of small talk (this week featuring edible crayons, demonic chimpmunks, and metallic hydrogen) and then spend a solid 40 minutes reliving all the … Continue reading "Episode 62: Eye on the Gold Chain [Rio Olympics 2016!]"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s old friend Liz Feezor. Together the trio discusses the recent political conventions leading up the US presidential elections, ask Liz all about her career in HR, recent misadventures in Colombia, her past life as a member of the University of Oregon marching band, and her ongoing … Continue reading "Episode 61: That One Time at Band Camp …"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by the artist Jack Bangerter, who many listeners have long suspected was merely a figment of Steel’s imagination. This week’s episode proved for once and all that he is, in fact, a real human being. Together the three of them discussed their great summer vacation memories, discussed some … Continue reading "Episode 60: Art Talk with Jack Bangerter"

In this week’s episode Steel and Dave are joined by their old friend Spencer. It’s not exactly as timely as when we recorded it (thanks a lot for being a super quick editor, Steel!!!), but this episode is mostly dedicated to the recent NBA Finals, the gripping, seven game battle between the Golden State Warriors and … Continue reading "Episode 59: NBA Finals Recap"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by their old friend Spencer. The trio discuss wedding planning, Steel’s first Vin Diesel film experiences, debate the future of artificial intelligence and the ethics of robot hunting, share great music from Radiohead, Looper and Ane Brun, and hear an allegory of the afterlife from the poet David … Continue reading "Episode 58: ROOOOOOOOOBOTS!"

This week Dave and Steel welcome their old buddy Spencer back to the show. Together, the trio discusses their dream tattoos, the NBA playoffs, great moments in terrible officiating, the best sports gambling moments in life and film, share some monumental hidden tracks from Travis, Todd Snider, Cracker, The Beatles, Wilco, and Beck, and Dave … Continue reading "Episode 57: [Hidden Track]"

This week Dave and Steel are very pleased to break some super important political news as Jordan Ford Faux announces his presidential bid for 2020. We discuss The People’s Elbow, his newly formed political party, cover some very important platform positions, hear his take on the most pressing issues of tomorrow, listen to his ideas for … Continue reading "Episode 56: Flip the Switch! Jordan Faux for President in 2020"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by their old buddy Jordan to discuss the biggest news of the day. They cover sportsball (NBA PLAYOFFS! LEICESTER CITY!), as well as the most important questions facing this year’s voters as they seek to decide who should become the next president of the United States, share some … Continue reading "Episode 55: Politics, Presidential Style"

This week Dave and Steel bring back their old friend Amy (Scott) Anderson. Together the trio discuss epic meltdowns, some amazing things that have they’ve been dying to share with each other during Dave’s paternity leave, talk (for a long time) about babies and parenting, share great music they’ve been digging recently by AURORA, the Strumbellas, Pinegrove, … Continue reading "Episode 54: Everything You (N)ever Wanted to Know About Babies"

Dave is out for a bit because his wife just had twins, so Steel hosted this episode solo. To remedy Dave’s absence, he brought on two old friends: Kate Kelly and Ashley Sanders. Together the three of them discussed the Virtues (Night) that initially brought the three of them together, shared small talk stories touching on … Continue reading "Episode 53: #ToniBraxton"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by one of their oldest friends, Mark Eliason. Together the three of them discuss Mark’s untreated tuberculosis, wow each other with some great small talk topics ($100,000 trash men, the long history of professional farting, and intermodal freight transport), ask Mark a bunch of questions about Bane & … Continue reading "Episode 52: Mornin' Mark"

This week Dave and Steel are joined on the podcast by Dave’s older sister Melissa. They talk parenting, discuss some fantastic business ideas(OTC Shark Tank, basically) that will be sure to revolutionize your life, especially if you’re a discreet midget looking for meaningful work, have a segment of expert testimony with Melissa in which we discuss … Continue reading "Episode 51: Hey, Sister!"

This week Dave and Steel celebrate recording their 50th episode of Off The Chain (our golden anniversary!) by running through several listener questions, playing another round of Lost the Plot, sharing some all-time great contributions to small talk, playing timeless music by The Beatles, Otis Redding, The Refreshments, and Quasi, and sharing some book wisdom from … Continue reading "Episode 50: Our Golden Anniversary"

This week’s episode had some technical difficulties and the audio has some issues with sound quality. We tried to fix it, but occasional clicking sounds are still audible for much of the episode. We’ll do better next week. This week Dave and Steel are joined by their friend Jordan–together the three of them spend about an hour talking … Continue reading "Episode 49: On the Road Again"

This week Dave and Steel were joined once again by their old friend Spencer to discuss the perils and joys of home ownership, what cities of the future will look like, share some fantastic ideas for small talk (laying the heat when you next play Uno, gold-plated donuts, and Bigfoot hunting), share great music from … Continue reading "Episode 48: Cities of the Future"

In this episode, Dave and Steel are joined once again by their old friend Spencer. Together the three of them discuss the top ten topics of conversation among the ‘patriots’ occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon, answer listener questions about what to eat and how to keep yourself entertained if you decided to … Continue reading "Episode 47: Occupy OTC"

This week Dave and Steel are rejoined by their friend Aaron to discuss their New Year’s Resolutions and New Year’s Predictions. Dave shares his top five presidential haircuts of all time, the three of them give their predictions for 2016 and 2116, they share extreme stories of human endurance on another installment of To the … Continue reading "Episode 46: New Year's Predictions"

This week Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s old friend Aaron Peck, a real-life professional film critic. Together the three of them recap their holiday adventures with children, talk with Aaron about his expertise in running, reading, and reviewing films (Aaron shares his perspective on the best films of 2015), play great movie soundtrack music from The … Continue reading "Episode 45: Everybody's A Critic"

This week Dave and Steel reflect on the year that was 2015. We discuss news you might have missed in science, technology, and medicine, and give our 2015: The Year in Review summary, covering highlights from the year in sports, and share our list of bests from 2015 (new bands, food, day trips, films, children’s … Continue reading "Episode 44: The Best of 2015: The Year in Review"