Two Guys in Search of an Argument is the podcast on arts, culture, law and the good created by Jim and John, two guys constantly in search of an argument. Based out of Chicago and DC, these two have a lot to say.
This is a relatively serious episode in which we are joined by Gwenn Danet-Desnoyers to discuss our personal experiences of losing individuals close to us. Among other moments, Gwenn discusses the death of his mother. Peggy talks about losing her father suddenly, Shelly reminisces about the tragic death of her very first boyfriend, Jim remembers one of his former debaters who died very young, and John discusses those people he knew who died from AIDS.
Continuing our series of conversations during the pandemic we welcome Janine from Downer's Grove, Illinois. She is a long-time friend of Shelly and Peggy who is known for her willingness to discuss topics that others might shy away from, in particular, her own vagina. The three friends engage in a discussion of Janine's vagina and vaginas in general and related matters with minimal interruptions by John and Jim. Before they enter into that part of the conversation, Janine discusses her work at the University of Chicago with Dr. Maria Lucia Madariaga and how it pertains to the COVID virus. There is also reminiscence from everyone (except Jim) about times past when they all lived and worked in Chicago (except Jim) and how their friendship developed over the years (except Jim). To make up for the fact that he is relatively quiet throughout the episode Jim overcompensates by pontificating incessantly during his recommendations for ten non-fiction books.Subscribe to our new podcast on your favorite service. This feed is going away soon!Apple PodcastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsOvercastSpotify
In the first episode under the new title, a cold opening is attempted.With help from a famous voice out of the past, the Gang of Four tries to get in synch, but the results are not quite perfect. John Heintz explains about the new title and what it means (and what it does not mean).That segues into a discussion of the value of “opinion” v. the value of “facts.” That discussion segues into a broader discussion regarding trust in government in general and the performance of government during the current crisis in particular.That in turn becomes a Trump discussion (as all discussions seem to have become over the past four years). New ground is broken when the possibility is raised of a Trump supporter appearing on the podcast. (If there are any Trump supporters listening, get in touch. This could be your chance for instant fame.)Jim Gentile introduces some factual comparisons of the current epidemic to the influenza outbreak of 1918 and John actually praises him and Jim becomes even more insufferable.Peggy and Shelly provide some interesting personal updates regarding their work and all four make recommendations.Subscribe to our show on your favorite service.Apple PodcastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsOvercastSpotify
The newest in our series of episodes in reaction to the effects of the ongoing pandemic was recorded four weeks into the current crisis. We present additional feedback from listeners, reflections by the hosts about the events of the past month, and, in particular, some long-awaited input from Peggy Bennett about her experiences as a health care worker. Included in the discussion is a long colloquy between John and Jim over how to interpret current events and what is the appropriate way to view the future.Also, and unrelated to the current crisis please watch the documentary, "The Definition Of Insanity", a production sponsored in part by the Matthew Harris Ornstein Foundation. The link to the trailer is here.MoreFree Coronavirus coverage at the New York TimesSupport us!Send an audio or written comments to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.See all our recommendations here.
This is a continuation of the previous episode which includes additional voice memos from some of our friends and listeners regarding their experiences during the current crisis. The five questions we asked people to answer are: 1. Do you know anyone personally who is confirmed to be infected by the virus? 2. How are you personally dealing with the crisis on a day-to-day basis? 3. What is the biggest negative effect of the crisis on you personally so far? 4. Is there any positive side effect for you personally as a result of the crisis? 5. What do you recommend to read, watch, or listen to, in order to help get through the crisis?MOREFree Coronavirus coverage at the New York TimesSupport us!Send an audio or written comment to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.See all our recommendations here.
The Gang of Four solicited voice memos from several of our friends and listeners regarding their experiences during the current crisis. This is part one of two parts listening and reacting to the voices of some of the people who are sharing this unique and frightening moment in history. The five questions we asked people to answer are: 1. Do you know anyone personally who is confirmed to be infected by the virus? 2. How are you personally dealing with the crisis on a day-to-day basis? 3. What is the biggest negative effect of the crisis on you personally so far? 4. Is there any positive side effect for you personally as a result of the crisis? 5. What do you recommend to read, watch, or listen to, in order to help get through the crisis?MOREFree Coronavirus coverage at the New York TimesSupport us!Send an audio or written comment to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.See all our recommendations here.
Being located in four different cities they are used to social distancing. But the circumstances of this particular episode are unquestionably unique. Our hosts each give their own individual accounts of the effects of the coronavirus crisis on their personal lives. They try to stick to the known facts (except for John). And Peggy's participation was limited due to technical challenges. But we promise to fix them before the next episode.
Jim’s Guide to the 2020 Oscars!Support us!Send an audio or written comment to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.See all our recommendations here.
If you like the show, forward this episode to a friend!
Become our patron. Go to www.twoguysinsearch.com and click on the Support button.Check out our recommendations here. Jim, Peg and John return in a fortnight for more easy-listening story-telling news-chattering talk.We would love your audio comment. Record and email your comments to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.If you want to write to us, that's fantastic! You can reach out to Jim, Shelly, Peggy and John with a comment, question or complaint by going to www.twoguysinsearchofanargument.com/contact, on Twitter at #twoguysinsearch, on Facebook, Instagram or whatever platform you love. Or just text us!
Silent auctions lead to high-flying experiences. Shelly recounts her experience with vivid descriptions of the quickly approaching ground during a particularly death defying near loop de loop.Check out all the end-of-show recommendations from Peggy, Jim, Shelly, John and guests since the inception of the show!
Five friends talk about fluid feelings of home. Familiarity, comfort, challenge, aggravation, relaxation, life, relationships, holidays and death tie together the experiences of Eloise, Jim, Peggy, Shelly and John. Check out all the recommendations from all the shows.
Runner and Grand Rapidian Peggy Bennett sprints from being a co-host to taking her first stroll to the guest chair. Peggy becomes a guest in the wake of her age-appropriate half marathon performance along the shore of one of the Great Lakes. Regulars Jim Gentile, Shelly Cummings and John Heintz discuss Peg’s run, body and mind.
Become our patron. Go to www.twoguysinsearch.com and click on the Support button.Jim, Peg and John return in a fortnight for more easy-listening story-telling news-chattering talk.We would love your audio comment. Record and email your comments to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.If you want to write to us, that's fantastic! You can reach out to Jim, Shelly, Peggy and John with a comment, question or complaint by going to www.twoguysinsearchofanargument.com/contact, on Twitter at #twoguysinsearch, on Facebook, Instagram or whatever platform you love. Or just text us!
Expert Two Guys in Search aficionados Tom McGrath and Nancy Heintz join Jim, Peg and John on this week's introspective adventure into the heart, soul and guts of the Two Guys podcast.Become our patron. Go to www.twoguysinsearch.com and click on the Support button.Jim, Peg and John return in a fortnight for more easy-listening story-telling news-chattering talk.We would love your audio comment. Record and email your comments to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.If you want to write to us, that's fantastic! You can reach out to Jim, Peg and John with a comment, question or complaint by going to www.twoguysinsearchofanargument.com/contact, on Twitter at #twoguysinsearch, on Facebook, Google Plus or whatever platform you love. Or just call us!
There’s more to guilty pleasures than fat, sugar and television, but Peg, Shelly and Jim don’t stray too far from tradition.
Olympic contender and world-class coach, Joanna Zeiger’s extraordinary life ranges from transitioning from amateur athlete to world champion, a career changing bike accident in 2009 and entrepreneurship into cannabis for chronic pain management. Joanna joins Peggy, Shelly, Jim and John for an easy-going discussion of a high-energy life.
Jim writes about the books discussed on the podcast here.Follow us on Twitter or Instagram here.
Rating the best video entertainment is what Nielsen Media Research has done sine the 1920s. Still the most reliable system for broadcasters, Jim Gentile talks this fortnight about his experience being a “Nielsen Family,” a throwback reference to the days when families would sit and watch television together. Peggy Bennett, Shelly Cummings and John Heintz join Jim for a reflection on the system and how Nielsen does it today in average, and non-average, American homes.Follow us on Twitter or Instagram here.
Follow us on Twitter or Instagram here.Send us a message here.
The 1980s seem like a distant memory to some and even more of a distant memory to those of us who are asked to remember Jim’s trivia about them. For the Two Guys’ second podcast of 2019, new regular Shelly Cummings joins the old guard Jim Gentile, Peggy Bennett and John Heintz as they discuss the 1980s and its excesses - in quiz format.Follow us on Twitter or Instagram here.
Jim Gentile, Shelly Cummings, Peggy Bennett and John Heintz reflect on 2018 and make their predictions for 2019. They hit on economics and politics with a healthy dose of international relations, film, music and love.Follow us on Twitter or Instagram here.
Peggy Bennett and Shelly Cummings give Jim and John an introduction to the hopes, limits and facts of immunotherapy.
He elaborates upon his recent books and writings that have traced the origins of our current dysfunctional political system and its ominous portents for the future in the context of the recent midterm election. It is a unique demonstration of knowledge and eloquence brought to bear in the service of clear-eyed truth-telling about our bleak present and our contingent future. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dr. Ornstein's distinguished career and body of work, please see his a summary below. Also below see a link to the New Republic article Dr. Ornstein references during the podcast episode.https://newrepublic.com/article/152127/republicans-broke-congress-democrats-can-fix-it
Follow us on InstagramFollow us on TwitterFollow us on Facebook
Follow us on InstagramFollow us on TwitterFollow us on Facebook
Follow us on InstagramFollow us on TwitterFollow us on Facebook
Recording from Grand Rapids, Jim, John, and Peggy welcome local author Tobin Buhk who has written a number of books exploring true crime as it has recurred throughout American history. In particular, they focus on one of Buhk's works, "True Crime In The Civil War". In that work the author explores very notorious events of that war such as the horrors of the Andersonville prison operated by the confederacy, as well as more historically obscure crimes that were committed on both sides of the war. Buhk's themes include the pervasiveness of psychopathology throughout human history and how the outcome of the war shaped the narrative of what was considered a crime and what was not.Follow us on Instagram.Follow us on Twitter.
In the first of three episodes recorded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jim, John, and Peggy talk to local podcasters Luke Ferris and Tiffany Szakel of the I Heart Grand Rapids podcast. What happens when the very nice (I Heart Grand Rapids) meets the sometimes-not-so-very-nice (Two Guys In Search of an Argument)? Find out as the two sets of podcasters compare notes on podcasting, scrutinize the virtues of Grand Rapids, and explore the subtleties of western Michigan Nice. And Peg's dogs are there too.
High school pop music fan Annie Heintz joins Jim, Peg and John in a free-wheeling discussion founded on five songs by five contemporary artists receiving a lot of streaming time. Alone by Halsey, Barcelona by Ed Sheehan, Friends by Anne-Marie, No Tears Left to Cry by Ariana Grande and In My Blood by Shawn Mendes. The tri-generational conversation includes Gen X, Gen Z and the Baby Boom, leaving only Millennials excluded and set for a future pod. We are looking for a patron. If you like the show, take a look at us at https://www.twoguysinsearchofanargument.com/support/ or send an email, text or call.
Expert Two Guys in Search aficionados Tom McGrath and Nancy Heintz join Jim, Peg and John on this week's introspective adventure into the heart, soul and guts of the Two Guys podcast.Become our patron. Go to www.twoguysinsearch.com and click on the Support button.Jim, Peg and John return in a fortnight for more easy-listening story-telling news-chattering talk.We would love your audio comment. Record and email your comments to twoguysinsearch@gmail.com.If you want to write to us, that's fantastic! You can reach out to Jim, Peg and John with a comment, question or complaint by going to www.twoguysinsearchofanargument.com/contact, on Twitter at #twoguysinsearch, on Facebook, Google Plus or whatever platform you love. Or just call us!
Eloise Maxwell and David Persky return to the podcast to discuss Sondra Perry and Dayanita Singh, two artists at the edge of the contemporary art world.
Internationalist Richard Young joins Jim, Peg and John a discussion of highlights and lowlights of the current political situation in the United Kingdom. Brexit and Trump compete for attention with European Union citizenship, French passport makers and global economics. Listen for Richard's picks of the hot-shot politicians to watch.
Documentarian Nikki Brake Sillá joins Peg, Jim, and John for a conversation focused on the acclaimed documentary I Am Not Your Negro by Raoul Peck. She also discusses her own work and her views on the current state of race and culture.I Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 film regarding author and activist, James Baldwin. Baldwin was born in the United States but Lived most of his adult life as an expatriate. During the crucial years of the late 1950s and the 1960s he returned to his native country to participate in the upheaval of American society as it was challenged to its core by the widespread effort of African-Americans to assert their claim to equality and justice. During this time, Baldwin befriended, among others, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, all of whom became the victims of assassination. The documentary itself is somewhat unique in that the audio track consists almost entirely of clips of Baldwin himself speaking as well as Baldwin's written words as spoken by Samuel L. Jackson.
MacBeth used dogs to encourage murderers.Yes, you’re part of the species called men. Just as hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, mutts, shaggy lapdogs, swimming dogs, and wolf-dog crossbreeds are all dogs. But if you list the different kinds of dogs according to their qualities, you can distinguish which breeds are fast or slow, which ones are clever, which ones are watchdogs, and which ones hunters. You can classify each dog according to the natural gifts that separate it from all other dogs.Dog Lover Beth Shannon joins fellow Dog Lover Peggy Bennett and Dog Sceptics Jim Gentile and John Heintz in this quippy conversation about dog ownership.GuestBeth Shannon is a proud dog owner who calls her connection with her pet the best relationship of her life. She lives and works in Washington DC.MoreJim, Peg and John return in two weeks for more easy-listening story-telling news-chattering talk.Reach out to Jim, Peg and John with a comment, question or complaint by going to www.twoguysinsearchofanargument.com/contact or on Twitter at #twoguysinsearch or on Facebook, Google Plus or whatever platform you love by using your preferred search engine.
The Turner Classic Movie Channel (TCM) hosts an annual festival of classic films showing in vintage film palaces in Hollywood. Will Gentile attended this year for the fourth time in his relatively young life and arose a t 6 a.m. to share his impressions of this year's event as well as to voice his thoughts on films and filmmaking generally. During the conversation he relates his experiences growing up as a film buff and overcoming the burdens of having Jim for a father. Peg is absent from this week's conversation for "legal reasons" - as in she wanted to go see the Alps instead of being on the episode.
The Two Guys crew take a fortnight off from interviews after one of their many technical glitches. Keeping up the discussion about Jim, Peggy and John discuss their podcast, other podcasts, video, parenting, work, Better Call Saul and the economics of bicycles and cars in Shanghai. Peg gets subpoenaed. John rants about China’s economy. Jim says no to everything. To the extent that these friends have ever been on the same planet, this podcast jettisons them to opposite ends of the cosmos.
Alex Berger, Co-Executive Producer for the hit NBC Drama, Blindspot, joins Jim, Peg and John to talk about his successful series, writing for Warner Brothers and life in LA. This fortnight’s podcast offers an in-depth look at the television and film industry from the perspective of a long-time Hollywood insider. The conversation hits on Hollywood career trajectories, the writer’s room, the democratization of content, changing audience expectations and some of the biggest names on big and little screens.
Sharon Post, public health expert, returns to the podcast to discuss the opioid crisis. Sharon, Jim, Peggy and John discuss the roots of the crisis, media bias, political point-scoring and paths toward hope for a solution. Health care reform, improved pain management, community partnerships and federal funding for local innovation around the country are discussed solutions. Blaming takes a back seat to thinking and, where there’s consensus, it’s around the need for big plans to respond to a growing challenge.
Art experts David Persky and Eloise Maxwell join the podcast this week in a wide open conversation about the nature of art. David and Eloise join Jim, Peg and John in a wide-ranging and probing discussion of pastel-colored wrapped candies, artistic vision, art as process, Leonardo daVinci, David Geffen, Neil Young, the Beatles and the Obama portraits.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
