With Friends Like These

Old 97's band members and old time friends, Rhett Miller and Murray Hammond, join us for a conversation about songwriting, falling into friendship love and how a band is like an open marriage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rising artist, Ciara Rae shares her experience of living in Nashville as a songwriter and musician. She tells us about the ups and downs of surviving in a forever evolving industry, staying true to her music and how songwriting helped her into recovery from an eating disorder. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Go-Go's made history as one of the most successful all-female bands ever. Bassist Kathy Valentine's new memoir puts their story in context and highlights her own rocky path to recovery, success, and serenity.. The author of ‘All I Ever Wanted' joins us to talk songwriting, booze, and sex. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The creator of Sans Bar, the bar without booze, Chris Marshall joins us for a conversation on recovery, community and how to make the perfect mocktail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week is the 400th anniversary of what America knows as Thanksgiving. Join us as food historian Linda Civitello takes us through how the traditional meal has evolved through the decades and what items we love to indulge in owe their existence to indigenous people. We explore the good, the bad and ugly that comes along with this beloved holiday. From the food racism to legacy of the indigenous people and everything in between!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emmy and James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, writer and teacher, Andrew Zimmern joins the show to talk about Food politics, the restaurant industry post pandemic, and his journey with sobriety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer for the Atlantic and Author of the book The Cruelty is the point: The Past, Present and Future of Trump's America, Adam Serwer, joins the show to talk about Texas' politics, the misconceptions about the state and how to create a better America using Texas as our teacher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedic writer and actress Daisy Haggard joins the show to talk about her work creating the Showtime series “Back To Life,” which follows an underdog female character who returns to her hometown after serving an 18 year prison sentence. Daisy talks about why she wanted to humanize people struggling for redemption, and what she learned about writing, forgiveness and herself.  For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedian Sophie Santos joins the show to talk about her memoir -- “The One You Want to Marry ---and Other Identities I've Had.”   It details Sophie's life growing up as an Army brat in the South, while also being white, Hispanic, Asian, and gay - and the bumpy (and often hilarious) moments that led her to finding herself as an adult.  For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reporter Eric Garcia's new book -- “We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation” -- springs from his experience as a political correspondent and autistic person. Frustrated with the myths and stereotypes about autism found in the media, he set out to report on what autism really looks like and to ask autistic people what they really want and need. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lizz Winstead is best known as the co-creator of The Daily Show, a program that reinvented late-night, and showed a new generation of comedians how to combine news with satire and activism. Her next act was founding Lady Parts Justice, now known as Abortion Access Front, an organization that travels the country, supporting abortion clinics and the people who work there. She sits down to offer some practical suggestions for what we all can do about the new Texas anti-abortion law, and what to look out for as other states try to pass similar legislation. To learn more about Abortion Access Front, go to aafront.org For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After enduring what she calls “700 bad days” in a row, author Kelly Williams Brown realized that simple rituals and crafty projects were often what got her through her most difficult days. In her new book “Easy Crafts for the Insane” she explains the practical, fun, and do-able activities that offer an escape from a chaotic world. Note: This week is National Suicide Prevention Week. This conversation offers a set guardrails to activate in moments of deep crisis. If you need to talk to someone right now, please call the national suicide prevention hotline at 800-273-8255 or try the Crisis Text Line, 741-741 For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the past 10 years, actor, author and humorist John Hodgman has hosted the podcast “Judge John Hodgman” where he helps friends, roommates and romantic couples negotiate their long-standing quibbles: Things like: “Which one of us is loading the dishwasher right?” Throughout the years, John's discovered some deeper throughlines about gender roles and power dynamics. He also talks about his animated show on FXX called “Dicktown” which is a surprising window into male sensitivity and forgiveness. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Best-selling author of "White Rage" Carol Anderson explores the anti-Black history of the Second Amendment. There is structural racism built into our Bill of Rights! The story of white Americans' fear of black Americans with guns starts with the enslaved people who fought against the British and runs all the way to the killing of legal gun owner Philando Castile - and beyond. Her new book is The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fellow Crookedian Rebecca Nagle joins us to talk about Season Two of “This Land.” From the “boarding schools” of the 19th century to the good intentions of the Indian Child Welfare Act — and the big money campaign to repeal it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The co-author of “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth,” Bryan Burroughs, debunks the Anglo-centric fables surrounding Texas' founding myth — with a cameo appearance from Phil Collins. (In the myth, not as a guest on the show.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brian Broome's dad used to threaten to hit him so hard he'd go to heaven — “punch him up to the gods” — if he didn't conform to the ideal of Black masculinity. Broome joins to discuss his memoir, “Punch Me Up to the Gods, and rising above that threat, finding himself, and finding recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former young girl and memoirist Melissa Febos joins to discuss the pressures and paradoxes in how society treats female children. Her most recent book is called “Girlhood.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is now a Simone Biles stan account. ESPN's Alyssa Roenigk joins to talk about the Olympics as a problematic fave and Biles as an unproblematic one. Women's gymnastics did a number on a lot of us as young people — the unrealistic body expectations, the idea of “tough love” as the best way to coach. That culture is changing and let's celebrate that! On Adorables Like These, time to talk to the “sensitive one” in the Pod Save America boy band, Tommy Vietor, who tells us about his bath mat with a pulse, Lucca. (CW for gymnastics conversation: sexual abuse and eating disorders.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Restorative justice advocate Ruby Welch brings the perspective of a previously incarcerated person to policy. She's not a fan of how most people (even well-meaning people!) prioritize the needs of the recently released. Find out what it means to be really heard. On this week's Adorables Like These: Suri, the grumpy-faced kitty companion of Crooked intern Mari Cardenas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yale psychologist Molly Crockett joins the show to talk about the latest research on online outrage and how it affects us all. Then on this week's Adorables segment you'll hear from Rutherford Falls star Jana Schmieding about the two cats who came into her life during the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On her podcast, “Death, Sex and Money,” Anna Sales has delved into topics most people avoid, but what she learned has to do with the questions you ask and not the answers you want. We also discuss her book, “Let's Talk About Hard Things.” ALSO: Musician Moby introduces his #adorables nominee, Candace Bergen Bagel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy Richter's relationship with Conan O'Brien has extended over decades; overall, it's lasted longer than most marriages (the average US marriage ends after eight years, sadface). The Conan show on TBS comes to an end on June 25 and we got Andy on the line to reflect on how to make relationships work, how to do comedy as woke white guy, and what he's going to do next. After that, an “Adorables” interview about Brussel Sprout and why he looks like the Google image result for "dog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've begun to recognize the tragedy that happened in Greenwood a hundred years ago, but Greenwood is more than a memorial. It had a bustling past, an amazing recovery, and, sadly, a second ransacking — and it's recovering again. Carlos Moreno, author of The Victory of Greenwood, joins us to talk about the full story of this amazing community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Negin Farsad calls herself a “social justice comedian” and she's been using her skills to leverage entertainment into opening minds for years now – both in her book, “How to Make White People Laugh,” her documentary, “The Muslims Are Coming!” and on a regular basis on her podcast, “Fake the Nation.” Want to know how to turn a master's degree into a podcasting career? What about how to respond to people Being Mad Online? Oh, and, how DO you make white people laugh? Negin has some answers. After Negin, stay tuned for a visit from Jolene, the tiny canine companion of Crooked's Matt DeGroot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Rutherford Falls" writer and actress Jana Schmieding joins to talk about Indigenous humor, being a "person of size" playing a romantic comedy lead, and the best way to make fun of podcasters, racist, snobs, small-town reactionaries, and academics. And on "With Adorables Like These" our first official two cat segment - featuring Laszlo, Jackie and their human Alison Falzetta. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ground-breaking musician Moby joins to discuss his sobriety and all that comes with it: humility, serving others, and looking somewhere else beside fame to fill the emptiness inside. His new auto-bio-pic, “Moby Doc,” is in limited release to theaters now. Then, on this week's "With Adorables Like These" Mina Kimes joins with her dog (and podcast co-host) Lenny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former mayor of Tallahassee and Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum joins to talk how about recovery influenced his perspective on politics and his own sense of self as a former politician, bi-erasure, and what Matt Gaetz’s behavior can tell us about projecting. Then on “With Adorables Like These” Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau tells us how his dog Leo made him a better flyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vince Granata starts his book, “Everything Is Fine,” with the truth: His brother, in the midst of a schizophrenic episode, murdered his mother. The rest of the book tells the story of how and why Vince never stopped loving him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes comes on to give her hot take on how analysts should and shouldn’t talk about sexual assault and institutional bad behavior. One idea: Never again utter the phrase “off-field issues.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“United Shades of America” host W. Kamau Bell joins to discuss the miserable job performance of the police, who are our employees! Also: how trauma can make you funnier and why marginalized folks have to have bigger and better imaginations than others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Documentary “Boys State” is up for an Oscar for its engrossing portrayal of Texas teenagers’ cutthroat politics. One of its stars, Steven Garza, stops by to discuss if the kids are alright. Spoiler alert: Maybe not!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stand-up Tig Notaro comes by to talk about being free and fearless, and how that makes you a better person and funnier comedian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert’s new book, “Under a White Sky,” explores the damage to the planet humans have done (or could do) in trying to fix the damage they’ve done: everything from electrocuting carp and to sprinkling the sky with diamond dust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rebecca Carroll grew up as the only Black person in her adopted family, and in her small town. Her memoir, “Surviving the White Gaze,” is about exactly what it says. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harvard Law professor Martha Minow has an idea: what if we forgive debts to society with the same generosity that we forgive the debts of corporations? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York Magazine's Rebecca Traister expands on her reporting about Andrew Cuomo's reckoning and suggests broadening our understanding of what sexual harassment and abuse look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intercept senior writer Liliana Segura has been reporting on the death penalty for years, including the Trump administration’s lame-duck killing spree. She comes on to discuss the legacy of putting people to death during a pandemic — and to share stories about the heroes she’s found in the darkness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maurice Chammah, author of the NYT Editor’s Pick “Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty,” joins us to talk about how enforcing the death penalty poisons everyone who is a part of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this season of With Friends Like These, host Ana Marie Cox looks at post-Trump America and tries to find models for how we forgive people, and if we should. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To celebrate With Friends Like These 200th episode, we talk with Rolling Stone senior writer Jamil Smith about how he helped inspire the show, what the pandemic has taught us about grief, and being careful about who you call a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CW: Eating disorders, dieting. Aubrey Gordon, of Maintenance Phase and “Your Fat Friend,” joins to take us through the twisty history of Weight Watchers and its founder, Jean Nidtech. Stops on the tour include Heinz ketchup and Maya Angelou! Aubrey’s new book is “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the National Guard descended on Minneapolis to enforce an 8PM curfew on the streets, advocates for those living on the streets bought a block of rooms at a shuttered Sheraton to house them. The volunteers decided to impose as little authority as possible, hoping that a radical approach to harm reduction would empower the residents. But their experiment went terribly wrong.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Martinson was a radical anti-racist activist in the 1960s: He ran for mayor in Berkley as a socialist. He was arrested in Mississippi for participating in Freedom Summer. And then he authored the academic paper that became the political justification for “tough on crime” policies. He’s forgotten; can he be forgiven? Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson guides us through his tragic story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York Magazine senior writer and Friend of the Pod Rebecca Traister joins to talk us through how Biden’s missteps around issues of gender and race made him the white guy who could win in 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Atlantic's Adam Serwer comes on to talk about the inauguration and the future of this fragile democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We love to love mothers, except when we don’t — like when they’re Black, or queer, or too thin, or too fat, or want to end their pregnancy, or do it alone, or have a glass of wine. Friend of the pod Lyz Lenz joins to discuss her new book, “Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The only sustainable foundation for a changed world is internal transformation” — that’s the message of Sonya Renee Taylor, author of “The Body Is Not an Apology.” Her mission is to take us out of the realm of mere “body positivity” or “self-acceptance” and into a place of “radical self-love.” That means not just creating a world where all bodies are celebrated, but also embracing who we are, exactly as we are. Which part of that mission sounds harder to you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Derek Black thought he was done with the white nationalist movement when he wrote a public letter renouncing the ideology he grew up in. Then he realized that white nationalism wasn’t just the racists that used to listen to his white nationalist radio show and read his white nationalist website — white supremacy was everywhere, people just weren’t talking about it. (With a new introduction; this episode originally aired 06/12/20.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Santa isn’t the only myth we use to keep children in line! In the 1990s, evangelical churches bought and gave away thousands of copies of the book, “Left Behind,” hoping its overwrought depiction of the End Times would frighten unbelievers into the arms of Christ. That is not what happened. Amy Frykholm, author of “Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America,” explains what did. Originally aired 8/7/2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What, exactly, are parents accomplishing when they encourage their children to believe in the idea of an extravagently-dressed stranger breaking and entering into their homes on Christmas Eve? Is Santa a well-meaning myth or the beginning of the end of filial trust? CW: The truth about Santa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices