Podcasts about mad magazine

The "Happy Hostess Cookbook Party" is an online community focused on cookbooks and hosting, led by Kristie LaLonde. It's part of the larger "Happy Hostess" brand, which includes the “Happy Hostess Podcast” and other resources for aspiring and experienced hosts. The club focuses on exploring recipes from various cookbooks, often accompanied by themed events and discussions.Kristie has so graciously planned to feature the “True North Cabin Cookbook” for her October club. The club meets via Zoom for all members. It's a monthly subscription for an orchestrated “cook along”thats fun and approachable for all levels of cooks interested in joining a community.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. Many times cookbook authors, other times makers. And this particular episode, we are talking to Kristie LaLonde. She is the Happy Hostess Collective. And Kristie and I found each other through a listener of my radio show. My friend Jilly in Minnesota is. She's. We call them Dishers weekly.Stephanie:Dishers, that's the name of the radio show. And Jilly's been a Disher for over 18 years. We've had the show and I think she's listened as long as we've had it. And she reached out to me because in my sub stack, I have a Sunday newsletter and I did a whole thing about entertaining and how I love when people just entertain and people make entertaining so complicated and it doesn't need to be. And I offered to give around a cookbooks to people that have cookbook clubs because I think they're so fun. And Jilly replied and said, I have this great cookbook club. We would love it if we could win your books. And she is part of the Happy Hostess Cookbook Club.Stephanie:So they won. Jilly got the books. I sent books to all the people in the cookbook group that Jilly's in. And Kristie is the leader of the Happy Hostess Collective, Kristie, welcome to the program. I'm delighted to have you.Kristie LaLonde:Thank you. I am so excited to be here.Stephanie:So explain to the audience what the Happy Hostess Collective is and all the different avenues that you have for fostering your love of cookbooks and clubbing.Kristie LaLonde:Well, I am on Instagram as Happy Hostess Collective, but for our cookbook club, it's actually called Happy Cookbook Party because I couldn't really think of a good name. It's not a great name because it doesn't really let you know it's a cookbook club. But we. There's a lot of emphasis on party in it. So basically it's a cookbook club, but instead of meeting in person, most of the time, we are meeting twice a month on Zoom and we are cooking together from one cookbook, which we usually choose a cookbook and stick with that cookbook for like three to four months, depending upon how robust the cookbook is.Stephanie:And people come from all over the country and tell me, like, how do you logistically do it? Do you have like, you know, 30 people on a Zoom or how does it work?Kristie LaLonde:Actually, we do have. We are on Zoom and basically what happens when we pick a book? I will go through and kind of we have a Facebook Group. And so I ask everyone either which recipes really look good to you that you're wanting to try.And then I look through all of those and make sure that they can fit within the hour to hour and a half timeframe of our Zoom Cook along. And then I make a schedule for the next three months and it's printable. I send it to them so they can print it out. And then every. We meet twice a month, so every two weeks, basically we meet on Zoom and I send them grocery list ahead of time for those two recipes that we choose. Sometimes it's three when we throw in a cocktail in there. Yes, especially we usually meet at noon or 4, so the 4 o' clock ones a lot of times have the cocktail. But so we all just meet in one Zoom meeting and we all cook and I'm kind of leading it, but everyone else is talking just as much as I do because we've gotten to know each other so well and it's so fun because we really learn from each other because we have some like expert bakers and we have some people like me that not expert at all in baking.Kristie LaLonde:And so. And like we have some really strong florists and there's. We just learn a lot from each other. And every once in a while we also do like a tutorial on a different thing that would have to do with being a hostess. For example, we've done flower arrangements that mimic the ones we saw in one of our cookbooks. We've done hostess gifts, like kind of homemade, cute little hostess gifts at Christmas time. So it's a wide variety of things. It's been strange.Like a lot of things have come our way. We had, we were offered to have a Vector cocktails. It's like a cocktail mixer. They offered to do a, a cook. I mean, like a cocktail class for us. It was super fun. They sent us all their mixers and it was great. So we've got a chance to do a lot of stuff.Stephanie:So what is your background and how did you land here?Kristie LaLonde:Well, I have always loved cooking and entertaining, even when I was little. Like, I remember I had one of my cookbooks was like the MAD Magazine cookbooks. I don't know if you remember MAD magazine, but they had like a holiday thing and I just loved it. I remember pouring through that and it's crazy because I do that now, obviously with grownup cookbooks, but. And so that just kind of. Well, and then when I was very young, I was the maid of honor in Three Weddings in one year. So I had a crash course and had a host parties for grownups, and that was very fun. But.Kristie LaLonde:And I'd always really enjoyed the ideas of parties as well. Growing up, my parents were my mom. My father was in an industry where there were lots of fancy, fancy famous parties.Stephanie:Yeah.Kristie LaLonde:Because we live in Kentucky, so the derby parties. And.Stephanie:Yes.Kristie LaLonde:So I would, like, hear them, like, sometimes they would be on the farm that we lived on, like in the party barn. And so, like, I would hear the parties, and I just was kind of fascinated with all of that, and it just kind of snowballed from there.Stephanie:But you on the Happy Hostess Collective on your Instagram, you chronicle a lot of these parties and you have, like, beautiful flower arrangements. And I mean, honestly, the south is just like, I don't know why, but you guys are known for just these over the top, beautiful flower arrangements, beautiful parties, beautiful outfits. In the north, everything feels a little more, like, rustic and just a little more outdoorsy. But, like, the south just feels like China and silver and so beautiful.Kristie LaLonde:Yeah, you know, there's a little bit of everything for sure in the south, but we do tend to go over the top. That is. That is definitely the case. Which makes it fun, though. But. And I love a big theme. It can. It's a lot of fun.And whether it's rustic theme, but it's just like kind of go all in on it. It makes it a lot of fun.Stephanie:How did you figure out, like, I think it's pretty cool that you have this whole cookbook club happening via Zoom. So there's technology there. Right. And then you also have, like a Facebook group. You really use social media to drive a lot of this engagement. It is a paid subscription, which I also think is cool because sometimes if you have to pay for something, you value it a little bit more or you make time for it in your schedule. How did I learn all the technological pieces and have you just learned by trial and error?Kristie LaLonde:Well, fortunately, Zoom is fairly easy to use. And especially after Covid, everybody knows how to use Zoom, thankfully. But actually, I started an E commerce store, like, before people heard of the word E commerce.And I am not techno, very technologically advanced, but I am willing to figure out whatever it is if it makes it possible for me to do what I want. And I really wanted a. A China and dish store, which. Big surprise. So that I had it. No, I don't. I had it for almost 14 years. I think that's, like, my dream.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, it was so fun. And it stopped me from buying all the dishes. Because I had all these gorgeous dishes. Like in a warehouse. Yes. But it's a really heavy, breakable object and not so fun to ship after a while. So I transitioned out of that and wanted to do something that didn't require shipping.Stephanie:And this is brilliant because you've got new friends from all over the country. It could be all over the world.Kristie LaLonde:I suppose it definitely could be. There happens to be just the country right now. We are a small group, but it is a really fun group and it's been a great community. And I really wanted something to tie in my podcast to make it and make it smaller. Well, obviously with the podcast, it's only me or myself and a guest, so I really wanted to be able to, like, get to know my listeners better, and this was the perfect thing.Stephanie:How did you get into podcasting? Because you've have had over a hundred episodes all about this topic of hostessing.Kristie LaLonde:Basically it was the sick of being shipping things. So I thought, okay, well, we could start the podcast. I wasn't really sure what direction it was going to take, but I thought that it would be a good avenue for me to get started. And it kind of led to this.Stephanie:One of the topics that was on your recent podcast that I was kind of interested in, because I think the. It has changed so much since COVID is the whole idea of having a party and the RSVP list. People in my experience tend to be very late at responding to things. And even like, we're finding that restaurant reservations people will make four reservations and cancel three with really no thought about it. Like, it's just we're in a very quick societal change. And you talked a lot about how to get people to RSVP, how important RSVPs are. What were some of your tips there?Kristie LaLonde:Well, it's. It sounds a little old school, but one of them was to actually have a physical invitation delivered to them.Stephanie:Amen. This whole, like, you're gonna send me a digital something, it's fine. It's great as, like, a reminder, but I just. I don't think it's the same as, like, getting an actual invitation to something.Kristie LaLonde:I agree. And for one thing, it's. It's less likely to be forgotten because a lot of times they put it on the refrigerator or somewhere they can see it. And then also, like, it's shocking when you get something in the mail that you. That isn't a bill today, you know, so it's. It seems more special.Stephanie:This is kind of a weird aside, but I used to run a direct mail company. So I love direct mail. And the number one growing category for direct mail is 18 to 34, because they love getting offers in the mail. Because getting mail feels so special now and so unique.Kristie LaLonde:You're kidding.Stephanie:No, it's like it's coming back.Kristie LaLonde:That is so interesting.Stephanie:And the catalog companies have always had a robust business using the mail. They've maybe pared down their catalogs a little bit, or they might have specialty offerings, but people are still sending a lot of catalogs.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, goodness. Well, I'm so glad because I just thought I was like, old school because I really like to have books in my hands. I like. I like getting catalogs if it's from a business that I like. I thought I was the only one that.Stephanie:No, you are not. What other kinds of trends are you noticing in just entertaining in general, good or bad?Kristie LaLonde:Well, catching on. One that I did recently, I did a small series on baby showers. And. Wow. Things have changed since I was having babies, for sure. Like, drastically. Some. Some things I think are good.Kristie LaLonde:Like, for example, a lot of times they're co ed now, which was just a trend that had just barely started when I was having children. And I think that's fun and interesting, for sure. Um, but I do also think that they have gotten, like, kind of out of hand a little bit. And I love going over the top, like I said earlier with a party, so I'm. I'm never gonna, like, shame anybody for that. But it seems like with social media coming in, that everyone is seeing these highlight reels from very sophisticated baby showers.Stephanie:Yeah.Kristie LaLonde:And so I kind of camped out in baby shower groups for, like, a good month, like, trying to prepare for this series. And. And it was kind of sad, really, because people were so. A lot of people, not everyone, of course, but were so sad because they didn't have enough people to invite to have an almost wedding, like, baby shower. Like, it was. It was. And they felt defeated. It was just.Kristie LaLonde:It was kind of disheartening. And I mean, you could tell that they really thought that it was normal that people had to rent out a venue hall in order to have a baby shower.Stephanie:Yeah.Kristie LaLonde:Which is not the case at all.Stephanie:And like, just making diaper cake is still pretty fun, isn't it?Kristie LaLonde:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so, I mean, yeah, it's. It's really different. It's. It's almost. And it's a whole different vibe from a lot of people. And the thing is, I've not seen this in person, so I don't want to say that everyone's like this. Maybe it's just the vocal people on Facebook, you know, but it seemed a lot more like, this is my party.Kristie LaLonde:This is my. My thing, as opposed to, you know, someone hosting it for you.Stephanie:Yeah. Yeah. Well, you haven't. Have you watched the Mormon Housewives?Kristie LaLonde:I haven't.Stephanie:Okay, good. I don't. It's like, so bad. It's good. So wrong. Right. So I don't really want to, like, encourage anyone to do it because that sort of guilty pleasure. But they have these big over the top and they have a lot of kids and they're all women under 30.Stephanie:So they do have these big, like, over the top baby showers and the baby hills and the baby moons. And honestly, it's just. So if we get to the idea of just like, entertaining, I think people get so hung up on that they have to have like this special meal or that they have to spend all day in the kitchen. What would be like, some of your tips for getting you to entertain? More like, barriers to overcome, I guess.Kristie LaLonde:Well, I think first and foremost is to really focus on your mindset and think about why that you want to entertain. And usually it's because you want to make memories and have connections with your friends and family. Do you want to make memories and those are awesome reasons, or you want to celebrate someone, you know? And a lot of times when we start thinking about entertaining, sometimes we can get a little nervous that maybe I'm not good enough cook or I'm. My house isn't big enough or I don't have enough people to invite, for example, the baby shower. And I really just recommend very first thing to do is to flip your mind and be focused on your guests. Like, what do you want to do for them, how do you want them to feel? You know, obviously you want them to be. Feel welcomed in your home and that sort of thing. So if you could just focus on the.Kristie LaLonde:The guest, you usually can stop all the negative chatter in your mind because you're not focusing on yourself. And then also, most importantly, don't do everything yourself. You don't have to cook everything. You don't have to cook at all if you don't want to. You know, that's why caterers exist. Even if you only cooked one thing that was like a signature dish, then you might. It's. It's like you did cook.And so I really think that trying not to do everything and focusing on your making your guests feel welcome are very important.Stephanie:I figured out late in Life how easy it is to cook fish for a crowd. And that seems like a weird thing, but, like, if you get, like, a whole side of salmon or poach a whole fish or you even have slabs that you're just putting under the broiler, you can have, like, any salads prepared in advance. You know, you can have vegetables prepared in advance, you can have a cheese platter prepared in advance. And then really, like, the only thing you're cooking is this side of salmon or you've got a sauce that you've already made. I was always so afraid to cook fish, and once I kind of got over that hump, I was like, wow, this is actually pretty easy. I can cook a whole side of fish. I can feed 12 people off of it, typically, if I get a big enough one. And with all the sides and everything, everything's already made before they even get here.Kristie LaLonde:That is perfect. And that's like the perfect example of what we're trying to do in the cookbook party is to get people to increase their repertoire of things that are very easy to entertain. Because there are some delicious recipes that we make that would be a nightmare if, you know, for entertaining, you know, they take too long, they need to be done at the last minute, that sort of thing. But if you like, for example, the fish, you know that all. It kind of meets all the requirements. You don't have to do it at the last minute. It's easy preparation, and we want to gain. It's like our entertaining arsenal.Kristie LaLonde:Kind of find those recipes, find ways of doing things that make it simple, where, you know, if, like, for example, things that can be cooked the day before and just reheated, like carnitas, like the meat and that type of thing. Yep. There's just lots of them. And. And we can all have our own little personal style when it comes to that. You know, that's what makes it fun is, is everyone seems like they have their own signature dishes.Stephanie:What's a go to Kristie LaLonde signature entertaining dish?Kristie LaLonde:Well, I just mentioned one of them, carnitas. I love them. They are not. They are kind of time consuming, but it is completely make. You can make it whenever you want, and it tastes great the next day reheated. It's one of those things that, you know, can taste better, even better the same day, and people love them. Everyone seems to like them. So that's one of my go tos.Kristie LaLonde:And then also like, oh, gosh, I can't even remember what I call them now, but they're like the white cream chicken, Chicken enchiladas.Stephanie:Oh, yeah.Kristie LaLonde:Because they can totally be made ahead of time, and all you have to do is put them in the oven, and then, you know, you can make sides easily. A lot of times, actually, with both of those things, I used to. I don't need to now, but I didn't have a good refried beans recipe that I liked, and rice is one of the few things that I really, really struggle with. I need to buy a rice cooker is what I've been told, but so I would just order from the restaurant that's around the corner, baked beans and rice, and then serve that with them. So it was, like, liked. It was homemade. It's in my dish. It looks homemade.Yeah.Stephanie:Time saving. An instant pot is also really helpful in the rice department. If you. Oh, I mean, I make rice in my instant pot. It is a rice cooker. It's a pressure cooker. Rice cooker. It cooks everything.And then also I make risotto in there too.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, wow. I did not know that. Actually, the carnitas is one of the few things I use my instant pot for. So now I got something else.Stephanie:Oh, yes. I'm a big instant potter. In fact, one of the Facebook groups that we run for our radio show is called the Weekly Dish Instant Potters. Oh, some really great recipes there that people have shared or linked to. It's an open group, but I. It's. If you're an instant potter, and I still am. I still love my instant pot.Stephanie:I do my slow cooker, too. You can slow cook in an instant pot, but I also have two other slow cookers because I'm somewhat obsessed with that, but really helpful and easy. Is there a cookbook that you've used on the cookbook Club journey that you really were like, wow, this is a great, entertaining cookbook?Kristie LaLonde:Yes, for sure. And most of the ones that we choose have an entertaining bent to them, typically just because of our interest in what we're trying to accomplish in the group. But Love Welcome Serve by Amy Hannon. Like, really blew my socks off. Every single recipe that we tried just seemed to be over the top, delicious. It was really phenomenal. Like, we've enjoyed all of our books, for sure, but this one, it just really. I was blown away, and I had been told and that it really was such a good cookbook, and I finally caved and put it in there, and I'm so glad that I did.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm looking at it. It looks delightful. It's got kind of an Ina Garten feeling to it.Kristie LaLonde:And she is just a very genuine, kind, hospitable person. She really. She definitely has the mindset. Like, even when she's talking about making little notes, you can just see just. She has such a hospitable nature.Stephanie:And then the recent cookbook that you guys are doing is the. Is it Brunch with Babs?Kristie LaLonde:Brunch with Babs is her account, but the book is called Celebrate with Babs.Stephanie:Okay. And Babs is like everybody's favorite grandma. Her daughter, I think, worked in lifestyle television and has helped her create this really unbelievable social media presence and following. What is it about her books that attracted you?Kristie LaLonde:I. Well, she organizes her cookbooks in the way that I always enjoy, and that is by party or event. I love cookbooks that are organized that in that fashion. And I'd heard good things about it, and so we thought we would try it.Stephanie:Yeah, she's really. I think her recipes are really great. She's not too fussy. She has some that are more complicated than others, but she does a lot of, like, semi homemade kind of things too. Don't you wish that Sandra Lee from Semi Homemade would come back?Kristie LaLonde:Oh, I know. I. Oh, I loved, loved, loved her show because of the party aspect. I absolutely loved it. And we have enjoyed Celebrate with Babs for sure. And you're right, there are a lot of, like, one recipe will be, you know, kind of complicated like you said, and one will be semi homemade. Today at 4. Today we have our.Kristie LaLonde:What's our second to last cook along in Celebrate with Babs. And the theme today is looking forward to fall. So we're doing her new pond chili and then we're doing Mrs. Williams peanut butter bars. So.Stephanie:Yeah, delicious.Kristie LaLonde:Yes, that will be good for dinner.Stephanie:Yes, it will be. It makes me think of my pumpkin spice espresso martini that I'd like to have with that.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, that sounds good. Oh, that sounds so good.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm obsessed with pumpkin spice. And my. My second book is kind of geared from October through April, so more fall time. And I really, I. When you go to get like a pumpkin spice something, it's usually full of such gross ingredients. And I was like, okay, we could make pumpkin spice flavor with pumpkin, right? And spice, like, it wouldn't be that hard. So I made a pumpkin spice cream and then used it in different recipes. And the espresso martini with pumpkin spice was delightful.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, that sounds amazing. Espresso martinis are one of my absolute favorites.Stephanie:Me too. Me too. Well, it's been super great to chat with you about entertaining, Christy. How can people follow you and what's the best way to join if they want to join the cookbook club?Kristie LaLonde:Well, our website is happy cookbookparty.com and I'm on Instagram at Happy Hostess Collective, if you have a question about anything. And I am excited to announce that we are doing one of your cookbooks starting in October.Stephanie:Excellent. That's right on time.Kristie LaLonde:Yes. I'm so excited about it. I can't wait, because this is totally different. I love that we, you know, we've done a lot of Southern cookbooks. Like we did Pizzazzerie and the Southern Living Party Cookbook and a couple others. And then we kind of moved over to the Midwest of it was celebrate with Babs. And so yours will be a perfect fit.Stephanie:Thank you. I'm excited to have you guys do it. And I hope I can find pop in and say hi while everyone's cooking, because that sounds kind of fun.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, I would love it. I would love it. And I would like to offer your listeners, if they want to join us, they can use the code SD50, and they'll get 50% off their first month's membership.Stephanie:That's fun. And how much is a membership generally? Is it 22?Kristie LaLonde:It's $22 a month. Yes.Stephanie:Okay. I love it. That's great. That's fun. It's a good little, like, date night for yourself to do something fun and unusual that you maybe haven't done before, right?Kristie LaLonde:Yes, it is. And it's, you know, I know you not for you, probably because you're immersed in the food industry, and I know you're so big on local, which I love about your cookbooks. I love reading the little stories about the local people. But, you know, a lot of us don't have, like, I love to entertain, and I do have friends that entertain, but I don't have people necessarily close to me that just love it as much as I do and really want to learn. And so it's awesome that I get to hang out with these people all over the country that really do love it as much as I do.Stephanie:Yes. Well, we'll put all this information in the show notes, and you and I will connect on when we want to have the podcast distributed so that people can join. And it was really great to spend time with you. Thanks to Jilly in mn, my favorite Instagram friend and weekly disher who hooked us up. Kristie. I'll connect with you after this podcast by email, and we'll get all the details set up, but thanks for watching, for helping launch my book. It's awesome.Kristie LaLonde:Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.Stephanie:Yes. And we'll talk soon. Thanks for being a guest today. Oh, and I want to shout out your podcast real quick because we'll put a link to that, too.Kristie LaLonde:Thank you. It's called Happy Hostess.Stephanie:Okay. It's really great. You have a lot of episodes on hostessing and fun, entertaining ideas, so. All right, Kristie we'll connect in email.Kristie LaLonde:Awesome. Thanks, Stephanie.Stephanie:Okay, bye. Bye. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

The "Happy Hostess Cookbook Party" is an online community focused on cookbooks and hosting, led by Kristie LaLonde. It's part of the larger "Happy Hostess" brand, which includes the “Happy Hostess Podcast” and other resources for aspiring and experienced hosts. The club focuses on exploring recipes from various cookbooks, often accompanied by themed events and discussions.Kristie has so graciously planned to feature the “True North Cabin Cookbook” for her October club. The club meets via Zoom for all members. It's a monthly subscription for an orchestrated “cook along”thats fun and approachable for all levels of cooks interested in joining a community.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. Many times cookbook authors, other times makers. And this particular episode, we are talking to Kristie LaLonde. She is the Happy Hostess Collective. And Kristie and I found each other through a listener of my radio show. My friend Jilly in Minnesota is. She's. We call them Dishers weekly.Stephanie:Dishers, that's the name of the radio show. And Jilly's been a Disher for over 18 years. We've had the show and I think she's listened as long as we've had it. And she reached out to me because in my sub stack, I have a Sunday newsletter and I did a whole thing about entertaining and how I love when people just entertain and people make entertaining so complicated and it doesn't need to be. And I offered to give around a cookbooks to people that have cookbook clubs because I think they're so fun. And Jilly replied and said, I have this great cookbook club. We would love it if we could win your books. And she is part of the Happy Hostess Cookbook Club.Stephanie:So they won. Jilly got the books. I sent books to all the people in the cookbook group that Jilly's in. And Kristie is the leader of the Happy Hostess Collective, Kristie, welcome to the program. I'm delighted to have you.Kristie LaLonde:Thank you. I am so excited to be here.Stephanie:So explain to the audience what the Happy Hostess Collective is and all the different avenues that you have for fostering your love of cookbooks and clubbing.Kristie LaLonde:Well, I am on Instagram as Happy Hostess Collective, but for our cookbook club, it's actually called Happy Cookbook Party because I couldn't really think of a good name. It's not a great name because it doesn't really let you know it's a cookbook club. But we. There's a lot of emphasis on party in it. So basically it's a cookbook club, but instead of meeting in person, most of the time, we are meeting twice a month on Zoom and we are cooking together from one cookbook, which we usually choose a cookbook and stick with that cookbook for like three to four months, depending upon how robust the cookbook is.Stephanie:And people come from all over the country and tell me, like, how do you logistically do it? Do you have like, you know, 30 people on a Zoom or how does it work?Kristie LaLonde:Actually, we do have. We are on Zoom and basically what happens when we pick a book? I will go through and kind of we have a Facebook Group. And so I ask everyone either which recipes really look good to you that you're wanting to try.And then I look through all of those and make sure that they can fit within the hour to hour and a half timeframe of our Zoom Cook along. And then I make a schedule for the next three months and it's printable. I send it to them so they can print it out. And then every. We meet twice a month, so every two weeks, basically we meet on Zoom and I send them grocery list ahead of time for those two recipes that we choose. Sometimes it's three when we throw in a cocktail in there. Yes, especially we usually meet at noon or 4, so the 4 o' clock ones a lot of times have the cocktail. But so we all just meet in one Zoom meeting and we all cook and I'm kind of leading it, but everyone else is talking just as much as I do because we've gotten to know each other so well and it's so fun because we really learn from each other because we have some like expert bakers and we have some people like me that not expert at all in baking.Kristie LaLonde:And so. And like we have some really strong florists and there's. We just learn a lot from each other. And every once in a while we also do like a tutorial on a different thing that would have to do with being a hostess. For example, we've done flower arrangements that mimic the ones we saw in one of our cookbooks. We've done hostess gifts, like kind of homemade, cute little hostess gifts at Christmas time. So it's a wide variety of things. It's been strange.Like a lot of things have come our way. We had, we were offered to have a Vector cocktails. It's like a cocktail mixer. They offered to do a, a cook. I mean, like a cocktail class for us. It was super fun. They sent us all their mixers and it was great. So we've got a chance to do a lot of stuff.Stephanie:So what is your background and how did you land here?Kristie LaLonde:Well, I have always loved cooking and entertaining, even when I was little. Like, I remember I had one of my cookbooks was like the MAD Magazine cookbooks. I don't know if you remember MAD magazine, but they had like a holiday thing and I just loved it. I remember pouring through that and it's crazy because I do that now, obviously with grownup cookbooks, but. And so that just kind of. Well, and then when I was very young, I was the maid of honor in Three Weddings in one year. So I had a crash course and had a host parties for grownups, and that was very fun. But.Kristie LaLonde:And I'd always really enjoyed the ideas of parties as well. Growing up, my parents were my mom. My father was in an industry where there were lots of fancy, fancy famous parties.Stephanie:Yeah.Kristie LaLonde:Because we live in Kentucky, so the derby parties. And.Stephanie:Yes.Kristie LaLonde:So I would, like, hear them, like, sometimes they would be on the farm that we lived on, like in the party barn. And so, like, I would hear the parties, and I just was kind of fascinated with all of that, and it just kind of snowballed from there.Stephanie:But you on the Happy Hostess Collective on your Instagram, you chronicle a lot of these parties and you have, like, beautiful flower arrangements. And I mean, honestly, the south is just like, I don't know why, but you guys are known for just these over the top, beautiful flower arrangements, beautiful parties, beautiful outfits. In the north, everything feels a little more, like, rustic and just a little more outdoorsy. But, like, the south just feels like China and silver and so beautiful.Kristie LaLonde:Yeah, you know, there's a little bit of everything for sure in the south, but we do tend to go over the top. That is. That is definitely the case. Which makes it fun, though. But. And I love a big theme. It can. It's a lot of fun.And whether it's rustic theme, but it's just like kind of go all in on it. It makes it a lot of fun.Stephanie:How did you figure out, like, I think it's pretty cool that you have this whole cookbook club happening via Zoom. So there's technology there. Right. And then you also have, like a Facebook group. You really use social media to drive a lot of this engagement. It is a paid subscription, which I also think is cool because sometimes if you have to pay for something, you value it a little bit more or you make time for it in your schedule. How did I learn all the technological pieces and have you just learned by trial and error?Kristie LaLonde:Well, fortunately, Zoom is fairly easy to use. And especially after Covid, everybody knows how to use Zoom, thankfully. But actually, I started an E commerce store, like, before people heard of the word E commerce.And I am not techno, very technologically advanced, but I am willing to figure out whatever it is if it makes it possible for me to do what I want. And I really wanted a. A China and dish store, which. Big surprise. So that I had it. No, I don't. I had it for almost 14 years. I think that's, like, my dream.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, it was so fun. And it stopped me from buying all the dishes. Because I had all these gorgeous dishes. Like in a warehouse. Yes. But it's a really heavy, breakable object and not so fun to ship after a while. So I transitioned out of that and wanted to do something that didn't require shipping.Stephanie:And this is brilliant because you've got new friends from all over the country. It could be all over the world.Kristie LaLonde:I suppose it definitely could be. There happens to be just the country right now. We are a small group, but it is a really fun group and it's been a great community. And I really wanted something to tie in my podcast to make it and make it smaller. Well, obviously with the podcast, it's only me or myself and a guest, so I really wanted to be able to, like, get to know my listeners better, and this was the perfect thing.Stephanie:How did you get into podcasting? Because you've have had over a hundred episodes all about this topic of hostessing.Kristie LaLonde:Basically it was the sick of being shipping things. So I thought, okay, well, we could start the podcast. I wasn't really sure what direction it was going to take, but I thought that it would be a good avenue for me to get started. And it kind of led to this.Stephanie:One of the topics that was on your recent podcast that I was kind of interested in, because I think the. It has changed so much since COVID is the whole idea of having a party and the RSVP list. People in my experience tend to be very late at responding to things. And even like, we're finding that restaurant reservations people will make four reservations and cancel three with really no thought about it. Like, it's just we're in a very quick societal change. And you talked a lot about how to get people to RSVP, how important RSVPs are. What were some of your tips there?Kristie LaLonde:Well, it's. It sounds a little old school, but one of them was to actually have a physical invitation delivered to them.Stephanie:Amen. This whole, like, you're gonna send me a digital something, it's fine. It's great as, like, a reminder, but I just. I don't think it's the same as, like, getting an actual invitation to something.Kristie LaLonde:I agree. And for one thing, it's. It's less likely to be forgotten because a lot of times they put it on the refrigerator or somewhere they can see it. And then also, like, it's shocking when you get something in the mail that you. That isn't a bill today, you know, so it's. It seems more special.Stephanie:This is kind of a weird aside, but I used to run a direct mail company. So I love direct mail. And the number one growing category for direct mail is 18 to 34, because they love getting offers in the mail. Because getting mail feels so special now and so unique.Kristie LaLonde:You're kidding.Stephanie:No, it's like it's coming back.Kristie LaLonde:That is so interesting.Stephanie:And the catalog companies have always had a robust business using the mail. They've maybe pared down their catalogs a little bit, or they might have specialty offerings, but people are still sending a lot of catalogs.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, goodness. Well, I'm so glad because I just thought I was like, old school because I really like to have books in my hands. I like. I like getting catalogs if it's from a business that I like. I thought I was the only one that.Stephanie:No, you are not. What other kinds of trends are you noticing in just entertaining in general, good or bad?Kristie LaLonde:Well, catching on. One that I did recently, I did a small series on baby showers. And. Wow. Things have changed since I was having babies, for sure. Like, drastically. Some. Some things I think are good.Kristie LaLonde:Like, for example, a lot of times they're co ed now, which was just a trend that had just barely started when I was having children. And I think that's fun and interesting, for sure. Um, but I do also think that they have gotten, like, kind of out of hand a little bit. And I love going over the top, like I said earlier with a party, so I'm. I'm never gonna, like, shame anybody for that. But it seems like with social media coming in, that everyone is seeing these highlight reels from very sophisticated baby showers.Stephanie:Yeah.Kristie LaLonde:And so I kind of camped out in baby shower groups for, like, a good month, like, trying to prepare for this series. And. And it was kind of sad, really, because people were so. A lot of people, not everyone, of course, but were so sad because they didn't have enough people to invite to have an almost wedding, like, baby shower. Like, it was. It was. And they felt defeated. It was just.Kristie LaLonde:It was kind of disheartening. And I mean, you could tell that they really thought that it was normal that people had to rent out a venue hall in order to have a baby shower.Stephanie:Yeah.Kristie LaLonde:Which is not the case at all.Stephanie:And like, just making diaper cake is still pretty fun, isn't it?Kristie LaLonde:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so, I mean, yeah, it's. It's really different. It's. It's almost. And it's a whole different vibe from a lot of people. And the thing is, I've not seen this in person, so I don't want to say that everyone's like this. Maybe it's just the vocal people on Facebook, you know, but it seemed a lot more like, this is my party.Kristie LaLonde:This is my. My thing, as opposed to, you know, someone hosting it for you.Stephanie:Yeah. Yeah. Well, you haven't. Have you watched the Mormon Housewives?Kristie LaLonde:I haven't.Stephanie:Okay, good. I don't. It's like, so bad. It's good. So wrong. Right. So I don't really want to, like, encourage anyone to do it because that sort of guilty pleasure. But they have these big over the top and they have a lot of kids and they're all women under 30.Stephanie:So they do have these big, like, over the top baby showers and the baby hills and the baby moons. And honestly, it's just. So if we get to the idea of just like, entertaining, I think people get so hung up on that they have to have like this special meal or that they have to spend all day in the kitchen. What would be like, some of your tips for getting you to entertain? More like, barriers to overcome, I guess.Kristie LaLonde:Well, I think first and foremost is to really focus on your mindset and think about why that you want to entertain. And usually it's because you want to make memories and have connections with your friends and family. Do you want to make memories and those are awesome reasons, or you want to celebrate someone, you know? And a lot of times when we start thinking about entertaining, sometimes we can get a little nervous that maybe I'm not good enough cook or I'm. My house isn't big enough or I don't have enough people to invite, for example, the baby shower. And I really just recommend very first thing to do is to flip your mind and be focused on your guests. Like, what do you want to do for them, how do you want them to feel? You know, obviously you want them to be. Feel welcomed in your home and that sort of thing. So if you could just focus on the.Kristie LaLonde:The guest, you usually can stop all the negative chatter in your mind because you're not focusing on yourself. And then also, most importantly, don't do everything yourself. You don't have to cook everything. You don't have to cook at all if you don't want to. You know, that's why caterers exist. Even if you only cooked one thing that was like a signature dish, then you might. It's. It's like you did cook.And so I really think that trying not to do everything and focusing on your making your guests feel welcome are very important.Stephanie:I figured out late in Life how easy it is to cook fish for a crowd. And that seems like a weird thing, but, like, if you get, like, a whole side of salmon or poach a whole fish or you even have slabs that you're just putting under the broiler, you can have, like, any salads prepared in advance. You know, you can have vegetables prepared in advance, you can have a cheese platter prepared in advance. And then really, like, the only thing you're cooking is this side of salmon or you've got a sauce that you've already made. I was always so afraid to cook fish, and once I kind of got over that hump, I was like, wow, this is actually pretty easy. I can cook a whole side of fish. I can feed 12 people off of it, typically, if I get a big enough one. And with all the sides and everything, everything's already made before they even get here.Kristie LaLonde:That is perfect. And that's like the perfect example of what we're trying to do in the cookbook party is to get people to increase their repertoire of things that are very easy to entertain. Because there are some delicious recipes that we make that would be a nightmare if, you know, for entertaining, you know, they take too long, they need to be done at the last minute, that sort of thing. But if you like, for example, the fish, you know that all. It kind of meets all the requirements. You don't have to do it at the last minute. It's easy preparation, and we want to gain. It's like our entertaining arsenal.Kristie LaLonde:Kind of find those recipes, find ways of doing things that make it simple, where, you know, if, like, for example, things that can be cooked the day before and just reheated, like carnitas, like the meat and that type of thing. Yep. There's just lots of them. And. And we can all have our own little personal style when it comes to that. You know, that's what makes it fun is, is everyone seems like they have their own signature dishes.Stephanie:What's a go to Kristie LaLonde signature entertaining dish?Kristie LaLonde:Well, I just mentioned one of them, carnitas. I love them. They are not. They are kind of time consuming, but it is completely make. You can make it whenever you want, and it tastes great the next day reheated. It's one of those things that, you know, can taste better, even better the same day, and people love them. Everyone seems to like them. So that's one of my go tos.Kristie LaLonde:And then also like, oh, gosh, I can't even remember what I call them now, but they're like the white cream chicken, Chicken enchiladas.Stephanie:Oh, yeah.Kristie LaLonde:Because they can totally be made ahead of time, and all you have to do is put them in the oven, and then, you know, you can make sides easily. A lot of times, actually, with both of those things, I used to. I don't need to now, but I didn't have a good refried beans recipe that I liked, and rice is one of the few things that I really, really struggle with. I need to buy a rice cooker is what I've been told, but so I would just order from the restaurant that's around the corner, baked beans and rice, and then serve that with them. So it was, like, liked. It was homemade. It's in my dish. It looks homemade.Yeah.Stephanie:Time saving. An instant pot is also really helpful in the rice department. If you. Oh, I mean, I make rice in my instant pot. It is a rice cooker. It's a pressure cooker. Rice cooker. It cooks everything.And then also I make risotto in there too.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, wow. I did not know that. Actually, the carnitas is one of the few things I use my instant pot for. So now I got something else.Stephanie:Oh, yes. I'm a big instant potter. In fact, one of the Facebook groups that we run for our radio show is called the Weekly Dish Instant Potters. Oh, some really great recipes there that people have shared or linked to. It's an open group, but I. It's. If you're an instant potter, and I still am. I still love my instant pot.Stephanie:I do my slow cooker, too. You can slow cook in an instant pot, but I also have two other slow cookers because I'm somewhat obsessed with that, but really helpful and easy. Is there a cookbook that you've used on the cookbook Club journey that you really were like, wow, this is a great, entertaining cookbook?Kristie LaLonde:Yes, for sure. And most of the ones that we choose have an entertaining bent to them, typically just because of our interest in what we're trying to accomplish in the group. But Love Welcome Serve by Amy Hannon. Like, really blew my socks off. Every single recipe that we tried just seemed to be over the top, delicious. It was really phenomenal. Like, we've enjoyed all of our books, for sure, but this one, it just really. I was blown away, and I had been told and that it really was such a good cookbook, and I finally caved and put it in there, and I'm so glad that I did.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm looking at it. It looks delightful. It's got kind of an Ina Garten feeling to it.Kristie LaLonde:And she is just a very genuine, kind, hospitable person. She really. She definitely has the mindset. Like, even when she's talking about making little notes, you can just see just. She has such a hospitable nature.Stephanie:And then the recent cookbook that you guys are doing is the. Is it Brunch with Babs?Kristie LaLonde:Brunch with Babs is her account, but the book is called Celebrate with Babs.Stephanie:Okay. And Babs is like everybody's favorite grandma. Her daughter, I think, worked in lifestyle television and has helped her create this really unbelievable social media presence and following. What is it about her books that attracted you?Kristie LaLonde:I. Well, she organizes her cookbooks in the way that I always enjoy, and that is by party or event. I love cookbooks that are organized that in that fashion. And I'd heard good things about it, and so we thought we would try it.Stephanie:Yeah, she's really. I think her recipes are really great. She's not too fussy. She has some that are more complicated than others, but she does a lot of, like, semi homemade kind of things too. Don't you wish that Sandra Lee from Semi Homemade would come back?Kristie LaLonde:Oh, I know. I. Oh, I loved, loved, loved her show because of the party aspect. I absolutely loved it. And we have enjoyed Celebrate with Babs for sure. And you're right, there are a lot of, like, one recipe will be, you know, kind of complicated like you said, and one will be semi homemade. Today at 4. Today we have our.Kristie LaLonde:What's our second to last cook along in Celebrate with Babs. And the theme today is looking forward to fall. So we're doing her new pond chili and then we're doing Mrs. Williams peanut butter bars. So.Stephanie:Yeah, delicious.Kristie LaLonde:Yes, that will be good for dinner.Stephanie:Yes, it will be. It makes me think of my pumpkin spice espresso martini that I'd like to have with that.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, that sounds good. Oh, that sounds so good.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm obsessed with pumpkin spice. And my. My second book is kind of geared from October through April, so more fall time. And I really, I. When you go to get like a pumpkin spice something, it's usually full of such gross ingredients. And I was like, okay, we could make pumpkin spice flavor with pumpkin, right? And spice, like, it wouldn't be that hard. So I made a pumpkin spice cream and then used it in different recipes. And the espresso martini with pumpkin spice was delightful.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, that sounds amazing. Espresso martinis are one of my absolute favorites.Stephanie:Me too. Me too. Well, it's been super great to chat with you about entertaining, Christy. How can people follow you and what's the best way to join if they want to join the cookbook club?Kristie LaLonde:Well, our website is happy cookbookparty.com and I'm on Instagram at Happy Hostess Collective, if you have a question about anything. And I am excited to announce that we are doing one of your cookbooks starting in October.Stephanie:Excellent. That's right on time.Kristie LaLonde:Yes. I'm so excited about it. I can't wait, because this is totally different. I love that we, you know, we've done a lot of Southern cookbooks. Like we did Pizzazzerie and the Southern Living Party Cookbook and a couple others. And then we kind of moved over to the Midwest of it was celebrate with Babs. And so yours will be a perfect fit.Stephanie:Thank you. I'm excited to have you guys do it. And I hope I can find pop in and say hi while everyone's cooking, because that sounds kind of fun.Kristie LaLonde:Oh, I would love it. I would love it. And I would like to offer your listeners, if they want to join us, they can use the code SD50, and they'll get 50% off their first month's membership.Stephanie:That's fun. And how much is a membership generally? Is it 22?Kristie LaLonde:It's $22 a month. Yes.Stephanie:Okay. I love it. That's great. That's fun. It's a good little, like, date night for yourself to do something fun and unusual that you maybe haven't done before, right?Kristie LaLonde:Yes, it is. And it's, you know, I know you not for you, probably because you're immersed in the food industry, and I know you're so big on local, which I love about your cookbooks. I love reading the little stories about the local people. But, you know, a lot of us don't have, like, I love to entertain, and I do have friends that entertain, but I don't have people necessarily close to me that just love it as much as I do and really want to learn. And so it's awesome that I get to hang out with these people all over the country that really do love it as much as I do.Stephanie:Yes. Well, we'll put all this information in the show notes, and you and I will connect on when we want to have the podcast distributed so that people can join. And it was really great to spend time with you. Thanks to Jilly in mn, my favorite Instagram friend and weekly disher who hooked us up. Kristie. I'll connect with you after this podcast by email, and we'll get all the details set up, but thanks for watching, for helping launch my book. It's awesome.Kristie LaLonde:Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.Stephanie:Yes. And we'll talk soon. Thanks for being a guest today. Oh, and I want to shout out your podcast real quick because we'll put a link to that, too.Kristie LaLonde:Thank you. It's called Happy Hostess.Stephanie:Okay. It's really great. You have a lot of episodes on hostessing and fun, entertaining ideas, so. All right, Kristie we'll connect in email.Kristie LaLonde:Awesome. Thanks, Stephanie.Stephanie:Okay, bye. Bye. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Read transcriptGet ready for some black-and-white mayhem that's more chaotic than trying to untangle Christmas lights while wearing oven mitts! This week on Play Comics, we're diving headfirst into the wonderfully ridiculous world of Spy vs Spy for the original Xbox—the 2005 game that took MAD Magazine's iconic feuding spies and somehow convinced them to blow each other up in glorious 3D. This delightfully deranged espionage extravaganza comes courtesy of the twisted minds at Vicious Cycle Software, who apparently looked at the classic NES version and thought, “You know what this needs? More explosions and better graphics!” Whether you're here for the nostalgic callback to those legendary MAD TV shorts or you just enjoy watching cartoon spies meet their doom in increasingly creative ways, this episode promises to deliver more backstabbing action than a corporate boardroom during budget season. Joining us for this masterclass in mutual assured destruction are two absolute legends from the podcasting world: Anthony Sytko and Doc Issues, the brilliant minds behind Capes on the Couch. When they're not busy psychoanalyzing superheroes and providing much-needed therapy to fictional characters who definitely have trust issues, these two bring their expertise in comic psychology to help us understand why watching two spies repeatedly murder each other is somehow deeply satisfying. So dust off that original Xbox controller, practice your best evil laugh, and prepare for an episode that's guaranteed to be more explosive than a briefcase full of dynamite left by your nemesis. We'll explore whether this modern take on the classic formula captured the essence of those timeless comic strips, or if it just left us feeling like we'd been caught in one of the White Spy's elaborate traps. Learn such things as: Does choosing Black Spy make you morally superior? How many ways can a cartoon spy die before it stops being funny? Why do we find such joy in elaborate revenge schemes involving household appliances? And so much more! You can find Anthony and Doc @CapesOnTheCouch on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and of course the Capes on the Couch website. If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you're interested in. If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store. Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix. You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook. A big thanks to Escape the Mojoverse and The Monitor Tapes for the promos today. Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who cloned himself and is both of the spies at the same time. Support Play Comics by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/playcomics Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-89f00a for 40% off for 4 months, and support Play Comics.

Send us a textWhat makes a horror film truly terrifying? In our deep dive into Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece Alien, we discover it's what you don't see that haunts you most. The slow-burning tension of the Nostromo's corridors, the cosmic horror of that derelict alien spacecraft, the shadow-cloaked xenomorph – Scott crafts an atmosphere of dread that feels as fresh today as it did over forty years ago. We explore how this film brilliantly balances restraint with shock, particularly in the infamous chestburster scene. Did you know the cast's horrified reactions were genuine? They had no idea what was about to erupt from John Hurt's chest, creating one of cinema's most authentically terrifying moments.Beyond its surface scares, Alien harbors deeper themes about corporate exploitation. The ship's very name, Nostromo, references Joseph Conrad's novel about labor exploitation – a subtle nod to how these working-class crew members are mere pawns in a corporate game. Ian Holm's android Ash embodies this corporate callousness, placing "company orders" above human lives. We dissect his brilliant performance and the shocking milk-white reveal of his true nature.For Rich, experiencing Alien for the first time led to fascinating discussions about expectations versus reality. While some of us grew up with action figures from the more combat-oriented sequels, the original's horror roots came as a welcome surprise. Dakota and Anthony share their childhood memories of encountering the franchise, from Mad Magazine parodies to that unforgettable "mouth within a mouth" design that continues to disturb.Whether you're revisiting this classic or hearing about it for the first time, join us as we celebrate the film that birthed a franchise and forever changed science fiction horror. And stay tuned – next week we're continuing our Alien journey with James Cameron's action-packed sequel, Aliens!Twitter handles:Project Geekology: https://twitter.com/pgeekologyAnthony's Twitter: https://twitter.com/odysseyswowDakota's Twitter: https://twitter.com/geekritique_dakInstagram:https://instagram.com/projectgeekology?igshid=1v0sits7ipq9yYouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@projectgeekologyGeekritique (Dakota):https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwciIqOoHwIx_uXtYTSEbASupport the show

  This time he's coming to a different kind of jungle. In a sweltering, crime-ridden Los Angeles, a relentless alien hunter stalks the city's most dangerous criminals and law enforcement. A determined detective finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse as he uncovers the creature's terrifying purpose. BPO's Blake O'Donnell returns to to help us wrap up Action August with 1990's PREDATOR 2. Also this week: Cracked vs Mad Magazine, Danny Glover's billowy pants, and Predator munchin' beef. All this--and a whole lot more--on this week's episode of NEON BRAINIACS! "S*** happens." ----- Check out our Patreon for tons of bonus content, exclusive goodies, and access to our Discord server! ----- Predator 2 (1990) Directed by Stephen Hopkins Written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas Starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Peter Hall ----- 00:00 - Intro & Opening Banter 15:46 - "The Shpiel" 44:05 - Film Breakdown 1:54:48 - Brain Bucket & Outro        

Small Talk co-host Marlene Sharp is a LinkedIn micro-influencer who wears many hats in multi-platform media. Small Talk Podcast is a monthly entertainment podcast talk show hosted by Marlene Sharp & Chris Pomay (Live With CDP Sports & Entertainment Talk Show and founder of CDP Media Productions) with various guests from around the world in different professions. #smalltalkpodcast #marlenesharp #chrispomay https://pinkpoodleproductions.com/https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomayhttps://www.cameo.com/chrispomayWant to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/54200596...This month's guests: ADAM STEPHEY is a serial entrepreneur and creative inventor with a knack for turning quirky ideas into successful products. His most notable creation, the Toilet Timer, was fully funded on Kickstarter and featured on Shark Tank. Adam's portfolio also includes the 1UPcard brand of hardware cleaners, Sauce Caddy Daddy for hot sauce enthusiasts, and now Plummy and Plosh featuring Plopz. He is also known for his intricate, 3D-printed recreations of classic video game levels. He loves using his skills in drafting and 3D printing and is always up for a creative challenge.DAVID DeGRAND has written and illustrated for numerous comics and publications, including The Simpsons, MAD Magazine, SpongeBob Comics, Garfield, Adventure Time, Rocko's Modern Life, and Uncle Grandpa. He illustrated the kids' graphic novel Snot Goblins and Other Tasteless Tales and the tongue-twister book Twisted Tongues. He has also contributed to animation found in "Weird Al" Yankovic's Polkamania music video and the animated series Death Hacks. His work is known for its colorful, irreverent style and unique sense of humor, making him a perfect fit for the quirky world of Plummy and Plosh.https://plopz.com/https://linktr.ee/katamcoWant to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/54200596..

Larry Charles joined me to talk about his early heroes, The Little Rascals, 3 Stooges, and Abbott & Costello; trying stand up as a duo; the bimmies; portraying rabbi on stage; selling jokes; Darrow Igus buys jokes & leads to Fridays; the parakeet; Diner of the Living Dead; The Clash; Ronnie Horror Picture Show; 2nd Amendment sketch; Joe Shulkin; not all Fridays writers on drugs; harsher political satire than SNL; Men who Hum; more edgy music, then Kim Carnes; pause after Fridays; writing for Arsenio Hall; Dragnet; Seinfeld: The Library Book, The Limo, The Subway, The Outing; a scary incident with his family, art, and police; his voice; Carroll O'Connor & Carol Burnett; Mel Brooks; working with Shelley Berman on Curb; John Astin; Sandy Baron; Borat and the nude fight scene; more women liked Borat than predicted; loving Mad Magazine & National Lampoon; favorite writer was Michael O'Donoghue; Sacha Baron Cohen should have won the Oscar; Matt Walsh; faux doc on assassination of George W. Bush; Andy Kaufman returns to Fridays as a born again Christian; Nathan Fielder; Marty Feldman

In the Medicare Advantage Minute segment We address the dangers of the "Medicare Advantage Trap" and learn how one should avoid it. The government publication "Your Medicare Benefits 2025" reveals the extent to which Medicare will (or will not) cover nursing home care. Is there an overhaul in the works for prior authorization regulations?  According to another article, Medicare Part D prescription drug plans may face an "uncertain future". Weiss Memorial Hospital fails its quality inspection in several categories and so has been suspended from any Medicare revenue collection. Finally, we review the dangers, both hidden and otherwise, of untreated heartburn and acid indigestion. Not a condition to be taken lightly! Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com (Most severe critic: A+)                   Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG Inspired by: "MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2025; SIMPLEST & EASIEST GUIDE EVER!" "MEDICARE DRUG PLANS: A SIMPLE D-I-Y GUIDE" "MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN: BARE BONES!" For sale on Amazon.com. After enjoying the books, please consider returning to leave a short customer review to  help future readers. Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.

Writing Legend, Arnie Kogen, talks with Jay and Jay's son, Charlie, about his childhood, career, and what it's like to be 91. Three generations of Kogens in one pod! Bio: ARNIE KOGENComedy Writer/ TV ProducerHas written and/or produced for the Carol Burnett Show, The Tonight Show, Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, Empty Nest, Mad TV, The Dean Martin Show, Sinbad, Donnie & Marie, The Jackson Five, Evening At The Improv, The Bob Newhart Show, Tim Conway, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Candid Camera, Love, American Style, The Love Boat, The Golden Globes and contributed to The Academy Awards.  Has also written comedy material for Phyllis Diller, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Shelley Berman, Debbie Reynolds, Connie Stevens, Totie Fields, Jackie Vernon, Diana Ross, Flip Wilson, Ann Margret, Sammy Davis, Morty Gunty and Jerry Van Dyke.For over five decades he has been one of the leading contributors to Mad Magazine.  Kogen has won three Emmy Awards (seven nominations) and one Writers Guild Award (three nominations)

Back. We are talkin' Slayer. This week's topic is the Great Hanneman Gear Grab: What happened to Jeff's guitar collection, mostly, and why, and how? Tune in.And unless you're a Patreon supporter, this is pretty much the end of Talkin' Slayer, Season 2: New Sh*t Has Come To Light. The episode wraps with some details on what's next in coming months.Plus a few words of gratitude and memoriam for friends past and present. Chris McMaster and Walter Novak RIP.DEEZ NOTES, as referenced in the show:Slayer's classic "War Ensemble" video, featuring Jeff's Punk Rock Jackson guitar. What I'd give for a full video of the show.Slayer's "Bloodline" video.Tween shredder phenomenon Maya Neelakantan tells how Kathryn Hanneman gave her one of Jeff's guitars.Broken Hope's "The Meek Shall Inherit Sh*t," one of the songs written & performed with Jeff Hanneman guitars, from the Mutilated and Assimilated album.Jeremy Wagner talks about the Jeff Hanneman Guitar Estate, plus his influence.Hanneman talks to an ESP video crew. You've seen this before. It bears repeating.Spotify: Me on the Booked on Rock podcast, with host and strong dude Erich Senich. It's a Slayer 101 talk, runtime 39:00.Apple: Me on the Booked on Rock podcast, with host and strong dude Erich Senich. It's a Slayer 101 talk, runtime 39:00.Me on the Bleachmouth Postscript podcast, talking about my top 5 Slayer songs, plus plenty of unrelated stuff, from research citations to Mad Magazine. Runtime about 2 hours.Larry's most metal band, Persistent Aggressor.The Walter Novak photo book.Joel McIver's Cliff Burton biography.ALSO, ALSO...Want to support the show and / or book? Here's three ways:Get it from a cool indie outlet like the Ajna Offensive, which specializes in metal, true crime, and occultism.⁠The new & improved & updated & embiggened book Ferris reads from every week, "Slayer 66 2 /3: A Metal Band Biography..., or, How Fkin' Slayer Kicked F*kin' @ss"⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — all four versions.Free listeners miss every other episode.Patreon supporters get an episode every week, plus more bonus Slaytanic content. Packages start at less than $1 an episode. Premiums include stickers, a shout-out on the show, and a free version of the audbiobook when it's finished.Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/SlayerBook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .If you want to drop some ducats in the virtual tip jar... or you'd rather make a one-time payment for a VIP all-access pass, you can do it at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ko-fi.com/slayerbook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . You can order autographed books here, or pre-order the audiobook.GRATITUDE.

Send us a textJoin former child actor Moosie Drier, and author Jonathan Rosen, as they chat with the host of the Fun For All AGes podcast, Frank Santopadre!Frank discusses his time co-hosting the Amazing Colossal Podcast with Gilbert Gottfried, returning to podcasting with his current show Fun For All Ages, working for MAD Magazine, writing for the Friar's Club Roasts, creating jokes for Bazooka Joe, & much more!Support the show

Send us a textJoin former child actor Moosie Drier, and author Jonathan Rosen, as they chat with the host of the Fun For All AGes podcast, Frank Santopadre!Frank discusses his time co-hosting the Amazing Colossal Podcast with Gilbert Gottfried, returning to podcasting with his current show Fun For All Ages, working for MAD Magazine, writing for the Friar's Club Roasts, creating jokes for Bazooka Joe, & much more!Support the show

In this episode of Out of the Clouds, host Anne Mühlethaler welcomes Karen Salmansohn, a bestselling author who has sold over 2 million books globally and describes herself as someone who puts "Psychology Today and Mad Magazine in a blender and presses frappé." Known for writing self-help books for people who wouldn't be caught dead reading self-help and pioneering the self-help book with attitude—she was the first personal development author to put a curse word in a book title with "How to Be Happy, Dammit"—Karen brings her signature blend of wisdom and wit to every conversation.Karen's journey from senior VP creative director in advertising to bestselling author began with a bold leap of faith driven by pure passion. After achieving early success in advertising (including winning a Clio in her first six months on the job), she realised she wanted to write a novel. After threatening to quit, she finally did. After her first novel, she came to pen books meant to inspire people to think in new ways, more fulfilling to Karen than writing copy to convince the same people to switch toothpaste brands. Karen shares the story of how this bold decision led to a remarkable career spanning novels, self-help books, and everything in between.In their conversation, Anne and Karen explore the inspiration behind Karen's latest book, "Your To Die For Life," which emerged from both her experience of "near life experiences" (being life-adjacent rather than fully present) and the profound impact of her father's death. Karen shares how giving her father's eulogy prompted her to write her own, leading to a thorough reassessment of her priorities and inspiring her to move from working in "beast mode" to what she now calls "best mode."The discussion delves deep into Karen's practical framework for living intentionally, including her seven core values (Authentic, Brave, Curious, Discerning, Empathic love, Fun, and Gratitude) that she reverse-engineered from the top regrets of the dying. Karen explains her powerful concept of identity-based habits and "to-die lists"—daily practices that help align your actions with who you want to become, using the format "I am [core value] and so I do [action]."One of the most compelling parts of their conversation centers on Karen's marble jar ritual—a tangible way to practice mortality awareness by representing each remaining month of life as a marble, creating a monthly ritual of reflection and intentional living. Karen describes herself as a "middle of life doula," someone helping people create meaningful change while there's still runway ahead.Throughout the interview, Karen demonstrates her gift for making profound concepts accessible through humor and practical tools. From her early days writing silly poems about chemistry homework to helping readers navigate life's heaviness with levity, she embodies her belief that humor is a great survival tool and that we can find awe and meaning in everyday moments.The conversation touches on behavioral change, the importance of meaningful relationships, the power of curiosity as an antidote to fear, and how mortality awareness can awaken us to make each day more beautiful and purposeful. Karen's approach isn't about morbid fixation on death, but rather using awareness of life's finite nature to live more vividly and intentionally.A thoughtful and inspiring conversation that offers both practical tools and philosophical insights for anyone seeking to live more fully and authentically.Happy listening! Selected links from episodeConnect with Karen:On Instagram @notsalmonOn Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Notsalmon/On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karensalmansohn/On Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@karensalmansohn-OFFICIALKaren's Work:Your To Die For Life - Karen's latest book and websiteKaren's Substack: The Stand-Up PhilosopherLegacy Lab coaching with KarenYou're never too old to re-jigger your life - a video masterclassHer TEDxTalk: Fun is your high-performance fuelReferenced in the Interview:Jonathan Fields interviews Karen Salmansohn for the Good Life ProjectKaren's Notable Books Mentioned:"How to Be Happy, Dammit" - The book that started it all"Even God Is Single, So Stop Giving Me a Hard Time""The Clitourist: A guide to one of the hottest spots on Earth""How to Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the Secrets of Professional Dog Trainers"Karen's Song Picks:Alanis Morissette - "You Learn"Sarah Bareilles - "Brave"Philosophical References:Aristotle's philosophy on living a good lifeThe Tibetan Book of Living and DyingRegina Spektor (artist Karen admires)Links: Jonathan Fields interviews Karen Salmansohn for the Good Life ProjectSome of Karen's most successful titles: How to be Happy, dammit Even God Is Single, so stop giving me a hard Time.The Clitourist :  A guide to one of the hottest spots on Earth for people with a clitoris, or people who love people with oneThe upcoming book:https://yourtodieforlife.com/Karen's picks for the song that best represents her https://open.spotify.com/track/2yx1kAK1Fe2zTOsaDKSNBk?si=4a71f79f8dd54b55Alanis Morissette You Learn (live) Brave by Sarah Bareilles https://open.spotify.com/track/6Uy6K3KdmUdAfelUp0SeXn?si=4b6e66955a8743f2 This episode is brought to you by Le TrenteAre you a purpose-driven individual seeking clarity in your personal narrative? Is your brand struggling to communicate authentically with your audience? Looking for a thought partnership that transforms how you connect with the world?Le Trente is a global community that emboldens purpose-driven individuals and organizations to communicate authentically. Headquartered in Geneva but serving clients worldwide, we coach both individuals and brands through their communication journey—from identity exploration to strategy development—all grounded in mindful leadership and compassionate, holistic communication.Our mission is to be a catalyst for positive change. We inspire open-minded people and organisations to build better worlds through community-building salons, strategic consulting, mindful coaching and storytelling.Ready to transform your approach to communication and create ripples of positive change? Get in touch, we like to make magic happen. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LE TRENTE HERE. *** If you enjoyed this episode, click subscribe for more, and consider writing a review of the show on Apple Podcasts, we really appreciate your support and feedback. And thank you so much for listening!For all notes and transcripts, please visit Out Of The Clouds on Simplecast - https://out-of-the-clouds.simplecast.com/Sign up for Anne's email newsletter for more from Out of the Clouds at https://outoftheclouds.com.Follow Anne and Out of the Clouds: IG: @_outoftheclouds or @annvi Or on Threads @annvi On Youtube @OutoftheCloudsFor more, you can read and subscribe to Anne's Substack, the Mettā View, her weekly dose of insights on coaching, brand development, the future of work, and storytelling, with a hint of mindfulness.

This episode was recorded prior to Scott Adams' announcement of his cancer diagnosis. As always, Thick Lines wishes good mental, spiritual, and physical health to all creators and createes. Enjoy the full episode at patreon.com/thicklinespod  Joining Sally today is the business pleasure that is Mattie Lubchansky: former associate editor of The Nib, author of Boys Weekend and the rapidly impending release, Simplicty has had work appearing in Mad Magazine, The Hairpin, The Toast, Eater, New York Magazine, as well as every other publication you've ever enjoyed. Today we read Mattie's pick: Dilbert, a comic strip you may be familiar with by being alive? Topics include: webcomics, going insane, Jewess hairdo representation, the sexier side of Dilbert, and most important of all: Bill Griffith and Scott Adams' comic strip beef. See Mattie on tour! July 29th at Thespis Theater The Newtown Stage 25-02 Newtown Ave Long Island City, NY   or July 31st at BOOKS ARE MAGIC 122 MONTAGUE ST BROOKLYN, NY 11201-3481 August 2nd you can find them at Riffraff Bookstore and Bar 60 Valley St #107A Providence, RI She has many more tour dates along the east coast you can peruse here

This episode was recorded prior to Scott Adams' announcement of his cancer diagnosis. As always, Thick Lines wishes good mental, spiritual, and physical health to all creators and createes. Joining Sally today is the business pleasure that is Mattie Lubchansky: former associate editor of The Nib, author of Boys Weekend and the rapidly impending release, Simplicty has had work appearing in Mad Magazine, The Hairpin, The Toast, Eater, New York Magazine, as well as every other publication you've ever enjoyed. Today we have a short interview with Mattie and a special guest, then we read Mattie's pick: The Far Side by Gary Larson! Your favorite! Topics include: cows, cat eye glasses, Joey Alison Sayers, The Vegan Agenda, parents allowing questionable reading material, and desert islands. See Mattie on tour! July 29th at Thespis Theater The Newtown Stage 25-02 Newtown Ave Long Island City, NY   or July 31st at BOOKS ARE MAGIC 122 MONTAGUE ST BROOKLYN, NY 11201-3481 August 2nd you can find them at Riffraff Bookstore and Bar 60 Valley St #107A Providence, RI She has many more tour dates along the east coast you can peruse here

August 14-20, 1999 This week Ken welcomes writer, musician and comedian who has created the video podcast built on music, performance storytelling and Ai visuals, Skulk The Hulk, Steve "Skulk" Pasieka Ken and Skulk discuss Mad Magazine, Steve's Dick DiBartolo mustache, Action shows on TV, Chuck Norris, WWF (WWE), Samo Hung, WCW, Chinese action heroes, Attitude Era of WCW, defining High School by wrestling, backyard wrestling, TV Guide induced vivid dreams, growing up in Chicago, heavy Italian Chicago accents, children with strong regional accents, revolting Pepto Bismol ads, disgusting ice cream photos, Judy Garland, the 90s love of the 70s, no bake Jell-O grossness, too much PB, locking up your Klondike bars, how much smarter Samo Hung is than Kevin Sorbo and Chuck Norris, Halle Berry's comebacks, Brutus the Barber Beefcakes' MBTA "Anthrax" scare, wrestlers lying about their size, Randy "Macho Man' Savage, class action suits, the shock of a Buff Bagwell photo shoot, The Tom Green Show, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, MTV's Real Life, Chyna, HHH, Behind the Music, going into animation, debating Generative AI, what is a tool and what isn't, challenging norms, controversal issues, Ken's theory of innovative amatuerishness, going to Greece, having experiences outside of America, distribution networks, wrestlers with just regular names, UFC replacing WWF/WCW, how you need rules, how having all things available to you stifles creativity, Antiques Roadshow, Celebrity Tug-O-War, Johnny Bravo, Cartoon Network, Spin City, JAWS, Ray Walston, Star Trek, Dee Snider in Strangeland, how massive David Blaine was, Win Ben Stein's Money, Leeza Gibbons hosting Smoking: Truth or Dare, requiring cigarette holders, lost Comedy Central shows of the late 90s, Steve's love of music videos, how some things don't hold up at all, appreciating Men in Black, the Roller Derby resurgence, Ska Punk, Chicago punk bands, Naked Raygun, and The Many Incessent Lives and Subsiquent Deaths Deserved of Skulk the Hulking. 

In the 1960s, both Marvel and DC tried publishing humor books, often in a style reminiscent of MAD Magazine. One of these was DC's Angel and the Ape, about a beautiful young woman and a comics-artist gorilla who run a detective agency. While it only survived for 7 issues (with two title changes!) in 1968-69, somehow … Continue reading #847 “Angel and the Ape”: Forgotten, but not gone

1987 was a transitional year in comic books. DC successfully relaunched Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Justice League in their new post-Crisis universe. Marvel started a new universe too, which they called, uh, "New Universe." Also at Marvel, Spider-Man got married, an event so big that an actual wedding ceremony was held at a baseball stadium. Meanwhile, Alan Moore wrapped up his brilliant run on Swamp Thing, American Splendor's Harvey Pekar appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, Max Headroom made the cover of Mad Magazine... and Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham met the nefarious Dr. Chickenstein. And hey, our pal Kevin Cafferty (from Gleaming the Tube and The Best Stuff in the World) is here to help us figure it all out! Because it's been 38 years, and comic book nerds like us are still waiting for the next issue of Sonic Disruptors... Gleaming the Tube! The Best Stuff in the World! And our regular links... The Flopcast website! The ESO Network! The Flopcast on Facebook! The Flopcast on Instagram! The Flopcast on Bluesky! The Flopcast on Mastadon! Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promo: Luke Ski's Animation & Stuff Podcast!    

Giuseppe Castellano talks to Sam Viviano, award-winning cartoonist, and former art director of MAD Magazine, about his membership in MAD's usual gang of idiots; what the careers of Norman Mingo and Jack Davis can teach today's illustrators; why creatives, even the worrywarts, should keep on keeping on; and more.Sam can be found on Instagram.Artists mentioned in this episode include: Steve Brodner, Herbert Lawrence Block, Mort Drucker, Paul Coker, Jack Davis, George Woodbridge, Al Jaffee, Dave Berg, Brad Holland, Guy Billout, Nicholas Blechman, Peter de Sève, Anita Kunz, Barry Blitt, Jack Unruh, Sergio Aragonés, and Don Martin If you find value in this podcast, you can support it by subscribing to our best-selling publication, Notes On Illustration, on Substack. Among other benefits, you will gain access to bonus episodes we call “Extra Credit”. | Visit illustrationdept.com for offerings like mentorships and portfolio reviews, testimonials, our alumni showcase, and more. | Music for the podcast was created by Oatmello.

In this episode, we dive deep into the creative mind of Eisner Award-winning artist Gideon Kendall, whose diverse career has spanned books, illustrations, comics, and animation for a few outfits you might have heard of: MAD Magazine, Penguin/Putnam, Disney, Comixology/Kitchen Sink, IDW, Dark Horse, Cartoon Network, Scholastic, and The New York Times. Gideon has made significant contributions to both children's and adult comics, earning critical acclaim as the artist of Harvey Kurtzman's Marley's Ghost (which won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic), and as the writer and artist of the sci-fi series WHATZIT published by Heavy Metal. His more recent projects include Eric Powell's Lester of the Lesser Gods, Megaghost with Gabe Soria, the autobiographical anthology series WAIT...It Gets Worse, and his recently released music memoir I Am The Audience. You can follow Gideon (and order his stuff) on gideonkendall.com, or check him out on Instagram @gidonkendall. Support the show

Comedian Greg Warren joins Adam in studio to talk about his new YouTube special THE CHAMP and Adam's uncanny ability to riff endlessly on just about anything. The two dive into the absurdities of everyday life, from coffee stirrers and peanut butter to Greg's former life as a Jif salesman. They also debate whether BBQ is better on the road or at home, and take a nostalgic turn with deep dives into Deacon Jones commercials, The A-Team, Run Joe Run, and Renegade—all of which, they agree, owe a creative debt to The Fugitive. Greg also shares a surprising story about how Lorenzo Lamas played a small but pivotal role in his decision to pursue comedy full time.Jason “Mayhem” Miller later joins the show to break down the day's headlines, including the surprising fact that no city in California made the list of the top 250 places to live in the U.S. They also cover Mayor Karen Bass signing executive orders to keep film production in Los Angeles, along with the controversy surrounding the lack of digital communications from her office during the 2025 wildfires.Legendary filmmaker David Zucker rounds out the episode with a look back at his groundbreaking career in comedy, from Kentucky Fried Movie and Airplane! to The Naked Gun and Scary Movie 3 & 4. David talks about working with Val Kilmer, reflects on being pushed out of the upcoming Naked Gun reboot, and recounts how close his house came to being evacuated during recent fires. He also previews his upcoming Masterclass launching in July on Mastercrash.com and discusses his appearance in the new Chassy Media documentary When We Went MAD, a tribute to MAD Magazine, available June 24 and currently up for preorder on Apple and Fandango.David and Adam close out the conversation with a surprising discussion about the sad life of Benny Hill and compare notes on their very different childhoods—David's in Milwaukee and Adam's as the class clown in North Hollywood. Get it on.FOR MORE WITH GREG WARREN: INSTAGRAM: @grockwarrenTWITTER: @gregwarrenWEBSITE: gregwarrencomedy.comSPECIAL: THE CHAMP on YouTubeFOR MORE WITH DAVID ZUCKER:INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: @thedavidzuckerWEBSITE: mastercrash.comWHEN WE WENT MAD (Preorder): https://apple.co/4k1ELuqFOR MORE WITH JASON “MAYHEM” MILLER:INSTAGRAM: @mayhemmillerTWITTER: @mayhemmillerThank you for supporting our sponsors:BetOnlineHims.com/ADAMHomes.comPluto.TVRuffGreens.com - Use promo code “Adam”LIVE SHOWS: May 24 - Bellflower, CA (2 shows)May 30 - Tacoma, WA (2 shows)May 31 - Tacoma, WA (2 shows)June 1 - Spokane, WA (2 shows)June 11 - Palm Springs, CAJune 13 - Salt Lake City, UT (2 shows)June 14 - Salt Lake City, UT (2 shows)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The next sequel we will discuss is "Inspector Gadget 2". For it, I chatted with the Director Alex Zamm. Alex talked about his journey up outside Woodstock, NY to Hollywood that involved winning free movie tickets for a year to a local theater after winning a contest, cartooning and going up to Mad Magazine, then some stage, then he starting doing interviews for 6 years, and then started working on movies with a friend which drove him to filmmaking.  We talked about getting something he made noticed by Monty Python, having Scorsese as his teacher, Sundance, Upright Citizens Brigade, writing on Green Lantern in the early 90s, Woody Woodpecker, Larry the Cable Guy, approach to directing sequels, and more. This is a fun one. Enjoy.Watch the unedited video interview at sequelsonly.com/AlexZammAlex's IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005618/Your homework is watching "Inspector Gadget 2" on Disney+.Follow us on all social media @sequelsonly, and our website is sequelsonly.com Review, rate, and share us with your friends, enemies, neighbors, exes, and even that annoying supermarket clerk!

What you won't have to worry about at bedtime is me being there to ramble as you for asleep, you can count sheep on that!Start a 7 day FREE trial of Sleep With Me Plus- The ultimate way to listen to show, based on how YOU listen! Get your Sleep With Me SleepPhones. Use "sleepwithme" for $5 off!!Learn more about producer Russell aka Rusty Biscuit at russellsperberg.com and @BabyTeethLA on IG.Show Artwork by Emily TatGoing through a hard time? You can find support at the Crisis Textline and see more global helplines here.HELIX SLEEP - Take the 2-minute sleep quiz and they'll match you to a customized mattress that'll give you the best sleep of your life. Visit helixsleep.com/sleep and get a special deal exclusive for SWM listeners!ZOCDOC - With Zocdoc, you can search for local doctors who take your insurance, read verified patient reviews and book an appointment, in-person or video chat. Download the Zocdoc app to sign-up for FREE at zocdoc.com/sleep PROGRESSIVE - With the Name Your Price tool, you tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at progressive.comQUINCE - Quince sells luxurious, ethically-made clothes and bedding at an affordable price. Transition your bed for the season with soft, breathable bedding from Quince. Go to Quince.com/sleep to get free shipping and 365-day returns on your next order. MINT MOBILE - This year, skip breaking a sweat AND breaking the bank. Get your summersavings and shop premium wireless plans at mintmobile.com/sleepwithme (Upfront payment of $45 for 3-month 5 gigabyte plan required [equivalentto $15/mo.]. New customer offer for first 3 months only, then full-price plan options available. Taxes & fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How a 30-year ETF veteran learned to prioritize human flourishing over profit maximizationGuest: Dave Nadig - 30-year veteran of the ETF industry, financial blogger, and advocate for pro-flourishing capitalismKey Moments:[03:13] Dave shares how his childhood on a farm shaped his financial mindset, developing a scarcity mentality from growing up poor that led him to finance and money management.[04:38] Dave explains his "Black Hat vs. White Hat" concept in finance - distinguishing between those who prioritize human flourishing (White Hats) versus those focused primarily on profit maximization (Black Hats).[07:01] Discussion of the Mad Magazine "Spy vs. Spy" cartoons as inspiration for his Black Hat/White Hat framework.[09:53] Dave emphasizes that people in the "Black Hat" business aren't necessarily evil, but have made different choices about their priorities.[15:50] Conversation about passive investing and its evolution from the 1980s through today, with Dave sharing his personal journey working at Wells Fargo on the first target date funds.[19:19] Dave reflects on becoming "a hard convert back to passive investing" after failing as an active fund manager.[20:14] Discussion of passive investing's impact on market dynamics, particularly how fund flows affect top equities and bond markets.[26:22] Examination of how capital formation now happens primarily in private markets, not public ones.[32:23] Dave shares his fascination with consciousness and the brain, discussing Dr. Ian McGillchrist's work on left brain/right brain dynamics.[34:47] Dave explores how meditation helps investors develop metacognitive awareness and recognize when their perception differs from reality.[38:39] Discussion of Dave's experiences at Zen Mountain Monastery and how meditation creates space to explore one's own thought processes.[44:52] Dave's emotional connection to flying, from childhood fascination to earning his pilot's license, and the devastating impact of losing it due to epilepsy.[53:49] Reflection on how most investors focus too much on narrow details while neglecting broader context and asset allocation decisions.[55:54] Dave shares how he uses AI tools like Perplexity to streamline research and Claude to assist with data analysis and coding tasks.[01:01:04] Discussion of how AI will continue to evolve, with the current state being "the worst it's ever going to be."[01:05:15] Dave's definition of success: having control over his own time rather than financial wealth.Podcast Program – Disclosure StatementBlue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm's employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.Information expressed does not take into account your specific situation or objectives, and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for any individual. Listeners are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified tax, legal, or investment adviser to determine whether any information presented may be suitable for their specific situation. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

We're flipping through the pages of Mad Magazine! This legendary satirical publication warped young minds, skewered sacred cows, and helped define American humor for generations. From Alfred E. Neuman's toothy grin to the fearless parodies that ruffled feathers and cracked us up, we're exploring how Mad became a cultural institution, and why its influence still matters today. (May contain some explicit language.) Patreon » patreon.com/genxgrownupDiscord » GenXGrownUp.com/discordFacebook » fb.me/GenXGrownUpTwitter » GenXGrownUp.com/twitterWebsite » GenXGrownUp.comPodcast » GenXGrownUp.com/podMerchandise » GenXGrownUp.com/merchTheme: “Grown Up” by Beefy » beefyness.com Apple » itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/genxgrownup-podcast/id1268365641CastBox » castbox.fm/channel/GenXGrownUp-Podcast-id2943471?country=usPocket Casts » pca.st/8iuLAudible » amz.run/6yhRTuneIn » tunein.com/radio/GenXGrownUp-Podcast-p1020342/Spotify » spoti.fi/2TB4LR7iHeart » www.iheart.com/podcast…Amazon Music » amzn.to/33IKfEK A Brief History of Mad Magazine » bit.ly/4d2oOS1 The Madcap History of Mad Magazine Will Unleash Your Inner Class Clown » bit.ly/3GUqalO History of an Idiot » bit.ly/4j0st4s Spy vs Spy Wiki » bit.ly/4iOlStq 13 MAD FOLD-INS: An AL JAFFEE Tribute » bit.ly/3EUxYDD List of film spoofs in Mad » bit.ly/3EU41Uk Don Martin – Illustration History » bit.ly/4m9RPj8 Sergio Aragones » bit.ly/3Z7eang An Oral History of MADtv, the Sketch Show That Never Quite Changed » Unaired 1974 Mad TV Special » youtu.be/dUQiXGA-0Tk Email the show » podcast@genxgrownup.com Visit us on YouTube » GenXGrownUp.com/yt Show Notes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend and comedy writer Ella joins us to keep our blood skinny, our grapes be-pie'd, and our Pa in theaters coming soon. Don't make her drink alone!

This week Tom and Julie talk about the unusual lyrics behind Shirley Temple's Animal Crackers in My Soup, their favorite MAD Magazine comics, and watch cursed clips of Katy Perry and friends going to space, and an Instagram ad for a product called Faith Bricks. Plus Tom and Carson play voicemails they received from Troma director Charles Kaufman after prank calling him during a previous Patreon bonus clip. CLIPS FROM THIS WEEK'S EPISODE: -Katy Perry and friends go to space https://www.instagram.com/p/DIcNXsxM6_g/ -Faith Bricks https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIAlioDMRHf/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA%3D%3D This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/tomandjulie and get on your way to being your best self. WATCH VIDEO CLIPS OF DOUBLE THREAT https://www.youtube.com/@doublethreatpod JOIN THE DOUBLE THREAT FAN GROUPS *Discord https://discord.com/invite/PrcwsbuaJx *Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/doublethreatfriends *Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/doublethreatfriends DOUBLE THREAT MERCH https://doublethreat.dashery.com/ TOTALLY EFFED UP T-SHIRTS https://dttfutees.dashery.com/ SEND SUBMISSIONS TO DoubleThreatPod@gmail.com FOLLOW DOUBLE THREAT https://twitter.com/doublethreatpod https://www.instagram.com/doublethreatpod DOUBLE THREAT IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/double-threat Theme song by Mike Krol Artwork by Michael Kupperman 00:00 Intro 7:35 Animal Crackers is a weird song 11:28 MAD Magazine 28:21 The Charles Kaufman voicemails 47:00 Katy Perry and friends go to space 1:11:43 Faith Bricks 1:28:34 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Tom and Julie talk about the unusual lyrics behind Shirley Temple's Animal Crackers in My Soup, their favorite MAD Magazine comics, and watch cursed clips of Katy Perry and friends going to space, and an Instagram ad for a product called Faith Bricks. Plus Tom and Carson play voicemails they received from Troma director Charles Kaufman after prank calling him during a previous Patreon bonus clip.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/tomandjulie and get on your way to being your best self.CLIPS FROM THIS WEEK'S EPISODE:-Katy Perry and friends go to spacehttps://www.instagram.com/p/DIcNXsxM6_g/-Faith Brickshttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DIAlioDMRHf/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA%3D%3DWATCH VIDEO CLIPS OF DOUBLE THREAThttps://www.youtube.com/@doublethreatpodJOIN THE DOUBLE THREAT FAN GROUPS*Discord https://discord.com/invite/PrcwsbuaJx*Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/doublethreatfriends/*Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/doublethreatfriendsDOUBLE THREAT MERCHhttps://doublethreat.dashery.com/TOTALLY EFFED UP T-SHIRTShttps://dttfutees.dashery.com/SEND SUBMISSIONS TODoubleThreatPod@gmail.comFOLLOW DOUBLE THREAThttps://twitter.com/doublethreatpodhttps://www.instagram.com/doublethreatpodDOUBLE THREAT IS A FOREVER DOG PODCASThttps://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/double-threatTheme song by Mike KrolArtwork by Michael Kupperman00:00 Intro7:35 Animal Crackers is a weird song11:28 MAD Magazine28:21 The Charles Kaufman voicemails47:00 Katy Perry and friends go to space1:11:43 Faith Bricks1:28:34 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Parody and satire are a certain kind of humour. They're VERY easy to do because you just base them off real, already existing things, then you twist it a bit to add humour and make it ridiculous. But that's where it gets tricky! Satire is a parody of a real situation rather than fictional, it tends to have a harder edge. Where it usually goes wrong is that people mistake it for something straight, i.e. NOT satire, not comedy, not exaggeration or ridicule. The two main approaches to parody are a broad satire of a genre, like Princess Bride on fairytale fantasy, or a more targeted approach like Spaceballs which satirised Star Wars, and things in between like Airplane, which made fun of the film Zero Hour but also used it as a chance to parody the disaster movie genre and include a shotgun approach to pop-cultural jokes, making fun of everything happening in the 1970s. When I was growing up Mad Magazine movie parody comics were always a fave of mine, I'd prefer them to the actual movies they made fun off. The art was amazing with great caricatures and the humour was always very cheeky. Asterix was another comic series I enjoyed, which involved a lot of historical satirical humour. One big issue with that kind of targeted humour though is that it's often very dependent on its references for the jokes to fully work, so if you lack familiarity with them it won't bite as hard or sometimes not at all. The trick is to include enough of the context for context dependant jokes so that they can work regardless. If you do your job well enough people will not even remember the original and your satire or parody will completely stand on its own! In our Quackcast we even covered things that become self parodies like the Deadpool Marvel Movies, some of the Roger More James Bond films, the late horror franchise films like Nightmare on Elm street, Friday the 13th and so on. What are some of your fave parodies or satires? I think Princess Bride, the Life of Brian, Blazing Saddles, and Spaceballs are real standouts. But things like Lego Batman, Not Another Teen Movie, and even The Toxic Avenger have their own place. On that last one: Lloyd Kaufman is like a B-movie parody version of Mel Brooks, Mel does the A-list parodies and satires and Lloyd handles the crazier, gross and kinky low budget ones Mel wouldn't touch LOL! Of course Meet The Spartans is the best parody ever, so much better than The 300. This week Gunwallace gave us a theme inspired by Occult by lux - A heavy, heavy, distorted, fuzzy, rocking, and yet magical take on the Arabian Nights, with the brutally metal revere of chaos, and beautiful oriental groove! Topics and shownotes Links Featured comic: Excavator - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/mar/18/featured-comic-excavator/ Featured music: Occult by lux - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Occult_by_lux/ - by Lux_occult, rated A. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS

And now the fourth part of this rambling and too brief biography of Harvey Kurtzman, as he leaves EC Comics and Mad Magazine to set out on his own, for better and worse.

Some careers are legendary, and few have left their mark on pop culture like Bill Morrison. From his early days dreaming of being a comic book artist to working with The Simpsons, Futurama, Disney, and even Mad Magazine, Bill's journey is packed with fascinating stories. Whether it's co-founding Bongo Comics, illustrating some of the most iconic characters in entertainment, or reacting to a $15 million version of his own artwork, this conversation is a deep dive into an extraordinary career filled with humor, creativity, and a touch of unexpected controversy. Episode Highlights: From Detroit to Hollywood – How Bill's childhood passion for art turned into a career working with Disney, The Simpsons, and beyond. Bongo Comics & The Simpsons – The story behind co-founding a publishing empire with Matt Groening. Roswell & Futurama – How Bill's original comic Roswell, Little Green Man was interrupted by another massive project—Futurama. The Simpsons Bootlegs & Collectibles – Why Matt Groening secretly loved bootleg Simpsons merchandise, and how those knock-offs became collector's items. The Urban Legend Behind The Little Mermaid Cover – Did Bill really hide a scandalous Easter egg in The Little Mermaid VHS cover? He sets the record straight. The $15M Simpsons Painting – Bill reacts to an artist selling a modified version of his Simpsons Yellow Album cover for a staggering sum. Beatles & Mad Magazine – How he got the opportunity to create a Yellow Submarine graphic novel and what it was like leading Mad Magazine.   You're going to love my conversation with Bill Morrison Instagram Facebook IMDB Bongo Comics Follow Jeff Dwoskin (host): Jeff Dwoskin on Twitter The Jeff Dwoskin Show podcast on Twitter Podcast website Podcast on Instagram Join my mailing list Subscribe to my Youtube channel (watch Crossing the Streams!) Yes, the show used to be called Live from Detroit: The Jeff Dwoskin Show Ways to support the show: Buy me a coffee (support the show) TeePublic Store: Classic Conversations merch and more! Love the books I talk about on the show? Here is my Amazon store to shop.

Today's Affirmation:"She Let's Me Watch Her Mom and Pop Fight"Writers: N. Blagman*, S. BobrickAlthough she isn't much to look at,And she isn't very bright.I love her, I love her,Oh boy how I love her'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.To see a lamp go through the windowAnd watch them kick and scratch and bite.I love her, I love her,Oh boy how I love her'Cuz she lets me watch her mom and pop fight.And Friday night,It's something wonderful to seeWhen her pop comes home withOnly half his check.We split a candy barAnd watch World War III,It's got necking beat to heck!I'm gonna make that gal my steadyBecause they're at it every night.I love her, I love her,Oh boy how I love her'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.

We're back and we're kicking off the NINTH season of The DTALKS Podcast with a wonderful conversation about one's own adolescence and the advice we would give ourselves if we could do it again. That's the topic we get into with this week's guest, Maria Scrivan. Maria is the author and illustrator of the fabulous "Nat" book series. This series started with 'Nat Enough' about a girl named Nat, who believes she isn't good enough. Through the book she discovers what makes her unique and see that she is in fact 'enough'. Maria has now written 6 total books and her latest release 'Nat a Chance' is the topic of our conversation today. Enjoy!   About Maria Scrivan Maria Scrivan is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning syndicated cartoonist. The first book in her graphic novel series, Nat Enough (Scholastic/Graphix), launched on April 7th, 2020, became an instant New York Times bestseller. It was followed by: Forget Me Nat, Absolutely Nat, Definitely Nat, Nat for Nothing, and All is Nat Lost. Nat a Chance will be available in Spring 2025. She is also a contributor to Marvel's Super Stories which released in October 2023. Her books have been translated into Italian, French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Hebrew, Korean, Russian, Turkish, and Greek. Maria's comic, Half Full, is syndicated by Andrews McMeel and available on GoComics.com/half-full, and it appeared daily in newspapers nationwide including the LA Times for the last ten years. Her cartoons have appeared in many publications including MAD Magazine, Highlights, American Bystander, Prospect Magazine, Parade Magazine, and Wired, and licenses her work for hundreds of greeting cards. Maria lives in Connecticut, close to New York City. About 'Nat a Chance' The sixth book in the New York Times bestselling series that began with Nat Enough! You don't know until you try... Nat doesn't think she's an athlete, but after a series of painfully embarrassing moments, she's determined to build her confidence and signs up for a triathlon with her best friend, Zoe. As training begins, Nat realizes she's in way over her head, facing so many setbacks and challenges that she wonders why she ever signed up! Can Nat get out of her own way and complete the triathlon, or will she convince herself that she's not cut out for it and quit?   Make sure to check out the Dtalkspodcast.com website! Thanks to Empire Toys for this episode of the podcast! Nostalgia is something everyone loves and Empire Toys in Keller Texas is on nostalgia overload.   With toys and action figures from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today, Empire Toys is a one-stop-shop for a trip down memory lane and a chance to reclaim what was once yours (but likely sold at a garage sale)   Check out Empire Toys on Facebook, Instagram, or at TheEmpireToys.com AND Thanks to Self Unbound for this episode of the podcast: Your quality of life: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, is a direct reflection of the level of abundant energy, ease, and connection your nervous system has to experience your life!    At Self Unbound, your nervous system takes center stage as we help unbind your limited healing potential through NetworkSpinal Care.    Access the first steps to your Unbound journey by following us on Facebook, Instagram, or at www.selfunbound.com

My first encounter with Mad Magazine, a life changer.  And dialogue techniques that can help make our characters' conversations fascinating.Support the show

Episode 953 - Jason Interviews Carol Lay My Time Machine FantagraphicsMy Time Machine takes off when Carol Lay's silver-haired protagonist (who happens to resemble the author) embarks on a foolhardy odyssey that transports her from the politically addled and environmentally anxious America of 2020 to a bleak and distant future. Trapped in a glitchy time machine at the end of the world, a strange creature banging unnervingly at the door, what else is an exhausted amateur time traveler to do but sit back and play her concertina?Having inherited the blueprints designed by the Time Traveler of H.G. Wells' historical account, our curious and all-too-human adventurer enlists her genius ex-husband to construct a modern version of the time machine. Torn between wanting to fix the past and needing to know what lies ahead, she decides to see how our follies will play out in order to bring back information that might help save civilization from itself. She anticipates trouble, but it's far worse — not only has humanity failed to mitigate climate change, but by 2035 the world has succumbed to fascism. Then, by 2045, it has devolved to anarchy. Intrigued by the possibilities detailed in Wells' book, she decides to visit the year 802,701 to verify the original Traveler's tale. In that inexplicably lush land she encounters enemies that propel her to the earth's last, hellish days.Carol Lay's My Time Machine is serious and funny, a sly cautionary political satire, and a rollicking time travel story full of puzzling paradoxes, edge-of-your-seat suspense, breezy badinage, and a deeply felt wonder at the universe.Orders of My Time Machine include a unique bookplate signed by Carol Lay while supplies last!Buy It: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/my-time-machine-a-graphic-novelCarol Lay graduated from UCLA with a B.F.A. in Fine Arts, but when a friend gave her a crash course in comics, she found her calling. Her first independent comics series, the critically acclaimed Good Girls, appeared in 1987 from Fantagraphics. She also drew commercially for Mattel; did storyboards for rock videos, feature films and commercials, later working part-time as an animation storyboard artist on several shows. In 1990, she started a weekly strip in the L.A. Weekly, Story Minute. She has contributed to numerous anthologies, including Wimmen's Comix and Simpsons Comics. Her work has appeared in the Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Mad Magazine, and others.Like & Subscribe on Youtube www.youtube.com/@comicsforfunandprofit5331Patreon https://www.patreon.com/comicsfunprofit  Merch https://comicsfunprofit.threadless.comYour Support Keeps Our Show Going On Our Way to a Thousand EpisodesDonate Here https://bit.ly/36s7YeLAll the C4FaP links you could ever need  https://beacons.ai/comicsfunprofit Listen To the Episode Here: https://comcsforfunandprofit.podomatic.com/ 

Harrison Greenbaum joins Ralph Sutton and Dov Davidoff and they discuss the two hiatuses that Ralph recently broke, when Harrison Greenbaum threw up on a dolphin, his magic origin story, majoring in psychology at Harvard, the connection between psychology, comedy and magic, working at MAD Magazine, being a part of a Jewish fraternity, speaking at the Amazing Jonathan's funeral, being sued by Chris Angel, lecturing magicians and his book "You're All Terrible," Harrison Greenbaum's first concert, first drug and first sexual experience and so much more!(Air Date: December 4th, 2024)Support our sponsors!YoDelta.com - Use promo code: Gas to get 25% off!To advertise your product or service on GaS Digital podcasts please go to TheADSide.com and click on "Advertisers" for more information!The SDR Show merchandise is available at https://podcastmerch.com/collections/the-sdr-showYou can watch The SDR Show LIVE for FREE every Wednesday and Saturday at 9pm ET at GaSDigitalNetwork.com/LIVEOnce you're there you can sign up at GaSDigitalNetwork.com with promo code: SDR for discount on your subscription which will give you access to every SDR show ever recorded! On top of that you'll also have the same access to ALL the shows that GaS Digital Network has to offer!Follow the whole show on social media!Harrison GreenbaumTwitter: https://twitter.com/HarrisonComedyInstagram: https://instagram.com/HarrisonComedyDov DavidoffTwitter: https://twitter.com/DovDavidoffInstagram: https://instagram.com/DovDavidoffRalph SuttonTwitter: https://twitter.com/iamralphsuttonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamralphsutton/The SDR ShowTwitter: https://twitter.com/theSDRshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesdrshow/GaS Digital NetworkTwitter: https://twitter.com/gasdigitalInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gasdigital/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Simon Rich talks about how writing fantastical stories can still be authentic and personal.we also talk about growing up in a family of writers, why SNL is not a pit of vipers, John Mulaney & Richard Kind being in his new play, bad driving, Mad Magazine and why Jay is responsible for Simon's career because he watched The Simpsons as a kid.Bio:  Simon Rich has written for “Saturday Night Live,” Pixar and “The Simpsons.” He is the creator and showrunner of “Man Seeking Woman” (FXX) and “Miracle Workers” (TBS), which he based on his books. His collections include GLORY DAYS, NEW TEETH, HITS AND MISSES, SPOILED BRATS and ANT FARM. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker.