In 1964, 19-year-old Mary Sullivan was strangled to death in her apartment, the 13th victim of a killing spree that had terrorized Boston for 18 months. Her death remained unsolved for nearly 50 years. The same is true for a dozen more deaths attributed to the Boston Strangler. In our first episode, we meet Mary, as well as the killer’s first victims, and begin to explore the many unanswered questions that continue to haunt the victims’ families, the police who worked on the case, and the reporters who turned it into a national story.

This episode is brought to you by Casper Mattresses, Audible, and Blue Apron.

Breaking *robot baby* news! Join us as we try to make sense of a study that sheds some shocking light on our This American Life collab from 2 years ago. To join the conversation, go to www.longestshortesttime.com!

This episode is brought to you by Fracture, Little Passports, Paper Culture, Olive & Cocoa, and Jo-Ann Fabric.

Comedian and writer Ian Karmel (Chelsea Lately) joins Andrew this week to cover the aftermath of the election, potential new tax plans, the best ways to be performatively woke, the fake news epidemic, and much more.

As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

Election Bonus Episode with Matt McConkey. Made with love.

Hayes and Sean have a discussion with BETH NEWELL and SARAH PAPPALARDO from Reductress about their new book “How to Win at Feminism” in a show that is not changed at all by the results of the election.

This episode is sponsored by ZipRecruiter.

Join guest host Dana Gould (Stan Against Evil) as he sits with comedian and actor Jonah Ray (The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, MST3K). Dana and Jonah chat about the humor in online reviews and how creating art that people respond to makes them winners.

This episode is brought to you by Casper Mattresses.

Hannibal Buress joins Chris on a call with a college freshman who is a lover of comedy struggling to find romance in his life. Should our caller ditch school and try his hand at comedy? Why were Chris and Hannibal crying last night? Is it normal to be aroused by stealing? These questions and many more will be answered.

This episode is sponsored by Mack Weldon, Mailchimp, Totes, Stamps.com, and Talkspace.

Comedy writer Broti Gupta (CollegeHumor, The New Yorker) joins Emily and Deanna to dig up some old receipts. They chat about ditching pre-med for comedy, the death of Vine, and quintessential wine moms. Plus, Broti explains how to use the gibe “delete your account” without hurting any feelings.

This week, comedian Godfrey joins the Sklars to share his take on racism in Chicago public schools and swap some dad-ecdotes. Daniel Van Kirk brings stories about an elderly bank robber with a lame excuse and a man nature is desperately trying to kill. Finally, Randy and Jason listen to a voicemail from friendly TSA agent Michael Kissick about the many people he met during the World Series.

This episode is sponsored by Mack Weldon, Founders Brewery, Charles Tyrwhitt, and Texture.

Actor Ricky Mabe joins Jensen and co-host Ali Segel this week to talk about crafting a Jewish grandma, James Franco’s “The Masterpiece,” Shia LaBeouf, Canadian humour, showing up late to a protest, and many other things you should know about.

This episode is sponsored by Cameron Hughes Wine.

Scenario: you’ve got a time machine and you only like two things in this life: eatin’ breakfast and killin’ Nazis, and you’ve already eaten breakfast. Your obvious next step is to travel to April 20th,1889 and throw baby hitler down a well and then blow up the well,  right? Or is there something better you could do with your time?

The whole ‘would you kill baby Hitler’ thought experiment has been a surprisingly prevalent pop-culture moral question at dinner parties and bad games of Cards Against Humanity. Even Jeb Bush weighed in with his thoughts back in a simpler time when he thought he could be president. His answer, by the way, was, “hell yeah!” (https://goo.gl/IzBaxA).

This got us thinking, what would be some other moments in history to travel back to and change one thing? One answer might be incredibly simple: November 8th, 2016. Who wouldn’t go back in time to stop the events of last Tuesday? Only time will tell if that day becomes one of the giant crossroads in the slow forward march of history.

So today Jack O’Brien and Alex Schmidt are posing that question to our five comedian guests: Steven Wilbur, Riley Silverman, Caitlin Gill, Blake Wexler and Eric Lampaert. When would you go in history to change one thing, what would it be and why?

Footnotes:

Alex Schmidt on Twitter: https://goo.gl/oF6OFj

Steven Wilbur on Twitter: https://goo.gl/CSBfaF

Riley Silverman on Twitter: https://goo.gl/ipJ8TX

Caitlin Gill on Twitter: https://goo.gl/HblhwS

Blake Wexler on Twitter: https://goo.gl/hBY7tL

Eric Lampaert on Twitter: https://goo.gl/b70FTt

Biography.com: About Assassination of Franz Ferdinand: https://goo.gl/1rRB5D

Smithsonian: How One Man Accidentally Killed The Oldest Tree Ever: https://goo.gl/vuVg8r

” William Tecumseh Sherman: In The Service Of My Country”: https://goo.gl/OobZ9h

Radiolab: Be Careful What You Plan For: https://goo.gl/UwvO4w

This episode is brought to you by Indochino, Loot Crate, and Wondery.

Paul F. Tompkins welcomes all the future Snapchatting people to this week’s episode of Spontaneanation! This week, Paul’s special return guest is Natalie Morales of Parks and Recreation and The Grinder! They chat about the time the most fun Natalie’s ever had at a hospital, the problems with wearing Heelys as an adult, and hoping to die in a funny way. Paul is then joined by Matt Gourley, Craig Cackowski, and Colleen Smith, to improvise a story set in A Whale’s Belly. And as always, Eban (only the best) Schletter scores it all on piano!

Paul & Eban will be doing their first all-music show at Largo! With special guests Aimee Mann, Ted Leo, Open Mike Eagle & special surprise guests! Join them all for an evening of eclectic song choices and unique new arrangements! Saturday December 3rd & Sunday December 4th! All proceeds benefit Planned Parenthood & The American Civil Liberties Union. Get tickets at paulftompkins.com/live!

This episode is brought to you by Mack Weldon, Framebridge, ZipRecruiter, and Wondery.

The tavern is very busy. Let’s talk to the Pandenomicon, a sentient vapor… and maybe someone else.

Credits
Arnie: Arnie Niekamp
Chunt: Adal Rifai
Usidore: Matt Young
Spintax the Green’s Pandenomicon: Charlie McCrackin
Ffffp the Sentient Vapor: Holly Laurent
Arnor: Blaine Swen
Mysterious Man: Tim Sniffen
Craig: Ryan DiGiorgi

Producers: Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, and Ryan DiGiorgi
Editor: Garrett Schultz
Theme Music: Andy Poland
Magic Tavern Logo: Audio Assistance: Jason Knox
Production Assistance: Garrett Schultz
Live Photo: Daniel McGowan

Special Thanks:
Lore’s Aaron Mahnke
Pop Culture Happy Hour’s Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, and Glen Weldon

This episode is brought to you by Chicago Podcast Festival, Cards Against Humanity, ZipRecruiter, and Casper Mattresses.

Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, Wicked) is Hamilton’s music supervisor, orchestrator and arranger. “Anything that has to do with the way the music sounds in the show and the way it’s performed, that all goes through me,” he explains. Until recently, he conducted the show and played piano in the orchestra pit, too. Did he have a piano in front of him during this interview? Yes, yes he did. Get excited, Hamilheads and music nerds: this one goes deep.

This episode is brought to you by Chicago Podcast Festival and Berklee.

Legendary comedian/writer/actor Michael Showalter of The State, Wet Hot American Summer and the new TBS series Search Party joins Scott to chat about the great sketch shows of the 90s, the mystery in the new TBS series Search Party, and tips for becoming successful. Then, seismologist Dr. Brian Blouse stops by to tell us what everyone should have in their earthquake preparedness kit. Finally, crime scene expert Mark arrives to let us into his interesting world.

This episode is brought to you TBS’ Search Party, Warby Parker, and Stamps.com.

Danielle and Casey are back in the nook after what has been a week. The one bright spot is Atlanta’s return, the blossoming friendship between Phaedra and Portia and Ace’s nautical outfit. In Orange County the women are back on the couch talking about ding ding ding ding dong and Casey finds she is so numb she isn’t bothered by Megan. These are topsy turvy times! 

This episode is brought to you by MTV’s Teen Wolf, Glossier, DIFF Eyewear, and Madison Reed.

This week’s Handsome Rambler was taped on Election Night! While checking in on the results, Hannibal and Tony celebrate the Cubs’ win, ask just what the TSA is scribbling on boarding passes, deliberate whether it’s better to DJ drunk or high, and tell the story of the party bus they rented in DC.

This episode is brought to you by SKYN condoms, SeatGeek, and Blue Apron.

Hayes Davenport (Hollywood Handbook, HBO’s Divorced, Vice Principals) joins Paul, June, and Jason live from the Now Hear This Festival in Anaheim, CA to do their best trying to comprehend what is happening in the 1988 Nicolas Cage film Vampire’s Kiss. They’ll cover everything from the legendary misfiling & ABC’s scene to whether or not Cage becomes a vampire by the end of the movie. Plus, in a HDTGM first, we get actual answers from the director and star of the film as to what was happening in the movie, coming very close to having a real bat in the movie, and what were the mimes doing.

This episode is brought to you by Sonos, TBS’ Search Party, Loot Crate, ZipRecruiter, and Blue Apron.

Welcome to Generations: The Podcast with your hosts grandmother Rosalie Gardenia-House (Paul F. Tompkins), her 15-year-old granddaughter Buttercup (Scott Aukerman) and her 45-year-old son Rogers. It’s the podcast about several generations of one family all doing a podcast together. The family catches up as they hear how Rogers got pranked at work, Buttercup does one of her signature rants, and everyone shares a secret during Family Confessions. Plus, Traci Reardon pops up out of the trap door to help her Twitter followers with advice on how to have a happy family in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

Still flabbergasted by the outcome of the 2016 election, Mark & Pete play a reenactment of an 1865 interview from the Hard Nation archives, with President Abraham Lincoln (Beth Appel). Listen to “Casual, Cool Abe” discuss the difficulties of bringing a divided nation together, the widow he keeps in his outhouse, and the “Look Who’s Talking” cycle of plays.

Charlie Pickering (The Weekly) and Seema Iyer (The Bollywood Lawyer) join Negin in an attempt to process the painful finale of Cesspool 2016. They cover voter demographics, the Electoral College and the future of the Affordable Care Act. Plus, they do their best to end on an optimistic note.

This episode is brought to you by Stamps.com and Casper Mattresses.

This week, Randy and Jason are joined by actress and comedian Alice Wetterlund. We hear about Richard Sherman’s castration altercation before Alice talks to the Sklars about her tendency towards adopting teams and why baseball has a special kind of comaraderie. Muhammad Wilkerson has attendance issues and Theo Epstein roasts a bleacher goat during Quick Hits, and finally, Steven Seagal calls in to spill the beans on his job in the new administration.

NY Times columnist Nick Kristof spent the past year writing against Trump, but tells David, his side got it wrong – and we should give Trump a chance.

This episode is brought to you by Children’s International, Goedeker’s, and Proper Cloth.

Doris Kearns Goodwin knows her presidents. As America’s leading presidential historian, she’s written five critically acclaimed and best-selling presidential biographies. Her book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is revered by the likes of Steven Spielberg and President Obama. In this election week bonus episode, she joins Katie and Brian to help parse Donald Trump’s upset victory. Plus, we want to know your biggest hope and biggest fear about a Trump presidency. Leave us a message at 929-224-4637.

This episode is brought to you by Stamps.com

Erin and Bryan discuss the shocking, horrifying, outrageous results of Election 2016.

Writer, comedian, actor Natasha Rothwell (The Characters on Netflix, writer for HBO’s Insecure) joins Sarah and Susan to talk about Cynthia Erivo singing “I’m Here” from The Color Purple, Cheers, a Wells Fargo commercial, and Kara Walker’s exhibit at The Broad.

This episode is brought to you by Third Love.

Hunkering down with Brian Huskey.

This episode is brought to you by Mack Weldon, Harry’s, and Casper Mattresses.

Adal Rifai, Arnie Niekamp, and Matt Young pay a visit from the Magic Tavern to join Matt Besser for this week’s improv4humans. They put on a musical at the height of a pandemic, take the longest goodbyes, and avoid engaging in small talk about guacamole. Later, a gas station attendant crosses the line, and the Magic Tavern boys have to deal with some sorely offended fans.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s.

Actor and friend of the show Omar Dorsey fills in as guest host with Kevin this week to talk up the latest in Denzel news. Omar dishes on working with an extremely talented cast in “Queen Sugar” while he and Kevin plot to nab an invite to Oprah’s Montecito home. Then, in honor of the podcast’s 100th episode, they take a walk down memory lane, discussing preferred director’s notes and why you don’t call “cut” on Denzel all while revisiting show highlights from the last two years.

Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States of America. It’s going to be okay. Sit down, have a cookie, breathe into this bag and put on your mandatory ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap. We’ll survive this, right?

Despite the sun coming up in the morning and life seemingly going on like normal, the world might’ve been forever changed last night. So we needed to break the little glass box, pull the lever and record an emergency podcast. Jack O’Brien is joined by Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) to make sense of what happened at the polls last night, why we should’ve seen it coming from a mile away and what we can actively do to prevent this from happening again. As Jason says on the site today, “Do the opposite of Panic. Work through the problem.” It’ll all be okay.

And if we’re still alive this weekend , make sure to catch the next LIVE taping of The Cracked Podcast, this Saturday, November 12th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Jack O’Brien, Daniel O’Brien and Michael Swaim will be joined by an expert in psychology to talk about some of the psychological myths everyone seems to believe: like Rorschach tests (sorry, they don’t work), middle child syndrome (not real); and depression (totally real, but antidepressants might not actually work very well). Tickets are only $5 and they’re available here: https://goo.gl/nSI343

Footnotes:

David Wong: Don’t Panic: https://goo.gl/V02EGl

David Wong: How Half of America Lost Its F**king Mind: https://goo.gl/KBJs5W

Interactive 2016 County-by-County Election Map: https://goo.gl/6zWHIw

Allan Lichtman: Keys to the White House: https://goo.gl/IgMovr

Stephen Colbert’s Election Night Sign-Off: https://goo.gl/4cxBrF