Sitting on a park bench with Andy Daly.

This episode is brought to you by Mack Weldon, Harry’s, and MVMT Watches.

Writer Julieanne Smolinski (Grace and Frankie, New York Magazine) joins Sarah and Susan to talk about Roberta Flack’s “Do What You Gotta Do,” the Katherine Ann Porter story “Pale Horse, Pale Rider,” Ken Burns’ The War, and the end of The Wonder Years episode “The Accident.”

This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron and Third Love.

This week, Kevin and Kamau get into a whole bunch of business. They fondly recall Kevin’s days making ethics videos for corporations before listening to a post-Emmy chat about the experience of winning the award. Then they get into a discussion about the Nate Parker film “The Birth of a Nation.” They cover the importance of historical accuracies, what lessons the film could have taken from its own trailer, and the controversy surrounding the director.

Mookie Blaiklock, Anthony Atamanuik, Paul Rust, and Danielle Schneider join Matt Besser for part two of the great Sing A Long Experiment! Songs by Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, and The Doors inspire scenes about conducting an affair with your drink, a sponge-haired girl on a train, and the cool new trend of storm-riding. Later, we find out why cutlery should be taken a little more seriously and what to do when your boss wants to skype you in college.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace and Harry’s.

Actress and comedian Casey Wilson’s mom died before Casey made it on TV, got married, and had a kid. Casey talks about the long, messy process of grieving her mom’s sudden death, and what it’s like to parent without a mother of your own. To join the conversation, go to:www.longestshortesttime.com!

This episode is sponsored by Third Love, Tweed Wolf, Warby Parker, Fracture, Olive & Cocoa, and Bumby Box.

On the first of three very special Star Wars trilogy episodes of I Was There Too, Matt is joined by Anthony Forrest who plays the sand trooper mind-tricked by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Mos Eisley roadblock who said ‘These aren’t the droids we’re looking for,’ in George Lucas’ 1977 film Star Wars. Anthony tells us how he was cast as the sand trooper after also being cast as Luke Skywalker’s friend Fixer in the deleted scenes from the film, not being able to see a thing in the helmet, and getting to work with Lucas, Guinness, and Hamill. We also hear tales of rubbing elbows with Roger Moore in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me and getting to see John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their ‘Bed-In for Peace’ campaign. Later, top secret guest Starship 1 returns to talk more about her audition for Star Wars: Episode 8. Plus, a classic Star Wars Superego sketch!

Come see us at the Now Hear This podcast festival: nowhearthisfest.com

This episode is brought to you by Mack Weldon and Nuisance Committee.

Comedian Matt Kirshen joins Andrew this week to talk about the 2nd Presidential debate, Nigel Farage, using the c-word in the US vs. Britain, and much more. As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

TO HEAR MORE EPISODES OF THE GRIMM LIFE GO TO HOWL.FM AND USE PROMO CODE GRIMM AT CHECKOUT.

Join the Sisters Grimm (Siobhan Thompson and Anna Rubanova) as they bring you stories on a familiar theme with a magical twist. Modeled after NPR favorites like This American Life and The Moth, The Grimm Life uses a public radio approach to retell classic fairy tales. In episode 1, A Cobbler who makes unethical footwear argues in favor of more deadly shoes.

Created by Anna Rubanova and Siobhan Thompson. Edited by Anna Rubanova and Adam Bozarth. Featuring Paul Welsh as Hair Schumaker, Laura Willcox as Silvija, Adam Bozarth as Puss in Boots, and Anna, Siobhan and Adam as the Elves.

To help analyze the second Clinton-Trump debate, Mark and Pete have assembled a panel of undecided suburban voters named Margaret (Marcy Jarreau, Madeline Walter and Nicole Byer) They discuss the impact of Bill Clinton’s scandals on the race, why the big boy is mad at the little boy, how hard it is not to fall down in the shower, and ooh is that banana bread?

This episode is brought to you by DecodeDC and Nuisance Committee.

This week, Howard and Kulap are joined by actor, comedian, and podcaster Paul F. Tompkins! They chat with Stard about which German delicacy is most like people before getting into the charts. They break down Lin-Manuel Miranda’s performance on Saturday Night Live while counting down the Top 5 Songs on iTunes. Then, during Time Magazine’s Top 5 Shows to Watch This Fall, they discuss preferred streaming services and address a listener question for Paul. Finally, Stard and director Lance Bangs join in for a full-house Four Charted, where they solve the mystery of Howard’s Audible account and get the low-down on Stard’s upcoming tour with Honus Honus.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace and NBC – Seeso.

Podcast pioneers Seth Romatelli and Jonathan Larroquette of the Uhh Yeah Dude podcast join Jensen and Matty to talk about podcasting for 10 years, Elevator Jay, Quarry, R&B singer SiR, how we were late on the Warcraft movie, and many more things you should know about.

This episode is brought to you by Beach Body on Demand and MVMT Watches.

On today’s minisode, we’ll get to the bottom of the right time to fall in love, why people hate your glasses, and whether or not vampires shit. Plus, Corrections and Omissions for Vampire Academy, what Stephen King classic we’ll be tackling next, and Blake Harris brings us more insight on Stealth from military adviser John Iles. Send your own voicemail explanation hopes for Paul to answer by calling 619-PAUL ASK.

Come see us at the Now Hear This podcast festival: nowhearthisfest.com

Get yourself a BB-8 “What Is Its Mission?” T-shirt or Tote Bag over at http://howdidthisgetmade.bigcartel.com

Where to Find Jason, June & Paul:

Paul, Jason and June appear in a new animated pilot BAD GUYS on Adult Swim watch and vote here http://adultswim.com/misc/pilots/

Paul’s new comedy Filthy Preppy Teen$ is now avail on the FullScreen and you can see June and Paul in their old show NTSF:SD:SUV:: on HULU. Paul also appears on Fresh off the Boat on ABC.

June stars in Grace and Frankie on Netflix, as well as Lady Dynamite alongside with Jason.

Jason can be seen in How to Be Single, Sleeping with Other People, and is still indeed in The Dictator.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace and Blunt Talk on STARZ.

Dear Tom Waits, We look forward to hearing the song you write about this week’s caller: falling in love with a stripper, skipping town in a blizzard, a christmas dinner in the demimonde of Boca Raton.

This episode is brought to you by Mailchimp, Mack Weldon, Psychic Source, Stamps.com, and Joyable.

Stand-up comedians Jeffrey Mark Klein and A.B. Farrelly join Deanna and Emily to celebrate National Coming Out Day and share their own coming out stories. Plus, we hear some outstanding stories from Jeffrey’s long running annual National Coming Out Day comedy show which began in Michigan and moved to New York and now Los Angeles.

Join guest host Samm Levine as he sits down with writer and actor Andy Kindler (Maron, Bob’s Burgers) as they ramble on about their Jewish neurosis interjected with witty one-liners.

This episode is brought to you by Fracture.

Sean and Hayes have a secret surprise for Engineer Sam. Then new clients KEITH KINGBAY and JESSE NEIL come to an exotic restaurant with the boys to sample interesting foods.

Intrepid actor Romany Malco makes his return this week to talk about life in Puerto Rico and the power of collaborative arts. He fills the Sklars in on his crowdfunding campaign to get Tijuana Jackson a movie before Daniel Van Kirk shares some funky stories. We hear about a pantsless drunk driver, a nude Red Roof Inn wanderer, and a man who fell into a toilet looking for his friend’s phone. Finally, recent political superstar Kenneth Bone drops by to sling some tough questions at the Bros.

This episode is sponsored by DecodeDC and Mack Weldon.

Paul F. Tompkins of Spontaneanation and star of Seeso’s Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ joins Scott on this week’s Comedy Bang! Bang! As Paul and Scott sing the National Anthem, they wonder what cavemen invented singing and we hear deets on the second season of Bajillion Dollar Propertie$. Then, parental activists Trish Trash and Beverly Gunt arrive to inform listeners of the nasty lyrics on the radio. Plus, political activists Janice Bullhorn and Juan stop by to educate us on the Donald Trump campaign.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace and SKYN Condoms.

How many times a week do you see someone posting a headline to Facebook with a ridiculous scientific claim about your health? ‘9 out of 10 Doctors Say You Should Stop Exercising,’ ‘New Report Shows Milk Prevents Cancer,’ ‘New Study Shows Milk Is Pure Poison, Stop Drinking Milk Or Else Everyone You Know Will Die!’ If you’re like us, you probably don’t even pay attention to them anymore because the results are so fluid and often contradictory. Tell us now– are eggs good for you? You have no idea. Yes, but not the yolks? Who the hell knows anymore?

There’s a reason why so many studies about human health and behavior are so unpredictable, and you may not be happy with the answer. It’s because studying humans is freaking impossible, and that’s never going to change. When you’re studying people, there’s an endless amount of incalculable variables that make reaching a conclusion a futile undertaking. And even if you control for as many factors as you can think of, you still might not be able to account for your subjects’ genetics or the very likely chance that they’re just lying to you. “Oh, my diet? Yeah, I eat 2 salads a day, no dressing, and a plain cut of grilled chicken for dinner. I definitely didn’t drive through McDonalds on the way here and order a #3 with a Dr. Pepper, no pickles.”

In conclusion, don’t trust anything you read or hear ever, or do, because science doesn’t really know what it’s doing. On this week’s episode Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O’Brien is joined by executive editor Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) to talk about how and why science fails us in this regard and why you should probably still be flossing.

Also, you can see us on Saturday, October 29th at the Now Hear This podcast festival in Anaheim, California. We’re on an amazing lineup with other podcasts like WTF with Marc Maron, Doug Loves Movies, I Was There Too and Superego. Use promo code CRACKED to get 25% off 3-day GA passes. Tickets and information available here: https://goo.gl/R8gzMX

Footnotes:

Cracked: Why Science Is Still Mystified About How Humans Work: https://goo.gl/P4s6mb

Smithsonian: Scientists Replicated 100 Studies, Fewer Than Half Got The Same Results: https://goo.gl/VsQXP3

CBC: No Strong Proof That Flossing Your Teeth Has Medical Benefit: https://goo.gl/HFiymZ

NPR: Does Flossing Help Or Not?: https://goo.gl/pS6DGW

LiveScience: Eggs Don’t Deserve Their Bad Reputation: https://goo.gl/g0l3ys

Time: Why Full-Fat Dairy May Be Healthier Than Low-Fat: https://goo.gl/ZFcGDE

Time: Diet Soda Contributes to Weight Gain, Not Weight Loss: https://goo.gl/bYzpc2

New York Times: Why Nutrition Is So Confusing: https://goo.gl/z8aBTs

Pacific Standard: Alcoholics Anonymous Has A Problem: https://goo.gl/ZJb5NO

WebMD: Effectiveness of Antidepressants: https://goo.gl/he3Kbo

Slate Star Codex: Stop Confounding Yourself: https://goo.gl/KQHiiJ

Cracked: 5 Ways We Misunderstand Pedophilia: https://goo.gl/O1oIoE

Cracked: 24 Everyday Things That Are Still A Mystery To Science: https://goo.gl/icSrfE

Cracked: 6 Reasons You Can’t Trust Science Anymore: https://goo.gl/QP8eWh

Cracked: 6 Shocking Studies That Prove Science Is Totally Broken: https://goo.gl/fuQCak

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace and Adam and Eve.

Yvette Nicole Brown (The Odd Couple, Community) has been friends with Leslie Odom Jr. for over a decade. If that’s not enough to make you jealous, how about the fact that she was in the audience for Hamilton’s opening night on Broadway? She tells Travon why the show made her want to learn more about rap and why she admires Angelica’s strength of character. Plus, you really don’t want to miss Yvette singing along to “Alexander Hamilton.” Take note, Hamilheads: our next episode will drop on Tuesday, October 18th.

It’s time again for Chunt’s annual blood drive for local vampires. Usidore is unusually excited.

Credits

Arnie: Arnie Niekamp

Chunt/Thorn: Adal Rifai

Usidore/Vlad/Chad/Brad/Tad: Matt Young

Simon Lemmington Bartholomew: Shad Kunkle

Mysterious Man: Tim Sniffen

Tricia: Kate James

Producers: Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, Ryan DiGiorgi

Editor: Chris Rathjen

Theme Music: Andy Poland

Magic Tavern Logo: Allard Laban

Audio Assistance: Jason Knox

Production Assistance: Garrett Schultz

This episode is brought to you by Cards Against Humanity and ZipRecruiter.

Paul F. Tompkins welcomes all back to Spontaneanation, recorded in front of a LIVE audience at The Detroit Improv Festival! This week, Paul’s special guest is actor, improviser, and SPONT regular Craig Cackowski! They chat about whether or not Craig still eats pudding as an adult, why scissors are not ideal but still better than the mouth, and which food Craig would like to acquire a taste for now. Paul is then joined by Nyima Funk, Nancy Hayden, and Marc Evan Jackson, to improvise a story set at The Other Side of The Tracks. And as always, Eban (only the best) Schletter scores it all on piano!

See Spontaneanation LIVE at the Now Hear This Festival on October 30th & at Largo on November 5th! Get your tickets at paulftompkins.com/live!

This episode is brought to you by Seeso and Harry’s.

This week, Devin and Amy discuss the Elia Kazan-directed 1957 film “A Face in the Crowd.” They discuss why the film counts as a real “American” picture and what it has to say about the new mass media. Then they cover the similarities between Lonesome Roads and presidential candidate Donald Trump before praising Patricia Neal’s pure charm. Finally, they talk Elia Kazan’s skills as an actors’ director and why you must think you are the center of the universe to run for president. Does “A Face in the Crowd” deserve a place in the Canon? Cast your vote on the Earwolf forums!

This episode is sponsored by Nuisance Committee, MVMT Watches, and AMC Networks.

Welcome back to Home for the Holidays with your hosts Abby Joe Dunce (Betsy Sodaro) and Brett Dunce (Dave Theune)! It’s the only seasonal program where we bring back someone home for the holidays. This week is a very special episode in which Abby and Brett welcome home their sister Amy who left Lake Michigan 6 years ago to pursue her dream as a makeup artist to the stars. Later, Traci Reardon stops by to offer advice to her Twitter followers about holiday traditions in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

This episode is brought to you by Modcloth and BioClarity.

Dylan Marron (Seriously.TV, Welcome To Night Vale) and Andrew Heaton (Mostly Weekly) swing by the studio to talk about the Vice white guys debate, the Donald’s tax returns and the first veto override of Obama’s presidency. Plus, Negin recaps the most embarrassing things the Senate has done lately.

This episode is brought to you by DecodeDC, Hello Fresh, and Stamps.com.

Leslie Grossman and Adam O’Byrne join Ronna and Beverly this week to dig into the Amanda Knox documentary. Plus, Spaghetti-O’s made a friend in the park!

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace and Third Love.

Nicolle Wallace is a power player in Republican politics: she was communications chief for George W. Bush and a senior advisor on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. In this episode, she talks to David about what it was like working with Sarah Palin, and what they might have gotten wrong in trying to change her public image.

Also, David Gregory does a pretty good W. impression.

Comedian and actor Johnny Pemberton (“Son of Zorn”) joins the Sklars this week to explain why luck doesn’t exist in showbusiness. Randy and Jason asses the threat of a gorilla suit at a football game and theorize as to why Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham might need a loaded gun in an airport.  Later, Johnny explains why he’s so good at acting against an animated character and how a childhood illness allowed him to follow his dreams. Finally, British sports reporter Jesse Thorne stops in to give the lowdown on recent sports happenings across the pond.

This episode is sponsored by Texture.

Hannibal Buress announces his new podcast “Handsome Rambler,” coming soon to Earwolf!

Bitch Sesh TV connoisseur Shira Caspe-Weiss is back with Casey and Danielle to discuss her new reality TV finds and to give some controversial life tips (that you should not try at home). They also discuss Shannon’s shrimp play, Kelly’s heaving breasts and whether Amanda Knox is a cold blooded killer or just awkward.

Are you “The Lighthouse” or just a sad dingy out at sea? Listen and find out.

This episode is brought to you by Psychic Source, Texture, and Sun Basket.