New and old Book Club friends Robert Baker, Amanda Walsh, Dana Wickens, and Melissa Stetten join Nate this week for a special Holiday themed Book Club episode of Reading Aloud! This week they’re celebrating Halloween (because it’s such a good Holiday) as they dive deep into “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson. Get a head start on the next book “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel and send in your thoughts on the book at readingaloudpodcast@gmail.com.

Randy and Jason discuss a pro football player that picks a fight with a police dog and a race car driver who’s the master of downplaying all serious situations. Then, the Sklars welcome Joel Stein who talks about growing up a sports fan in New Jersey, life as a journalist, and his self improvement podcast Man Made. Additionally, the gang talks about why rich people might have some entitlement issues, the mystery of 600 bobble heads, and Texas A&M’s most recent lawsuit. Lastly, Manny Pacquiao calls in to discuss his interest in fighting Holly Holm.

Hello! Welcome back to The Wishing Well with your host Skee-Lo (Shaun Diston)! 90’s rapper Skee-Lo has been making wishes for a real long time and has yet to have any of his wishes granted from his famed 1995 song “I Wish.” This week Skee-Lo is joined by special guest Frank Dorito, the Guinness World Record holder for Most Wishes Granted. They’ll review Skee-Lo’s wishes including his prized wish for a rabbit in a hat with a bat, discuss several tactics on how to get a wish granted, and give us the real scoop on genies. Later, Traci Reardon arrives to help her Twitter followers with advice on making a decision between two wishes and more in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

Ronna and Beverly welcome Jessica St. Clair of Playing House. Jessica talks about how to master discount shopping, the specifics of female hygiene, and which actors have less than adequate dongs. Also, Ronna and Bev talk about the tragedy in Paris, as well as the dangers of misplaced anger.

Andrew Ti and special guest Joshua Walker finish the week off by discussing the American Spirit logo with a Native American on it. As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

Jared Frieder, screenwriter of Three Months, joins Franklin this week to chat about how Three Months came to be, choosing comedy as a vehicle for a personal story, and why it’s important for writers to be constantly creating from a personal space.

Welcome to Season 2 of the new and improved The Black List Table Reads with Franklin Leonard. Expect a full earmovie in its entirety with superb sound design. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house during our recording of Jared Frieder’s moving dark comedy, Three Months: the story of a queer Miami teen who gets exposed to HIV, and must wait for his diagnosis. Three Months won the Austin Film Festival Best Comedy Screenplay award in 2014, and for good reason! Our presentation stars Mindy Sterling, Ritesh Rajan, Jee Young Han, Philip Casnoff, Kofi Siriboe, Gerald Downey, Frances Fisher, Obba Babatunde, Christopher Cousins, Jared Frieder, and Cooper Thornton.

One of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Spike Lee joins Kamau and Kevin this week to talk about Denzel Washington, the Greatest Actor of All Time Period. Spike tells us about his Top 5 Denzel Movies that he didn’t direct, how Denzel channeled the spirit of Malcolm X by preparing for the role for over a year, future NBA hall of famer Ray Allen getting caught by surprise when Denzel went off script during their one-on-one basketball game in He Got Game because Denzel wanted to score a basket, and Denzel himself asking him to direct one of 10 August Wilson plays being produced by HBO. Plus, Spike gives us the scoop on his latest film Chi-Raq, a satire set in Chicago about the gang violence prevalent in some neighborhoods on the city’s south side.

In this bonus Crybabies, Sarah Thyre brings you a special presentation of her new Howl show with Rachel Lichtman, Something Cool. The fancy lady from Chickasaw County, Bobbie Gentry rose to fame with her most memorable hit song, “Ode To Billie Joe.” In a male-dominated era of singers and songwriters, Bobbie Gentry was a standout: an early feminist icon and independent success who earned the respect and collaboration of her contemporaries with her unique Southern charm and significant catalog, most of which was written and produced by Gentry herself. Through exclusive interviews, vintage clips, and a gorgeous soundtrack; this episode celebrates Gentry’s immeasurable influence and brilliant artistry.

Marking your territory with Al Jackson.

Singer-songwriter John Grant joins Scott to preview new songs off of his new record “Grey Tickles, Black Pressure” on today’s B-B-B-ONUS Comedy Bang Bang! We also meet Tom Jimson, the man who has the record for the most multiple personalities of all time ranging from old prospector to a giant Miyazaki baby. Plus, Scott’s cousin Delna stops by in hopes of getting advice on how to turn her bad life around.

It’s a two-team spectacle as Lauren Lapkus, Erin Whitehead, and Stephanie Allynne of Wild Horses and Dan Lippert, Ryan Rosenberg, Drew Tarver, and Jon Mackey of Big Grande join Matt Besser for a LIVE improv4humans from the UCB’s Sunset theater in Hollywood California! They’ll explore what it would be like if home invaders entered a home of an old college buddy, being finalists at the Laundry Olympics, and Halloween was every day in October as they Crap on YouTube. Plus, musical guest Ivan Ives performs “California” which inspires a scene about adjusting to the chill California lifestyle. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual, Matt Besser’s new comedy album at mattbesser.com, and Dragoon’s new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com!

The Sklar Brothers present an exclusive clip from their Howl series Finding The Funny!

With the holiday season approaching, James and Stephen give their personal secrets to going on vacation with children.

Joshua Walker and Andrew talk about if the NFL is racist. Don’t forget to keep leaving us messages by calling (323) 389-RACE.

We’ve been getting so many emails lately, I decided to do an all letters episode. Letters night!

Credits

Arnie: Arnie Niekamp
Chunt: Adal Rifai
Usidore: Matt Young
Tannakin: Sarah Fineout
Spants: Meridith Stepien
Glenn Miller: Nick Gage
Mysterious Man: Tim Sniffen
Craig: Ryan DiGiorgi

Producers: Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, Ryan DiGiorgi
Editor: Ryan DiGiorgi
Theme Music: Andy Poland
Episode art provided by…we don’t know, we don’t remember, sorry… Did you draw this? Let us know!

Sponsors
Basecamp via The Chicago Podcast Cooperative
Utter Nonsense

Our heroes have traveled far and wide and it has lead them to a battle on the beach against fish robots. They’ll crank up the Chuck Mangione and make these fish wish they never came out of the ocean.

You know him and you love him from Freaks and Greeks, Inglourious Basterds, and his notoriously celebrated appearances on Doug Loves Movies, Samm Levine joins Leonard this week to discuss his lifelong love of movies and one of his particular favorites, James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News.

Joshua Walker and Andrew talk about a caller’s question regarding a White man who is using being a quarter Native American to say that they are also oppressed. Be sure to keep leaving us messages at (323) 389-RACE.

James Altucher, Stand-Up Comic? Stephen J. Dubner, Screenwriter? Let’s have a listen to what new endeavors our hosts are pursuing when not podcasting.

Howard and Kulap give an in depth acting tutorial which includes articulation drills and how to choose a stage name. Also, Kulap updates Chartists on Billion Dollar Properties, sparking hot debate on whether or not some TV shows are for old people. Later, Brian Huskey joins the show to discuss possible causes for why he lost a significant amount of his vocabulary, as well as his new improvised movie A Better You.

Arden Rose is a wonderfully talented YouTube star with over 1.3 million subscribers and is the right kind of person to tell Deanna & Emily what trends should be over. Arden also introduces us to face sheet masks (complete with snail essence), the terrifying Deep Web, and what it means to be best friends in the digital age. Plus, everyone shares their thoughts on Peeple, the new Yelp like app where you can rate people.

Comedian, actor, improviser Jon Gabrus joins Jensen and Matty to talk about Dungeons and Dragons, Wild ‘n Out, rappers from Long Island, Pell’s “Limbo,” Cinemax TV show Banshee, Rap Tees: A Collection of Hip-Hop T-Shirts 1980-1999, Rugby, adult coloring books, how we’re late on Project Greenlight, Anthony Jeselnik’s “Thoughts and Prayers,” Deadwood, and many other things you should know about.

This past Saturday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded director Spike Lee a Governors Award Oscar, honoring his lifetime of achievements. But the legendary director is far from retired. In fact, during an interview with W.Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery on the upcoming episode of their podcast, Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period, Spike revealed that Denzel himself asked him to direct one of 10 August Wilson plays being produced by HBO. (Denzel is executive producing the entire series)

The audio from that part of the interview is below, and the full episode will be released this Thursday. Tune in to hear Spike talk about working with Denzel & about his new movie Chi-Raq (plus a whole bunch of other Spike Lee amazingness). You can subscribe to Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period on iTunes.

Wonderful English actor (and now director) Paul Bettany joins Josh this week to talk about his directorial debut and passion project Shelter which is based on a real homeless couple, playing J.A.R.V.I.S. in many of the Marvel films as well as becoming The Vision, connecting with his friend Johnny Depp over scarves, and his experience working with Peter O’Toole.

Join Kevin as he sits down with Kelly Carlin as she chats about her newly published book, A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up with George. Kelly divulges stories about how growing up around the comedy community of the 70s forged her current career.

Hayes and Tom Scharpling are checking in this week from The Big Apple itself — New York City! They talk about potential New Yorkers to recruit to the east coast branch of the network, discuss the mega-hit Hamilton, and bond over their favorite NY memories on the phone with Sean.

Are you more likely to have an angry outburst when driving a car than walking? How about when commenting on an internet message board? Rage is all the rage on today’s Question of the Day.

Randy and Jason welcome to the show Eugene Mirman who talks about his new seven LP, nine volume album, I’m Sorry You’re Welcome, as well as the inspiration for his character Gene on Bob’s Burgers. Then, Daniel Van Kirk covers headlines that include a duck that can’t hold his liquor, a public masturbator, and a family of historical re-enactors. Lastly, Mark Wahlberg leaves a voicemail advertising a sale that he’s having for his brothers belongings.

Joshua Walker & Andrew talk about Yik Yak, the app that fielded racist threats at University of MIssouri. Make sure to leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.