Paul F. Tompkins welcomes weary travelers, refreshed travelers, and sleepy travelers back to Spontaneanation! This week Paul’s special guest is author/star of stage and screen John Hodgman! They chat about naming cars, newspapers, Gasoline Alley, car culture, and his great grandmother. Paul is then joined by Shulie Cowen, Colleen Smith, and Chris Tallman to improvise a story set in an Urban Spelunkers Meeting in an Abandoned Subway Station. As always, the unbelievable Eban Schletter scores it all on piano! 

The next LIVE Spontaneanation happens at Largo on Saturday, July 11th! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! bit.ly/SPONT715

The recent tragedy in Charleston, SC sparked, among other things, another flurry of debate in what appears to be our new twisted national pastime: arguing about guns. We’ll hear in the media proposed solutions to the problem of gun violence in America, and we’ll also hear the realities of why they wont work. We’ll hear about magazine restrictions and closing the gun show loophole, but we’ll also hear about how gun ownership is a tradition and a hobby across America that would be as easy to prohibit tomorrow as it would be to prohibit driving a car or owning a boat.

The gun debate is a nuanced, complex issue with elaborate roots that stretch back generations. This week on the podcast, Jack O’Brien is joined by editors Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) and Josh Sargent to discuss both sides of the gun debate, the statistics about gun violence that you almost never hear, how the debate is painted by race, how gun ownership is more deeply rooted in a person’s identity than we think, and how trying to predict the next mass shooter will always be impossible.

Found magazine creator Davy Rothbart joins Andrew all this week to answer some racism questions. Today they discuss one of Davy’s found notes about just being friends. Be sure to call us at (323) 389-RACE to ask if anything is racist.

Terrible Parents by Kevin Oeser continues this week on The Black List Table Reads with Franklin Leonard. When we last left things, Stefanie and Lindsay were beating the the ever living hell out of each other on a cooperative ropes course and reflecting very very poorly on Trailblazers. What happens next? Tune in to find out! Plus, Franklin makes a big announcement about future Black List Table Reads scripts. Terrible Parents stars Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Rob Huebel, Janie Haddad Tompkins, Sarah Baker, Matt Gourley, Joel Spence, Michelle Lema, Lauren Flans, and Cooper Thornton.

Welcome back to Black List Table Reads, as we continue with Terrible Parents. Last week, Howie and Stefanie finally won admission for their son Oliver to the ultra-exclusive private school Trailblazers. The only problem is Lindsay, a fellow Trailblazers parent and Stefanie’s high-school rival, who’s determined to make their lives hell. Terrible Parents stars Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Rob Huebel, Janie Haddad Tompkins, Sarah Baker, Matt Gourley, Joel Spence, Michelle Lema, Lauren Flans, and Cooper Thornton.

Man Buns are EVERYWHERE. Deanna & Emily take a deep dive into the world of manly buns. They unpack what’s hot and what’s not about the Man Bun, when you should (or most likely shouldn’t) rock the bun, and uncover actual tutorials about how long it takes these men to throw their hair back. They also play a new game: “Would You Sleep With This Celeb Man Bun?” Hit us up on Twitter @omfgpod and let us know, do you have the feels about Man Buns?

Actress Hailey Sole of the highly anticipated Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is the most youthiest of youths on OMFG! yet! Hailey tells us about what it was like working with the campers on set, some hot new lingo that’s being used in middle school, and tests her knowledge of events that may or may not have happened in the year she was born: 2001.

Mr. Alan Rickman is one of the best actors of our generation and has one of the most unique voices in film history. Mr. Rickman joins Josh to talk about the process of both directing and acting in his new film A Little Chaos, the transition from working as a graphic designer to becoming an actor full time at age 25, where his portrayal of Bill Clay in Die Hard originated, and much more.

A fine young and remarkable actor by the name of Paul Dano joins Josh to talk about starring in an excellent new film “Love & Mercy” which tells the story of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, his most notable films, filmmakers he was obsessed with, and much more.

Mr. Alan Rickman is one of the best actors of our generation and has one of the most unique voices in film history. Mr. Rickman joins Josh to talk about the process of both directing and acting in his new film A Little Chaos, the transition from working as a graphic designer to becoming an actor full time at age 25, where his portrayal of Bill Clay in Die Hard originated, and much more.

A fine young and remarkable actor by the name of Paul Dano joins Josh to talk about starring in an excellent new film “Love & Mercy” which tells the story of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, his most notable films, filmmakers he was obsessed with, and much more.

Actress Shiri Appleby joins Jensen & Matty to talk about going to high school with Jensen, acting since she was 3 years old, starring on the very dark new show UNreal, Warm Brew, The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories, Another Period, The September Issue, Spyfall, how we’re late on @NBAcatwatch, Total War: Shogun 2, the LA Zoo, and many other things you should know about. Plus, they call up Jensen’s mom and ask her if she’s familiar with all the hot new slang!

Singer-songwriter Jesse Thomas joins Jensen & Matty to talk about the Pistol Shrimps, music open mics, Jesse’s Hazel EP receiving the Starbucks Pick of the Week, Prayers: Cholo Goth, Patreon, The Nightmare, Wrabel, The Familiar Volume 1: One Rainy Day in May, how we’re late on So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Lord of the Rings Living card game, Fiona Apple, and many other things you should know about. Plus, in a Get Up On This first, Jesse Thomas performs a song for us.

This week Leonard and Baron welcome Leonard’s wife Alice to sit in with them as they discuss three excellent documentaries that take you behind the scenes of movies in different ways: Casting By, a celebration of the casting profession and casting pioneer Marion Dougherty, Lost in La Mancha which follows Terry Gilliam’s doomed attempt to get his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, off the ground, and It’s All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles, the story of a notorious Orson Welles project about South America that was never completed.

Inspired by Father’s Day, Leonard’s daughter Jessie Maltin returns to discuss the movies that her dad shared with her growing up—and Leonard explains why he chose the classics. Plus, Baron explains how movies as diverse as Amadeus and the Muppets opened him up to a world of great movies.

Welcome to Deadwood! Paula Malcomson joins Matt this week to talk about the evolving, unwritten arc of her character Trixie, her favorite phrase of curse, and the tenuous future life of the show. Then, Sarah Lund tells the story of how she went from a background actor to having a bathtub fitting for her big scene. It’s a tale of two whores. One, a series regular and tough as nails. The other a featured background player and fancy as a June bride.

Sarah and Susan talk about Franco Luambo and Cesária Évora as they share Foreign Songs in Languages they don’t understand that make them weep. Then, author of OG Dad and Permanent Midnight and writer for IFC’s Maron, Jerry Stahl joins them to discuss I Love Lucy, the “Time Enough at Last” episode of The Twilight Zone, “The Autumn Leaves” by Nat King Cole, and much more.

Better buckle up because this week Devin & Amy are discussing the 1950 Bette Davis classic All About Eve. Is this Broadway drama one murder away from becoming a horror movie? How does it stack up to Sunset Boulevard? And why would Devin claim that snide, back-stabbing theater critic Addison DeWitt is his role model? Tune in to hear Devin & Amy dish about Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s withering wit — and head to the forums on Wolfpop to cast the deciding vote!

In honor of Father’s Day, W. Kamau Bell and Kevin “Richard The Screwdriver” Avery review the first episode of HBO’s Ballers starring Denzel’s son John David Washington. They’ll also take a look at Denzel’s TV debut as they discuss the first episode of St. Elsewhere which begs the question: Did Denzel or his son have the better TV debut? Tune in to find out!

Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!!! Paul, Jason AND June (not to mention special return guest Adam Pally of Happy Endings and The Mindy Project) are all here in a very special How Did This Get Made LIVE from Irving Plaza in New York City! They’re talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze. They’ll cover everything from the horrific amount of pizza to why these are the most charmless turtles imaginable to April O’Neil’s strange relationship with the turtles. Plus, we hear from Vanilla Ice himself on how Ninja Rap was born before getting into Audience Q&A!

Rory (Mike Castle) has been sober for a while now and he couldn’t have done it without his friend and spirit animal Skip Rollins. Rory and Skip share their thoughts on current news during “Hey, What the Heck?”, discuss Monica Lewinksy & Bill Clinton during “How A little Bit of Violence Would Have Solved X,” and have a healing moment as they talk through what makes them self conscious during “A Little Bit of Lovin’”. Plus, Traci Reardon arrives to offer advice on marshmallows, t-shirts, and more to her Twitter followers in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

Randy and Jason kick off the show with discussion on whether or not NCAA coaches should be taking advice from celebrity parents, as well as why one NBA player can no longer watch his Netflix. Then, the Sklars welcome to the show comedian Joe DeRosa who sheds light on Star Wars fandom and why following Bad Religion was one of the most personally influential decisions he ever made. Other hot topics include racist love making, nazi cheerleaders, and Star Wars porn! Lastly, Jesse Ventura calls in to discuss his suspicions over the St. Louis Cardinals hacking the Houston Astros.

Andrew Ti and special guest Combat Jack finish the week off by discussing a bumper sticker that reads “Political Dissent is Not Racism.” As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

This week on Two Charted, forgiveness is granted to all fellow artists who dared to compete with the release of the Gu Cruise music video. Additionally, Howard and Kulap discuss their most recent trip to the space observatory and why it barely deserves the title of “observatory.” Later, Kulap talks about her recent viewing of some MMA fights, which spawns Howard into an argument as to why Summah is the only time to watch television.

Beck Bennett of SNL and Good Neighbor joins the first timer club as he runs laps around the room on today’s B-B-B-ONUS Comedy Bing Bong! Beck tells us all about his new movie Balls Out, the ins and outs of flag football, and playing a villain. Then, Finnish casino owner Alfie Kangas arrives to talk about the new feature at his hotel/casino The Fantasia. Plus, Denver Coward, a hooker with a heart of gold makes a quick visit!

Andy Daly, Peter Gwinn, and Amanda Sitko join Matt Besser and witness listeners get into the Case Closed Thunderdome and settle the Sun Kil Moon debate on this week’s improv4humans! We’ll also hear what it would be like if your name became slang for a curse word, if you had a teacher who enjoys watching you cheat, and the consequences of an uncle taking a birthday joke toward his nephew too far. New York: improv4humans with Matt Besser will be LIVE at the Del Close Marathon this Saturday (6/27) at the UCBeast from 1-5pm. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual, and Dragoon’s new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com!

Brightening your smile with Nikki Glaser.

Hollywood meets podcasting with guest Franklin Leonard, founder and CEO of The Black List, and host of the Wolfpop show, The Black List Table Reads. Franklin tells Adam Sachs how The Black List began as an informal survey he did just looking for good scripts to read, quickly becoming an annual list of the best unproduced screenplays. In 2012 The Black List launched as a online script database letting screenwriters upload their work to be shared with and evaluated by industry professionals, and Franklin explains how the company’s business is driven by a core mission of finding great stories and helping them get told. Then he tells the story of how the idea for the Table Reads podcast was born, and recalls the day he pitched it to Adam and Wolfpop network curator Paul Scheer. They discuss how the show has evolved over the course of three, four-episode “earmovies,” and Franklin details his goals for it.

Combat Jack and Andrew talk about the idea of scholarships for White men in nursing. Don’t forget to keep leaving us messages by calling (323) 389-RACE.

This week, Howard discusses the release of the official Gu Cruise music video, which features cameos from Kulap, Rocky, and more! Also, Kulap and Howard welcome to the show Drew Droege who discusses the specifics of impersonating a famous person, specifically when that famous person is in the room. Later, the crew discusses why movies today look like sherbet, as well as how many wigs is too many wigs.