Today the Bayer siblings are thrilled to have hilarious comedian, actor and writer Tim Baltz on the podcast! You may know Tim from his brilliant work starring as the character BJ in "The Righteous Gemstones," but did you know that he and Vanessa are old Chicago pals? They talk about that time, from auditioning for SNL in Chicago and how Vanessa may have been through an unintended but genius stress test in the process, to the vivid memory they both have of speaking French to each other at Chicago...
Jul 07, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 38
You may know our guests today from their popular podcast series "Buffering: A Rewatch Adventure," but did you know they also co-wrote a fantastic new book “Slayers, Every One Of Us” that is out now! Are you noticing a theme? That’s right, this week the Bayer siblings welcome their DREAM guests and old friends: Musician Jenny Owen Youngs and producer, speaker and consultant Kristin Russo! The group dive into the world of nostalgic TV from Buffy to Angel to My So-Called Life. And speaking of, they...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 37
Today we are joined by actor Shane McRae, the current star of the Apple+ TV series "Silo"! We talk about McCrae being a huge David Bazan fan and hanging out house shows with Jonah back in the day. In that spirit we also reminisce about Williamsburg in the early 2000s, Shane's early auditions alongside some of today's biggest actors and how he a kid from Mississippi was exposed to underground music. We also get deep into the culture of hanging out in 24-hour diners from useless non-smoking sectio...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 36
We could not be more psyched this week to be joined by actor, comedian and star of TV show "Severance" and "Fallout," Zach Cherry! We explore our long history with Zach, from an improv class he took with Jonah in 2015 to his recent gig as a judge during Vanessa's appearance on "The Great American Baking Show." We also get into Zach's time performing improv comedy as a kid at a performing arts camp, trying to hide his comedic aspirations from his day job coworkers when he was starting out (someth...
Jun 16, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 35
This week on the pod, the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome musician and authentic version of comedian Kyle Mooney, Kyle M! They get into Kyle's incredible new album "The Real Me" (available wherever you get your music!), from what inspired the album to the music videos to what inspired Kyle to find his true self. Plus, Vanessa's mind is blown when she realizes Kyle's music can be interpreted a bunch of different ways. And Jonah and Kyle talk about where ideas come from- wow. Finally, in an...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Today the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome music journalist and editor Daniel Kohn to the podcast! You may have seen Daniel's work in SPIN, OC Weekly or Rolling Stone, but did you know he's kind of a Cleveland Expert? We get into the Cleveland bagel scene, the long island bagel scene, and the LA bagel scene! And we get into the beloved (not by Vanessa) computer game "The Oregon Trail " and Dan teaches us that the way to win is to be the banker! Life imitating art! And Jonah teaches us that...
Jun 02, 2025•56 min•Season 4Ep. 33
We are so lucky to have comedian, actor and singer Cole Escola drop by the podcast this week. You may know Cole from their scene-stealing roles in "Search Party," "At Home With Amy Sedaris" and "Difficult People," but before all that they were learning about sophisticated, cosmopolitan female leads on nineties shows like "Fired Up" and "Mad About You." We also get into how the calcium industry hijacked TV commercials in the nineties to the point where Cole ate so many Kraft single slices it made...
May 26, 2025•55 min•Season 4Ep. 32
This week on the podcast we are joined by New York Times bestselling author, Susannah Cahalan! We talk about the phenomenon of the Sharper Image stores, the ubiquity of tetherball courts in the nineties and why are kids seriously still playing Dodgeball? We also discuss Susannah's experience of landing a coveted job at Abercrombie & Fitch when she was in high school and why she didn't like the job despite getting a thirty percent discount. Plus we get into Vanessa's experience as a judge on ...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 31
On today's new episode, the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome the hilarious Jillan Bell! They dive deep into community centers and Vanessa talks about a step class that was so popular at the JCC growing up, that it got one of Jonah's friend's mom's to show her true colors when she didn't get in. Yikes! Plus, Jillian gets into the sixth grade youth center dances that she attended every week and the very consequential last dance where there is a villain, but it's debatable who that is. And, J...
May 12, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 30
This week on the podcast we are joined by singer, guitarist and—as we find out on this episode—actor, Stefan Babcock of the amazing punk band PUP! The three of us get into his short-lived extracurricular activity as an actor, discuss the time that he almost got kicked out of his own concert, Jonah and Stefan talk about their shared insecurities as musicians. We also get deep into the Mighty Ducks Universe, why it was Stefan's favorite movie as a kid growing up in Canada and how Disney managed to...
May 05, 2025•59 min•Season 4Ep. 29
This week, the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome the alternative pop artist and resident Gen Z representative, King Mala! We discuss what it was like growing up as a homeschooled kid in El Paso, the definitions of girl dinner/girl math and why riding in a self-driving car can be less stressful than dealing with a creepy Uber driver. We also get deep into the horror realm when King Mala discusses the 2015 film "The Witch," which had a huge impact on her and even influenced her new album. Fin...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 28
On today's new episode, Vanessa and Jonah are thrilled to welcome their friend Abbi Jacobson! The trio talk about spring holidays, from looking for the afikomen at Passover (Vanessa feels their family's game may have been rigged) to decorating Easter eggs! And remember being a kid with a signature book? Plus, Vanessa attempts to solve the mystery of whether Abbi is related to the Cleveland Jacobsons? And we get into the wild world of the mall, which leads us to The Body Shop, which leads us to t...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 27
This week Jonah and Vanessa are overjoyed to welcome Blink-182 co-frontman Mark Hoppus to the podcast because we are absolutely feeling this episode! We discuss Mark's new memoir FARENHEIT-182 (which he wrote with our friend and previous HDWGW guest Dan Ozzi), his high school goth phase and his love of Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin's comedy series "I Think You Should Leave." We also get into Mark's experiences on the Warped Tour, which saw him befriending his childhood heroes and traveling for mon...
Apr 14, 2025•50 min•Season 4Ep. 26
This week Vanessa and Jonah are THRILLED to welcome Jack Rooke- comedian, writer, absolute delight, and creator of the show Vanessa is obsessed with, "Big Boys"! We talk about Jack and Vanessa's recent brunch where Jack had chicken apple sausage for the very first time and then they ran into two cast members of Bravo's "The Valley" (can you imagine a better brunch?) Plus Jonah tells us about the time he accidentally went to Gloucester, and Jack tells us about the time he got his entire class to ...
Apr 07, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 25
On today's episode, Jonah and Vanessa are thrilled to welcome the hilarious Chelsea Handler!! You may know Chelsea as a comedian, tv host, New York Times Bestselling Author (check out her new book "I'll Have What She's Having"!) and advocate, but did you know she's the youngest of six siblings? And speaking of, we get into how she got birthday gifts for all of those siblings, plus a birthday gift fail that Jonah got for Vanessa once that was a tool to teach her how to work in comedy when she was...
Mar 31, 2025•43 min•Season 4Ep. 24
On this week's new episode, the Bayer siblings are overjoyed to welcome their friend Jaime Moyer to the podcast! Jaime and Vanessa reminisce about meeting at Second City Detroit and all the fun they had, and Vanessa asks: is there something in the water that makes Detroit comedians SO funny?? Plus Jaime recalls her days of working at a movie theater, and we get into our various adventures sneaking into movies as kids, or in Jonah's case, as an adult. And we talk about our favorite movie theater ...
Mar 24, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 23
Cuties alert! The Bayer siblings are thrilled to have their dear friend and absolute cutie Abby Elliott on the podcast today! Abby and Vanessa talk about their fun adventures at the SNL 50th Anniversary, from celebrity encounters to their red carpet go-to moves. And speaking of, Vanessa tells Abby how much better she is at looking cool on looking cool on a red carpet and at life in general? Plus they fill in Jonah on how spray tanning works and talk about the days of people going to tanning salo...
Mar 17, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 22
This week, the Bayers are joined by drummer Jay Weinberg, who you have seen behind the kit of some of your favorite bands ranging from Slipknot to Suicidal Tendencies! Jay talks about being the son of Max Weinberg of The E Street Band and performing "Born To Run" with Bruce Springsteen at Giants stadium while Jonah and Vanessa's dad was trying to get them to take over his shrinkwraping company. (Max may have had a slighter cooler gig.) We also discuss Jonah's punk rock hall of fame status, the c...
Mar 10, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 21
This week the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome their friend, the hilarious and delightful Maria Blasucci! Maria takes us through her method of memorizing people's slurred speech on "Drunk History" as a series regular, and Vanessa and Maria have the same specific memory of meeting while filming the show. Plus Maria regales us with tales of her quarantine time spent near Sandusky, Ohio which leads not only to us learning about the Port Clinton Walleye Festival (not as cool as it sounds? Or i...
Mar 03, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 20
You've heard David Bazan sing about some dark subject matter as a solo artist or under the Pedro The Lion moniker, but have you ever heard him get deep into his snack preferences? From his childhoood invention "The Bologna Big Mac" to the proper technique to put chips on a sandwich without making a crumbly mess, Bazan shares some of his secrets with his future musical collaborators Jonah and Vanessa and the world will never be the same. Bazan also talks with Jonah about their house show traditio...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 19
This week on the podcast, we are joined by return guest and old friend Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God. We discuss Randy's previous careers as a roofer and french chef, Vaessa roasts him like he's a Coq au Vin and the three of us plot the world domination of our supergroup, Pomme De Terroir. We also discuss all of our respective anxiety dreams and will we ever grow out of them? For our topic, Randy purchases a Hobbit record and book to reminisce about his favorite read-along record and also gives us...
Feb 17, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 18
On today's new episode Jonah and Vanessa are thrilled to welcome the one and only Jenifer Lewis! They reminisce about the first time they met when Vanessa was trying to get Jenifer to be on "I Love That For You" and Jenifer subsequently announcing to the press that she would be on the show... without a single mention of Vanessa. Plus you may know that Jenifer is the Mother of Black Hollywood, but did you know she does a killer Vanessa impression? And Vanessa's Jenifer impression is pretty good a...
Feb 10, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 17
This week on the podcast we are joined by our old friend Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis! Michael talks about meeting Jonah and Vanessa at SNL through Fred Armisen, what it was like for Michael to play drums on the Portlandia tour and his secrets to making the perfect cup of espresso. Michael also discusses working at record stores, going to school at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and having Paul McCartney hand him his diploma and getting a major label record deal offer based on...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 16
This week on the podcast, the Bayers are joined by their old friend and award-winning designer, Nick Ace! They discuss how Jonah became Nick's roommate in Williamsburg, the time Vanessa roasted the audience at one of their house parties and the way the three of us have collectively supported each others' creative endeavors. Nick also tells an epic tale about getting suspended from school that manages to reference Jerry Springer, the film Black Sheep and passing notes in class, in a way that will...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 15
This week the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome hilarious comedian, writer and podcaster Pat Regan to the show! Jonah reveals his classic new catch phrase and the way he's used it to mock celebrities in a virtual world! Then Pat reveals his celebrity diss fantasy and, wow, are we all cool! Plus, we get into our favorite shows from growing up and Pat's (and every teen's?) love of the WB promos where all the young stars came together! And partied! In a warehouse? Obsessed. Plus we talk about ...
Jan 20, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 14
This week on the podcast the Bayer siblings are thrilled to welcome their friend Paul James! They explore the sometimes controversial move of adding chicken to a salad, and speaking of, they talk about chain restaurants like Paul's favorite restaurant Benihana, and how his job at PF Chang's got him his first big acting gig! Plus, Vanessa and Paul reminisce about filming "I Love That For You" and Vanessa gives a never-filmed season 2 spoiler for Paul's character "Jordan." And the trio talk all ab...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 13
This week the Bayers are thrilled to welcome their friend and Fall Out Boy lead vocalist and guitarist, Patrick Stump! We really roll out the red carpet for him as Jonah has a brand new premium zoom account and Vanessa has an incredible impression of all pop-punk singers. Speaking of which, we hear how Patrick honed his craft and became the vocalist he is today (it doesn't make Vanessa's impression any less spot-on) and about Patrick's musical influences ranging from straight-edge hardcore to So...
Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 12
This week we couldn't be more thrilled to welcome our friend, the hilarious little sweetie Kenan Thompson!! We're talking SNL nostalgia, Nickelodeon nostalgia, classic rock nostalgia and everything in between. Plus, we get into the craze around the legendary Bo Jackson, including the "Bo Knows" campaign, and his arch nemesis Brian Bosworth aka "The Boz" and Jonah's obsession with the 1991 action fiilm "Stone Cold." Finally, we play a round of LEGIT MOAN OR UNNECESSARY GROAN that has us asking so...
Dec 30, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 11
This week on the podcast, Vanessa and Jonah are joined by old friend and Rise Against guitarist Zach Blair! We discuss the times we almost all hung out together at South By Southwest, Zach's experience playing guitar (and dressing up) in GWAR and his short-lived stint working in construction prior to playing arenas. We also get deep into Zach's relationship with his brother Doni and what it was like playing together in Hagfish and Only Crime. Did you also know that they were interviewed by our c...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 11
This week Vanessa and Jonah are thrilled to welcome the hilarious and wildly talented Ed Helms to the podcast! You may know Ed played Andy Bernard on “The Office” but did you know he grew up doing crazy stunts on BMX bikes? Or that he’s a talented banjo player?? Plus, the trio get into interesting Sundance experiences or a lack thereof, the nightmare that is being in the bathroom when you’re supposed to be on stage, and the time Ed hosted SNL while Vanessa was there. Plus, in a rousing game of L...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 10
