Travis Randall’s journey from football player to junkie to bassist to audio technician to gastronomic entrepreneur is a impressive one, and in that true renaissance spirit, his presence brings the show's tone from its usual simmering ADHD tendencies to a white-hot boil of topic-hopping psychosis. Also, two unrelated decrees: food is over, and Betty White must be destroyed. Music by Tramps & Thieves, Dead Hot Workshop, and Ghetto Cowgirl
Aug 30, 2011•50 min
It's The Spoon's one year anniversary, but in typical dude (and, let's face it, typical Spoon) fashion, our fair trio gloss over commemoration of this important date to focus on different concerns, such as the misadventures of Paul Reubens, the misuse of place name acronyms, misaimed fandom of chick-flicks, and the misery of recently-single guest Quinton Flynn. Also, someone seems to have misplaced the air conditioning. Music by Nickel, Groovy Rednecks, and Brian Seymour.
Aug 23, 2011•50 min
No guest? No show prep? No problem! The men of The Spoon kick into old-skool gear for a rollicking discussion of tall hugs, phone bricks, cult followings, the nomenclature of The Netherlands, the inevitability of techno-fatigue, the dysfunctional evolution of country music, and the true arrival of summer. Also, a moment of silence please for poor Alyssa, who lies...akimbo. Music by Michael Shelley, The Travoltas and Nice Guy Eddie.
Aug 16, 2011•51 min
Things are a smidge off-balance this week: both an extreme lack of prep time and the truth-to-power presence of James Monosmith of LTD Art Gallery weave their spells, causing world views to collide in a scatter shot, haphazard conversation where every answer only leads to another question. But, amid the chaos, a champion rises to save us all: Zombie Pat Morita! (and his sidekick, MacCulkin...or is it the other way 'round?) Music by Stratocruiser, Kristian Hoffman, and Trinket.
Aug 09, 2011•51 min
Linda Horwatt has car stories on her mind -- understandable, since she's just driven cross-country for 53 hours (or 4 days, if you're a DJ) -- and she's happy to share them, along with other bits of wit, wisdom, and the sexy-joyful sounds of her band The Orion Experience. Other topics include funereal culture, the subjectivity of beauty, fun with accents, and the secret world of the ladies' room. Additional music by Jeff Caudill and Suzy & Los Quattro
Aug 02, 2011•50 min
The men of The Spoon are feeling especially feisty and demonstrative this week. Whether expressing outrage, glee, frustration, amusement, or even exhaustion, the message is clear: go BIG, or go home. Special guest Seth Gordon of The Mockers and a few very brave callers hold on for dear life through the deluge of crazed, topic-hopping glory launched from the show's verbal fire hose, and emerge on the other side... changed. Music by Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings,...
Jul 26, 2011•51 min
Which is your favorite conflict: Man vs Nature? Man vs Man? Man vs Himself? We've got all the classics covered in this week's wildlife-wary, alpha-manly, cannibal-happy, politically nihilistic dose of righteous indignation, leavened with a goodly helping of Douglas Adams references, and color commentary by Johnny Dam (aka The Thundertaker.) Music by Steve Barton, Sparkle*Jets UK, and The Orion Experience.
Jul 19, 2011•48 min
Singer-songwriter, digital musical impresario, and self-described "corporate motherfucker" Tim Quirk braves Los Angeles traffic to stop by and extol the virtues of both attention-based economy and passive-aggressive public relations. Johnny Dam joins us again, this time to inaugurate the new studio. And Rob's recent venture into cautious optimism seems to be paying off, if recent setbacks for Rupert Murdoch and The Black-eyed Peas are any indication. Music by The Donnas, The Benjamins, and Wonde...
Jul 12, 2011•50 min
On the eve of their final broadcast from the old studio space, the men of The Spoon manage to wrangle executive producer and New Dissident Radio overlord Johnny Dam for a conversation chock full of raucous, rambling ruminations. No ball is left un-busted as we prepare to leave our radio chrysalis and step into the bright shiny future of NDR. Color commentary by David Lee Roth.
Jul 05, 2011•59 min
Rob, Chris, Thom, and Andru tackle childhood obsessions, gastronomical taboos, and the age old conundrum of whether it's better to be cautiously optimistic or completely miserable, while the art of the Anthony Weiner joke reaches a blazing apotheosis in this week's SAL. Tune in to Episode 14 of The Geek Agenda for the thrilling conclusion! Music by The Piper Downs, The Pills, and The King Bees.
Jun 28, 2011•53 min
Who else but the men of The Spoon can bring you the death of Ryan Dunn, the genius of Sparks, reactions to AMC's The Killing, the price of a Cosby sweater, religion as political capital, movie theaters as quasi-churches, the safety (?) of nuclear power, the future of celebrity sex tapes, the cannibalistic nature of rock, the personification of chaos, and the ancient art of cuckold-costuming, all in under an hour, barely pausing for a breath? No one else, that's who. As far as conversational corn...
Jun 21, 2011•51 min
The men of The Spoon are interested in the future, for that is where they are going to spend the rest of their lives. Sure, all the great themes may have been used up and turned into theme parks, but one can still make hay out of commenting on that realization... right? Patrick McGrath sits in for a discussion of the many wonderful disappointments that await us all. Plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger gets roasted in this week's strangely literal SAL, and the shocking facts of lobster people from Utah a...
Jun 14, 2011•49 min
It's a Brady mini-reunion with Susan Olsen stopping by for a discussion that ranges from animal rescues to alien encounters, while covering the highs, the lows, the just plain weirdness of a life in the arts. Also, the Valley is an underrated musical wellspring, there aren't enough songs about dead cats, turtle sex is adorable, someone needs to make an Easy Rider porn parody, and we all miss Andrew Gold. Music by The Dickies and the Cave Dogs.
Jun 07, 2011•50 min
The men of The Spoon go guerrilla with this special remote podcast from Rob's studio, as the NDR premises are closed for Memorial Day. Audio wizard Scott Peets sits in for a discussion largely centered on problems of varying sizes, shapes, colors, textures, smells, sounds, tastes, and levels of surrealism, and how one might go about assessing &/or addressing them. We'll be back live next week, June 6th! Music by The Orion Experience and Wonderboy.
May 31, 2011•56 min
Rob is absent this week, so you may thrill to the sounds of panic masquerading as comedy, as Chris and Thom gear up to generate a show's worth of entertainment in the absence of their beloved Overhost. Many a topic of conversation meets with our duo's aggressive ambivalence, including but not limited to: birthday celebrations, online communications, pirates, muppets, break-ups of all shapes and sizes, and fallout over the apocalypse that wasn't. Music by D.L. Byron, Cosmo Topper, and Dean Friedm...
May 24, 2011•52 min
Rob would like to apologize for his being under the weather, making him slightly less effervescent and topic-laden than usual. Thom would like to apologize for mangling the lyrics to the Boondocks Theme, thus hurling the show into karmic vapor lock. Chris would like to apologize for the other two maroons getting in the way of his comedic golden-godhood. But nobody, and we mean nobody, would like to apologize to Kevin Costner, the subject of this week's Sodomizing A Legacy. Music by The Rebel Peb...
May 17, 2011•52 min
It's a mistake to think you can solve all major problems with pop culture, but the men of The Spoon give it a bloody good try, using their love of movies as a lens (so to speak) through which to view issues personal, professional, and political. If your life is a bit like a rainy Saturday afternoon right now, think of this episode as a Thriller Theater double feature with a pack of Red Vines on the side, and dig in accordingly. Music by Dash Rip Rock, The Sun Sawed In Half, and The Rubinoos.
May 10, 2011•50 min
The times, they are a’ fractious, but the men of The Spoon are here to soothe your woes with tales of their own suckitude and misery. Chris is in a post-breakup haze, Rob is lamenting his legacy, Thom is in permanent techno-fail mode, and we're all strangely ambivalent about the reaction to that guy getting killed yesterday, but there is ample comedic catharsis under our banner for all who seek it. Join us. Music by Mach Five, the Greenberry Woods, and Gameface.
May 03, 2011•53 min
Quinton Flynn returns to the show to fill Chris's big floppy clown shoes as Guest Underhost for the week, and does not disappoint. With tales of Robbie's semi-sordid past combined with his own recent foray into the world of the paranormal, he leads the show into a spiral of madness which results in torrents of upset girlfriend calls, rampant throwing of friends under buses, and perhaps most heinous of all: the return of Ein Gummibar! Music by 3D Picnic and Parthenon Huxley.
Apr 19, 2011•49 min
Writer Dan Epstein stops by for an all-too-brief discussion of the freak flag glory that was 70s baseball, Robbie laments that the wrong people keep dying, Thom shares a tale of bus-bound Hollywoodism, Cousin Frankie (who we've always known about!) calls in with suggestions for a Regis replacement, and Chris wins the show with a paradigm-shattering SAL for the ages. Of course, none of this will matter much if the apocalypse ends up occurring on May 21. But, uh... try and enjoy the show anyway. M...
Apr 12, 2011•50 min
The occasion of Robert's 47th birthday prompts the men of The Spoon to reflect on the meaning of life, the futility of death, and the importance of using time travel to retroactively change one's fashion choices. Also, the show is deluged with phone calls for the birthday boy from friends, well-wishers, and a surprising number of celebrity impressionists. Aflac! Music by The Knack, Material Issue, and The Little Girls.
Apr 05, 2011•51 min
In psychoanalysis, it's called "transference" -- the unconscious redirection of feelings from one subject to another. Such a phenomenon has gripped The Spoon in spades this week, as the Honey Badger meme awakens Thom's mammalian loyalties, Chris gets some extra venom out of his system with a scathing, Deustch-y SAL, and Robbie takes out his general frustrations with the world and its gas prices on all manner of pop culture targets, including special guest Quinton Flynn -- who, while admittedly a...
Mar 29, 2011•55 min
It may be true that "nothing lasts, nothing is complete, and nothing is perfect," but after six weeks apart, the dramaturgical triad of Rob, Chris, and Thom are back in the same room together and all seems right with the world again... at least for the next 50 minutes or so. In addition to an extended meditation on the existential empowerment of everyone's favorite 1920's cartoon sailor, our fair trio slash and burn through such topics as: grammatical faux pas in rock lyrics, the (literally) unb...
Mar 22, 2011•50 min
The world is off-kilter. You can feel it in the air, and hear it on The Spoon. Robbie returns to find that comic fodder is in shorter supply than when he left, which leads into some serious discussion on earthquake preparedness, led by special guest #1 Jenni Rosen. Thom's head is more jello-encased than usual as he juggles his regular duties in addition to laying out a manifesto for The Geek Agenda, the new show that he is preparing to host with special guest #2, R Andru. Chris is absent in the ...
Mar 15, 2011•59 min
The Sheening of America continues unabated! Chris and Thom are reduced to helpless, hypnotized, somewhat snarky bystanders as Charlie's awesomeosity continues to roll out over the land like a big rolling thing, and not even the ebullient presence of special guest Dave Shalansky can stop the coming Winpocalypse! Other topics (yes, there are a few) include the sad, Bixby-esque retirement of Phil Collins, the time-traveling goofiness of David Lee Roth, the parsing of copyright law as it relates to ...
Mar 08, 2011•59 min
Chris takes over hosting duties while Robbie is overseas, Thom returns from his Deseret sojourn, and friend of the show Dave Shalansky arrives to inject his keen insight and conversational rocket sauce to a post-mortem of Oscar night, what might end up as a pre-post-mortem of Charlie Sheen, and an attempt at putting all of the show's communications-related ducks in a row (which plays out a little more like a herding of cats.) Also, this week's Sodomizing A Legacy is an mighty epic of vocal conto...
Mar 01, 2011•59 min
With their minister of information away on special assignment, Robbie and Chris are left to grapple with matters technological on their own. Multiple forms of hilarity ensue. As for matters conversational, our dynamic duo are assisted by guests Johnny Dam of Porn Star Pundits and Good Green Witch Rhonda DeFelice whose collective presence supercharges the show to terrific effect -- partly because of the fierce intelligence and witty repartee that they bring to the proceedings, but also because wo...
Feb 22, 2011•1 hr 3 min
The twists and turns on this week's conversational motor way are acutely sharp, some verging on hairpin, and we recommend that all proper safety measures be taken. Some of the briefly visited rest stops along the way include: The best Super Bowl commercials (one of which never aired, the other premiered days earlier-- go figure), social networking for better theological clarity, the growing (and welcome) backlash against melismatic vocals, the sudden proliferation of the so-called muffin top, an...
Feb 08, 2011•59 min
Quoth the textbox: "Finally, some ovaries on the show!" And not a moment too soon. Just as Robbie, Chris, and Thom are drifting into a conversational tailspin that threatens to cause serious whiplash to both themselves and the listeners, friend of the show (and girlfriend of the host) Jenni Rosen stops by to inject some much-needed linear thought into the proceedings. Her treatise on the lameness of Valentine's Day -- and instructions to the fellows out there on how to make it less so -- is met ...
Feb 01, 2011•59 min
Sport is business. Business is war. War is fashion. Fashion is community. Community is music. Music is sport. On and on, 'till the break of dawn. Don't worry, it will all make sense in context. The important thing is that Robbie, Chris, and Thom manage to weave nearly half a show on the subject of sports and sports fandom, despite -- or perhaps because of -- their abject lack of knowledge and expertise on said subject. Then, heady with power, they move on to tackle other mysteries of the univers...
Jan 25, 2011•1 hr
