When we asked musician Karen Basset to visit The Spoon, she was warned of its cat-with-a-laser-pointer aspects, and prepared herself accordingly. Ironic, then, that this turns out to be an unusually focused outing, largely concerning the nature of cool, the alchemy of pop, and the and the arc of the show business curve. Plus, kitties on Roombas! Music by our esteemed guest, via The Pandoras, The Rebel Pebbles, and her own self.
Oct 30, 2012•51 min
What do we want? Respect! When do we want it? Soon! How do we get it? Uh... we'll get back to you on that. In the meantime, Seth Gordon and Tony Leventhal of The Mockers are here with a flurry of New York stories and impossible dreams, documentary defenses and copyright conundrums. Plus, a little pre-Christmas backlash to counter the pre-Christmas hype, and at least one well-timed bikini joke. Music by The Mockers, Patrick Clark, and The Popravinas.
Oct 23, 2012•50 min
Joe Armstrong of Independents Day is our guest, and with a fellow musician and radio man in the room, it makes sense that issues of creativity, identity, and media modeling in the 21st century crop up and take center stage. Fortunately, sidetracks into fetish culture, Disney propaganda, and chaos theory, not to mention a couple of left-turn phone calls, keep the baseball from getting too inside. Plus, Freddy flute! All music by Mr Armstrong.
Oct 16, 2012•50 min
If there is a point to this week's show - and, as regular listeners know, that's a one hell of a big "if" - it's the semiotics of nomenclature. Names have power, whether given at birth, chosen for porn, used as verbs, or applied to fictional plumbing tools. This week's holiday-themed SAL only confuses matters, so we're glad to have Eric Dean Boydston on hand to help us hack through this tricksy linguistic jungle. Music by The Knack, and A Fragile Tomorrow.
Oct 09, 2012•50 min
It's not often the case that all three men of The Spoon can be so easily hoodwinked, but guest Jimmer Podrasky sweeps in tonight like a comedic Keyser Soze and practically breaks the show in twain with the greatest of ease. Musical musings, dating drama, the proper preparation of monkey meat... no matter the topic being tossed out, it comes back with one hell of a topspin. Enjoy the ride! Music by Finland Station, Elton Duck, and The Rebel Pebbles.
Oct 02, 2012•50 min
Bill Funt's latest round of thrills and spills as the show's favorite frenemy is augmented by the arrival of musician/TV host/restauranteur Bobby Bognar, and the rising conversational tide lifts boats right, left, and center, with talk of unlikely media heroes, unfortunate cartoon voices, the My Way Murders, the Spoon as Beatles metaphor, and the ever-mysterious question of where meat comes from. Music by Extra, Elton Duck, and Otis Gibson & The Rockhounds
Sep 25, 2012•50 min
With Chris away on adventures both amorous and aeronautical, Rob and Thom navigate the maturity curve of world religions, the fractal nature of social groupings, the telltale portents of Christian pop songs, and, perhaps most importantly, whether a remake of Red Dawn is workable in 2012. Plus, unexpected visitors, backward backbeats, and what Thom really does while everyone else is talking. Music by Uncle Green, Big Fish Ensemble, and Paul Melancon.
Sep 18, 2012•49 min
There are things we love too much, things we could stand to love more, things we want to love but are forced to fear, and things which should never be approached in the first place. In this episode, Michele Ivey, Timmy Cupps, and a grip of callers help the men of The Spoon cover all these bases and more with tales of songbird stalkers, hellish houses, TMNT traitors, and adventures in our nation's capital. Music by The Orion Experience, The Rooks, and Jonathan Coulton
Sep 11, 2012•49 min
Rob, Chris, and Thom are reunited for the first time in six weeks, and balance is restored to the Spooniverse! In between the catch-up, our heroes turn their attention to the history of pagers, metal bands, and zombie flicks, and still find time to praise Cab Calloway, eulogize Michael Clarke Duncan, research Burt Reynolds, and herald the glorious return of Sodomizing A Legacy. Beat that with a (virtual) stick. Music by Frank Royster and Sparkle*Jets UK.
Sep 04, 2012•53 min
Where conventional wisdom fails, The Spoon prevails! Rob, Allen Lulu, and Johnny Dam explain how politics are more than sport, how sports are surprisingly political, the upside of steroids, the downside of childlike enthusiasm, and why unusual attraction is often the most potent. Plus, the tsunami of crazy that is the Republic National Convention meets a real-deal hurricane, and Chris and Thom check in from their assignments in the field. Music by Trinket and Mark Fletcher
Aug 28, 2012•1 hr 2 min
With so many cooks in the kitchen this week (Rob welcomes Dave Berges, Johnny Dam, and Bill Holmes to the mic, not to mention a boatload of callers, including Chris & Thom) you'd think the resulting dish might be unpalatable, but somehow the wheels stay on the wagon -- barely -- while topics fly past the windows with great velocity and ferocity, including the curse of Oliver, the idiocy of Akins, and the rapid depopulation of leather-helmet celebrity. Plus, poetry corner! Music by Walter Cle...
Aug 21, 2012•59 min
For all of those who argue that the Spoon is not educational, prepare to be proven wrong. While Thom vacations, Robbie, Chris and guests Dave Shalansky and Johnny Dam ACTUALLY cover all of the following topics: the art of pooping in cups, diarrhea and foreign medical care, anus tattoos, the refreshing taste of Coors Qatar, shameless Nice Guy Eddie promotion, 25 Years of Shark Week, abused wanna-be Olympians, who to consult when in need of Chinese food, the downside of midnight breakfast, Moms pa...
Aug 14, 2012•1 hr
Rob & Chris are both away this week, but as it was decided long ago that The Spoon is bigger than any one man (or two men, for that matter) Thom finds himself alone at the wheel, wrangling a rogues gallery of guests (including Allen Lulu, Bill Funt, and Fletcher Rhoden) and teeing off on the news of the day. A Spoon episode unlike any other, yet tinged with the eerily familiar. Music by The Mockers, Tess Dunn, and Nice Guy Eddie.
Jul 31, 2012•51 min
Set momentarily adrift without their overhost, Chris, Thom, and special guest Eric D Boydston attempt to fill the Robbie-shaped hole in the show -- and our hearts -- with excursions into beverage science, apnea analysis, further tales of nerdy con culture, and a scintillating expose on... weather in the Midwest. How much more badass could things get? The answer is none. None more badass. Music by 3lb Thrill, Barely Pink, and Galileo.
Jul 24, 2012•50 min
This week, we bring you grievous bodily harm, alarming collisions with total strangers, and revolting imagery that will haunt your dreams for all time... and that's just Chris & Thom recapping Comic Con. (Ba-dum!) Also, learning to draw, scary books gone by, the lost art of the fade-out, and thoughts on changing the show's theme music. Music by Pride Of The Garage, Kyle Gray Young, and Let's Active.
Jul 17, 2012•50 min
As the title suggests, it is with no disingenuity (that's a word, right?) that we applaud Circe Link and Christian Nesmith for being delightful guests in a conversational capacity, bringing to the show new games to play and a wealth of topics ranging from to the underrated appeal of bodily musk, all while managing to share the same microphone in an example of adorable couplehood. They even go to the trouble of providing all of the music this week. How bout them metaphorical apples?
Jul 10, 2012•50 min
Travis Randall joins the show this week, and despite a touch of ennui, the topic-hopping quotient spikes considerably, from extolling the virtues of beef salads and fan-owned bands to warning of digital tissue and energy vampires. Also, medical advice that you absolutely should not follow, advice on pruning the un-awesome from one's life, and, just to spice things up... a last minute caller! Music by Cotton Mather, Adam Schmitt and The Beat Farmers.
Jul 03, 2012•52 min
We here at The Spoon (a joint venture of NDR and BobCo) live by a cardinal rule: the key to entertainment is to jump up and down on the tightrope until it snaps. What happens afterward... ah, that's the prize! As you'll hear in this episode, we tend to lead by example, while our guest Eric Dean Boydston absorbs the lesson and throws out a few choice kernels of his own wisdom along the way. Heads up, class! Music by D.L. Byron, Loveless, and Vader Vader.
Jun 26, 2012•50 min
Chris is back, Bill Holmes is in the 4th chair, and... ya' know folks, there are times when so much comedy and conversation gets packed into this show that it can't be detailed in a single paragraph description without collapsing on itself and becoming a gravitational singularity which would threaten the safety of all lifekind. This is one of those times. So do the universe a favor and just make with the listening, huh? Music by Paul Melancon, Jensen Bell, and Terry Anderson & The Olympic As...
Jun 19, 2012•50 min
Chris is off-duty this week, leaving the show feeling more Sporky than Spoony, but Regent St Clair gamely steps into the breach and helps us to navigate the conversational waters from nitpicky nerdfights (mild spoilers for Prometheus) to Craigslist conundrums, with a brief salute the lascivious 70s in between. Plus, multiple calls, including The Couch Report! Music by The Pills, Something Happens, and Jim Basnight.
Jun 12, 2012•51 min
Guestless for the first time in months, the men of The Spoon start out with a mission statement spot check before moving into discussion of group dynamics in situations ranging from rock bands to superhero teams, then cap things off with a rousing chorus of Stuff That Used To Be Cool (Before They Tried To Make It More Cool, Which Wound Up Making It Embarrassingly Uncool) augmented by a hilariously heartbreaking SAL. Music by The Orion Experience and Kingsauce.
Jun 05, 2012•52 min
You know, perhaps it's time to retire this whole hazing ritual that we put Bill Funt through when he appears on the program. Perhaps the approach is losing steam. Perhaps it's played out. Perhaps it's unfair to Bill himself, and we ought to just admit that his caustically witty presence and deep well of pop culture knowledge are the true reasons we welcome him back time and again, and stop perpetuating this impression that he's a needy, ball-hogging chump whose only goal is to usurp the show for...
May 29, 2012•50 min
As they say in jazz, "it’s more about the notes you don’t play, man." This week, the men of The Spoon - self-admitted projectile word vomiters, all - make an attempt to streamline their style and cut down on audible pauses, but the cure proves worse than the disease. Fortunately, Kelly Murphy is on hand to step in and fill the verbal gaps with aplomb, dropping adventurous anecdotes on everything from skydiving to stein wrangling, and acquits herself quite well in this first...er, premiere...uhm....
May 22, 2012•50 min
We don’t want to say that this episode is carried by the guests and callers, but... well, we can’t think of another way to finish that sentence. After a few minutes of quality trio time, the men of The Spoon are joined by Anny Celsi and Carl Hanni, who bring the show yet another dose of "real radio" chops, as well as a gorgeous musical soundtrack which generates more phone buzz than usual for any episode that isn’t someone’s birthday. Also, drum crimes of the 80s, practical advice on removing wi...
May 15, 2012•52 min
Dave Berges brings the pain: pain borne of nostalgia, as his professional radio acumen invokes the formats of olde and the leather-helmeted DJs of yore; pain borne of laughter, as he unleashes zinger after zinger on a plethora of spoony topics; pain borne of pain, what with all the genital mutilation, whether real and voluntary or postulated and enforced. Plus, the fate of the studio corkscrew, a call from Pappy, and a moment for poetry corner. Come and get it! Music by The Pheremones
May 08, 2012•51 min
Tony Leventhal wades into this week’s pool of contention and isn’t shy about making some waves of his own, as the men of The Spoon roll up their verbal sleeves and blast the red levels, delving into the politics of food, the business of politics, the culture of business, the manipulation of culture, the art of manipulation, the expectations of art, the danger of expectations, and the sweet, sweet taste of danger. Plus, some deeply unsettling info about land crustaceans, and another superb soundt...
May 01, 2012•51 min
Pop quiz, hotshot: which of the following statements are true? 1) Oprah invented the term "vajayjay." 2) Tisdale wine is red. 3) Spanish technology is entirely dependent on squirrels. 4) Pam Dawber was killed by a stalker. 5) Rob’s imaginary childhood friend was named Corey. 6) There are no tacos in Italy. 7) Doctor Zee’s voice was dubbed. 8) The Mockers are our guests tonight. 9) The longest time anyone in this episode speaks without being interrupted is thirteen seconds. 10) Arizona does not e...
Apr 24, 2012•49 min
Of all the multi-hyphenates to visit the show, Regent St Claire may be the multi-est of them all. Thrill to his adventures, both regular and mis, in the realms of comics, condoms, music, magic, love, loss, and legal entanglements which involve the Zimbabwean rights to Spider-Man. Also, pontification on the advantages of good closure skills and early-onset melancholia, the dangers of flying monkeys and fan fiction, the needless friction between zombie and football enthusiasts, and why it’s always...
Apr 17, 2012•50 min
Tonight, we learn a little about the interconnectedness of all things. The five people in the room (including special guests Amanda Read and Brent McCracken) may be of disparate ages and origins, but childhood cruelty, pre-Internet memes, and the lure of video rodeo bind them together as surely as any mystical energy field that a Sith Lord could conjure, whether he had just returned from the dentist or not. Plus, The Human Centipede goes back to back -- heh -- with Elmo, and in science news, it ...
Apr 10, 2012•51 min
The show is fashioned into a pop culture scatter-gun that lays waste to all within range, as Rob & Chris attempt to conduct some sabotage (or, as Shatner would say, "sabotage") on Thom by juicing Johnny Dam’s nerdery to rinds prior to his appearance on The Geek Agenda. Plus, keen comedic conversation on subjects such as gun control, parenthood, chicken wings, and football stats, and this week’s Sodomozing A Legacy pens the final (?) chapter in the epic tale of Michaelangelo vs Michael Bay. M...
Apr 03, 2012•50 min
