Jordan and Alex discuss the family blood feud that led to the beloved cookie's creation, as well as the physics behind dunking, psychology behind twisting, chemistry behind the cream, and the mystery behind its iconic name. They'll also go deep on the 50+ different varieties, the rumored hidden meanings in the wafer embossing, and some truly gross Oreo-related hazing rituals. (Recorded in 2022.) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 27, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Your two men on the internet telling you useless information supposed to fire your imagination are back with their 60th anniversary deep-dive into this deathless rock anthem. After a heated Beatles vs Stones debate, the TMI guys explain how the classic riff came to Keith Richards in a dream — and run down a list of other great art that came to people while they slept. They’ll explain the song’s unexpected connection to unexplained Scientology deaths, and the role it played in inadvertently break...
Jun 23, 2025•2 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 184
To kick off summer, Jordan and Heigl dive deep into the history of the controversial-yet-ubiquitous beachwear, from ancient times through to solar powered swimwear that can charge your cell phone — and one special bikini that costs $30 million! They'll explore the unexpected influence of the atom bomb, the competition between two Frenchmen to craft the tiniest two-piece, and the blowback from movie stars and religious leaders alike. Plus they'll also turn their attention to iconic bikini moments...
Jun 14, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Put on your latex head-cap and grab your Thermian translator — this week, your starfleet of snark is diving headfirst into the unlikely sci-fi cult classic that beamed itself into nerd hearts everywhere. Jordan and Heigl travel back to 1999 to explore how a fake show about fake space heroes somehow made real Trekkies weep with joy — and earned an honorary place alongside the actual Star Trek movies. You'll hear how Leonard Nimoy accidentally inspired the original script, why Kevin Kline (not Buz...
Jun 08, 2025•2 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 183
Get ready for Gatsby 2: Gatz Harder! In the second installment of their deep dive into The Great Gatsby , the TMI guys follow the novel’s improbable rise from critical failure to cultural cornerstone. When it was first published in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece was dismissed as a “literary lemon meringue” and sold fewer than 25,000 copies in his lifetime. He died thinking he'd been forgotten, but within a decade, the book was rediscovered — by soldiers, scholars, and eventually Hollywo...
May 25, 2025•2 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 182
Put on your pink suit and gas up the yellow car — in this episode, we’re partying like it’s 1925 as your beloved bootleggers of banality uncover the secret history behind The Great Gatsby , which turns 100 this year. In the first installment of their two-part Jazz Age jamboree, Jordan and Heigl trace the tangled roots of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American fever dream: the heartbreaks, hangovers, high society snubs, and haunted summer nights that inspired Gatsby’s green-light longing. You’ll discover...
May 10, 2025•2 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 181
Jordan and Heigl dive into this beloved ‘80s adventure classic — and you don’t have to do the Truffle Shuffle to listen! They’ll tell you all about Spielberg’s secret role as unofficial co-director, the authentic blood and skulls used for props, and the real-life shipwreck that inspired the legend of One-Eyed Willy — plus Sloth’s nightmarish makeup prosthetics that nearly electrocuted him. They’ll also explain the crazy connections between The Goonies , Gremlins and Back to the Future , the onse...
May 02, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Jordan and Alex avoided showering for days to dive into one of the enduring artifacts of San Francisco’s heady heyday: Big Brother and the Holding Company’s 'Cheap Thrills,' or as everyone knows it, “Janis Joplin’s first album.” The pair swap places for once as Jordan passionately reels off hate for Big Brother, whom Alex allows are “fine.” Along the way they’ll digress into The Evil That Men Do (particularly Albert Grossman and Clive Davis), Alex’s favorite Lou Reed vocal ever, why Cannonball A...
Apr 25, 2025•2 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 180
You didn’t ask for it, but it’s here. Jordan and Alex were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should, so it’s the first-ever TMI: Oops, All Digressions! With the attention span of an addled TikToker and the niche interests of a minorly urbane shut-in, your friendly hosts started this episode with but a few brief notes and then just let their precious little minds wander willy-nilly. For starters: did you know there was a horror subgenre called ‘Hagsp...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Season 1Ep. 179
Heigl and Jordan channel the worst versions of their teenage selves as they dive deep into the awesomely irreverent animation juggernaut. In between swapping endless quotes from the show, they explore its surprising origins with comedy prodigy Seth MacFarlane, how he narrowly escaped a horrific fate on 9/11, and how his passion for rapid-fire gags about mid-century media inadvertently birthed the TikTok generation in the 21st Century. You'll learn all about the epic beef between the Family Guy c...
Apr 07, 2025•2 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 178
Your favorite folk-rock duo of facts guide you through the troubled waters that lead to the creation of this beloved classic album and its iconic title track. They'll give you a rundown of Simon and Garfunkel's epic feud, which started in childhood and only intensified with stardom, and explain why this record marked the end of the road for the pair. (Basically, if the book 'Catch-22' had never been written, S&G might still be together today...) But it's not all doom and gloom! They'll discu...
Mar 28, 2025•2 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 177
A tuxedo-clad Jordan and Heigl take you to Da Movies with their epic tangent-rich, name drop-y history of Hollywood's biggest night! They’ll dive deep into iconic Oscars moments, like the infamous streaker (and his shocking murder), the fallout from Marlon Brando’s politically-charged boycott, and Charlie Chaplin’s touching homecoming after years in exile — plus lots more lesser-known moments of award show insanity. You’ll learn all about Oscars gaffes that make “Envelope-Gate” look tame — inclu...
Mar 14, 2025•2 hr 52 min•Season 1Ep. 176
Jordan and Alex rev up their clank-boom-skronk engine and clatter their way into the junkyard for a trip to the heart of Tom Waits’ asthmatic doomer trip 'Bone Machine'! After a brief discussion of Waits’ career up to that point, including his early association with LA’s Troubadour-based Mellow Mafia, they’ll jaws-of-life their way into the album’s rusted center, from figuring out exactly which field recording of Pygmy drumming inspired the opening cut to the precise nature of the chicken-ranch ...
Mar 03, 2025•2 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 175
Your Tin Men of trivia are back for round two of their epic deep dive into the making of the most watched movie in history. On this episode, you’ll learn about the hellish production, which ended up injuring, maiming (or, at very least, psychologically harming) at nearly every member of the cast. The Scarecrow was nearly set on fire — but he was saved from his costume made of asbestos. The Wicked Witch actually WAS set on fire, and the frantic crew had to scrub down her freshly-burned skin with ...
Feb 16, 2025•2 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 174
Follow the flying monkeys of facts down the Yellow Brick Road for an episode that’s Toto-ly packed with 'Wizard of Oz' trivia! In part one of the TMI’s guy’s epic two-fer on children’s cinematic classic, you’ll hear all about the origins of the original book and how author L. Frank Baum’s (who, it’s worth noting, was bullied by theater people) was inspired by office supplies, family tragedy and his childhood nightmares to develop the magical series. You'll also learn why MGM greenlit the budget-...
Feb 08, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Season 1Ep. 173
Jordan and Alex smear their best mascara across their tear-stained eyes for an episode on My Chemical Romance's "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" and the brief moment when the innacurate catchall genre of "emo" dominated rock radio. They'll explore how 9/11 -- and the DIY music scene of New Brunswick, New Jersey -- spurred a young illustrator and Cartoon Network intern named Gerard Way into transforming himself into a messianic rock frontman; how the band's early trio of videos cemented them as M...
Jan 25, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 172
Alex and Jordan take a (wincing) look at David Lynch’s cult classic. They’ll explore how the film’s shoestring budget dragged the production into a truly wild five-year shoot that Lynch largely funded with his paper route. In addition to diving into the famous quirks of the eccentric auteur (milkshakes, multiple ties, animal dissections, etc.), they’ll get into the lost scenes, homemade sets, haunted houses and unsolved murders that went into Eraserhead. Finally, the pair try to answer the bigge...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 26
The TMI guys ring in the holidays — and Jordan's birthday! – by going deep into 10 of their favorite (or, in some cases, least favorite) Christmas songs. You'll learn how that mind-melting David Bowie-Bing Crosby duet came to be (as well as the morbid events that followed) as well as the hilariously drunken shenanigans that unfolded on the set of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" video — plus the saga of George Michael's hair. Heigl shares his passion for jazz through the Vince Guaraldi 'Charlie Brown Ch...
Dec 25, 2024•2 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 171
Your rogue squirrels of seasonal sagas are taking a look at this staple of the irreverent modern Christmas classics canon. You’ll learn all about the physical injuries that Chevy Chase received on the set, the emotional injuries that the two tweens portraying the Griswold siblings also received on the set, the reason we were cheated out of a Christie Brinkley cameo, and the mysterious absence of Lindsey Buckingham’s beloved “Holiday Road.” You’ll also discover how Chevy’s poor behavior directly ...
Dec 22, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 170
Do you like movies about gladiators? The TMI guys hope so, because they’re going long on Ridley Scott’s classic that revitalized sword and sandal epics for the 21st century. (Until 'Gladiator II' ruined it…) You’ll hear all about the acts of violence Russell Crowe brought to the set, the untimely (errr, maybe somewhat timely) death of legendary British hellraiser Oliver Reed mid-production, all the ways Joaquin Phoenix was traumatized during the shoot, and the ways everyone nearly died due to th...
Dec 16, 2024•2 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 169
The TMI twosome show their gratitude to listeners with a heaping helping of true-life turkey day absurdity. Listen as Jordan forces Heigl to channel his inner looner (google it) and discuss the bizarre origin of this holiday tradition — which somehow involves the Titanic, burning the fingers of children, and elephant droppings. You'll hear all about the mayhem caused during early editions of the parade, when the gargantuan character balloons were released into the sky to collide with planes, bui...
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Your disco divos of details are here once again with a truly epic tangent-rich episode that somehow manages to link this glorious bit of '70s sonic spray-cheese to CIA mind control experiments, 9/11 and the DC hardcore punk scene. In addition to diving into disco's origins as the music of the dispossessed in 1960s New York, you'll hear how the Village People originated from a Frenchman's festive outing in Greenwich Village and the hilarious way he assembled his supremely buff group of stereotype...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr 58 min•Season 1Ep. 168
The TMI guys are back with their most epic episode yet, diving DEEP into the bewitching television classic and its hidden history as a groundbreaking queer/feminist text. You'll learn all about the behind-the-scenes drama that led to the legendary Darrin switch, the twisted on-set love triangle, and the distressingly high number of cast members who died during production. Dick York's Dickensian childhood represents the darkest moment in the podcast's history, rivaled possibly by the mysterious d...
Nov 10, 2024•2 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 167
The TMI Guys dive deep on the meta '90s horror classic that did for cordless phones with 'Psycho' did for showers. You'll learn all about the secret story Drew Barrymore told herself to summon real tears during the iconic opening scene (which was originally written as a one act play!), the surprising early choices for the part of Sidney Prescott, the controversial origins of the Ghostface mask, and all the ways director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson broke new ground with their cast of t...
Oct 31, 2024•2 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 166
Alex and Jordan continue their TMI Halloween Spooktacular celebration by delving into the creation of this deathless novelty number that pays tribute to the golden age of monster movies. You'll learn about the wildly prolific (and possibly legally insane) producer behind the track, its tentative ties to James Brown, the early '60s pop royalty who sang on it, and Bobby Pickett's dogged attempts to continually update his song with the times. They'll also talk about Elvis' burning hatred of "The Mo...
Oct 23, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Gore-dan and HELL-ex take a dive into the musty vaults of the early '90s to unearth the SLASHinating facts behind "Tales From the Crypt," arguably the scariest thing to come out of Joel Silver's career, except for all the things that haven't been unsealed! [incredibly irritating high-pitched laugh] But yes, that's right BOILs and GHOULS, they're looking into the HBO phenomenon that turned a desiccated corpse with a Borscht Belt sensibility into a household name -- and no, we're not talking about...
Oct 14, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Your final answers of frivolity are here to tell you all about this titanic trivia franchise that burned fast and bright across the Y2K landscape. In addition to Jordan's personal anecdotes from his traumatic time on the show, you'll learn about all the ways the set and music was designed to psychologically break contestants and hear all about the victorious few who made good on the show's titular promise and walked away with the million dollars. In addition to trying your hand at some of the mi...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 164
Your bushmen of balanity have returned to take you on a tour of the Australian outback with Paul Hogan's iconic creation — a one-man ambassador for the local charm and natural beauty found down under...or a one-man stereotype, depending on your point of view. You'll learn all about the truly insane real-life story that kinda-maybe-sorta inspired the plot, the tabloid love triangle that emerged from the production, the late Aussie rock star who helped bring the movie to the big screen, and all th...
Sep 30, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 163
How’s the family?! Jordan and Alex brave the storm of their two-part series by exploring what happened when the 'Purple Rain' hit the silver screen. They’ll marvel over the Nietszchean force of will Prince manifested to force this thing off the ground, dive into the depressing original draft of the movie once titled 'Dreams,' spotlight the man at the front of the Time, Mr. Morris Day, and drill down into the precise manufacturing specs of Prince’s iconic guitar and motorcycle. Things get real wh...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 162
Dig if you will the picture of two white nerds in their 30s trying to get to grips with the world power that was Prince in 1984 as the TMI boys cover 'Purple Rain' — in both mediums! Week 1 starts off with the album, as Prince's famously stringent rehearsals and recording practices are detailed. Go crazy with details about the protracted genesis of the titular song, from a demo for Stevie Nicks to the version we know and love featuring a teenaged Wendy Melvoin's iconic intro! Know what it feels ...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 161
