How Did We Get Weird with Vanessa Bayer and Jonah Bayer

You've heard Claudio Sanchez sing about fantasy worlds as the frontman for Coheed And Cambria but have you heard him pontificate on a dish known as Chicken Rondelet? Get ready for that, plus we talk about Claudio's experiences playing Nintendo on the way to school, dig into the history of the Potato Skin (and Tato Skins) and recall some of our favorite commercial jingles of the eighties. We also d...

On this very special holiday edition of HOW DID WE GET WEIRD?, Vanessa and Jonah recount some of their favorite Thanksgiving memories from controversial food choices to taking the Bolt Bus to Philly and the complex family dynamics at play each November. We also discuss the most overrated and underrated sides, give an update on new parade floats and wonder why Wonderbread is still relevant. We also...

To celebrate Vanessa's birthday we are joined by a very special guest: JEWEL! That's right, we caught up with the acclaimed singer, actress and author to discuss the era before Starbucks where coffee shops were places to see live music and maybe even see Jewel demo songs that would go onto be nineties radio staples such as "Who Will Save Your Soul?" and "Foolish Games." We also discuss Jewel's car...

This week we are joined by musician and comedian Whitmer Thomas for a very fashion-focused episode of HOW DID WE GET WEIRD? We discuss the difficulty of finding cool jeans in rural Alabama, how the film TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY influenced Whitmer's aesthetic and why fingerless gloves were his accessory of choice. We also discuss Jonah's denim journey from JNCOs to Girbaud and the way that Vaness...

In honor of today being Halloween, we thought we would reminisce about some of our favorite Halloween memories from childhood costumes to shaving cream hijinks. We also discuss the condescending nature of giving out healthy snacks (don't be this person), Vanessa talks about having a dance recital at the famed Orange Jubilee and we explore why a chain buffet restaurant with fluorescent lighting is...

You've seen comedian and writer Adam Conover break down important topics on his hit TV shows "Adam Ruins Everything" and "The G Word With Adam Conover," but his intellectual expertise also extends to nostalgia. On this episode of the podcast, Adam tells us about the video games he played on his graphing calculator in school, his his indie rock/funny folk music band and why he hopes no one listenin...

This week the Bayers are joined by bestselling author, Dan Ozzi whose book "Sellout" comes out on paperback tomorrow! To celebrate we reminisce about the time Dan had a VIP experience with Jonah and his parents at a New York Yankees game (thanks to Vanessa and Lorne Michaels) and which corporations have the best snacks, ranging from free Luna bars at Dan's ex-employer VICE to the time he loaded up...

This week we welcome lead singer of "Lamb of God" our friend Randy Blythe! We talk about everything from Indiana Jones movies to real-life encounters with Keanu Reeves, like when Vanessa recently talked to him for twenty minutes about his star turn in the Paula Abdul "Rush Rush Video" (uh oh are they best friends now?) plus Randy and Jonah try to teach Vanessa the difference between punk and metal...

In this week's impersonation-heavy ep, the Bayers are thrilled to welcome their friend, the hilarious Jay Pharoah!! Jay and Vanessa reminisce about SNL impressions they did based on their childhoods and some celebrity impressions they did later on (speaking of- who does a better Denzel Washington- you'll have to listen to find out!) The Bayers and Jay also talk about a fave show from growing up, N...

On today's new episode, Jonah and Vanessa welcome fellow Ohio native and host of Spotify's "60 Songs That Explain the 90s" Rob Harvilla to the podcast. They revisit their senior projects, which included organizing record bins, helping the community, and surfing the Internet. Jonah and Rob reminisce about their time working together at Alternative Press, including towers of promo CDs and their revi...

This week we are excited to welcome writer, actress and comedian Julie Klausner to the podcast, who you may know from her popular Hulu series "Difficult People," her podcast DOUBLE THREAT with Tom Scharpling and/or her brand new podcast ASK JULIE! on the Forever Dog Plus Network. We discuss with Julie the many similarities between the films "Singles" and "Reality Bites" (including highlights from...

This week Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly took a break from playing arenas with My Chemical Romance to talk to us about what it was like being a latchkey kid in the suburbs of New Jersey during the "Home Alone" era of parental supervision. Along the way we also discuss the time Geoff and Jonah's screamo band, United Nations, were sued by the actual United Nations; the fine line between art and absu...

Well the sun is gonna surely shine this week because we are joined by star of the sitcom "Blossom" and friend of the Bayers, Jenna von Oy! On this episode, Vanessa fact-checks the bizarre direct message (and probably fictional road trip) that lead to her friendship with Jenna, we learn about the unlikely relationship between "Blossom" and "Seinfeld" and deconstruct Jenna's experiences doing commer...

It's late August and that can only mean one thing: Back To School! In this this special episode, Vanessa and Jonah recall their visceral memories from that time which include picking out the perfect school supplies, shopping for the previous year's hottest fashions at Marshalls, and the oh so important task of planning an outfit for the first day of school. We also get deep into our former high sc...

On today's new episode Jonah and Vanessa welcome the delightful Bridger Winegar to dig deep into the world of spooky games like "Light as a Feather Stiff as a Board" that haunted them as kids. And did you know there were several films inspired by the game "Bloody Mary"? It seems no one did. Plus, Bridger and Vanessa recall their days of being interns in late night tv and the various ways they humi...

This week on the podcast we are joined by our friend, the truly hilarious actor and comedian Paul Brittain, who you might know from "Saturday Night Live," "Trophy Wife" or a sketch based on "Three Men And A Baby" back in Chicago many years ago that Vanessa is still obsessed with. In that spirit, this episode includes Vanessa and Paul recounting their halycon days of cutting their teeth in the Wind...

Jenny Owen Youngs is not only a successful musician and songwriter who has worked with some of the biggest artists on the planet, she is also a TV scholar who co-hosts popular podcasts about Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars. In other words, she's the perfect guest for HOW DID WE GET WEIRD? On this episode, Jonah recalls the magical night he attended both Jenny's wedding and MTV Video Mus...

You know comedian Joe Mande from his work as a writer and actor on beloved shows like Parks And Recreation and Hacks, but did you know a childhood obsession with the Sega Genesis game "Earthworm Jim" almost led to his downfall? Today on HOW DID WE GET WEIRD? we not only explore the weird and wonderful world of Sega Genesis, but Vanessa talks about why she is constantly trolling Jonah on social med...

Craig Finn is best known as the frontman for The Hold Steady and a successful solo artist but some of his formative years were influenced by peer pressure when it came to teenagers' favorite hobby in the nineties: Prank phone calls. On this episode we recount our own largely anticlimactic stories of receiving and making prank calls, Vanessa explains the way she views conversations between musician...

You may know Michelle Zauner from her Grammy-nominated musical act Japanese Breakfast or New York Times best-selling memoir "Crying in H Mart," but before all that she was just a kid who loved Sailor Moon. Michelle dropped by the pod this week to talk about watching and rewatching her favorite childhood VHS tapes, taking guitar lessons in the world's most corporate setting and the lessons she lear...

Vanessa and Jonah welcome their friends, Hollywood Power Couple Patton Oswalt and Meredith Salenger, to HDWGW. They talk about their time on Will & Grace, the shelf life of pastries (especially if they are given to you for free), and attending high school and college reunions. They go on to discuss a variety of school field trips, like going into a giant tooth, Meredith's nostalgia-filled visi...

This week we could not be happier to be joined by our very good friend the actress, comedian and musician Kate Micucci to discuss her childhood obsession with radio call-in contests, something she was so skilled at that eventually her local radio station told her she had to stop calling in. Along the way we discuss the time Jonah won Lilith Fair and Poison tickets from his local radio station and...

Well, Bennifer is back and so is another one of our nostalgic movie rewatch podcasts! In this episode of HDWGW, we take a deep dive into the universally panned 2003 J Lo and Ben Affleck film "Gigli" and believe us when we say this film is best digested in small doses. Listen to Jonah and Vanessa break down this singularly terrible film where bad accents, nonsensical character arcs and an flimsy-ye...

On today's ep the Bayers welcome their good friend, the hilarious and supremely talented John Early! They reminisce about hanging out at Bonnaroo in Nashville and Vanessa does a really good rendition of an Ellie Goulding song and tries to convince everyone that she's genuinely friends with Chance the Rapper. They also get into nineties ab machines and how the Bayers owned an ab roller that Jonah d...

You may know Andy Richter as the longtime sidekick for Conan O'Brien, but he's also a very accomplished actor, writer, comedian and podcaster. Andy came by HDWGW this week to discuss the difficulties of fish taxidermy, his Chicago comedy roots and some of his favorite Late Night With Conan O'Brien musical acts ranging from The Breeders to Tony Bennett. We also recall fond memories of hanging out a...