Jeff Has Cool Friends

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on "Comic Origins" with DC Comics' Impulse premiere storyline from 1995. There's a lot to unpack about this speedy sidekick, so let's age rapidly and uncontrollably, move to Al...

Sometimes Dre and Jeff have arguments on NERD! Dre has put together a special episode cataloguing some of his favorite disagreements for your listening pleasure! Enjoy, and head over to Patreon.com/jeffmay if you want early access to uncensored episodes with Bonus content!

My latest Cool Friend is the incredible Dr. Susan Finkbeiner. I'm not sure how to describe her, other than she might just be one of the most interesting people I've ever met. She's one of the country's foremost Lepidopterists, having been published and featured by the likes of PBS, National Geographic, and more. That alone would be cool enough, but then she had to go and be a runway model, doing f...

My Cool Friend Elise Golgowski is incredible, and I think that's nice. She's not only a fantastic comedian and content creator, but she also has one of the coolest jobs out there as she is a professional editor for, among other things, many prominent comedy specials. Ironically, Elise has been a guest on both NERD! and I Must Break You, and I've been dying to get her ontp this show, bu...

Look, these are obviously the most popular episodes, even though my best friend Adam Tod Brown is a bad person who is bad. But hey, you all seem to like him, so who am I to judge? In reality though, there's nobody I'd rather have start the year out than Adam. And holy smokes, he has an announcement to make that is going to shake the foundations of the YDELP World. I figured, as we were discussing...

Hey y'all! Wanted to close out the year with a review of everything that happened both professionally and personally over here and on the Patreon. Forgive me if it seems repetitive or if it goes on tangents. Unlike a lot of the work I do, this was purposefully unplanned (minus names of producers and guests) I like this kind of episode to come more from the heart than the brain, and I think that'll...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff finish their season on Supernatural Holiday Stuff with the acclaimed, yet under-performing zombie Christmas musical Anna and the Apocalypse! There's a lot to unpack about this weirdly delightful mashup of genres, so l...

My Cool Friend Randall Maynard is one of the most requested guests in show history, and I'm glad I could finally get him on the show. I've known Randall since back in the Cracked days, where he was the art director! Since then, we've been circling each other on various podcasts and in life. Recently, he's begun an incredible new venture with Ran Dollz , where he's making custom bootleg toys that a...

Happy Holidays from mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The previously-unavailable-on-the-free-feed 17th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff finding the perfect storm of their oldseason on Cinematic Child Neglect and the holidays with Iron Man 3, the controversial beginning to the MCU...

This episode’s Cool Friend is the amazing comedian and game designer Grant Lyon. Grant has fast become an incredibly talented and prolific game designer, with Curmudgeon being released in 2021 and I’m Kind of a Big Dill being released earlier this month! Crazy, right? Well, aside from being a 2023 TAGIE award winner (think Oscars for board and party games) and having a sick new game out, he’s also...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff continue their season on Supernatural Holiday Stuff with the WWE's 1990 Survivor Series, featuring the Thanksgiving debut of the legendary Undertaker. But they're not alone, as they joined by the incredible David Bell...

My latest Cool Friend is the incredible talented Joey Bragg. Joey and I officially met four days before recording, when he was booked on Mint on Card, and we instantly clicked. One of those friendships that just kinda blooms immediately, you know? Well it turns out that not only is Joey a hilarious comedian, but he’s a rather prolific actor who came up as one of the leads in Disney’s very charming...

My latest Cool Friend, the wonderful and talented Danielle Soto, isn’t just a great and hilarious person, but she was one of my first friends in comedy! Seriously, I met her like, 2 weeks into my career. Crazy! Well wouldn’t you know it, we both ended up moving from Massachusetts to California, and our paths have been intertwined ever since! She has an incredible podcast called Dr. Cheesecake, whi...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Supernatural Holiday Stuff with General Mills' Monster Cereals. There's a lot to unpack about these culturally significant boxes of corn candy, so let's go Count some Chocula, balance some breakf...

I’m so incredibly excited to sit down and talk with my latest Cool Friend, the returning Tom Reimann! Tom and I are super buds and co-hosts on the incredible Tom and Jeff Watch Batman podcast, but he’s been gone for a few episodes because HE AND HIS WIFE HAD A BABY! Well my beautiful babies (get it?), he’s back, and he’s got a brand new show coming your way in the incredible and insane Badical , a...

What an incredible pair of Cool Friends I found myself talking to in this episode. Two former guests, the incredible David Igo and Erik Barnes, have teamed up to drive to my house and talk to me about the Monstors campaign that’s now up on Kickstarter. We also talk about a whole bunch of other amazing things, like HOW I INTRODUCED THEM and, honestly, this is such a fun and funny episode, as two of...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by the star of our episode's subject, the incredible Nic Cowan, as they wrap up their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with thecult classic 1993 film Surf Ninjas. There's a lot to unpac...

My latest Cool Friend, the amazing and hilarious Chris Calogero, is one of the most criminally underappreciated comics and creators out there. I’ve known him for quite some time, and have been waiting for this specific moment to have him on the show, as he’s just released his amazing comedy special/album “Husky Boy,” which you can listen to RIGHT NOW! Of course we talk about the album, because it’...

My next Cool Friend, the amazing Alex Schmidt, is an incredibly accomplished and kind person. Like, to the point where it makes me mad. But not really. Maybe. Anyways, you might know Alex from his incredible podcast, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating , or from his multiple victories on the television show Jeopardy! Or you might not know him at all. Who am I to know what you know? Y'know? But hey...

My latest Cool Friend, the incredible and vibrant Kirk Thatcher, has one of the most insane and varied collection of credits I can imagine. Special effects on Return of the Jedi? Yes. Director of Muppets Haunted Mansion? Absolutely. Famous Star Trek pest? Naturally. Badass Monster Hunter in the MCU? You bet! But honestly, this barely scratches the surface. I seriously don't have enough space o...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by the amazing Logan Trent as they continue their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with the insane WMAC Masters syndicated television show. There's a lot to unpack about this weird American...

Oh man, this one is so cool! I've "known" Taffeta Darling online for like, 10-15 years, but we've only just met in person for the first time at SDCC a couple of weekends ago! That's crazy! I'm fascinated by the parallels between the two of us, from jobs we've had to hobbies we share to the things that interest us. We're honestly very much like the Spider-Man point...

My latest Cool Friend has had one heck of a few years since we last spoke on air! The amazing Todd Stashwick might just be one of the most popular actors in the current Star Trek milieu due to his landmark role as Captain Liam Shaw on Picard. (And let's not forget his other appearances on shows like Gotham, Supernatural, and the fascinating 12 Monkeys) He's also published the incredible My...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with the infamous Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi for the Sony Playstation. There's a lot to unpack about this totally missed slam dunk of a game, so let&...

My Cool Friend, James Wojtal Jr. is one fascinating dude, and I'm so excited to introduce you to him! It's hard to find a better way to describe what he does besides "he does stuff with puppets," but that feels unbelievably incomplete. James is legitimately amazing, and might have my favorite origin story of any guest I've had on the show up to this point! You may have seen h...