Mt. Rushmore Podcast

Do we have to spell out what this week's episode is about? Well, we probably should. It's all about S to the Izzo, P to the Pizzo, E to the...uh, E-izzo...look, this is getting complicated. Just...we're talking about songs featuring spelling, OK? And no, we don't mean Tori Spelling. We mean words being spelled out during the course of the song. So get out of here, "Alphabet Song" - you're not spel...

Let's PUMP UP THE JAMS! This week we're discussing the songs that get you READY TO ROCK at the stadium when you go to see your favorite sports team. Expect more RADICAL ALL-CAPS WORDS in this episode than ever before. Seriously, if this episode doesn't get you FULLY READY TO BLOW SOME SHIT UP then you don't have a sports bone in your body.

You kids today, with your  iPhones and your  podcasts. We didn't have anything like that in our day. If we wanted to hear something interesting, we'd listen to our ears ringing after our Dads boxed our ears in for showing up five minutes late for dinner. That's the way that it was AND WE LIKED IT! This week we explore all of the things that we're dealing with as we get older. We strongly encourage...

"In the summertime, when the weather is hot You ca-... " GET OUT OF HERE MUNGO JERRY!!! NO ONE LIKES YOUR AWFUL SONG! AND TAKE YOUR CREEPY SIDE BURNS WITH YOU!!  OK, now that we've cleared out the riff-raff . This week we're unpacking stories from our childhood to offer up our Mount Rushmore of Summer as a Kid. You know: those halcyon days when the days, weeks and months stretched on forever and r...

If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to Fast Food Hell is paved with bacon, cheese and more bacon. This week we take a look at the most artery-clogging, gut-busting creations ever to ooze their way from the laboratories of Big Fast Food Inc. You'll be amazed at some of the things that they thought we would eat! And probably ashamed because you've had several of these. U...

Like, TWO SECONDS after mankind created fire you know that he burnt himself with it. Mankind goes on to create the wheel and FOR SURE it rolls over his toes. Yadda yadda yadda. George Jetson is crying for help on his space treadmill.  Rounding out our three weeks of TED Talk episodes we gripe the light fantastic about how lights aren't that fantastic and complain about all these technological terr...

Mankind creates fire. Mankind creates wheel. Mankind decides this remote control isn't working for me, what if it was also a watch?!   This week our Mount Rushmore of Old Electronic gadgets draws from our formative years. From the VCR to the BOOM BOX to Nintendo's Power Glove, we crank the !!!TURBO BASE!!! on nostalgia All. The. Way.  

I find it hard to believe that there's a sucker born every minute. After all, people are putting their hard-earned money into Kickstarter campaigns a lot more often than that! This isn't to say that every crowdfunded invention is a grift. It's just that for every Oculus Rift, there are 100 products that don't work as advertised or just plain never see the light of day, leaving "investors" holding...

This week's episode answers a critical question: if we didn't start the fire, who did? Probably those damned Ruskies, that's who! A companion piece to last week's episode on REM's "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," this week we delve deep into another list song: "We Didn't Start the Fire" by one William Joel. The whole song is basically just as many political and pop cult...

Is "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" REM's greatest song? Probably not. But it might be their most catchy and it's definitely the one you are most likely to know about 1/10th of the words to. It's such a cultural touchstone that Michael, Richard and Jeff have devoted an entire episode to every aspect of this song, from specific people mentioned to its appropriateness as a...

What's the deal with stand-up comedians? I mean, they don't really "stand up" during their shows – they walk on-stage and then stay standing the whole time! And also, what's up with all of the hacky premises that get used for routines? No, seriously – what's up with them? This week, we try to find out and we've brought along a special guest – stand-up comedian and host of the Road Stories podcast...

Let's take a trip down memory lane this week and head to your favorite place as a kid: the mall. Where else could you see a movie, eat some questionable "pizza" at the food court, wash it down with a frozen "orange" drink and then blow the rest of your money at the arcade playing Street Fighter AND still have time left over before your mom picked you up? The mall experience is dying in America: to...

Cigars all around! We're delivering...a new episode of the podcast. This week we're discussing TV pregnancies – how they were handled by shows over the years, and what depictions of pregnancies tell us about society as a whole. Since we're three guys, we're hardly experts at pregnancies, so we brought in someone with a bit more firsthand experience – Sara Reeve, wife of our own Richard Manfredi an...

Horror and comedy movies are like Reese's Cups but with blood instead of peanut butter and brains instead of chocolate – two great tastes that taste great together. Finding the right balance can be tricky, but when it works there's nothing like a movie that can make you laugh and scream at the same time.  We're lucky to be joined this week by two people who know how to combine horror and comedy –...

Look, we're nerds, and we're proud of it. But that doesn't mean that we're proud of everything. In fact, there are certain elements of the things that we love that we can't defend. The week we're exploring the cringeworthiest aspects of the things we hold near and dear to our hearts. Even as superfans, we're admitting that these elements aren't so super. We hope this episode is as cathartic for yo...

This week's topic comes from one of our fans: kickball legend, Lefty Slapper enthusiast and all-around good guy Paddy Culham. He joins us to help decide which artists did it better the second time around with the Rushmore of Cover Songs Better Than the Original. It's hard to make someone else's song your own, but these people and bands did it – whether the original song was kind of lousy or alread...

Sometimes, children's television can be a place of wonder, where kids learn valuable life lessons and are entertained by beloved characters. And sometimes, it's a place where monsters with TVs in their stomachs speak in gibberish and create countless nightmares for kids and parents alike. Let's face it – there's a lot of bizarre children's TV show concepts out there. Even great shows can have prem...

Since you're a listener of our podcast, it's easy to deduce pretty much everything about you. I can tell that you only listen to the best podcasts, that you enjoy hearing grown men argue about trivial points and that you are the type of refined person who loves Sherlock Holmes. Of course, you've probably never read a Sherlock Holmes story. Who has? So many words – some of them big and old! Instead...

Ever studied for a test only to discover you have no idea how to answer the questions? Have you gotten a job and realized how unprepared you are for the responsibilities? Ever wish you were BIG on a magic carnival fortune telling machine, get a BIG job in the city, only to be unable to reciprocate an adult relationship because you're actually 13 and then you run home crying to mama? Well, you're i...

This Sunday is Oscar night, and you know what that means! Well, yes, trying to figure out which celebrities are half in the bag while walking the red carpet and which ones are hopped up on goofballs. And also, yes, rubbing it in your friends' faces because you got the Best Documentary Short AND Best Animated Short right in your Oscar pool.   More than that, though, we're talking about your God-giv...

Everyone wants to be the headstrong hero who jumps into battle to save their friends in spite of the tremendous danger looming in front of them, ensuring fortune and glory! But what about those better angels on our shoulders who are warning us that maaaaayyyybeee we should cool our jets? This week we debate which Logical and Sensible characters are most justified to be on our Mount Rushmore.  SHOW...

It's amazing how large a world can be created around a show about nothing. Yes, we watch Seinfeld because of the wacky, misanthropic adventures of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, but often it's the characters outside of the Core Four who wind up stealing the show. Join us this week as we debate who belongs on the Rushmore of Secondary Seinfeld Characters. Some of them can match the gang awful ac...

It's a rare breed of people who can be really good at multiple things. Heck, it's pretty rare to find someone any good at one thing. Most people are like the sandwich "artist" at my local Subway who always puts too much oil and vinegar on my sub even though I ask for just a dash. This week we're celebrating some of the most famous - and sometimes surprising – polymaths in pop culture and history....

This week we're joined by Jim Hanke from Vinyl Emergency to explore all of the strange, cool and unusual designs found in classic and current albums. We cover everything from edible EPs to covers featuring pictures of pants with fully working zippers (even if it did sort of ruin the physical album inside.) Jim brings his fantastic wealth of information, while Michael and Richard team up with stuff...

Here it is: the episode you've been waiting for! No, it's not our final episode – it's our 100th episode! We're as shocked that we've made it this far as you are, so to celebrate, we decided to throw ourselves a big ol' celebratory spectacular*. There's no way we could have done this without our friends and family, which is why we hosted a gala BBQ at Jeff's house and invited people who have meant...