No Brains, No Lightbulbs: A Trivia Podcast

Welcome to season two! This week we are joined by the quite famous John O'Sullivan. John is a professional tour guide and the driving force behind One Minute Tours. He’s also a former Trivia Mafia host! Chuck kicks things off with an emergency call to the Intensive Karaoke Unit (02:50). We go down under for some Australian trivia and crikey, it was awesome (16:34). After that it's off to Washingto...

Welcome to the podcast, Sarah Lemanczyk! Sarah is an award-winning broadcaster and the "old lady" emeritus of Radio K. She doesn't like Japanese food and you should hold that against her. We also welcome our interim producer, Davis Steen, to fill in for Chuck as host. Davis starts us off with a round that's "Apro-BRO of Nothing" (01:50). Then Sarah joins the fun with some trivia that combines Shak...

Welcome to the podcast, Dr. Katie Sisneros! Today Chuck and Sean welcome a dear old friend, former trivia host and writer and all around great human being into the studio! Chuck drives us around for a little geography trivia by way of car makes (02:12). After that, Chuck bets his bottom dollar that you'll know about some good things that are only a day away from some really bad events (15:36). Sea...

What kind of idiot would marry Sean McPherson? Today you'll meet said idiot! Her name is Rachel Levitt and in what she calls "her largest act of public service," she married Sean in 2013. Chuck takes some movie titles around the globe to check their translations (01:20) and then we celebrate Hanukkah with 8 Crazy Questions (15:48). Rachel flexes her People magazine "knowledge" by talking about the...

Do you know Eyeball? If you play trivia in the Twin Cities you might? Eyeball is a trivia nerd and trivia host and a co-protectorate of two sourdough starters. This week we kick it off with a round inspired by the film Clue! Chuck pulled out a round called "Anatomy of a Moniker" (14:33) and Sean brought a Simpsons Before and After (19:51). To close the show Sean gets Chuck lost in translation with...

We've got one of the most celebrated photographers in the Twin Cities with us in the No Brains No Lightbulbs studio today. Mike Madison aka Bump Opera aka Mad Son aka Bum Pop Era. First Sean flexes his taxonomy ignorance in a round called "Tax-On-A-You" (01:46). Then we hit Mike with some trivia about two of his favorite things: '80s hair metal (24:41) and food (29:45). To close the show, Sean hit...

This week’s episode is all about food! Racket editor/owner and City Cast Twin Cities contributor Em Cassel joins NBNL to flex her love of fast food, raw pork, and great oldies. First Chuck sweetens the deal with a round of assorted chocolate trivia (02:11). Then we serve up some fast food questions for Em (13:48), and Chuck dishes out some movie/restaurant trivia with "Second Yelpings" (24:18). Fi...

Celebrated radio personality and Trivia Mafia host Holly Roberts joins the NBNL team for some awesome rounds of trivia about a few of her favorite things: The Beatles and "The Simpsons." First Chuck deals us a round of questions about playing cards (02:33). Then we drag a few Beatles song titles through the thesaurus for "Thesaurus Abuse: The Beatles Edition" (17:14). Sean sets Holly up to fl...

Good luck to all of the competitors and staff at Trivia Mafia's Tournament of Champions! On the podcast we welcome the people's champ, Mike Davis, into the No Brains, No Lightbulbs studio. First Chuck puts us into a pickle of a round (01:15) before shuffling the deck with Mike (20:31). Sean puts hip-hop on the map (26:38) and wraps up the show with a quick trip to the grocery store (38:15). No Bra...

No guest today! Just Chuck and Sean and a pinch of Davis, bringing you plenty of great trivia and a little banter. Chuck gets the trivia work started with "-Men at Work" (02:10). Sean exposes Chuck's weak spots in "European Geography" (15:33), and Chuck finds one of Sean's Achilles heels: Trivia about books! (19:47). Sean finishes up with a great round about Latin names flora and fauna called "Bin...

Boo! We're coming to you early this week with a special Halloween edition of No Brains, No Lightbulbs! Trivia Mafia editor and writer Ira Brooker joins the No Brains, No Lightbulbs crew to talk up his idyllic/haunting upbringing and flex his tremendous cinematic knowledge. Chuck celebrates some of the dignified individuals who perished on All Hallow's Eve (02:56). Then he quizzes Ira on some class...

Esteemed awesome person Amy Woo joins the No Brains, No Lightbulbs crew to dish on Tinder dates and flex her knowledge of the stage and screen. Chuck starts us off with a cool wordplay round called "X Marks the Stop" (02:04). Then we head to Broadway for some musicals trivia (16:40), and Chuck and Amy speedrace a round about fast-talking TV shows (23:00). Sean wraps things up with a recital of tri...

St. Paul singer-songwriter, former trivia host, and Sean's best friend Martin Devaney stops by the pod to talk sandwiches, great album covers, books, and baseball. Chuck branches out with a wordplay round called "The Trees Are Changing" (4:35). Then we crack open a few "Banned Books" (16:42) before Sean grabs the ball and pitches a tough round of baseball trivia called "Know a Team" (23:20). We fi...

One of the elite hosts of the Trivia Mafia family joins Chuck and Sean on the pod today. First, Chuck gets the trivia started with a round that puts Sean in a “State of Confusion” (03:04). Then Ida-Ellen Dabruzzi swings by to flex her knowledge of famous cemeteries for “Grave Concerns” (12:37), and Sean brings a classic Sean round about classic movies (19:00). We finish the episode with a nod to L...

Improv comedy legend Lauren Anderson pays a visit to play a little trivia and talk a lot about elephants. Lauren has starred in more consecutive shows at the Brave New Workshop than any other actor, she hosts a YouTube children's show called "Noodle Pie Island," and she is a wildly dedicated trampoline evangelist. Chuck kicks the trivia off with a trip to "Title Town" (01:54). Then we pose a panop...

This week the crew asked Cory Cove, of Initials Game and KFAN fame, to join the podcast and testify his love of chicken tenders, the band 311, “The Office,” and little else. Chuck gets things started with a round of trivia combining Shakespeare and ornithology (02:55). Cory schools us all on The Initials Game and runs the crew through a round of "CS" (15:30). Sean serves up a movie-themed “Before...

This week the crew welcomes music booker, cooking enthusiast, and former Trivia Mafia host Cecilia Johnson into the studio to discuss serial-killer-worthy breakfast, penicillin you can drink, and her illustrious career as a QuizBang champion. First they play a quick round of which-is-older: the fictional animals edition (01:52). Then Chuck blows off some steam with a round about train-related idio...

This week the crew is joined by artist, musician, writer, and actor Toussaint Morrison to discuss which gas station items he can’t travel without, why comic book villains always have the best stories, and where his love of Michael Douglas movies comes from. Chuck sets the trivia table with a serving of wordplay questions called “Word Sandwiches” (02:39). Toussaint tackles a round about Marvel vill...

This week, the No Brains, No Lightbulbs crew brings in Trivia Mafia's Davis Steen to learn about fall league baseball, witchcraft, and cryptids. Chuck gets things started with a round called “Final ‘E’ Made It” (02:19). We usher in spooky season with “Trivia Golf: The Witch Edition” (13:43). Sean tests Davis's knowledge of cryptid identification (and Chuck questions Sean's definition of "cryptid")...

This week, the No Brains, No Lightbulbs hosts formally recognize Beth for once, those jerks. Then the crew invites radio icon Henry Lake into the studio to discuss Atlanta restaurants and colleges, Kansas City barbecue, and the 1997 cinematic classic "Love Jones." Sean labors through some baby-name trivia (2:55), Chuck explores the history of so-called "national teams" (18:22), and Sean tests Henr...

This week, the No Brains, No Lightbulbs team invites Trivia Mafia editor (and our first heckler) Ruby onto the show to stump the chumps, flex her New England accent, and destroy some movie and etymology trivia. Chuck kicks off the trivia with a brainy round called "Yes Brains" (3:32), and then checks in with a fill-in-the-blank round called "Blank Check" (15:23). Sean brings Ruby a word-origins ro...

This week the No Brains, No Lightbulbs team invites Trivia Mafia alum Colin Buell to rate things, answer things, and dole out some presidential facts. Chuck starts us off with a trivia round called "-illa Communication" (3:40). Colin packs his bags and goes to movie trivia camp (13:58) and then share some Dai-queries with Sean (19:40). Chuck wraps things up with a visit to "Alliteration Nation" (3...

This week the No Brains, No Lightbulbs team invites Trivia Mafia writer, editor and host Megan Olson in to demonstrate her absurd real-names-of-celebrities knowledge and her even absurder love of the '90s band Jellyfish. Chuck cashes in some questions on world currencies (03:48). Sean and Megan get Hamburgled (18:33) and Megan demonstrates her superior knowledge of the real names of famous people...

This week the No Brains, No Lightbulbs crew embarks on a largely accidental Trivia Mafia road trip. Chuck gets us rolling with a round about the geography of art museums (02:32). Steve McPherson—writer, musician and brother of Sean—rides shotgun and answers some deep musical questions (5:56), handles some brotherly trivia (16:04) and crushes Sean's musical genre trivia (21:40). Then Chuck and Sean...

Chuck gets the trivia started with a round about the origins of sports team names (01:40).Then Trivia Mafia Executive Vice-President Brenna Proczko joins the pod to rate some things on Chuck & Sean’s favorite scale: 1 through 10 no 7s (06:09), while calling out Sean's love of viscous fluids. Chuck combines trees and tears for a trivia round called “Arboretum and Weep” (11:07). Then Sean goes o...