Sleeping with Celebrities

Actor and comedian Baron Vaughn is familiar to audiences for his work on  Grace & Frankie ,  Mystery Science Theater 3000 , and  The New Negroes  with friend of the show Open Mike Eagle. He’s familiar to his family for watching a whole lot of those multi-episode, sepia photograph-intensive, history rich documentaries by Ken Burns on subjects like baseball, the Civil War, the Brooklyn Bridge, and D...

You have definitely seen actor, writer, and director Ravi V. Patel on a screen before. He’s one of those guys that seems to be in everything. Perhaps most recently as a team mentor on the new season of  LEGO Masters Jr.  or maybe co-starring on  Animal Control  with Joel McHale or acting in  Ghosts  or being put through some grueling paces on  Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test . All the while,...

When you have two guests on one show, you’re going to get a variety of topics, especially when they have such diverse interests as tennis great Patrick McEnroe and Broadway icon Melissa Errico. The two, married 26 years, take us on a very friendly and relaxing jaunt through a very old-timey English castle (that somehow has a sauna and Pilates room), various off-the-beaten-path tourist spots in Ita...

As hosts of the  Happy Wife Happy Life podcast, comedians/writers/actors Kendahl Landreth and Jordan Myrick help their listeners navigate everything related to relationships. Here on our show, in this episode, they bring that gift of harmony to society’s views of chihuahuas, especially their own rescue dog, Angel. As you drift off to sleep, you’ll hear about Angel’s peculiarities, why these dogs a...

The versatile Ana Marie Cox is a podcast host ( Space the Nation , Past Due ), a veteran journalist (MTV News, The New York Times Magazine), the founding editor of Wonkette , a writing instructor, and a political pundit and analyst, frequently featured on various cable news programs. But not to worry. Ana stays out of the political fray in this interview. I mean, nothing better to keep you stresse...

Here’s how we figure it: if you appear on our show (the most popular podcast in the world) (look that up) (don’t), you automatically become a celebrity. We have listeners all over this planet at least. That makes hardware store assistant manager Winter Burnett a celebrity. During our last Max Fun Drive, we set a stretch goal for new members and said if we hit that goal, one of you Sleepyheads coul...

The multi-talented Demi Adejuyigbe is a podcast host ( The Gilmore Guys ) writer ( The Good Place, The Late Late Show with James Corden ), and social media celebrity (those wonderful homemade videos for the song “September”). Those are all very exciting things that Demi does and we’re concerned they would keep you up. So instead, we’re focusing on his interest in film photography: the cameras he u...

You know Janet Varney from her starring roles in  You’re the Worst  and  The Legend of Korra  and from hosting two Maximum Fun podcasts,  The JV Club  and  E Pluribus Motto , which she co-hosts with John Hodgman and which just launched its second season. But to the critters of the night, Janet is simply a friend, a liaison between themselves and all the diurnal humans. She talks about many nocturn...

Kathy Valentine is the bassist for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Go-Go’s. Emerging from the L.A. punk scene, ruling the charts, and still playing shows 47 years later, any member of the band must have a million thrilling stories about life as real live rock stars. But we’re a show that tries to put you to sleep so on our program Kathy talks about all the cats she has owned over the co...

You may know Paget Brewster as FBI Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss on the television series  Criminal Minds  or as Joey’s girlfriend Kathy on multiple episodes of  Friends . If you’re a particularly discerning entertainment consumer, you also know her from  Andy Richter Controls the Universe  or as Sadie Doyle on the podcast and stage series  The Thrilling Adventure Hour . We’re not going...

This episode originally ran August 14th, 2024. *** Is this a feat that the beloved author, actor, and host of Maximum Fun’s  Judge John Hodgman  can actually pull off? Well, no, probably not. There are over 4,600 such islands and he’s only one mortal human. Come on. But will he make a pretty game attempt for a little while and invite you to join his efforts as you drift off to sleep? Oh yes. Oh ab...

The very funny and charming Julie Klausner is known for her starring role in the acclaimed Hulu dark comedy series  Difficult People  and she has appeared in  Big Mouth ,  What We Do in the Shadows ,  At Home with Amy Sedaris , and many other beloved and hilarious programs. It’s stressful work, we think, because Julie has had a lot of massages over the years and she’s here to tell you all about th...

Chris Duffy is a writer, extremely funny comedian, and host of the TED podcast  How To Be a Better Human . He’s also a former contestant on  Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?  (answer: well, we all do, of course) where a producer asked what he would do if he won the titular million bucks and Chris said he would buy a lifetime supply of new socks. That’s a bad answer, the producer said, but Chris stan...

You know Tamara Keith as NPR’s Senior White House Correspondent and as one of the hosts of the NPR Politics Podcast . You can count on her to deliver up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the most dramatic beat in journalism, even if it’s news that you may find very alarming. But there’s nothing alarming or upsetting about Tamara’s thoughts on the vast and delicious world of pies, it’s all very pl...

Comedian, actor, and author Tamara Yajia has a new book Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star  that doesn’t spend all that much time on the subject of charcuterie boards. But that’s what our discussion is for. Learn about Tamara’s grandfather’s extensive and somewhat emotionally charged boards and how they inspired her to make vast boards of her own, first in England and then in Am...

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, cultural critic, and author of numerous books, including  They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us ,  A Little Devil in America , and  There’s Always This Year . He’s very passionate about music, as is evidenced in his massive collection, purchased online and at concert venues, of concert t-shirts, band sweatshirts, and other vintage apparel linked to various artists. Hani...

If you love history, you already know about the lovely podcast The Memory Palace , which celebrates the quirky and intriguing elements of stuff that has happened. If you haven’t heard it, go listen. But first, hear honey-voiced host Nate DiMeo explain his complex and impassioned opinions on team names, logos, the nefarious nature of image consultants, and Utah somehow being known for Jazz. Get you...

Nobody knows pop culture better than Linda Holmes, one of the hosts of NPR’s  Pop Culture Happy Hour , and culture doesn’t get much more pop than the nineties teen prime time soap  Beverly Hills, 90210. Let Linda guide you to sleep while she introduces you to Brandon, Brenda, Kelly, Steve, Donna, and even Scott, who we frankly didn’t even know existed until Linda told us about him. We also challen...

There are many places to acquire food and household items in the greater Los Angeles area. You could go to Costco, you could go to Ralphs, you could even swing by 99 Ranch. Or if you listen to this episode with the delightful Sierra Katow, you could visit all these places and let Sierra do the driving while you zonk off to sleep, sated with the audio equivalent of free samples of tasty snacks. You...

Roxane Gay is one of the greatest writers in the world today. Everyone knows this. We’re so thrilled that she agreed to be on our show. Roxane is the author of books like  Bad Feminist  and  Hunger , writes for the New York Times , is a respected social critic and noted professor. All this means that she travels a lot and she joins us, using a very soothing voice, to share her opinions on air trav...

Allan McLeod is an actor who has appeared on Parks & Recreation and You’re the Worst . He’s a podcaster who appears regularly as host on Walkin’ About , here on Maximum Fun. And, for our purposes on this episode, he’s a camper, who appears pretty often at campgrounds around California. Allan walks us through his incredibly detailed and quite lengthy packing list that he uses whenever he and his fa...

Whether you know her from the phenomenally popular YouTube channel Philosophy Tube or from her acting appearances in  House of the Dragon  or  The Acolyte , chances are Abigail Thorn was dry when you saw her and above the surface of the water. Just know that this is not where she prefers to be. Abigail is a scuba diver and is here to send you to sleep by telling you all about her pastoral adventur...

Queen Priyanka is many things: singer, drag queen, Canadian television personality. But today we talk about her role as dog owner and keen observer of the quirks and personality facets of other dog owners, specifically the kind of dog owner that can be characterized as “crazy-ass dog owner.” If you like dogs, are fascinated by the eclectic habits of their owners, or just enjoy hearing conversation...

Being the CEO of Maximum Fun is not as glamorous as you might expect. In fact, it involves a lot of running reports. That’s what we found out from Bikram Chatterji in our latest and final installment of our Naps with Normies series. Tune in and drift off for a quick snooze while the big boss of the whole shebang reveals how shockingly normal his work really is. It's the Max Fun Drive! Go to www.ma...

You’ve heard of the Max Fun Drive. Perhaps you’ve heard us mention it eight billion times. We have to. It’s how we are able to exist. The person who runs the whole drive is April and while she won’t extoll you to donate during this edition of Naps with Normies, she will tell you all about all the spreadsheets and reports she has to run. Just a constant sea of precise low-key work to be done. It's...