Sleeping with Celebrities

Andy Kindler is a veteran stand-up comedian and actor, known for his work as Mort the mortician on Bob’s Burgers and as Andy on Everybody Loves Raymond. And Andy loves coffee. Like, really, really loves coffee. And he joins us to talk about all the particulars involved in making the perfect cup of coffee: what kind or roast to look for, how to grind your beans and with what, what brewing equipment...

Susan Orlean is one of the coolest and best writers we have going in the whole world. This is simply a fact. Why, she wrote The Orchid Thief and The Library Book and Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. Meryl Streep played Susan, or a version of Susan, in the movie Adaptation, which is certainly not a thing that happens to most of us. With all her credits, you might think Susan Orlean would have...

You might have caught Molly Wood’s work in the New York Times or the public radio program Marketplace or her new podcast, Everybody in the Pool , which is all about Climate Solutions. Or maybe you didn’t catch those. Look, who are we to judge? Regardless, Molly is a professional smart person with a lot of sharp insight as well as voluminous knowledge about certain areas that might put you to sleep...

Gary Gulman is a deeply funny and quite tall comedian who has appeared on HBO specials and every late night comedy talk show you can possibly think of and probably a few you’ve never imagined. In this episode, he takes us on a casual stroll around his neighborhood of Harlem, New York. We see the sights, virtually pop in to area restaurants, and, most notably, hear all about Gary’s unique sport of...

Here are some things you might have done. First, you might have heard James Urbaniak as the voice of Dr. Venture in the hit animated series, The Venture Bros. Secondly, you might have seen James acting in The Fabelmans, Difficult People, Henry Fool, and American Splendor. Thirdly, and most importantly for our program, you may have wished to know a lot more about what it’s like to spend one’s early...

“Sara Schaefer is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and author,” says the website Wikipedia. And who are we to disagree with such a characterization? Our only quibble with this description is that it fails to list her notable status as a miniaturist. That’s right, Sleepyheads, Sara builds tiny, tiny versions of things that are, in real life, quite a bit larger. We think you’ll enjoy this jour...

Jean Grae is a self-described “gender transcendent entity made of fine silks. Multipotentialite autodidact. Genius.” As a 70s kid who lived in NYC’s Chelsea Hotel growing up, she’s seen some things. If you ask Jean what her top five fabrics are, she can give you an answer without having to think too long about it. She can probably out-haggle you at a silk market, and has spent a lot of time resear...

You may know Baratunde Thurston as the host of the PBS program America Outdoors or as the author of the best-selling book, How to Be Black. Or you may know Baratunde as the guy behind the loud noises coming from his house as he uses a variety of tools to carve up ice. A bread knife, for instance. Baratunde is on a lifelong odyssey to make ice that is as clear as possible, free of the little frost...

You might know the Sklar Brothers from your television. They hosted the ESPN Classic program Cheap Seats , acted in Better Call Saul and What We Do in the Shadows , and served as reporters on the series Battlebots , wherein robots fight one another. So Randy and Jason have some exciting credits. But they’re not on our show to be exciting. They’re here to talk about various rule changes in college...

If you’ve been watching The Simpsons lately, you are familiar with the work of Broti Gupta. She plays Bart. No, not really. Broti is a writer for the long-running series as well as being the co-host of the Lecture Hall podcast. On our program, here, this week, Broti sends you off to dreamland with a rundown of the Kenwood Mall, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. At least the mall as it existed ten or so...

There was a brief period in the late 60s and early 70s when Jonathan Katz could walk into any table tennis club in the country and know which players, if any, could beat him. There weren’t many, because Katz was an elite player. Before becoming television’s Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist , he was the New York State Champion of table tennis. And if had been born in Stockholm, instead of New York,...

You might know Scott Thompson as 20% of the legendary sketch comedy group, The Kids in the Hall. You might not know about his strong feelings regarding porridge. Scott shares hot cereal lore from Chilliwack to Toronto to the kitchen pantries of his KitH troupemates. Is porridge fascinating? No. Is it just interesting enough to distract you from your swirling thoughts such that you can sleep? Oh ye...

Linda Holmes is a best-selling author and one of the hosts of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. But you know what an hour is that wasn't always happy? Melrose Place. Oh, it's true. Melrose Place was a nighttime soap opera in the 1990s and it told the stories of the residents of a fictitious apartment complex in Los Angeles where everyone's lives were complicated. The people were complicated, the relat...

But if we were to judge her by her parking habits alone, she is a very bad person who hurts other motorists and harms society itself. Maria once parked her car in front of a fire hydrant. At Los Angeles International Airport. And then just left it there. For days. And she’s been known to hog the bus stop with her car, thus inconveniencing the entire public transit system. But Maria wants to be bet...

You see, the MaxFunDrive is happening right now (if you’re seeing this before March 31st 2023). If you appreciate this show and want to support original, artist-owned shows like this, please consider becoming a Maximum Fun member or upgrading your membership. Just go to MaximumFun.org/join And now is the best time of year to support the show because there are great gifts for YOU as well. Among the...

Justin’s conversation with John Moe also covers confetti popcorn, Froot Loops, crop art, and monorails. Also, Sleepyheads, please know that we are now in the annual Max Fun Drive! Sorry to use exclamation points but this is important! Sleeping with Celebrities , like all shows on the Maximum Fun network, operates on a membership model and the only way we can make the show is if people support it f...

Open Mike Eagle is a rap artist with albums such as Brick Body Kids Still Daydream , Anime Trauma & Divorce , and his latest, A Tape Called Component System with the Auto Reverse . He is from Chicago but now lives in Los Angeles, where he has a studio built into his home, and another room that looks an awful lot like a studio where we talked to him from. Mike tells us about how to soundproof a roo...

She explains it like so, “Imagine it as much as you want, research it as much as you want. You can never truly know what it's like to be a bat, because our conscious experiences are all inherently subjective. Therefore, not only do you not know what it's like to be a bat, you can never truly know what it's like to be another human.” Also, she enjoyed sleeping by the side of a river one time. It wa...

Andy Daly’s yard has some day lilies, which he does not particularly enjoy, and some olive trees. Andy likes olives but finds the process of turning an olive from his own tree into an olive he can eat to be pretty challenging because it turns out it takes several steps. Once when he was a boy, his parents gave him some olives as a birthday present because they knew how much he liked olives and the...

No startling revelations, no dramatic screaming confrontations, but plenty of low-key dialogue, intricately laced deadpan comedy, and a ticket to dreamland. Coming on February 22! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping