The JV Club with Janet Varney

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Let’s kickoff #MaxFunDrive with a no-brainer crossover with the marvelous Moujan Zolfaghari (Mission to Zyxx)! JV and Moujan are back in the podcastin’ saddle after a data-corrupted attempt in 2021. They’re yakking about cats and dogs! About X Files! About Portugal! It’s all waiting for you in this glorious episode! This episode is part of the annual #MaxFunDrive, a celebration of our beloved MaxF...

We’re throwing extracurricular activities into hyperdrive for this chat with the super cool Ali Griffin Vingiano (Apple TV’s The Morning Show) , who celebrates the gorgeous hot mess of a teenage bedroom with JV, as the two trade stories about how they littered their walls with their dreams and crushes. Plus! Evviva for Ali's Italy-heavy M.A.S.H.! Music from this show's promo provided by Incompetec...

This week brings you the multifaceted gem that is rapper/singer/writer Dessa, who by the way also happens to host the great podcast Deeply Human ! From seasick-stage-surfing to teenage-mood-surfing to creative-outlet-surfing, Dessa brings frank introspection, wisdom and humor to this convo, just as she does in her work… and manages to get some herstorical tidbits out of JV in the process!

Get that cold pizza out of the fridge and keep your hands off Milton’s stapler for this podtacular evidence of the awesomeness of Kelly Landry (@kellylandrylive), with whom JV worked on one of her fave cartoons through 2020 - quarantine-style! Hear about Kelly’s teen-in-rural-Maine adventures between JV and KL telling each other how delightful they are. That’s friendship, baby!

This just in: Bridget Todd is wonderful! Revel in this uplifting chat including academia vs. “real life” joys and experiences, the good in lifting each other up, and the sublime coolness of Downtown Julie Brown! Check out Bridget’s There Are No Girls on the Internet while you’re at it!

This week JV welcomes the extremely cool Rebekah Sebastian, who, in an episode recorded before JV left town, preempted the latest legislative convo about time zones with her very own M.A.S.H. game! She also digs into the dichotomies and attractions of high school, criminology, and Shame & Spirituality!

The JV Club celebrated its 10th anniversary aboard the JoCo Cruise ship last week, with very special guests Aimee Mann and Shalewa Sharpe! Featuring music by the delightful Jim Boggia. Hear Jim’s fantastic cover of “Back Before We Were Brittle” and another M.A.S.H.-related gem; learn about Shalewa’s love of a certain off-brand Mtv local channel, and Aimee’s impressive work as a sizemologist. Happy...

The podcast’s first listener-generated interview! You asked (most) of the questions, and Jen Kirkman was up for the task. Find out what she and Janet have to say about Judy Blume, making out in basements, ironic greeting cards and more in Episode 10 of The JV Club .

One of the most perfectly-suited guests for The JV Club maybe ever! JV welcomes writer and performer Laura Leigh Abby, whose podcast " Seventeen " is a conversation with her teenage self, with diary entries from her teenage years read by Leia Immanuel. Listen in to this episode for a fantastic peek at the kinds of stuff she explores in her own show, a killer M.A.S.H. game, and some love aimed at T...

Creator and Founder of the famed live alt-comedy LA-based show The Uncabaret, Beth Lapides, joins JV this week to talk about her brand new star-filled audiobook,  So You Need to Decide   and much more! Such as: breaking comedy conventions and glass ceilings, the perfect Cobb salad, and the yet more perfect sex appeal of Mulder and Scully!

Sit in on this chuckle-filled, giggle-infused, laughter-packed episode with the utterly magnificent Georgia King (“ Vice Principals ”), who patiently discusses with JV what makes a British accent “posh,” and plenty of other things that are far more worth discussing, including the gals bonding over many a gangly-and-bumbling-tall-blonde-kid memory, the glory of tap-dancing, and her upcoming podcast...

JV is thrilled to chat with the wonderful Halle Stanford, who’s living what many of us could consider a dream job: as President of Television at The Jim Henson Company! Hear about Halle’s proud nerdy beginnings in San Diego, including a very memorable and thoroughly delightful tale of her stint as the school mascot. And listen in on a conversation about how to keep evolving and growing stories for...

Why not treat yourself to the human joy that is  Hey Riddle Riddle ’s Erin Keif? If you don’t yet know this hilarious, kind, incredibly talented improviser and actor, you should! Find out about her teenventures, her dear friend Wizzie, and her brand-new podcast. Plus! You’ll have the chance to ask yourself… what would be in YOUR library of magical objects?

Unbox your 18th century-era pink powdered wig and throw on your ripped collarless Flashdance sweatshirt for this time-bending chat with the sublime Sarah Marshall ( You Are Good ,  You’re Wrong About  pods), who delivers her signature thoughtfulness and wit as she and JV talk Oregon, Max Headroom (!), and solving a centuries-old mystery!

It’s Jennie Kwan (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”)! This week, Jennie and JV dig into Jennie’s teenage years in the LA area (& their mutual obsession with the history of LA overall), the “runner’s high,” and the Titanic... without so much of the sinking part. If you’re an ATLA fan and you loved hearing from Jennie Kwan (“Suki”) on the Braving the Elements pod, get ready for this embarrassment of rich...

This week JV is joined by Dani Green, a member of the fantastic Nashville-based band, Birdtalker ! Among many things, Dani chats about the communal, emotional benefits of live music in a time when that’s been challenging. And she and JV celebrate certain of life’s delights, including the mighty avocado, the movie Willow, and the marvelous Dev Patel!

No better way to start the New Year off right than with the simply dynamite Bonnie Gordon (Star Trek: Prodigy)! JV and Bonnie do some serious bonding over the joy and anxiety of escape rooms, as well as a little something we all know as “imposter syndrome!” Plus! Bonnie's Peter Pan crush, the adventure of growing up in the bayou, and a M.A.S.H.-generated apartment building of misfit geniuses!

From the recent live show at LA Podfest, Janet is joined by a couple of great beards and the wonderful men sporting them: Charles “Chuck” Bryant ( Stuff You Should Know ) and Timothy Omundson ( Galavant, Psych ), and one spectacular woman who happens to ALSO look great with a beard: Natalie Morales ( Parks and Rec ). Settle in and nibble on your candy necklace for an hour of stories and songs! Thi...

Put on your 70’s platform shoes! And then take them right back off again because those things are PAINFUL! From the ‘burbs of New Jersey to the busy streets of New York City, it’s the most wonderful P.J. Byrne (“The Legend of Korra,” “Big Little Lies”), who talks Bolin, voting, and so much more!

What a vibrant, funny, unique and awesome person to have in your ears! It’s Jordan Crucchiola, who peps JV up with talk about her many cool podcasts, including Maximum Fun’s very own “ Feeling Seen ,” along with tales of all the different kinds of relationships - and different types of intimacy -  we can have with the people we care about. Plus! Bake those tomatoes! Wonder at those years! Saus tha...

It’s summer in December with this week’s dynamic guest, Australian TV host, producer and book author Serena DC (“Hollywood Disclosure”), who talks highs, rock bottoms, and living life between and beyond the peaks and valleys. Plus! Serena takes credit for the invention of cheese (that’s the beauty of M.A.S.H.)!

It’s the wonderful Lexie Henning ( Ancient Office Hours podcast) this week on the JV Club, bringing with her some really nuanced, really great conversation and thoughts about her own family history and her passion for Ancient Worlds! So get ready to bend some elements and travel into the past, friends!  

Breakdance your way through Episode 157 with one of the busiest and coolest guys around, Dante Basco ( Hook, Avatar: The Last Airbender ), who reminds us that family, curiosity, and the occasional all-night conversation with friends can yield rich rewards. And find out what it means to “know what you know” (then you’ll know)!   This episode was originally published on June 4th 2017

This week we welcome the hilarious, bold, candid and great Fielding Edlow (“Bojack Horseman”), who digs deep into the Whit Stillman-y world of upwardly mobile teens on the island of Manhattan, and marital public honesty in the form of  “Bitter Homes and Gardens.”  PLUS! BONUS! Hear the  Podsongs  tune written by  Frances Luke Accord  inspired by their conversation with JV!