The JV Club with Janet Varney

It’s one of those trip-on-a-plastic-bag, fall-on-your-face, lose-a-tooth good times with the fantastic Jameela Jamil (The Good Place), who shares the soft underbelly horrors of adolescence with JV with such humility and humor, you’ll want to marry her immediately. Now let’s go find a dumpster of leftovers to celebrate! This episode was originally published in 2017.

Another awesome Max Fun podcast crossover! It’s Drea Clark , from the currently accurately-named “ Untitled Drea, Ify and Alonso Project !” Dive into some Jane Austen love, some Jill Scott worship, and the strange and wonderful gift of crawling inside the right Guillermo del Toro masterpiece!  

It’s week 2 of Max Fun Drive! And what could be better than a backyard reenactment of “Death Becomes Her” starring this week’s guest, the hilarious Jo Firestone (Max Fun’s own Dr. Gameshow ) and JV as “Mad” and “Hel”? NOTHING! But since they couldn’t make it happen (yet), enjoy this delightful episode of chatter about breads (the elusive potato and dutch crunch kinds), “Grease” conspiracy theories...

Janet chats with MaxFun podcast Dead Pilots Society producer Ben Blacker. JV Club fans will enjoy Dead Pilots Society for the in-depth interviews with the writers, behind-the-scenes look at the TV-making process, and the fun celebrity guests! Don't forget to check the boxes for The JV Club and Dead Pilots Society when you become a MaxFun member! Please help support the little shows that can and do...

What better way to celebrate #MaxFunDrive than with one of the Maxiest, Funniest, Driviest (?) people around, Mr. John Hodgman? It’s a smorgasbord of topics and delight in this special episode.  But note! There’s more where this came from! The full, extra funtastic episode with over 45 minutes of extra conversation(!!!!) is available as a Thank You to Max Fun members, along with all the other amaz...

It’s a Boy of Summer teaser with the fantastic, funny, 3rd generation Los Angeleno-native Eric Balfour ("Country Comfort” and OH MY HEAVENS SO MUCH MORE) and a conversation too good to be missed (so what are you waiting for, buddies?)!

Fireflies! Phosphorescence! Mattresses! Glide into this chat with the wonderful Angela Lewis (“ Snowfall ” on FX) as she and JV revisit NYC blackouts, great teachers, and a moment in cinema that may have actually stopped time itself! Here's where you can find additional information on some of the organizations JV and Angela discussed: Black Mamas Matter Alliance National Birth Equity Collaborative...

It’s Country Comfort’s creator, the marvelous Caryn Lucas ! The gals talk Judy Garland, Family Feud, and the gorgeous power of laughing and crying in close succession. Plus! Being a woman in a traditionally male part of the biz. Inspiring! Contribute to our upcoming fan-curated episode! To be a part of this episode- which will be exclusively available to Max Fun members- record a 30 second to 1 mi...

In this week’s instantly-forged friendship, find out why JV finds herself sincerely sighing “Gosh.” It’s thanks to the luminous Anna LaMadrid , whose nomadic teen years took her to Germany and back again, with lots of moving in between. And check out Anna’s live stage-and-streaming show,  The Oxy Complex!  Max Fun Drive is coming! Here’s two ways we’d love you to get involved: Contribute to our up...

It’s a veritable smorgasbord of other worlds and literary wonderlands with this week’s guest, bestselling YA author Victoria Aveyard   (The " Red Queen " series), who so enchants JV with her M.A.S.H. answers, JV actually FORGETS TO DO THE THREE FOODS category! Enjoy this scandal and a peek into Victoria’s new book series, Realm Breaker ! Max Fun Drive is coming! Here’s two ways we’d love you to ge...

Following the premiere of “ Country Comfort ” on Netflix, JV welcomes writer and actor Julia Fowler , who brought all of her Southern charm and humor to the writing of the show. From childhood pageantry to an adolescence of headgear and being bullied, Julia makes an adventure of it all, with plenty of— dare we say it— true grit. Max Fun Drive is coming and there's two ways we'd love you to get inv...

If you’ve been longing for JV’s Bruce Springsteen singing impression, this is the episode for you. This week the funny, honest and charming Jenn Welch ( LadyHD: A Podcast for Distractible Women )   celebrates the sisterhood of busy minds and busy hands, factory towns, and the allure of other peoples’ discarded tissues.  

Just a couple of folks celebrating being bad at being goth. JV is joined by the simply marvelous Diona Reasonover ( “Periodic Talks” podcast) and her love of board games (yay!) and train rides (double yay!). This, friends, is the episode where the world’s biggest smallest mystery is solved... involving cakey cookies!

A very exciting rerun of the divine Kristina Rodgers, who drops by to bond with JV over Siouxsie Sioux, the Electrical Light Parade, Pottery Barn and oh-so much more!

Join JV and this week’s awesome guest, Kate Willett (Dirtbag Anthropology) as they rock the world with a new kind of Show Choir extravaganza— for adults with adult problems! Plus: roller coaster makeouts. Forgiving yourself. Area codes. More! Kate Willett's Audible Original,  Dirtbag Anthropology  is now available at  audible.com/dirtbag.

Get musical! Middle Earth-style! With this week’s bright and shiny guest, author and journalist Alexandra Petri (The Washington Post). Social clumping at dances! Star Wars Prequel apologists! And a good old-fashioned Narnia closet.

If your neighbors in Florida were The Bee Gees and your neighbor in NYC was Joey Ramone, you might be this week’s guest, Annabelle Gurwitch (Known for her upcoming book “ You’re Leaving When? ” and the new Max Fun “ Tiny Victories ” podcast)! Flimflams, cults-that-might-not-be-cults and Dinners and Movies abound in this episode. Plus! More Ancient Egypt!

JV shares a personal update.

A M.A.S.H. game mind-meld gets this week’s guest, the radiant Arden Myrin literally up on her feet with excitement! It’s all about breaking the plaid mold, embracing humiliation, and snow, snow, SNOW! Arden's new book Little Miss Little Compton is out now.

Mummies! Mitochondrial DNA! Austrian crystals! All these treasures and more in this week’s episode with Afiya Augustine ( Adult-ish podcast ), whose muse is most decidedly back in town. Note: We had some minor audio difficulties in this recording. We did our best to remove every pop and distortion from the recording but there may be a few that slipped through. Thanks for listening!

Dance your way into a shoe commercial with this week’s fantastic Amy Okuda (“ Atypical " on Netflix), who also talks pandemic-livestreams, being a Non-Tryer (a term we just made up), and how fascinating and scary it would be to get a close-up look at the deep ocean’s most f***ed-up fish!  

Experience the conversation that JV must describe as “a little slice of heaven” with this week’s guest, the terrific comedian/author Sara Schaefer ! Hear about Sara’s marvelous new book, “ Grand ,” the problematic-hair-yet-nostalgic-appeal of Counting Crows, and dollhouses, Dollhouses, DOLLHOUSES!

It’s the other half of the charming What Are Friends For podcast, Gabrielle Ruiz (" Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ”), who sang, danced, and counted down her teen years in Texas as she readied herself for the Big Apple. This is a very talented woman who knows the value of a good beef stew!

It’s JV’s first guest who has had— and fully recovered from, yay! — the thing that’s keeping us all on our toes this year. Celebrate the good news with Pallavi Sastry (" What Are Friends For podcast "), who expounds on many fascinating subjects both heavy and light on this almost-the-end-of-2020 JV Club episode!

Twin Peaks! Black Dahlias! Breakfast burritos! This week JV geeks out with one of her podcast host crushes, Dr. Shiloh ( LA Not So Confidential ), who talks police reform, psychology, cheerleading, LA noir, and generally proves that she’s every bit as cool as JV suspected she would be!