This Is Rad!

This week Kyle, Matthew and Producer Natalie sit down with comedian Brent Schmidt to unpack the 90s love child of Scholastic and K.A. Applegate: Animorphs. And boy, is it a doozy. Brent's kind of obsessed, to say the least. He outlines the entire 54-book series (plus 10 companion novels) in painstaking detail, and everyone realizes just how fucking dark the series got as five kids struggled to save the human race in a universe populated by Andalites, Yeerks and Hork-Bajirs. Eventually they get to the main crew - Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Tobias and Ax - and Brent tells us all how it all ended. It may leave a tear in your eye.   Weekly Rads: Lay's Southern Biscuits and Gravy Potato Chips, Pools, The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Raddendums: The Andalite Chronicles, the Hork-Bajir Chronicles, The Ellimist Chronicles, Tomorrow People, Space Cases, Hey Dude, The Secret Adventures of Alex Mack, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Frozen (Dir: Adam Green), Shawn Ashmore, Cousin Skeeter, Fake Natu

GOOOOAL! This week Kyle and Matthew sit down with actor Demorge Brown, who serves as their soccer spirit guide through their first rad sports episode. They talk about Title IX, the World Cup, the '90s upsurge in popularity and the problems with American broadcasters. Demorge also opens up about his love of Arsenal and his experiences coaching 11 year old girls and combining soccer with Scottish accents. Check out Demorge on Harmontown! Weekly Rads: "Don't ask me for a dollar," Shin Megami Tensei, Kid Icarus, Mr. Robot Raddendums: Mia Hamm, Title IX, Arsenal, Dundee United, Ian Darke, Keith Jackson, the Doug Stanhope bit about rooting for the Yankees, the non-Jimmy Fallon version of "Fever Pitch" on YouTube

Sweet home Rad-a-bama! This week Kyle and Matthew are joined by comedian Matthew Broussard and Producer Natalie to talk about the South and their conflicted relationship with where they grew up. (Boo racism… but spicy mac and cheese!) Together, the gang has a semi-intelligent discussion about the state of the South and their feelings on its past and present. Check out Matthew Broussard on "Not Exactly News" on MTV2!   Weekly Rads: Rocket League, Trainwreck, This Is Rad! merch   Raddendums: Bryan Guttman, "You Were Good Too" by Ramin Nazer, Kacey Musgraves, Sturgill Simpson, Kyle Kinane, Don't Mess with the Zohan, World War Z, Rivers Langley's Facebook post

This week Kyle and Matthew are joined by The Nerdist's very own Matt Mira and The Aquabats' Ian Fowles to geek out on guitars - particularly of the left-handed variety. As possessors of the "hand of the devil," they talk about the discrimination against southpaw guitar players and why righties get to have all the fun. Matt opens up about his guitar obsession and ongoing quest to get his dream Burns Bison guitar with "mad dog." Other topics include luthiering and repairs, eBay guitar shopping politics, the ABCs of Boston rock and the "Ivory Shaft." Check out Matt on SModCo's new "Talk Salad and Scrambled Eggs" podcast, among many others, and Ian on "The Aquabats! Super Show!" Weekly Rads: The legacy of President Iwata, World War Z: The Lost Files, Trader Joe's Soft Pretzel Sticks Raddendums: Rocksmith, Marty McFly's shredding in Back to the Future, Stew-Mac repair videos, Gibson Flying V, Steven Seagal, Premier Guitar's Rig Rundown, Peter Frampton's restored Les Paul, Retrofret in Brooklyn, Guitar Center used

Wipeout! This week Kyle, Matthew and Producer Natalie kick off the Summer of Rad with the lovely Gabriela Contreras. They hang ten and talk about surf rock from the past to present, including its three waves (no pun intended). Other topics include Rockabilly vs. Tiki culture, Dick Dale vs. The Beach Boys, and The Munsters vs. Addams Family (*snap snap*). Surf's up, radsters!   Weekly Rads: The Late Show Podcast with Stephen Colbert, The Black Tapes Podcast, The No Sleep Podcast, the Women's U.S. Soccer Team Raddendums: Murder at Party Beach, Jan & Dean, Rick and Morty, Walk Hard, Agent Orange, Tiki Oasis, The Growlers, The Reigning Monarchs, Surf Rock Museum in Huntington Beach, Venice Slam Jam, Man or Astroman, Guantanamo Baywatch, Tijuana Panthers, Deadbolt, Los Straightjackets, The Red Elvises

This week Kyle, Matthew and Producer Natalie sit down with comedian/monster enthusiast Matthew Curti to talk about Godzilla (aka Gojira aka "gorilla whale") and other Kaiju films from the 1950s to the present. Other topics include nightmare-inducing extinct animals and Super Fan Frank's top five monster designs. Also, does American Godzilla come with just a little more monster to love?   Weekly Rads: Finders Keepers by Stephen King, the Supreme Court, Ted 2   Raddendums: Angry Video Game Nerd's Monster Madness, Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World, YouTube video of a Pelican eating a pigeon, Baby Godzilla, Gigan, Mechagodzilla, Biollante, Destoroyah and that awful P. Diddy song "Come With Me"  

This week Kyle and Matthew are joined by comedians Brad Gage and Pat Reilly to celebrate Father's Day with a loving tribute to Dad Rock in all its open shirt grillin', cold brew crackin', hard rock lovin' glory. Weekly Rad: Dads

DUN DUN! This week Kyle and Matthew are joined by comedians Monika Scott and Tom Seiniger to discuss their love of True Crime. Weekly Rads: Dude Bro Party Massacre 3, The Artist Is Present Raddendums: Criminal podcast, Hush Money on YouTube

Oh, behave! It's time for another rad hostful, and this week Kyle, Matthew and Producer Natalie are taking a shagadelic trip back to the '90s to analyze the pop culture phenomenon that is Austin Powers. They reminisce about Dr. Evil, Frau, Scottie, Mini-Me, Fat Bastard and Number 2 and analyze whether these movies/cultural touchstones still hold up. Natalie shares her fascination with Goldmember, which Burnside doesn't quite get, but it leads to a deeper discussion about the current comedy landscape. Is this episode swinging, smashing and totally switched-on? Yeah, baby! Weekly Rads: Japanese Kit Kits, X-Men '92, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt Raddendums: Mike Myers on WTF with Marc Maron, A Million Ways to Die in the West, MacGruber, Idiocracy  

Slow ride! This week Kyle and Matthew take it easy with Jake Robinson and Mike Robinson (no relation) to discuss the wonderful and existential world of director Richard Linklater. They talk about his start with "Slacker" and segue into "Dazed and Confused" and "School of Rock." They discuss the unrealistic romantic expectations set by the "Before" trilogy, the narcissism in not liking "Boyhood," as well as "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly." They also talk about being in a band. Did you know Jake's dad was in The Diodes? Rad! Check out SketchMelt on the first Thursday of every month at Meltdown Comics and Jake's new zine "Some Space." http://somespacezine.tumblr.com

Live from Meltdown Comics, it's "This Is Rad!" Kyle and Matthew sit down with comedian Joe Raines and Producer Natalie to attempt to scratch the surface of this long-running comedy juggernaut. Joe has seen every episode of SNL and enlightens Kyle on the appeal. From 1975 to the present, they break down underrated cast members, the best casts and years, as well as the seasons Joe needed a lot of weed to get through. They also take a brief detour to talk about their own sketch comedy show Camp NerdMelt - with a special appearance from "Mr. Gribbles." Big thanks to Kasey Clark for being our Don Pardo!

Ask and ye shall receive! In this 50th episode spectacular, Kyle and Matthew finally sit down for their most requested episode topic yet: Dungeons & Dragons. They're joined by their Dungeon Master Adam Murray and Saving Throw's Ben Dunn to take an adventurous foray into a fantasy world filled with witches, tree people and Cool Ranch Doritos. Their ragtag team includes the poorly named Seth Drogen, Deb and Dan the Destroyer twins, Dwayne Wade the Rad-Dar Johnson and Gary Wolf. Will they instantly regret having zero healers and survive their quest? Thanks to all our rad fans for helping us reach 50 episodes!

Accio rad! Boy wizards Kyle and Matthew sit down with Laura Knight and Sarah Wines to talk about the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Kyle and Matthew aren't huge fans...do their guests persuade them to give the Boy Who Lived a second chance? Other topics include prime numbers, memories of waiting in line for the books and throwing smoothies at windshields. They also play the game Superfight! by Skybound. It's the podcast that must not be named! Note: This episode is free of major spoilers. Some minor details are spoiled but nothing integral to the plot.

Heeeeere's Johnny! Kyle and Matthew sit down with Becky Joiner and Tim Kozlenko to discuss the master of the macabre, the king of horror, the scribe of all things scary: Stephen King. They talk about his spookiest novels, novellas and short stories - as well as his shittiest TV movies. Other topics include malt shop obsessions, Cujo memory lapses and the hubris of "Maximum Overdrive." Radrum...Radrum...

Let's have a poke ball! Kyle and Matthew catch up with Aldrin Cornejo and Producer Natalie Hazen to channel the power that's inside: Pokemon! They discuss the games, the cards (TCG) and merchandise, and go in depth with their game and battle strategies. Also, who's banging Ash's mom and why Professor Oak is kind of a dick in Pokemon Snap. Gotta catch 'em all!

Tag, you're it! Shake up your Krylons and stir up your wheatpaste 'cause this week Kyle and Matthew are sitting down with the super rad graffiti artist Spencer Emmons (aka Serf). The crew takes a fascinating look at graffiti art as Serf recounts his history growing up in the L.A. graffiti scene. Topics include black books, wild style, fat caps, burners, heavens, run ins with the police and SpongeBob Switchblade. Serf is part of the TCF Crew, and you can follow him at @serflosangeles.

Float on! Kyle and Matthew sit down with Kevin Kimmel to talk about the band Modest Mouse - the old stuff, the new stuff, and everything in between. Learn how Kevin discovered his favorite band while on a car ride back from Togo's. Hear the gang discuss The Moon & Antarctica, the bleakness of "The Lonesome Crowded West" documentary, and the importance of dad rock. Tangents along the way include Tom Green and tomfoolery, "switchy bagsies," shining bright spotlights at humans/animals, and losing your virginity to 311. Also, Kevin met the president!

It's a rad world after all! Kyle and Matthew sit down with Keith Carey, Laura Knight and Julia Prescott to discuss their deep enthusiasm for the happiest place on earth (minus Burnside's). Learn about Grad Night and the inevitable deaths that follow (along with morning-after apologies at Baha Fresh), lost Disney parks, and being productive while on Walt's home turf. Keith shares his stories from working as a cast member and using Oogie Boogie Man money to buy meth. Also, the Nicolas Cage curse. Yo ho, yo ho, a podcaster's life for us!

We're going back in time! Kyle and Matthew sit down in the present with guests Alex Jacobs and Yedoye Travis to discuss time travel in science, movies, TV shows, pop culture and beyond. This is heavy, Doc. Kyle and Alex share how they made time travel movies after getting their hearts broken, and Matthew shares his knowledge of Stephen Hawking. Other topics include Isaac Asimov, the Kutch, "Flipping a Time Bitch," the food pyramid and dinosaurs. And if there's one love that stands the test of time - it's Taco Bell. Check out Alex's awesome movies at www.alexjacobsmakesmovies.com!

Live free or rad hard! Kyle and Matthew sit down with comedian Justin Williams to discuss the fun, thrills and epic blood loss resulting from action movies. Learn why "Die Hard" is the ultimate Christmas movie, why Keanu Reeves will forever be rad, and the importance of protagonist relatability. But it's not all a "testosterone jerk off fest." They discuss strong female protagonists, Kyle's lack of power fantasies, and Justin makes some astute points about the realistic portrayal of violence in movies. Other topics include Commando, Predator, Running Man, The Professional, The 5th Element, the Matrix, RoboCop, Terminator and the undeniable awesomeness of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hasta la vista, baby!