Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp

I kick off this visit to Amsterdam by celebrating my obsession with the artist Rembrandt! In this episode I talk with noted Rembrandt author Nina Siegal about all things Rembrandt. Why did Rembrandt paint so many self portraits? Why did he own so many turtle shells? What were the poor choices he made that led to his downfall? Why did he fall out of favor with the religious society of Amsterdam? Why was Rembrandts body dug up and where is he buried now? You will learn many details about the fascinating life of one of art history's greatest masters. Nina Siegal wrote the best selling book 'The Anatomy Lesson' about the Rembrandt painting 'The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr. Nicholaes Tulp' and aside from being very knowledgable about the life of Rembrandt she is also an expert on the Jewish history of Amsterdam. As a bonus you will learn why true Amsterdammers when they say goodbye, they say "Mazzel" and why the soccer team of Amsterdam "Ajax" get anti-Semitic slurs when they play around Europe. This episode is full of S

Bonjour mon amis! In this episode Ashna and I come to Paris for me to do a show and we stretch it out into a week long visit with summer in full swing. We start the episode with the update on the crazy downstairs neighbors we have who got in Ashna's face and challenged me to a fight right before we left for Europe. If you arrive in Paris we are jet lagged and walking the streets until sunrise. Learn why the apartment we are staying in Ashna describes as the Horror Toilet. We have books on philosophy and jazz records but one theme keeps repeating itself over and over of our Parisian home for the week. In this episode you will learn the best travel tips we have discovered like Rue Montorgueil otherwise known as Tasty Street. Learn how we made an art out of collecting items and perfected the joy of picnicking in Paris. Where are the best places to picnic in Paris? We reveal the feature of our neighborhood in Paris that reminds me of every Henry Miller book I have ever read. My show in Paris was in a sweltering h

For the comedy nerd in all of us I am proud to present to you this lengthy chat I had with Kliph Nesteroff about the history of stand up comedy. Last year Kliph published the excellent book 'The Comedians.' I loved this book tremendously and highly recommend it to anyone who loves comedy and is interested in all of its exciting and sordid history. From the earliest comedians in vaudeville to the mafia's grip on the development of stand up comedy as an art form there is fascinating facts to delight everyone's brain who will listen to this conversation. As comedy is my favorite topic in the world and the fact that I enjoyed his book so much there were endless questions I had for Kliph as we gabbed it up for the microphone. He has also been asked to host a show on the Vice network about comedy that premieres on July 10. Kliph's own history with doing comedy, experimenting with acid and giving up drinking also adds to the mix boundless enjoyment of tales of adventure. If you love comedy as much as I do I know thi

How should you act when a neighbor is harassing and trying to intimidate you? Learn the outcome of the ongoing saga we have had with our downstairs neighbors who keep making noise complaints against us. Listeners sent us legal advice, we were acting like civilized adults when everything came to a head when they came to our door accusing Ashna of stomping. I flew home the next day in a fury of anger and had to go talk to these people. This week's movie talk is about Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot's breathtaking portrayal and rebranding of the old red booted Wonder Woman, into the new compassionate feminist icon and ass kicking heroism of this year's cinematic Wonder Woman. The subtle messages in the dialogue were just as powerful as the jumping side kicks and skull crunching punches.  June 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Summer Of Love. Is this the Summer of Love or hate? We conclude this episode with a recap of life enriching quotes by Voltaire, Oscar Wilde, Alan de Botton, Willie Nelson and Geor

What are the limits of freedom of speech? Who went to far with freedom of speech Kathy or Bill Maher? Take a ride out of the doldrums and depression by letting us show you how to look on the bright side. In this episode Ashna and I talk about out trip to New York where we hung out with Dave Attell and Michael Che. Learn how I dealt with following Amy Schumer and her story about paying someone to masturbate her father. Learn how to deal with your buzz kill neighbors the Seneca way and what Netflix really thinks of white guys. Learn who Tony Woods thinks is the second most angry black man that he knows. We also discuss the shooting of Republicans on a baseball field in Virginia and the verdict in the Philander Castille killing. On a happier note we talk about the book Paris, a biography of a city and the excellent Ken Burns documentary The Roosevelts and the lesson to be learned from Teddy Roosevelt's life that can be valuable to all. The Einstein series called Genius gets a favorable mention as does the Jimi H

Emmy winner T. Sean Shannon has written for Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show & In Living Color. He is one of my oldest & best friends in comedy since the day I met him at Yankee stadium when we smoked a joint together in the upper deck. He is the pride of Houston, Texas and will enrich your life with wisdom & laughter! Become a member and support us on Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp Use our Amazon link (banner on tomrhodes.net) when you shop! Please fill in the shortest survey ever so we get to know you! http://survey.libsyn.com/trr    

Our lives are are collection of stories and memories. I tell the story of smoking pot with Jack Nicholson at a Rolling Stones concert and how people watching in Las Vegas says more about you than the people you are watching. This episode is all about my own personal history with Las Vegas. The city I used to hate and avoid like the plague is now a place I come to several times a year full of entertainment friends, culinary delights and audiences of people from all around the globe. Shalom Amigos!

In this episode we talk about how I surprised the squirrel on my balcony. Trump firing Comey, late night shows and if American satire works. How the 1937 book 'Invertebrate Spain' applies to what is happening in America today. How CNN is responsible for the puppy we just lost. How the Paul Newman movie 'Nobody's Fool' will teach you to make brave choices in your life. And I read you my thoughts on the Spanish conquest of Peru while standing in the main square of Cuzco. Big fresh slices of my life are yours with Ashna's two scoops of ice cream goodness on the side. And finally Ashna and I decide on a kid's name that we both like.

My mom is visiting me this week and I took her to Yosemite National Park to recreate one of the best mother and son memories we have together. In this episode my mom Sara Rhodes sits in with us and tells the story of watching Bugs Bunny cartoons right before I was born. The best advice she has ever given me and how we were once chased by a bear. We review the Netflix original Cable Girls and for book time I talk about one of my all time favorites: Hagakure - The book of the Samurai and how this book can improve your life. Tupac was grateful ti his mother even though she was a crack fiend. In this episode I am grateful to my mom for teaching me how to smack the shit out of the big ones!

How should you react when hate is shot in your direction? In this episode we talk how Ashna received a hate filled Facebook from an old white coward telling her to move back to the Netherlands. My reaction was to start searching flights to Houston so that I could go punch this old fooling the face but Ashna reminds me that it is always best to remain stylish like Seneca. We talk about our wedding anniversary date that included popping into an open mic night in our neighborhood where an untalented comedian started verbally attacking the crowd, me included because his poorly written jokes weren't being appreciated. Seneca style counseling is recommended to me again for how to conduct yourself in the face of hate filled white men. From there we popped into the Kibitz room where we delighted in our neighborhood watering hole where hate was nowhere to be found. For brain candy morsels we talk about the book 'A Flame Of Pure Fire' Jack Dempsey And The Roaring Twenties' The movie 'Moon' and the new Ray Davies album

What kind of music does Tom like? On this episode a selection of his vinyl > My amazing wife Ashna has booked an acting job portraying the historic powerhouse and badass woman Sojourner Truth. She is in the next room running her lines and I am left alone with my vinyl record collection to play some of my favorite cosmic slices. Ashna is kind enough to share her speech in front of the microphone at one point for the scene she will film tomorrow. For anyone keeping track of what I played on this episode, the running order of the artists appearing here are: AC/DC Velvet Underground The Animals Rodney Dangerfield David Bowie George Carlin Warren Zevon Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Bill Hicks Prince James Brown Ashna Rodjan Terrence Trent D'Arby Aretha Franklin Ray Charles Lightning' Hopkins Gil Scott-Heron

What's the most annoying sound to wake up to?

Will hate and violence be the new marketing trend? 

What drug can make you genuinely happy? Why does Tom have an unhealthy relation with AA?  How does Ashna overcome her biggest fears? This episode is all about addiction. Learn how Tom gets a big insight not yet revealed to him. We end with a happy plane story with an interesting family from Australia. Exclusive photos and videos on Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp. 

Find out how Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen changed our lives. Ashna and I talk about our latest obsession watching interracial movies on Netflix and the Black Mirror episodes by Charlie Brooker. Tom reads the greatest opening paragraph of any book ever written (Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts) and he closes with a quite disturbing story for Ashna about one of her favorite musicians Chuck Berry.   

Hear about the one time Tom swam naked where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood in Greece, Tom being called a racist in Calgary, Rotterdam riots, Kurt Vonnegut's speech that is still relevant today, childhood innocence in the movie Mustang and Tom trying to save the world with every punchline.

Learn about the funny situations we get in being an interracial couple and we experience deep levels of fear after watching the movie Get Out.

Should artist be defined by their personal mistakes? We talk Oscar blunders, Russia manipulating the masses, Tom continues talking about his book "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" & documentaries! 

Ashna and I talk about me turning 50, Putin's chess match with the world, the gullibility of the masses, best movies, the upcoming Academy Awards and the happy news out of London.

Ramy Youssef is one of the bright young stars burning it up in the comedy world right now. I worked with him last year and he is one of my favorite young comedians right now. If you are looking for a lovable young Muslim to build a television show around you need look no further than today's guest and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Ramy Youssef!