With Friends Like These

For the past 10 years, actor, author and humorist John Hodgman has hosted the podcast “Judge John Hodgman” where he helps friends, roommates and romantic couples negotiate their long-standing quibbles: Things like: “Which one of us is loading the dishwasher right?” Throughout the years, John’s discovered some deeper throughlines about gender roles and power dynamics. He also talks about his animated show on FXX called “Dicktown” which is a surprising window into male sensitivity and forgiveness. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best-selling author of "White Rage" Carol Anderson explores the anti-Black history of the Second Amendment. There is structural racism built into our Bill of Rights! The story of white Americans' fear of black Americans with guns starts with the enslaved people who fought against the British and runs all the way to the killing of legal gun owner Philando Castile - and beyond. Her new book is The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fellow Crookedian Rebecca Nagle joins us to talk about Season Two of “This Land.” From the “boarding schools” of the 19th century to the good intentions of the Indian Child Welfare Act — and the big money campaign to repeal it. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The co-author of “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth,” Bryan Burroughs, debunks the Anglo-centric fables surrounding Texas’ founding myth — with a cameo appearance from Phil Collins. (In the myth, not as a guest on the show.) For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Broome’s dad used to threaten to hit him so hard he’d go to heaven — “punch him up to the gods” — if he didn’t conform to the ideal of Black masculinity. Broome joins to discuss his memoir, “Punch Me Up to the Gods, and rising above that threat, finding himself, and finding recovery. Then on this week's Adorables segment, comedian (and fake judge) John Hodgman joins to tell us about his cat Lolo. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former young girl and memoirist Melissa Febos joins to discuss the pressures and paradoxes in how society treats female children. Her most recent book is called “Girlhood.”  For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast is now a Simone Biles stan account. ESPN’s Alyssa Roenigk joins to talk about the Olympics as a problematic fave and Biles as an unproblematic one. Women’s gymnastics did a number on a lot of us as young people — the unrealistic body expectations, the idea of “tough love” as the best way to coach. That culture is changing and let’s celebrate that! On Adorables Like These, time to talk to the “sensitive one” in the Pod Save America boy band, Tommy Vietor, who tells us about his bath mat with a pulse, Lucca. (CW for gymnastics conversation: sexual abuse and eating disorders.). For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Restorative justice advocate Ruby Welch brings the perspective of a previously incarcerated person to policy. She’s not a fan of how most people (even well-meaning people!) prioritize the needs of the recently released. Find out what it means to be really heard. On this week’s Adorables Like These: Sora, the grumpy-faced kitty companion of Crooked intern Mari Cardenas. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yale psychologist Molly Crockett joins the show to talk about the latest research on online outrage and how it affects us all. Then on this week's Adorables segment you'll hear from Rutherford Falls star Jana Schmieding about the two cats who came into her life during the pandemic. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On her podcast, “Death, Sex and Money,” Anna Sale has delved into topics most people avoid, but what she learned has to do with the questions you ask and not the answers you want. We also discuss her book, “Let’s Talk About Hard Things.” ALSO: Musician Moby introduces his #adorables nominee, Candace Bergen Bagel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Richter’s relationship with Conan O’Brien has extended over decades; overall, it’s lasted longer than most marriages (the average US marriage ends after eight years, sadface). The Conan show on TBS comes to an end on June 25 and we got Andy on the line to reflect on how to make relationships work, how to do comedy as woke white guy, and what he’s going to do next. After that, an “Adorables” interview about Brussel Sprout and why he looks like the Google image result for "dog. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve begun to recognize the tragedy that happened in Greenwood a hundred years ago, but Greenwood is more than a memorial. It had a bustling past, an amazing recovery, and, sadly, a second ransacking — and it’s recovering again. Carlos Moreno, author of The Victory of Greenwood, joins us to talk about the full story of this amazing community. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Negin Farsad calls herself a “social justice comedian” and she’s been using her skills to leverage entertainment into opening minds for years now – both in her book, “How to Make White People Laugh,” her documentary, “The Muslims Are Coming!” and on a regular basis on her podcast, “Fake the Nation.” Want to know how to turn a master’s degree into a podcasting career? What about how to respond to people Being Mad Online? Oh, and, how DO you make white people laugh? Negin has some answers. After Negin, stay tuned for a visit from Jolene, the tiny canine companion of Crooked’s Matt DeGroot. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Rutherford Falls" writer and actress Jana Schmieding joins to talk about Indigenous humor, being a "person of size" playing a romantic comedy lead, and the best way to make fun of podcasters, racist, snobs, small-town reactionaries, and academics. And on "With Adorables Like These" our first official two cat segment - featuring Laszlo, Jackie and their human Alison Falzetta. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ground-breaking musician Moby joins to discuss his sobriety and all that comes with it: humility, serving others, and looking somewhere else beside fame to fill the emptiness inside. His new auto-bio-pic, “Moby Doc,” is in limited release to theaters now. Then, on this week's "With Adorables Like These" Mina Kimes joins with her dog (and podcast co-host) Lenny. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former mayor of Tallahassee and Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum joins to talk how about recovery influenced his perspective on politics and his own sense of self as a former politician, bi-erasure, and what Matt Gaetz’s behavior can tell us about projecting. Then on “With Adorables Like These” Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau tells us how his dog Leo made him a better flyer. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vince Granata starts his book, “Everything Is Fine,” with the truth: His brother, in the midst of a schizophrenic episode, murdered his mother. The rest of the book tells the story of how and why Vince never stopped loving him. And on "With Adorables Likes These" this week - Penny and her human Leo Duran. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes comes on to give her hot take on how analysts should and shouldn’t talk about sexual assault and institutional bad behavior. One idea: Never again utter the phrase “off-field issues.” And introducing "With Adorables Like These" - interviews with Crooked staff and guests about the animal companions they love. This week's guest is Scooter and his human Dayanita Ramesh. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“United Shades of America” host W. Kamau Bell joins to discuss the miserable job performance of the police, who are our employees! Also: how trauma can make you funnier and why marginalized folks have to have bigger and better imaginations than others. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Documentary “Boys State” was short-listed for an Oscar for its engrossing portrayal of Texas teenagers’ cutthroat politics. One of its stars, Steven Garza, stops by to discuss if the kids are alright. Spoiler alert: Maybe not! For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/withfriendslikethese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices