Some Stuff I Watch and/or Listen to

[yasaman]

So I find the whole night-time hygiene routine of brushing my teeth, flossing, washing my face, etc. to be unspeakably boring and have in the past half-assed it and/or not done it at all because I am an intensely lazy person. But sometime last year I realized, hey! I have an iPhone! An iPhone I can watch and/or listen to things on while doing this whole nightly good hygiene routine! And lo, my life was changed for the better. Now the getting ready for bed routine is when I listen to podcasts and watch short things that I otherwise don't really have time for. I figured I might as well give a rundown of things I have enjoyed listening to or watching.

Things That Have Made Me Literally Spit Take While Brushing My Teeth:

• The Dead Author's Podcast, wherein comedian Paul F. Tompkins plays a time traveling HG Wells who plucks dead authors from their native times for hilarious interviews. The quality here is variable, and the comedians doing improv as various authors have a wide range of knowledge of who they're playing, from very little to a goodly amount, so don't listen to this expecting deep insights into the personalities in question. But when it's firing on all cylinders, it is absolutely hilarious. I particularly recommend Aesop, Arthur Conan Doyle, Tennessee Williams, Walt Whitman, Ayn Rand, Emily Dickinson, and Plato. The Walt Whitman episode was especially amazing, and had me in tears from laughing. 
• Bob's Burgers! This is an animated show on FOX, but don't dismiss it because you think it's of the same ilk as Family Guy. It's a charming and hilarious half-hour comedy about Bob Belcher, his burger restaurant, and his family, that's like a less satirical, more affectionate, but equally hilarious version of mid to late-90s Simpsons. The voice acting is all great, though I admit that you may have some cognitive dissonance if you watch Archer too (H. Jon Benjamin plays both Bob and Archer). My favorite thing about Bob's Burgers is how all the kids on the show are such hilarious weirdos. 

Other Comedy-Adjacent Things I Enjoy:

• I listen to The Nerdist podcast when I'm interested in the guest. Funny, rambling interviews that can get a little too insider baseball in terms of show business and comedy, but generally interesting. Chris Hardwick has a wide range of guests from the comedy scene, TV and movies, and music, so there's a little there for everyone.
• WTF with Marc Maron is another one I listen to when I'm interested in the guest. Maron is a good interviewer who has intimate and frank conversations with his guests. I categorize this as comedy-adjacent since most of his guests are comedians and the like.
• In yet more Chris Hardwick-related properties, I also watch @midnight sometimes too, which he hosts. I remember being dubious about this when I first heard of it, but it's essentially an Americanized UK panel show focusing on internet current events, and it's not too mean-spirited. It's also only 20 minutes long, so it's the perfect length for my needs.
• I am forever a Craig Ferguson fangirl, but I mostly watch his show on the weekends while doing chores and cooking, but I do sometimes watch it during my getting ready for bed routine too. The previous night's episodes are always available to watch on the CBS website or their app.
• Thrilling Adventure Hour! A staged production in the style of old-time radio that's a lot of fun. I mostly only listen to the Beyond Belief segments, which have Paget Brewster and Paul F. Tompkins as Sadie and Frank Doyle, a pair of hard-drinking upper class mediums who solve mysteries. Thrilling Adventure Hour gets a lot of great guests, because apparently plenty of actors are willing to swing by for an hour or so to have fun with the show. I'm incredibly charmed by it, and very pleased that the popularity of the podcast format means such formerly moribund mediums and formats get a chance to shine again.   

NPR Things I Enjoy:

• All Songs Considered, which even when it plays music I don't care for at all, is worth a listen. It's pretty much how I keep up on current music nowadays. I particularly enjoy the longer panel shows.
• Pop Culture Happy Hour, which always features thoughtful, interesting, and fun discussion about various pop culture things like TV and movies.

Assorted Other Things:

• I'm still sloooooowly making my way through the Eighth Doctor audios, and listen to them sometimes during my nightly routine. I don't have much to say other than that the Eighth Doctor makes me giggly because he's just so dreamy. 
• Neil deGrasse Tyson's podcast Star Talk, which also features Eugene Mirman (the voice of Gene from Bob's Burgers!) as his non-science comedy sidekick. I check in with Star Talk occasionally, but not regularly. I have enough physics and astronomy knowledge to make most edutainment about it redundant or not in depth enough for me, but I like when Tyson answers listener questions or tackles sci-fi type issues.

Whew, that's a lot of stuff.

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