Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 3:09PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Jesse Thorn and The Sklar Brothers get into it and then some in a recent A.V. Club interview. Lots of tangents, over-talking (in print form, no less!) and even a few inappropriate comments. Just the way I like my Sklar time. It's a fun read among some of the best podcasters working today (Maximum Fun, Jordan Jesse Go!, Sklarbro Country). Enjoy.
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 4:18PM Joel Mandelkorn 
The A.V. Club offered up another strong batch of winning podcast episodes in their latest Podmass post. And, let's try to accept that Charlie Sheen hasn't completely destroyed our collective ability to use the term "winning." Or maybe he has. Pete Holmes continues to carve out a nice piece of the podcasting pie for himself with his weekly You Made It Weird. His show pulled off the WTF double dip this week. Here are the comedy episodes making the cut from the latest Podmass offering:
Comedy Bang! Bang! #143 "Grammy Spectacular" - “Weird Al” Yankovic, Todd Glass, Amy Phillips
How Was Your Week? “Best of HWYW Vol. 2” - Patton Oswalt, John Mulaney, Mike Daisey & Ted Leo
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks #48 "Dip Mix"
Monday Morning Podcast
Never Not Funny #1009 "Tipping The Valet" - Gulman
The Pod F. Tompkast #15
Sklarbro Country #80 "Ms. Sklarbro Int’l" - Keegan-Michael Key, Jason Nash, Chris Cox
The Thrilling Adventure Hour #57 "Sparks Nevada, Marshal On Mars: Do The Fight Thing"
Uhh Yeah Dude #309
Who Charted? #62 "Indie Cred" - Jake Fogelnest
WTF With Marc Maron #250 - Frank Santorelli, Tony V, Jimmy Tingle, Mike Donovan, Kenny Rogerson
You Made It Weird #20 - Joe Mande
You Made It Weird #21 - Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 11:50AM Joel Mandelkorn Catching up on podcasts seems to be the norm. If you're forced to skip around and not be one of those hardcore completist, The A.V. Club's weekly Podmass highlights and recaps is always a great reference guide for a quick catch-up session. Once again, the comedy shows win the day with the overwhelming majority of the "best" spots. The A.V. Club elders also took time to note The Sideshow Network's Jerky Boys show. We need more terms other than "retro" for going back to the past for creative content. Not passing judgment - just thinking it's the norm now and we should have more shades of labelling looking back.
I can't forget that both The Nerdist and You Made It Weird pulled off the not-really-that-rare "WTF" - double episode acclaim. Also - let's all celebrate The Bugle releasing their first independent show. Here are the comedy episodes making the cut from the latest Podmass offering:
The Bugle #179 "Playas Gon Play"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #141 "Ladies Night" Tig Notaro, Ronna & Beverly
Doug Loves Movies - Pat Wilson, Josh Freese, Brendon Walsh, Graham Elwood
How Was Your Week? #46 “Consequences” - Chris Gethard, Katie Notopoulos
Judge John Hodgman #49 "The Master’s Disaster"
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks #47 "Pirate’s Booty"
Monday Morning Podcast
The Nerdist #160 - Graham Elwood
The Nerdist #161 - Stephen Merchant
Stop Podcasting Yourself #201 - Jon Dore
The Thrilling Adventure Hour #55 "Captain Laserbeam!: Even Bluebirds Get The Blues"
Walking The Room #87 - Rob Delaney
WTF With Marc Maron #247 - Ralphie May
You Made It Weird #15 - Nick Thune
You Made It Weird #16 - T.J Miller
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 8:09AM Joel Mandelkorn Wow. How late am I to passing this along? Well, last week's crazy great week of comedy podcasts somehow bumped up against my slow week of posting. The A.V. Club dug in deep and offered up a crapload of Podmass picks, inlcuding a ton of comedy shows to highlight. All well, deserved. Of course, it's the week of the great WTF With Marc Maron talking with Todd Glass. The A.V. Club also got to know My Brother, My Brother and Me.
Here are the comedy episodes making the cut from the latest Podmass offering:
The Best Show On WFMU
Comedy Bang! Bang! #140 "Ron Swanson Off" - Nick Offerman, James Adomian
Doug Loves Movies - Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Wayne Federman
How Did This Get Made? #28 "Director’s Edition: Crank"
How Was Your Week? “Many Parts Of A Pine Tree” - Frank DeCaro, Kate Beaton
The Nerdist #159 - Scott Ian
Never Not Funny #1006 "Conquest Of The Planet Of Dana Gould"
The Pod F. Tompkast #14
RISK! #313 "Shady"
Sklarbro Country #77 "Will Punch Shark" - Andy Daly, Jason Nash, James Adomian
The Smartest Man In The World "Condors"
Stop Podcasting Yourself #200 "EVERY SEGMENT!"
The Thrilling Adventure Hour #54 "Beyond Belief: A Dave At The Races"
Uhh Yeah Dude #306
Walking The Room #86 "Junk Pics and Napalm Dixon"
Who Charted? #59 "A Real Asssscat!" - Matt Besser
WTF With Marc Maron #244 - Steven Wright
WTF With Marc Maron #245 - Todd Glass
You Made It Weird #14 - Marc Maron
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 2:11PM Joel Mandelkorn The A.V. Club got to it this past week. Lots of podcast acclaim to hand out. Again, the comedy shows dominate the episode picks in the weekly Podmass recaps. The A.V. Club also got a taste of Bill Burr's rant-riffic show, Monday Morning Podcast. There are the comedy episodes from the latest Podmass offering:
The Best Show On WFMU
The Bugle #177 "Weapons Of Mass Election"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #139 "Win A Farmhouse" - Bob Odenkirk, Brian Huskey
Doug Loves Movies - Jon Hamm, Paul F. Tompkins, Anthony Jeselnik
How Was Your Week? “Twiddling And Eight-Balls”: Rob Tannenbaum
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks #45: Chex Mix
The Nerdist #156: David Cross
Sklarbro Country #75 "Live From Sklarbro Country!" - Laraine Newman, Brett Gelman
The Smartest Guy In The World "Elbows"
The Thrilling Adventure Hour #53 "Sparks Nevada, Marshal On Mars: War Of The World"
Uhh Yeah Dude #305
Who Charted? #58 "Critter Sandusky" - Brett Gelman
WTF With Marc Maron #242 - Russell Brand
You Made It Weird #13 - Nick Kroll
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 2:27PM Joel Mandelkorn Here you go. The might A.V. Club sumbitted another quality "best of" list for the week's podcasts. Again, comedy shows occupied the bulk of the spots. A lot of the usual big shows and favorites from the weekly Podmass post. Bullseye, formerly The Sound of Young America, started off its new year with a quality episode. The comedy shows making the Podmass cut this past week:
The Bugle "Best Of 2011 Parts 1 & 2"
Bullseye "The A.V. Club, Dan Deacon, Downton Abbey, and Chris Lilley"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #138 "Ghost Protocol" - Andy Richter, Paul F. Tompkins
Doug Loves Movies - Pete Holmes, Chelsea Peretti, Nick Kroll guest
Judge John Hodgman "The Carry On Carryings-On"
Never Not Funny #1004 "Taking Risks" - Tig Notaro
Sklarbro Country #75 "New Year's Extravaganza" - Chris Cox, Jason Nash, James Adomian
WTF With Marc Maron #240 - Annabelle Gurwitch, Jeff Kahn
WTF With Marc Maron #241 - Mojo Nixon, Jonah Ray, Maronzio Vance, Steve Mazan, Jim Earl, Eddie Pepitone
You Made It Weird #12 - Anthony Jeselnik
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 3:48PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Not to be left out of end of the year list making, the A.V. Club podcast elders offered up a voted-on Top Ten Podcast list for 2011. Comedy overwhelmingly won the year with 9 out of the 12 shows mentioned being Plop List directory shows. A few of the flagship shows made the list, including WTF, Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Nerdist, Best Show on WFMU and Pod F. Tompkins. The A.V. Club also included a few dissenting podcast thoughts from its contributors. Thankfully there was at least somebody over there giving Jimmy Pardo's Never Not Funny a little bit of love. Here's the A.V. Club final 2011 list:
10: Mike And Tom Eat Snacks
9 (tie): The Thrilling Adventure Hour
9 (tie): Superego
9 (tie): The Tobolowsky Files
8: The Bugle
7: The Mental Illness Happy Hour
6: This American Life
5: The Nerdist
4: The Best Show On WFMU
3: Comedy Bang! Bang!
2: The Pod F. Tompkast
1: WTF With Marc Maron
Check-out the complete Podmass year-end post here.
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 9:52AM Joel Mandelkorn The A.V. Club elders did their thing again. You know that thing? The one where they consume a shitload of media and entertainment and then act all knowledgeable about it, maybe even with a little better-than-the-rest-of-us vibe? Yeah, that thing. Honestly, I'm always in awe of the output of their staff. Even if it's all a lie, they do a damn good job of lying to us.
They also took the time to check-out two new shows (new to them): You Made It Weird and The Dork Forest. Both are quality shows with distinct outputs compared to their peer shows, thanks in large part to their great hosts (Pete Holmes and Jackie Kashian, respectively).
Their Podmass picks for favorite podcast episodes are again comedy dominated with many of the usual suspects. A few more selections than the last week out:
The Best Show On WFMU
The Bugle #174 "Britain’s Back Baby!"
How Was Your Week? #39 “Horror-curious” - Nick Kroll, Gabe Liedman
Judge John Hodgman #43 "Triple Word Scorn"
The Nerdist #147: Jimmy Pardo
Sklarbro Country #71 "Sklarbros And Sklarhos" Tom Segura, Chris Cox
The Smartest Man In The World "Crackers"
The Sound of Young America - Carrie Fisher
Superego #3:10
Uhh Yeah Dude #300
Walking The Room #80 "Fashion Fight and The Horse Ending"
Who Charted? #53 "Ace Of Baritone" - Myq Kaplan
WTF With Marc Maron #232 - Henry Phillips
Check-out the complete Podmass recaps here.
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 11:31AM Joel Mandelkorn It seems everyone is still catching up on post-holiday malaise. The A.V. Club released another quality list of favorites via their weekly Podmass round-up. Their list goes back to Thanksgiving weekend. They also pass along shout-outs for two new shows (to them). These include Low Times, the new music show from Best Show's Tom Scharpling and the Maximum fun duo chat show, Stop Podcasting Yourself. Plus, Podmass features the return of the double Maron (one show, two episodes winning recognition). The shorter than usual list of comedy shows making the cut this time around:
Comedy Bang! Bang! #133 "Fortunately Unfortunately" - Patton Oswalt, Chris Tallman
How Was Your Week? #38 “Steampunk Goodfellas” - Mike Daisey, Gil Ozeri
Sklarbro Country #70 "The Sklarbro Rippers" - Patton Oswalt, Jason Nash
Thrilling Adventure Hour #49 "Captain Laserbeam! Poetic Injustice!”
Uhh Yeah Dude #299
Who Charted? #52 "One Year Anniversary!" - Sarah Silverman
WTF With Marc Maron #230 - Dr. Stephen Dansiger
WTF With Marc Maron #231 - Penn Jillette
Check-out the complete Podmass recaps here.
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 3:44PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Last week's Podmass round-up and selections offered up by The A.V. Club podcast elites features a fun mix of comedy shows. Again, big names and old favorites win out on the comedy side. The A.V. Club returns to loving WTF again with two two selections. They also give a shout-out to the Gelmania premiere via Earwolf Presents. The comedy episodes making the cut:
The Best Show On WFMU
The Bugle #171 "A Greek Tragedy"
Doug Loves Movies - Cake Boss, El Chupacabra, Don Dimelo
Mike & Tom Eat Snacks #41 "Very Cherry Jelly Belly Pudding Snacks"
The Nerdist #139 - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Never Not Funny #923 - Gary Lucy
Sklarbro Country #67 - Maria Bamford, Jason Nash
The Sound Of Young America - Patrick Warburton
Uhh Yeah Dude #296
Who Charted? #49: Pop Quiz - Ben Schwartz
WTF With Marc Maron #224 - Chris Rock
WTF With Marc Maron #225 - Rainn Wilson
Check-out the complete Podmass recaps here.
