The Best Podcasts of 2018

Wrapping up my best of 2018 lists I am going to do my top 5 podcasts/moments. This has been a great year for podcasts. They are booming. This is the new thing for the younger generation. Podcast are the new talk radio. I love them myself. They are great. Anyway, lets do this.

At number 5 I have the day that I decided to stop listening to "The Bill Simmons Podcast". His "style" just got on my nerves far too much, and I was fed up. I don't remember exactly what he was talking about, I'm sure it was Boston related, and I just said aloud, "I'm done". After that I immediately removed his podcast from my library, and I haven't looked back. Ever since he started his own company, he has tried to act younger, hipper, cooler. It doesn't work. He is an old man. He still lives in the 80's when it comes to sports. His writing has completely regressed. His podcasting has gotten even worse. Also, he does the same thing over and over and over again. I cannot do another podcast with him totally sucking up to KD. We get it, you hate the Thunder, and now that KD is gone, you feel like he is your buddy. He's not. Also, all the Patriots shit is tired and loathsome. He is a shill. He may as well work for the Celtics and Patriots. I still listen to some Ringer shows, they have a few good ones, but I am totally done with "The Bill Simmons Podcast", and it feels great.

At number 4 I have the introduction of Gimlet Media to my life. My wife has a friend that works for Gimlet, she knows I like podcasts, and she recommend some she thought I would like that Gimlet produces. She was absolutely right. She first told us about "The Habitat". That was a homerun. Seriously people, go check that one out. I then started to listen to "Heavyweight", which makes me laugh, cry and feel for the people that the excellent host Johnathan Goldstein talks to each week of each season. This show is so perfect. It is like a nice warm shower after being out in the cold. Like a great cup of coffee after a long night. Like a perfectly cooked medium rare London broil steak for dinner. It is tremendous. And they just put out "Without Fail", hosted by Gimlet co founder Alex Bloomberg. He talks to people that have made it in the business/sports/computer/any big business type world. He also talks to some people that made it, then lost it, then made it again. It is so cool to hear these people's stories, and the way Bloomberg puts his spin on it makes the stories that much better. It is a great new show. Gimlet Media is awesome, and I love that I now know about it thanks to my wife's longtime friend.

At number 3 I have my own personal introduction to "Unspooled". I am a big Paul Scheer fan. I think he is a solid actor, and "How Did This Get Made" is one of the best podcasts ever. So when I heard him mention a new show when he was doing plugs on "HDGTM", where he would talk about good movies with film critic Amy Nicholson, I was intrigued. I downloaded the podcast, listened to the "2001: A Space Odyssey" episode first, and I have been hooked ever since. It is nice to hear Scheer talk about solid movies. It is even better to hear a person who gets paid to write and talk about movies, talk about these "classics". Amy Nicholson is a great, great critic. Her explanations of why she likes and dislikes these movies are excellent. I really enjoy this show, and I am now in the process of catching up on every episode, and it has made me watch certain movies I would have never thought to before. It's great.

At number 2 I have the "Comedy Bang! Bang!" Christmas episode. It is on here for one reason too. I love this episode. I love all the guests. I love that Jason Mantzoukas is always the co host because he always brings it. I also love that people like Jon Gabrus, Lauren Lapkus, Mary Holland and Paul F Thompkins, among others, always show up. But what made this specific episode so great was something I mentioned in my worst of 2018. If you remember, "CBB" did not do a Halloween episode, which meant no Leo Carpatzi. Well, he showed up, at the very end, of the Christmas episode. This was an almost 2 and a half hour long episode, and the last 14 minutes of it where the best. Carpatzi, played by Nick Wiger, showed up and said he had a new song. He always does that, and he always does his very NSFW version of "The Monster Mash". This time around he said the song was called "Happy Hauntedkah", which was his Hannukah/holiday song. Well, he got into the song, and it was just him doing, sorry mom and dad, "The Monster Fuck". It was as gross as ever. He made up some new lines, which were foul. And I loved every single second of it. It was hilarious. I was crying with laughter. It totally made up for the fact that there was no Halloween episode, because I got to hear Leo Carpatzi sing his famous song. It was amazing.

At number one I have a very personal reason for this being on top of the list. So, my wife's cousin introduced me to this new podcast "The Flagrant Ones". I have written about this podcast before, and that very blog is the reason this is my number one podcast moment of 2018. As I said, I wrote a review for this show about a month back, praising it. Well, on Thanksgiving, I was at lunch with my wife's family. Her cousin approached me and asked if I had heard the new episode yet. I told him no, but I was driving to Columbia later that day, and I was going to listen to it later. He told me to text him when I got to a very important part. He told me I would know what he was talking about. Well, I listened to the show, and about 20 minutes in, they read my review. They said my name. They said the website's name. They mocked me, which is what they do, but they also said very, very nice things. It was amazing. It is like when a band hears their song on the radio for the first time. This was my first single. The fact that three dudes that I admire in the world of comedy were reading my words and saying my name and saying the website's name was incredible. I will never forget this. It was the best. It was easily the best podcast moment of 2018 for me, and it wasn't even close.

There you have it, my best of 2018 lists. I hope you all had a great 2018, and an even better 2019. I'll be back to my regular schedule next week. Thanks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He forgets that the greatest podcast in all the world mentions Ty’s name and writing every week. I wonder what that podcast is called?

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The Fanboy Crybabies Need to Get Over Giancarlo Stanton Joining the Yankees

Every time Boston does not get their way, a small violein plays while Bill Simmons whines

I know that I am a little behind with today's topic, but it is the holiday season, and life has been crazy. But, as you all know by now, Giancarlo Stanton is now a member of the New York Yankees. Derek Jeter and the crew that bought the Marlins have been gutting the roster, which they said they were going to do. So far they have traded 3 big time players, with Stanton being the biggest. From the moment that the new owners took over it was very evident that Stanton was going to be moved. I was excited for awhile because the Cardinals, my team, were heavily in the mix all the way to the end. But in the end, the Yankees got him because that is what the Yankees do. They have always been able to pull off the big move ever since I was a kid. As soon as the Yankees came to the forefront, it was a foregone conclusion to me that he would join the team. And when it happened, I was not shocked.

What irks me about this is the same thing that irked me about KD joining the Warriors last offseason. People say that the Yankees have had a few "down" years, yet they were one game away from making the World Series this past season. They also have a roster filled with young, very good players. I mean, just Aaron Judge alone, who I do not think is as good as everyone else does, won rookie of the year. They have great hitters all over their roster. Their pitching leaves a bit to be desired, but it is serviceable. Now with Stanton, they have to be the odds on favorites to make the World Series next year. I'd love to see them go down, but they just look way too good on paper to be beaten by anyone in the AL next year.

The trade is not the point of my piece today. I am an avid listener of "The Bill Simmons" podcast. Lately it has become more of a hate listen because Simmons is becoming more cocky and insufferable with every episode. He seems to think the sun rises and sets based on his opinions. But, I do like the guests, especially when they do basketball stuff. And with basketball stuff, since he and KD have become buddies lately, he has been fully on board with KD joining the Warriors. He always says that he wants the best players to play together because he loves the game in its purest form. He praises KD non stop for leaving OKC, all the while trashing Russell Westbrook any chance he gets. He has never, ever said one bad thing about KD joining a team that didn't need him, and that beat him head to head. Like I said, he praises KD's decision. In fact, he has made it his personal mission to defend KD. If anyone comes on his show and bad mouths it, he roasts them, and then tries to ham fist a Thunder jab in there somehow. He has become what he claims to have hated about ESPN, a star lover. He has made friends with one of the biggest NBA stars, and he doesn't want to rock the boat.

On a podcast recently, Simmons had one of his old college buddies on who happens to be a lifelong Yankees fan. This person, whos name escapes me right now, has been on from time to time. He isn't on as much as Joe House, who I really like, but he is on enough that I kind of know who he is. He had this buddy on after the Stanton trade was completed, and he trashed the MLB for allowing this to happen. First off, if you do not know by now, Simmons is a big time Red Sox fan, and he is from Boston. So, anything that doesn't go his way for his city, he is a big time crybaby about. This Stanton trade fits into that category. He acted like such a baby about this. He made stupid, hackney jokes about the Yankees front office. Like I said above, he trashed the MLB because Stanton used his no trade clause, which he got in his contract, to veto trades to the Cardinals and Giants. It was basically just an hour long whine fest while Simmons buddy laughed at him the whole time.

What I don't get about his whining though, how is Stanton joining the Yankees any different from KD joining the Warriors? This is exactly what he advocated for with the KD move, with one exception. The Yankees didn't beat the Marlins in a big time playoff series. Stanton didn't go to a team that was in 2 straight world champion series. Stanton didn't join a team that was an odds on favorite to not only win the title, but coast to it. As I talked about earlier, Stanton joined a team that some "experts" considered "down". So in actuality, what Stanton did wasn't nearly as weak as what KD did. KD was/is a title chaser. He couldn't beat the Warriors, so he joined them. The only similarity between the 2 players is that they won MVP's on different teams from their current team. So for Simmons to attack Stanton and the MLB and his buddy is off putting and makes him look like an idiot and a front runner himself. He only likes big time moves when it benefits him.

Look, I am not on board with either of these moves, but I have made no mistake about that. I hated when KD joined the Warriors, and I do not like that Stanton joined the Yankees. It waters down the game. It takes the drama out of sports. It makes it way easier to make predictions. That is where Simmons and I differ. I can separate myself from players and teams and be non biased. Maybe it is easier for me because I don't have a personal relationship with these guys and the people around them, but Simmons is a professional. His job as a journalist is to be non biased. But, he may be the most biased sports writer in the industry. I'm not going to stop listening to his show, but the more I do listen, the less respect I have for him and his opinions.

Get over yourself Bill Simmons. Boston sports are doing just fine. So what if the Yankees will be better than the Red Sox for awhile. You still have the Patriots and Celtics. But stop contradicting yourself based on friendships. It makes you look like a real asshole.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is still sore about the almost trade of AJ McCarron going to the Cleveland Browns. That would have been the making of a one or two win super team.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Bill Simmons Ego is Bringing Down "The Bill Simmons Podcast"

Next time Simmons will tell us all how he could improve sex, the US Constitution, and happiness.

I was listening to the most recent "Bill Simmons Podcast", and I've got to say, Bill Simmons is quite full of himself. I still very much enjoy his writing and his podcast, but man oh man does he think that his decisions make the sun set.

On the latest episode to get on my nerves, Simmons had 2 of his buddies, Jim Miller and Bryan Curtis, and they were talking about all things ESPN. They were talking about all the layoffs and new hires, basically all the news that has come out over the past couple of months involving ESPN.

Simmons exit from ESPN has been very well documented. He said something that needed to be said about that monster Roger Goodell, and since ESPN is in bed with the NFL, they suspended him, then let him go a few weeks after he came back. He then went into hiding for awhile before reappearing with his own company, The Ringer. I'm an enormous fan of The Ringer. I read pretty much everything they write about basketball. I listen to all their basketball podcasts. I enjoy their football stuff. Mainly though, I'm all in for The Ringer because it has Bill Simmons name on the front of it.

Simmons highly anticipated television show was a massive disappointment. This is widely known. The show is best known for a drunken rant about the Patriots coming from Ben Affleck. That's some reality show shit there. But, when pressed about the demise of his show, he never once took the blame. It was all on HBO. They put him on at the wrong time he said. They thrust him into a bad situation he said. He wanted to do so many things different he said. Basically, it was everyone else's fault. He said all of this, and even more on his own podcast, which HBO owns. I wrote awhile back that he needed to take the blame. He was a poor host. He couldn't conduct a proper interview. The only time the show was any good was when Michael Rappaport was on. He was too much of a  fan boy. He wasn't good for television. The show disappeared, and no one has missed it. But he still blames other people all the time.

Then we have the latest podcast. As I said, the three guys were talking about ESPN, and Bill Simmons kept chiming in with all that he tried to do to make that company money. He was patting himself on the back for creating "30 for 30", as he should. But, the self congratulations did not stop there. He claimed that he was the only person trying to get ESPN to get better advertising for podcasts. He complained that they only wanted Subway as a sponsor, and that "I could have gotten them so much more". What an ass. I don't deny that he may have been able to get extra sponsors, but ESPN doesn't need extra sponsors. One of my biggest gripes with his podcast is all the ad reads. They totally take me out of the flow. In fact, I don't like any ad reads on podcasts. It drives me nuts. That doesn't mean I don't want people to donate to SeedSing though. Please, if you can, donate to us so I can continue to do what I love.

Simmons also went on to say things about the people that got fired and how he could have helped keep them around. Does he think he was some kind of savior at ESPN? I guarantee on ESPN's list of important people, Bill Simmons was probably in the 40's or 50's. He complained that no one paid attention to Grantland. That's because Grantland was for hipsters, and who in the hell cares what those writers were saying back then. I know that most of his staff is filled with former Grantland writers, but they are 1,000 times better now than they were then. He griped that the higher ups wanted full control of "30 for 30", but he only wanted to do 2 seasons of it. Why would you want to end something so soon that was so successful? I would bet a ton of money that he wanted to close down shop so he could gloat to people in 25 years that he was the "genius" that created "30 for 30". I've got some news for you Bill Simmons, some other asshole would have come up with a similar idea, and it would have succeeded.

I hate ESPN with a passion, but Simmons comments on this most recent podcast really annoyed me. He is super talented, and many big time people have said as much. So why does he feel the need to constantly stroke his ego, I will never know. I'm not going to stop listening and reading his stuff, as I said, I am a big fan. But he needs to pump the brakes on giving himself all the accolades that he thinks he deserves. It is getting too be a bit too much.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may hate hearing ad reads, but the head editor convinced Ty that reading ads is the best way to podcast. Right Ty.

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The SeedSing 2016 Year in Pop Culture: The Best, and Worst, in Podcasting

For my final best of list this year, I am going to go very niche, and I'm going to give you all my top 5 podcast moments, or just flat out episodes of the year. Some of these are compilations, or random appearances on certain podcasts by people I like, or just straight forward episodes. Also, all mine are comedy podcasts, except for one, because that is what I like. I do not have anything from NPR, ESPN, The AV Club, Cracked, nothing like that. Also, there is no "Serial" or anything like that on my list. That was a one hit wonder type deal, and I think the second season of "Serial" proved that very point. Anyway, lets get to it. 

At number 5, I have all of the "Doughboys" episodes during their "Tournament of Chompions". This was when Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell, and one guest for each episode, went around to various fast food type restaurants and put the burgers in a tournament. They had franchises all over the US, places like Five Guys, Hardees, Burger King and Wendy's that they judged. But, they also went to places that some people around the US don't have, like Shake Shack and In N Out Burger. Look, I knew form the beginning of this tournament that In N Out was going to make the finals. Wiger, ever since the birth of "Doughboys", has talked about how In N Out Burger is the best place ever. He legitimately loves this place. There is no mistaking that. Mitchell knew this, so he tried to game the system by having friends of his that dislike In N Out on to "beat" whoever they matched up against. It finally happened, when John Gemberling appeared, and picked Burger King as the winner over In N Out. Wiger was audibly upset and Mitchell was audibly thrilled. But, like a whiny baby, near the end of this tournament, look, the whole thing was convoluted from the start, as I said, the matchup was going to be In N Out versus Shake Shack no matter what happened in each previous episode, they all but said this at the start, Wiger got In N Out back in, and they "won". But, what I liked about this whole series was how much Mitchell just got on Wiger's nerves. This is their whole setup for the podcast. Wiger is Mitchell's whipping boy, and he took that to a whole new level during the "Tournament of Chompions". It was funny, uncomfortable and everything I want from any episode of "Doughboys". It is a really good podcast.

At number 4, I have "The Bill Simmons Podcast" when Michael Rappaport was on the first time this year. This was one of the better episodes of "The BS" podcast, and it was all because of Rappaport. He is so lively and talkative and funny and has stories for days. When Simmons brought up the Knicks and Kristaps Porzingis, that was when this episode became great. Rappaport loves the Knicks, and he loves Porzingis even more. He really, really likes this Knicks team, but Simmons, and myself for that matter, do not think this Knicks team is that good, but do not say that to Rappaport. He went on and on and on about how they can compete, especially in the East, and talked about their potential "greatness", which involved Porzingis mainly. He loves this dude. He kept calling him the "Lativian gangbanger". He talked about how he was the next great NBA super star. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode because of Rappaport's lively conversation skills. His own podcast is great, but when he shows up on other people's stuff, it is must listen for me, especially when you talk about something in his wheelhouse, like the Knicks, or who the greatest "stick men" in Hollywood may be. Rappaport is a delight.

At number 3, I have any episode of "Comedy Bang! Bang!" that Neil Campbell is on, playing his loved character, the Timekeeper. This is one of the funniest things on podcasts right now. He is so weird, and sounds so odd, but I cannot help but belly laugh whenever the Timekeeper shows up. He is hilarious. Campbell is such a great improviser and so good on a podcast like "CBB". "CBB" is the perfect show for the talents of someone like Neil Campbell, and the Timekeeper is his greatest character. His performances are great, and any time he is on, I get giddy with excitement and listen, hoping that he will bring in the Timekeeper at some point. He was just on their holiday episode, and it was one of the funnier episodes all year of "CBB". This is always a wonderfully hilarious performance.

At number 2, I have the episode of "How Did This Get Made" where they cover the Village People movie, "Can't Stop the Music". The episode has Jason Mantzoukas and Paul Scheer, but no June Diane-Rapheal, but, they do get Cameron Esposito and Pete Holmes, and they are great substitutes for this live episode. First of all, "HDTGM" is one of the best podcast hands down, but when they do a movie this insane, and try to figure it out, it is laugh out loud funny. Mantzoukas seems legitimately confused the entire show, trying to explain this movie. Scheer is just dumbfounded the whole time, never stopping to ask any question that pops in his head. Esposito does her best to try and explain, but even she has a hard time trying to figure stuff out. At points she thinks she has something figured out, but then someone will give a counterpoint, and then she is questioning her theory. It makes for great podcasting. But, the star of this episode is Holmes. He, instead of trying to figure how this movie got made, he did what he does best, and just riffs the whole 90 minutes. He goes from doing impressions, to bad dad jokes and ends up doing some terrible, but also extremely funny, puns. Holmes is so god damn funny, and that is on full display during this 90 minute "HDTGM". I do not always love the live episodes, but this is one of their best of all time.

Finally, at number 1, I have the episode of "I Was There Too" when Matt Gourley had Marc Maron on to talk about his bit role in "Almost Famous". This was another live episode, but this was such a great, great podcast. First off, I vividly remember Maron in "Almost Famous", his catchphrase for "WTF" comes from that movie, and I loved his role as the angry club promoter. He went into this role. He talked about auditioning for the role, getting a call back, and reading with Cameron Crowe. I love these stories. Then he talked about set life. I love these stories too. But, after deep diving into his 3 minutes or so on screen, the talk divulged into stuff like cats, how he prepares for his own show, writing jokes and talking to the crowd. This is the perfect medium for Maron, and Gourley was great at letting him go on any tangent that he wanted. I really loved this episode so much,  I have listened to it 3 times, and it has never gotten old. It was far and away the best podcast of 2016, in my personal opinion.

As far as the worst podcast episode of the year, it was anytime that Bill Simmons got on his soap box and complained about his show got cancelled, and how it was not his fault. His show was bad, I know, I watched it, and it was because of him. He is not a TV host. He is a writer and a podcaster, and he is damn good at those 2 things. He doesn't need a TV show too. But, for him to blame everyone else became very tiresome very fast. I would fast forward through these 10 minute whine fests because it was so grating and uncomfortable to hear. His show was bad, and that is that. It got cancelled, and that is what it deserved. Simmons has gotten better about it lately, but anytime it is brought up, I groan because I am fearful that he is going to get into why he was great and why everyone else was wrong. He needs to get over it and let it go. It's so childish and ignorant of Simmons to whine this much.

That's it for 2016. This has been a crappy year, but at least we have the good things on these lists, so that has to be some kind of consolation. Thanks for reading.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The number one podcast in his heart is anything he does on the X Millennial Man. Check out his new one ones every Saturday. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

"Any Given Wednesday" is No "The Bill Simmons Podcast"

Some people are better when they are heard, and not seen.

A few weeks back I wrote a review of Bill Simmons new show, "Any Given Wednesday". I thought that it was fine, but I also thought that it had some room to grow. I am a big Bill Simmons fan, so I just assumed that I would love his show. It seemed that he was bringing his wildly popular podcast to the small screen. What could go wrong, I thought.

Well, after four episodes, the show has shown very little, to no growth. It's just the same thing over and over again. I feel like, after only four episodes, the show has become stagnant and a little boring. This show has all the potential to be great, but they cannot seem to get over the hump. Now, it is only four episodes, and a lot can change, but they have done zero so far to make this show better.

The premiere was fine. I thought Charles Barkley was funny and seemed to be having a good time. Simmons seemed a bit nervous, but who wouldn't be with a new show premiering. But, when Ben Affleck went on his rant, that premiere went off the rails. It was bizarre and incredibly awkward TV to watch. I was squirming in my seat at home. I cannot imagine how the studio audience felt. I love that Affleck is such a big fan of his team, but that rant was so, so weird. It was bad TV as well.

The Affleck weirdness was followed by the second episode which featured Simmons interviewing Malcom Gladwell and Mark Cuban. They had a heated discussion about the owners and the amount of money being thrown around in free agency and how it has gotten out of hand. Cuban, being the billionaire and owner that he is, he had no problem with it. He was defending some of the ridiculous contracts being given out to marginal players. Gladwell argued that some of these players weren't worth it, and since he is so smart, his argument was eloquent and poignant. But, that was problem that I had with this episode. Malcom Gladwell is one thousand times smarter than most people in the room, and I felt that he had to dumb down his speech just so Mark Cuban could understand what he was saying. Now, Mark Cuban is by no means a dummy, but he is nowhere near Malcolm Gladwell's intelligence level. Not many people are at his level. This conversation would have been so much better if it was two owners or two intellects. You cannot put one very smart person with a marginally smart person and except a fair argument. This was a mismatch and the interview just didn't work. Simmons kind of lost control pretty early on during the conversation.

Episode three has been the highlight of the season so far, but it wasn't because of Bill Simmons or his writing crew. This episode succeeded because of Chris Bosh. Simmons had Bosh and actor Anthony Anderson as his guests. Anthony Anderson was fine. He is a very well spoken, smart person whose acting I really enjoy. But, when Chris Bosh spoke of Kevin Durant's decision to leave OKC for Golden State, it was phenomenal. There is no one else, possibly on the planet, that can relate better to what KD did. I, and many other people, have written about KD's decision, but we don't really know how it went down, or how he feels. Chris Bosh, on the other hand, he went through exactly the same thing when he left Toronto for Miami. Bosh's speech, and the way he talked about making decisions like that, was just great. He kind of opened my mind. I mean, I'm still kind of pissed that KD left OKC, but, Chris Bosh made me understand just a little bit why players make choices like this.

The latest episode  had Aaron Rodgers on for a one on one interview for the majority of the show. This should have been a slam dunk, especially after Bosh crushed it on the show the previous episode. But, this was very, very boring TV. Aaron Rodgers, while being a great football player, he is a pretty dull person, by choice. Most interviews he does are boring. He just wants to talk about football and being QB for the Packers. and that is fine, that is his job and he is wonderful at it. But, to dedicate 20 plus minutes to an interview with him was a bad choice. It was slow. They didn't talk about any real problems, with the exception of concussions, in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers seemed very coached in a lot of his answers. When asked certain questions, Rodgers would wait, almost calculating the right answer in his head, then proceed with his answer. It was only 20 minutes, but it felt like 20 hours. The other problem with this, this episode was on the day after Tim Duncan retired and they only dedicated about 2 minutes to him. Bill Simmons is a basketball writer, and he only gave himself 120 seconds, on his own show, to talk about one of the 5 greatest players of all time. That was a big bummer to me.

There have been other people on, guys like Joe Rogan and Bill Hader, but their interview were forgettable. I had such high hopes for "Any Given Wednesday", and they can still turn it around, but it feels more like they will be cancelled before they get a second season. Simmons, who seems so comfortable on his podcast, looks and sounds incredibly uncomfortable on his TV show. TV may not be his thing, and that is fine because he will always have his podcast and his website. Some people thrive on TV, but others don't. Bill Simmons, so far, has not lived up to the expectations of being a good host on his own show. His time is running out as well. Hopefully they turn it around, but it seems unlikely.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His podcast hero is still Bill Simmons, but his tv hero will remain to be Homer. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Bill Simmons is Back with "Any Given Wednesday"

There is some new TV in the air

Last night, Bill Simmons new show, "Any Given Wednesday" premiered on HBO. This show was a long time coming for me. I'm a very big Bill Simmons fan. I like his takes. He is one of the most knowledgeable NBA writers on the planet. He isn't afraid to attack morons like Roger Goodell. And he seems like a pretty genuine, cool person.

I watched the show this afternoon, and it was just fine. I don't know why I was expecting it to be like "Real Sports", which is a great show, but I thought it as going to be more like that. "Any Given Wednesday" is the opposite of a show like "Real Sports". "Any Given Wednesday" is sports and pop culture, mixed with elements of comedy. There is no panel on this show. Simmons has people come on and talk, but it is more interview and less talking head type stuff. What the show all boils down to is, it is a live taping of his podcast. The show is very free flowing. There is a looseness to the show that I found refreshing. Simmons looked totally calm and in his element. The show is a perfect way to get his view across.

Last night, he had Charles Barkley come on to talk about LeBron James. Simmons asked, after doing a great opening monologue about why he now thought James belonged in the conversation as the best NBA player ever, and Barkley shut that notion down immediately. Barkley is definitely stuck in his old view of the NBA, but that is one of the many things that makes Charles Barkley so great. I personally agree with Simmons. I think LeBron is a top 5 all time player, but I liked hearing Barkley say he had to win a couple of more championships before he would put him past Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. I also enjoyed Barkley letting Simmons, the studio audience and everyone watching know that his top five all time players will never change. He is set in his way. Barkley seemed just as comfortable as Simmons was, even when Simmons pushed him on stuff like Barkley holding Larry Bird's arms back so Dr. J could punch him in the face, or Barkley's many past gambling stories. After the Barkley interview, Simmons did a kind of funny spoof on the Under Armor and Steph Curry commercials. There was some decent humor in it, but it was just okay. The commercial Simmons and his writers created was a very funny closing bit to the joke.

Then, Simmons had another one on one interview with Ben Affleck. They talked about the Batman stuff and what drove Affleck to becoming a director, but when Simmons brought up the Patriots and Tom Brady and "deflategate", Affleck went off. This was at times funny and very revealing. Affleck is a true sports fan and a true Boston fan. This dude loves Tom Brady and thinks, like most of the sports watching public, that "deflategate" is so dumb and so unimportant. His speech was impassioned. I recommend people seeking it out on the internet to watch, it is bizarre and telling. I know that I was enthralled.

Once Affleck has done speaking the truth, Simmons did his first of what I'm sure will be a weekly segment, where he gave the "championship belt" to the best thing of the week. This week was the year 2016 and how it has become so unpredictable. He mentioned the Cavs winning the title, the fact that the Cubs have the best record in baseball and that he now has his own show on HBO, among other things. I very much enjoyed this part of the show. Like I said, it was basically a live taping of his podcast, and that is a good thing, in my opinion.

I will be curious to see how future episodes attack sports and pop culture news. I also hope, at some point, he goes off on ESPN. I know he did that recently in a magazine interview, but I want to see him do it live on his TV show, curse words and all, since it is on HBO. I also hope he brings on some of his recurring guests from his podcast for face to face interviews. I don't think it will happen, but I'd love to see Jalen Rose and Zach Lowe on his show, but they both work for ESPN. He can have his buddy Joe House on, or Chuck Klosterman or even more famous NBA players, like Charles Barkley. Anyway, it was a decent premiere of a show that I will watch every week because I am a Bill Simmons fan. Don't go into "Any Given Wednesday" expecting "Real Sports", it is a totally different show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may not have the slurred passion of Ben Affleck, but Ty is also not a fan of "deflategate". Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Michael Rapaport is one of the best, and hardest working, entertainers out there.

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Today I'm going to give love to another actor/director that seemed to be forgotten, but has now reappeared and is doing some great work. That actor/director I'm speaking of is Michael Rapaport.

This comes about because yesterday, on the Bill Simmons podcast, Rapaport was the guest, for the third time already, and I loved every single second. He is just an angry, yet jovial dude and I love to hear him talk about everything from music to movies to sports, mainly basketball. He is a huge basketball fan and he is extremely knowledgeable on the NBA, especially his beloved Knicks. He knows their history inside and out. He is so passionate about his team. He said on the podcast, that it is nothing but gray skies right now for the Knicks.

That's something I really like about him. He isn't a delusional Knicks fan that thinks, "this is the year we turn it around", every year, he knows that this is a very dark time for his team. They have no picks in the upcoming draft. They will be hard pressed to bring in any big time free agents, unless they trade Carmelo. They are trying to decide between Kurt Rambis and David Blatt as their next head coach. Why is this even a question? Hire Blatt. Rambis is incompetent and has proven that every time he gets a head coaching job. Blatt was in the wrong situation at the wrong time in Cleveland, and he still took that team to the finals last year. Rappaport said the exact same thing. He doesn't see the need for Phil Jackson to interview anyone else if Blatt is available. I couldn't agree more with him, obviously.

This past Tuesday, and the two other times before, he has expounded his vast knowledge of the Knicks and the NBA, and I agree with almost everything he says. I agree that the Knicks are going to be an also ran for the next three, four or even five years. I agree that the NBA is in a golden age, but it will be bad in a couple of years because of the "one and dones", he said this the last time he was on the podcast. I agree that the Knicks of the 90's were incredibly dominant, but also underachievers, because they never won a title with Ewing, Mark Jackson and John Starks. I agree with him when he says he wants the Cavs to lose the finals again because LeBron is kind of becoming whiny since he isn't the top story in the NBA anymore, it's the Warriors. I agree when he says that Russell Westbrook is a lunatic on the floor. I agree that he says there will never be another player like Kevin Durant, a guy that's 7 feet tall and can handle and shoot like a guard. Rapaport is very, very smart when it comes to all things NBA.

Rapaport's hobbies and the things that he likes goes beyond just the NBA. He is a successful podcast host himself. His podcast is very popular and he gets some big time people to appear. He was/is a very decent actor. I personally think that he is a really good actor that can play many different roles and genres. For example, look at his role in "Next Friday", next to "Cop Land". "Next Friday" he had such a throw away part, but he nailed it. He was a mildly racist mailman delivering mail to Craig's uncle's house in the suburbs. Rapaport was surprised to see a young black man answer the door and he acted like a guy that doesn't think he is racist, but there is definitely some racism in him. He was rude and ignorant and funny. And Ice Cube played off of him perfectly. "Next Friday" isn't good or bad, it's just blah, but that one scene with Rapaport and Cube is very funny and worth your time. In "Cop Land", he played a young, out of his league cop. He got to act with Harvey Keitel, who is a wonderful and legendary actor. I feel like Rapaport one hundred percent held his own. He also got to act with Sylvester Stallone in that movie as well. "Cop Land" is star studded and Rapaport does an excellent job among all the big time stars in that movie. But, nothing compares to how awesome he was in the wildly underrated "Beautiful Girls". First of all, that movie is so good and it totally holds up. The list of actors and actresses in that movie is incredible and Rapaport is so damn good in the movie. He gets to act opposite Mira Sorvino and Uma Thurman and he does a wonderful job. If you haven't seen "Beautiful Girls", do yourself a favor and watch it because it is great.

He is also a pretty good actor on the small screen too. He plays a cop a lot, he kind of looks like one, in shows like "Public Morals" and "Justified", and he is very good, but nothing compares to his outstanding, one episode feature he did on the last season of "Louie". He was so god damn good as a down on his luck security guard. He was kind of a downer and a mean guy that punched people and talked over people all the time, but it was because he was a lonely guy. His character was even more lonely than Louis CK. He was such a wannabe and such a meathead, but he was also, to be frank, a loser. Louie always wanted to be left alone, and he could be a jerk about it sometimes, but in this episode with Rapaport, you side with Louie. Louie shouldn't have to hang out with someone always talking over him, punching him and taking him to a basketball game that he doesn't want to go to, no one should have to go through all of that. But, at the end, when he loses his gun and Louie eventually finds it, his cries of agony turn into cries of joy and Rapaport is so awesome in this tiny role. He should have been nominated for an Emmy for that one episode.

Recently, Rapaport has taken his talents to directing with a ton of success. He directed a great "30 For 30" about the Big East at it's height. It is an awesome documentary and one of "30 For 30"'s best efforts. But, nothing will ever compare to the wonderful work he did on the Tribe Called Quest documentary, "Beats, Rhymes and Life, The Trails and Tribulations of A Tribe Called Quest". That doc is a masterpiece about one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time. Rapaport told every side of every story. He gave everyone a voice, even Jarobi and Ali Shaheed Mohammed. That movie is absolutely awesome. It's even more timely and wonderful and sad due to the untimely death of Phife Dawg. That was the last we really ever saw of Phife at his healthiest. It will go down as classic now that Phife has passed away. Rapaport was clearly a fan, but he wasn't afraid to talk about and bring up the bad stuff that happened to everyone in ATCQ. It's his best work by far.

I'm a big, big fan of most of Rapaport's work. I know he may come off as coarse, but if you actually listen to him, I think you will feel the same way as I do. Rapaport is a wonderful actor, director and a great, and very knowledgeable sports fan, especially when it comes to basketball. I'm a fan.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He agrees with almost everything Rapaport says about the Knicks, except for the fact they will be bad for four to five years. They will be bad for decades. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: You Should be Listening to the Podcast "High and Mighty"

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

I've been on the hunt for a new podcast to listen to lately. I still have my standards like "Comedy Bang! Bang!", "How Did This Get Made", "The Bill Simmons Podcast" and "Sklarbro Country". Those are all great and I look forward to them every week, but I was in need of something new. I generally go for comedy podcasts, I do like a good NBA or something like "Serial", but comedy is where it's at for me.

Through listening and a little research, I found out that Jon Gabrus, an actor and comedian that I really enjoy, has his own podcast on the Headgum Network called "High and Mighty". For those of you not familiar with Jon Gabrus, he's appeared on "Comedy Bang! Bang!" a bunch, very recently in fact, as Geno the Intern. He is also on a lot of MTV talking heads shows like "Wild N Out" and "Guy Code". He's been on a lot of the VH1 talking head shows as well and he's had bit parts in quite a bit of movies and TV shows. In fact, he has a newer movie out on iTunes and On Demand called "4th Man Out", that I've heard some pretty good things about.

Odds are, you know who Jon Gabrus is, you just don't know it. People who listen to the specific podcasts I mentioned definitely know him and others, I'm sure you've seen him in something recently. Anyway, I really enjoy when I see that he is going to be on a new episode of "Comedy Bang! Bang!' as Geno. He's funny, crass, rude and great throughout the entirety of the episode. You can tell that even Scott Aukerman loves having him appear on the show because he is laughing throughout. So, when I found out that he had his own podcast, I was intrigued. I didn't know if it would be characters, just an interview show, if it would be improv, the possibilities were endless given his background and his group of comedian and actor friends.

After a few recent listens of "High and Mighty" that the podcast is an interview show, but it is so much more than just an interview show. Marc Maron has the market cornered on straight up one on one interviews as far as podcasting goes, and he's great at it. But, what makes Jon Gabrus' "High and Mighty" so great, at least for me is, he is a younger guy. I believe he is right around my age(33), and I can relate to the stories he and his guests, that are relatively the same age, talk about. The first episode I came across was entitled "Being Fat" with Nick Mundy and Mike Mitchell. For those of you that don't know, Jon Gabrus, Nick Mundy and Mike Mitchell are bigger guys. So am I. People who read my blogs already know that I enjoy Mike Mitchell and his work with the Birthday Boys and his podcast with Nick Wiger, "Doughboys", so the fact that he was a guest on the first episode I listened to was an added bonus. What made this episode great for me was the fact that being a bigger guy myself, so I related to almost 100 percent of what they talked about. When they talked about hitting on girls and how tough it is for chubby guys, I myself had many problems hitting on girls I liked while in high school because I was chunky. Mundy and Gabrus are both married and they both marveled at the fact that they could get such beautiful women to marry them. Me too. I don't know how I convinced my smoking hot wife to marry me, but I'm glad I did. All three of them have big bushy beards, and anyone that has read the site knows that I myself am a bearded fellow, but they all have beards for the same reason I do, laziness and a hatred for shaving. This was a perfect gateway episode for me because I related to everything and it featured two comedians that I really like. Even in the following episode, entitled "Wrasslin" with Matt McCarthy, a sport I have never watched or participated in, I was enamored by the conversation. You could really tell that these two were big time wrestling fans and that they still genuinely love pro wrestling. I liked their insight and their vast knowledge of wrestling old and new. That's the sign of a good podcast, when I don't care for the subject matter, but the conversation is so good, it pulls me in. He followed that episode up with one entitled "Badasses" with Outlook of the Poet(Ben Rodgers and Gavin Speiler). The topic was supposed to be about how they want to be badasses, which they do touch on, but you learn so much more about these three, like their early improv days, their dad issues and their love for action movies. The conversation can literally go anywhere it wants and that's awesome. The most recent episode of "High and Mighty" was about swimming with Anders Holm from "Wolkaholics", "How to Be Single", "Top Five" and many, many other things. Did they talk about all that stuff, yes, but barely. Instead, they had an in depth discussion about swimming and the commitment that it takes. I learned that Anders Holm was such a good swimmer, he got a scholarship to swim at the University of Wisconsin and that he still swims, now it's just for fun, to this day.

The great thing about "High and Mighty" is we always learn something new about Jon Gabrus. One thing I really like that he does on the show, he asks people to give him a 5 star review on iTunes and then to roast him in the comment section and he reads it on the next episode. So, people actually do this and he actually reads the awful things they say about him. It can vary anywhere from him being ugly and fat, to him just not being funny. But, the most common complaint is that he talks too much about himself and his "glory" days. Isn't that what podcasting is for though? People podcast just so they can hear themselves talk and so they can spread their point of view to the world via a free forum. I love that he hijacks the conversation and talks more than anyone else. It's his show and he can do whatever he wants. I know that I talk a whole hell of a lot more on "The X Milennial Man" podcast than RD does. I like to hear the sound of my own voice, just like Jon Gabrus.

I have only listened to the four most recent episodes of "High and Mighty", the podcast has a back catalog totaling 29 episodes. I will go back and listen to the older ones soon. He has had Eugene Cordero on a bunch to talk fitness and I want to hear those conversations because Cordero got in crazy shape and I'd like to know how he did that. Also, some of his early episodes are basically reviews of old action movies that he does with his friends. Those I will definitely go back and listen to. I like to hear people from my generation talk about movies like "Blood Sport" and "Predator".

I'm very happy that I have jumped aboard the "High and Mighty" bandwagon. This is a perfect podcast that appeals to the things that I like and can relate to. Keep doing what you're doing Jon Gabrus because it' awesome. I can't wait until Thursday for the new episode.

You can find "High and Mighty" right here.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the more talkative other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He may be a bigger man, but he is half the bigger man he was two years ago. We are proud of you Ty. Show your support for him by pushing the follow button on Ty's twitter @tykulik.

We Need To Stop Making Excuses For Violent Athletes

Violent people belong behind a fence with razor wire, not in our arenas and stadiums.

With the news coming out last week that Blake Griffin will miss the majority of the regular season after punching the Clippers equipment manager, repeatedly, and breaking his shooting hand, I ask everyone today, why do we let athletes get away with heinous acts like this? Why did Blake Griffin feel the need to punch this guy so many times, in the face, to the point of injuring himself? And why are their people out their defending him? I heard Charles Barkley, my all time favorite basketball player, on Bill Simmons podcast recently say that "this stuff happens all the time" and that we "shouldn't overreact to this news". That's insane! If any regular Joe did this at their job, they'd be fired immediately, no questions asked. But, we as a society, feel like it's okay to give professional athletes a pass and that is very disturbing.

In the last two years, we've had far too many incidents involving violent behavior coming from pro athletes. And yes, football is the main culprit, but it's spilling over into other pro sports. The athletes that are involved in these incidents are pretty famous too. Kids are supposed to look up to these people. I've written about how terrible Hope Solo, Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice are on the site before, but lets not forget about Aroldis Chapman's domestic violence charge that was recently dropped. A trade was voided because the Dodgers didn't want that PR mess. He was basically a sitting duck until the New York Yankees traded for him and the whole story went away. Or what about all the off season, in season and now post season stuff that's coming out about Greg Hardy? He abuses multiple women, still gets a contract from the Dallas Cowboys, has multiple fights with multiple teammates during the season and now, in the offseason, he can't seem to stop partying. Why does he still get a free pass from the morons over at ESPN? Also, in the college ranks, look at former Missouri QB Matty Mauk. He had to get suspended four times before they kicked him off the team and they only kicked him off when a video of him doing cocaine surfaced. He's not some hot shot QB that's going to help Missouri win many games, but he was a division one caliber QB so he got way more chances than any other non student athlete at Missouri gets because he's good at sports. Why the double standard? It's not fair to the 95 percent of students that don't play sports. They slip up once, they're expelled. But, if you're competent at football, you get way too many chances. That doesn't seem fair.

Now, there's this new story about Johnny Manziel physically assaulting his ex girlfriend that ESPN and Jerry Jones will certainly try to cover up. How many chances does this punk get? He has made mistake after mistake since his sophomore year of college, but everyone seems to write it off. He can showboat and anchors think it's him getting in opponents head, not him being a selfish asshole. Then he slips in the draft because of "character issues", but that's not his fault either. When he does get on the field in the NFL, he looks lost and slow, but it's never his fault, it's coaching and system. When he goes to rehab, but then is spotted 6 months later drinking on the bye week, it's said that he's a young kid and young kids make mistakes. And now we have the second time that he's been brought up on physical abuse charges. People seem to have already forgotten that he was charged with pushing his ex girlfriend's head into the car window before the season started and now there is this new story of him assaulting her at, you guessed it, a bar. Why does this born with a silver spoon, spoiled punk keep getting second, third and fourth chances. He's not a good pro and he's an even worse person. He needs to be in a real rehab, getting real help. I don't need to hear Tony Kornheiser and Ron Jaworski make anymore excuses for Johnny Manziel. I'm fed up with it.

Which brings me to Blake Griffin. The stuff I've heard, from people I really respect, people like Charles Barkley, Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton, just to name a few, is downright absurd and kind of disturbing. Like I said with Barkley earlier, he claims this happens all the time. That doesn't make it right. That is not a viable excuse for someone to physically attack someone smaller than them. The only repercussion that Simmons, Lowe and Pelton can seem to find is to trade him to a different team. Oh yeah, go let him beat up some other team's equipment manager, that will solve his anger problem. These same guys will say, "he apologized, it's over", are dead wrong. You know how many times physical abusers apologize, then do the same exact thing a month later? The vast majority of them. My mom works in a battered women and children's center and she's told me some of the guys have apologized upwards of 10 to 15 times, only to abuse again and again. In fact, and I'll give Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon credit here, they are the only two sports anchors I've heard say that Blake Griffin needs to be suspended immediately for at least, the rest of the season. I agree, except they should have added, suspended without pay. It's like I said earlier, anyone that works a regular job, if they physically attacked someone, they'd get fired that instance, without hesitation. But, there's that double standard with pro sports. I've also heard some of the people that are pro Blake Griffin say that they've been mad enough at a friend to hit them, but they never say that they actually hit them. This is no real friendship if Blake Griffin thinks it's okay to punch this guy until he breaks his hand. This is a sickening act done by a disturbed man child.

I wish we as a society made these abusive athletes responsible for their heinous actions. Instead, we sweep it under the rug and forget about. and therein lies the problem. Everyone needs to be held accountable by the horrible things they do, pro athlete or not.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He was once so mad at the head editor that Ty beat him by 80 on NCAA Football 2006. No hitting, just humiliation. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The SeedSing (half) year in Pop Culture: The Top Five Podcasts of 2015

Time to remember the mic's best guests

Continuing my week long best of 2015 countdown today I'll pick my top five podcast episodes of the year. I'm a very, very big fan of podcast, mostly comedy podcast. Comedy podcasts are very well represented in this countdown, but there's one pretty serious, not very comedic episode that tops my list. I could've easily done a top 25, 50 or even 100 for this topic, so paring it down to five was tough. Here it goes.

My number five podcast episode of 2015 was the return of "Go Bayside" when they critically deconstructed the "Saved By the Bell: Hawaiian Style" movie. By they I mean the excellent and very hilarious host, April Richardson and her equally as funny best friend, Millie De Chirico. I was so pleasantly surprised and happy when my podcast app showed me that there was a new "Go Bayside". I put time away to go on a hike so I would not be bothered while I listened. April Richardson took a long time off after she finished doing all the pertinent episodes of "Saved By the Bell", but she promised to return to do this movie and the one when Kelly and Zack get married. This episode made it well worth the wait. Richardson and De Chirico come out hot from the start, just chastising the racism in this movie. It was so funny. I loved how upset they both got t the fact that there was a principal's convention in the exact same spot of Hawaii that the students were vacationing in. They couldn't fathom a world that in all of Hawaii these people picked the same spot to vacation in. I couldn't agree more with them. They constantly bad mouthed Kelly's vacation boyfriend for being a creep and this actor totally deserved it, he was terrible. My favorite thing in the whole episode was how they kept going back to the piece of paper that the hotel lease was written on that was literally, a plain sheet of paper. They kept asking why this wasn't a more important document that they would keep in a special place and I found myself asking the same questions. It's baffling. This was such a great episode of my all time favorite podcast and I can't wait until April Richardson does the wedding of Zack and Kelly on what I assume will be the final episode ever of "Go Bayside".

Number four is the episode of "Doughboys" where they talk about In and Out Burger. "Doughboys" has been my new favorite podcast and this episode takes the cake. In most episodes, there's a back and forth between Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger and the guest just chimes in with whomever they are friends with. It's all very funny, but this episode was bizarre in the best possible way. Their guest was Armen Weitzman. Comedy fans know who Weitzman is, and how weird he can be, but he was off the handles in this particular "Doughboys". He would go back and forth between talking about the food to talking straight nonsense. While I was listening, I was enthralled at how wacky this episode was becoming. Even Mitchell and Wiger seemed to be taken aback at where all this was going. They even stopped their bickering towards each other and let Weitzman go on some long, strange rants. The best part was Weitzman explaining why his basketball podcast with Mitchell never came to fruition. This was the most bizarre thing in a completely absurd episode. I loved every second and I've listened to it multiple times just to hear the craziness. Not every episode is like this one, but I'm glad they have this, because it's one for the ages.

Coming in at number three I have "The Bill Simmons Podcast" episode with Michael Rappaport. As we all know by now, Simmons was fired from ESPN, took a social media hiatus for a couple of months and finally announced he'd be returning with a podcast and a TV show soon. The podcast was first and his early episodes were with friends and former athletes. It was basically the same thing as the "B.S. Report". Then, he had Michael Rappaport on and it was magical. He talked about everything fro his love for Knicks basketball to Rocky's trainer being a ladies man. He professed his love for Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, calling him the "Latvian Gangster". He also kept calling Latvia, Lativia. He added an "I" that didn't need to be there. He also pushed Simmons to say something bad about ESPN. I loved how he was all in his business trying to get Simmons to say anything about his firing and what led to it. Simmons didn't say anything on air, but I like to imagine he crushed ESPN off air. Rappaport was a great relief from all the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics love that flooded the first month of Bill Simmons new podcast. He was lively, constantly cursing and just being himself. I loved it and I know most of his listeners did too. I can't wait for part two because there needs to be a part two.

My number two podcast episode was Comedy Bang Bang's fourth edition of "Farts and Procreation". This was bittersweet. Harris Wittels unfortunately overdosed and died the week before this episode came out. It was tragic and he has been greatly missed. He died way too young and had a horrible addiction problem. I didn't even know him and I miss him, so I can't even imagine what was going through Scott Aukerman's head when he did the intro. Well, his intro was an absolutely beautiful homage to his friend. He spoke of the good and the bad times they had and their close friendship. These two were very good friends. I'll admit, the intro brought me to tears. Then, they played their annual episode and it was as funny as one could've hoped for. Wittels, Chelsea Peretti and Adam Scott were as goofy and funny as they were on the previous three. Aukerman did his thing as the host, keeping the pace. Wittels did his classic "Harrison's Foam Corner" where he tells jokes that aren't ready for the stage yet and it was, once again, riotous. Peretti and Scott were great too. This was a great sendoff to the great career of Harris Wittels that was cut way too short. This is another episode I go back and listen to because it reminds me how truly talented Harris Wittels was. He was a great comedy writer nd he will be deeply missed.

And that brings us to my number one podcast episode of 2015, the "WTF with Marc Maron" episode where he interviewed President Barack Obama. This was a watermark moment in podcast history. I know that Obama was on other podcast, but not a comedian's podcast that thousands of hard core comedy fans listen to. This was a huge deal to me because I am an Obama supporter and I'm a Maron fan, so put those two together, I'm immediately on board. Maron did a great job with the interview, asking him all types of questions. Obama was even better, answering everything and telling more. He spoke of his father not really being around. He spoke of his love for his mom. He praised his wife. He talked about being a dad to teenage girls. He came off as a regular guy, not the President and I loved that. This was easily the best one hour of podcasting I listened to every year. And, I'm glad it was Maron that got the interview. He's gotten some big time people to be on his show, but he got the President and to people of my generation, this was great for us to hear this powerful man sound like an everyday guy. Maron and Obama did a great job with this episode. I mean, how could anything else be number one beside this episode.

So there you have my top five podcast episodes of 2015. Come back tomorrow where I wrap it up with my top five sports moments of 2015.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Next year his top five podcasts will all be ones he is a featured guest on. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.