Podcasts by Downers

Kate's Big Quarantine! from 2021-09-08T04:00

#229 – Our third to the last episode! In this installment of Downers, we answer listeners' emails and hear about Kate's big vacation! Kate's in quarantine, in Hong Kong, and has much to report a...

Packing Up and Moving Out from 2021-08-08T17:52:58

#228 – As Kate and Hao pack up parts of, or all of, their lives in preparation for the next month of their lives, we check in with them to see how they pack and wh...

UFOs are Real, and It is What It is from 2021-07-14T04:00

#227 – With the U.S. government wholeheartedly endorsing the concept of unidentified flying objects, we thought it would be GREAT (content-wise) to, once again, turn our attention to these myste...

The Sequel to Candyland is Candycountry from 2021-07-07T04:00

#226 – Candy: we've all had it, but what if there were more of it? In this episode, Downers invents new types of candies. Also: voting. We've all done it, but if there were more of it (more type...

Downers Answers Yahoo! Answers Questions from 2021-06-30T04:00

#225 (REUPLOAD) – How is babby formed? Do we live in a giant, sophisticated simulation? How can you tell if someone likes you just as much you like them? Back in t...

Our Thoughts on "New" Pokémon Snap: Iglin is the New Igloo from 2021-06-23T04:00

#224 – Local NYC politics AND a sensual take on New Pokémon Snap take focus on this week's episode of Downers. Why is Professor Mirror so thirsty for our photos? C...

Aphantasia! from 2021-06-16T04:00

#223 – The Downers crew reunite for a classic three-host episode. Can't picture a green apple in your head? Having trouble counting sheep? Is your spank bank more of a septic tank? Well, you mig...

Parameters II from 2021-06-09T04:00

#222 – Way back in the episode #000000000001, Hao and Jack (with Kate relegated to a feature segment) delved into PARAMETERS, as we figured out what the podcast sh...

Squashing Beefs II: Confrontations: Volume I: Dawn Club from 2021-06-02T04:00

#221 – Confrontation is both an art and a science. On this podcast, it's also an idea for an episode. In this episode, Hao, Kate, and Ian confront each other about...

Let's Play Slay the Spire! from 2021-05-26T16:00

#220 – As a followup to the massively successful Sims episode, Kate and Hao decide to SLAY THE SPIRE. We journey deep into the spire in an attempt to kill The Hear...

"Politician's Zoom Background Can't Hide Fact That He's Actually Driving" from 2021-05-19T04:00

#219 – This week, we talk about Matt Novak's seminal article "Politician's Zoom Background Can't Hide Fact That He's Actually Driving." What would you do if you had to videoconference w...

Being Alive from 2021-05-12T04:00

#218 – Lots of Mail this week, in Mail Corner! We answer a question about sexual/lucid dreams, and we talk to a foreign correspondent from around the world! Then, we round the end of the show wi...

How to Go Off the Grid from 2021-05-05T04:00

#217 – Have you gone off the grid? Let us know on our social media accounts! Because this week's episode is all about how to go off the grid, and why you might wan...

Separating the Art from the Artist from 2021-04-28T04:00

#216 – Special guest host Ian, formerly contentman, joins Kate and Hao this week to talk about a topic we brought up on a previous episode and completely forgot: s...

Dream Guests from 2021-04-21T04:00

#215 – This week's main segment comes from Contentman Ian, who asks: Who are your dream guests? And what would it be like if they came onto the show? We go around ...

Smörgåsbord! from 2021-04-14T04:00

#214 – Sometimes Downers is one big main entrée, and sometimes it's not. And when it's not, it's a veritable buffet of snacks, which is this week's episode. In this installment: What Things are ...

How to Leave from 2021-04-07T16:00

#213 – It's easy to arrive at something, and it's much harder to leave. This hour, we present a guide to leaving: how to leave a room at a party, how to leave a relationship, how to leave the wo...

Mario Cuomo: a Celebration from 2021-03-31T04:00

#212 – Well, Kate's out this week, and that means Jack and Hao revert to their base instincts: insidery programming jokes, abstract roleplay, and a willingness to ...

Young Teenage Japanese Motorcyclist Actually Distinguished Older Man // Ann Pratchett's HOW TO PRACTICE from 2021-03-24T04:00

#211 – Some things are actually two things, and this episode's main segment is actually two main segment. FIRST we talk about how a popular, young, teenage, blonde...

Parents of teenage daughters more likely to divorce: WHY? HOW? LET'S EXPLORE from 2021-03-17T04:00

#210 – This week we cover Jan Kabátek and David C. Ribar's study "TEENAGE DAUGHTERS AS A CAUSE OF DIVORCE," in which they showed that daughters ages 13-18 are asso...

Inbox Six or Seven from 2021-03-10T05:00

#209 – Inbox can be a drag, and people have all sorts of ways to work around it. In this episode, we devote the hour to INBOX MANAGEMENT, and the myriad of ways it...

Ian III: Coffee, Wikipedia, Dogs, and Wood from 2021-03-03T05:00

#208 – Back by popular demand, Ian and his stentorian voice occupy this action-packed episode of Downers. We're talking 10.0 life changes, we're talking unemployme...

Downers Furikake from 2021-02-24T17:00

#207 – Furikake is the dry Japanese condiment that everybody is shaking on their rice. Here on Downers, we took one look at this grocery-store "ethnic aisle" stapl...

Our Whole House is a Sink from 2021-02-17T05:00

#206 – Quarantine houses, but different: in this episode, we construct the ultimate DOWNERS HOUSE. Listen in as we wander from room to room, customizing it to our ...

ANDREWS v. NEW JERSEY from 2021-02-10T05:00

#205 – Can an officer of the law compel you to hand over the password to your encrypted device? Or is this an example of self-incrimination, as prohibited by the F...

?? from 2021-02-03T06:00

#204 – As the Lunar New Year approaches, we take the time to investigate one of the complex, time-honored traditions that marks the holiday: RED ENVELOPES. Usually...

Sharon Says So from 2021-01-27T17:00

#203 – Sharon McMahon runs an Instagram account @sharonsaysso where liberals and conservatives alike feel welcome to ask questions about how American governance wo...

Our Sims Live in a Very, Very, Very Fine House from 2021-01-20T05:00

#202 – Most people play video games "vanilla," without any modifications of any sort. But, here on Downers, we say: not us, we refuse, for we mod and we must mod. ...

The Twenty-year Rule from 2021-01-13T05:00

#201 – It is now allowed to talk about the events of 9/11 on the /r/AskHistorians subreddit, which imposes a strict ban on discussion of topics fewer than twenty y...

Our 200th Episode from 2021-01-06T05:00

#200 – What can you say? Sometimes, you do a podcast and it hits two hundred episodes. It's not meant to be something special, but it is anyway. The production of ...

Bee-forward Plumage from 2020-12-30T05:00

#199 – Jack's got a long list of parrots, and we're going to tell you the leadership qualities of each one. That's right: it's another hard-hitting episode of Down...

Santa Likes to Zoom Around: THE DOWNERS GIFT GUIDE from 2020-12-23T05:00

#198 – Well, the gifting season is upon us, or it was when we recorded this anyway. In this episode, we explore gifts you could be giving to your loves, or common ...

The Downers Podcast Network from 2020-12-16T05:00

#197 – Downers is expanding! We're launching a slate of 10,000 other podcasts, and this episode will be the upfronts/previews for all the content in our pipeline. Hear clips from your soon-to-be...

Doug, Our Concertgoing Friend from 2020-12-09T05:00

#196 – Our friend Doug goes to many concerts, which is something that you can't quite do during COVID. Let's check in with him and see how he's feeling! In many wa...

My Favorite Rule is Oxygen, Our Wikipedia Episode from 2020-12-02T05:00

#195 – This week, we talk about Benjamin Mako Hill's (possibly now a Dr. Benjamin Mako Hill's??) paper "Listen

It's Been COVID: Four Scenes from EMPTY HOUSE, Our Full House Prequel from 2020-11-25T05:00

#194 – Downers Radio is proud to present four exclusive scenes from our upcoming production of EMPTY HOUSE, the never-before-heard prequel to FULL HOUSE. Many peop...

Minks! from 2020-11-18T05:00

#193 – Having detected a mutated COVID-19 among farms, Denmark is culling its minks. As of writing, gassed minks are reappearing, zombielike, all over this fine country, but, when we recorded th...

The First Moments of Each Day from 2020-11-11T05:00

#192 – Who are you in those first few moments when you wake up each day? This question we pose and attempt to answer in this hour of Downers. We also explore and f...

Why is Christmas so Sexy? from 2020-11-04T05:00

#191 – Christmas! It's right around the corner, and it can be downright sexy sometimes. In this hour, we devote the hour to thinking about just why Chrimb...

Female Son of God from 2020-10-28T04:00

#190 – What are your personal strengths? In this episode, we embark on an adventure to answer this question by taking an online personality quiz hosted on VIA's In...

Selective Memory: Twenty Four, Going on Twenty Five, Pairs of Shoes from 2020-10-21T04:00

#189 – Do we mostly remember the good parts of our life, or the shitty parts of our life? Why is it that we gravitate toward keeping the memories that the unhealthiest for us to remember, if tha...

Gas Draft: Now, are You Thinking of a Particular Lover, or... (feat. Aaron) from 2020-10-14T04:00

#188 – Following on the heels of our extremely successful SOLIDS DRAFT and LIQUIDS DRAFT, we fly into the sun on waxed wings in this episode with our GAS DRAFT. We...

Tarot Cards with Michelle! from 2020-10-07T04:00

#187 – We felt bad for you in a good way, and other topics! on this week's episode of DOWNERS. This week, we have our friend Michelle read our podcast's tarot card...

Tell Us where You Got those Ping-pong Balls. Was it Satan? from 2020-09-30T04:00

#186 – If you sell glass bottles, you should be forced to take them back, just like in the old days. This, and other topics, come under the microscope that is this podcast, Downers. Hao's callin...

Mail Corner, and Deterministic Baby Gender from 2020-09-23T04:00

#185 – Jack's on wuwei this week, which means he's consumed no content for the entire week. What's he been up to instead?? We also take a trip through our Gmail in...

LIQUIDS DRAFT 2: SOLIDS DRAFT from 2020-09-16T04:00

#184 – Hot on the heels of our enormously successful Liquids Draft episode, we are proud to present to you our SOLIDS DRAFT. What team of solids will everybody for...

Bullshit Jobs from 2020-09-09T04:00

#183 – Jobs: some of them are good, some of them are evil, and some of them shouldn't exist. It's onto the third category that we aim our sights in this episode of...

Maximum Chunk Size from 2020-09-02T04:00

#182 – (Not 183) – Plants! They're all around us, forming the flora to our fauna. We take a good, long, hard look at our amateur attempts at gardening, and discuss...

Downers Creates Jobs in America from 2020-08-26T04:00

#181 – What if you could hire someone to work a fulltime job? What would they do? Kate, Hao, and Jack send their employees out on missions in this episode, and we ...

Fiber Internet, Fiber Internet! from 2020-08-19T04:00

#180 – Lots of stuff to catch up on this week, including cat bonding, yoga, and Governor's Island. Then we talk about FIBER INTERNET, which Kate has but none of us...

I'm Thirsty, and I Had a Morning that Wasn't Great from 2020-08-12T04:00

#179 – Jack talks about his dream jobs. And then we talk about dreams in general! Also: homeopathic heating pads, bacon grease, kisses, and aliens. You can truly n...

What We Talk about When We Talk about Twitch Emotes from 2020-08-05T16:00

#178 (177 is experiencing some technical difficulties) – Twitch emotes! We've all seen them, but what to they really mean? The Downers private investigators are on the case. Some of the...

How to be a Dungeon Master from 2020-07-29T04:00

#177 – Dungeons and Dragons (and other tabletop RPGs) can sometimes be daunting because it requires someone to be a dungeon master (to DM). Jack recently DM'd a game, and he's here to turn his l...

Our Overwatch Episode from 2020-07-22T04:00

#176 – Sombra: what kind of pants does she wear? These, and other questions, we gamely tackle in this hour of DOWNERS THE ONLY PODCAST ABOUT SADNESS AND KOREAN FOOD. Jack and Hao read out descri...

Calvin&Hobbes from 2020-07-15T04:00

#175 – Jack has never read Bill Watterson's CALVIN AND HOBBES, if you can believe it, so, in this episode, we tie him down and subject him to some Content from the Past™. The beloved comic strip...

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Creepshots from 2020-07-08T04:00

#174 – Kate's gone this week, so we have to figure out what to do! The central conceit of the indie darling video game THE OUTER WILDS is that you live your life on a twenty-two minute loop. Wha...

Infinity, Our Infinity Episode from 2020-07-01T16:00

#173 – Cats! They're not our friends, but sometimes they can be our pets. We ask Kate what's going on with her two new cats in our critically acclaimed, much beloved Follow-ups Corner. Also: the...

Space Alert from 2020-06-24T04:00

#172 – Space: it's all around us. But what is space? The Downers podcast isn't afraid to ask troubling questions like this one. What's the most common way of dying in space? If space is...

Jack Talks to His Father about Outlander from 2020-06-17T04:00

#171 – Well, Jack's been watching Netflix's OUTLANDER on his father's recommendation, and he wants to talk to his father (played by Hao) about the show. It's a complex show that both subverts an...

Yummy is in the Eye of the Beholder, Our Recent Events Episode from 2020-06-10T04:00

#170 – As a wave of solidarity push elected officials to take actions of justice, we ourselves take a moment to break the rules of the podcast and take a moment to talk about recent events and t...

Monica Lewinsky House from 2020-06-06T04:00

#169 – Quarantine houses! We've all seen the memes, now we get to hear the episode. First, we take a quarantine house quiz. Then we make our own! Yes, that's right, the content practically gener...

Get Married and Read Infinite Jest: Our Conflict in the Workplace Episode from 2020-05-27T04:00

#168 – Part of working with other humans is conflict. It's natural! How do YOU deal with conflict? In this episode, Jack and Hao take a quiz that Kate had to take at work. We find out how often,...

WHAT IF YOU HAD TWO BODIES INSTEAD OF ONE from 2020-05-20T04:00

#167 – WHAT IF YOU HAD TWO BODIES INSTEAD OF ONE

Plugs this week:

• Air purifier (Kate)
• The new Pringles man (Jack)
• Sombra, the Overwatch character (...
  Listen

This is What This Is: A Trip Down Memory Lane (Kate's Notebook) from 2020-05-13T04:00

#166 – This is sort of a grab bag episode. First, we take a trip through the notes Kate took in her production notebook! Second, we do a Liquids Draft: Which liquids would you have on YOUR team?...

Let's Fix Plastic! (I always knew Santa wasn't real in the back of my head, but now I'm being slapped across the face with it) from 2020-05-06T04:00

#165 – Hao read Sharon Lerner's fantastic 2019 expose about the plastic industry's national push to make single-use plastic readily available to consumers, through municipal legislation and fals...

Coronavirus! 2: Fun Ways the Pandemic Might End, and the Death of Content: a Downers™ Black-and-White Cookie from 2020-04-29T04:00

#164 – The pandemic is on our minds again, as I'm sure it's on you. We wanted to devote the hour this week to talking about fun ways the pandemic might end. Meteor strike? A custom-made astronau...

Anxiety on the Piccolo from 2020-04-22T04:00

#163 – This week, we read and react to Jeff Foster's poem "THE LIE OF HAPPINESS," which encourages us to engage in the full range of emotions that life has to offer, maybe. Plus: Jack's on a new...

Downers After Dark: Genetic Happiness: A Number is a Thousand Words from 2020-04-15T04:00

#162 – Some people are just plain happier, on a day to day basis. What's that all about? How can we quantify happiness? Is the pursuit of happiness futile? Only a special after-dark episode of D...

Consumerism in Animal Crossing from 2020-04-08T04:00

#161 – Two episodes ago we watched a video of a real animal crossing, and now it's time to talk about Nintendo's Animal Crossing (New Horizons). Yes, this family-friendly Japanese-made video gam...

Neighbors! from 2020-04-01T16:00

#160 – Neighbors! We all have them, and now they matter more than ever. In this hour, we talk about the neighbors we have had and the neighbors we have currently. We rank our neighbors on a scal...

"Pennsylvania man captures all walks of life crossing log bridge" COMMENTARY TRACK(S) from 2020-03-25T04:00

#159 – The Downers crew are at it again! This time, they're watching the seminal YouTube video "Pennsylvania man captures all walks of life crossing log bridge" over and over again, giving their...

Upside Downers: Black of Night from 2020-03-18T04:00

#158 – In these trying times, we turn to podcasting for audio comfort. For example, what do you do when you are stuck indoors? Well, cut this piece of audio out and stick it in your wallet, beca...

Personal Finance Grab Bag! from 2020-03-11T04:00

#157 – Jack and Hao walk you, yes that's right you, through a wide variety of personal-finance topics: traditional 401(k)s, Roth 401(k)s, when to start an IRA, tax diversification, index funds w...

Coronavirus! from 2020-03-04T17:00

#156 – With quarantines going into effect, and panic buying of hand sanitizer and toilet paper, globally, we thought it'd be no better time than now to break our rule on talking about current ev...

Chartered Boats and Body Positivity from 2020-02-26T05:00

#155 – Kate went on a chartered boat trip, with plenty of swimming and warm water filled with leaf decomposition! Then, we talk about Listen

The Four Quadrants of the Body from 2020-02-19T17:00

#154 – This week, we tackle something we've talked about before, but for an ENTIRE episode. It's this: the inherent tension between (1) being ambitious and (2) not wanting. What does it mean to ...

Molly, Our Close Friend, Who is Living in Cambodia from 2020-02-12T05:00

#153 – Asia! It's got so many countries, and, every now and then, Downers will bring you an exciting guest from one of them, and this is one of those times. In this episode, we interview Molly. ...

Hao Bought 12 Toilet Paper Rolls, and What a Downers Little Italy Might Look Like from 2020-02-08T20:04:41

#152 – Jack and Hao tackle the most pressing issues of the day while Kate is on sick leave: Where, in his Brooklyn apartment, should Hao store the twelve toilet paper rolls? And what would OUR v...

Flying in the United States of America from 2020-01-29T05:00

#151 – From a Seattle bathroom, Hao calls in to discuss the sadness of flying in these United States of America. Then, in act two, we role play as two samurais trying to enter a spa. These are T...

He held me for the first time in what felt like months from 2020-01-22T05:00

#150 – Kate has a new job! And then we get into the sadness of other people via /r/relationships. What happens when a loving husband brings home a puppy by surprise? We find out! We read! We off...

I Don't Trust Flamingos, Our Knight Zoo Episode from 2020-01-15T05:00

#149 – Kate went to a night zoo in Singapore. In this episode, we dive into her experience there, and we discuss the sadness of crepuscular animals. Also, we check in with Kate's tonsil...

Our Friend, the Skin from 2020-01-08T05:00

#148 — We here at Downers are proud to present our official skincare, and it may surprise you to know that it is sometimes a hodgepodge of internet advice and personal anecdotes. Moisturizer, re...

Global Globetrotters: Cambodia from 2019-12-25T17:00

#147 – Kate went to Singapore and Cambodia, and we, as custom dictates, discuss. We also assign power rankings to each of the Bon Appétit chefs. It's that kind of episode. Plus, another exciting...

The Interplanetary Filesystem, and Other Mistakes from 2019-12-18T05:00

#146 – Dungeonmaster Jack and Phlegmy Hao are checking in from the far reaches of outer space (a.k.a. Earth). This week: a distributed filesystem IPFS and a blockchain FileCoin built on top of i...

Navy UFO Sightings (Brought to You by AccessCouponCodeAccessNow.Biz) from 2019-12-11T05:00

#145 – We might not call them UFOs anymore, but they are still out there. On this day in the year Downers, Jack and Kate break down the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Progra...

What to Do Before You Turn Thirty from 2019-12-04T05:00

#144 – We are all simultaneously turning thirty in the next six months. It's time to itemize, prioritize, and scrutinize the many things we have yet to accomplish. JOURNEY WITH US. Also, Christm...

Thanksgiving PART II from 2019-11-27T05:00

#143 – Who is that at the door going Gobble Gobble? Why it must be Old Man Thanksgiving himself, and – you know what that means – a return to Thanksgiving in an episode we call THANKSGI...

Elizabeth Weil's "WHAT DO TEENAGERS LEARN ONLINE TODAY? THAT IDENTITY IS A WORK IN PROGRESS" from 2019-11-20T05:00

#142 – Take this New York Times article and add three charismatic podcast hosts, and you might get thi...

Moo Moo with the Rest of Us, Our Forest Bathing Episode from 2019-11-13T05:00

#141 – Kate went forest bathing! She felt rocks as if they were a lover. She has much to report. We also talk flu shots! Jack has a new video camera!

Plugs this week!

Listen

Calm Nurse, Our Magic Episode from 2019-11-06T05:00

Magic! It’s not real. Right? … Right?

Plugs this week:

• Buying pottery (Kate)
• Aaron (Hao)
• Bros and fries (Jack)

Listen

Calm Nurse, Our Bees' Consciousness Episode from 2019-10-30T04:00

#139 – This week, we tackle Lars Chittka and Catherine Wilson's article "Expanding Consciousness." Bees! They're...

Boiled, Boiled Salad from 2019-10-23T04:00

#138 – We devote the hour to the Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh's cult. We talk cults! We talk about the streak of individualism in the fabric of America's identity! We talk salad bars!

MUST, MIGHT, WON'T: The Aesthetics of Chaos from 2019-10-16T04:00

#137 – Jack and Hao make a spreadsheet! It has three columns: things where you must kill something, things where you might kill something, and things where you won't kill something. We also tack...

BREAKING UP FACEBOOK from 2019-10-09T16:00

#136 – People in the news are trying to break Facebook up! We, at Downers, feel compelled – compelled – to weigh in on this important topic. In this episode we break Facebook up into a ...

Ill! from 2019-10-02T16:00

#134 – Kate and Hao talk about the myriad of ways we try to make ourselves, to trick ourselves, into feeling better when we're sick. (In this episode, Kate's actually sick, which lends the show ...

Symbolic Self-Completion, Attempted Influence, and Self-Deprecation from 2019-10-02T04:00

#135 – Jack and Hao break down a psychology paper from 1981! It posits that people who announce their intentions are more likely to not complete their goals; that people who know less about a su...

MOON // SLAVERY from 2019-09-18T04:00

#133 – Fall is here! Speaking of fall, the Vikram moon lander fell to the surface, so we will speculate wildly as to what happened. Also, chess grandmasters now have a team of nutritionists help...

I Fell Off the Skywalk at the Downers Meat Substitute Effigy, Our Burning Man Alternative Episode from 2019-09-11T04:00

#132 – As corporate interests and so-called "influencers" have co-opted Burning Man, a once-idealistic experiment in constructing a vast, temporary city over the course of nine days, to their ow...

DOWNERS IS OFF THIS WEEK from 2019-09-04T04:00

#131 – No Downers this week! Here's an episode from a completely unrelated podcast called I HEART* NY by two people named Hao and Veronica!

Let's Play The Sims! from 2019-08-28T04:00

#130 – How do Kate and Hao back up their files? Computers break, and you better have a Plan B. Find out on this episode! But first, they're going to PLAY THE SIMS and TALK OVER IT. Is there audi...

A WORLD WITHOUT RECYCLING from 2019-08-21T16:00

#129 – Crisis Crisis Crisis We wake up, one day, in a world without recycling. How are our lives different? This is the type of question that only our podcast is brave enough to tackle. We talk ...

FUTURE TABOOS FROM/FOR THE YEAR 2069 from 2019-08-14T04:00

#128 – The year is a 2069. We open on desert dunes, wind blowing sand into eddies and whirls. The camera pans, only to reveal the three co-hosts of Downers sitting at a table, recording their th...

What is it Like in Ancient Egypt? from 2019-08-07T04:00

#127 – Jack and Hao explore the distant past this week, through the magic of podcasting. We take a trip to ANCIENT EGYPT to explore how pharaohs interacted with the people beneath them. We explo...

FUNKS from 2019-07-31T16:00

#126 – Just Jack and Kate this week, on a special episode of Downers. Whether it's depression, anxiety, or a general funk, we all get experience emotional valleys (or maybe craters) from time to...

Late-late Capitalism / Japanese Radio Calisthenics from 2019-07-24T04:00

#125 — Hello from the road! As I type, the trees of Los Angeles fly past me. We are plunging our way to the airport, and we miss the beautiful house we stayed at. Parting is bittersweet, as ever...

Forunately, Unfortunately from 2019-07-17T04:00

#124 – Cat allergies? A party game called FORTUNATELY, UNFORTUNATELY?? What a content-packed episode! This episode was recorded during the Manhattan power outage of 2019, which gives it a spooky...

MICRODOSING: I Get Up at Seven and I Deliver the Sadness from 2019-07-10T04:00

#123 – Microdosing psychedelic drugs is all the rage, maybe, these days, but what OTHER things should we be microdosing? Dust, perhaps?? We devote the hour to weighing in on this important topic...

Yet More Questions From /r/relationships from 2019-07-03T04:00

#122 – Kate and Hao pore over /r/relationships, answering thorny questions such as "What do I do if my mom won't let me go outside?" and "Is my boyfriend a drug dealer?" There is something funda...

Electrodes on Your Feet: Protests in Hong Kong from 2019-06-26T04:00

#121 – We're back with our curious medical maladies in addition to a rare rule-break so that we can talk about the Hong Kong protests as they DIRECTLY affect one of our correspondents, sort of, ...

You is an Agenda from 2019-06-19T04:00

#120 – As an adult, one of the things you find yourself doing over and over, tedium after tedium, is scheduling events. Establishing who, what, and where over SMS, email, and Slack is the bread ...

Take It or Leave It: Dogs from 2019-06-12T04:00

#119 – It's just Hao this week! We're gonna really get into it. We're really gonna tear it up. WHALE SONGS. THE NEWS. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT: DOGS.

Without You, There is No Us from 2019-06-05T04:00

#118 – Suki Kim's 2014 book WITHOUT YOU, THERE IS NO US, which documents her 2011 visit to North Korea as an English teacher to its elite students, is the topic of the hour. This episode was rel...

Labels, Our Distant Enemies from 2019-05-29T04:00

#117 – Jack and Hao mount a stirring attack on personhood labels. This is something we often allude to on the podcast, the idea of putting people in boxes that often are too big or too small to ...

Squashing Beefs / Hygiene from 2019-05-22T04:00

#116 – Beefs! We all have past mistakes that haunt us. In this hour, we squash some of our beefs. Also, in the B-plot, we discuss hygiene. What's up with the shower industry, and the marketing a...

What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right from 2019-05-15T04:00

#115 – This week, we devote the hour to The Washingtonian's article "What Happened After My 13-Year-Old [sic] Son Joined the Alt-Right." We also get a follow-up to Kate's travels to Tokyo, where...

Giraffe This is a Brown Cow from 2019-05-08T04:00

#114 – Downers convenes this week to discuss the important topic of the week: BIOHACKING. What is it??? Should be afraid of it, or should we embrace it wholeheartedly? We also talk along the way...

Mosque, Church, Synagogue from 2019-05-01T04:00

#113 – We break our rule about current events to talk about places of worship. In light of recent horrific events, we cannot help but feel compelled to say nice things about them. Just Jack and ...

Julian L'Estrange from 2019-04-24T04:00

EPISODE 112 // Julian Assange has been arrested and is facing extradition. WikiLeaks sits at the intersection of technology and policy and naturally makes good fodder for our podcast. Which is w...

Doing Nothing! from 2019-04-17T04:00

EPISODE 111 // We devote this hour to Jenny Odell's EYEO 2017 keynote talk on doing nothing. How do you do nothing...

Slack! from 2019-04-10T04:00

EPISODE 110 // Slack! The unicorn that Silicon Valley fell in love in. We three all use it. If you don’t use it, it’s the work-chat application that people just can’t get enough of. In this epis...

Me is a Third Friend from 2019-04-03T04:00

**IMPORTANT BUSINESS**

We now have a VERY active subreddit at /r/downersradio

**IMPORTANT BUSINESS CONDUCTED**

EPISODE 109 // In honor of our new subreddit, and the...

CHILDHOOD FEARS from 2019-03-27T04:00

EPISODE 108 is here and it's kind of scary, no big deal, wait come back. It's about CHILDHOOD FEARS – the irrational bogeymen that plagued us as wee little ones. The ghosts that hid ben...

Ian Henry, Our Close Friend Again from 2019-03-20T04:00

EPISODE 107 // We bring Ian back to talk WOODWORKING and to give an update on HAVING SIBLINGS (see our award-winning episode 3). What's happened in the intervening two years?? We find out.

Reading as an Adult! from 2019-03-13T04:00

EPISODE 106 // How you read as a child can be very different from how you read as an adult. The quality of reading is different – the books you used to like no longer hold their charm, perhaps, ...

Animal Consciousness! from 2019-03-01T06:12:12

EPISODE 105 // Kate's out and Jack's got some thoughts about ANIMAL CONSCIOUSNESS on the old brain. What is consciousness anyway? There's a slight echo for Jack's voice up until minute seven. SK...

GLOBAL GLOBETROTTERS: ONSENS IN JAPAN from 2019-02-27T05:00

EPISODE 104 // Kate went to an onsen in (温泉) in Japan and she's here to talk about some of the SADNESS involved in these Japanese nude spas. We talk about childrearing! We talk about the vote fo...

THE GOOD PLACE and TEENAGE ENGINEERING, Our Two-Act Episode from 2019-02-20T05:00

EPISODE 103 has an UNUSUAL structure. First we talk about the rise of binge-watched television, using Michael Schur's recent filmography as an example. THEN we talk about making music with the T...

Grammar Party 7, Our Valentine's Day Episode from 2019-02-13T05:00

EPISODE 102 is all about MEDITATION and VALENTINE'S DAY. Come with us as we dive into the Insight Timer App, the book THE MIND ILLUMINATED, and the very idea of Valentine's Day. We are observing...

They should have been minding their own business but they were asking the tough questions from 2019-02-06T05:00

EPISODE 101 // UNRESOLVED MYSTERIES flicker at the edges of our lives. Whether it's UFOs, Bigfoot, or the glitter industry, they're waiting to be resolved and they can't. In this episode we devo...

EPISODE ONE HUNDRED from 2019-01-30T05:00

• 00:00 -- brief explanation that this is based on downers episode 99, no more stuff
• minute 1: debut new downers theme song; 17s long, play it a few times, play it at different spee...
  Listen

It's Just Reading So You Might as Well Do It Online from 2019-01-23T05:00

EPISODE 99 is all about EPISODE 100, which comes out next week! This week we give you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how an episode comes together as we generate a minute-by-minute sched...

BLOGGING: Podcasts for Your Eyes from 2019-01-16T05:00

EPISODE 98 is structured around a thesis: Everybody likes blogging, but Jack has problems with it. What kinds of problems? You'll Have to Tune In to Find Out.

We talk about RSS r...

Me Resolve to Make a Sequel to Me Resolutions Episode from 2019-01-09T05:00

EPISODE 97 is here and it's about RESOLUTIONS. We go over the resolutions we made on last year's podcast and, hey you know what?, we make some more. We talk meditation and dot journaling; we tal...

Jewel Thievery is a Minor Crime from 2019-01-02T05:00

EPISODE 96 // If you live in a country and you listen to Downers, you’re probably wondering… why haven’t the hosts ever said hi to me??? We rectify that mistake in this episode! We have a list o...

BOXING DAY from 2018-12-26T14:17:23

EPISODE 95 // Enough about Christmas, Enough about Hanukkah, I Want to Know More about BOXING DAY. What is Boxing Day? And what might an unboxing day look like? We find out on this epis...

I HAVE ENOUGH, I DO ENOUGH, I AM ENOUGH from 2018-12-19T05:00

EPISODE 94 ("I think that's dystopia, a little") // We devote this episode to a popular mantra – I have enough, I do enough, I am enough. First taught to Kate and Hao in a yoga class, we now dis...

Learning, True and False from 2018-12-12T05:00

EPISODE 93 ("HE MADE IT SQUARE") // A lot of updates in Update Corner, and then we round out the 45 minutes with a discussion of learning and false learning. Specifically, Duolingo and how feeli...

CONSTRUCTION LADY SENT ME A LAMP from 2018-12-05T05:00

EPISODE 92 // We have a special DECEMBER HOLIDAYS episode. Christmas and Hanukkah are on the docket. We talk Christmas traditions, how to deal with the crass commercialism of the winter holidays...

7) people who are trapped in a box and can't see the box (part 2: what box are you trapped in?) from 2018-11-28T05:00

EPISODE 91 // Should Kate have a child just so the child can hold our Hong Kong studio equipment at mouth level? This and other questions this week in a SPECIAL construction NOISE episode. But o...

Gratitude Journaling, Sort Of from 2018-11-21T05:00

EPISODE 90 // Well the holidays are upon us and it’s time once again for an UPSIDE DOWNERS. This week we go around and list things we are thankful for. This may SEEM like a thin concept for an e...

SLEEP DEBT from 2018-11-14T05:00

Episode 89 // We’re talking sleep debt this episode! It affects all of us, and it has a negative impact on our lives. We also talk bed builds, check in with Kate in Hong Kong, and Jack’s street ...

Remnants from 2018-11-07T05:00

EPISODE 88 // When people move or pass on, they leave behind stuff. It can be weird to go through the artifacts of someone's life, picking out which pieces you want to keep. It can be weird to d...

My Books Were Lumber, Our Food Delivery Epsiode from 2018-10-31T04:00

EPISODE 87 // Seamless: we’ve all used it (maybe). But what’s it like in Hong Kong? And what are other things that we have here like in Hong Kong? And what’s all this kerfuffle about Goober Eats...

The Nature of Nature from 2018-10-24T04:00

EPISODE 86 // We devote the hour to the sexual and brutal nature of Nature. We talk violence! We talk sex in advertising! We talk about Kate's brand new apartment! Also we have a very good follo...

Line of People Outside the White House, before Subcultures Take Over America, and that's the End of My Sentence from 2018-10-17T04:00

EpIsODe 85 // HaS LaTEncY proBleMs ahem has latency problems. We discuss people we would send to meet the president! We nominate subcultures to take over America! In many ways our podcast is ref...

Minimum Wage! from 2018-10-10T04:00

EPISODE 84 // With minimum wage back in the news both overseas and at home, we devote the hour to minimum wage! What other minimum wages should we be allotted? Also: Hong Kong update! Follow-Ups...

Coups, Aliens, and Earthquakes: HONG KONG UPDATE from 2018-10-03T04:00

EPISODE 83 // Kate's in Hong Kong, and Jack the Ministry has questions! Hao forgot about the record and couldn't make it. :( We find about the experience of reading U.S. news on a 12-hour offset...

MOMS~1.MP3 from 2018-09-26T04:00

EPISODE 82 MOMS 1 // [error: description not found]

Plugs this week: NYC ID cards

downersradio@gmail.com // @downersradio on Twitter

Comings and Goings, Our Mirrored Episode from 2018-09-18T04:00

EPISODE 81 // Or should I say 81 Episode? In this episode we switch up the format a little bit because it's symmetric in nature! In one direction we have Hao coming to NYC from China, and in ano...

GYMS from 2018-09-12T04:00

EPISODE 80 // We talk about what's new in the world of exercise! Clare Updates, yoga, glasses, swimming, and more!

plugs this week

• to all the boys i’ve loved before ...
  Listen

OP-ED: THE NEWS IS BACK from 2018-09-05T04:00

EPISODE 79 // Hao has an opinion-editorial for the group!

plugs

travel bottles - hao

peek mental app - kate

infrared thermometers - jack

Listen

Almond Joy Luck Club from 2018-08-29T15:02:46

EPISODE 78 // We went to the movies and now we’re bringing the movies to you! Kate and Hao both watched CRAZY RICH ASIANS and we give a mostly spoiler-free review. THEN we read the showtimes nea...

Philip Roth IRA from 2018-08-22T04:00

EPISODE 77 // Our topic of the hour is PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT. We talked about physically aging and now we’re going to talk about financially aging. Join us as we talk about the expectations fo...

SARA, OUR CLOSE FRIEND (and SISTER-IN-LAW) from 2018-08-15T04:00

EPISODE 76 // SARA is the guest of the hour. We have three guests in the studio so, once again, the sound quality is IFFY. What do we talk about? We ponder the difficulty of moving to a new plac...

KATE WENT TO ITALY from 2018-08-08T04:00

EPISODE 75 // This episode takes place in our ears, and it's devoted to Kate's trip to Italy. We talk about the pace of life outside the United States; we talk coffee; we talk about what it is l...

YOU MOLD IT YOU SOLD IT III: THE FIVE KINDS OF AGING from 2018-08-01T04:36:30

EPISODE 74 // With Kate succumbed to illness, Jack and Hao once again try to cobble together enough content to make a cohesive, compelling episode of television I mean podcasts. In this episode ...

Rotate Yourself Away from What You Yearn the Most from 2018-07-25T04:00

EPISODE 73 // Follow-ups abound on this episode as we follow up on many of the previous topics we discussed in past episodes. Resolutions, evening tapas, and more! Also it’s a NIGHT RECORD.

Upside Downers: THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC BANK INITIATIVE from 2018-07-18T04:00

EPISODE 72 // Los Angeles, the City of Angels, is making a serious play at starting a PUBLIC BANK. We devote the hour to this current event. Also: how do you create a society? What’s the easiest...

MIXED BLAG: BLOCKCHAINS from 2018-07-11T04:00

EPISODE 71 // As previewed on our last episode, this week’s episode is about BLOCKCHAINS. Who’s making money off the blockchain? Who stands to win, and who stands to lose? Also, Kate puts hersel...

"I Just Want to Bulk Up" (Kate) from 2018-07-04T04:00

EPISODE 70 // Kate is moving to Hong Kong and it's making her contemplative about the product subscription industry. More generally we talk about all the comforts and trappings of living at home...

Koko, Our Gorilla Friend from 2018-06-27T04:00

EPISODE 69 // This hour, we talk about Dr. Francine Patterson’s scientific work with Koko, the gorilla who passed away recently. Fame in science is discussed, snake oil is sold, and words are sp...

VOLCANOS from 2018-06-20T04:00

EPISODE 68 // With the eruption at Volcán de Fuego claiming 114 lives this past month in Guatemala, we dedicate this hour to VOLCANOS. We attempt to process our awe of our natural geology; we at...

A Warm Snow, Our Allergies Episode from 2018-06-13T04:00

EPISODE 67 // This week we talk ALLERGIES. We've all got them! How do we cope? Also, we check in with each other after a long period of not recording, including some hot details about Jack's wes...

Chelsea, Our Close Friend from 2018-06-06T04:00

EPISODE 66 // This week Jack and Kate are gone but in their stead is Chelsea, who is looking for teacher work so contact her via #chelsea on Twitter. Beside that we are talking TAYLOR SWIFT AND ...

Small Ways in which Ordinary Life has Gotten Better from 2018-05-30T04:00

EPISODE 65 // Gwern.net has published a list of small ways in which ordinary life has gotten better. Wow! That's very much up this podcast's alley! So we discuss, we note, we nitpick. We talk sp...

Sylvia Bloom, Our Distant Friend from 2018-05-23T04:00

EPISODE 64 // We devote the hour to the life of Sylvia Bloom, a legal secretary who passed away at the age of 96 this month and donated $8.2 million to charity. What was her life like? Is someth...

Terrible Things: Spring Cleaning III from 2018-05-16T14:11:58

EPISODE 63 // We cleared out all the items left on Terrible Things: Spring Cleaning. The elderly! Discourse on the internet! And much more!

Plugs this week:

• ASUS com...
  Listen

Google! These! Queries! That! We! Had! from 2018-05-09T04:00

EPISODE 62 // The three of us spent a long weekend in Austin without any internet and we wrote down all the queries we meant to Google. On this episode WE GOOGLE THEM: horses with Cushing's, Tay...

YOU MOLD IT YOU SOLD IT #2: Ralph Nimmons from 2018-05-02T04:00

EPISODE 61 is devoted to two different news articles about Ralph Nimmons, one in 1992 ("Black Is Victim of Beating By Hasidim in Crown Hts." in the New York Times) and one in 2018 ("Cops identif...

BRUTALISM from 2018-04-25T04:00

EPISODE 60 is devoted to the architectural style known as BRUTALISM – what is it, why can it feel punishing, and how can WE punish the people responsible for inflicting such awful buildings on u...

MEANINGNESS: To Hold a Foot Against the Womb from 2018-04-18T04:00

EPISODE 59 // It's another philosophy episode! We devote Act II of our podcast to David Chapman, the philosopher who wrote meaningness.com (an online book) and has dedicated his life to figuring...

Top of the Morning to Kate from 2018-04-11T04:00

EPISODE 58 // Kate has big news! To find out what it is, you'll have to tune in!

Plugs this week:

• Wes Anderson's ISLE OF DOGS (Hao)
• Essential oils are bad f...
  Listen

TERRIBLE THINGS SPRING CLEANING II from 2018-04-04T04:00

Episode 57 // It's time once again to pick up our sadness brooms and whisk away items on the list of terrible things. These are items that by themselves would not make a great episode BUT, put t...

Global Globetrotters II: The Globening from 2018-03-28T04:00

EPISODE 56 // Once again we have traveled the world to bring you tall and fantastical tales of lands far away, far away from the United States that is, oh her in her glorious amber majesty. What...

Like a Good Mom, We Came Back: Our Spring Cleaning Episode from 2018-03-21T04:00

EPISODE 55 // Spring is here and with it is the pressure to be Clean™. Join us as we run through a series of terrible things on Jack’s list. Certain things we could not figure out how...

Let's Be Pessimistic About VR from 2018-03-14T04:00

EPISODE 54 // We don’t much about Virtual Reality but we can still be pessimistic about it! This week, we promise to come up with UNIQUE and DYSTOPIC scenarios for VR. We are challenging ourselv...

Elon Musk: Back to the Beans from 2018-03-07T17:00

EPISODE 53 // What's Elon Musk up to and should be immediately suspicious of his power and wealth? That's the issue of the hour in this week's episode of Downers as we detail all the ways Elon M...

Happy Birthday to Downers! from 2018-02-28T05:00

EPISODE 52 marks the one-year anniversary of our podcast! Our intros have evolved and so has the audio quality; it's all been possible thanks to our lovely listeners. We wanted to use the 52-epi...

The Marx Podcast from 2018-02-21T05:00

Welcome back to the Marx Podcast, where we're just doing it one step at a time. THIS WEEK we pick a Terrible Thing: mental illness! And we also talk about one thing that's causing mental illness...

ANARCHY from 2018-02-14T05:00

EPISODE 50 IS ABOUT ANARCHY

TYPES OF ANARCHY

ANARCHY AS ILLUSTRATED IN URSULA LE GUIN's THE DISPOSSESSED

IN HONOR OF ANARCHY THIS EPISODE DESCRIPTION HAS BEEN STRIPPED DOWN ...

Stay Still from 2018-02-07T05:00

Episode #49 is dedicated to the practice of YOGA and MEDITATION and, possibly, other so-called "Eastern practices." All three of us are dabblers! But we've never talked for a whole hour about it...

Rocket Scientists, Engineers, and Administrators: The Widening Political Divide from 2018-02-01T05:00

EPISODE 48 is one day late but that's OK because it's chock full of good content, that most elusive all content. In this special episode Kate reports in from our San Diego West Coast Division. W...

Strim Stram, Our Taking Our Marbles Home Episode from 2018-01-24T05:00

EPISODE 47 is all about SECESSION, but not before we first APOLOGIZE in a brand new errata segment. We also talk the New York Excelsior team in Overwatch League (Pine; dabbing) and review vegeta...

Q&A|mirror|A&Q from 2018-01-17T05:00

EPISODE 46 is the second of our two Bradley episodes and it's a Q&A except it's FLIPPED because the asker becomes the answerer with every other question. We cover athlete's foot and foreign-lang...

Bradley and the Five Love Languages from 2018-01-10T05:00

EPISODE 45 // We are joined in the studio this week for the first episode of two with Bradley. You know him from Mailbox Corner and now you know him from this paragraph. Kate has a Follow-Up on ...

Resolutions, a Harvard Law Review from 2018-01-03T05:00

EPISODE 44 is dedicated to New Years Resolutions, small and large, personal- and podcast-related, anti- and non-anti-. Happy New Years from Downers!

Hao's levels are too loud in ...

A Love Project: The Dirth of Good Film Criticism... on the Internet from 2017-12-30T21:17:41

EPISODE 43 tells the rise and downfall of A.V. Club (and its sister website The Dissolve) as shakily narrated by Hao. SOME people are saying that this is Hao's Terrible Things #1 but Hao feels t...

Holiday Traditions: Stuff City from 2017-12-20T17:43:07

EPISODE 42 of Downers is all about winter holiday traditions! What if you picked up a snow globe and you were inside it? When did you figure out Santa Claus was a capitalist myth? How much risk ...

THE SIMS, A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE AND ANALYSIS from 2017-12-13T05:00

EPISODE 41 is a real corker and it's about The Sims video game franchise. We promised we would talk about it and now here it is. Expansion packs! Aspirations, needs! Grinding your career for the...

Communicatative from 2017-12-06T05:00

EPISODE 40 // We pick a terrible thing and it's cyberterrorism! Kate reveals to listeners her major in college! We do a follow-up on something we said previously! This truly is a mustn't-miss ep...

THE ADVENTURES OF OXY AND GILGAMESH III: THE PHANTOM KING from 2017-11-29T05:00

EPISODE 39 is a doozy and it's here and it's also an episode. In this episode we invent a new segment, Top of the Morning to You, which is suspiciously similar to our previous segment, What's Up...

The Project of Human Civilization, Our Post-Scarcity Epsiode from 2017-11-22T05:00

EPISODE 38 is a weird one and it's about the theory of post-scarcity economy, when most goods can be produced so efficiently that most goods are cheap and freely available. It's not today but it...

We're Eels and You're Hands from 2017-11-15T05:00

EPISODE 37 // The Downers gang is back and they've got things to say and the things they say are going into your ears. This episode: Follow-Ups ("What Happens If China Makes First Contact?"), Ko...

Tsk Tsk Attaboy: The Sadness of Breakfast from 2017-11-08T05:00

EPISODE 36 // A lot to cover this episode, which was recorded at night. We have a special never-before-done Follow-Ups: Updates Corner where we check in with Hao's two cubic feet of soil AND a M...

Depression, Anxiety, and Funicular Trams from 2017-11-01T06:47:34

EPISODE 35 // Bing bang boom. Bing bong bung. We discuss mental health off of the List of Terrible Things. Kate recounts her trip to Hong Kong: food, mass transit, mistranslations, and more.

TEENAGE WRITING II: GET VULNERABLE WITH US from 2017-10-25T04:00

Episode 34 // Back, by popular demand (we assume), it's TEENAGE WRITINGS II. We have a romantic poem from Jack, a modern take on a fairy tale by Kate, and some weird violent nonsense by Hao. Thi...

Spaced Out Zoned Out from 2017-10-18T04:00

EPISODE 33 // We present and discuss a short mixtape of three songs we like: "Ebb and Flow" by Larry and His Flask, "Do You Realize" by The Flaming Lips, and "Pure Imagination" by Maroon 5. It's...

Unsolved Problems in Philosophy... Solved! from 2017-10-11T04:00

EPISODE 32 // This week we tackle the list of unsolved problems in philosophy on Wikipedia by hazarding solutions and answers. The tangle of ethics, epistemology, logic, and language are unravel...

Hands, Brains, Heart from 2017-10-04T04:00

EPISODE 31 // This week we talk about backup plans. We have covered similar ground previously when we talked about apocalypses (twice) but this time we tackle something more realistic: What if y...

Shel Silverstein's Sadness from 2017-09-27T04:00

EPISODE 30 // In this episode we convene another Book Club! This week: Kate presents Shel Silverstein's THE MISSING PIECE (1976), a children's picture book. Just how do we translate a picture bo...

Like Eating a Peach Without Looking from 2017-09-20T04:00

We take care of the mail this week. The mail was wet and we air them out. THEN we pick terrible thing #29 from Jack's list of terrible things and it's... nationalism. Along the way we talk about...

STAR TREK: TNG S05E25 "THE INNER LIGHT" from 2017-09-13T04:00

EPISODE 28 // We are proud to present the first installment of our "Sadness Spacewalk" trilogy, wherein one of us dives into an especially meaningful episode of television. In this hour Jack pre...

Upside Downers from 2017-09-06T04:00

EPISODE 27 // We devote an entire hour to things that make us happy, starting with Rebecca Sugar's song "Here Comes a Thought" from "Steven Universe." Some Wonderful Whims are chosen as we take ...

Nuclear War: Sacrifice and Suicide from 2017-08-30T04:00

EPISODE 26 // What is San Diego and what has Jack overheard while living there? We find out, in a special Overheard in San Diego. It becomes Current Event Corner (Skirting the Edges).

The...

The Internet is Just a Tool and, as Such, May Be Used for Great Evil from 2017-08-23T04:00

We devote this entire episode to one entry in Jack's terrible-things.txt: the internet as an amoral frontier. Is the internet just a tool? Is it for good? Is it for evil? We fell in love with th...

THE ADVENTURES OF OXY AND GILGAMESH: CHAPTER II: BATTLE OF THE BANDS from 2017-08-16T04:00

EPISODE 24 // We take a trip to Future Earth to revisit our old friends Oxy and Gilgamesh. This is part two of our ongoing mini-tabletop RPG game. In this entry you will hear tales of electrical...

Sad-wiches: Meat Can Be Anything from 2017-08-09T04:00

EPISODE 23 // We devote this entire hour to sandwiches: veggies, spread, meat, and bread. What do these marvelous snack packs have to say about who we are? In What's Up, birds interact with Jack...

Too Old For This: Chill Beats Edition from 2017-08-02T04:00

EPISODE 22 // We take a foray into YouTube Live's chat boards (people still say chat boards, right?). We ask people what their age, sex, and location are. We talk about people talking about drug...

Rambletown: Our Child Labor Episode from 2017-07-26T04:00

EPISODE 21 // The animals in San Diego are committing suicide and by gosh if we aren't going to say something about that. Work pants are making ampersands, and there might not be enough ramps. W...

Much Hell to Pay from 2017-07-19T04:00

EPISODE 20

This episode is our return to form. We dedicate this entire hour to KOREAN FOOD, a small but nonetheless important part of this podcast's premise we've long ignored. A...

MECHANICAL DOWNERS: THE ADVENTURES OF OXY AND GILGAMESH from 2017-07-12T04:00

EPISODE 19

In this episode we abandon the traditional format of the show to play a mini-tabletop RPG called Listen

Our Fake News Episode from 2017-07-05T04:00

In this action-packed episode we take a trip down memory lane in Update Corner, where we revisit hashtag dad couplets and Fermi's paradox. Then we spent the rest of the hour tackling the heady c...

Our Global Globetrotters Episode from 2017-06-28T04:00

We promised it and now it's here! In this travel-themed podcast we journey to Sweden, Canada, North Korea, China, and beyond. We also carve out time at the top of the show for Kate to respond to...

You Mold It, You Sold It! from 2017-06-21T04:00

Jack and Hao structure an episode around, like, a half-pun? We talk Neutral Milk Hotel and tell stories about ... mold ... from our lives. At the end we pitch ideas for a THEME SONG.

  Listen

JOHN CHEEVER'S "THE ENORMOUS RADIO" from 2017-06-14T04:00

This week we devote the entire hour to talking about one short story by John Cheever in a special, extra-sad edition of Book Club. Plus, there's mail from Bradley in Mailbox Corner!

There Were Worms! from 2017-06-07T04:00

On this week's episode of Downers we check in with Jack's adventures in composting, read our listener's feedback in Mailbox Corner, and discuss the multiple immense islands of trash in the Pacif...

Some Real Bad Luck in the Wild from 2017-05-31T04:00

The Downers kids are at it again. On this special 13th episode we dive into THE SUPERNATURAL. We argue about luck. We argue about aliens.

Dow...

Six One Way, Half a Dozen the Other from 2017-05-24T04:00

In What's Up, we find out Jack is a Butter Boy and Hao is a  Butter Man. We pose hypotheticals to each other in a brand new segment we call Would You Rather? We pick a terrible thing and it's th...

Downers Laboratories from 2017-05-17T04:00

The science door parts and fog whorls outward, revealing two experimental segments you have never clapped eyes onto before. In the first act we Talk Cars in a segment we call Car Talk: schedulin...

Cliff Something from 2017-05-10T04:00

It's finally happening. Jack is moving to San Diego so this his last Brooklyn recording. In Book Club Corner we read the preface to "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men." After the break we discuss the...

ONLY CHILD HIGH FIVE (feat. Ian) from 2017-05-03T04:00

On this very special episode, the co-founders of Only Children, Inc. talk about what it's like to be an only child. Joining us in the studio is our siblinghood expert Ian! Ian is a brother to th...

Michelle and Pirijan, Our Close Friends from 2017-04-26T04:00

Jack and Hao are joined by the hosts of "Good Goods," Michelle and Pirijan! They talk Totoro and play a song from the soundtrack. A terrible thing is chosen and it is the boredom of early adulth...

You're Looking at a Corpse from 2017-04-19T04:00

This week on Downers we throw the usual format out the window. We instead dive headfirst into the only two things certain in life: DEATH and TAXES.

Downers is a production of Onl...

Billy Got Eaten by the Nanobots Today from 2017-04-12T04:00

A letter from our beautiful listeners is read. A wonderful and terrible thing is chosen, and it is the end of the world. We talk adulthood. In Kate's Corner Jack and Hao debate retreat locations...

ONE HUNDRED HAPPY THINGS from 2017-04-05T04:00

JACK AND HAO MUST DO THE IMPOSSIBLE

Downers is a production of Only Children, Inc. Subscribe; rate us on iTunes; stay cool out there. We are Listen

The Year 2030 from 2017-03-29T04:00

Jack and Hao talk about Mamma Mia (2008). In Songs of Sadness they listen to Arcade Fire. Jack, Kate, and Hao share poems they wrote as teenagers in a special new segment. In Kate's Corner we ta...

Witnessing Sadness from 2017-03-22T04:00

Jack and Hao taste Hao's homemade kimchi. A terrible thing is chosen and it's the prison-industrial complex. We talk about what to say to a sad person. In Kate's Corner we talk about places we'v...

Book Pie from 2017-03-15T04:21:27

Jack and Hao talk about George W. Bush's painting hobby. We pick a terrible thing from Jack's list and it's poverty. In Kate's Corner we talk about erotic poetry and book pie. Hao is wrong a lot...

Parameters from 2017-03-07T15:40:53

Jack and Hao have five questions for each other. A terrible thing is chosen and it's fascism. In Kate's Corner we discuss humblebrags and why this podcast exists.