About this podcast
The podcast that's 40 years in the making, because they're both procrastinators. Comedy writer Tom Saunders and political comedian Scott Blakeman help you navigate The New Normal, which is The Old Normal for them, since their comedy careers already require that they spend huge amounts of time at home. Their show peers back into the past, stares unflinchingly at the present, and imagines a more hopeful future, with flights of fancy and many tangents as well.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 864 episodes
- Episode 870 · 38 minWe pass people on the street every day, but only now does Scott Blakeman publically give thanks that we aren't by custom expected to greet each person, catch up with them before…
- episode 869 · 40 minTom reveals that he is handicapped by his face which, among other problems, often makes him look like he's unhappy, and how he found a solution to this that avoided plastic…
- episode 868 · 24 minScott's friction free, no hassle trip to D.C. presents a challenge for a comedy podcast that thrives on conflict and crisis. Will this be our first non-hilarious podcast? Short…
- episode 867 · 37 minExciting news about a well deserved grant from the Smithsonian to this podcast is overshadowed by the outrage of a new magazine devoted to Irving Place in Manhattan that failed…
- episode 866 · 40 minScott tells of his return to his alma mater, Northwestern University, and shares his joy for "multiple receptions". But would his old classmates remember what he did when he was…
- episode 865 · 60 minThe business in a Chicago suburb that supported Tom's family for 80 years is closing down, resulting in a large party of family members and close friends, Tom's fiancee Sandy…
- Episode 864 · 37 minThe Great Pedestrian speaks! Will those who stifle sidewalk traffic by looking at cell phones listen? This episode is a festival of thrilling ideas, including a revisit to the…
- episode 863 · 39 minWhat is really the greatest invention of our modern age? The answer, supplied by Tom and Scott, may surprise you. But even more exciting: a huge new museum proposed by Scott to…
- episode 862 · 38 minAfter Labor Day, lolling on the beach or wearing white clothes is an act of social disobedience - but we did it anyway. Today's podcast tells the story of what happened after we…
- episode 861 · 38 minTom reveals the astonishing truth about how congealed toothpaste on the bathroom sink led him to meet the love of his life!
- episode 860 · 37 minTom imagines a nightmare scenario that might have spun out of Scott's recent trip to Flushing Meadow Queens to watch the US Open tennis qualifying match. What if the unthinkable…
- episode 859 · 40 minWhat is it like to eat at one of the most expensive restaurants in world.? Tom recounts celebrating his fiancee's birthday at Eleven Madison. Was it worth the hype and expense?…
- episode 858 · 35 minScott enjoys a day at the beach, but a partial eclipse prompts our podcast to issue a timely warning and thereby saving the eyesight of perhaps countless listeners. But keep…
- episode 857 · 39 minA scandal in Academia that is quietly going unnoticed, no college currently offers an advanced degree in time travel! But we have an exciting solution. This leads to a discussion…
- Episode 856 · 36 minOur podcast once again scoops the Atlantic Monthly! How long before this very scoop-ability becomes an Atlantic or NYTimes story that we scoop?
- episode 855 · 37 minA wierd unexplained noise leads Tom and Scott to enthusiastically appreciating something many people take for granted but is a miracle that helos to make modern life livable.
- episode 853 · 38 minFLANEUR ALERT! Smoke from threatens the art of walking around town and looking at people and things -- will Flaneurs be forced to remain indoors? The answer might shock you.
- Episode 852 · 36 minScott's herculean struggle to cancel a subscription to a small town digital newspaper exposes the dark underbelly of seemingly innocuous media imprisoning its readers like the…
- episode 850 · 37 minTom and Scott take on the daunting task of redefining and updating the "American Dream". The "American Dream" used to be a house in the suburbs surrounded by a picket fence, but…
- episode 848 · 38 minIn a stirring public statement Tom declares he has "done nothing wrong" and that any accusations of illegality that may be made against him are completely fabricated. Why he is…
- episode 846 · 38 minWhy a compassionate effort to spread the joy of perfect weather in New York to other less fortunate climates won't work, but deserves acolades anyway.
- episode 845 · 36 minA chance get together with Scott, Tom and their girlfriends leads to fascinating speculation: could Scott live at the Morgan Library.?
- episode 844 · 36 minFor years Tom has podcasted frome the "Flatiron district" of Manhattan. But what is the story of the Flatiron building after which the district is named and why was it called a…
- episode 843 · 39 minTime is moving too fast! What can we do about it? We take on the problem, and in the process answer Hillel's famous question "if not now, when?"
- episode 842 · 36 minA quickly aborted exploration of pavement turns into a spirited discussion of why someone in North Korea with a laptop can turn off America's electric grid.
- episode 841 · 36 minScott tells of his recent trip to Maine where he at old inns. Tom hopes the matter of fact travel tale can turn into a "tall tale" or a "shaggy dog story" with a rollicking…
- episode 840 · 38 minQuite simply, we reveal the fatal flaw with AI, in how it's like a nerdy would-be friend who actually doesn't get you.
- Episode 838 · 40 minWhen wil the fashion industry join forces with the security industry and create bulletproof riot gear for everyone, enabling the average Joe casually walk into into even the most…
- episode 837 · 37 minFinally an insightful appreciation of lunch. From stories of TV writers obsession with the lunch break to a chilling warning of what could happen if all lunches "went away" and…
- episode 835 · 36 minThe swiffer is an excellent cleaning device, that but has Scott thrown his girlfriend "under the bus" by blaming Ginger for making him think the name is actually "Swifter". This…
- episode 834 · 39 minTom speaks to the people listening to the podcast 1000 years from now and asks them an awkward question: why haven't you used your time machines, which will be commonplace by…
- episode 833 · 38 minScott reveals his shocking true story from when he was a Northwestern student in the 1970s and he was in charge of an campus event but the guest of honor -- a stripper -- didn't…
- episode 832 · 35 minWhat with half of all office workers still working from home even five years after the pandemic, what to do with those huge empty office buildings? It's not an academic question…
- Episode 831 · 36 minA spur-of-the-moment get together of four friends for dinner redefines the traditional "dinner party" and in the process unearths memories of The Sophisticates, a group of…
- episode 830 · 38 minTom's eight hour road trip to Columbus Ohio with 20 year friend yields another podcast, this time about political influencers, once known as pundits. This leads to a revelation…
- episode 829 · 35 minTom describes a historic 8 hour road trip from New York City to Columbus Ohio with a 20 year old dude -- a meeting of boomer and gen z guy that thrillingly bridges a vast…
- episode 828 · 39 minTom takes listeners through a micro-history of "wayward youth" in America, ending with a surprising twist as pandemic-traumatized Gen Z reportedly cower from social life and…
- episode 827 · 37 minIs the crazy weather in New York, changing from cold to hot to cold, a harbinger of hyper changable weather patterns to come? Scott and Tom muse about a future of snowy freezing…
- episode 826 · 36 minA middle of the night call from the police in Windham New York requires Tom and his fiancee to drive 220 miles to their second home in the Catskills. In so doing they become…
- episode 825 · 43 minA Flaneur In LA. That what Scotty was last week, and that is the title of what may someday be an award winning movie or a beloved 10-part Netflix series about Scott's experience…
- episode 824 · 40 minIn a local coffee shop Tom sees someone he is sure is a literary star and great wit, but doesn't specifically recognizes him. Should he approach him?
- episode 824 · 36 minScott recieves a birthday offer for a free dessert that would normally cost $14. The problem is, the restaurant is in the Virgin Islands, over a thousand miles from his home on…
- episode 823 · 36 minTom is puzzled by the slogan on the sign of a neighborhood Pizza Parlor, leading to an exploration of what makes an advertising slogan hugely successful.
- episode 822 · 37 minLots of snow in New York makes Scotty worry thgat complaining about it will years later make him look "old". The conversation evolves into a study of why nothing should make…
- Episode 821 · 37 minAs scrupulously honest and transparent hosts, who accept no recompense(not even cows), for their praise of products, Tom and Scott hope the day never comes when betting will…
- Episode 820 · 37 minThe Flaneur in Winter. As the foremost flaneurs in America, Tom and Scott stroll with no set purpose or destination in mind. But how do they navigate their flaneuring under…
- Episode 819 · 36 minTom fears wearing a scarf. But more shockingly, Scott not only embraces scarf wearing, but he recently bought one that feels so soft on his neck that he feels like a million…
- Episode 818 · 36 minFacial tissues are nothing to sniff about. Scott never leaves the house without them, and we explain, rather persuasively, why you should too.
- Episode 817 · 38 minTom hasn't slipped on the ice so far this winter, but will celebrating that fact tempt fate?
