Podcast
Sleeping with Celebrities
Getting to sleep can be difficult sometimes. Now you can achieve that urgently needed rest by taking advantage of our most precious natural resource: celebrities. Each week on the slyly humorous and reassuring Sleeping with Celebrities, host John Moe talks with a different guest from the world of entertainment about something they know a lot about. The conversation is guaranteed to be just interesting enough to draw your attention away from your own swirling anxieties but never interesting enough to keep you awake. No startling revelations, no dramatic screaming confrontations, but plenty of low-key dialogue, intricately laced deadpan comedy, and a ticket to dreamland.
- Comedy Interviews chart
- #84
- Episodes
- 221
- Releases
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 47 min
- On air since
- 2023
- Latest episode
- 6 days ago
Episodes
221 episodes, newest first
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41 min
Fascinating and Funny Media Superstar Kurt Andersen Talks Glucose Management
Episode 194
Show notes
Kurt Andersenhas a lot of wonderful stories to tell, like when he worked at Spy Magazine and sent Donald Trump a check for thriteen cents to see if he would cash it (of course he did). And he tells some of those stories, sure, but pretty soon we get into detailed information about how he manages his Type 1 diabetes. It was the topic that most often puts his wife to sleep, so she advised him that maybe this would be a great idea for our show. Typing about it now, a few days after the interview, we can’t actually remember much of what he said and in trying to remember we’re actually getting kind of sleeee......zzzxzxzxxzz What? Where were we? Ah yes, we also offer Kurt the names of some American vice-presidents (dead ones only) and he tells us which ones he would like to have over for a dinner party. We would have done presidents but, you know, exciting. Kurt’s latest novel is The Breakup, about life in America after the next Civil War.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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46 min
Jill Moe and John Moe Discuss Crop Art, Fantasy Football, and How To Be Rude at Dinner
Episode 193
Show notes
When people have been married as long as Minnesota crop art icon Jill Moe and Sleeping with Celebrities host John Moe have been, they understand and accept that a loving couple need not share all interests. A topic that fascinates one spouse may completely bore and put to sleep spouse number two. Such are the Moes with John’s abiding interest in the consequence-free world of fantasy football and Jill’s years-long involvement in making art out of native Minnesota plants. Truth be told, John finds crop art at least a little interesting but Jill routinely flees the room and/or dozes off when John starts in on which running back to start on his imaginary football squad. The two also share a wonderfully cruel way to respond to respond to someone telling a dull story at the dinner table. It involves a napkin repurposed as a blanket and you can learn it yourself in order to amuse and possibly infuriate your dining companions.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
54 min
All the Background Doohickeys at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts with Stephen Thompson
Episode 192
Show notes
Stephen Thompson is one of the co-hosts of NPR’s delightful Pop Culture Happy Hour, along with former Sleeping with Celebrities guests Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon and future guest Aisha Harris. Aside from being a culturally smarty, he’s one of the founders of the Tiny Desk Concerts, which has played host to some of the biggest names in music playing in a very small corner of an office floor of cubicles. Stephen fills us in on what’s back there now, what has always been there from the start, and what used to be there but got eaten by rats during covid, forcing some policy adjustments. He also tells us whether important historical artifacts would do well as Tiny Desk tchotchkes (the Dead Sea Scrolls would require some creative layout). And he explains once and for all whether these are tiny concerts held at a desk or concerts held at a tiny desk. He says all the guests are super nice, except for Dua Lipa and Post Malone, who were really incredibly extra special nice.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
48 min
Susan Orlean on How to Win Over Pets and Influence Zebras
Episode 191
Show notes
In talking about Susan Orlean, many people give her well-deserved credit as being the author of acclaimed best-sellers like The Orchid Thief, Rin Tin Tin, and The Library Book. They don’t mention perhaps her most impressive accomplishment of all: she knows how to get animals to like her. All kinds. Zebras are a bit tricky because, as Susan explains, they are the asshole of the animal kingdom. Susan explains how you can be an animal pal too and she offers John Moe advice on winning over his recalcitrant foster rescue dog Kenny Rogers.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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38 min
Musician Hamilton Leithauser on Learning Chess (Hard) and Building Chess Boards (Also Hard)
Episode 190
Show notes
The life of a touring musician can involve a considerable amount of down time. There’s travel, checking into the hotel, sound check, the show, and some schmoozing, but that leaves many hours in the day for maddeningly difficult hobbies. Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen and an acclaimed solo career has poured a lot of time into learning chess and, while not on the road, building his own boards. He goes into great detail on both pursuits in order to lull you to sleeptime. Hamilton also fills us in on how various musicians and philosophers would do as chess competitors but if you want to hear his appraisal of Andrew Bird and Sartre versus the hardcore speed chess guys in Washington Square.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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48 min
Jimmy Pardo Has Just An Absurd Amount Of Knowledge About The Band Chicago
Episode 189
Show notes
Like, so much. As in, he knows the name of Peter Cetera’s brother. He remembers most of the set list from a concert BY Chicago IN Chicago in 1981. Jimmy, of course, is the host of Never Not Funny, an absolutely essential comedy podcast now celebrating its 20th anniversary, which is about 19 years, eleven months, and three weeks longer than most podcasts make it. Now, Chicago, the band, is not known for a lot of pyrotechnics, onstage stunts and debauchery, or members whose names you remember if you’re someone other than Jimmy Pardo. So there’s nothing that’s going to get you fired up. It will be like a Saturday in the park. It will be hard to say I’m sorry for putting this episode out because we’re not. If you leave the episode now, well, that’s fine too.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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46 min
Wil Wheaton Tells You All About The Prisoner. You Have Become His The Prisoner Prisoner.
Episode 188
Show notes
Wil Wheaton knows a thing or twelve about deeply loving a television series. He is part of the Star Trek universe after all, as Wesley Crusher, first appearing on Start Trek: The Next Generation, reappearing in various Trek iterations ever since, and that’s a show that has its passionate fans. Same with The Big Bang Theory, where Wil played a kind of alternate universe version of himself. For Wil, there is a special strong appreciation for The Prisoner, the 1960s British series created by and starring Patrick McGoohan as a former(?) spy trapped in a mysterious community where everyone has a number instead of a name and people want answers he doesn’t have. Wil walks us through the various enumerated characters, including the rotating position of Number Two, and even explains what kind of Number Two Patrick Stewart would play. Jonathan Frakes could never be Number Two, of course. Because he’s Number One.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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40 min
Tom Bergeron - Yes, THAT Tom Bergeron - Makes Angry Birds Surprisingly Soothing
Episode 187
Show notes
We all know Tom Bergeron from various television games and competitions he has hosted over many decades. He was at the helm for Hollywood Squares, emceed Dancing With the Stars, and showed us a great many of America’s Funniest Home Videos (which, oh yes, absolutely was a competition). And he’s still busy with contests today, this time as an expert in the game app Angry Birds Friends, which he plays a lot, leading the titular birds in their ongoing efforts to defeat the green pigs for... some reason. Tom walks us through the various birds, vectors, and strategies he employs to accomplish his iPad-based goals. He also tells us about Finding Happy, a documentary about the rescue and rehabilitation of a sparrow who was, never, in fact, angry at all. You’ll fall asleep just like Tom’s visiting niece did during the interview overhearing him from the next room.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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1 hr 8 min
Get Ready for the NFL Season with Retired Punter Chris Kluwe, Who Played the Sleepiest of Positions
Episode 186
Show notes
The National Football League, with all its attendant huddles and wide receiving and roughings of the passer, is about to begin a new season. And although the touchdowns will make the highlight reels, we here at the show are big fans of the little moments when things don’t work out so well. We like when the punter comes out. So we’re bringing back an episode from a recent Super Bowl with veteran punter Chris Kluwe.
How much goes into punting? Turns out A LOT. Chris, who is a published author and game designer as well, guides us through each minute step of the punting process (and there are maybe, conservatively, a zillion steps) in enough detail to easily zonk you out to sleep. It’s NFL football but without any of the violence or thrills that might conspire you to keep you awake.
Get your copy of Chris Kluwe's novel Otaku wherever books are sold. Check out Twilight of the Gods, the tabletop RPG game co-designed by Chris Kluwe, at www.boardgamegeek.com, or the game store of your choice. Google "Chris Kluwe" for all his other many many creative endeavors. Chris is wild.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
53 min
Michael Ian Black on Cunning Two-Letter Scrabble Plays (RERUN)
Episode 185
Show notes
This episode originally ran July 19, 2023
***
The actor, writer, comedian, and bon vivant Michael Ian Black is an enthusiast of the word game Scrabble and, in particular, the very short two-letter words that can make all the difference in a competitive game. Sure, lots of players want to use long words of seven or even more letters but a well-placed QI or a sly ZA can rack up more points than one might have ever thought possible, and Michael shares, in a lulling monotone, many more two-letterers that the uncareful player might have never considered. We also talk about the historic Scrabble match where FUCKWIT was played to much controversy and point scoring.
You’re Not Doing It Right– Michael Ian Black
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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58 min
The Daily Show’s Zhubin Parang Feels Less Miserable Watching Les Misérables
Episode 184
Show notes
Zhubin Parang, who has been with The Daily Show since the first time around with Jon Stewart, fully recognizes that among the many characters in the musical Les Misérables, only Javert really has an actual character arc. Only he goes somewhere over the course of the story. The rest kind of hold their ground, face grim adversity, and sing sing sing. That’s all good with Zhubin, he loves the crap out of Les Mis and has seen it many times and, in order to put you to sleep, Zhubin is hear to tell you EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN LES MIS. I mean, that ought to do it, right? Les Mis without the singing or the acting or the sets and costumes? Just... plot points? We’re dreaming a dream of you dreaming, Sleepyheads.
Get your copy of Lindsay Champion's The Show Must Go On (Cast vs. Crew) wherever books are sold.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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40 min
What’s the Deal with How Much Francisco Ramos Likes Seinfeld? The Show, I Mean.
Episode 183
Show notes
The title of hilarious comedian Francisco Ramos’s new standup special, Still Learning, is not about his constant absorption of new information about episodes of the classic sitcom Seinfeld but it could apply. The special’s title refers to learning about marriage. Francisco is now divorced. But his relationship with Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer is still going strong. Francisco walks us through his favorite episodes of the show, describing every plot point and character detail as you drift off to a sleep that’s about nothing. We even play a game of In The Cart Or On The Shelf to cast a Seinfeld reboot. Will a very special actress who appeared in 101 of the show’s 180 episodes make the cut? Do you know this woman’s name? It’s Ruth Cohen. She was the cashier at the diner. I didn’t want you to stay up wondering.
Watch Francisco Ramos's new standup special, Still Learning, on the streaming service of your choice.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
45 min
Lauren Weedman, From Hacks, Loves Rocks, May Be Sisyphus
Episode 182
Show notes
As the slightly unhinged, or maybe more than slightly, mayor of Las Vegas, Jo Pezzimenti on HBO’s Hacks, Lauren Weedman leaves a hilarious and unforgettable impression, so much so that she’s a nominee for Best Supporting Actress at the upcoming Emmy Awards. Audiences might also know her as Melissa’s sister, Kristin Marie Schemmenti on Abbott Elementary. Frankly, we don’t know what’s up with those character names rhyming but it’s a little unsettling. Lauren has also been seen in the series Looking, Hung, and the New Girl. Also, and this has nothing to do with television, she sometimes picks up lots of heavy rocks in her home state of Indiana and carries them all way back home to Santa Monica where she paints them and gives them of gifts to friends. She’s no geologist, rocks are just rocks, and she collects and distributes them. She’s going to tell you all about this. Lauren also happens to be a long-ago friend of our host John Moe from back in the 1990’s Seattle theater scene when many important bands were making it big and Lauren and John weren’t in any of those bands. You know what does have bands? That’s right. Rocks.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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50 min
Exploring the Washington Wizards, the NBA’s Most Ambien Team, with Jamel Johnson
Episode 181
Show notes
Jamel Johnson is a DC native and has been following the Wizards his whole life. He’s seen the rise and fall of Gilbert Arenas, the arrival and departure of John Wall, and everything from Gheorge Muresan to Muggsy Bogues, all without an NBA title in Jamel’s lifetime. Mid-Range is both the title of his new comedy album and the name of type of jump shot he hopes the team can nail as it heads into a new season with number one overall pick, AJ Dybantsa.
Look, sports can be exciting and excitement doesn’t lend itself well to falling asleep. But again, we’re talking about the Washington Wizards, so you should be fine. Will you go on to have dreams of Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld? Well, look, we can’t be responsible for that.
Listen to Jamel Johnson's latest stand-up album, Mid-Range, on YouTube or the streaming service of your choice.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
56 min
Jesse Thorn Has More Thoughts On Menswear Formality Levels Than You Do, Probably
Episode 180
Show notes
Maximum Fun, the network upon which you hear our program, was founded by one Jesse Thorn, who continues to host an improbable number of podcasts on the network. Three, in fact: Bullseye (an interview program with cultural figures, also on NPR), Jordan, Jesse, Go! (where he horses around with Jordan Morris), and Judge John Hodgman (where he is the bailiff to the titular judge. But Jesse’s interests expand yet further, all the way to men’s apparel, how it has evolved, and what you should, in fact, wear. Maybe a grey or blue suit is a better all-purpose option than black. Maybe a vintage t-shirt is okay once in a while. We even examine and judge by-gone fashions, including the dog-eared collar, which you can see in this episode’s tile and which will haunt our collective dreams forever. Maybe you’ll be asleep before you hear about that collar. We hope so.
Visit the Put This On Store at www.PutThisOnStore.com. Visit their Instagram @put.this.on.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
46 min
Know Your Extraterrestrials with Elliott Kalan
Episode 179
Show notes
The universe is full of all sorts of alien creatures, we just know it. Problem is, they’re far away and, like us, possibly too stupid to invent really cool spaceships in order to visit. That’s why the book Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials was written and illustrated, earning a devoted following that includes Elliott Kalan. The book is a massive compendium of all sorts of aliens culled from sci-fi. Elliott is a former head writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Mystery Science 3000 and one of the hosts of Max Fun’s podcast The Flop House. Join Elliott as he enumerates many of his favorite aliens and offers analysis from his toddler son as to which aliens are mean, which ones are nice, and which aliens are so nice that he went to their birthday parties held in treehouses. You may fall asleep even before learning that some aliens are just green smears.
Order your copy of Elliott Kalan's book, Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense, wherever books are sold.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
49 min
Ryan Miller of the Band Guster Enjoys the Ordered Verticality of Lists
Episode 178
Show notes
You are reading something that was written in paragraph format, with complete sentences, grammar, nouns, and verbs. That’s not how Ryan Miller of the beloved band Guster likes it. Ryan enjoys lists. Likes reading them, creating them, and relying on the whole idea of ordered verticality. He tells us about the extensive playlist of songs he always keeps handy for his kids, how this list has been around for many years, how it has seen some editing with certain artists losing favor and being dropped, and how there is no Guster on that list. Ryan also fills us in on which bands and artists are really nice people so you can listen to them with confidence. Ryan doesn’t tell us which bands and artists are real jerks (he says there are very few of them) because that might cause you to lose sleep. Take an ordered approach to dozing off with our Ryan Miller episode.
Listen to Ryan Miller's "Best of the Best - Nines and Dimes" on Spotify.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
-
47 min
NPR’s Glen Weldon Talks The Silmarillion and That Ought To Put You To Sleep
Episode 177
Show notes
You have to be a slight J.R.R. Tolkien nerd to watch the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings film series. They’re long, there’s three of them, and it helps to know your hobbits from your elves. You have to be even more of a fan to read the dense, lengthy Tolkien books. But then there’s Glen Weldon, co-host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, who has read everything Tolkien many times over including The Silmarillion. That’s the book Tolkien died while writing with extensive arcana of the world of Middle Earth. Here’s the part in the description where I would give you examples but it’s so deep, so thickly layered, such extreme Tolkienness that I kind of zoned out just listening to Glen take this deepest of dives. “The book is structured as a history, with sections on the creation of the world, the gods (Valar), the history of the Elves and Men, and the downfall of Númenor, all centered around the conflict with the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, and the rebellion of the Elf Fëanor,” says Wikipedia, and who am I to disagree? The detail, combined with Glen’s avuncular NPR voice ought to conk you out before you can say, “Celebrimbor.”
Listen to Glen Weldon on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour wherever fine pods are cast. Get your copy of Glen's books, Superman: The Unauthorized Biography and The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture, where books are sold.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
If you like one or more shows on MaxFun, and you value independent artists being able to do their thing, you’re the perfect person to become a MaxFun monthly member.
Go to http://www.maximumfun.org/joinsleeping for our one-stop portal to becoming a member and supporter of Sleeping with Celebrities.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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51 min
Sondre Lerche Takes On A-ha and Soothingly Reads Fjord Names
Episode 176
Show notes
When you’re a Norwegian musician, you get used to hearing a lot of the band A-ha, the biggest ever to come out of the Nordic country shaped like an arm from the elbow down. And that’s fine with Sondre Lerche, the most popular Norwegian solo musicians of all time. Sondre adored A-ha by rarely gets to share all his knowledge. Until this bedtime, that is. Sondre also reads the names of 15 fjords in their authentic pronunciations and also teaches our Norwegian-American host how to accurately pronounce his own middle name and the names of his parents, in both Bergen and Oslo dialects.
Listen to Sondre Lerche's new single, "Follow the River," on Sondre's YouTube channel or on the streaming service of your choice. Sondre's upcoming album, Acrobats, is out August 21st.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.
Follow the Show on:
Instagram @sleepwcelebs
Bluesky @sleepwithcelebs
TikTok @SleepWithCelebs
John is on Bluesky @JohnMoe
John’s acclaimed, best-selling memoir,The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback.
_________________________________________________________________________
If you like one or more shows on MaxFun, and you value independent artists being able to do their thing, you’re the perfect person to become a MaxFun monthly member.
Go to http://www.maximumfun.org/joinsleeping for our one-stop portal to becoming a member and supporter of Sleeping with Celebrities.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsleeping
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39 min
Is This Heaven? No, It’s Iowa and NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben Talking Field of Dreams
Episode 175
Show notes
We have to imagine that the life of an NPR White House Correspondent does not consistently feel relaxed, homey, sentimental, and warm. But you know what does? Field of Dreams, the 1989 Kevin Costner movie about an Iowa farmer with a field overrun by baseball ghosts. Danielle Kurtzleben, a White House Correspondent for NPR, is from Titonka, Iowa (population 491) and has probably seen the movie eleventy squillion times. She can quote large portions of the dialogue and proved it in our interview by reciting James Earl Jones’ “They will come” monologue in her most sonorous NPR voice. You’ll be asleep soon. By the way, do baseball ghosts sleep? Are there bunk beds out in the corn fields? Am I overthinking this?
Subscribe to Danielle Kurtzleben's Substack, Very Professional Journalizing, by going to https://daniellekurtzleben.substack.com/.
Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you’d like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?
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