Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather overthink the hottest startups and apps out of SouthBy, Carcast Redux, the roast of Justin Bieber, and Kathy Griffin’s stand for kindness.
→ Download the Overthinking It Podcast (MP3)
Subscribe to the Overthinking It Podcast
Want new episodes of the Overthinking It Podcast to download automatically?
Subscribe in iTunes
Subscribe with RSS
Tell us what you think!
Email us
(203) 285-6401 call/text
Your Panel
Further Reading
- fD
- Von Neumann Machine
- Von Neumann Machine on xkcd
- Flocked Up
- Overthinking It on YouTube
- Overthinking It Podcast Episode 315: A Car That’s Full of Dreams and Not Actual Car Parts
- Trucks in Country Music Lyrics, 2005–2014 on Overthinking It
- The 21 Best Jokes from the Roast of Justin Bieber; Bieber insulted, jeered at show
- Stephen Colbert roasts Chevy Chase
- Norm MacDonald roasts Bob Saget
- Kathy Griffin resigns from Fashion Police on Twitter
My take on roasts-
I think the goal of a roast is to send a particular signal: We (the roasters), know you so well that we can talk about all your flaws, but we still love/admire/respect you. Ultimately, the jokes serve to elevate the subject by bringing him or her down – all these smart and witty people are here at an event in their honor, despite the (usually harmless) foibles that are exposed in the process.
Welcome to the Subaru family, you are now an honorary citizen of Colorado.
Like Pete, I went several years without a car until buying one recently. Several times in just in the pasted few months I’ve been momentarily confused as to why my car door was locked. I would then realize that it was not MY car, but someone with the exact same make, model, edition, year, and color had parked right next to my car.
So considering how popular Subarus are in Colorado, most of the stereotypes about Subaru drivers were blended with Colorado stereotypes. This lead me to some googling and I just discovered that Subaru did in fact market heavily to gay and lesbian people in the ’90s. According to one site I found, they ran slogans/ad campaigns including “Get Out. And Stay Out.” featuring the out lesbian tennis star Martina Navratilova, “Entirely Comfortable With Its Orientation”, and this 2006 ad that aired on logo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ChvqVnbYSM
I’m not really sure this counts as a “well actually…” as I didn’t even know this until just now.
Subaru’s are also a Vermont thing. My Vermonter friends tell me that in addition to health care, you get issued a golden retriever and a Subaru at the border.
And Oregon as well, along with a medical marijuana card and a physician assisted suicide kit.
If I wanted an assisted suicide kit, I’d get a Dodge Charger Hellcat! Amirite, folks?
The news that Fenzel owns a Subaru came as a shock to me, since I’ve believed for a while that Pete drives a Tesla. It took me 2 weeks to figure out why… but I found it! Episode 316, at 2:56, Pete says “I bought a Tesla Model S directly from the manufacturer…”, and that has stuck in my head for all these months. Listening to it again, it’s now clear that the whole thing was tongue-in-cheek, but you guys went into such an earnest discussion of Tesla and auto regulation that I totally missed it.
So now I’m questioning all my knowledge of the Overthinkers. Does Wrather actually like poetry? Is Mark Lee really a karaoke-ist and guitar hero? Do these people really exist or are they figments of my imagination?
On a serious note, the podcast isn’t always easy listening – you really miss a lot of nuance if you don’t pay attention. Which is partly why I love it, and why it stays fresh after multiple listenings. Keep up the great work guys!
Yes, Wrather actually likes poetry and has a really impressively deep and interesting understanding of it.
Yes, Mark Lee is great on guitar and on karaoke. He’s particularly great at old Motown songs. Brings the house down.
You’ll be sad to hear that we actually do a Harvey Fierstein impression on the show. When you hear Harvey’s voice, it’s only actually him in about half of the episodes. Writing _Casa Valentina_ and developing it for Broadway has taken up a lot of his time the last few years.
I am flattered that you think I make enough money to own a Tesla :-)
I find myself conflicted when it comes to judging people on their fashion choices. Or, let’s say, the culture of judging people on their fashion choices. On the one hand, it does foster community and I think it’s both important to respect fashion as art and also not take it too seriously. At the same time there’s an undeniable streak of meanness and shaming that goes along with a lot of the commentary. Personally, I don’t like to make it about body shaming but about a specific choice that the wearer and designer made either well or poorly. It’s not a comment on that person’s worth. Clothes are like makeup. They come off at the end of the day.
As for some kind of public good, I’ve always had a problem with those What Not To Wear kinds of shows. It’s often less about helping someone make positive choices and more about making everyone fit into this mold of what a few people have decided is acceptable.
And of course, it’s hard to ignore that a lot of these discussions heavily skew towards dissecting women’s bodies and women’s fashion choices.