Succotash Epi44: Christmas Cardin' With The Pod Mafia

Happy holidays! Whether you're a Christmas-er, an Hanuakkat, or a Kwanza-hut, Succotash is damned glad to have you. "It's the time of miracles," said Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in Die Hard and it's true. First of all, we're back in Studio P for the first time in many episodes. So good to have engineer/producer Joe Paulino back behind the controls. Not to mention Bill Haywatt, who has a fresh installment of Boozin' With Bill on tap this time around. Even Kenny Durgess, our booth assistant, is on the job and it's a great way to ring in the holiday season.

I wanted to do something special for the holidays, so Epi44 is our Succotash Christmas Card to the illustrious members of the Pod Mafia. Who ARE the Pod Mafia? A loose collective of podcasters who have struck up a virtual (and sometimes actual) friendship via the web, and have actively worked to cross-promote each others' podcasts. I am pleased and honored to have been dubbed the Podfather by this crew, although I'm aware it's a precarious perch at best and someone else could shake me loose at any time. Nonetheless, for the meantime, as Podfather, it's my pleasure to offer up clips from the assembled members of the Pod Mafia this episode.

One of the best things about getting to do an epi of Succotash in Studio P is that it puts us in proximity to Bill Haywatt's wet bar and give us a chance to present Boozin' With Bill. This time about, that workhorse of radio drops a great post New Year's hangover drink on us which he calls Harry Of The Dog That Bit You. It's named for Harry Morgan, with whom Bill worked on an old radio show called Mystery In The Air, and it's a real doozy.

Burst O' Durst

Our resident raging moderate, Will Durst, sounds off about gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School nightmare.

Holiday Reminder

Show some love to your favorite podcasts by hopping up to iTunes and both rating and reviewing those same podcasts with lots of stars and glowing praise. Then do the same on Stitcher Smart Radio - go up to their website, search for your faves and give them a big ol "thumbs up!" Every little bit helps, and the more often you do it, the better their visibility gets on the charts.

Sing A Song Of Yuletide

I'm happy to be able to feature Is A Chupacabra Kosher?, a new song off the Season's Geekings EP by friend-of-Succotash John Anealio. Jump over to his website to give yourself a stocking stuffer: A free download of his holiday album!

Happy Holidays From Henderson's Pants!

We have a commercial this episode from our friends at Henderson's. More than a commercial, it's a tale done in the style of the popular Christmas poem, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. Enjoy! 

A Good Run

Our friend Caleb Bacon, host of The Gentlemen's Club podcast, has run down the curtain on that show after 154 episodes. I give him a final salute in the form of a review in This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com but don't despair— Caleb is already prepping to return in February 2013 with his new podcast, Man School! In his farewell episode, Caleb is interviewed as much as he interviews by his guest, That Chris Gore of PodCRASH podcast fame.

The Clips

As I mentioned above, all the clips this week save one are from members of the Pod Mafia.

Dylan Brody's Neighbor's Couch
Although Darren Staley is not a member of the Pod Mafia, I think he would be if he trafficked with out kind more. Last epi I though I was going to get to his clip but it didn't happen. So I promised him we'd give him pole position this time around.In addition to being a supporter Succotash his show's audio audio quality has gotten steadily better since I first started listening. And his guests are often, amazing, quite celebrity-statured. This clip features part of his chat with Rosanne Barr.

Royal & Doodall
Tommy Royal of the Royal & Doodall show is – I'm pretty sure – the bloke responsible for coining not just the Pod Mafia name, but also for dubbing yours truly the Podfather. Unfortunately, Tommy is not in the show I'm clipping this episode. It seems he's been replace by Lady Isabel P., who co-hosts this installment with Angus Doodall. Don't miss their Christmas Panto show which should I have role in. See if you can pick out my voice — I’m an audio chameleon.

Don't Quit Your Daycast
Ed Wallick from Don’t Quit Your Daycast is not just a member of the Pod Mafia but was inspired, in part, do put his own podcast together after hearing Succotash. He just had his one-year-a-versary show, where he ranted – Ed loves to rant – ranted about Thanksgiving with guests Taylor Ripley (aka @TurkReno) and Tom Bevis of the Destination Asphyxiation podcast. (We also have a Christmas Greeting called into the Succotash Hotline by Ed!)

Destination Asphyxiation
Since we have Ed Wallick and Tom Bevis in the same room – Tom was up from Southern California visiting Ed in Northern California, who turns out to be his uncle – let’s listen for the first time to a clip from Tom’s Destination Asphyxiation show. Oh, look – it’s Ed Wallick, ranting some more!

The DHead Factor
Though Jabs at The DHead Factor has other fellows who occasionally do the show with him in Canberra, Australia – like #FUJosh – he’s definitely the body and soul of the show and a stalwart member of the Pod Mafia. As the guy who kicked of International Succotash Show Day on December 4th – I hope you all celebrated it – he’s always saluted here at Studio P.

Tiny Little Odd Conversations
Merry Christmas to Travis and Brandi Clark, the hosts of Tiny Odd Conversations. They were almost out of the Pod Mafia before it began toward the end last year because Travis was feeling like there was nowhere else to go with the show. I helped talk him off the ledge, and glad to have done so because we may never have gotten that great cookie recipe from Chef Eddie Vetter otherwise. Here’s part of a conversation that Travis and Brandi had on their Not The Holiday Special episode, about a homeless Santa they came across.

Pissed Off Man
I THINK Gavin from The Pissed Off Man Show is in the Pod Mafia. But I didn’t want to take a chance that he isn’t because he IS the Pissed Off Man. So Merry Christmas, Gee, and for a guy who says he doesn’t have much to be pissed off about on the last day of existence, according to the Mayan calendar, he still gets a few shots in…

From Out Of Nowhere
The From Out of Nowhere podcast – or FOONcast – with Eric Furniss and Rob Kern is really a music podcast but they’ve got a sense of humor and Eric is very active on Twitter as a member of the Pod Mafia. They’ve been doing their show from a local bar because their studio got damaged by Hurrican Sandy. The show I grabbed to clip from, however, actually features Rob in a bar interview he did awhile back with Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister and Matt Sorum. Sorry, Eric – I was in a hurry! We’ll get your voice in there next time.

So that's who's in our Christmas card to the members of the Pod Mafia. I hope I remembered everybody. And I know there are some folks in the Pod Mafia Irregulars that I wanted to clip this episode but there just wasn’t time. I WILL clip you guys next epi, but in the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the folks behind Bonnandobo, The Brit And The American, Clutch & Wiggle, The Random Variety Show and Toggle The Switch!

Happy holidays to everybody (especially those of you who have discovered, listened to, and enjoy our show!), and may you all have a great new year, in which you should remember, for the sake of all that's holy, to pass the Succotash!

 Marc Hershon