StraightioLab

This week we decide to be randomly controversial, and who better to do it with than author and critic Lauren Oyler! First we courageously wade into the Taylor Swift waters without educating ourselves one bit, and then we turn our attention to the concept of "online backlash." Sure, it's okay when it happens to other people... but what about when it happens to US?! And finally, what is the deal with all these polycules we keep readi...

Hope you're hungry because today's episode with public intellectual, Nymphowars host, and now writer/director/star of the new film Stress Positions, Theda Hammel, will give you plenty to chew on. We discuss the recently selected Chosen Twink of 2024, the trickiness of dignity in undignified spaces, and of course the relationship between shame and embarrassment. It's a big conversation because it's a small conversation, and if that ...

Do NOT call HR because Sam's real-life boss Taylor Tomlinson, superstar host of After Midnight, is off the clock and ON the pod this week! Recorded mere blocks from the Oscars the morning of the big night, we chat about the lasting appeal of the Republican straight rom com, whether Jeff Probst feels isolated due to his immense talent, and the triumph of Kristen Stewart in the worlds of cinema and also culture. Plus: Does Zoey Deutc...

Ring the Kathy Griffin alarm because the legend herself is on the podcast this week! We cover everything from catheters (both the medical device and Kathy's fan community), venture capital-funded gay vacation spots, and who is coming to Kathy's notorious dinner parties. Plus, we explore what happens when one person in a couple makes more money than the other. Let's just say that gender roles WILL jump out whether you want them to o...

The specter of sports and sport-like activities has haunted StraightioLab HQ for years. This week, we finally attempt a unified theory of which sports are gay and which sports are straight with the help of our dear friend and Tiny Desk superfan Jaboukie Young-White. Plus: How much are you allowed to lie in a trauma-based memoir? What would Jesus' job be if he were alive today? And finally, is it ethical to be 29 years old?

...

Today's guest is writer and host of the Good One podcast Jesse David Fox. What are his qualifications? Well, he literally wrote the book on comedy (called Comedy Book) so, yeah, I think he's going to know what the hell he's talking about! We ask both real and fake questions like "are we at the end of the comedy boom" and "rank every comedian ever." We get into rankings, the Adam Sandler universe, and George's recent state of being ...

Ice skating around in a little outfit? You might be thinking "sounds pretty queer"... but you'd be dead wrong. The one and only Sam Jay joins us to chat about her recent passion for the violent Canadian pasttime known as hockey. Plus: We finally address the differences between lesbians and gay guys!

NYC: Come see our first Brooklyn StraightioLab Live of 2024 at the Bell House, featuring Alex English and Edy Modica! Tickets h...

Well it's that magical time of the year when we have our dear friend Max Wittert back on the podcast to create enough tension to give chronic pain to anyone who listens. We attack each other emotionally, spiritually, and financially but at what cost? Many shocking theories are explored like, are north and south poles actually different from each other? Is there value in being nice? And is angel hair pasta good? Plus, we examine the...

In one of our most intellectual episodes EVER (and that's saying a LOT), we welcome reformed Disney adult Esther Fallick to chat about museums with slides in them—as in slides that you slide down, much like in a playground. We're talking the Museum of Ice Cream, the Museum of Sex, the Museum of Broadway... basically any museum-like establishment that is proudly anti-art! Questions include: Would institutions like this exist if we h...

Welcome back to Part 2 of Earnestness Bonanza, our bi-annual call-in show where we check our world famous comedic sensibilities at the door and answer listener questions completely earnestly.

LA: Come see George do an hour of standup comedy at the Elysian Theater on March 5 and March 6! Tickets at linktree.com/georgeciveris

Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/straightiolab for bonus episodes twice a month and don'...

It's time to celebrate ROMANCE with another Earnestness Bonanza, our bi-annual call-in show where we check our world famous comedic sensibilities at the door and answer listener questions completely earnestly. Stay tuned for part 2 next week!

LA: Come see George do an hour of standup comedy at the Elysian Theater on March 5 and March 6! Tickets at linktree.com/georgeciveris

Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/stra...

This week we are joined by radical free-thinker and creator of the groundbreaking Netlfix special "Get On Your Knees" Jacqueline Novak. We break up the form to try to find something fresh, now, and new. Do we succeed? Or do we just create Marc Maron's WTF again, but hosted by us? The answer may surprise you! Plus, is it ethical to mirror someone else? Is there truth in the spirit of improv? And what is the state of comedy? Better n...

For decades, George has been Sam's only co-worker with access to a microphone. That ends today, as we welcome Sam's LA work husband Ismael Loufti to the pod to talk about straight men's obsession with knowing things about events and places. Unfortunately, implying that straight men are the only people who know historical facts puts us in quite a rhetorical bind, and our attempts to get out of that bind lead us to digging an even de...

Pizza is one of the most powerful cultural signifiers we have, but what exactly is it signifying? This week we're joined by Blair Socci to dive into the pizza place as a mythic space and try to make sense of what it all means. Let's just say it's one spicy meatball. Plus, who is the powerful firm behind Paul Giamatti being a sex symbol now? Is podcasting a practice? And is it annoying to talk about New York vs LA? Or is it so so so...

This week, illustrious guest Anna Seregina joins Sam in the LA studio while George is isolated in chilly New York City. If only the whole squad could gather around a beautifully constructed kitchen island. But wait... Do kitchen islands really build community or do they merely reinforce traditional family values? Does the impulse to fill up a kitchen with more surfaces stem from a fear of open space (aka freedom)? Can other options...

Brrrrrr...do you feel that chill? Is that the winter setting in? No! It's a DQ Blizzard being given to you by an underpaid, overworked teen. This week, Amber Ruffin is on the podcast to unpack the innate identity building that comes with this sweet treat and flip (wink wink like how they flip the blizzard) the whole system on its head. Plus, Sam finally breaks his silence on his hospital visit, everyone shares their best and worst ...

Hey Glamour Girls! While StraightioLab is on hiatus this week, enjoy this episode of George and Sam being guests on Vanessa and Jonah Bayer's podcast "How Did We Get Weird" on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network.

Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/straightiolab for bonus episodes twice a month and don't forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts! 

---

This week the Bayer siblings welcome the hilarious George Civeri...

"Happy" hour? Says who, the government!? This week, we're joined by public intellectual Lauren Michele Jackson to explore the manufactured consent around one of America's most notorious hours. Is it a worker's rights win or a baby bottle to keep us complacent? Hard to tell, tbh, but we'd love another Aperol Spritz STAT! Plus, is podcasting a race to the bottom? Are the humanities valid? Is tea grad-school coded? Listen to find out!...