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Fyre Fest goes up in flames, Ashlee Simpson bombs on SNL, and somehow even Taylor Swift couldn’t fix the ill-fated Cats movie. Who doesn’t love a good fiasco?! Join us each week as we dissect the most deliciously disastrous flops in recent history. On Wondery’s comedy & pop culture series The Big Flop, host and TikTok superstar Misha Brown unpacks all-time epic fails from Crystal Pepsi to Google Glass with the help of hilarious, highly-opinionated guests in every episode. Find out what happe ...
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The Book Pile

Kellen Erskine and David Vance

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A podcast where comedians tell you about books so you never have to read! (Now including fiction!) Kellen does standup; Dave writes ads; together they highlight lessons from the world’s best books--and some of the worst. New episode every Monday!
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Zoltan Kaszas joins the podcast to discuss unshaven music guru Rick Rubin's humble and surprisingly deep book about making art (the "surprisingly" is just based shallowly on Rick Rubin's looks). -Listen to the audio album of Kellen's new 30-minute comedy special "Negative Comments"! Available by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at: https://www.patre…
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Sam Bankman-Fried was the king of crypto, living large in a penthouse in the Bahamas. But his billion dollar empire was built on a foundation of fraud, and when his dubious deals were exposed, this crypto bro went from blockchain to a cell block. Fabrizio Copano (4th From the South) and Zoltan Kaszas (This Week in Zoltan, Honorary Jones) join Misha…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "TWIZ" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Sep 19-21 | Toronto, ON (Canada) Sep 22 | Buffalo, NY Sep 27-28 | Calgary, AB (Canada) Sep 29 | Edmonton, AB (Canada) Oct 4-5 | Bloomington, MN Oct 6 | Madison,…
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SUMMARY: Enjoy this throwback episode from September 2022 when we covered the oldest book on the podcast thus far (though the book with the oldest people is probably still Twilight...). Learn the value of surprise as Kellen startles Dave in real time, and bask in Dave's glory as he recounts winning at board games and also possibly saving someone's …
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At 2:30AM on Thanksgiving night 2009, Tiger Woods, one of the most famous athletes in the world, drove his car into a tree outside his neighbor’s house. This bizarre accident set off a chain of events that exposed Tiger’s secret affairs to the world and wound up wrecking more than his Escalade: It wrecked his marriage, and almost totaled his career…
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Become a more inventive, imaginative you. Every week, Guy Raz (creator of How I Built This) leads a deep dive conversation with someone at the top of their game. From conquering stage fright to learning to be more present and focused, you'll learn how each guest mastered their craft and ultimately became more successful in life. The result? An arse…
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SUMMARY: Today we cover a Transformers book that is “more than meets the eye." Unless your eye looked at the book and was like, “It seems bad,” in which case, yeah, it’s pretty much what met your eye. Thanks to everyone who joined us for this live episode! And thank you to the Autobots for protecting Earth. Next time please do it in a more interest…
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Celebration, Florida was conceived by the Disney Corporation as a magical utopian community, something straight out of a fairy tale—meticulously planned, picturesque neighborhoods replete with ice cream parlors, bike paths, and state-of-the-art facilities. But the promise of living in a theme park soon became nauseating thanks to a greedy real esta…
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It was the nip slip seen round the world. Whether by accident or on purpose, the nation caught a brief glimpse of Janet Jackson’s breast on live television during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show while she was performing with Justin Timberlake. Quickly dubbed "Nipplegate," the incident ignited a firestorm of controversy and debate over broadcast d…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Support my channel to get access to perks: https://bit.ly/ZOLTAN-YT FOLLOW ZOLTAN 👇 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zoltancomedy/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zoltancomedy Facebook https://www.facebook.com/zoltancomedy Twitter …
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What's better than uncovering the mysteries of history? MAKING UP history so that it fits into a clue-based adventure! -Listen to the audio album of Kellen's new 30-minute comedy special "Negative Comments"! Available by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile OR WATCH his new special here for free with promo code KE…
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Look. It’s just possibly the worst book we’ve ever read. This is the maddest you’ll ever hear us. -Listen to the audio album of Kellen's new 30-minute comedy special "Negative Comments"! Available by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile See us LIVE in Los Angeles (adjacent...) on Sep 6th! Tickets here! https://www…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "TWIZ" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Aug 23-24 | Philadelphia, PA Sep 4 | Lowell, AR Sep 5 | Springfield, MO Sep 6 | Columbia, MO Sep 13-14 | Detroit, MI Sep 20-21 | Toronto, ON (Canada) Sep 22 | B…
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Billionaire Stockton Rush III dreamt of exploring the Titanic. Only problem? It's really freaking hard to get to. So he pieced together the world's shoddiest submersible built from Playstation parts and promised rich tourists a view of the Titanic for the price of $250,000. Less than two hours into the dive, Rush's dream quite literally imploded...…
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Game Of Thrones entered its final season as the undisputed king of TV. Every Sunday, millions would take a seat in the church of HBO in hopes of witnessing another Battle of the Bastards. Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss needed to deliver a finale so grand it would make King’s Landing look like the Iron Islands. But when they were met with gru…
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-Listen to the audio album of Kellen's new 30-minute comedy special "Negative Comments"! Available by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile SUMMARY: Look, we know. The internet has made an ABUNDANCE of Cthulhu content. You have Cthulhus out the wazoo. How could a podcast about Cthulhus possibly satisfy you, or add …
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Gigli would go down in history as not only one of the biggest box office bombs… but also the reason Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez broke up the first time. In 2001, Oscar nominated filmmaker Martin Brest penned the gritty tale of a lowlife mobster unable to escape his mundane existence, but by 2003 Gigli had been reverse engineered into a corny, sl…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "TWIZ" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Aug 23-24 | Philadelphia, PA Sep 4 | Lowell, AR Sep 5 | Springfield, MO Sep 6 | Columbia, MO Sep 13-14 | Detroit, MI Sep 20-21 | Toronto, ON (Canada) Sep 22 | B…
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With a new intro where we announce a live episode recording in Los Angeles (on 9/6/24)! With a new, smoother overall edit to our conversation, today we revisit an episode from 2022 where we break down Goodnight Moon with Chad Daniels who just released his first Netflix stand-up special Empty Nester. They boys talk about how it's hard to have a "goo…
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How much do you think about the Roman Empire? Emperor Nero’s answer would have been “not that much.” At just 16 years old, Nero starts his reign off with a bang, throwing lavish festivals for the plebs and giving himself headlining gigs as an aspiring singer-songwriter. But thanks to a power-hungry mom, some heated rivalries, and a whole lot of sex…
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Math is boring unless it ends in a disaster, right? Maybe? Well it doesn't matter how YOU feel about it, bad things happen and math is always to blame. This book proves it (even if it's not what the author intended). * JOIN OUR PATREON for bonus episodes and full audio of KELLEN'S NEW HALF-HOUR COMEDY SPECIAL!!! Listen to "Negative Comments" now! h…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "TWIZ" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Jul 19-20 | Portland, ME Jul 26-27 | Santa Ana Pueblo, NM Aug 23-24 | Philadelphia, PA Sep 4 | Lowell, AR Sep 5 | Springfield, MO Sep 6 | Columbia, MO Sep 13-14…
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Figure skating rivals Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were set to face off at the 1994 Olympics... but Tonya decided to try and eliminate the competition a little early. When a botched attempt to “kneecap” Kerrigan before the Olympics led back to Tonya and her inner circle of inept criminals, Harding was thrust into a media frenzy that spiraled in…
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Have you considered letting the pressure off yourself to be someone you're not in order to feel truer belonging and inner peace? Brown encourages authenticity (*unless you're a big dumb jerk, then you should pretend to be a smart nice person) in a world that pushes unattainable expectations. *Kellen added this part -JOIN OUR PATREON for bonus episo…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "Zoltan" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Jun 21-23 | Greenville, SC Jun 28-29 | New Westminster, BC (Canada) Jul 11-13 | Washington, DC Jul 19-20 | Portland, ME Jul 26-27 | Santa Ana Pueblo, NM Sep 4…
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Back in the day, Salem Village was awash in bad vibes. What started as a few stressed out colonial tweens messing around became a conspiracy of religious paranoia with townsfolk turning on each other quicker than Kendrick and Drake. Months of false testimony and baseless accusations in packed courtrooms resulted in death, ruin, and one of the most …
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You know the Bronco chase, the trial and the glove, but do you know …the book? In 2006, O.J. Simpson teamed up with prominent publisher, Judith Regan, to make a killing from his controversial life story. With the help of a ghostwriter, they created a “hypothetical” tell-all book about the actual murders O.J. stood trial for. Thousands of copies wer…
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Wrong way: read books about making good movies. Right way: read books about making a bad movie, and then don’t do that. This book tells the story of a historic box office flop, Bonfire of the Vanities. (It is historic in the sense that someone wrote a book about it.) Hear us make fun of the people who made it! Even though they seem very talented! *…
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In 1972, five clumsy burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. They were armed with tear gas pens, wads of cash, and enough surveillance equipment to make the NSA blush - and they were immediately caught. What could’ve been written off as the dumbest burglary in history swiftly unraveled through leak…
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Before it became the butt of countless jokes and the preferred transportation for mall cops, the Segway had grand ambitions. Its inventor, Dean Kamen, believed his self-balancing, two-wheeled electric scooter would change the way we get around, and ultimately eliminate the need for cars all together. But when the rubber met the road and consumers m…
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A magic girl (barely), a sociopath boy who thinks he's a knight, a strong guy who got fired from wrestling, and a bad guy with a mouth where his ear should be but only sometimes, I know this sounds made up . . . and it is, it's all made up in this book. Also there's an apocalypse, but that was probably obvious. * JOIN OUR PATREON for bonus episodes…
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Watch my NEW SPECIAL 'Honorary Jones' 👉 https://youtu.be/G1EbecGkomk Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "Zoltan" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Jun 21-23 | Greenville, SC Jun 28-29 | New Westminster, BC (Canada) Jul 11-13 | Washington, DC Jul 19-20 | Portland, ME Jul 26-27 | Santa Ana Pueblo, NM Sep 4…
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In the early 90’s, an earth shattering event occurred that would change the face of American culture forever: Coca-Cola changed their recipe. New Coke was supposed to be sweeter to combat the rising popularity of Pepsi, but the customer reaction was decidedly sour. Lawsuits and public outrage contributed to the PR Nightmare - somehow hiring Bill Co…
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Okay, we know there are many political controversies surrounding Elon Musk. But if you can, just try to clear your mind and approach this episode without prejudice. Wait, don’t clear your mind that much! That was all your memories! Quick, sweetie, tell me what year it is! Do you know who the president is?! Try to remember, please! PLEASE!! * JOIN O…
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Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "Zoltan" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Subscribe: https://bit.ly/ZOLTAN-YT Jun 8 | Boston, MA Jun 14-16 | Panama City Beach, FL Jun 20 | Greensboro, NC Jun 21-23 | Greenville, SC Jun 28-29 | New Westminster, BC (Canada) Jul 11-13 | Washington, DC Jul 19-20 | Portlan…
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When JCPenney, the 100-year-old department store, decided to rebrand in 2011, they sought the best in the biz to give them a makeover. Enter Ron Johnson, the affable retail genius behind the Apple Store. Hailed as a techy visionary, Johnson was supposed to reinvent the brand. Instead, he alienated customers with high prices and a baffling shopping …
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Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "Zoltan" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://punchup.live/zoltan/tickets Subscribe: https://bit.ly/ZOLTAN-YT Jun 8 | Boston, MA Jun 14-16 | Panama City Beach, FL Jun 20 | Greensboro, NC Jun 21-23 | Greenville, SC Jun 28-29 | New Westminster, BC (Canada) Jul 11-13 | Washington, DC Jul 19-20 | Portlan…
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After 30 years of development, Procter & Gamble rolled out a new, calorie-free oil substitute with the luxurious name, Olestra. This “miracle food” was supposed to revolutionize junk food and allow snackers to eat all the chips and crackers they could cram down their gullets without gaining any weight. Unfortunately for Procter & Gamble, Olestra di…
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Interestingly, this is also the title of the world’s saddest and shortest autobiography. Also on this episode, Kellen and Dave pitch a much better sequel to Jurassic Park. * JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * If you want to read/listen to Catching Fire and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy t…
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US Congressman George Santos was an inspiring embodiment of the American dream. A son of immigrants who worked his way through the finest universities, rose through the ranks of Wall Street and started his own successful business before winning an election. Only catch? Almost none of it was true. Santos lied, schemed and embezzled his way into Cong…
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Safe Journal: https://www.safejournal.co (Promo Code "Zoltan" for 25% off) TOUR DATES: https://www.zoltancomedy.com/collections/zoltan-kaszas-shows Subscribe: https://bit.ly/ZOLTAN-YT Jun 8 | Boston, MA Jun 14-16 | Panama City Beach, FL Jun 20 | Greensboro, NC Jun 21-23 | Greenville, SC Jun 28-29 | New Westminster, BC (Canada) Jul 11-13 | Washingto…
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