Hi there!

Good to see you again! I come back to your inbox bearing all the latest updates from MaxFun: special guests on a bunch of podcasts (Dropout fans, you’re gonna wanna pay attention), an update on Drive gifts, and a familiar name in the New York Times crossword. Let’s go!

Highlight Reel

What’s been going on at MaxFun?

🌈 Pride 🌈

Still Buffering is celebrating Pride with a marathon of queer horror movies! Most recently, they discussed Queen of the Dead, a film that answers the burning question: can the power of friendship defeat zombies? What about the power of gay friendship?
Alonso Duralde quite literally wrote the book on LGBTQ+ representation in the movies, and now he’s asking the hosts of The Flop House: what’s the first queer representation these three cishet guys remember seeing in film?
Whether you think Eurovision is inherently queer or inherently straight, there’s no denying that it’s had no shortage of queer moments—and Eurovangelists wants you to know all about them.

Alonso Duralde during an episode recording, saying, "I'm not alone in this world".

🗣️ Very Important People 🗣️

Go Fact Yourself episode 195. Timothy Simons vs Vic Michaelis

Actor/comedian Vic Michaelis and actor Timothy Simons face each other down in a trivia battle on Go Fact Yourself! Vic says they’re an expert on the movie Twister, the 2011 Tony awards, and LEGOs. Timothy says he’s an expert on The Wire, Chicago theater in the early 2000s, and Tiger Woods. J. Keith and Helen put their knowledge to the test!

Dan Mintz of Bob’s Burgers fame joined Jordan, Jesse, Go! to talk about the extended Bazooka Joe universe and the perils of camping! Once you’re all worn out from laughing, drift off to dreamland while Dan describes a Trader Joe’s trip over on Sleeping with Celebrities
Did you know ladders are Secretly Incredibly Fascinating? Author Jason Pargin sure thinks so, and he joined Alex and Katie to tell you all about it!
Can children, given the right circumstances, ever develop telekinetic powers? Well… no, probably not. But the Sawbones hosts brought on two expert guests to discuss: their grade school-aged daughters, who are currently in a production of Matilda

🔀 Crossover Alert! 🔀

Jesse Thorn joined Amber on RePhrasing: An Archer ReWatch Podcast to talk about interviewing, acting, podcasts, and—of course—Archer
Is The Mandalorian & Grogu good? And, much more importantly, does it contain hot dads? Danielle and the hosts of Maximum Film! discuss. You can also catch Danielle on Eurovangelists talking about Black artists who have performed in Eurovision and the importance of letting Black people be mid

📺 Media Zone 📺

A New York Times crossword puzzle. The hint for the selected row (four letters) is "Helen with the podcast Go Fact Yourself"

A very familiar name made an appearance in a recent New York Times crossword puzzle!
TV Chef Fantasy League wrapped Top Chef: Carolinas with their first ever live show at Chef Kat Turner’s restaurant Highly Likely. And that means a new season begins: who are the hosts drafting from 24 in 24?
Free With Ads is giving us all a free sneak peek of their new bonus content series, “We Like Shows”! In this episode, producer Matt Lieb makes Jordan and Emily watch acclaimed British drama Downton Abbey

Visiting the Border Wall with Al Otro Lado

Al Otro Lado is a bi-national organization that provides free legal and humanitarian aid to immigrants, deportees, and separated families. John Hodgman, Jesse Thorn, and HQ’s Daniel Speer went to Tijuana to visit the Al Otro Lado headquarters and talk with Nicole Ramos (Director of the Border Rights Project) and Cassandra Lopez (Director of Litigation).

Special Episode: JJHo Visits Tijuana with Al Otro Lado

Recently, Jesse and Theresa Thorn, and a bunch of folks in the community, raised $400,000 for Al Otro Lado to support their critical work advancing the rights of all immigrants, refugees, and deportees on both sides of the border. Join them in supporting Al Otro Lado!

Support Immigrant Rights

Update on MaxFunDrive gifts and keychains

Wondering when you can expect your items? Here’s some info on how our process works!

Huge thanks to all of our members who joined, upgraded, or boosted during MaxFunDrive 2026! And to everyone who has supported us over the years! Right now all of those cool gifts and charity sale keychains are being produced. All of our exclusive MaxFunDrive gifts are made-to-order, and in an effort to reduce waste, we always wait to place the order until after we’re done number-crunching and know how many of each gift we’ll need. Because of this, it can take a little time to get them all finished—but it’s always well worth the wait!

We don’t have a firm shipping date yet, but members who are receiving physical gifts or keychains from the charity sale will get an email when everything is ready to mail out! Folks will have the opportunity to update their mailing address then, so look for that in a couple weeks.

Happy birthday to the MaxFun Co-Op!

The MaxFun Co-op is now three! (Technically we turn three on June 30th, but an early birthday wish is better than a late one, right?) We couldn’t have gotten here without you—your support, monetary or not, helps keep this network going. Behind the shows you love and the hosts you know, MaxFun is run by a bunch of weird, cool, passionate people who are all here because we believe independent media not only has a future, it is the future.

If you agree and you wanna toss us a few bucks a month, we’d all appreciate it. And if you can’t, just listening to our shows, coming to live events, and telling your friends about us does more than we can ever say.

We’re in this together. Thank you for your support.

And, in related news, we’ll soon be welcoming worker-owner Kira Gowan to the Board of Directors! If you’ve emailed MaxFun in the past, you’ve almost certainly interacted with Kira, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that she’s awesome. Welcome to the board, Kira!

Our June Member of the Month is Kara B.!

Every month, we randomly select one MaxFun member to receive a call from a host of their choice and a bunch of fun goodies. This month, member Kara B. (hi, Kara!) got to talk with John Moe! Kara has been listening to Depresh Mode since the first episode released five years ago. Thanks so much for your support, Kara!

(And if you want your own chance to be a Member of the Month, all you gotta do is sign up to support your favorite shows!)

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back next month with more news—and, if you’re expecting a gift and/or a charity sale keychain from the Drive, please keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks for an email to verify your shipping address.

— Your friends at MaxFun