A big thanks to everyone who’s already taken our ad survey – it’s such a huge help! If you’d like to take the survey, it’s still open, takes less than 10 minutes, and if you complete it you’ll get a discount at the MaxFunStore! Ok, let’s see what shows and hosts have been up to!
Go Fact Yourself is teaming up with KPCC and the hosts of NPR’s Ask Me Another for Unwind Live: Go Fact Yourself! Never been able to make it to Los Angeles for one of their hilarious live tapings? Now you can watch it live on Tuesday, May 5 at 5pm PT! Ophira Eisenberg and Jonathan Coulton will answer trivia about their self-proclaimed areas of expertise and be surprised by some super secret guest experts! RSVP here to get a reminder!
Judge John Hodgman is up for a Webby for Best Comedy Podcast! If you’d like to help the show win, please click here to vote! There are a whole bunch of categories if you’re really in a voting mood, but in this case, it’s totally ok to just vote in this one category. Thanks for your help!
The Story Boys just wrapped up the first draft of their written-in-real-time movie Heaven Heist! Yesterday, they released a very fun supercut of all of the audiodramas they created to go along with it. That’s right, an entire screenplay-worth of thrills, action, and adventure, now in podcast form. And if you want to see how it all came together, start where it all began and listen to the original Heaven Heist episode.
Reading Glasses just did a crossover livestream with The Professional Book Nerds podcast where they gave out live book recommendations. The event wasn’t recorded, BUT you can still get great book recommendations and support local bookstores by checking out the Reading Glasses Bookshop page.
Friendly Fire host (and MBMBaM theme song singer) John Roderick performed in Space Songs – a virtual concert put on by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. John sings a song I love very much – The Commander Thinks Aloud – and he sings it in an empty church. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking, but I think you might find it cathartic. And if it ends up being a lot for you, you can get your energy right back up with friend of MaxFun, Dan Deacon, who performs later in the show.
Livestreams and more!
This past week:
Mission to Zyxx Live Listens Ep 104
Dave Hill’s Live Album Release Party
John Roderick Performing in Space Songs
Clint McElroy Stories from Your Gaffer
John Hodgman’s Get Your Pets
Coming up next:
Today:
John Hodgman’s Get Your Pets
Clint McElroy’s Stories From Your Gaffer
Tuesday:
Unwind Live: Go Fact Yourself with Jonathan Coulton and Ophira Eisenberg
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We’d like to hear from you!
Email april@maximumfun.org with your photos and stories about what you’re up to when listening to MaxFun or just in general. We’ve got a blog post that we are continually updating with some of the fun stuff that MaxFunsters are doing.
Here’s what MaxFun staff members are up to!
Daniel Baruela, Technology and Data Specialist
Danny is here to to talk about what I think basically everyone on the internet wants to hear about: Animal Crossing.
“Like many of you, I’ve been playing a lot of Animal Crossing: New Horizons lately. (And just generally thinking about it a bit too much.) But for those of you who don’t know what Animal Crossing is, it’s a video game in which you build up a village. You start out with a tent, and as you gain resources, you get a bigger house, and get new neighbors, which are always anthropomorphized animals. (Shoutout to my boy Teddy!)
It may not sound very exciting, and it’s not. It’s very deliberately paced. Your island can only progress so much in one day, and the game takes place in real time. Different events take place at different times of the day, week, and even the year. As seasons change, so does the game, and it’s how you fill the game in the times in between events that really make it special.
My personal pet project has been to make my island just extremely nerdy. I’ve created my own Star Trek-themed fashion line that my in-game neighbors have started adopting. I’m building the living room of my house into a TARDIS. My attic is a holodeck that displays any nerdy cosplay I’m able to collect. If you visit my island, I’m also building up an outdoor gaming plaza.
But my favorite part isn’t just that I’m able to personalize my island, it’s that I’ve been able to share my island with others, and others have shared theirs with me. I’ve been trading furniture and clothing with friends daily. Even here at MaxFunHQ, we have a Slack dedicated to Animal Crossing where we talk about the Stalk Market! I’ve connected with folks around the globe in Animal Crossing, and in this time of safer-at-home, it’s been really, really comforting. And if you’d like to connect with me too, let me know!”