It’s the first episode of Go Fact Yourself from Chicago!

Two-time Peabody Award winner Bill Kurtis is a news anchor with one of the most famous voices in television and radio. You may have heard him as the scorekeeper for the program "Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!", but he’s also known for his narration in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. He’ll explain how that role changed his life forever and share other stories from his extensive career.

Bill will compete with his fellow broadcaster and fellow Peabody Award winner Sarah Spain, host and contributor for ESPN. She’s often seen on the sports debate show "Around the Horn." She’ll tell us how she crafts an effective argument on the show and how she’s battling the negativity that comes with being a woman in the sports industry. Also, doggies!

The guests will answer questions about war veterans, improv comedy characters and the windy city.

What’s the Difference: Cubs & White Sox

What’s the difference between a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout?

What’s the difference between stitching and darning?

Areas of Expertise

Bill Kurtis: Frank Sinatra’s big band music, World War II in Okinawa and the prairie

Sarah Spain: Rescue dogs, 90’s "Saturday Night Live" characters and grammar.

Appearing in this episode:

J. Keith van Straaten
Helen Hong

Bill Kurtis
Sarah Spain

With guest experts:

Julia Sweeney, actor and comedian who’s appeared in four seasons of "Saturday Night Live."

John Ullinskey, WWII veteran who served aboard the USS Arikara and participated in the D-Day Invasion and the Battle of Okinawa

Go Fact Yourself was devised by Jim Newman and J. Keith van Straaten, and produced in collaboration with Maximum Fun. The show was recorded at Sleeping Village in Chicago.

Theme Song by Jonathan Green.
Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.
The show is edited by Julian Burrell.

In our All Career Corner Special, we investigate two possible vocations for Paula: News anchor and high-rise window washer. Frank Buckley of the KTLA Morning News gives us the lowdown on TV journalism, and HSG’s Hector Garcia gives us the highup on cleaning windows at altitude. Also, we address the latest on Thomas Coyne, pastors and nuns and how they feel about Paula’s vocabulary, and Adam’s cold.

House band
Ryan Gabrinetti, electric guitar

Guests
Frank Buckley
Co-anchor of KTLA’s Emmy Award-winning broadcast,
L.A.’s No. 1-rated KTLA Morning News
Twitter: @FrankBuckleyTV
Facebook: @frankbuckley
Website: Frank Buckley
Podcast: Frank Buckley Interviews

Hector Garcia
President & Founder
HSG Waterproofing, Restoration and Window Cleaning
YouTube @hsgwindow
Facebook: @hsgpro
Website: HSG-INC.com

Ryan Gabrinetti
Electric guitar
Twitter: @gabrinetti
Website: Ryan Gabrinetti

Hi friends! We are so excited to announce that we have a scholarship available for MaxFunCon 2018! Thank you so much to all of the generous attendees who contributed to the scholarship fund and made this possible!

The scholarship will be awarded to one individual who has a strong desire to attend MaxFunCon but is financially unable to do so. It will cover the cost of your MaxFunCon ticket, accommodations, food, drink, and activities -- but it will not cover airfare or travel to and from the event.

In order to apply for this scholarship, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• You have significant financial need. Specifically, it would be difficult or impossible for you to attend MaxFunCon if you did not receive a scholarship.
• You will be able to participate in the entire weekend-long conference. MaxFunCon begins at 4 PM on Friday, June 8 and ends at 1 PM on Sunday, June 10.
• You are able to arrange your own transportation to and from Lake Arrowhead, CA to attend MaxFunCon.

If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, please send a short essay telling us a bit about yourself and explaining why you want to go to MaxFunCon. In particular, please describe your creative aspirations and how attending MaxFunCon might help you with your future projects. Essay instructions are as follows:

• Email your essay to stacey@maximumfun.org
• In the subject line of your email, please write "MaxFunCon Scholarship"
• The essay should be included both as an attachment to your email in Microsoft Word format (or link to a Google Doc) and in the body of the email.
• The essay must be no longer than 300 words. Essays longer than 300 words will not be read or considered.
• Please include your phone number in the body of the email so that we can call you if needed.

Creativity is always appreciated, but please make sure your essay conforms to all the requirements outlined above in order to be considered.

• The deadline for scholarship applications is MONDAY, APRIL 30.
• We hope to select and notify the recipient no later than THURSDAY, MAY 3.

Thank you again to all the wonderful MaxFunCon attendees who contributed to the Scholarship Fund! And good luck to all applicants!

The 2018 MaxFunDrive (and Weekend Amnesty) has officially come to an end, and at the time of writing we are at 28,630 new and upgrading members!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! That means we not only surpassed our goal of 25,000, but hit our stretch goal of 28,000! This is absolutely amazing, and we are incredibly grateful and lucky to have kind, cool, generous members like you -- people who believe enough in what we do at MaxFun to voluntarily contribute money to keep it going. If you were able to join or upgrade this year, thank you so much! And if you are a sustaining supporter, thank you for your incredible support all this time! We couldn't do it without you!

Now that the drive is over have a couple of quick things for you:

Watch a replay of Friday's live show!

We had a true MaxFun extravaganza to celebrate the end of the drive on Friday night. We packed Angel City Brewery with hosts and MaxFun members for a two-hour ELEVEN-SHOW spectacle. It was a blast, and we know a lot of you weren't able to tune in live, so we decided to keep the video up on our YouTube channel just for you! Watch it here.

Our #MaxFunDreamDate Stretch Goal

Since we hit our stretch goal of 28,000 (thank you!), we are going to make this perfect work of graphic design a reality. More information is forthcoming -- we'll let you know when to start sitting by your Dream Phone waiting for our call.

Thank-you Gifts
If you became a monthly member at the $10 level or above for the first time during the 2018 MaxFunDrive, or if you were able to upgrade to the next membership level, we'll be sending you a gift to say thanks for taking the plunge. (Folks at the $5 level and up should already be able to dive into 100+ hours of bonus content!) We send the physical gifts to production after the drive is over, so we know how many to make, and in this case, we will be waiting until after the pin sale, as well. So, gifts probably won't go out until July, but we'll keep everyone posted on the production process. Please keep in mind that cancelling your membership or changing your membership level may affect your gift eligibility.

Pin Sale for Charity
Since we hit our goal of 25,000 new and upgrading members, we will be putting the pins on sale for all active members at the $10 level or above -- with proceeds going to charity. We are working on setting up the shop for you, but it will take a little bit of time. If you are eligible to buy a pin, we'll be sending you an email in the coming week(s), and once we're ready to go, we will be shouting it from the rooftops* so you won't miss it.
*everywhere MaxFun exists on the internet

Thank you again for a tremendous MaxFunDrive!

The team celebrate 50 episodes together by going back in time to the year 1965. They share some of their favorite pop culture moments in music, film and television of that year

With Guy Branum, Wynter Mitchell, Margaret Wappler and Oliver Wang.

Jams

Wynter Mitchell - Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaos and California Girls by The Beach Boys.
Oliver Wang - A Change is Gonna to Comel by Sam Cooke.
Margaret Wappler - It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones.
Guy Branum - I’m Looking Through You by The Beatles.

Each week we'll add everyone's jams to this handy Spotify PlayList

You can let us know the media you consume when faced with difficult times in our Facebook or via @PopRocket on Twitter.

Elvis Mitchell is film critic, best known as the host of KCRW’s "The Treatment". Since 1996 he’s interviewed scores of film industry writers, actors and directors on the show. He’s even gone into filmmaking for himself, producing a series of documentaries about race and success called The Black List.

But don’t mistake Mitchell’s tastes for being conventional. He may very well be the only critic in America quoted as enjoying the film Pootie Tang.

He’ll talk about the interplay between television and film, how he got his start in pop culture and why he was arrested on the Canadian border with Cuban cigars and $15 thousand in cash.

You can listen to The Treatment every week on KCRW and on iTunes

If you liked this, share it! Click here for a streaming, embeddable version of this interview.

This segment originally aired 06/26/2012

OK Go is band who broke out in 2006 with a hugely popular homemade video for their single "A Million Ways".

Lead singer and guitarist Damian Kulash talks to us about one of the moments that led him to his place in music- hearing "Rockit" by jazz legend Herbie Hancock of the 1983 album Future Shock.

OK Go just released a new album. It’s called Hungry Ghosts.

If you liked this, share it! Click here for a streaming, embeddable version of this interview.

This segment originally aired 08/24/2011

Bob Edwards was around at the very, very beginning of NPR. He was the original host of Morning Edition back in 1979 and stuck with public radio for decades. His interviews and insight earned him the Peabody award in 1999 and cemented him as a broadcasting icon.

In 2004 Edwards was controversially removed from his hosting job. Listeners didn’t take kindly to it, but Edwards was quick to move on- to satellite radio. For almost a decade The Bob Edwards Show aired daily on Sirius XM. And a weekend version of the award-winning program was aired on public radio stations via Public Radio International.

Production of The Bob Edwards Show ended in September. To celebrate Edwards’ 40-year career, Jesse will play his 2005 conversation with him. Edwards will talk about his early days at NPR and why he stuck with non-commercial radio for so long.

Reruns of The Bob Edwards Show can still be heard on Sirius XM and on iTunes.

This segment originally aired 08/27/2005

If you liked this, share it! Click here for a streaming, embeddable version of this interview.

Ever feel nostalgia for a time or place that you never even experienced firsthand? That’s what Jesse felt after watching Ric Burns’ documentary Coney Island, a beautiful portrait of America caught somewhere between its past and its future.

If you liked this, share it! Click here for a streaming, embeddable version of this interview.

This segment originally aired 05/27/2013

The Kasper Hauser Comedy team brings you the hard hitting stories that the other guys won't. Probably because they weren't funny enough to make it up themselves. Whatever the case, brush up on all the news for October, 2011.

For more from Kasper Hauser, including their own comedy writing class in San Francisco, visit KasperHauser.com.

Thoughtful, reflective, occasionally light-hearted. Your news, provided to you by your faithful Kasper Hauser news anchors.

For more from Kasper Hauser, including upcoming events like their fake docent tour of the California Academy of Sciences, visit KasperHauser.com.