That Happens

The Spleen welcomes the brilliant Kate Freund to his Oubliette, and she's here to talk about Pretty Lethal, her action film about ballerinas who have to fight their way out of a very bad situation without the help of any dads whatsoever. Before getting into the cinematic deep cuts, the gang covers the important stuff: Kate's obsession with plant-based buffalo wings, the surprisingly rich cultural history connecting Roger Corman's grindhouse empire to the founding of IHOP, and the existential crisis Kate had after watching Taken and realizing her father's skill set was more "destroy a car dealer with paperwork" than "Liam Neeson." Kate walks us through the absolutely heroic 15-year journey of getting Pretty Lethal made: from a 2011 draft involving a trapdoor to being told by an executive to just change all the women to a boys' baseball team. She didn't. The film, now top two in the US on Amazon, features five ballerinas, razor blades on pointe shoes, Uma Thurman doing knitting between takes, and a signed jar of Skippy that Kate will never, ever eat. Tune in, put on a tutu, and watch the damn movie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us with comedian/podcaster Kyle Ayers for a chaotic episode where where we cover tennis judging, Apple Store warfare tactics, and the existential terror that is Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Kyle stops by fresh from refereeing children's tennis matches (he's basically a scarecrow with authority) to discuss his podcast Never Seen It, creating comedy segments out of thin air, and that time he opened for a houseplant named Colby. The gang bonds over their shared Apple Store trauma, where we learn that corporate empathy training actually works on kindergarten tennis players. We also tackle the hard-hitting questions: Are monarch butterflies the real villains? Did Courage the Cowardly Dog predict modern anxiety? And why does every important childhood memory involve either Rocco's Modern Life or nitrous oxide? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian, writer and talk show host Mary Houlihan is back! Mary shares insights from cosmetology school, explains why Tim Dillon might actually be more helpful than your favorite Hollywood liberal who posts trans flags but won't sign anything, and makes a compelling case for why shame-based persuasion is about as effective as a car in an oubliette. The conversation meanders through topics like why famous people are weirdly silent about genocide, how fighting with people online is basically the political equivalent of stress-eating cheeseburgers, and why more leftists should steal Joe Rogan's audience instead of just complaining about him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer's car got broken into, he's unsure if he's accidentally racist, then nearly killed an elderly jaywalker, realizes he's midway through a slow flanderization into a caricature of himself, and ate some restaurant food that tastes like bleach. We also touch on why there's a healing fantasy about strong man politicians, parental wounds being capitalist tools, and how Magic: The Gathering's stack system works. Also, we're on YouTube now. https://www.youtube.com/@ThatHappensPod/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we invite filmmaker and Channel 101 show runner Sevan Najarian, to talk his new film "Mars" by The Whitest Kids U' Know. He goes pretty deep into the internals of producing a movie with a lot of challenges, breaking his back during a wedding proposal, managing 20 employees working out of his house, and why every video editor is secretly obsessed with making broth. There's also an extended detour into the ethics of using AI to resurrect the voice of a cast member who died during post-production, the cult-like aspects of growing up in a religion that forbids philosophy classes, and why holding your breath during podcast intros is actually very bad for your kidneys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spleen broadcasts live from a stadium dumpster and becomes a white mage of Tinactin and banana peels. We try to figure out what makes sense of the recent Epstein files drama, the government's bold strategy of just lying about everything, make some predictions that are sure not to age poorly, and try to figure out why we both have had bad experiences with smoked Gouda cheese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the Spleen attempts to cover the Grammys from an increasingly questionable "red carpet". Between intense discussions about yakasoba bread (yes, it's noodles in a sandwich with pickled ginger, yes it's amazing), we somehow stumble into surprisingly coherent discussions about: the lack of imagination in conservative thinking, why every accusation really is a confession, the absolutely wild Epstein files, ICE raids in LA, and whether small business tax fraud is morally different from billionaire tax fraud (spoiler: it's not). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin and Spencer talk Pluribus, then detour off to rant about technical nuances of television production and why you can't see or hear anything in TV shows anymore. Spencer discovers he can zoom on Zoom, much to our delight. Somehow we end up on thoughts on self-esteem versus collective purpose, the importance of doing something even when you can't do everything, and why baking cookies for your neighbors counts as praxis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Eli Yudin joins the show for what starts as a chat about animation and art school but quickly spirals into deep discussion on why everything is broken. We cover the important stuff: why old Newgrounds animations slapped, whether musical comedy is real comedy, the insane labor practices destroying creative industries, why growth-obsessed capitalism is a death cult, and most crucially, the correct Elden Ring build. Eli shares stories about his comedy special "Humble Offering," explains why he now reads weird little tales instead of doing traditional standup, and reveals his shameful addiction to Escape from Tarkov despite the game being held together with duct tape and broken quests. There's also a detour into how National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation proves that workers have lost all their power, a passionate defense of Tom and Jerry's artistic merit, and Spencer admitting he beat Dark Souls III by just punching everything to death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We look back at our predictions we made at the start of last year, along with current events... in horror. Spencer's distraught at the rise of fascism and the failure of our government in its most fundamental values. Kevin lists of all the ways we've squandered a few centuries of good will and soft power. Is the first domino about to fall, or are we about to reboot as America 2.0? Spencer tries to look back at his 2025 tarot readings and do a new one for 2026. Are we headed towards more petulance and opposition, or is the answer some creative teamwork? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices