DanEngler

In that case, I would like to propose the following (which I sing while standing and holding my hand over my heart at the start of every episode): Let the heavens open up and trumpets sound with laughter and improvisa-tion Shut up and gather all your family around for Paul F. Tompkins' SPONTANEANATION

It's a nod to the fact that, every time a host goes into their rate-and-review-on-iTunes spiel, they invariably field (in ) "I guess we don't matter!" complaints from Android users. Of course, since Midroll's surveys show twice as many listeners on iOS, and more recent studies show 82% of mobile podcast listeners using iOS, Android users essentially don't matter where podcast ratings are concerned.

Paul, does Eban's SPONTANEANATION fanfare have lyrics?

After a day of people barking angry and often ill-informed complaints, this episode was the perfect antidote. Deee-lightful! Plus, the bit at the end where Annie asked if she would get another pin for returning, implying that Paul gives away those signature S pins to his guest improvisers as a thank-you gift! Will be a new pin design for every year of SPONTANEANATION? And will return guests eventually need some sort of official sash to display their collections?

According to Engineer Brett on Reddit, they've been producing two versions of every show (with and without ads) for over a year. The other ad-free version probably has a different suffix.

The fact that hosts (Bob Ducca, Howard & Kulap, the Sklars) have been hinting at/outright naming the service for months suggests that they were planning on launching it even sooner than they did, but held off because they wanted to 1) flesh out their catalog with premium content that would available at launch, 2) finalize deals with third parties like Marc Maron and AST Records, and 3) fix bugs.

As indicated in my signature, I'm not an Earwolf employee, so I have very little visibility into the inner workings of the company. I didn't know Howl Premium was launching until the App Store update dropped yesterday morning.

The first time I ever talked to Jeff Ullrich on the phone (June 2012), we spoke at length about the idea that would eventually become Howl. (And also, incidentally, the idea that would become Midroll.) The Howl trademark was filed on February 21, 2015 and the Howl app debuted in the App Store on May 12, 2015. Both are registered to Subscription On Demand Audio, LLC. Back when Howl initially launched, it made zero business sense for Midroll to enter into a crowded podcast app market without a differentiator in the form of exclusive content and/or in-app purchases. The writing was on the wall months ago, especially after Bob Ducca spilled the beans in his final (since-redacted) episode of Affirmation Nation. The E.W. Scripps acquisition had nothing to do with Howl.

Earwolf did bring donuts to celebrate I4H's 200th episode, but they mysteriously disappeared before the party began.

Well, I feel dumb! Sorry, Paul. (But I stand by my statement that he'd make for a great interview.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJFvtvTGEk It's also a frequent reference on Never Not Funny.

I mean, why wouldn't Paul know René Auberjonois? Odo? Robert House? He would be a phenomenal interview subject for SPONT.

It's good…it's funky!

No one tell Howard that gummy sharks are almost certainly made with gelatin (derived from boiled animal skins and bones.) #CritterSandusky

More than anything, this episode has me wondering what the Johnny's Bananas writers' room is up to now…

Yeah, about that...

I really hope that Bono's "We know more about you than you'd like" from their first encounter, knowing about the chopped chicken salad, etc. has been a result of secret cooperation with The Widow Kulap. #GreatBits

How is this episode not sponsored by Bonobos?

That would be White Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkrvBNnAcw

I hereby nominate this episode for the category of "Best Ramble" in the 2015 SPONTy Awards.

A hammer murmur myrrh murder. What do you call a famous cellist playing with a children's toy in a steep-sided gully?

Congrats, Brett! I know it must be emotionally taxing to let Cody take over while you're busy working your magic.

Chad mentioned something about working through technical issues. I assume it's on their to-do list. In the meantime, you can subscribe directly to the feed in iTunes. 1. Go to File→Subscribe to Podcast… (In older versions of iTunes, this option may be under Advanced instead.) 2. Paste the following URL into the text field and click OK. http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:164262599/sounds.rss

Find a rental house somewhere like Palm Springs or Ojai. Rig it up with cameras everywhere, Big Brother-style. Jason, Scott, and Kulap are forced to stay in the house together for a week. Compile the footage into a show for sale on iTunes. Whether the end result is a week of nonstop bits or shit quickly gets real, it will be solid gold.

But having them in such close quarters would almost certainly lead to a Zouk-suit Riot!