57 episodes
KPODD 101.3 Dan Kennedy and Benjamin Harrison
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- Fiction
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4.9 • 62 Ratings
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A comedy fiction podcast from Ben Harrison (The Greatest Generation) and Dan Kennedy (McSweeney's, founding host of The Moth Podcast ). Someone drinking at Casa Vega described the show as, "It's like Alan Partridge but at a 90's alternative rock station. Or like Comedy Bang Bang, but 90's radio." That person was killed by shadowy members of a nautically themed gang. Here's how we describe KPODD 101.3 since we're still living: Two L.A. morning radio DJs return to the airwaves in the 1990s after being suspended and sent to rehab. Machine Bolt and Él Farto are on a savage journey to better living. The mics are always on a little too early and each episode starts with the accidentally aired unvarnished small talk that lurks behind their positivity personas. The oddest characters invade their lives, and the occasional mysterious rips in the space-time continuum add a note of science fiction weird to the morning drive. You may have questions: Are they the only ones trapped in the 90s? Why did a giant python constrict the HR lady's Chihuahua? Why does this version of reality include the SeVan® conversion kit that turns most economy sedans into custom vans by appearance at most angles? Is Station Manager Gene from the future? Why does Producer Lynn dress like Kurt Cobain if he hosted a bird watching show on NPR? Start with a recent episode. Then jump around. Because there's no right way to travel back or forward in time. Everyone knows that. Right?
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The 90s Are Alive and Well. Season 1 Guest Recap!
The 90s Are Alive and Well.
Machine Bolt and Él Farto take a moment to look back on some special guests from Season 1 of KPODD 101.3
Some people (Gene) say that these are some of the most brilliant people in public radio, literary culture, or TV writers and producers simply playing funny characters in a period comedy about a Los Angeles radio station in 1997-1998. Literally, is Gene insane? Is he, like, from the future? Guests: Jesse Thorn (NPR’s Bullseye, “Jordan, Jesse, Go!”); Laurie Kilmartin (Conan/Team Coco, Author and Comedian); Mike Sacks (Vanity Fair, Author); Paul Myers (Gravelberrys, The Paul & John, Author); Jessica Lee Williamason (Netflix’s “F is For Family”, Showtime’s “I’m Dying Up Here”, The Moth, This American Life); Lauren Weedman (HBO’s “Hacks”, “Arrested Development”, “The Daily Show”, Comedian); Alison Rosen (“Upworthy”, “Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend”, The Angoras); Colin Nissan (McSweeney’s, The New Yorker); Josh Gondelman (Showtime’s “Desus & Mero”, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” Author, Comedian); Dave Holmes (Editor at Large, Esquire Magazine, Author, Co-Host of “Homophilia” and “Troubled Waters”); Ophira Eisenberg (The Moth, NPR’s “Ask Me Another”, Author, Comedian); Tim Stevens (Automotive Journalist at CNET and Author). And last but not least, Nathram! (Ted Travelstead from F/X’s “The Great North”, “Making History” and “Wilfred”). We love you, Tim from Tower. -
Black and White Flat Screen (with Mike Sacks!)
Él Farto and Machine Bolt have an announcement. Super Caller Mike is milking a venomous spider into thimbles and condoms after the spider was smuggled to him in a Band Aid box. The competition is out of their coma and you’ll never guess what jump-started them. Plus: Listener Review! Also: The phone line is sponsored by Fruitopia® and everyone in the world is filled with deep regret and painful awareness with regard to this. God save us all.
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No More Mister Nice Hosts
Radio consultants Genevieve Haas and Andrew Walsh, hired by Gene to whip the morning show into shape, give on-air advice to Machine Bolt and Él Farto on how to get jiggy with it and bring the ratings fight to Chudd and Carl (still in comas). Get your whips and your latex, and tune in for weather, listener calls, and some deeply inside-baseball radio strategy on this morning’s broadcast!
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To Kill A Rocktober
There’s never been a better time to buy a Toyota, but time is a construct. Rocktober came in without warning and is winding down with a certain flair as Machine Bolt and Él Farto wade into a swag swamp of Bacardi guitars and KPODD T-shirts! Heavy Kevy calls in! New details emerge about Chudd Cuddler and Carl Cannibal’s dirt bike crash in Elsinore! Machine Bolt and Él Farto hover near number two in the ratings while Chudd and Carl hover near death in comas! The phrase that truly pays: As long as you’re free from fear and the tyranny of your brain, you’re truly free and you’ll be fine!
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It Never Rains On Your Phonebook In LA
Call 818-85-FARTO and tell us all your thoughts on ROCKTOBER! Él Farto and Machine Bolt (real names) have been accused of stealing their format from a competing morning team, and they start the broadcast getting a lot off their chests about that. The new AlternativeRockMobile™ has been christened, and is out there on the 405 this morning! If you’re a lucky listener with the KPODD bumper sticker you could get a free guitar! Tune in to this morning’s broadcast for a sad update on local radio heroes Chud Cuddler and Cannibal Carl, plus some static the guys are having with Anthony Loud’s sidekick Stump.
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Try to Bite Death's Fingers
Consider that forgetting your dreams each morning may be the key to happiness. While you're doing that, Whiskey Dick is writing a hard-hitting prison memoir about his time (3 days) in prison (County lock-up), and Él Farto and Machine Bolt are giving you hacks to make people like you instantly. Plus! More unvarnished truths are spoken while Lynn is out of the room, women and drugs and fake fame on the tuba player scene, and the most dangerous live remote in the 818 is happening Friday and it will be 60 below zero Fahrenheit. We're Sorry We Tried to Hire Your Baby®
Customer Reviews
Why hasn’t Apple or Amazon optioned this?!
On my first listen I couldn’t stop with these guys and wound up cleaning the whole house because it was such a good hang, punctuated by laugh out loud moments that startled my family! Why hasn’t this turned into a streaming sitcom yet?
Vacation is over!
When are El Farto and Machine Bolt coming back from vacation! I miss their antics during my daily drive time. I need to hear from you guys! Come back!
Love the show. Are you happy now, Lynn?
I’d been kicked out of a matinee of an all-nude, mostly silent production of End Game, held in an improvised black box theater inside what used to be a Fazio’s Shopping Bag, when I noticed I was being followed by a woman wearing what seemed to be a utility vest over an Indian-print sundress.
When I turned to confront her, she said, “I’ve got something you’re going to love. I can tell. You’re the type.”
I tried to tell her the Beckett thing wasn’t my jam. I was only there because I went to Bennington with the director. She looked me straight in the eye, and said, “you didn’t graduate.”
I followed her to what appeared, on first glance, to be a conversion van, where she handed me a tote bag full of tapes.
She said, “Listen to all of them. Start with Episode 17, 20, 27, 35, then 37, and just keep going. These guys have a lot of heart, and virtuosic command of genre.”
“Ok,” I said. “I’ll listen to your tapes.”
“Even if you don’t like alternative rock, listen for the guests. They’re great. But beware the frequent callers.” Then she gripped my hand, tightly, looked deep in my eyes and said, “It’s up to you if it’s humor or allegory.”
Suddenly I understood. “Maybe it’s reality,” I said. “After all, here we are, in Los Angeles, in 1998.”
“Reality is a choice you can make,” came a booming voice over my shoulder.
I ignored the dude in a polo shirt, and flat front pants, who’d been eavesdropping, and said “Lynn, it’s ok. I’ve been a fan for a while. And I do love alternative rock. What else am I going to listen to on my commute? KDank? Please.”
I showed her the KPodd 101.3 bumper sticker on my car, promised to post a review, and she seemed to calm down.
El Farto and Machine Bolt are the raddest morning show in the southland. If they’re not number one in the ratings by the time this review posts, they should be. And I get the impression that Lynn will stop at nothing until they are.