No Bad Ideas
294 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 months ago - ★★★★★ - 104 ratingsThe No Bad Ideas Podcast is the creation of Gabriel Urbina, Sarah Shachat, and Zach Valenti, three writer and artist-types who, in order to stay fresh creatively, have an excuse to hang out with each other once a week, and check in on what they're working on, take a terrible idea they found on the Internet each week and turn it into a compelling narrative. Or as close as they can get in 30 minutes.
If you're someone trying to be creative yourself or even if you just appreciate a good story, you'll enjoy listening to Zach, Sarah, and Gabriel figure out how to make sense of the best (or worst?) absurdities the internet has to offer. We guarantee there have definitely been worse ideas.
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Episodes
Episode 94: Creative Corner Chat with Felix Trench
May 14, 2020 17:44 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBThe Bad Ideas Team is once again joined by Felix Trench, lead actor of Wooden Overcoats and creator of Quid Pro Euro! Tune in for a discussion with Never Tense Trench about the joys and challenges of making your own show after working on other people's, as well the possible non-existence of comedic timing, the lack of good art about the European Union, and the benefits of a default dark mode. If you want to hear more of Felix, check out Quid Pro Euro and follow them on Twitter, hear him on ...
Episode 93: Spy Cats (With Felix Trench)
May 11, 2020 04:00 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBHot on the heels of Europe Day 2020, we’re delighted to have the mastermind behind Quid Pro Euro himself, actor, writer, and comedian of legend, Mr. Felix Trench, on our inaugural transatlantic edition of NBI! We begin on neutral ground, in Canada, with a bet of epic proportions that leads to a court battle decades of rock-paper-scissors games in the making. Then, we take one California official’s horrific gaff over Zoom and transform it into the thrilling tale of an incompetent spy and the ...
Episode 92: Occult Librarian Fight Club (With Peter Coleman)
May 07, 2020 05:30 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBToday on No Bad Ideas, special guest star Peter Coleman returns to help us tackle another bad idea and talk a bit about his own creative pursuits! Our bad idea today is all about museums - specifically, the #CuratorBattle challenge to share the creepiest object in every museum's collection. The squad and Peter work to turn one of the best collections of nightmare fuel the Internet has ever seen into a story of a young occultist trying to prove they're the very best, like no one ever was. Th...
Episode 91: A Manatee For All Seasons (With Peter Coleman)
May 04, 2020 17:07 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBBecause we’re bound by blood pact to have him in every single show we make, we are delighted to welcome actor extraordinaire Peter Coleman to the NBI hot seat! No messing about this week. We begin with another one of Florida Man’s legendary exploits, and turn it into a period horror comedy on the high seas where Seth Rogan voices a manatee. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, we turn to a pressing quandary: what do you do when your girlfriend hides and buries your supply of canned beans in the ...
Episode 90: Creative Corner Chat with Wil Williams
April 30, 2020 18:50 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBThe squad is once again joined by Will Williams, podcast critic and co-creator of Valence! Join us for a discussion about the process of making audio fiction, the challenges of striking a balance between clarity and verisimilitude, and the perils of living in both the present and the future simultaneously! If you’d like to check out Wil’s work, you can head to Valence’s site and check out their Twitter, and also follow Wil’s twitter and her How To Audio Drama series on Discover Pods. Suppo...
Episode 89: It's Cannon (With Wil Williams)
April 27, 2020 04:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBHappy Monday! We’re delighted to declare this Wil Williams week, as one of our favorite audio drama creators and critics joins us to tackle a couple legendary ideas. We start in Texas, where a neighborhood disturbance turns into an E.T. situation by way of a battery of literal cannons. Then we pop over to a remote mining town in California, where a man’s unique lockdown situation has taken on a ghostly, haunted aspect. Obviously, we make it a sitcom. Plus: Mandatory found families, pullin...
Episode 88: Creative Corner Chat with Eric Silver
April 23, 2020 05:05 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBThe Bad Ideas Team is joined, once again, by fabulous Multidude Eric Silver, the creator of Next Stop! Join us for a discussion about the ups and downs of creating an audio fiction sitcom and Eric's process for creating something that's both a love letter and a deconstruction of the shows you love. For more of Eric, you can find him on Twitter, and check out all four (!) of his podcasts: Join The Party, HORSE,What’s Your Favorite Pokemon (And Then I Say Something Nice About You), and our fr...
The Fast & The Furrious (With Eric Silver)
April 20, 2020 14:48 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBPut on your safety harnesses, everyone, and brace for spike traps, because the one and only Eric Silver has returned to the No Bad Ideas hot seat! We start with a very bad idea involving a Very Good Girl behind the wheel of a car and of course turn it into a True Crime investigation series/Fast and Furious fancast. Then, we bless the rains down in…Luxembourg, and take an out-there art installation and turn it into a diabolical subliminal marketing scheme. Plus: Space House, Big Hiking Trai...
Episode 86: The World Record Is Not Enough
April 16, 2020 04:52 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBToday on No Bad Ideas: psychotherapy, wild animals, and world records! In our first story of the day, Sarah brings us a tale of the ecotone where healthcare and untamed nature dangerously intersect, and we run as far away from it as we can - right into the protective arms of animated comedy. Then, the story of a humble Guinness adjudicator gets blown all the way up to a sleek, cool espionage thriller, complete with a nefarious villain and a lovable, bumbling support staff. Plus: get-out-of-...
Episode 85: Party At 70MPH
April 13, 2020 04:13 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBHappy Monday all! Today we bring you tales of two Manchesters, both alike in indignity. Like… we cannot stress highly enough the indignity. First, we head to Manchester, New Hampshire, where Gabriel brings us a story of noise pollution enforcement taken to the extreme - obviously we turn it into a time-traveling romantic comedy. Then, Sarah pops us over to Manchester, England, where there’s such a high volume of partying, we of course can't help but repurpose it into a bizarre and terrifying...
Episode 84: Mr. Smith Goes to the Matrix
April 09, 2020 20:08 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBNo Bad Ideas is back, with another set of terrible notions! Featuring accidental cosplay, Instagram Influencers, and neural networks! In our first story, Zach brings us the tale of a fake tan gone horribly, horribly wrong, and the gang tries to fashion it into a story about connecting with your inner Wicked Witch of the West. Then, Sarah invites us to enter the bizarre world of "in rem jurisdiction," a realm so strange and Kafkaesque that the gang has to come up with the tale of last plucky...
Episode 83: Anywhere's Better Than Earth
April 06, 2020 05:14 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBAnother week, another chance to contemplate terrible ideas from the comfort of our respective shelter-at-homes! First, Sarah brings us a tweet about a dubious quarantine garden activity, and we turn it into a feel-good tale of defying limitations - unless you happen to be a landscaper. Then, Gabriel gives us a ticket to the moon - or at least a ticket to a reality show in the making about people who are going to get stuck on the moon. Plus: crowdsourced legal defense teams, Jeff Bezos’ reac...
Episode 82: One Week Away from Normalcy
April 02, 2020 22:56 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBToday on No Bad ideas... it's the Pandemic Parlor! Zach, Sarah, and Gabriel check in with another about how they're doing and how they're staying creative during these strange, turbulent times. Support the show: http://patreon.com/NoBadIdeas See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Episode 81: So Sorry, Canada
March 30, 2020 12:43 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBWelcome to NBI: Social Distancing Edition - the first in our ongoing series of indefinite length where we record the show from each of our respective homes, because anything else would be a terrible idea! But boy howdy, do we still have some stories to tell. First, Gabriel brings us a tale of persistence in the face of all obstacles by that hero we don't need, Florida Man. Then, Zach completes the family portrait by bringing us a story of a Canadian boy winning a very peculiar prize. Plus:...
Episode 80: Chicken à la Proust (With Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs)
March 26, 2020 13:09 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBThe brilliant Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs returns to the Bad Ideas HQ for two more chilling tales of human absurdity and preposterousness! In the first story, an article of a woman's sidewalk going missing leads the gang to Rick Streetman, P.I., an investigator for whom no case is too small... although lots of cases are too big! Then, Sarah delves back into Reddit's Am I the Asshole? minefield, and emerges with a story of an intellectual so insufferable, the gang must resort to post-modernism to tel...
Episode 79: Back To Bacchus (With Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs)
March 23, 2020 04:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBWe recorded this a couple weeks ago, so we cannot honestly take credit for the timing, however we can’t think of anyone we’d rather have on the show right now than our incredible actor/dancer/creative collaborator/pal, Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs! We start the episode off with a tale of wine running through the streets, and take it a bunch of different places but agree the title is definitely “Pink Froth.” Then, we head to a prison soccer match gone horribly awry, and end up with a book series exami...
Episode 78: Creative Corner Chat with Bob Raymonda
March 19, 2020 12:57 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBZach, Sarah, and Gabriel are once again joined by Bob Raymonda, co-creator of Windfall! Tune in for a conversation about the creative genesis of projects, the perils of trying to figure out story structure, and the process of working with a cast of truly gargantuan proportions! If you’d like to see more of Bob’s work, follow him on Twitter and his site, check out Breadcrumbs magazine, and explore Windfall by going to their website, Twitter, and your podcast app of choice! Support the show: ...
Episode 77: Twice In A Lifetime (With Bob Raymonda)
March 16, 2020 13:56 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBAnother week, another brilliant guest joins us to come help untangle some terrible ideas! We’re delighted to be joined this week by the co-creator of Windfall, Bob Raymonda! We should have perhaps warned him that this was going to be a Very Family edition of NBI, because first, Sarah brings us a case file from the annals of Bad Parenting that leads to an intricate web of pranks and a mousetrap laid by Cate Blanchett. Then, Zach provides a mum’s birthday dilemma which turns into a town-wide s...
Episode 76: Creative Corner Chat with Eugenio Vargas
March 12, 2020 18:12 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBSarah, Gabriel, and Zach are once again joined by Eugenio Vargas, DM of the Last Refuge podcast! Join us for a conversation on collaborative storytelling, the importance of giving yourself wiggle room, and the difficulties of handling erstwhile players! If you’d like follow Eugenio, check him out on Twitter and his site, as well as The Last Refuge on Twitter, on their site, Patreon, and your podcast app of choice! Support the show: http://patreon.com/NoBadIdeas
Episode 75: An Army of Tom Hardys (With Eugenio Vargas)
March 09, 2020 05:13 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBWe rolled a natural 20 on guests this week, as we’re joined by the DM of The Last Refuge podcast, Eugenio Vargas! And we certainly could use Eugenio’s help with the two massive gaffs from across the Pond we’re dealing with. First, Zach brings us the strangest tutoring service we’ve ever heard of, which we turn into a dark comedy of mentoring a tiny dictator. Then, Gabriel brings us a thief with one of the largest rap sheets in Ireland, and we use it to craft a tv show about intrepid characte...
Episode 74: Creative Corner Chat with Emily VanDerWerff
March 05, 2020 17:55 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBSarah, Gabriel, and Zach are once again joined by Emily VanDerWerff, the co-creator of Arden and critic at large for Vox! Join us for a deep dive into the making-of process behind Arden, the creative balance of making a long-running show, and the mysteries of how time works. If you’d like to check out more of Emily’s work, follow her on Twitter, read her articles for Vox, subscribe to her newsletter, and be sure to follow Arden on Twitter, their website, and your podcatcher of choice. Supp...
Episode 73: Old Man Hacker (With Emily VanDerWerff)
March 02, 2020 05:30 - 37 minutes - 34 MBWe’re kicking off March with an historic first: our very first returning guest! Like Taylor Swift pulling in The Dixie Chicks for backing vocals, Emily VanDerWerff, the co-creator of Arden and critic at large for Vox, has made a triumphant return to the No Bad Ideas hot seat. We begin, however, with an idea of Zach’s, and quickly go from a little red wagon full of smartphones that tricked Google Maps to Emperor Zuckerberg and a sci-fi heist film with a geezer at its heart. Then, Emily brings...
Episode 72: Creative Corner Chat with Alyssa from GoodMorhen
February 27, 2020 14:33 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBZach, Sarah, and Gabriel are once again joined by Alyssa from GoodMorhen, producer and host of Breakfast In Beauclair, a global Witcher podcast! Join us for an in-depth conversation about how to keep creative plates spinning, the joys and challenges of making shows, and the on-going benefits of having a Podcasting Mom. If you'd like to follow Alyssa and her work, check out the GoodMorhen Instagram, as well as Breakfast in Beauclair's website, Twitter, and subreddit. Support the show: http:...
Episode 71: A Sheep Named Revenge (With Alyssa from GoodMorhen)
February 24, 2020 05:45 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBWe're delighted to be joined this week by Alyssa from GoodMorhen, producer and host of Breakfast In Beauclair, a global Witcher podcast! We could certainly use the aid of another sword, as first, Sarah sends us a Hail Mary of website design/a halfhearted blackmail scheme to get a manuscript read. We, of course, turn it into a book heist and a fraught battle of anonymity. Then, Gabriel brings up a wild potential rule change to the Russian Orthodox Church; and we, of course, propose an even w...
Episode 70: Creative Corner Chat (With Jared J. Smith)
February 20, 2020 06:00 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBGabriel, Zach, and Sarah sit down once more with Jared J. Smith, writer, director, and producer of The Phenomenon podcast! Join us for a fascinating conversation about building a global podcast in New York City, building a recording studio in the middle of your living room, and building an adaptation that leans into the strengths of audio. If you’d like to follow more of Jared's work, you can check out his site or his Twitter, and check out The Phenomenon on Twitter and on their site. Supp...
Episode 69: The Harbinger (With Jared J. Smith)
February 17, 2020 05:47 - 35 minutes - 33 MBToday on No Bad Ideas: dinosaurs, black market dealings, and special guest star Jared J. Smith, writer, director, and producer of The Phenomenon! In our first bad idea du jour, Gabriel takes the team to a prehistoric race of preposterous proportions that only gets sillier and sillier once they sinks their fangs into it. Then, Zach takes us into the dark corners of the web and to the "Craigslist of Guns." It's a story so sad that the squad just has to go for the nuclear option and descend in...
Episode 68: Creative Corner Chat (With Cara Ehlenfeldt)
February 13, 2020 14:29 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBZach, Sarah, and Gabriel are once again joined by Cara Ehlenfeldt, the creator and producer of the Godshead Incidental podcast! Tune in for a sacrilicious conversation about writing, audio fiction, and puns about Canadian restaurants. If you’d like to follow more of Cara’s work, you can check out her site or her Twitter, and visit The Godshead Incidental on Twitter and their site, as well as support them on Patreon. Support the show: http://patreon.com/NoBadIdeas
Episode 67: Bad Mr. Bean (With Cara Ehlenfeldt)
February 10, 2020 06:20 - 31 minutes - 29 MBWe have a treat for you of epic proportions, because we’re joined this week by the co-creator of The Godshead Incidental and audio producer extraordinaire, Cara Ehlenfeldt! Before we can gush about Cara’s work, we enlist her help in taming a couple of disastrous dyi ideas. First, Sarah serves up a cold bottle of commercialization, which leads to a heartfelt tale of rebranding, and also the FBI. Then, Zach whisks us away to a small Vermont town and the most passive aggressive statue art… in V...
Episode 66: No Man's Land (With Julian Mundy)
February 06, 2020 06:28 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBToday on No Bad Ideas: Sharks... that can walk?!?!?! The Bad Ideas squad is once again joined by Julian Mundy, creator of StarTripper!!, for a special Revenge Edition of the program! After surviving two bad ideas from the team on Monday, now Julian brings them a bad idea of his own, featuring some very alarming discoveries about what sharks are capable of. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... All of that, plus: Sam Jackson, Deep Green Ocean, strange alien landscapes,...
Episode 65: Rocka V. Rocka (With Julian Mundy)
February 03, 2020 23:14 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBWe’re in for a real treat this week. Joining us in the NBI hot seat, we have the mastermind of a show that's nearly as zany as the bad ideas we’re dealing with today: Julian Mundy, creator of Startripper!! We start with a very 21st century branding problem, and turn it into a weird but heartfelt romance with a TSA-flavored twist. Then, we take a YouTube stunt that’s as big as Australia and transform it into an all-consuming Hatfield and McCoy style feud destined to break the algorithm - and...
Episode 64: Creative Corner Chat with Mark Pagán
January 30, 2020 14:38 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBZach, Sarah, and Gabriel are once again joined by Mark Pagán, producer and host of the Other Men Need Help podcast! Tune in for a conversation about storytelling, men, experimentation with audio, and movies from the past decade! If you want to follow Mark and his work, you can check out his site at http://www.markpagan.com/ or follow him on Twitter, as well as Other Men Need Help on their site or on Instagram. Support the show.
Episode 64: Creative Corner Chat (With Mark Pagán)
January 30, 2020 14:38 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBZach, Sarah, and Gabriel are once again joined by Mark Pagán, producer and host of the Other Men Need Help podcast! Tune in for a conversation about storytelling, men, experimentation with audio, and movies from the past decade! If you want to follow Mark and his work, you can check out his site at http://www.markpagan.com/ or follow him on Twitter, as well as Other Men Need Help on their site or on Instagram. Support the show: http://patreon.com/NoBadIdeas
Episode 63: The C-SPAN of Knives (With Mark Pagán)
January 27, 2020 05:00 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBThis week we’re lucky to be joined by Mr. Mark Pagán, producer of the podcast Other Men Need Help! We certainly could use a hand, as Gabriel issues us an idea about a very unconventional way to settle disputes, which leads to a mockumentary of a divorce for the (middle) ages. Then, Sarah shows us a question about one man's quest for a licensing deal that is so strange, we immediately cast Christian Bale. Plus: 12 Techniques To Win Your Custody Battle In Three Moves Or Less, things that are...
Episode 62: No, No... I AM Santa
January 23, 2020 14:21 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBToday on No Bad Ideas: demonic possession, bank robberies, money, and Father Christmas! In our first bad idea, Gabriel brings us the tale of a nefarious psychic and their plot to swindle a family out of thousands. The team tries their best to turn this into a story of what happens when regular people collide against larger-than-life powers. Then, Zach's story about the most wholesome Christmas-time bank robbery gets spun into a very, very different version of Miracle on 34th Street. All of...
Episode 61: Drone Season Is Open
January 20, 2020 20:03 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBIn this week's first episode, we see some awful ideas take flight in multiple senses of that word. First, Sarah brings us to one of our favorite Internet neighborhoods, NextDoor, and a litigious situation that escalates into Jurassic Park 7. Next, Zach makes us fear the sky, with a story about roving drones worthy of Alfred Hitchcock himself. Plus, very relatable situations, zero chill ideas, the old coot that nobody likes, an EMP for bees, and a The Birds joke worth every second. Today’s B...
Episode 60: Money Isn't Real Anymore
January 16, 2020 04:21 - 23 minutes - 22 MBWelcome to the very first Thursday episode of No Bad Ideas, featuring crime dramas, religious upbringings, and cereal! On today's episode, Gabriel starts us off with a pun-filled tale about two women who got into some bad habits and started robbing banks, leading to a story of religion-fueled criminal shenanigans. Then, Zach unleashes a bad culinary idea from Kiss's Gene Simmons himself, which the fearless trio try to turn into a heartwarming family drama about the pressures of fame and Inte...
Episode 59: Because Squirrel
January 13, 2020 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThis week, 2 Ideas, 2 Furious (at idiots who don’t think things through) and some news! We’re changing up the format of the show so that you get two episodes of NBI every week, on Mondays and on Thursdays; and each episode we’ll have just five (5!) minutes to turn a couple ideas into good stories. We think this will give you more ideas for your metaphorical buck - four instead of three per week - allow episodes to be a more manageable, commute-friendly 20-30 minutes in length, and lead to mo...
Episode 58: Swipe Right To Hell
January 06, 2020 05:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBWelcome to 2020! We start the new year with some BIG decisions. First, Gabriel sends us to customer support hell with the story of a woman’s inspired prank to shrug off unwanted texts. Then, Zach takes us down to Texas, where everything is bigger, including fires started by magnifying glasses. Finally, Sarah offers us a peek into the wacky world of nuclear warfare, and some essential bomb parts the United States may or may not still remember how to manufacture. We did say welcome to 2020… Pl...
Episode 57: The Mouse Always Wins (With Noah Masur)
December 16, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 69.7 MBThis is our last show of the year - and indeed the decade - so we've pulled out all the stops. We recruited one of the most brilliant voice actors and storytellers we know, the international man of mystery, Noah Masur, to join us in the bad ideas hot seat! First, Sarah slides us details about how a closely guarded Star Wars script ended up on eBay, which leads to a frenetic, cross-country thriller Disney would never, ever allow to be made. Then, Noah turns the tables on us and brings us the ...
Episode 56: Thou Shalt Not Want
December 09, 2019 13:00 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MBThis week on No Bad Ideas: beer, pizza, and divine sausage! On our first story, Gabriel brings us the story of a woman who has taken drastic measures to keep her husband from sneaking off to the pub, which leads to a comedy all about petty, competitive divorce revenge. Then, Zach's tale about the lewd details of a stained glass window lead to a story of a scandalous face-off between a small congregation and their mega church neighbors. Finally, Sarah's news story about a bizarre fast food f...
Episode 55: Why You Gotta Make It Weird?
December 02, 2019 11:00 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBThis week, coming just after Thanksgiving in the US, we’re grateful we get to play with, but not actually been involved in, any of the following ideas. First, Zach takes us to Japan, and specifically to a hotel room that’s a heck of a bargain, but comes with an Internet audience of thousands of voyeurs. Next, Gabriel drives us to Utah, where ten very special billboards near Salt Lake City are getting a response from thousands of women. Finally, Sarah launches into the deep end of celebrity fa...
Episode 54: Your Tax Dollars At Work
November 25, 2019 06:02 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBAvast! This week on No Bad Ideas, giant clocks, South American dictators, and pirates! First, Gabriel takes us to the British town of Penzance, where a piratical rivalry has spiraled completely out of control. Then, Sarah takes us to Bolivia, where Apple's Siri is taking an unexpected political stance. Finally, Zach takes us to the depths of a hollowed-out mountain in Texas, where we embark on a truly ambitious journey through time with a clock built to last. Plus, the high seas, peacekeep...
Episode 53: Hungry, Hungry Death Sentence
November 18, 2019 05:03 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBThis week, the NBI crew talks through three very different walks on the wild side. First, Sarah takes us into Northern Colombia, where a new invasive species has taken to the rainforest and has great brand tie-in potential. Then, Zach sends us into the seedy underworld of animal shelters, and a cat able to open doors and break all his buddies out. Finally, Gabriel offers us a special kind of free funeral: a funeral... for the living. Plus, cocaine hippos, connecting with your inner tiger, sn...
Episode 52: There's Nothing I Can Do
November 11, 2019 04:47 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MBThis week on No Bad Ideas: photo manipulation, funerary pranks, and utter inability to stop loved ones from making questionable choices. On the first idea this episode, Gabriel brings us the story of how a photoshopped sailor hat brought together a police department and the fugitive they'd been looking for. Then, Sarah brings us a delightfully dark tale about a man taking the reigns at his own funeral through a carefully engineered "buried alive" joke. And, finally, Zach tries to out-do his ...
Episode 51: Interdimensional Profit
November 04, 2019 16:14 - 48 minutes - 44.2 MBThis week on No Bad Ideas: snakes, mysterious objects from space, and the world's creepiest dolls! On our first idea this week, Zach brings us the story of a petty theft that slithers in all the wrong directions. Then, Sarah shares the tale of a space selfie gone terribly, terribly wrong, which leads to a series of kids' adventures with a portal-creating phone. Finally, Gabriel subjects everyone to a museum that is hosting a competition to find the world's creepiest dolls, which spawns a moc...
Episode 50: America Is Missing
October 28, 2019 10:00 - 56 minutes - 51.9 MBWe’re back this week to our regularly scheduled, awful no-good terrible ideas! First, courtesy of Sarah, we plumb the depths to which some thieves will go to steal pieces of modern art: in this case, a solid gold toilet. Next, thanks to Zach, we engage with the horrifying potential of crowd-sourcing all the information that can be hidden in a selfie. Then, the three of us sit down and talk about how Zero Hours, our new anthology fiction podcast, came together. Plus: a bad day at Monte Carlo,...
Zero Hours: A New Show From The NBI Crew
October 21, 2019 18:49 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBGreetings, friends! There is no new episode of No Bad Ideas this week. In its place, we're sharing the first episode from the new fiction anthology podcast that we've been producing for the last month and a half, the entirety of which is now available fine podcasts are acquired! Zero Hoursis a seven episode anthology series, where every story is a different take on the end of the world - or at least something that feels like the end of the world. Each episode is organized around a kind of a...
Episode 49: Experience of a Lifetime (With Emma Sherr-Ziarko)
October 14, 2019 16:49 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBThis week, we’re lucky to be joined by the luminous Emma Sherr-Ziarko - voice actor, writer, podcast creator, wine expert, and cat mom extraordinaire. There’s nothing Emma can’t do, so naturally we decided to throw some truly questionable ideas at her! First Gabriel takes us to A Short Time Ago and A Galaxy Very Close, with a very unorthodox candidate for high public office who claims to be able to slice through the red tape and get things done - with a lightsaber. Then Sarah sails us down t...
Episode 48: No Joke
October 07, 2019 10:00 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBAnother week, another test of the limits of three humans’ endurance to spin stories from bad ideas they saw on the Internet! This week, things get weird. First, Gabriel brings us a story of emotional support taken to its most comical extreme in the most unlikely of circumstances. Then, Zach brings us a tale of the malfunction of both elevators and empathy on the Upper East Side. Finally, Sarah flies us to the most (intentionally) strange hotel in Japan, with a staff that proves automation i...
Episode 47: You Can Fill It Up (With Erin Jones)
September 30, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 66 MBWe’re so delighted to be joined this week by Erin Jones, author of the fabulous YA novel Tinfoil Crowns, and now author of a couple adaptations of very bad ideas, alongside Gabriel, Sarah, and Zach! The first idea comes to us courtesy of Gabriel, in which a man is mistaken for someone else with his name… a someone else who’s been court-ordered to move out of his parents’ home. The second is something we did not asked for but Sarah delivered: what happens when a waste management train breaks...