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Turning This Car Around — Comedy
Turning This Car Around

America’s number one best and favorite podcast about fatherhood hosted by Lex Friedman, John Moltz and Jon Armstrong.

Turning This Car Around is a podcast about parenthood from three dads, Lex Friedman, John Moltz and Jon Armstrong. You can follow us collectively on Twitter as @ttcashow

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Lex Friedman is the Chief Revenue Officer at ART19. He is a pretty important guy in the world of podcasting. He’s also a writer; he authored humor books like The Snuggie Sutra and The Kid in the Crib.

He was also a senior contributor to Macworld, an author of technology books, and the co-host of Not Playing, a podcast where Dan Moren and Lex watch movies that everyone else has already seen. Mr. Friedman was formerly the cohost of Unprofessional.

Lex’s blog is called Lex, Briefly.

Lex lives with his wife and three kids in New Jersey.

Follow Lex on Twitter

You might know John Moltz as a person on the Internet. Many people do! However, he also appears in other guises, sometimes as a large, golden bull and others as a phalanx of beautiful swans! Usually, however, he appears as a guy working at a desk. Other important points that John Moltz would like to share:

John Moltz is fluent in English and conversational in two other languages.

John Moltz is the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. He’s fast enough for you, old man.

John Moltz is actually made up of thousands of smaller John Moltzes, all furiously working tiny little gears to keep the larger construct you know as “John Moltz” functioning.

John Moltz is a little too comfortable talking about himself in the third person.

Jon Armstrong is a long time blogger at the barely alive Blurbomat, a UX/UI consultant, a web/business developer, a photographer and the impetus for this show. In a past life he executive produced a popular blog and ran the business. Yes, business. Turning This Car Around marks Armstrong’s first foray into podcasting.

You can see his photos on Flickr and Instagram.

Follow Jon on Twitter

Jon splits time between Brooklyn, New York and Salt Lake City, Utah. Armstrong has two wonderful and amazing biological children and two also wonderful almost-stepchildren.

Copyright: © All rights reserved

Latest Episodes:

72: Death and Underwear Aug 07, 2015

Show notes

First we check our underwear before checking in on camp experiences. Here's the last ride you'll ever love, it's the rollercoaster of death. It's no DeathCoaster. The story of a retired nurse who decided to end her life while healthy in her 70s inspires us to talk about end-of-life planning. Speaking of camp, Wet, Hot American Summer is nuts. Our thanks this week to Mack Weldon. Mack Weldon makes fucking glorious underwear to hold your bits in the way they deserve and we know this because we're wearing it right fucking now. It is awesome stuff. So go to their site and use the promo code "TTCA" to get 20 percent off your order. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

71: Location, Location, Location Jul 30, 2015

Show notes

This week we talk about REAL ESTATE. We hate to be the ones to deliver this news but Ann Rule has passed away. Moltz recommends this recipe for pork, onion and chili pepper stir fry. Big news: The Midroll has been acquired by Scripps and we aren't all rich because of this. One of us has more money, but probably isn't rich as far as we know. Somehow this is an excuse for us to discuss Shomer Shabbat. Lex's daughter enjoyed her first Weird Al Yankovic concert. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

70: Liam! Liam! Liam! Jul 23, 2015

Show notes

It's summer and we all wish we had machines that spray on sunscreen. If you open your mouth in the machine you can be shiny and chrome. Jon and Lex speak fondly of Global Entry, if you know what I mean. Moltz saw Mad Max: Fury Road while his family was away. Good movie, not for kids, really. Lex talks about the Kidz Bop version of Honey, I'm Good. Lex and Jon obliquely discuss Inside Out because Moltz hasn't seen it. Moltz has canceled his beach trip but it's not because of tsunamis. Some interesting thoughts on screen addiction here. Lex took his kids to see some real fricking dinosaurs. They also got to see Danny Weinkauf who is a huge fan of Lex's son. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

69: Drinking Up to a New Level Jul 17, 2015

Show notes

Moltz is recovering from his first night with the wife and son away so please be respectful and listen to this episode quietly. We spend a bit of time discussing whether or not college is worth it. Here is a link to a piece that discusses the same thing. Our advertiser sprays you in the face with a firehose of great magazine and one of them is an issue of Entrepreneur featuring Turning This Car Around's very own Alexander Freedmund. Lex discusses the intricate world of cruise ship liquor packages. Would you let your child eat the KFChizza? Our thanks to Next Issue for sponsoring this episode. Next issue is the newstand for you mobile device. For a monthly fee, you get an all you can read subscription to all their magazines (think Netflix for magazines). Time, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Consumer Reports, everything you want to read, they have. Sign up today to get an extended free trial. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

68: Ball Pit Full of Bunnies Jul 08, 2015

Show notes

This week we talk about Jon's family vacation and Moltz's week alone as Lex slides in and out of our space/time continuum. Jon is back from a week of driving the 2015 Ford Transit XL. And vacation. He also saw Circus Smirkus and recommends it. Jon and Lex both recommend Inside Out. Moltz may go see it on his own. His son isn't keen on animated movies these days but still wants to go to Legoland. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

67: This Ain't SeaWorld, Grandma Jul 02, 2015

Show notes

This episode was recorded a few weeks back but it's about summer plans so it's a good time for a gut check. Jon recommends sea-bands for car sickness. Aren't those car-bands? Lex's family is going to Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park. The Dutch Wonderland dragon may be a ripoff of Figment. Later in the year, Lex's kids may go to an indoor water park like Great Wolf Lodge but not Great Wolf Lodge, Aquatopia. A large part of the episode is about sneaking booze onto cruises. And for that we recommend Rum Runner flasks. You can get them on Amazon along with Shampbooze. But don't drink Beer-Enriched Body on Tap, no matter what Kim Basinger says. Then Jon and Moltz wax poetic about the lovely ladies of the 1970s like Lauren Tewes and Maren Jensen. And then the original Battlestar Galactica. And Lex talks about his love for Courtney Thorne-Smith. We're very sorry. Not really. The kids in the cabin Moltz was chaperoning a few months back talked about their love of the women of Pokemon. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

66: Bill O'Reilly Parts Jun 25, 2015

Show notes

Before listening to the show, please take the time to fill out a 5-minute survey on podcast advertising. When you're finished you can enter a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card! This week we talk about Father's Day and so much more. We all agree that the guitar solo is a lost art. For Father's Day, Jon and Moltz were both planning on going to the movies, Mad Max: Fury Road and Jurassic World, respectively. Lex expected to get an Eagles-related gift. For Father's Day, Moltz did get chain saw but it didn't work out and is going back. WTF had Barack Obama on but we've only ever had John Gruber. The statistical-like people say that screen time is not so bad for kids. Yay, we're all winners! If it makes it into the episode, here are some links for Dance Party USA and Club MTV. Our thanks this week to Loot Crate, a monthly subscription box service for epic geek items. For less than $20 a month you get 6-8 items that include licensed gear, apparel and collectible items. And they are awesome. Go to LootCrate.com/TTCA and enter code "TTCA" to save $3 off any subscription. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

65: Sacrificial Phil Jun 17, 2015

Show notes

This week we talk about the sacrifices parents make. First, as some FU, Jon and Moltz's ideas for a reboot of The Rockford Files was favorited by Jim Garner's daughter. Moltz sacrificed being at the live episode of The Talk Show at WWDC. Jon discusses a study showing younger siblings are more likely to be gay which has probably been debunked since then. Lex bought his kids a refurbished iPad mini because he loves them. Jon's girls play Goat Simulator and Moltz is Goat Simulator-curious. We spend a few minutes talking about the various models of iPads. Does Not Commute is also a great game. Our thanks this week to Loot Crate, a monthly subscription box service for epic geek items. For less than $20 a month you get 6-8 items that include licensed gear, apparel and collectible items. And they are awesome. Go to LootCrate.com/TTCA and enter code "TTCA" to save $3 off any subscription. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

64: Middle School Means No Bare Shoulders Jun 11, 2015

Show notes

Before listening to the show, please take the time to fill out a 5-minute survey on podcast advertising. When you're finished you can enter a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card! This week we talk about middle school. Sometimes a kid in middle school might have to spend a night in the box. Middle schools may have dress codes and sometimes they're ridiculous. Moltz's son had to learn that a school report should not be written in the style of E. E. Cummings Jon's middle school swimming pool experience explains so much. So very much. Our thanks this week to Loot Crate, a monthly subscription box service for epic geek items. For less than $20 a month you get 6-8 items that include licensed gear, apparel and collectible items. And they are awesome. Go to LootCrate.com/TTCA and enter code "TTCA" to save $3 off any subscription. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

63: Summer Family Movie Blockbuster Edition Jun 05, 2015

Show notes

Lex is away so we talk about summer television and movie-watching. Or something like that. First we talk about illness and how Moltz can't see Felix the Cat or Heckle and Jeckle. Jon and Moltz both fondly remember General Hospital's heyday. Both of their moms were into As The World Turns. Jon and Moltz were both a little weirded out by Mr. Roger's Neighborhood even though the man was a saint. Have you seen the Thriller video? Talk about cultural touchstones. Which is what we're doing. Speaking of things with Vincent Price, Moltz fondly remember Dialing for Dollars to call. Moltz talks about Age of Ultron. Other summer movies for nerds and their middle-school kids are The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man and maybe Jurassic World. We had hopes for Tomorrowland but it didn't get reviewed all that well. The Poltergeist reboot is probably for older kids, if it passes muster. If you're confused about who controls what Marvel properties, here's a good diagram. Jon and Moltz envision a reboot of The Rockford Files starring Sam Rockwell. Moltz doesn't praise Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but he does praise Kyle MacLachlan in it. For younger kids, Inside Out looks good. Moltz still hasn't seen Mad Max: Fury Road. The Star Wars trailer brings up the subject of prequel fan edits. Did you know Jonathan Frakes worked as Captain America back in the 1970s? Captain America: Civil War hasn't been filmed yet but seems already like it's got too many characters in it. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

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