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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:

62: Blood Coaster May 27, 2015

Show notes

This week we talk about going away. Also coming back. Jon talks about his trip to the Faroe Islands. Jon recommends the San Francisco Exploratorium when in "Frisco". It seems like every time we talk about travel we end up talking about theme parks and this time is no different. We all love The Tower of Terror because it's awesome. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is OK but less awesome. Lex is taking his kids to Diggerland USA. You read that right. Moltz once took his son to the Philadelphia Mint and he loved it. 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.

61: Learning and Some Hugging May 17, 2015

Show notes

This week's episode is, sadly, Moltz-free. Jon and Lex do their best to talk about decisions parents face when a child performs well educationally. And then there is hugging. Lex's accelerated/special learning included a lot of Tangram work. Jon mentioned ELP, the Utah equivalent of New Jersey's Primary Enrichment Program (PEP). For the record, this is called "Extended Learning Program". Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

60: Apple Watching Kids May 05, 2015

Show notes

This week we talk about Apple Watches and kids. Also what you'll keep of your kids art. Moltz tells a story about a loose dog which makes him thing of The Incredible Journey. The book and the movie but not this version of the movie. Lex and Moltz tell Jon all about their Apple Watches. Jon makes a reference to a song by the Cure that Lex and Moltz don't get. Speaking of music, check out Innocence and Despair an album recorded at The Langley Schools back in the 1970s. It's kids singing adult songs. Try Desperado. Hearing a little girl sing "Your prison is walking through this world all alone" is pretty cool. While talking about kid art, somehow the Starsky and Hutch car comes up. Don't stick around for our discussion of men's leather underwear. But they make great Mothers Day gifts. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

59: Let's Get Physical. Or not. Apr 23, 2015

Show notes

Moltz is ridiculously mad about the Apple Watch ordering situation. He's pretty sure that two-thirds of listeners have ordered an Apple Watch. But the real subject of this week's episode is physical education and some about games. And camp. Anyhow. Lex's daughter plays Newcomb, a version of volleyball. Moltz's son recently earned his purple belt. Somehow we learn about whether or not Passover and Easter have to happen about the same time. Moltz and Jon are fans of Taco Time, which Moltz uses as a reward for karate time. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

58: 5th Grade Camp Apr 17, 2015

Show notes

This week Moltz relates his experience at camp. This camp, to be precise. Jon expresses his love for all things Wes Anderson like Grand Budapest Hotel and, pertinent to this conversation, Moonrise Kingdom. He's also a fan of Boyhood, although that's not Wes Anderson. Moltz keeps bringing up Daredevil. Moltz also reminisces about his childhood experience at camp. This camp, to be precise. Cody makes an appearance and Lex would like you to know there is some evidence that you shouldn't neuter your pet too early. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

57: I'm Conflicted At This Moment Apr 10, 2015

Show notes

Today's show features a Moltz-free zone where Jon and Lex talk about parenting and stuff. And we hope Moltz is surviving camp. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

56: Musical Camp Apr 03, 2015

Show notes

This week we talk about the theater. Lex likes Little Shop of Horrors. But his favorite stage production is The Book of Mormon. Jon likes The Elephant Man. Moltz picks Camelot. Jon was in Dracula. Moltz was in Antigone. What this has to do with parenting is anyone's guess. Jon's daughters have seen Mary Poppins and Lex's daughter has seen Matilda. Moltz's son doesn't want to sit still that long. THIS JUST IN: Turning This Car Around stats. Lex's daughter has her own web site and it's awesome. Our thanks to WealthFront, the automated investment service that makes it easy to invest your money the right way. It automatically rebalances your portfolio and re-invests your dividends, all commission-free. Visit WealthFront.com/ttca to invest your first $10,000 for free. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

#55: Lexless Mar 27, 2015

Show notes

No Lex this week, so Jon and Moltz talk about learning how to drink, "Dad voice", collecting things and Jon's advice on how to scan old negatives using Legos. There's a brief diversion about our old Macs, including the Centris 660AV and the old Mac Pro and the 2007 iMac. Moltz and his son did their first Meerkat which was of them playing Beanboozled. Nerds that we are, we lean a little earlier on when to get kids a smartphone. We wish that Apple's Family Sharing worked well enough to use but it doesn't yet. Our thanks this week to Bluum. Bluum sends a monthly box of five full-sized high-value products that are perfectly suited to your child's age, gender and stage of development. The retail value of the products always exceeds the monthly subscription fee. They only send products that are relevant to your child right now because you can customize what you receive. Go to bluum.com/turning and use promo code "CAR40" for 40 percent off the first month of all plans. Our thanks also to WealthFront, the automated investment service that makes it easy to invest your money the right way. It automatically rebalances your portfolio and re-invests your dividends, all commission-free. Visit WealthFront.com/ttca to invest your first $10,000 for free. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

54: Free Range Parenting Mar 20, 2015

Show notes

It's an all-scare-tactics episode as we talk about THE DANGER THAT LURKS FOR CHILDREN EVERYWHERE. If Kimmy Schmidt can get abducted, it can happen to anyone, right? Except it turn out it's really rare and much rarer than people think. Still, parents are cited for letting their kids walk a mile alone. It's madness. Instead of investigating parents who let their kids walk home alone they should be investigating things like Motherboy. Our thanks this week to Bluum. Bluum sends a monthly box of five full-sized high-value products that are perfectly suited to your child's age, gender and stage of development. The retail value of the products always exceeds the monthly subscription fee. They only send products that are relevant to your child right now because you can customize what you receive. A baby needs three things: Mom, dad and Bluum. Go to bluum.com/turning and use promo code "CAR40" for 40 percent off the first month of all plans. Our thanks also to WealthFront, the automated investment service that makes it easy to invest your money the right way. It automatically rebalances your portfolio and re-invests your dividends, all commission-free. Visit WealthFront.com/ttca to invest your first $10,000 for free. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

53: The Random Show Mar 13, 2015

Show notes

We start by talking about the Apple Watch and new MacBooks because we're dads who are also nerds. Good news Minecraft fans! Mojang will soon be shipping its own Java with Minecraft so you don't need Oracle's tarted up version. If you want your kids to learn programming and other stuff through Minecraft, check out MinecraftEDU which provides support services from schools to use Minecraft and LearnToMod which is an introduction to programming mods for kids. Lex then explains Kidz Bop which is either a great way to introduce kids to music they otherwise shouldn't listen to or a damn nightmare, depending on your point of view. Richard Cheese's covers are better but not kid-friendly. The Jonathan Coulton cover of Baby Got Back is not for kids, either. Can't Touch This is probably OK. To continue the stream of consciousness of this episode, we mention the next season of Community and Daredevil on Netflix and a bunch of other stuff. But check out this Daredevil trailer. Looks good. Hank is reading The Martian even though it has a lot of swear words in it and will probably go see the movie. Somehow we get back to the Apple Watch but this time talk about Every Mother Counts and Jon's connection to it and Christy Turlington Burns who has an Apple Watch and you don't. Our thanks this week to Bluum. Bluum sends a monthly box of five full-sized high-value products that are perfectly suited to your child's age, gender and stage of development. The retail value of the products always exceeds the monthly subscription fee. They only send products that are relevant to your child right now because you can customize what you receive. A baby needs three things: Mom, dad and Bluum. Go to bluum.com/turning and use promo code "CAR40" for 40 percent off the first month of all plans. Our thanks also to WealthFront, the automated investment service that makes it easy to invest your money the right way. It automatically rebalances your portfolio and re-invests your dividends, all commission-free. Visit WealthFront.com/ttca to invest your first $10,000 for free. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

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