Turning This Car Around - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

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

Follow us on Tumblr!

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:

42: Nearly Instantaneous Torque Dec 04, 2014

Show notes

This week's episode runs the gamet. Buckle up. Jon's in the New York area which blew up this week over a grand jury failing to indict police officers over the death of Eric Garner. We share the New York Time's opinion. If you're not one, you can read what it's like to be a black man in the U.S. and watching Do The Right Thing. After that we spend some time on white privilege, particularly the car Moltz just bought, the Acura ILX. And Lex weighs with more on his Nissan Leaf. Our thanks to Brick Builders Club for sponsoring this week's episode. BrickSwag from the Brick Builders Club is the Ultimate Gift for LEGO Fans young and old. Each month a box of LEGO-themed merchandise is delivered right to your door, including shirts, parts packs and more. Go to BrickBuildersClub.com and use the discount dode "TTCA" for 20% off your membership! Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

41: Some Families are Farting Families Nov 26, 2014

Show notes

This week's discussion centers around gender. Which leads us to presents, comic book movies and farting. It all makes sense, trust us. We're professional podcasters. Moltz's son got a Little Tykes kitchen for his first Christmas. One year Jon's girls got a Barbie car. Lex and Jon are big fans of Big Hero 6. Moltz hasn't seen it yet because he's at home watching Guardians of the Galaxy over and over. Moltz discusses Marvel's recent moves with Captain Marvel, Captain America and Thor. Lex recommends the My Teacher Is an Alien, I Was a Sixth Grade Alien and Carl Hiaasen books. Moltz recommends The Day My Butt Went Psycho. Really. Our thanks to Brick Builders Club for sponsoring this week's episode. BrickSwag from the Brick Builders Club is the Ultimate Gift for LEGO Fans young and old. Each month a box of LEGO-themed merchandise is delivered right to your door, including shirts, parts packs and more. Go to BrickBuildersClub.com and use the discount dode "TTCA" for 20% off your membership! Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

40: LARPing the Manger Nov 20, 2014

Show notes

[Note: There's a brief glitch in Lex's audio about half way through. Unfortunately, it was a problem in the source file. We regret the problem.] It seems like the holiday podcasts start earlier every year. In this episode, Jon and Moltz explain their Christmas traditions and Lex explains his family's Chanukah traditions. First, though, we talk about Lex's penis-shaped microphone. Don't buy anyone that. You're better off buying all your loved ones one of those instead of participating in the horror show of Black Friday. Moltz grew up listening to White Christmas. Some of those songs were written by Jews. Jewish kids might like an Adam Sandler CD. Kids love "CDs". They have nothing to put them in, but they love them. Or something about Jewish super hero, Ben Grimm. Jon's girls like LEGO Friends and it's understandable because the dolphin cruiser looks awwwwwwwsooooooome. Or you can get the kids a Lexbox One. Moltz is forced to explain the McConaughssance. If you're looking for a present for Moltz's dad, he's the guy who actually still likes fruit cake. If you're looking for a present for Moltz, oh, god, get him this Star Trek ornament Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

39: Minions Don't Have [redacted] Nov 13, 2014

Show notes

Lex talks about his Disney cruise this week. They're apparently pretty cool. Slides and food and entertainment and characters. If you like that kind of thing. He did not end up in a Gilligan's Island situation, so even better. Speaking of characters, if you go to Universal you can meet the Minions. We speculate on who's inside those costumes. Some follow-up discussion involves Ferberizing, because parents will never stop talking about getting their kids to sleep. Then a shout-out to Moltz's mom, Mrs. Moltz, who may be folding laundry right now. The other Mrs. Moltz, John's wife, does not listen to the show on his advice. Finally, Thanksgiving is coming up, turkeys! Get Lex something for his birthday which is on Black Friday. This episode is sponsored by Cards Against Humanity's 10 Days of Holiday Bullshit. You give Cards Against Humanity $15 and they'll send you 10 mystery gifts for the 10 days. Space is limited so go to the web site and sign up. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

38: Judgment & Blow Nov 05, 2014

Show notes

This week we get judgy. Other parents... we're judging you. Not just this week but every week. We're just talking about it this week. Really, there's a long list of things we disapprove of, ranging from giving your kids unlimited access to soda and behaving like a boor in front of your kids is one of them. Pot is now legal in Washington but smoking it with your kids is never a good idea. Even smoking in front of your kids bring out the judgement in us. We're just laying down judgements left and right. Don't feel bad. We judge ourselves, too. Our thanks to Automatic for sponsoring this episode. Automatic is a car adapter that you plug into your vehicle to get data on your car like that engine light that goes on all the time or where it's parked. It can also track your driving and the driving of other people who use your car and it can even send alerts if you get into an accident. Automatic has no subscription fees and if you use the link automatic.com/ttca you'll get 20 percent off your purchase of Automatic. Do it for yourself and your family. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

37: Teens on the Corner Oct 30, 2014

Show notes

Hey, it's Halloween! We talk about costume ideas. Here's Lex as a greaser. Which pretty much just looks like Lex. Then we spend some time workshopping a "Han Solaf" concept. Jon discusses the dangers of drinking and trick or treating and how it leads to a pumpkin-gate situation. We also ask the hard questions like, "Does it really count as being a steampunker if you only do it on Halloween?" Naturally, expect to see a lot of Frozen this year. So much Frozen. Our thanks to Automatic for sponsoring this episode. Automatic is a car adapter that you plug into your vehicle to get data on your car like that engine light that goes on all the time or where it's parked. It can also track your driving and the driving of other people who use your car and it can even send alerts if you get into an accident. Automatic has no subscription fees and if you use the link automatic.com/ttca you'll get 20 percent off your purchase of Automatic. Do it for yourself and your family. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

36: Pro-Naked-Butt-Farting Tag Oct 22, 2014

Show notes

This week we're $&^$-ing talking about *$@ swearing. If you want to read about kids and swearing, you could read this but you already subscribed to the podcast, right? You're probably in your car. Why are you even reading these show notes while you're driving? LOOK AT THE ROAD AND LISTEN TO THE PODCAST. Somehow we end up talking about Dennis the Menace even though there's very little swearing in it. We also discuss whether Jon's youth was more Footloose or The Wonder Years. Moltz's kid liked Guardians of the Galaxy, mostly for the inappropriate-for-his-age language. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

35: There Are Two Holes In The Basement Wall Oct 17, 2014

Show notes

In this episode, we reminisce about how stupid we were before we had kids. And happy. Probably because we could get sleep whenever we wanted. There's a reason sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique. We take two brief breaks, one for a commercial and one to talk about Lex's manscaping. Basically, everything we thought about having kids was wrong. The Friedmans used the Moby wrap to carry their kids until they lost one in it. You're not going to be able to reason with kids so learn about primal scream therapy. When you have kids, you must talk about their poop. All the time. If your kid needs a probiotic, the Moltzes use this one which tastes great. Moltz has Nanoblocks but he'd probably do better with Duplo. In answer to Jon's question about what a banshee is a spirit usually seen as an omen of death. Or an X-Man. Our thanks to Ubooly for sponsoring this episode. Ubooly is a free app in the App Store that features fun activities for you kids that features voice recognition and keeps kids from becoming screen zombies. Use the offer code "turningthiscararound" on Ubooly's web site to save 20 percent on the Ubooly accessories. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

34: You'll Never Love a Clown Again Oct 09, 2014

Show notes

This time we're going to talk about the stories that get told. Some of them are lies, some of them are just fiction. Which is kind of like lying. Relevant films for some of Jon's kid's lies are The Sixth Sense and Poltergeist. Also, Shakes The Clown. Speaking of lying, we clear up what's not a lie but interesting nonetheless: when Lex has talked about riding a bike in past episodes, he's been talking about a TerraTrike. Just for the record. As for literature, Moltz's son likes joke books. Jon recommends Captain Underpants which Moltz seconds. Moltz also recommends Timmy Failure. Harry Potter, of course, is good for kids who are maybe 8 and up. We also talk about Minecraft. It's very popular. What's not popular is guys in Britain dressing up as clowns and standing around in the dark. Holy crap, no. Our thanks to Ubooly for sponsoring this episode. Ubooly is a free app in the App Store that features fun activities for you kids that features voice recognition and keeps kids from becoming screen zombies. Like Moltz. Save your kids before it's too late. Don't let them end up like Moltz. Use the offer code "turningthiscararound" on Ubooly's web site to save 20 percent on the Ubooly accessories. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

33: Mucous Powers Activate! Oct 02, 2014

Show notes

Let's get something straight before we get into notes: the fact that Jon Armstrong was able to filter out the DEAFENING SOUND OF GRINDING that was going on on his end is sheer wizardry and he should be feared for his magics. Now, notes. We're going to talk about school sickness because it's that time of year again, but first we discuss the classic late '70s film Breaking Away and the classic '80s film Pretty In Pink. That Amazon link there, by the way, has that movie for $4.63 which is a steal. A good thing to do when you're home sick is to play Minecraft. Maybe you've heard of it. If you're not sick and you're in kindergarten, your biggest concern is when the hell you're going to get to play with the toy kitchen? This episode also features a surprise guest who may or may not be Lex's son who adorable and should not have to put up with our crap. Then Lex and Moltz announce their tech podcast -- The Rebound -- that doesn't include Jon and it's suuuper uncomfortable. You should tune in for at least that part. We spend a little time talking about new smartphones because nerds. When the kid is sick, the Moltzes will sometimes go to the Benadryl. And sometimes they'll even give it to the kid. Frankly, I don't even want to link to this but we talk about these horrors so I guess I have to: it's some disgusting syringe to suck snot out of a kid's head. And somehow we close with the Swedish bikini team ad. I DON'T KNOW. Sponsor: Once again, our thanks to DayOne for sponsoring this episode. DayOne is the place to record your daily events, feelings, pictures and more. Get it. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

Related Podcasts