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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:

32: Stay Off-Property Sep 17, 2014

Show notes

Just remember, no podcast starts weirder than this one. That's our promise to you, the listener. But on this episode we talk about theme park vacations. Which are crazy expensive. Let's just be clear about that. For California Disneyland, Jon recommends the Hyatt Regency. When visiting Universal Florida, stay at the Loews Protofino Bay Hotel because the Expresspass is included in the price. When going to Disneyworld, Moltz recommends the Magicpass wristband for convenience. Lex uses the AllEars.net web site for Disney tips. If you're in marketing or advertising, you might even be able to deduct your trip. Talk to you accountant. 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.

31: Accidental Car Podcast Sep 10, 2014

Show notes

This week we continue talking about going back to school. And, because "car" is in the name of this podcast, we finally get around to talking about cars. Turns out Jalopnik is a car site, according to Jon. While waiting for his school to start, Lex's son asked 10 times a day if he could play Just Dance. Not related to getting to school, Jon talks about his recent trip to Universal Orlando and gives some important tips. We'll be talking more about this next week. If you haven't gotten your kids a backpack for school yet, Lex has another suggestion: a briefcase. Back to not on the subject, here's a horrible t-shirt that is not appropriately gender-neutral and you should not buy no matter how much you hate the New York Giants. It's out of stock anyway. And then we get back to cars and Jon tries to wave Lex off the Nissan Leaf. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

30: Back to School Aug 28, 2014

Show notes

It's back to school time! Congratulations, parents, you made it! Aaaaaand, sorry, kids. So sorry. (Not really.) For the etymology of the name Ruth's Chris Steakhouse you can check the Wikipedia page. That has not much to do with going back to school. Like you're surprised about that. But we do talk about how much we're looking forward to helping our kids with homework (not at all). And then we get really judgmental about home schooling. Even though we're all thinking about it at least a little. Sponsor: Our thanks to DayOne, a terrific journaling app for iOS and the Mac for sponsoring this episode. DayOne now has a new feature: publishing. Get. It. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

29: My Wife Would Not Say She's Been Lucky Aug 23, 2014

Show notes

It's technically still summer over here in podcast land, so that means we will be continuing the lack of formal show notes and instead share potential episode titles: No Infringement Intended You Have Skipped The Astral Plane What Are Your Feelings About Shacks? Not Doing So Hot In The Marriage Area I Don't Think My Inlaws Have A Brian Experience They're Very Much Opposed To Brian Super Into the Grandkids The Faces in the Rock Thing Are You the Parent or the Grandparent? It Was All About My Mommy Issues I Don't Like Being in the Middle Sex, Like All the Time And On Everything I Love the Image in My Mind Right Now That Cannot Be the Episode Title My Trunk is Top Notch Truly a Sitcom Moment Meanwhile, My Inlaws Admired Girls Is Your Father-In-Law Willing To Teach Me? Now I Had To Say "Vaginal" Twice Sponsor: Day One Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb. There is also a website: http://turningthiscararound.com

28: I'm No Longer Fulfilled Taking Him to the Bathroom Aug 16, 2014

Show notes

Again with the absent show notes writer? Yes, again. Please enjoy these alternative titles for this episode: There's Our Title Wasn't That Bad I Have Deep Feelings The Whole Thing Is So Stupid Guess What, Bitches?! Need-to-Know Basis of Excitement Bros Before... Line Keep It As Non-Real She's Dead Big Mistake Watergate Was Forced On Me Except The NSA Serious Trouble in the Station Wagon Hotspot of our Lives Don't Touch the Garbage Man You're the Weirdest One of Us Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? I Lived I'm Not Really The Best Teacher A History of Bicycle Wreckage For Sale: Baby Bike. Never Ridden. Super Mom and Pop Like In Alien Chipped She Surrenders It Every Night Don't Go There Keep Gettin' My Sit On With the CEO Of Kodak I Could Have Dinner With the CEO Of Morgan Stanley At Most Dinner Table Arm Farting That Came Out Completely Wrong Sponsor: Ubooly Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb. There is also a website: http://turningthiscararound.com

27: You Can't Handle This Train Aug 06, 2014

Show notes

This week, our usual show notes writer is away on retreat. Please enjoy these alternative titles for this episode: I Punched Myself In the Scrotum Dialing the Gate There Might Be Some Crying Very Painful You Knew That Was Coming Cry Like a Moltzy Done with My Emotions I'm Not An Animal An Insult to Condos Semi-Attached I Am A Bad Son That Was Pretty Damn Small The Supplies, I Mean I Vowed Not to Bring Up Brian You've Always Been a Nerd The Nerd Is Strong Lots of Sex After That Wait Till You See How Bendy I Am Now The Unloved Brother Swimming in the Pool Naked A Guy in the Gorilla Suit Dead Parakeet We Do Not Refer To Her As Mama Moltz Barbara To You She Hates Babs Too Strangle You Like A Parakeet My Dad Holding Me Up By My Hands I'm All Drooly I Got the Jammies On Skinny Nerd Tie Okay, Ed Harris, This Is What We Need From You What Will You Choo Choo Choose To Do It's An Emotional Albatross Running The Train Over Them I'm Gonna Swim Naked in That Pool I'm The Sentimental One Averting Her Gaze Kinda Barry, There Is An Explanation For This Thanks to our sponsors: DayOne and Ubooly Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

26: Not-Yet-Born Kirk Cameron Jul 25, 2014

Show notes

To get things rolling, Lex talks about his lunch from GrubHub and then we all agree that our fathers were Nordicktrack users. Jon denies the rumors that his daughter is in a doom metal band. No, in fact she's into Taylor Swift. None of our kids have Bieber fever. Thank god. Jon has been getting his girls into Daft Punk while Lex is working the Weird Al angle. Moltz can't remember the name of the album his son liked as a kid but it was Dog Train. Now he's glad he's into Jonathan Coulton. Lex's daughters also like Frozen, of course. Lex himself is super into illegally ripping Laurie Berkner. Moltz recommends Just Dance for getting kids into popular music and getting them a good workout. It's still possible your kids might get into Taio Cruz or Katy Perry. What are you going to do? Sponsor: Our thanks to DayOne, a terrific journaling app for iOS and the Mac for sponsoring this episode. DayOne now has a new feature: publishing. Get. It. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

25: Brian's Pants Were Permanently Attached Jul 12, 2014

Show notes

This week we talk about what you save for your kids. First, though, it's summer and Moltz's kid loves him some wave pool. Here's what Lex's pool looks like. You're welcome at his house any time. After a story Lex tells later, though, you might think twice about it. Jon's dad left him a Bicentennial train set. Lex's son plays with Brio, but he doesn't consider that something he would leave as a legacy. Although, they're pretty crazy about it, a legacy train set needs a dangerous transformer. Lex tells a story about his doll Brian that you are not going to want to miss. The Moltzes still have all three of their teddy bears, but they've not been quite the companions that Brian was for Lex. Sponsor: Once again, our thanks to DayOne for sponsoring this episode. DayOne makes recording daily events, memories, data and pictures a joy. Get it here. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

24: A Dishwasher Is More Important Than Meat. Also Bourbon. Jun 25, 2014

Show notes

This week we talk about Father's Day. Moltz got some nice glasses that look a bit like these. As far as things to go into fancy glasses, Jon recommends Maker's Mark or Bulleit for everyday bourbon drinking. For the good stuff, try Pappy Van Winkle or Widow Jane. Moltz likes Four Roses. This is a podcast about fatherhood, remember. If you're in Tacoma, get your meats at Dave's Meat & Produce. The dads then discuss an article in Esquire titled "Downsides of Being a Dad", just to bring it down a little bit. To bring it down further, Moltz discusses a This American Life story about The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar (but gets the timeframe off by 20 years over and over again). He also mentions Stories We Tell, a documentary about a woman who investigates whether the man who raised her is her biological father. Sponsors: Our thanks to Care.com for sponsoring this episode. Care.com helps you find any kind of care help you need: babysitters, nannies, dog walkers, house sitters and elder care. Care.com provides detailed references and reviews and takes the uncertainty out of the process. Click this special link and you'll get 25 percent off a premium membership. Jon is even a satisfied user. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

23: There is a Beaver in the Nursery Jun 19, 2014

Show notes

This week we talk about gear again, because there's a lot of territory to cover. We may do it again next week. If you haven't seen The Rockford Files, well, you should. That's not gear-related, though, unless answering machines count. If you love your child and want to prepare them for the police state, get yourself a video baby monitor. An in-window air conditioner is not a piece of parent gear per se, but an Amazon affiliate link is an Amazon affiliate link, you know what I'm saying? Jon's girls have a lady bug light for going to sleep that turns itself off after a while. Lex's have a Pillow Pet that does much the same. Moltz's son simply welcomes the darkness that eventually swallows us all. Of course, if you have kids each one is going to need an iPad. That should be obvious. You're definitely going to need about 100 strollers, at least one full-featured and then about 99 umbrella strollers. Baby backpacks can be good if your kid isn't a hair puller. Lex's wife liked the Moby Wrap and Armstrong liked the Baby Bjorn. For eating, if your kids like to eat, get the IKEA Kalas line of plates, cups, etc. Then lock 'em up with a baby gate. And if you want to know how to correctly load those Ikea plates and cups into your dishwasher, see here. Sponsors: Our thanks to Care.com for sponsoring this episode. Care.com helps you find any kind of care help you need: babysitters, nannies, dog walkers, house sitters and elder care. Care.com provides detailed references and reviews and takes the uncertainty out of the process. Click this special link and you'll get 25 percent off a premium membership. Jon is even a satisfied user. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

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