Unpacking Peanuts

Latest Episodes:

Pumpkin Spice Peanuts 1 - Do Falling Leaves Make You Feel Sad? Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

Grab your latte and get cozy as the Unpacking Peanuts gang takes a look at Autumn in Peanuts from the familiar sporting rituals, to the resigned sigh of a fallen leaf.

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Acting! With Patrick McDonnell Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

World-renowned creator of Mutts, Patrick McDonnell, returns to the show to discuss the subtleties and eccentricities of Schulz’s use of body language, gesture and acting.
All of Patrick's books are available at Mutts.com.

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Mean Girls 3 - Now 33% Meaner Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

The gang expands their scope, and looks at mean girls throughout the Peanuts run, including Lucy, Frieda, and Good ol’ Molly Volley.

Aaron Forringer's story: https://shorturl.at/sbsOh

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Mean Girls 2 - How Much is Mean and How Much is Just Life? Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

Our exploration into the sassiest, snarkiest, twosome in all of Peanuts: Patty (original recipe) and Violet continues. These two may be mean, but they are also hilarious. But are they worse on their own, or together?

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Mean Girls 1 - Patty and Violet: Conformity Police Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

Michael curates a delightfully mean collection of some early Peanuts strips featuring two of Peanuts strongest (and meanest) personalities: the original Patty, and good ol’ Violet Grey.

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Paul Hebert's article: A World Where Rage Was Funny and Insecurity Was Loveable: Peanuts, Doonesbury and the Long 1960s.
https://shorturl.at/I6Qvk

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Cartoonists’ Salute to Schulz! Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

Just five short months after Charles Schulz’s passing, the top cartoonists in the field dedicated a day of their own strips to remembering Sparky. The gang looks at Peanuts tribute strips by Jim Davis (Garfield) Aaron McGruder (Boondocks) Cathy Guisewite (Cathy) and more.

See the Go Comics article:
https://www.gocomics.com/profile/OfficialGoComics/collections/44986

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

With Neil Cohn - Author of Speaking In Pictures Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

We talk with Neil Cohn, an Eisner-nominated cognitive scientist who looks at how our brains perceive comics. His latest book, Speaking in Pictures, challenges the conventional understandings of how pictures communicate, how people learn to draw, and the nature of language itself. And Peanuts was fundamental to his ground-breaking research.

https://www.visuallanguagelab.com/
@neilcohn.bsky.social
@thevisuallinguist on Instagram

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Charles M. Schulz and the Seven Deadly Sins of Cartooning Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

In 1980 Legendary Captain Marvel artist C.C. Beck created his personal list of “The Seven Deadly Sins of Comics Creators.” In this episode the gang discuss Beck’s manifesto and see if and how it applies to Schulz's work.
Shout out to TwoMorrows.com and AlterEgo for this article: https://www.twomorrows.com/alterego/articles/06sins.html
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

You Don’t Look 250, Snoopy Jul 04, 2026

Show notes

The gang celebrates the USA’s birthday by looking at one of the latest iterations of Snoopy’s alter egos…The Revolutionary War patriot.

UP Recommends:

The American Revolution by Ken Burns
Super Context Podcast: An autopsy of media
Gunsmoke on the radio
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

Sidekicks and Second Bananas Episode 4 - Shermy: Just A Guy Standing There Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

The straight man of all straight men gets an episode all to himself. Will the gang finally crack the code on this beloved figure of Peanuts past?

Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com

Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.

Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.

For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.

Thanks for listening.

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