Men In Gorilla Suits

There are people we've known all our lives; some we've only just met; others, people we know only online. Friends! That's what we're talking about on this week's episode of Men in Gorilla Suits. We begin by talking about the first friend we remember having and how old we were when we found that friend. Are we still in touch with our first friends -- find out! Also, find out who we have been friends with the longest. Friendship can be a strange thing, with people who don't seem similar forming life-long bonds -- while some who seem totally alike having brief friendships. It made us ask: What makes people become friends with each other? Sometimes friendships end; most of the time, just drifting apart. What causes people to lose touch with each other? We discuss that before moving on to whether or not it's harder to make friends after high school or college...and our experiences with making friends. Find out if we make friends easily and if we've ever lived with a friend -- and how sharing space affected the fri

Don't let Shawn and Christopher singing part of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" scare you away from this week's show. This week is all about cover tunes, so singing just had to happen. (Yes, there is more than just "Freebird." You'll get bits from these Neil Diamond tunes: "Sweet Caroline," "Coming to America," and "Turn on Your Heartlight." Shawn busts out "Let's Stay Together," by Al Green, and Christopher impersonates Jello Biafra doing "Viva Las Vegas." Shawn gives us Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay," and we both sing a line from the dreadful "Pina Colada Song." Also, hear Shawn do James Brown's "Living in America" and "Get Up (I Feel Like a Sex Machine).") Now that we've scared you away, on to the show description... We begin by talking about the first cover tunes we ever heard and then go into the appeal of cover tunes. Some say cover bands just copy and make money from other artists. Is that true; do they deserve the bad rap, or can a good cover band capture an experience that may be too expensive or no lo

More times than not, this podcast is lighthearted...even a bit silly. Every so often, though, we tackle a more serious subject. This is one of those weeks. This week, we're talking about addiction. We begin by talking about the first time we became aware that addiction was a thing. Not necessarily that it was good or bad -- just that it existed. From there, we move on the the first addict we ever knew. We then discuss if either of us have ever faced an addiction -- and if so, have we overcome them? When people hear the word "addict," their minds usually go to someone using very hard drugs. We ask this: is "hard drug" addiction really any different than more common addictions, like alcohol, cigarettes, or caffeine? Can someone use a hard drug recreationally? What makes some people addicts, while others can use for a while and then move on? We often talk about media on the podcast; this week we ask how addiction is portrayed in the media: better, worse, or the same as real life? After that, we wonder if there i

Christopher thought for sure that a show titled Generations would result in Shawn spiraling into Star Trek talk, but somehow we avoided that. Instead, we spent an hour talking about generational differences -- mainly focusing on Millennials, Gen X, the Baby Boomers, and our grandparents' generation. Truly an episode that has something for everyone. We kicked it off by asking which generation we consider ourselves to be part of...as well as some of the traits of the generations. From there, we talked about how our generation differs from our parents' generation and our grandparents' generation. While there have always been differences with each new generation, there was a time when those born of the generation before were not too much different: they often listened to the same music, had the same goals, and just did what those who came before them did. Somewhere along the way in the 1900s, that trend changed. We devote some time to discussing what influenced those changes. It seems inevitable that there comes

Ask many people what constitutes a subculture, and some will say people on the outskirts of society. But...just by listening to this episode, we'd argue that you're part of a subculture. Despite all the talk about podcasting being mainstream, it still hasn't broken through. It's still its own little thing. If you like a particular style of music, attend a specific kind of church, work at a certain kind of talent...you're probably part of a subculture. So what is a subculture? We begin this week's episode discussing exactly that. From there, we move on to discussing if we consider ourselves part of a subculture -- and if so, which ones? After that, we talk about what happens when a subculture becomes mainstream. Does a subculture inherently lose something when it becomes widely embraced? We take a step back to discuss the first subculture we remember seeing and then move on to the subcultures that interest us the most. Are there any subcultures we just don't get? Listen and find out! Also: Are the subcultures

Remember that time we dedicated an entire episode to Star Trek? It's one of our faves...and Christopher isn't a die-hard Trek fan. (He became a fan through his wife and friends who love the shows.) Before and after each podcast, we record our chatter to get material for the little drops we do after the outro music each episode. This time around, we ended up talking enough about Star Trek that it's become a supplemental, 15-minute episode on its own. So here it is in all its glory! The first minute is all about snoring, but then the Trek talk begins. Somewhere in there, Shawn brings up a Riker boner. Seriously. Later, we talk about the skin-tight suits, and Shawn reminds us all of the toilet-clogging prowess of Bolians. That's what you're missing if you don't listen!

It's a topic that will never die in America -- perhaps because it's a huge part of America's identity: immigration. Recently, immigration is back on the news in the states, as children from Central America are being held at the border. Like the hatred of immigrants from China, Italy, Ireland, and other places in the past, many vilify an entire group of people as a massive burden on America. It's something that interested us enough to dedicate an entire show to immigration; after all, most of us aren't more than a couple generations away from coming to America ourselves.  We begin by asking each other where our ancestors lived before coming  to America. After that, we get into how far removed we are from someone coming to America in our own families. Want to know what influences from other places we remember as kids? Listen and find out -- as well as finding out if any of those influences still linger. When most people think about immigration today, they think of people coming into the states from the south. W

It took 78 episodes before the mistake happened. With no backup sound, we lost an entire episode. Lesser podcasters would have rerecorded, but we...we built a time machine! We traveled back in time and rerecorded this episode. The fact you are listening is proof!!! Then we were all like, "Why share the secret to the Israel/Palestine conflict -- let's talk about time travel! And so, that is what we did... We kick the episode off asking each other if we believe it will one day be possible for humans to travel through time? (Spoiler: we do!) Then we go back in time to our youths, asking when the very concept of time travel was introduced to us. Humans love time travel stories, and we move on to the best time travel fiction we've come across! For some, though, time travel is not fiction -- it's "real." We then discuss the best claim of "true" time travel we've heard. Then, moving on and forgetting what we meant to talk about, we traveled back into this very podcast to talk about the worst time travel story. (Poor

"You're either with us, or against us." Christians are right. No, Muslims are right! No, atheists are right!!! NO, SCIENTOLOGISTS ARE RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! My politician is better than your politician. My sports team is better than your sports team. East Coast/West Coast! Polarization. Us vs. Them. Is it tearing us apart? That's what we're talking about this week. We begin with our first memories of "Them" as the opposition. Find out what "Them" we feared as kids. Then we talk about why so many big-issue topics are framed as "Us vs. Them" -- and how driving the urge to take sides is for humans. There are some strange Us vs. Them arguments out there, and we devote some time to that before discussing how much the Internet has played into this mentality. Next, we move on to what we see as the most dangerous polarized topic out there right now, before stepping back a little bit and discussing Us vs. Them in the geek community. We get it: sometimes it's hard to not get dragged into these battles. We discuss Us vs. Th

It's easy to look at other times in history and think, "Man, I would have loved to have been alive back then to see all those new things come to be," or "Things were so much simpler back then." (Back in the times a papercut could mean a life-threatening infection.) It's often only after we've lived through a time that we can see it for what it was. The Gorillamen would argue that we live in the most interesting times...in part, because we've never seen a boom in technology like we have today. We are one with machines...and it will probably only become moreso in the future. That's what we're talking about this week. We begin by stepping back 20 years, to 1994, and asking what our impression of high tech was back then. Then we step back to 1984 and ask what machines we interacted with at the time. Leap back to 1994 to discuss what machines we interacted with then. Once we lay that down, we compare 1964 - 1984 in terms of technology, and then 1994 to today, to see which saw the most growth in new tech. We've alw

It's a rare topic we're apprehensive to talk about, but there was a little, "Hmmm...are we really the best people to discuss religion?" in the air when we started this one. If you listen, you know that Christopher is a life-long atheist and that Shawn is agnostic. Maybe not the best people to talk about religions and sacred beliefs. Or...are we? We begin by defining what we mean when we talk about "religion" -- and then we discuss why we think people are religious. From there, it's only fair to establish if we are now, or have ever been, religious people. Next, we talk about what we think is the best thing about religion...and the worst thing about religion. From there, we talk about our thoughts on those who are not religious. Anyone with an Internet connection knows there are those out there -- religious and not religious -- trying to win others over to their sides. Find out if we think that's worthwhile...or just a wasted effort? (Also, you will hear what might be the funniest/craziest attempted conversion

Stuff! We all love stuff! (Or do we?) This week, we're talking all about materialism. We travel back in time to find out the first things we remember really wanting…and what made us want them? Sticking to youth, we spend some time talking about how driving materialism is in kids -- and whether or not it's a problem. Then we leap back to more modern times and discuss the most frivolous thing we've ever purchased and, if money were no object, the most frivolous thing we'd buy today. There are people who say materialism is destroying the world -- find out if we think that's true. There’s a line in the Fugazi song, “Merchandise,” that goes: “You are not what you own!” We discuss whether or not we think that's true before moving on to asking if the things we own can own us. Is it hypocritical for a person living in a mansion to revere historical figures who were not about materialism (e.g. Gandhi)? And find out how we feel about holidays where giving material things is the norm. Next week's show is all about relig

Everything in its right place. Sitting in one place for hours, toiling away at the thing you can't not do. The urge to not just know a little bit about something, but instead: turning your life into the pursuit of learning all you can about the interesting new things that come your way. Obsession has driven some to create work that has withstood the test of time. It has also driven some mad. That's what we're talking about this week. We begin by asking each other if we consider ourselves to be obsessive people. Find out if we have any obsessive tendencies. Also find out the first thing we had more than just a passing interest in...before moving on to discussing the first time we can remember a person showing obsessive behavior. It's become a pretty popular thing to say "I'm OCD about things"...when that's rarely the case. Find out if we've ever met people truly diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder? After that, we move on to talking about if we've ever become obsessed with a book, a film, or TV series.

The government is reading this. They can hear your thoughts; they have hidden microphones in all American homes. They track your every move. They've been doing this for decades... Some people actually believe this, even though the closest thing to truth in these lines is that all Internet traffic passes through government systems. That's a lot of data, and the vast majority of it is not even actually read. Google and Facebook know more about you than the government, and many find that unsettling. (Especially when companies are so willing to turn data over to the government.) It's not as bad as those in tinfoil hats make it sound. Still, we do not have as much privacy as we once did, and that's the topic this week. We begin the episode with two simple questions: In your house growing up, were doors and windows open or closed? How about now? The need for privacy, or even a feeling of privacy, differs from person to person. Find out how much privacy we feel like we need in the physical world. What things do we

Ah, money. It's probably safe to say everyone reading this, or who listens to the podcast, wouldn't mind a bit more money than they have. Some say money -- or the love of money -- is the root of all evil today. While we don't believe that, we examine the good, bad, and the ugly when it comes to cash in this episode. We begin by talking about our first memories of money and then jump right to answering this question: "If money were no object and you could buy one extravagant thing, what would you buy?" Some people seek financial gurus for money advice, some people listen to podcasts, but books have always been a big place where people turned for financial advice. We discuss if there are any financial books that changed the way we looked at money -- and if so, what the books are. Some people instantly think if someone has money that they are worthy of respect. Find out how we feel about that -- and if a large pile of money impresses us. You're online right now, or at least listening to something you grabbed fro

Little green men from the red planet. For years, b-movies shaped our view of alien life. But where did the stories come from? Could there really be life on other planets? Has life from other planets already visited us? This week, we're talking all about aliens: from ridiculous tales of anal probes to the probability of life on other planets... We begin the episode talking about what introduced us to the concept of alien life, and then...we waste no time discussing whether or not we believe aliens exist. After establishing that (spoiler alert) we believe we are not alone in the universe, we answer this question: Is there intelligent life in our own galaxy? Then we move on to those trying to find alien life and our thoughts about the more respectable searches. But what show about aliens wouldn't delve into the more outrageous aspects of UFOs and little green men? Next topic: find out if we think aliens have ever visited Earth at some point in history. Hell, find out if we think Roswell was an alien crash site o

This week, we sit down with a pack of hounds and talk about one of our favorite things in the world: books! We kick it off talking about the first book we remember and then jump to the first books we ever read. Staying in the past, we then leap to discussing how important libraries were to us as children. Stepping into the present, we talk about what we read more: fiction or non-fiction. Listen in and we'll tell you if a book has ever changed our lives. Want to know what books have made us laugh...and find out the worst books we've ever read? We cover that before moving on to the book that has seen success that we just don't understand. Similarly, we talk about the most overrated books ever published. It would be a travesty to do a show like this and not talk about our all-time favorite books. Find out what we're currently reading (well, at least at the time of this recording). We wrap it up talking about authors we'd recommend before closing it out with not only mentioning the book we'd recommend for the aud

Humans love to laugh. In recent years, we've discovered that there is some truth to the adage: "Laughter is the best medicine." We pay to watch movies that make us laugh; most people live within a drive from a comedy club (or 2...or dozens). Some of the most popular podcasts out there are shows done by funny people. What is it about comedy that we love so much? That's what we're talking about on this week's episode of Men in Gorilla Suits. We begin by discussing the very first thing we remember laughing at...and then, the very first joke we remember telling. (Spoiler alert: Christopher once memorized the entire 101 Elephant Jokes book.) There are certain things that are synonymous with comedy -- we talk about what comes to our minds when someone mentions comedy, and then we discuss the funniest movies we've ever seen. Books can be funny as well; we devote a little time to funny books before discussing whether or not the Internet has been a good or bad thing for the development of comedy. Want to know what stu

Gorilla Christopher's sister lived to be 38 years old. She would have been 50 yesterday (May 13). It's one of many losses in Christopher's life. Shawn and Christopher have lost a lot in their time: serious losses and...pretty damn humorous losses! That's what we are talking about his week!We kick it all off bending time with this question: "If you could go back in time and find anything you ever lost, what would it be?" (You know you want to know the answers!)It's a mostly lighthearted episode, but...Shawn and Christopher both lost uncles in recent-enough weeks. While they both deal with the loss of loved ones pretty well, some have a tougher time. We discuss why we think it's harder to deal with the loss of those close to us for some compared to others.Death. It sucks. But life springs from one's wang, and solidified in a womb, is something else. (Huhuhuhuhuhuh...he said "wang!") While Gorilla Shawn and Gorilla Christopher are not fathers, each has lost their virginity. You know you want to hear the stories

America gets a bad rap that's sometimes deserved. At the same time, there's no other country quite like the United States of America: for all its faults, it's a great place in so many ways. We kick off this episode with this question: America used to be called "the melting pot" -- do we think that's still true? After that, we discuss our first experience dealing with another culture and then discuss the most culturally diverse place we've ever lived. "American culture" can be a hard thing to pin down...we devote some time talking about what we think American culture even is. Some countries try to keep other cultures from "infringing" on established culture. Do more cultures in one place strengthen a population, or have the opposite effect? And how has the Internet been helpful in people recognizing and embracing other cultures? After answering these questions, we discuss our favorite foreign cultures. Some people are terrified of uniculturalism: so many cultures in one place that an area or country gravitates