John and Ryan's Pillow Talk

So many things keeping John up at night...so little time! You know how timezones all converge on the north and south poles? If all timezones converge, what time is it on the north pole? And in a completely unrelated vein, why does cilantro taste like s*** to some people? John's friend Dan suffers from this ailment (allegedly, maybe he was just using this as an excuse not to try John's guacamole). Two questions keeping John up at night, a mid-podcast strip show...Ryan's going to have his hands full this episode!

Devoted Bedbug Brian Morales has posed a question to John...a question that is now keeping John up at night. Is human morality decided more by nature or by nurture? Are we born with an inherent sense of right and wrong? Or is it something we learn through experience? Move over science, things are getting a bit philosophical on the pod tonight! Ryan's intimidated (academically and sexually) so we brought on Peter Donahue, philosopher extraordinaire, to answer this week's topic!

In his youth John was a kind, trusting individual who believed the US government had our best interests at heart. But now as a cold, hardened 29-year-old he has his doubts...what is the US government lying to us about?? It's been keeping John up for decades now! Ryan's truth serum still needs a little work in the lab. So we brought in our favorite conspiracist, Peter Kuchar, to illuminate two of the greatest coverups in U.S. history! 

The bedbugs demanded another so we gave it to them! Welcome to our Third Annual Summer Variety Show! Featuring your favorite podcast host John and that other guy Ryan. We've got a new ad sponsor, a Broadway caliber performance, and an extra mid-podcast game. It's a summertime treat for all, hope you enjoy!

John was watching a documentary one time and it mentioned the Monomyth? Something about every story low key being the same story? Doesn't seem to make sense but apparently it's a thing. Ryan knows his science but he's completely clueless when it comes to literature. And love. But literature is the more relevant thing for this episode. Luckily a member of Ryan's other podcast, My Favorite Anime, is a professional book editor with a wealth of literary knowledge. Conor Lloyd is the podcast guest John needs if he's ever going to get to sleep tonight.

That's right Bedbugs, you read that episode title right. On the "Do I Look Like Anthony Ramos" episode, John mentioned that Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton was a little overrated. And you Bedbugs seemed to take real issue with that statement. So now it's keeping John up at night...isn't Hamilton a bit overrated?? There are so many better musicals that come to mind. Musicals that John and Ryan discuss in depth on this week's podcast. Doctor Ryan always knows best!

Allow us to paint a picture for all you bedbugs. John's enjoying a night out in Manhattan. He's meeting new people, being an absolute gentleman. When someone asks him where he's from. So he says, "New Jersey". And suddenly he's met with responses of contempt and disbelief "Jersey??? That s***hole??". John likes New Jersey, why does everyone else seem to have a problem with it?? It's keeping John up at night. So Science Ryan has enlisted the help of Wild Ryan to defend New Jersey from the uneducated masses. Having hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Wild Ryan has met all kinds of people from all over the country. Making him the perfect person to weigh in on some other regional stereotypes as well. 

Somewhere, in another universe, there's a John that understands what multiverse theory is. But it's sure as heck not this John! Is there any real scientific theory behind the multiverse? Or is it just comic book fare like in "Spiderman: No Way Home" or "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness"? Apparently the answer involves Einstein, quantum mechanics, and string theory. So safe to say, Dr. Ryan has his work cut out for him on this one. 

Once upon a time there was a football team called The Washington Redskins. Pretty wild, right? After decades of controversy and well-deserved public outrage, the team finally changed its name to something a little less blatantly racist. But is Washington the only sports team who should change its name? There a few others that still seem pretty questionable to John...but he's not a MD-PhD like Ryan so we'll let him make the final call. 

On this week's podcast, sleep is keeping John from getting to sleep at night...yeah you heard that right. Why do we need to sleep? What does our body do while we sleep that makes it such a necessary function? Is there a more fitting question for Ryan to answer today, the podcast's 2nd year anniversary? It's almost as if we planned it this way! (rest assured, we didn't)

Have you bedbugs seen the latest taco bell commercial? Two teenagers dressed in cosplay, standing in a subway station. Suddenly, and inexplicably, one of them goes to Taco Bell?...What the f*** does it mean??? It's keeping John up at night! Dr. Ryan will have to use all his cunning to figure this one out. And to make sure Taco Bell doesn't sue us, we invited on legal representation Zander Weiss to weigh in as well.

There are still so many questions keeping John up at night. But John's a giver. So he selflessly decided to share Ryan's wisdom with all you bedbugs out there. We have two fan submitted questions keeping the bedbugs up at night: "why is my hair starting to gray" and "could I survive drinking my own urine". Ryan will be answering both of them on our first ever "Twin Bed" Episode of John and Ryan's Pillow Talk! If any of you other bedbugs have questions keeping you up at night, send them in to our instagram account johnandryans_pillowtalk. And, if John's feeling generous, Ryan will answer your question next time around! 

It's December 23rd and John's in a bit of a tough spot...what the heck should he get his brother-in-law James for Christmas?? After five years of celebrating Christmas together, John's running out of ideas! It's tough to get gifts for adults who make adult money. Ryan's at a bit of a loss as well so we brought in our Christmas Consultant...the man who proved the existence of Santa Claus in last year's Christmas episode...Anthony Gallo! He did his research and he's got all the gift giving tips you bedbugs need this holiday season. 

As 2020 comes to close, John can't help but wonder "will there be another roaring 20's"? There are several similarities between the circumstances preceding the 1920's and the circumstances preceding the 2020's. As a saxophone player and swing dancer, John's got a lot riding on this...so we've brought in the big guns, our political correspondent Jesse Nicholas, to answer this week's question. But don't forget, Ryan gets the final verdict!

Just another deceptively complex topic keeping John up at night. What's the deal with earwax? What purpose does it serve? And completely unrelated but...is John a hero??? These questions and more answered by Ryan on this week's exciting entry of John and Ryan's Pillow Talk!

It's that time of year again! It's hot outside, people are on vacation. And John and Ryan have run out of real episodes for you bed bugs. Which brings us to...our second annual Summer Variety Show! Featuring the unique vocal talents of Ryan Dikdan, John Schettino and Special Guest Nazifa Subah. We hope you enjoy! And yes, there's another Spongebob cover. Did you even need to ask?

Something's been keeping John up at night...something unusually practical. How does one ask for a raise? City living ain't cheap and John has a mouth to feed! Ryan's been a student his entire life and can't really answer this one for John. So we invited on Nazifa Subah, a strategy analyst at a Fortune 100 company, to teach the bedbugs a thing or two about climbing the corporate ladder. 

What adult male hasn't wondered what it's like to experience the miracle of life? Neither John nor Ryan will ever get to know firsthand. However, John's sister recently gave birth to the one and only Baby James! And she's got some kernels of wisdom to share with the bedbugs. Also Baby James makes a guest appearance and we defy you to find another podcast featuring a 3-month-old.  

John has had a lot of sleepless nights recently and Ryan's been working overtime off the air. So we thought we'd do something simple this week...sunburn! Why do we get sunburn even on cloudy days? Sure, it's the UV light. But what is the UV light doing to our skin exactly? And what makes it different from other forms of light?...What's the Ryan? This isn't as simple as we thought? Oh boy...brace yourselves bedbugs! 

VEGAS BABY! Making it big in Las Vegas has always been something of a pipe dream for John…until now. Special guest and professional poker player Dave Somers knows a few surefire ways to win in the casinos. And he’s here to share his secrets with the bedbugs…FOR FREE! Just because Ryan’s a bit of a skeptic doesn't mean you should be. 

The vice presidency has always been a bit of enigma to John. Sure, they’re first in line for the presidency if something happens to the serving president. But other than that…how do they fill their day? John has no idea, Ryan has no idea. So it looks like it’s time to invite back political correspondent Jesse Nicholas to take the reigns on this week’s pod. 

John's been on a bit of a psychopath / serial killer kick ever since he watched the Netflix series Mindhunter. Since then, he's heard the terms "psychotic" and "psychopath" used almost interchangeably, but are they the same thing? Are psychopaths psychotic?  Ryan probably knows the answer to this one already. But John's friend Anita has a PhD in clinical psychology. So why not use this topic as an excuse to invite her on and marvel in the glory of her British accent? And spoiler alert bedbugs, Anita is elite at mid podcast games.

If you've seen the Planet of the Apes movies, then you should know where John's coming from with this one. Of all the animals on earth, the greater apes arguably come the closest to human level intelligence. They can use tools, communicate with one another and even communicate with humans. But are they sentient? Do they have consciousness? And are they secretly plotting to rule us all? These questions have been keeping John up at night since the beginning of this podcast. Which kind of makes it the perfect question for Ryan to answer for this week's episode, the one year anniversary of John and Ryan's Pillow Talk! Thanks for sticking with us bedbugs. And give Ryan his props for ending centuries of philosophical musings and defining "consciousness" once and for all. 

You bedbugs out there may remember an Australian Julian guest starring on our basketball episode of the podcast. We called him "Big Julian"...for pretty obvious height related reasons. Well this time around we've got the original Australian Julian "Classic Julian" to grace us with his presence. John's thinking about moving out but he's not sure if he's a good roommate. John roomed with Classic Julian which makes him the perfect person to debate the pros and cons (and trust us, there are plenty of both). Is John even a good roommate? Listen to the evidence and Ryan's final verdict on this week's episode of the pod! 

There's been a question keeping John up at night for months now...does he look like film actor and Broadway sensation Anthony Ramos? Just to give a little background for you bedbugs, Anthony Ramos was in the original cast of Broadway's Hamilton and is set to star in the film adaptation of Into the Heights. Multiple co-workers of John are CONVINCED that he and Anthony Ramos could pass as brothers.  John didn't see it at first but now he's not so sure...does he look like Anthony Ramos?? And what's the deal with doppelgängers anyways? Ryan's going to make the final verdict as well as share some interesting bits of psychiatric phenomena related to doppelgängers.  

John may be able to grow a beard like Grizzly Adams but he isn’t exactly a pro at wilderness survival…would John be able to survive in the wild? Even with all his science, Ryan doesn’t have the firsthand experience to answer this one on his own. So we recruited Ryan Vogel aka “Wild Ryan” to evaluate John’s survival skills and entertain us all with stories of the Pacific Crest Trail.

The topic may be “tickling” but John couldn’t be more serious about this. John hates getting tickled. If you happen to see him on the street, please don’t tickle him. No matter how adorable or ticklish he happens to look that day. So what’s the deal with tickling anyways? It seems like a pretty bizarre bodily function. Ryan has found a surprising amount of research on the subject and offers an explanation on this week’s pod.

The hellish nightmare that was 2020 has come to an end! And best of all, we finally have a vaccine for the Coronavirus! But if John's being honest with you bedbugs, he's a tad nervous about these new vaccines...it feels like we whipped them up pretty quickly. Are they safe? Can we really trust them? If Ryan can effectively explain how the Coronavirus vaccine works in 45 minutes or less, John's buying in. No pressure Ryan! 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But there’s one thing getting in the way of John’s Christmas. A nagging voice in the back of John’s mind that’s making him doubt the existence of Santa. A voice that sounds suspiciously like his co-host Ryan’s…is there a Santa Claus? Ryan “Ebenezer” Dikdan has his misgivings. But special guest Anthony Gallo has enough Christmas cheer to turn us all into believers. Be sure to listen to the very end, there’s a little Christmas gift for you all after the outro music.

For 30 episodes now, Ryan has been answering the questions that keep John up at night. But maybe it's time we addressed the root of the problem. Why do we stay up at night, thinking about stuff? Why do people dream and find comfort in altered states of consciousness? Yeah, that's right. Deep stuff. And as you may have guessed, a little above Ryan's pay grade. He's only a MD-PhD candidate after all. So Ryan took the week off and the podcast enlisted the help of the medical community's greatest power couple, MD-MPH Sean Dikdan and Psychiatrist Sondra Corgan.  

It's the day before Thanksgiving! But before they sit down for turkey, John's got a few food related questions keeping him up at night. Does eating a lot of turkey really make you sleepy? Does eating large quantities of meat really cause "the meat sweats"? Given John's eating habits, it's almost a certainty these questions will be relevant come tomorrow. Ryan's got the answers and John is very thankful. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! 

First things first, how did that US Presidential election pan out? Political correspondent Jesse Nicholas recaps the highlights in his very first "Election Round Up" segment! Once you stomach through that, on to the real episode! It may be hard to imagine a studious side of John. But he seriously considered going to law school after he got his Bachelors degree. His dad, John Sr., is a lawyer and it was tempting to follow in his footsteps. Should John have gone to law school? Unfortunately, Ryan can't fit a JD into his MD/PhD program. So they invited on Zander Weiss, Ryan's old roommate and NY state licensed attorney to weigh in on the perils of law school. 

It's less than a week before the US presidential election and John is losing even more sleep than usual. We have two barely lucid candidates shouting over each other to decide the fate of our nation. And a sitting president who hasn't fully committed to a "peaceful exchange of power". So yeah, John's got the panic button primed and ready to go. Ryan hates discussing politics (who can blame him). So political correspondent Jesse Nicholas returns to the pod to offer John a little perspective in these trying times.

There are many things in life John struggles to commit to...and getting a tattoo is definitely up there. He's always admired the tattoos of friends and co-workers but never been able to pull the trigger on a tattoo for himself. Thank god John knows a tatted PhD-MD candidate by the name of Mr. Ryan Dikdan who is willing to make that decision for him. Should John get a sick tat? It's in Ryan's hands now. Damn, this episode has high stakes. 

Be honest with yourselves. Do you have any idea how your computer works? John sure as hell doesn’t. And he’s an insanely talented podcast editor! It’s easy to take computers for granted in our everyday lives.  But in reality, these are incredibly complex machines. So John’s been dying to know, how exactly do computers work? As the podcast’s go to computer guy, Ryan will break it all down for us.

John isn’t a TALL man per say…but he’s definitely not short! He’s a cool 5’10 thank you very much. That being said, he hasn’t had a lot of success in the pickup basketball department. He usually plays with people taller than him and he often loses. Is height everything in basketball? Because it sure as hell feels that way! John has recruited big man Julian Breheny aka “Big Julian” onto the show to debate the issue. And of course, Ryan’s here to flaunt his PhD.

June 17, 2020 began like any other day in quarantine. John rolled out of bed, powered up the ol’ laptop and started mindlessly scrolling through his social media feeds. But then something unexpected happened. John received groundbreaking news that would forever change his life; Nintendo is making a Pokémon Snap Sequel. As a diehard Pokémon fan, John has some high hopes for “The New Pokémon Snap”. Can it possibly live up to the hype? Ryan is John’s video game guru and will set appropriate expectations for Pokémon nerds everywhere.  

John has always been a pretty musical guy. He played saxophone in his college jazz band and he's on the verge of making it big as a rapper (half joking, check out his facebook). But even though John has great taste in music, he doesn’t fully understand how it all works. Scientifically speaking, what makes music sound good? As a lover of music and science, Ryan’s got it covered. And he's more than happy to share his musical expertise...at great length. 

Since this is like their third beer themed episode, it probably goes without saying that John and Ryan like beer. There isn’t a brewery in the Northeast they haven’t frequented at one time or another. But John’s been wondering recently…how do you make different types of beer? He knows barley, hops and yeast are the main ingredients (he’s not completely oblivious). But how exactly do these ingredients come together to make all the different varieties of beer? Ryan has made his own brew on several occasions and is willing to walk John through it…as well as give some fire brewery recommendations for fellow beer enthusiasts out there.

It's time for the first ever "Variety Show" on John and Ryan's Pillow Talk! Your hosts are taking a break from the science talk to dazzle you all with some bonus content. We have tons of goodies in the vault from past recording sessions and, truth be told, it's all gold. We hope you enjoy our little talent show and we'll be back with some regularly scheduled Pillow Talk next week!  

When John hears the term "broken penis" he thinks of Schmidt from the sitcom New Girl, walking around with a giant plaster cast on his pelvis. While it's a comical concept on TV, it is tragically a real life medical condition. What exactly is a broken penis? And how do you avoid it at all costs? It's a question that John, and most of our male listeners, are anxious to have answered. So Ryan enlisted fellow medical student Eddy Nicaise to break it down for us. 

President Donald Trump has made the claim that no American President has been treated worse than him. So yeah, obviously Trump is wrong. Don’t worry, we’re not THAT kind of podcast. But how wrong is he? What depths of wrongness has Trump sunk to with this unbelievably idiotic statement? It’s keeping John up at night and Ryan’s a little rusty on obscure American history. So we invited on Jesse Nicholas, comedy writer and history buff, to debunk Trump’s claim with some crazy examples of presidential mistreatment.

Well, well, well...looks like John finally gets a break from his crippling insomnia and it's Ryan's turn for a sleepless night! Welcome to our first ever "Other Side of the Pillow Talk". Ever since he was a little boy, Ryan has wondered about the Freemason society. Their practices are shrouded in secrecy and they are linked to dozens of online conspiracy theories. Seems like a lot of hoopla over a bunch of dudes hanging out in a lodge. Luckily, John has studied their ways and can illuminate some of the mysteries connected to the Freemasons in this week's episode.