Oopsie, I did a long one!

Comedian/Film connoisseur Lucé Tomlin-Brenner joins the podcast this week, and wow wow wow if you're Bill Maher I bet you loved this fuckin' episode of Real Time. It's all about him, baby! We honestly don't talk about the war with Iran stuff because there just isn't a ton to say about it other than "what a fucking disaster (does Bill Maher disagree? Perhaps...) but we get really hung up on joke logic and also his interview technique. And I come up with the one good pun I make a year.

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Real Time is taking a little break this week, and since I am recovering from some family coming to visit I figured I would do the same by settling into the warm bath water of an old school Real Time episode. But how soothing is it REALLY? Answer: not so much. Andrew Sullivan is here! Also Ben Affleck, who will one day go on to become a Real Time legend. Plus, Bill Maher is lower energy than I remembered, and also treats a guest on the show about as badly as a talk show host could while not being in the same location as them.

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Here are some clips from the first few Patreon episodes of 2026, including:

The Psychology Zone feat Eoin Higgins (Andrew Sullivan on Club Random)

Reverse Oppression Academy feat Chris James (Bert Kreischer on Club Random)

This & That 2.0 (Junk Drawer Episode)

Netflix Presents: A Ricky Gervais Comedy Special: Rich Cunt feat John Hastings

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I HOPE YOU LIKE HEARING THE PHRASE "TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME"!!!! Anyway, Rax King joined me this week to reacquaint herself with Bill Maher after over a decade away from occasionally watching him. Does she think he's gotten better with time? I mean I'm not even going to pretend like she does; she's immediately struck by how diminished she is. But he's not the only thing that's diminished: so is this fucking two person panel, as evidenced by the fact that this week the panel has, I cannot stress this enough, zero chemistry. But the highlight of the episode is his near histrionic response to Trump insulting him one time on the computer. Will we get his full response, or will we inexplicably have to wait two weeks? Well, you'll have to listen to find out (he says he'll do it in two weeks.)

Also, if you hear distant laughing in the background my wife's friend Emma was over and she was probably laughing at something the baby was doing. It was NOT about the podcast, TRUST ME.

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Wow, this show sucks! This episode's coming to you late because guest Taylor Lorenz, who was previously booked to do the show next month, saw who the interview guest was and said "I hate this man and must talk about it" (paraphrasing.) And we did! She is the rare guest who truly has as little familiarity with Bill Maher as possible, and also late night just in general, so it was FASCINATING to watch someone discover it via the worst possible example of it. We talk about the interview for a while, the boring panel for not as long (though I still found one guest INFURIATING) and then we heard a deeply confusing final New Rule that will make you say "not homophobic enough" JUST KIDDING!

If there are weird typos in this I wrote it on my phone while feeding a baby so gimme a freakin break!

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UPDATE: I forgot to put in an audio clip towards the end of the episode, that's been corrected.

The new season continues to trudge on, and this week writer Parker Molloy joins the show for a third straight week of Bill Maher conducted Epstein files talk! She's a great guest, but listen; some weeks writing this description is harder than others, because it's just like, yeah, this guy sucks ass and this show is bad. I think we do a pretty good job of making fun of it, but if you've listened to the show before, you know that. Are there any surprises or anything to tease? Here's the thing: this week, there is. The final minute of the final New Rule does such a shock one eighty quality-wise that we were both truly stunned by it. You'll be shock, I swear to God...

I haven't mentioned the show's stings being the work of Empty Heaven in a while, but their going viral for wholesome wife guy shit reminded me that I should. Check them out here.

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God FUCKIN damn it, bro. I got nervous there would be an issue with Streamyard so I did a backup recording and it fucked the gain on my mic up so bad. It's making me insane, I gotta know better than to not check my levels, Jesus Christ. Anyway, games journalist and podcaster Maddy Myers was on the who this week, and she asked the question "Hey, why are you doing an entire season of new episodes?" I don't know, man. It's pretty funny how much worse he's gotten at his job, but hearing him do such a bad job talking about such important things is really tough to deal with. Also, a nemesis from the show's past returns and somehow becomes the voice of reason. Sucks ass, man.

Go to mothership.blog! It's new! And Exciting!

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That's right, God of Emperor of Turn Mountain Will Weldon is back in the hosting chair (it's my wife's desk chair, which she will probably want back once she's back at work) to talk about the season 24 premiere of Real Time with Bill Maher. My guest this week? Writer, Comedian, and... pottist? Potterist? Pottery maker? Eliza Skinner. Eliza is immediately displeased with me for having her watch a modern episode, and then we are immediately confronted with the sub-punchlines of a monologue that mostly just feel like a guy saying stuff. But what of the actual political content of the show, you ask? Well, he sort of manages to be displeased with ICE, but his both sides obsession immediately takes over and, I'll admit it even just here in the episode discussion, I think the lack of acknowledgement of the bravery and patience and fortitude of the people of Minnesota fighting an illegal government paramilitary group sent to terrorize them is genuinely outrageous and offensive. God this guy's a fucking prick! Also, Eliza comes in hot with a new take on Bill Maher's sexuality.

In all sincerity, thanks so much for the kind words from everyone about the birth of my child, who has already been cast in the freaking sequel to It's Alive, folks!!!!! Also, thank you to all the guest hosts for helping me out, they all did even better than I'd hoped and I would've gone insane without them.

Primary Photo Credit for the episode art: Ben Hovland | MPR (Minnesota Public Radio)

Go buy some pottery from Eliza

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