"She's taken my daughter to an erupting volcano? That's it! She's off the Christmas card list." - Marge Simpson

An old high school chum returns to Springfield, and Marge can't help but feel insecure about her own lack of worldly accomplishments. Can she reclaim her role as Lisa's female role model and save her young daughter from an agonizing, lava-based death?

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

The Talking Simpsons Network is taking a week off for the holiday season, so to fill the content gap, we've decided to post an episode of our Patreon-exclusive Talking Futurama podcast miniseries! If you like this episode and want to hear the rest (with more to come every month), head over to Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up at the $5 level. Once you do, you'll have immediate access to all of our limited miniseries, covering animated shows like King of the Hill, Mission Hill, The Critic, and Batman: The Animated Series. (That's over 200 bonus episodes to date!) So visit Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up today!

This episode was originally posted on December 8, 2024.

Happy New Year! In case you didn't know, every month we release the premium podcast, What A Cartoon Movie. And, as we take a week off to rest and recharge, we're giving all of our listeners a chance to hear a free sample of this Patreon-exclusive series. So please, enjoy our ultra-long look at Toy Story! And if you'd like to hear 85 more episodes of What A Cartoon Movie—with a new one to come every month—simply head on over to the Talking Simpsons Network and sign up at the $10 level. If you enjoy hearing us talk about cartoons, you'll be glad you did!

This episode was originally posted on November 30, 2019.

We've reached the end of the month, which means it's time for another episode of our community podcast! This time around, we discuss the most recent Simpsons episodes, participate in the Ella McCay challenge, and bemoan the first major delay to hit The Simpsons Movie 2. And, as always, we read and respond to your comments and questions from the last round of episodes. It's all happening on Talk to the Audience: the podcast that promises to give you the most traumatic hose-soaking of your life!

"Mom, romance is dead. It was acquired in a hostile takeover by Hallmark and Disney, homogenized, and sold off, piece by piece.'" - Lisa Simpson

In what's probably the worst episode of The Simpsons—or at least the biggest waste of time—the family recounts stories of love and loss via 16 clips and/or clip packages. Come for the jokes you've already laughed at, stay for roughly five minutes of new animation, and leave knowing this production somehow occupies valuable space in the otherwise incredibly solid season six.

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

"Sometimes you have to adopt your son's bully in order to bring your own family temporarily closer." - Marge Simpson

After her own children lose interest in her motherly ways, Marge becomes a surrogate parent to Nelson, who takes a shine to living in a mostly loving home and eating meals that don't consist of live tadpoles. Meanwhile, Lisa develops serious body issues that can't be wrapped up in a single sitcom episode, but still manage to be partially resolved via skunk justice.

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

"I can't live the button-down life like you. I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles. Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odors—oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called 'City Fathers' who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about 'What's to be done with this Homer Simpson?'" - Homer J. Simpson

Lisa becomes the victim of her own insecurities when she meets Allison Taylor: a perfectly nice girl who just happens to be younger and better than her at everything. As she struggles to accept being number two, Homer gains control of a sugar pile empire that could very well be stolen from under his nose by roving, tea-drinking Englishmen.

Our guest: Actor and improv comedian Betsy Sodaro, co-host of the podcasts A Funny Feeling and We Love Trash

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

"When Virginia Woolf wrote, 'Every woman needs a room of one's own,' she must have been talking about the kitchen." - Marge Simpson

When the Simpsons' kitchen receives a much-needed renovation, Marge ups her cooking game and enters a culinary contest that puts her morality (and dessert-making skills) to the test. Meanwhile, Bart's discovery of nudity-free Playdude magazines causes him to adopt the lifestyle of an urbane early '70s pervert who's far too young to appreciate the lesser short fiction of John Cheever.

Our guest: Will Sloan from the Michael and Us podcast, and author of Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

We've reached the end of the month, which means it's time for another episode of our community podcast! This time around, we're discussing the end of Al Jean's reign of laughter, Fortnite crossovers, news about the 800th episode, and the unfortunate loss of another great Simpsons writer. And, as always, we read and respond to your comments and questions from the last round of episodes. It's all happening on Talk to the Audience: the only thing more exciting than an optics festival!

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

"What fun can you have in a pool anyway that you can't have in a bathtub with a garbage bag taped around your cast?" - Bart Simpson

Broadcast season six kicks off with the Simpsons making their grandest upper-lower-middle-class purchase yet: a pool! Lisa is crowned the Queen of Summertime, while a treehouse mishap causes Bart to break his leg and become isolated and weird—but no more so than any child who would later grow up to become a podcast host. And did Ned Flanders kill his wife? Listen in as we wrap everything up in a NEAT LITTLE PACKAGE! (Sorry if that sounded sarcastic.)

Our guest: Comedy writer Cody Ziglar

Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

We were saddened to hear about the passing of Simpsons writer Dan McGrath, who wrote the episodes "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood" and "Bart of Darkness," and also co-wrote the Treehouse of Horror Segments "The Devil and Homer Simpson" and "Time & Punishment." Back in August of 2018, we were able to interview Dan, and because this podcast has never been available outside of our Patreon, we've decided to make it free for all to hear. So listen in, and celebrate the life of Dan McGrath: a writer who brought so much to The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Mission Hill, and more.