The JV Club with Janet Varney Janet Varney and Maximum Fun

What better way to celebrate a MaxFun Crossover than with one of the Maxiest, Funniest, Crossoveriest(?) people around, Mr. John Hodgman? It’s a smorgasbord of topics and delight in this special episode. This episode was originally published in 2021.

This week we’re elated to welcome the brilliant author and producer Kendra James (Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School) for a venture into the elite world of a world-famous college prep high school and all of the speed bumps and landmines that come along with it. So throw on your ice skates and get ready to ice-dance with an icon!

Time to leave that military base for the new digs of Prattville, Alabama! Hang out with the teen version of the marvelous Gennifer Hutchison (“Better Call Saul,” “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”) and follow her to the hills of San Francisco. Fall in love with writing! Mangez des crêpes! Sing in the rain!

Break that old cd in half and make yourself some killer homespun earrings with the fantastic Jeffrey Elizabeth Copeland (Quarandream!), who talks Georgia, The Big Apple, treasuring-but-maybe-also-questioning that daring teenage style phase some of us had, and much more! Including giant steampunk spiders!

Get up early, throw on your crew visor and hit the water with comedian, writer, and awesome human Alison Leiby (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), who talks fashion, cat rooms and much more, including what it’s been like to tour a one-person show about abortion in our zany world of today!

This week’s ep brings you longtime listener and friend of the show, teaching artist and activist Cait Mullan (they/them)! A San Francisco native, Cait shares their empathy, humor, and first-hand experiences of growing up in a famously liberal city… but nestled in a surprisingly non-liberal enclave... and all the hijinx which inevitably ensue! We love, love, love this ep and know you will, too!