HeyJaredTwo Designers Walk Into a Bar
Pop culture inspires some serious fun.Join hosts Todd Coats and Elliot Strunk, two creatively curious pals living between the bookends of grand museums and dive bars, the sweet spot where highbrow and lowbrow become drinking buddies.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 23, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 15, 2026
Latest episodes
Episode 142: Comfort Food Personalities - Bob Evans and Nathan Handwerker (opens the original)
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A lot of chain restaurants and widely-known food products have real names and personalities behind them. Some of these businesses put their founders front and center — a certain international chicken chain comes to mind — while others stick with founders’ names even when the motivations for starting the business get lost as the times and brand stories change. Today we discuss a couple of our favorites: Bob Evans and Nathan Handwerker (you know, the hot dog guy). So ask the bartender for a couple
Episode 141: Greetings from Two Designers - Postcards for Ham Radio and Our Nation's Landmarks (opens the original)
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Postcards. Even in the age of instant communication, receiving a postcard in the mail is pretty fun. Friends checking-in from familiar haunts or destinations unknown with little pieces of mailed artwork. Today we’re discussing a couple of iconic types of postcards that have delivered surprise and delight to mailboxes for decades: QSL cards and the giant letter “Greetings From” souvenirs. So ask the bartender to mix a couple of Caribbean Postcards and grab a pen and a couple of stamps. We need yo
Episode 140: Dogs Playing Poker, Ernest P. Worrell and Pitchmen Going Pop (Classic Episode) (opens the original)
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We're still on summer vacation, so we’re revisiting one of our classic episodes. Hey, Vern. In this episode we discuss how artwork advertising cigars became a cornerstone for kitsch and a character promoting local businesses became a movie star. What is the deal with dogs playing poker, anyway? And how did Ernest P. Worrell go from plugging local car lots in Nashville to saving Christmas in movie theaters across the country? We answer these questions and introduce you to what may be the coolest
Episode 139: The Origin Story of Psychedelia (Classic Episode) (opens the original)
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With news of Ken Kesey’s bus Further returning to San Francisco, we’re revisiting one of our classic episodes. Today we’re taking a trip through the looking glass. We return to our series kickoff on psychedelia by discussing its origins, the impact on a generation of pop culture and its lasting effects. Psychedelia’s origins are messy, fascinating, and full of odd little historical crosscurrents. We discuss science, bicycle rides and the first official album of psychedelic music. So, ask the bar
Episode 138: Signs of the Times - Barber Poles and Pawn Broker Balls (opens the original)
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We’re revisiting one of our classic episodes. There are visual icons that have symbolized professions for so long their origin stories are unknown to the very customers served by them. These independent businesses are owned by all kinds of people serving millions on a daily basis throughout the world, all using these same basic signs outside their establishments. We're discussing barber poles and pawnbroker balls, two symbols that, unless you’re truly in the middle of nowhere, you can find withi
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