The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: Free Form

To begin the show, Jesse speaks with Tom Scharpling. Known for his writing on shows such as Tom Goes to the Mayor and Monk. Tom talks about his radio programme, The Best Show on WFMU. Why don't you become Tom's friend?

Next up on this episode, Eugene Mirman! Listen as Eugene shares memories of childhood alienation and loneliness. Meanwhile, Jesse talks about Gallagher. If you're feeling lonely and don't want to listen to another Gallagher album, pick up some of Eugene's hilarious work.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: It's All Politics!

First up, Jesse Thorn and guest-host Maria Schell welcome writer Kristin Gore. Kristin talks about her book, Sammy's Hill, her beginnings in comedy with Harvard's National Lampoon, and her time as a writer at Futurama.

Following that, Jesse interviews the great Art Spiegelman. Listen as Mr. Spiegelman reveals some of his motivations for his book about 9/11, In the Shadow of No Towers. It is fantastic. Do yourself a favor and find more of his work.

Lastly, Jesse talks to friend of the show, Patton Oswalt. In the world's shortest interview, Patton drops some funny, Jesse tries to demonize the Chipmunks, and Maria describes what she's wearing. Owe yourself another favor and go to one of his upcoming shows.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: Chosen People

Chris Jackson can be described as a sort of pop culture activist. With H.O.P.E. in America, Chris protests the mediocrity prevalent in the entertainment landscape. For example, he ruined Paris Hilton's book signing.

Following that, Jesse and Kathi interview Count Bass D. Listen in as Count Bass D talks about music, his artistic collaborations and making art in Nashville. Check out his latest work.

Lastly, Jesse speaks with his comedy crush Sarah Silverman. Between the flirting and passing of love notes, Sarah reveals her comedy origin story and describes Jesus is Magic as only she can.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: Hello Possums!

Randy Newman is a singer, songwriter, and composer. In this programme, Jesse devotes the first hour to the work of Randy Newman. Find his latest music on the Toy Story 3 soundtrack.

Following that musical hour, Jesse interviews Dan Piraro. Dan Piraro is best known as the cartoonist behind the comic “panel” Bizarro. Find his daily feature here.

Also, Jesse welcomes entertainer Dame Edna Everage. As a satirical character played by Barry Humphries, Dame Edna Everage has written several books, hosted many television programmes, and even managed to rile up Salma Hayek.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: Mashup, for which we've selected five interviews from the summer of 2004, with co-hosts Jamis MacNiven, Al Madrigal, and W. Kamau Bell.

Tyler MacNiven is a filmmaker and in this program he speaks to Jamis MacNiven and Jesse about his trek across the entirety of Japan. That journey would later be documented in Tyler's 2005 film, Kintaro Walks Japan.

Following that, Jesse interviews Steve Almond. In this episode, Steve Almond discusses his candy "freakdom" chronicled in the 2004 non-fiction book, Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. His most recent book is Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us.

Next, Jesse and Al Madrigal speak with Marc Horowitz. Marc Horowitz is a performance artist, actor, comic and filmmaker. He stops by to talk about a few of his performance pieces, including what happens when you mix burros with picking up the dry cleaning. You might also recognize Marc from one of his recent projects -- a piece that became a series of commercials, "Seven Days in a Sentra". You can find videos of Marc's work at his site, I Need to Stop Soon. He's also a co-host of the new TV series on G4, It's Effin' Science.

And lastly, W. Kamau Bell joins Jesse to interview Tony Goldmark and Jacob Slichter. A musical comedian, Tony Goldmark has been crafting song parodies a la Weird Al since he was a kid, with a debut album when he was only 13. In this episode, he talks about his album Rage Against the Mundane.

Jacob Slichter is a musician and a member of the band Semisonic. Jacob discusses his 2004 book, So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life. In the work, he details the often frustrating experience of dealing with the music industry.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: Mad Libs. Brian "Business, Never Personal" Lane and Arthur Gauss both co-host with Jesse on today's TSOYA.

Brandon Bird is an artist (and fellow UCSC grad) whose paintings reference pop culture and historical figures; he was an artist-in-residence at Risley Residential College at Cornell University and is a regular contributor to The Believer. He talks to us about creating a "Law and Order" coloring book and performs a dramatic reading of the frankly hysterical tale of "Butt Tinkie," dreamed up by his four-year-old self.

Jimmy Pardo, comedian and host of the weekly podcast Never Not Funny, talks about the gift of a Gentlemen's Chest, his mom, and his worst television performance ever.

We're joined next by Geoffrey Nunberg, Fresh Air's in-house linguist and author of Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times. Geoffrey shares his insights on popular language usage, from "nucular" to "like".

We close it out with the legendary comic Shelley Berman, winner of the first-ever Best Comedy Album at the Grammy Awards of 1960 and a founding member of The Second City.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's theme: First Impressions.

Joanne Gilbert, former standup comic and doctor of philosophy, talks about her book Performing Marginality, a look at the roles of women in standup comedy.

Standup comedian and former Saturday Night Live and MadTV cast member Jeff Richards stops by to talk about his career and do some of his celebrity impressions.

He's also done the late-night circuit with appearances on The Late Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC's Late Friday, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.

And finally, we're joined by Harmon Leon, a first-person journalist and funnyman who's written for Might Magazine, Esquire, Salon, This American Life, and Wired, among others. He's also published six books, including The Harmon Chronicles. You can find links to his writing and cultural commentary at his site, FreedomHaters.org.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's Theme: God Bless America! Brian "Back In Business" Lane & "The Non-Threatening Negro" Nick Adams join Jesse in today's TSOYA while Jordan Morris is away.

Historian Kenneth C. Davis wants to recruit you into History Nerdom. He explains how fireworks came to be a thing that happens on the 4th of July and about how awesome but kind of a jerk Benjamin Franklin was.
His book is called Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (he now has a whole series of books about things you wish you'd learned in school)

Also: Our pal actor & comedian Patton Oswalt talks about his first comedy album: Feelin' Kinda Patton, & about standup being the goal itself and not just the vehicle to getting elsewhere.

PLUS- Mr. Peabody's Way-Back Joke Machine Presents:
Standup comedy by "The Jazz Comedian" Franklyn Ajaye.

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's Theme: Come Fly With Me!

Comedians Jasper Redd & W. Kamau Bell on the show, PLUS a contest to win a chance to fly with Jesse on a WW2 Red Baron Pizza biplane!

The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.

Today's Theme is: Sticking it to The Man. With guests Michael Slack & Rich Stimbra of the San Francisco Comedy College, and Davy Rothbart of FOUND! Magazine.