The Complete Guide to Everything

Summer is heating up on TCGTE presents HOT SUMMER, and this week two men who are very plugged into the pop music scene are evaluating the candidates for the 2026 Song of The Summer. Some of the songs are scary, some are boring and lame, but one thing is for sure -- we understand the appeal of all of them and are well equipped to judge which one is the best.

This week, we brave the sweltering NYC summer to tackle summer’s recession-proof treat: Ice cream. We delve into the logistics of the US’s floating WWII ice cream barge, explain why George Washington spent a small fortune on ice cream in 1790, and discuss how bomber pilots turned engine vibrations into dessert. This makes it sound like all we talk about is WWII, but we discuss the present day as well.

We're back with even more movie mayhem as we bring you through Tinseltown's July offerings. We cover cool superhero origin stories like Young Washington, plucky upstarts like Moana and the big Chrissy Nolan epic Odyssey. Mostly though, we're just excited about the fact that Austin Powers is back -- in Verizon commercial form.

Following backlash on Reddit for our lack of preparation last week, we have instituted a professional course correction for Part 2 of our Summer 2026 Movie Preview: we watched the trailers this time, and we've mapped them into a highly scientific rating system ranging from "Must See" to "Go to Hell."This week, we dive into the upcoming cinematic landscape to debate whether Hugh Jackman is being grizzled-hero typecasted in The Death of Robin Hood, why Nate Bargatzi’s new family comedy The Breadwinner is an antiquated disaster, why Pixar never seems to whiff when it comes to Toy Story, as well as Hokum, The Furious, and Leviticus.Along the way, Tom breaks down Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, Tim pitches himself as a professional safe-cracking piano tuner, and we take massive detours into the theology of whether God has a soul, a plan to fix a brand-new Billy Joel statue in Oyster Bay, and why Wall Street refuses to call it "cryptocurrency" anymore.

Join two of the world's most respected film critics as we walk through all the thrills and chills to be had at your local movie theater this summer! This week we're talking about the May releases (apparently the boneheads out in Tinseltown don't know that May isn't part of summer). We cover Animal Farm, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Hokum, RZA's One Spoon of Chocolate, Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), Mortal Kombat II, The Sheep Detectives, In The Grey, Obsession, The Wizard of the Kremlin, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War, I Love Boosters, Ladies First and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.

This week, we explore the high-anxiety, chocolate-loving world of Cathy, the comic strip that spent 34 years capturing the crushing weight of modern womanhood.Before we analyze the intersection of boomer humor and second-wave feminism, we address the target demographics of the new He-Man movie, the tragic decline of checkout-counter tabloids, and an internet pitch to fuse the three dad hosts of Full House into a singular, mega-father via Steve Urkel’s transformation ray.

It's a classic Sweeps Week episode of TCGTE, so we're talking about the company that measures who's watching and listening to stuff. And how's this for a dramatic plot: Tim has been chosen to be a Nielsen household (a very prestigious honor), making Tom very jealous. Tune in for some classic drama!

This week we are diving spoon-first into the history of America's most famous gelatinous dessert. We break down Jell-O's humble beginnings as boiled animal bones, Kraft Heinz’s plan to eliminate artificial dyes, and why Utah consumes twice the national average of green slop.Also: Tim recounts his terrifying encounters with vending machines in London and Boston and the nightmare that is the Sloppy Joe sandwich. Plus, we brainstorm a new podcast-branded food line.

The eggheads over at The New York Times put together a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters in order to get people to get mad on the internet and it worked! This week we're going through the list and lamenting the lack of Billy Joel and Weird Al on it.