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PODCAST

The Book Pile

Kellen Erskine and David Vance

A podcast where comedians tell you about books so you never have to read! (Now including fiction!) Kellen does standup; Dave writes ads; together they highlight lessons from the world’s best books--and some of the worst. New episode every Monday!

arts books

All Episodes

28:01

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link

The Book Pile ·

2022/05/16

A short story is defined as a story that said it was taller on Tinder. Today’s book is a whole short story collection by magical realist Kelly Link. Plus, Dave is hiring an actor to play him on Instagram, and Kellen uses Latin so you know he’s intelligent.*To buy the book, Get in Trouble, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/43PQDXH*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's Americ...

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24:05

The Big Short by Michael Lewis

The Book Pile ·

2022/05/09

Sometimes during a time of global disease and war, it’s nice to read a little escapism about the worst financial collapse of our lifetimes. Today’s book is The Big Short. It’s by Michael Lewis, who has a talent for writing about global tragedies (2008 market crash, COVID-19, baseball). Plus, Kellen becomes a communist (knew it!). And Dave learns what an air fryer is, completing his journey into manhood.*To buy the book, The Big Short, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, c...

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28:06

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Book Pile ·

2022/05/02

Do you like murder mysteries? Romance? Revenge? Gone girls? The police? Treasure hunts? Sociopaths? Mysterious pregnancies? If you answered yes to everything, it’s kind of weird that you like ALL those things, but boy is this episode for you! Plus, Dave doesn’t think we always have to be special, and Kellen has some thoughts on red flags.*To buy the book, Gone Girl, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/45aiSRM*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen ...

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27:27

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

The Book Pile ·

2022/04/25

Succeeding in Hollywood takes lots of practice, and that’s why Matthew McConaughey has put in 10,000 hours of being handsome. Today’s book is about how hard McConaughey’s career wasn’t. Plus, Kellen has some questions about Magic Mike and Dave has some aphorisms that were probably written by a human.*To buy the book, Greenlights, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/44J6CIe*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy...

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33:05

DEBATE: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Book Pile ·

2022/04/18

Today we cover The Grapes of Wrath, which Kellen loved and Dave hated. ‘Cause we think the best art happens when the two creators have COMPLETELY different visions. (Remember in Star Wars how J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson just undid every creative decision the other one made, like two guys doing bad improv where they do NOT listen to each other at all? It was glorious.) Dave gives a good argument for why The Grapes of Wrath is boring, and Kellen just likes books about dirt I guess. (This descr...

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26:39

Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli

The Book Pile ·

2022/04/11

Helgoland is a spy thriller with lots of romance, great comedy, and hilarious, entertaining characters. You will love it as… okay, it’s actually about quantum mechanics, but if we told the truth, you would skip this episode. Plus, Kellen doesn’t think quantum physics actually changes your life, and Dave teaches physics via his favorite method – talking down to you.*To buy the book, Helgoland, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3rU0JcQ*TheBookPi...

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31:17

The Calvin and Hobbes 10th Anniversary Book by Bill...

The Book Pile ·

2022/04/04

A wonderful book with rare commentary from a reclusive author. As you know, Calvin and Hobbes was a Trojan horse comic strip, written by a pastor to get kids interested in the teachings of John Calvin. . . Also, Dave hates on Garfield and Kellen hates on Garfield. What, I’m sorry, we hate Garfield. How did it get so big? Who is reading this.*To buy the book, The Calvin and Hobbes, AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3KmJRSl*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen Erskine has appea...

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32:52

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

The Book Pile ·

2022/03/28

Did history stress you out in high school? Not really your favorite subject? Well today we break down history in a fun, comedic way, and then at the end we test you and give you a grade that decides your whole future! Plus, Kellen wants you to know that not all of California is covered in feces, and Dave introduces his new best friend, Prester John.(Also, stick around for the end song for a final correction of a vegetable fact.)*To buy the book, The Silk Roads, or listen to it free on Audible...

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34:44

HALF-ROAST: The Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

The Book Pile ·

2022/03/21

Stephen King knows that a short story collection is like an album – as long as you have a few hits, the rest can be crap. Today is our half-roast of Skeleton Crew! Plus, Dave has some fun ideas about the nature of suffering and Kellen thinks Stephen King’s endings need work. (What do you bet Stephen eventually dies in some random, uninteresting way?)*To buy the book, The Skeleton Crew, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/455hC2r*TheBookPilePodca...

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36:45

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

The Book Pile ·

2022/03/14

Dave Grohl has lived a fascinating creative life that includes being part of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, collaborating with Paul McCartney and Tom Petty, and being the most featured musical artist on SNL. But in a billion years, he’ll be just as forgotten as the rest of us, so why try? (Today’s episode brought to you by nihilism!) Plus, Kellen wants your kids to drop out of high school and Dave wants you to get good at the drums by ruining your teeth!*To buy the book, The Storyteller, or listen...

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27:43

THE ROAST OF: Goldfinger by Ian Fleming

The Book Pile ·

2022/03/07

Long before The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, Ian Fleming accidentally created the first anti-hero! James Bond is what Reddit calls “a man of his time” (meaning “a bad person”). Today we roast his worst book, Goldfinger. Also, Kellen continues his love of coincidences in literature and Dave wishes his enemies would paint him in gold.*To buy the book, Goldfinger, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3q5Pduq*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen Erskine ...

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30:31

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole...

The Book Pile ·

2022/02/28

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is a chilling book about the danger hackers pose to all of us. It is also a title with a super unclear pronoun. What is “this” referring to? The cause of the world ending? Or the way she’s being told? Until we get answers, we unfortunately cannot recommend this book...Also, Dave has some cybersecurity tips that will only take you 10 minutes, and that you still will not do. And Kellen loved the Stuxnet virus.*To buy the book, This is How They Tell Me the...

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35:10

Timeline by Michael Crichton

The Book Pile ·

2022/02/21

Timeline is an excellent Michael Crichton book about using a time machine to visit the Middle Ages. But, we just wanna point out – you could also use a time machine to get some dinosaurs. That’s why here at The Book Pile we believe every Michael Crichton book should just be Jurassic Park. The nanobots in Prey could have formed a giant dinosaur. The park in Westworld coulda been robot dinosaurs. What’s inside the sphere in Sphere? Dinosaur. Also in this episode Kellen and Dave revive a HEATED ...

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33:10

Creativity by John Cleese

The Book Pile ·

2022/02/14

In the 60s, a group of creative guys in the UK formed a cheeky but charismatic group that gained popularity in Britain before becoming a sensation in America, pushing the boundaries of genre before finally breaking up, and also two of them are now dead. And that group is the Beatles. You thought we were gonna be tricky and say it’s Monty Python, right? You dumb imbecile.Okay, all that stuff is true of Monty Python too. Please enjoy John Cleese’s excellent, excellent tips on creativity. Also, ...

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34:16

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Book Pile ·

2022/02/07

Today’s episode is a children’s book about a society that loves watching game shows (fun!). 24 contestants enter a fun franchise called the Hunger Games and, in the spirit of The Biggest Loser, 23 of them lose weight! (The person who doesn’t lose weight gets to go back to the games later and try again!) Read this book with your young kids who love game shows! Also, Dave has theories about Peeta’s real job and Kellen has a critique of Peeta’s frosting skills.*To buy the book, The Hunger Games,...

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23:25

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

The Book Pile ·

2022/01/31

First the good news about this book — one of us really liked it! You’ll have to listen to the episode for the bad news. (This is called clickbait. We clickbaited you.) The Space Between Worlds is a scifi story that stretches across multiple universes, and is also about love. Plus, Dave and Kellen says something CRAZY about Nazis. (As we wrote that last clickbait, we chuckled and muttered to ourselves, “We have you now…”)*To buy the book, The Space Between Worlds, or listen to it free on Audib...

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27:13

Einstein by Walter Isaacson

The Book Pile ·

2022/01/24

Here at The Book Pile, we connect deeply with Einstein, since all 3 of us are creative and none of us graduated from an American high school. Today we cover Isaacson’s excellent biography of Einstein — a man we would go so far as to call a genius! Plus, Kellen uses relativity to win at laser tag, and Dave once again brings Al-Qaeda into this.*To buy the book, Einstein, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3OjqN8A*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kell...

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21:10

So You've Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson

The Book Pile ·

2022/01/17

This book is one of those things you buy just in case, although you hope you never need it — like fire insurance, or a bone saw. In So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson explores the stories of people whose lives were ruined by public shaming. Plus, Kellen tries to explain his misunderstood set on Jimmy Kimmel, and Dave wants you to know whatever comments of his you’ve heard were taken OUT OF CONTEXT.*To buy the book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed, or listen to it free on Audible AND su...

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32:59

THE ROAST OF: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Book Pile ·

2022/01/10

In honor of the Da Vinci Code, today’s episode description is written using Dan Brown’s prose:Chapter 1The two podcast hosts entered the studio, with their probing blue eyes, arrestingly deep voices, and “erudite” appeal. They tasted the familiar tang of a podcast studio — an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon — the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers.Then a voice spoke, chillingly, “Do not record.”Only fifteen feet away, outside the sealed gate, the moun...

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20:20

Our Favorite Books of 2021! Plus bonus audio from The...

The Book Pile ·

2022/01/03

We discuss our 10 favorite books we read in 2021, PLUS we've included more bonus audio from the botched live-taping of THE ROAST of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Co...

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222 results

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