Area 51 with Ian Hamilton

When BuzzFeed is the most reputable news source, and the government can do pretty much whatever it wants to private citizens, who can you trust? Kerry O'Neill, that's who! The wildly talented writer and comedian and dog mom stopped by to tell us the unnerving tale of the death of Michael Hastings. The controversial bad boy of digital journalism died in a fiery crash in 2013 under suspicious circumstances, while investigating the CIA. It's sad and weird at the same time. We discuss his legacy, as well as partisan politics, drugs, mental illness, war, the role of journalism, and the decline of American democracy. But also, we have a fun time and make a lot of goofy jokes! That combo shouldn't work, but baby? It does.

13 Jan 201754min

Industrial runoff. Atomic bomb test waste. Tap water. What do these all in common? THEY ALL CONTAIN WATER!!! Just kidding, they all have dreadful terrible fluoride in them. Fluoride is a controversial chemical with a shady past, and the hilarious filmmaker and actor Angela Gulner stops by the Lizard Lair to argue that it's in fact part of a great corporate conspiracy. Along the way we also discuss our favorite junk foods, laugh about how silly German sounds, explore the history of slimy PR guys, bring up psychic grandmas, sip Diet Coke, learn about history, and talk about Angela's amazing webseries Binge. Oh, and keep an ear out for a big disaster caused by Katelyn waving her arms around like an idiot. You'll know it when you hear it!

6 Jan 201756min

Can you believe this podcast is one year old? Feels like it's barely been 11 months! All (hilarious) jokes aside, it's been a pretty wild year. We've covered everything from yetis to Marisa Tomei to lightbulbs to the Illuminati to our Hollow Earth to the Build-A-Bear corporation. We've laughed, we've cried, we've sung songs and drank beers. And through it all, we've been really, really lucky to have you as our listeners. So as a fun wrap-up to this tumultuous time in our lives, in this episode Katelyn takes a little time to tell you something new about every episode we've recorded. Sometimes that 'something new' is a recently uncovered fact about an unsolved murder, sometimes it's just an observation that the guest from that old episode is now married. But it's all pretty fun, tbh. Happy listening, happy holidays, and have a wonderful start to your new year!

23 Dec 201635min

Okay, we gotta conspiracy theory ova heaaaaah! If you like bad Brooklyn accents and arguments about the importance of comedy in culture, this ep is for you baby. Patrick McDonald came on the podcast for a freewheelin' conversation about classic movies, Hollywood scandals, Oscar-bait, Saturday Night Live, the dangers of alcohol, and lots of cute bimbo impressions. Plus, Katelyn tells a story about her shameful past in the seedy underbelly of LA catering. And after all of that, we finally get to the shocking conspiracy theory that the talented Marisa Tomei won a Best Supporting Actress award erroneously, because Jack Palance was too drunk to see the card and therefore said the wrong name! Dram, if you're listening to this, really sorry and please don't sue.

16 Dec 201648min

Ready for some truly dumb dad jokes? This wholesome episode tackles the theory that Ferris Bueller's Day Off, classic 80's teen film, is actually a dark portrait of a deeply disturbed young man who invents a cool imaginary friend with powers he can only dream of. Wow, creepy stuff! Our guest Clara Baker is a big movie buff, and she delivers this wacky theory with a lotta panache and some very expert water drop noises. You're going to come out of this one seeing Cameron pretty dang differently, this we can promise. At the very least you'll agree with us that Alan Ruck has always been a sex symbol. Zamn, zaddy.

9 Dec 20161h

Some episodes of this podcast are silly. Some are thoughtful. And sometimes we have to just say to heck with conspiracy theories, it's time for some good goddamn conversation. This one is that third one. The incredibly funny and borderline genius comedian George Barber stopped by for what we thought was going to be a conversation about the loopy little theory that the media is conditioning us to accept fascism and stuff. But actually it turned into two buds talking about the election, the nature of conspiracy theories, what it's like to be working and middle class, American history, and everything that's been on our minds for the last few weeks. It may not be a normal episode of Lizard People, but it's a talk we were all glad to have. We hope you'll be glad too!

2 Dec 20161h 11min

Wave Segal is a very funny comedian and actor. He's also a hardcore conspiracy theory nerd. And on this episode of Lizard People he presents the most meta, complex, shocking conspiracy theory of all - that there's a conspiracy to spread conspiracy theories! Yes, Wave argues that conspiracy theories are a tool used to distract from real government abuses. Did your mind just get blown? You ain't heard nothing yet. This episode is all about two conspiracy theory nerds nerding out hard and enjoying speculating about the nature of government. It's pretty silly, and it's also so so real. Also we mention the election because we recorded it before the election and wow were we young and happy and naive. Simpler times, y'all.

25 Nov 20161h 1min

Sylvia Plath was a poet, essayist, novelist, and very interesting person. Her work was luminous, and her suicide was notorious. But some people think that her husband (notorious asshole) Ted Hughes had more to do with her death than he ever admitted. People including our guest Julia Meltzer, comedian and podcast host and extremely thoughtful person! We talk about how to deal with sadness, what makes a genius, and how we should think about our heroes. It's not easy stuff to discuss, but if anyone can do it it's a couple of literature nerds who've had a lot of therapy. Shoutouts in this episode include Ariana Lenarsky, feminism, grandmas, formerly fat boys, curses, literary theorists, and teenage girls. This is a bleak one but a good one!

18 Nov 20161h 1min