
Your Hosts
Your hosts for Unpacking Peanuts are Jimmy Gownley, the cartoonist behind Amelia Rules, The Dumbest Idea Ever, and Seven Good Reasons Not To Grow Up; Michael Cohen, cartoonist behind A Gathering of Spells, Tangled River and Strange Attractors as well as composer for the band Complicated People, and this podcast; and Harold Buchholz, executive producer and writer of Mystery Science Theater 3000, former vice-president of Archie comics and cartoonist behind the Instagram strip Sweetest Beasts. Unpacking Peanuts is produced and edited by Liz Sumner.
Episodes

5 days ago
5 days ago
In this episode, the guys have a long discussion about what makes Peanuts work, and how Schulz’s presence is felt in the strip. Can that be the key to understanding Peanuts? Or is it possible we’re overthinking this? Meanwhile, Rerun provides some of the strip’s best moments. Charlie Brown is still up all night. And Spike is still fighting in the trenches. Plus: Charlie Brown has a thing for redheads.
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Woodstock goes to the moon and it makes Michael’s head hurt. Cheating is rampant at Peppermint Patty’s school, but no one seems to mind. And Schulz predicts the world of print on demand. Plus: An all time record on the anger/happiness index.
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Apr 08, 2025
Tuesday Apr 08, 2025
Woodstock is at his wit’s end, and all his pal Snoopy can do is muse on Fitzgerald. Rerun shows us more facets of his ever expanding personality. Meanwhile Linus’s struggle for security rages on. Plus: Some Enchanted Evening
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Apr 01, 2025
Tuesday Apr 01, 2025
When a kid from another neighborhood takes advantage of the guileless Rerun, Charlie Brown steps up to defend him. Elsewhere, Sally is still Sally, Lucy still loves Schroeder, and Schulz fights through his tremor. Plus: Al Capp
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Mar 25, 2025
Tuesday Mar 25, 2025
Hey, batta batta! It’s baseball time again, and the gang discusses one of Michael’s favorite Peanuts sequences and Jimmy fails to find Harold a favorite team. Join us as we explore the story that inspired the rarely seen “Charlie Brown’s All Stars!” Plus: Here’s a question…Why?
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
The world famous cartoonist of For Better or For Worse drops by to reminisce about her friendship with Charles Schulz, her career as a top syndicated cartoonist, and the time she walked a mile in Sparky’s shoes! It was an honor to have Ms. Johnston on the show, and we are thrilled to share this wide ranging conversation with you all! Plus: I’ll see you in the Louvre
Read For Better of For Worse at https://www.fborfw.com/
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
Judy Sladky, champion ice dancer and the person hand-picked by Charles Schulz to portray Snoopy, skates into the Unpacking Peanuts studio. Judy shares stories from her decades of performing as her canine alter ego, and gives us a glimpse into her friendship with Charles Schulz. Plus: Cute Strike Zones
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
We welcome the author of the Charles Schulz biography Good Grief, Rheta Grimsley Johnson, to the show. Rheta discusses working on the book, discovering the real Little Red-Haired Girl, and watching Schulz create the strip. Then, the gang analyses Rheta’s favorite Peanuts strips. Plus: She tells the harrowing story of the attempted kidnapping of Jeannie Schulz!
Rheta's books are available at the University of Georgia Press - ugapress.orgGood Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz is available on Amazon
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
In the wrap up of our latest season, the guys talk about the many changes to Schulz’s work throughout this period, reflect on the reality of artists aging, and then take a good long look at the differences and similarities between the work of Charles Schulz and Bill Watterson. Plus: Dick Van Dyke
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.

Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Olaf and Andy are becoming their own unique comedy team. The falling leaf makes its poetic return, and Charlie Brown is possibly hypnotized by Lucy’s trickery. Plus: A Half Inch Blanket of Outing Flannel
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.