Unpacking Peanuts

1995 Part 1 - At Long Last, Charlie Brown is the Hero

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.

Special Episode: Slide, Charlie Brown! Slide!

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.

With Lynn Johnston, Creator of For Better or For Worse

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.

With Judy "Snoopy" Sladky

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.

With Rheta Grimsley Johnson, Author of Good Grief

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.
 

Wrap Up Season 10: Snoopy and Woodstock, and Calvin and Hobbes

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.
 

1994 Part 4 - Good Ol’ Down in the Dirt Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Comics

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.

1994 Part 3 - Far and Away One of the Great Tries of All Time

The photocopier makes it’s exciting first appearance in Peanuts! The guys get deep into the discussion of how different readers perceive the art of comics. Michael has a great idea for a Peanuts spinoff strip, and Jimmy gives a complete listing of all the towns in Pennsylvania. Plus: Dick Ayers and Joe Kubert
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.
Chuck Klosterman essay - Writing About Charlie Brown Feels Like Writing About Myself - https://lithub.com/writing-about-charlie-brown-feels-like-writing-about-myselfPlaylist of Michael Cohen's songs used in Unpacking Peanutshttps://lizsumner.bandcamp.com/album/unpacking-peanuts-theme-music-volume-1
 

1994 Part 2 - Nude Beagle Descending a Staircase

44 years into his career and Schulz is still breaking new creative ground as a cartoonist. The gang discusses some of the formal innovations Schulz has made, react to a bunch of great strips, and then answer a Sopwith camel’s worth of listener mail. Plus: Kato Kaelin
Graphic Novels recommended:Michael: Finder by Carla Speed McNeilHarold: The Dumbest Idea Ever by Jimmy GownleyLiz: Fun Home - A Family Tragicomic by Alison BechdelJimmy: Death of Speedy by Jaime Hernandez
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.
 

1994 Part 1 - The Smaller the King the More the Talk

Lucy diversifies her revenue streams. Lydia needs some love letters. Woodstock gets violent. Snoopy goes to the hospital. And Jimmy turns 22. Plus: Spike, and Andy, and Olaf, and Krypto.
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.