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Frequently Asked Questions
We love questions around here. Here’s some of the ones we get most from our listeners.
What’s the format of the show?
Here’s a breakdown!
Intro – This is us saying hello, introducing who is in studio and getting to know the guests a little bit better.
Warm It Up Chris – This our warm up segment. No points are counted it’s just a fun way to get our brains working. We love when people send in things that we can use for Warm it up Chris (WIUC). If you want to submit a WIUC question you can do it via the Submit A Question page 😊
The Game – This is the start of the real game. We do a 6 round game with 3 questions per round. Each question is worth 10 points unless bonuses are added or other stipulations are called out. There is a midpoint worth 20 points between round 3 and 4. A perfect score at the end of this section would be 200 points if there were no bonuses available.
Bonus Opportunities – Once a game, teams have the opportunity to earn extra points by correctly predicting an answer before the question is read (“Sherlocking”). Occasionally, you’ll also hear our hosts offer bonus points (“Bonus Brigade!”) for correctly answering some additional information.
The Gauntlet – The Gauntlet is final set of questions during the game. It occurs after the 6th round. Both teams are told a category and must wager between 0 and their total number of points before hearing a question. Then they are give 3 questions that are related in some way to the category provided. If they get all of the questions right they will win the number of points they wagered. If they missed any of the questions then they will lose the number of points that they wagered.
Shoutouts and Causes – during this segment we let our guests do shout outs or promote something they care about.
Should I start now or at the beginning?
We recommend starting with the most recent episodes, and delving back into the archives if you’re still looking for more. We have a few running jokes and there have been a few changes in the hosting line-up, but you will certainly not be lost by not listening from episode #1.
It’s also important that you know the show is VERY different now than it was when we started. We don’t really start hitting our stride until episode 60 right after the end of the listener tournament.
Is this a family friendly show?
Kind of…
You’ll hear a few damns, hells and asses in the show, but it’s not too prevalent. Anything more than that gets beeped out. We do enjoy a good inuendo though, and if it makes us laugh, it’s probably staying in. That being said, we’re good hearted people and we’re definitely not trying to put a show out that would earn us a lecture from our own parents. 😉
I would recommend listening to a couple of shows and getting a sense for whether or not you think it’s suitable for your kids or not.
Do you recommend any particular apps to listen to the show?
For the free episodes of TW, almost any podcast app will work. If you’re using an iPhone, you can use their native Apple Podcasts app, and we’ve also heard good things about Overcast. If you’re on Android, you might try Podcast Addict or Pocketcasts. The show is also available on Spotify and pretty much anywhere else you want.
If you’re a patron and you want to listen to the archived episodes or one of the bonus episodes, then you’ll need to use an app that will support your private RSS feed from Patreon. Apple Podcasts and most of the 3rd party apps are fine for this, but Pandora, for example, is locked down, and you won’t be able to listen there. You can find more details about loading up that private RSS feed here.
What are the differences between the Patreon levels?
We’ve done our best to simplify these over the last year. Essentially the Lieutenant tier is the one you want to be at to get access to the show. Every rank after that is simply based on how many times we are trying to bring you on each year.
The Bonus Brigade! – at $2 you get access to Patreon-exclusive bonus episodes including takeover episodes and bracket bonuses. This does not include After Dark Bonuses.
Sergeant – At $5 a month you are getting the biggest bang for the buck with access to ALL of our historical episodes and bonus episodes with the single exception of the After Dark Bonuses.
Lieutenant – At $10 a month you get access to absolutely every episode we’ve ever created. Not only that, this is the lowest tier that has access to be a contestant on TW and the rest of the OMG suite of shows including Blitz, FourPlay, and TTAB!
Captain – at $15 a month you get everything that the lower tiers get but they start getting invites to appear on TW more quickly/frequently than Lieutenants.
Major – at $25 a month you get everything that the lower tiers get but get a MAJOR boost in terms of the frequency of invites. Check out the link in the welcome message for more details about invite frequency.
Colonel – at $50 a month you are in rarefied air, my friend. Not only do Colonels get everything the lower tiers get AND a boost to invite frequency over Majors, but as a Colonel you earn the opportunity to run an advertisement on TW once per quarter. You can use it for shout outs, you can use it to promote your business, it’s completely up to you!
General – at $100 or more per month you’ve reached the top. You are a paragon in the OMG community and choirs of angels sing your name in trivia heaven. Of course you get everything listed below. What’s more, I want to make sure you sound great so I’ll be sending a microphone kit your way. I salute you!
How do I get on the show? (And why is it taking so long?)
You’ve got to be a patron! You can learn more HERE.
What level you subscribe at determines how often you’re eligible to come on the show (for example, if you sign up as a Lieutenant, you’ll become eligible after 2 years; if you’re a General, you’ll be eligible after 2 months).
Once you’ve hit the eligibility point, you’ll start receiving emails from our admin Kit whenever we have an upcoming recording (if you want us to use an email other than your Patreon login, fill out this form). You’ll let us know your interest and an availability by replying to her, and she’ll get to work putting together line-ups. Naturally, more of these emails go out than the number of available spots for any given recording, so you will not necessarily get on the first time you respond (or the first few times you respond). Kit takes into account things like who will make for the most evenly-matched game and who has been eligible for the longest time. We also prioritize our higher-level Patrons, so you will sometimes hear the same guests more often than others, even if you’ve been waiting a while to get on.
However! You can also join the Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group for an extra chance to be called up to the show. Occasionally we have openings due to last minute schedule changes or special events (like our annual Black History Month and Pride episodes) and will post to the group to fill those spots (you will still need to be a Patreon supporter, though!)
Can you email me at a different address than what I use for Patreon?
By default, when you become eligible to appear on the show, we will email you at the address that you use to log into Patreon. If you’d like us to use a different email, please fill out this form.
How do I submit questions?
Glad you asked! We have a page for this! You can identify the topic and the person you want it to go to right on the page. Click here to submit your question.
Where do your listeners hang out?
The Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group. It’s been an awesome experience for all of us to make so many good friends in the group. Come join us!
Who is Chris? Why does he want to Warm It Up?
Any time we’re talking about Chris we’re talking about Chris Hollister. Chris is a co-founder of the show, he was there at the very beginning and the show would not have happened without him. You can find out more about Chris and all of the other hosts in the About The Hosts page.
Chris was the person who came up with the Warm up segment of the show. In the early days he would run through some questions before we started recording just for fun and we ended up adding it to the show and naming it in his honor. The original intro for the segment was a clip from Kriss Kross but we switched to the Matthew Stephens version as we moved away from including copywritten material in the show.
Why is Ben Mr. Literature?
It’s a moment in the archives somewhere. Ben did an imitation of Bernie Mac talking to the head of a Casino and saying “We don’t need no Literature, you got to feel it,” and it cracked us up. Over time it morphed into what it has become today.
What is thunder and how can I obtain some of it?
Thunder represents the amount of confidence you have in your answer. You can find out more in the archives!
Why is there math when you said there would be no math?
Seriously. I’m with you. Solidarity.
Why are some of the episodes of the archive missing?
This question has a couple of different answers.
Many of the episodes from before TW200 have been archived and are only available to our patrons. You can sign up to be a patron at www.trivialwarfarearmy.com to get access to your own private feed if you want to listen to these episodes.
There are a few other individual episodes that were either never published or have been removed. The one everybody asks about is episode 6. The truth is that episode 6 was recorded but never published. In the early days Chris and I were trying to record 3 episodes per session and that turned out to be too much. We were getting argumentative and the resulting episode wasn’t up to the level of quality that I wanted from the show. So I skipped it and released the next recorded episode in its place. For funsies I didn’t change the numbering and by doing so created the mystery of episode 6.
There are 4 other shows missing from the feed:
TW099: We Don’t Know Jack
TW129: TW Against The World
TW159: Hold My Beer
and TW181: Power, Nintendo Power
Put simply we learned that a former patron was someone that we no longer wanted to be associated with. The episodes that this patron appeared on were removed and are gone forever.
How do you pick who comes on the show?
When we’ve got an upcoming recording scheduled, our admin Kit sends an email out to everyone eligible to be on the show based on their Patreon level and how long it’s been since they’ve been on (if at all).
Based on who replies to those initial emails, Kit puts together lineups (which are then approved by Jonathan — regardless of what he may say, Kit does not actually run the show). More of these emails go out than the number of available spots for any given recording, so Kit takes into account things like who will make for the most evenly-matched game and who has been eligible for the longest time.
You can also join the Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group for an extra chance to be called up to the show. Occasionally we have openings due to last minute schedule changes and will post to the group to fill those spots (you will still need to be a Patreon supporter, though!)
Where is the podcast recorded?
Our original four hosts all live and record from Jacksonville, Florida, but we now have hosts based all over the U.S. (along with all of our lovely guests recording from their respective homes worldwide).
What’s the spoiler policy when you listen to shows?
There is a spoiler thread posted in the Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group for each show. You can talk spoilers all you want in there! Please be kind and don’t talk about the current shows outside of the thread. Thanks!
How did the show start?
I suppose if we go to the very beginning then we need to start with Waco. Yes, the same Waco that’s Carmela’s boyfriend now. Chris and I (Jonathan) used to work with Waco in the same area and he was a friend to both of us. One day at lunch he recommended Good Job, Brain! to me. The only podcast I was listening to at the time was the ESPN Fantasy Focus series. This was around episode 84 of GJB, I gave it a try and fell in love pretty fast. I started from the beginning and binged the full catalog before they got to episode 90.
Once I caught up, I was excited to find more trivia-based podcasts but when I went searching for them I couldn’t find any that really floated my boat. In particular, I was looking for one that was similar to my experiences playing pub quiz with Chris, and I couldn’t find anything. That’s when I started wondering how hard it was to create one. I did some research and realized that it didn’t seem that hard, so I told Chris about the idea. This was back in 2013 when I was working full-time, had an infant son, and was doing nights and weekends working on my MBA. Chris and I recorded a couple of pilots but the timing wasn’t right.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2015, I had finished my MBA and had a lot more time on my hands. I came back to Chris, we worked out the remaining details and got to work recording out of the living room of my apartment. That was February 2015, and we’ve been putting out episodes ever since.
What’s the easiest way to subscribe to the show?
Great question. Find your podcast app of choice in the “Subscribe” section of our menu. Or click here for instructions on setting up the TWA exclusive feed.
Can anyone be on the show?
There’s two answers to this question. The first answer is no, but then, the second answer is no as well.
First, taken literally it’s important to note that there are plenty of hate filled people or others in the world that we do not wish to be associated with, so with that in mind the answer is definitely no.
Second, taken in the spirit I think you mean this, the answer is regretfully no. More than a year after we started the show, we introduced Patreon rewards to try and earn money. Since then, our guest spots have been reserved for Lieutenants and above in the TWA. Your rank is determined by your contribution to the show on Patreon. You can find out more HERE.
How do I get the exclusive episodes?
The archived episodes are available for $5 a month. This is the Sergeant rank over at www.trivialwarfarearmy.com. Once you sign up you’ll have access to a personal RSS feed to use in your podcast player. You can find more information about how to get it set up here.
Are there any live shows or meetups?
Many of our hosts and listeners attend SporcleCon each year. There have often been live podcast recordings there, as well as as listener-organized meetups.
We’ve also hosted TWA Takeovers in different cities in the past (and likely the future!). You can find out more about those by joining our Facebook group.
Do you host real live trivia?
We do not have official Trivial Warfare pub trivia nights. However, a few of our hosts have their own live trivia companies. Erin hosts shows in the Richmond, Virginia area as Orange Cat Trivia. And Nick runs District Trivia in the DC region.
Which is heavier, the Chrysler Building or the Great Pyramid of Cheops?
This is a damn good question!
Are there any Norwegians in the army?
This is an oddly specific question Jon-Fredrik. I wonder why you ask 😉
How can I find other TWA members in my area
You can ask whose around in the Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group. We’ve had many listeners team up and form in-person pub trivia teams of their own.
How can I help promote the show?
Honestly, the biggest thing you can do is to tell your friends about it and recommend it to the folks you play trivia with. Reviews are nice and social media is cool. But nothing beats a direct recommendation from someone you trust. That’s exactly how I started listening to Good Job, Brain! all those years ago.
