Why Can’t I find some episodes?
This question has a couple of different answers.
Many of the episodes from before TW150 have been archived and are only available to our patrons.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.
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. Chris is still a part of the show but his life is busier now than it used to be so he doesn’t get to join us as much as we would all like. You can find out more about Chris and all of the other hosts in the About Us page (link)
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.
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 on Apple you can use their native Podcast app and we’ve also heard good things about Overcast. If you’re on Android you might try Podcast Addict if you’re looking for a free option or Pocketcasts if you are looking for a few more features. The show is also available on Spotify, Pandora and pretty much anywhere else you want.
If you’re a patron and you’re wanting 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 Spotify and Pandora are locked down and you won’t be able to listen there. You can find more details about loading up that private RSS feed here (Link).
What are the differences between the Patron levels?
I’ve done my 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 I am trying to bring you on each year.
Lieutenant – At $5 a month you get access to every episode that’s publicly available via the combination of the public feed and your private RSS for the archives. We’ll shout you out on the show and we’ll include your name and picture (if provided) in the TW Army Roster on the website.
Captain – at $10 a month you get all the things a Lieutenant gets. On top of that you are entered into our monthly drawing to compete for a $100 prize. Lastly, Captains are the lowest rank that I’m committed to bringing onto the show at some point. So if you ever want to be invited to be on the show, this is the starting point.
Major – at $15 a month you are the same as a captain, but my goal is to have you join us on the show once a year. This is different than the Captain in the sense that the Captain rank does not have a timeframe associated with it.
Lt Colonel – at $25 a month my goal is to get you on the show twice a year. Also, you’re a boss. Never forget that 😊
Colonel – at $50 a month my goal is to get you on the show 4 times a year.
General – at $100 or more per month I want to bring you on 4 times a year and after 3 month if you need a microphone I’ll be buying a setup that you can use and shipping it to you.
Why does it take so long to get on the show.
Put frankly, I lose more sleep over the answer to this question than all the others combined. Over the years we have run into the awesome problem where we have more people that I want to bring on than we have spots for them to fill. My attempts to improve on this by bringing on 3 or more guests on given shows was not successful. The show just doesn’t work as well with that many guests at once.
One of the things that I’m doing to try and combat this is the creation of spin off shows to help give people more chances to come on the show. While the spin offs aren’t the same as the primary show, they are still a fun way to be a part of the show.
How do you pick who comes on the show?
Once a month or so I review our patron financials. Here are the things that I’m looking for:
Pro Tip – the folks who are more active in the group are likely to get the invite if I’m trying to decide between people. People who are active in the group and are funny and awesome and make me laugh are even more likely to get an advantage because it makes me think that they will make for a really good guest.
Where are the pictures on the Trivial Warfare Army Page??
These haven’t gone up yet. We’re in the middle of 3 phase web page renovations. When the renovations are complete each user will have the chance to add their own picture to the site which will be much more effective then trying to work it through me. We’re working on this to remove me as a bottleneck and make sure you have a chance to be seen if you want it.
What happened to the stickers, magnets and handwritten letters?
One of the things that I’ve learned about myself is that I absolutely suck at reward fulfillment. I finally admitted this a few months back and ended up removing these old rewards because I knew I wasn’t going to do a good job fulfilling them.
That doesn’t mean that these will never be available. My long term goal is to add them to a TW store with automatic fulfillment of orders and provide a discount to patrons that will essentially make them free to you. This is one of our broader long-term goals.
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. You can get there by clicking the Submit a Question link that you see at the top of this page 😊
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 and 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. Click HERE and you’ll find what you need.
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 are some running gags and what are their origins?
There are way too many to name. Sadly, explaining them here would be about as good as having to explain a joke to someone, it ruins it for both of us. If you want know where everything comes from I’d have to listening to the archived episodes. It will be a much better experience for you to hear it fresh like that.
Can anyone be on the show?
There’s two answers to this question I think. 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 Captains and above in the TWA. Your rank is determined by your contribution to the show on Patreon. You can find out more HERE
Why is there math when you said there would be no math?
Seriously. I’m with you. Solidarity
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 in the Submit A Question link at the top of this 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.
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 # 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.
Reviews – We used to read reviews in almost every show but we’ve moved away from this is recent months to try and decrease our overall episode length.
Patreon Promotions – this is the part of the show where we announce the folks who have started supporting the show or have increased their support.
Shout outs and Causes – during this segment we let our guests do shout outs or promote something they care about.
How long are the episodes?
It’s hard to be specific here. The earliest shows ran under 30 minutes. Over time the show expanded to around an hour. As more time passed it seemed to grow and grow and it wouldn’t be uncommon to have shows hit the 1:50 or 2:00 mark. In recent months we’ve made some changes that are intentionally shrinking our runtime and its becoming more and more regular for the show to run under 1 hour and 30 minutes.
How do I get on the show?
You’ve got to be a patron! You can learn more HERE.
Here’s a pro-tip though. There are some people for whom it’s much more important to them that they be on the show than others. If you’re one of these people please shoot me an email at jonathan@trivialwarfare.com and let me know. I’m not saying that you’ll jump up immediately. We always have a long line of folks who are waiting their turn. But when I’m putting games together I do my best to take things like this into account.
Another tip is this – the people who are the most active in the Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group definitely have an advantage over people that I’m less familiar with. Sometimes I’m in a rush and looking for players and will post about an opening in the group. Other times I’ll have someone specific in mind for a game because I’ve gotten to know them and think they’d be a good fit.
How do I get the exclusive episodes?
The archived episodes are available for $5 a month. This is the Lieutenant 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.
Should I start now or at the beginning?
It’s an impossible question to answer. What it’s important that you know is that the show is VERY different now than it was when we started. I think the best jumping in point if you want to get most of the good stuff but want to skip the earliest shows would be episode 60 right after the end of the listener tournament. I feel like we really started to hit our stride there. Starting there you won’t miss too many of our most memorable moments and you’ll be sure to hit some of my favorite episodes. That really start showing up in the 80’s and 90’s
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!
Where is the podcast recorded?
Jacksonville Florida!
Are there any live shows or meetups?
Meetups yes! We do meetups at Geek Bowl each year and we’d love to see you there!
We haven’t done a live show yet but we’re scheduled to do our first one in August in Las Vegas at Trivia Nationals! You can join us! Check it out HERE.
Is this a family friendly show?
Kind of…
You’ll hear a few damn’s, hell’s 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.
What equipment do you record on?
The equipment has changed a lot over the years. Now in the studio we are recording on Heil PR-40’s running through a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 audio interface.
Where do your listener’s 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!
Do you host real live trivia?
None of us do. I haven’t ever really been interested in doing it. Over the years a lot of people have suggested that I start a pub quiz company but the truth is that we have more than a few listeners who own their own trivia companies and I would much rather support them and work with them to synergize than to put myself in a position to compete with them.
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 did the four of you meet?
Chris and Jonathan worked together. Chris hated Jonathan. Not much has changed. Ben and Carmela worked at the same company but were more acquaintances than friends. Both of them expressed an interest in being part of the show early on and it turned out that they were awesome. Now we’re all much closer than we were before the show started.
How can I find other TWA members in my area
You can ask whose around in the Trivial Warfare Army Facebook group. As we continue to build out the website we are hoping to get something a little more direct in place, but that’s a future state item.
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.
Got any other questions? We’d like to hear from you. Reach out to us at trivialwarfare@gmail.com