Showing results by author "Neal Pollack"

In their continuing father-son field trip to end all field trips, writer (and one-time Jeopardy! champ) Neal Pollack and his teenage son set out to explore the many topics not covered in his high school curriculum. Among them: what really constitutes a healthy lunch, why dress codes exist, and how the largely phased-out “home ec” class can be beneficial.

Ever get the feeling that not everything is cool with school? Best-selling author Neal Pollack is dissatisfied with what his teenage son, Elijah, is learning in his studies. Neal wants to fill in the gaps, while Elijah just wants him to chill out a little. Together, they embark on the father-son field trip of a lifetime, which includes stops in New York’s poetry-slam scene, a medical-marijuana dispensary, and a convention to discuss evolution with 1,700 biologists.

Writer Neal Pollack was shocked by the way his public school district teaches students about the origins of species. In this episode, Neal sends Elijah to a bar outside a convention of 1,700 biologists to learn about what he isn't hearing in school: evolution.

In Texas, Native Americans are people relegated to the history books. But in Phoenix, where Neal grew up, they’re very much a part of the present. To learn what it’s like to grow up native in America, Neal and Elijah interview Miss Indian Arizona. They also get a tour of a former Native American boarding school.

Through strange metaphysical circumstances, failed screenwriter Brad Cohen finds himself caught in an infinite time loop, forced to relive the first forty years of his life again and again. Each "repeat," Brad wakes up in the womb on what was supposed to be his fortieth birthday, with full knowledge of what's come before. In various timelines, he becomes a successful political pundit, a game-show champion, a playboy, and a master manipulator of the stock market, but none of them seems to lead him out of his predicament.

With his star on the rise since solving the murder of Ajoy Chaterjee, yoga detective Matt Bolster is invited to teach at The Gathering, a prestigious yoga retreat run by the renowned Tom Hart. Bolster is a little dubious about the cultish atmosphere that surrounds Hart, but, as they say in L.A., it’s an honor just to be nominated. But when what starts off as a decadent retreat quickly spirals into deadly chaos, Bolster must use all his yoga-detective powers, and also his fists.

Texas schools are notoriously bad at teaching nutrition, so Neal decides to give Elijah a weird crash course. They go for an edible plant walk with a holistic nutritionist and visit an urban farm. Meanwhile, Neal meets his archenemy, Gustavo The Goose.

When his 13-year-old son decides not to have a Bar Mitzvah, writer Neal Pollack plans an emergency cultural trip to "The Jewish American Homeland" -- New York City -- with decidedly mixed results.

Annoyed at the hopelessly dated anti-drug program at his 13-year-old son Elijah's Texas public school, writer Neal Pollack decides to take Elijah to Colorado, for a more modern drug education. There, Elijah meets a marijuana journalist and a family of medical-marijuana activists, who teach him that there's more to learn about drugs than "just say no."

1937. The gears of world war have begun to grind, but Inky Lautman, star point guard for the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, America’s greatest basketball team, is dealing with his own problems. His coach has unwittingly incurred a massive gambling debt to the Bund, a group of American Nazis. His main basketball rival is self-righteously leading public protests against homegrown American fascism. It’s more than Inky can deliver.

Labor history doesn’t exist in the Texas curriculum, so Neal decides to give Elijah a crash course in worker’s rights. Elijah lays a clover at the grave of the Haymarket Martyrs in Chicago, learns the lyrics to “Solidarity Forever,” and meets an actual union organizer and shop steward.

On a trip to Los Angeles, Neal tries to teach his nieces and Elijah the secrets of Texas Hold ‘Em with the help of a former professional poker player, leading to an epic showdown between Neal and Elijah for all the chips. But an even more sinister poker villain lurks.

In writer Neal Pollack’s opinion, the sex ed curriculum at his son's school has…shortcomings. In this episode, Neal sends Elijah to a sex ed program offered by a local church--one that involves practice midnight condom purchases, and lots and lots of lube.

Neal is terrified for Elijah's safety in Texas, where guns are as prevalent as popcorn. They visit a gun club in San Antonio to learn how to shoot responsibly, interview an anti-campus carry activist about how to protest guns using sex toys, and talk to a parent who lost her son to gun violence. But Elijah still thinks guns are cool. 

Concerned that Elijah has no life skills, Neal sets off to teach him some. Together, they learn to use power tools, forge a sword, and operate a sewing machine. They also visit an eccentric friend of Elijah’s who built his own backyard forge.

On Extra Credit, writer Neal Pollack augments his son's public school education with his own, somewhat questionable, life lessons. In this episode, after learning that some Texas schoolbooks refer to African slaves as "migrant workers," Neal takes Elijah on a road trip to Lousiana, where they visit a slavery museum on a former plantation.

Neal loves cheese more than anything. After a terrifying interview with a vegan doctor who warns them cheese is deadly, Neal decides to drag Elijah on a cross-country quest to prove the doctor wrong. In Vermont, they gorge at a cheese festival, learn the secrets of cheesemaking, and milk some very patient cows.

As a dedicated yogi, Neal thinks Elijah would benefit from a little practice himself. They do a high-octane yoga workout, learn how to meditate, and hang from a rope wall. In Colorado, they visit Neal’s guru, who teaches Elijah how to chant and reveals several arcane mystical secrets.

Neal and Elijah interview legendary British punk rockers Jon Langford and Sally Timms, meet the proprietors of Chicago’s Bloodshot Records, and learn about the punk-rock scene in Austin. Featuring original music by The Mekons, The Big Boys, and the greatest punk-rock band of all time—The Neal Pollack Invasion.

Elijah gets his first driving lesson from Neal, who is a professional automotive journalist. This comprehensive Driver's Ed curriculum includes talking to a vintage-car fanatic about classic Volkswagen Beetles, and learning about the car of the future from an electric-car advocate. If only they could teach Elijah how to steer.