Judge John Hodgman: Tried Green Tomatoes

December 5, 2019 5:18 AM

This week, Tried Green Tomatoes. Michael files suit against his friend and neighbor Sam. Michael is growing tomatoes on their shared rooftop and wants Sam to go onto the roof to admire his plants. Sam thinks he should never have to set foot on the roof. Who's right? Who's wrong? Only one can decide! Thank you to Daniel Herrera for naming this week's case! To suggest a title for a future episode, follow Judge John Hodgman on Facebook. We regularly put out a call for submissions. — SUBSCRIBE TO THIS PODCAST in APPLE PODCASTS or the RSS FEED
posted by Tevin (8 comments total)

I don't usually make posts for JJHO (even though I listen to it almost every week) but I am making a post for this episode because these two guests were the absolute worst.
posted by Tevin at 5:20 AM on December 5, 2019 [3 favorites]

these two guests were the absolute worst

Hachi-machi, that's a high bar to clear for JJHO. I had seen a thing on Twitter between Hodgman and Linda Holmes about her being challenged to make a "weird cake" so I was already thinking about checking this episode out, but now I've got to.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:57 AM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I used to love JJHO but I eventually had to give it up because the fremdscham was unbearable, and I'm usually not prone to feeling vicarious embarrassment. I just want to listen to John Hodgman tell delightful stories which is why I stick to his books.

That said, hearing that this case was especially bad perversely makes me want to listen to it anyway.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:04 PM on December 5, 2019

I have rarely heard John Hodgman so palpably annoyed by his guests and their predicament (which is minor, obviously), but these two didn't even seem to really like each other.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 8:14 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Being a neighbour to these guys would be my personal hell. Might be theirs, too.
posted by rodlymight at 3:04 PM on December 6, 2019

Mike is giving his own take on the show on Reddit and I tend to agree with him that both guys were to some degree putting on an act.

I will say that those dudes were like walking, talking NYC caricatures. The New York-iest dudes who ever New Yorked.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:09 AM on December 7, 2019

> crazy with stars: Mike is giving his own take on the show on Reddit and I tend to agree with him that both guys were to some degree putting on an act.

Yeah, of course they were. That's part of the problem.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:54 AM on December 9, 2019

I listened to the episode and found it to be not unpleasant. It was pretty clear that Mike and Sam were playing parts and following a script, which John Hodgman and Jesse Thorn seemed to pick up on pretty quick. John has little patience for incincerity which is why he shut Mike down when he tried to bring up "new evidence" right before the verdict.

I'm glad John was able to give a worthwhile verdict from all this: Other people are not yours to command and you can't obligate them to care about what you're making, even if you think it's really cool. And sharing your bounty is what friends do even if one of your friends doesn't want to be involved in your project.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:58 AM on December 9, 2019