''And That's Why We Drink'' (ATWWD) is a comedy true crime and paranormal

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

created by Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz. The show has been in production since February 2017. It updates every Sunday on a variety of podcast platforms as well as a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel where video recordings of the podcast's audio recording sessions have been uploaded since October 2019. Since its launch, the show has seen over eighty million downloads and has spawned two live tours through the United States and Canada. In May 2019, and again in 2021, the podcast won People's Voice for Best Comedy Podcast at the 23rd and 25th Annual

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

s. In March of 2022, Schiefer and Schultz launched a second podcast, ''Rituals'', produced by the

Parcast Parcast is a digital media firm and podcast network, that specializes in producing both scripted podcasts as well as audio dramas. It was founded in 2016 by podcaster Max Cutler and his father Ron Cutler in Los Angeles California. In 2019, it w ...

podcasting network and streaming only on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, which focuses on aspects of the occult, mystical and new age beliefs. In late May of 2022, Schiefer and Schulz published their first book, '' A Haunted Road Atlas'', which debuted at #6 on the

New York Times Best Sellers ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

list for Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous works.

Format and production

The podcast is formatted into two sections. The first is the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

section, in which Schulz discusses a paranormal story, often dealing with suspected

haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

locations,

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

sightings,

cryptids Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected b ...

, and occasionally

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

creepypasta Creepypastas are horror-related legends that have been shared around the Internet. Creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal ...

s. This is followed by Schiefer's

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

portion of the show in which she covers

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

unsolved crimes Unsolved may refer to: * ''Unsolved'' (album), a 2000 album by the American band Karate * ''Unsolved'' (UK TV programme), a 2004–2006 British crime documentary television programme that aired on STV in Scotland * ''Unsolved'' (South Korean TV s ...

, and abductions. The two friends often tell stories about their lives as well, occasionally adding personal anecdotes to the stories. The original name of the show was "Eerie and Theory", but was changed later in the conception phase to "And That's Why We Drink", after it was jokingly exclaimed during a moment of exasperation. Originally, the two hosts also divided themselves into "Team

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

" and "Team

Milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixture ...

," as Schiefer often imbibes alcoholic drinks during the recording sessions, while Schulz, a

teetotaler Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or i ...

, would drink a variety of milkshakes, and the two would list the reasons (both good and bad) they were drinking that episode. While this is still a way for the hosts to identify their respective fan bases (more recently including a Team Lemon), in later episodes of the show, the practice of drinking milkshakes was mostly abandoned. On the first day of every month, the show features a special episode of "Listener Stories", in which the hosts read and react to stories of crimes and the paranormal submitted by fans, often with a theme requested by one of the hosts. ATWWD occasionally features special guests, including the hosts' family and friends as well as comedian

Lisa Lampanelli Lisa Lampanelli (born Lisa Marie Lampugnale; July 19, 1961) is an American former stand-up comedian, actress and insult comic. Early life and journalism career Lampanelli was born in Trumbull, Connecticut, to a middle-class family. Three of her ...

, who is Schiefer's aunt-in-law, and the podcast has done several crossover episodes with podcasts such as '' Wine and Crime'', ''Morbid'', and ''Sinisterhood'', among others. In October 2021, Schiefer took maternity leave after giving birth to her first child. During that time, Schulz continued to host the show along with a series of guest hosts, including Eva Gross and Schulz' girlfriend, Allison Goforth. Schiefer returned to the show in mid-February 2022.

Episodes

Regular show episodes

Listener stories volumes

Key

* Special Guest Deirdre Klima ** Special Guest Lisa Lampanelli *** For this episode, Schulz and Schiefer switched roles, with Schulz telling a crime story and Schiefer telling a paranormal one. **** Special Guest Alexander Schiefer ***** First episode to be video-recorded and uploaded to YouTube. ****** Special Guest Allison Goforth

Notable Episodes

On episode 289 (Jewish Deli Chocolate Milk and Microsoft PowerPoint Dissolve Ghosts) Christine tells her real life story of seeing a hotel ghost in Knoxville, TN. On episode 302 (An Elbow Eyebrow and an Asaparagus Salad) Christine recounts how she felt a presence touch her arm during a touching moment in her house on Halloween.

References

External links

* {{Podcast platform links Comedy and humor podcasts Crime podcasts 2017 podcast debuts American podcasts