In Harrisonburg Virginia?
Come join us! We play Bingo is Life - The Game Show every Tuesday night at 7:30 in Ruby's Arcade
100B 165 S Main St Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Contact us at: BrothersHowdyshell@gmail.com
Bingo Is Life: A Post-Bingo Harrisonburg Podcast
Join Mike and Chris Howdyshell with Jay, Christian, and Britney ”Mumshackles” each week in a post-Bingo Harrisonburg Podcast. We discuss, music, theater, comedy, the Harrisonburg scene, and course the Bingo Gameshow! Links to our topics will be in the show notes.
Listen on:
The Brothers Howdyshell
Welcome to this - our opus of absurdity. Each week on a Tuesday night at a basement bar in Harrisonburg VA we host a friendly little gameshow we call, Bingo Is Life!
We spin the Wheel of Fate, we ponder the Skulls of Destiny, we unleash the potential of paper airplanes. And we sing about Bingo Heaven while we play Bingo.
After the show, we get together with our talented friends Jay, Britney, and Christian to discuss the zeitgeist of the day. Our podcast is hyper local but universally accessible to anyone with a slight penchant for lively discussions on music, comedy, history, games, and of course- the scene in our little town of Harrisonburg Virginia.
Join us and enjoy the simple pleasure of living in a small town full of the most interesting and the most mundane. Take a break from the politics and any semblance of serious discussion. Laugh about something silly with us. Hearing is believing.
Episodes
Wednesday Dec 17, 2025
Wednesday Dec 17, 2025
We welcome our local recording engineer and cycling enthusiast, Gordon Davies! Gordon shares his passion for recording and the magic of capturing audio creativity.
With an extensive history and experience in the scene, Gordon has plenty to discuss regarding his work and the people he has had the opportunity to collaborate with. We even get to hear about his chance to work at the Skywalker Ranch!
Harrisonburg is truly lucky to have his talented ear.
A few mentions:
Ruby’s Arcade - Hello pizza my old friend. We’ve come to eat with you again. That’s the sound… of pizza. - https://rubysarcade.com/
Gordon - https://www.facebook.com/gordon.davies.589/
Singletrack Audio - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550366764161
For the audiophiles: The Amek 9098 console - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlD3WPnvGH8
Skywalker Sound - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywalker_Sound
The Andy Wescott Band - https://andywestcottband.com/
Their album - The Power of 7
Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/power-of-7/1765626726
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/131f4okssgmXiMfUxau6Tw
Outtakes from SkyWalker Sound - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjeZ856gZJg
Copyright free music from Pixabay:
“Jazz Lounge Elevator Music” - https://pixabay.com/music/elevator-music-jazz-lounge-elevator-music-332339/
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Today we welcome the ever-curious Taylor Endres! She shares the fascinating tale of a special find she discovered in her back yard while gardening. Was it a rock? Bone? A fossil? Or something completely different?
It was an odd piece and curiosity compelled her to find out what this weirdly interesting thing could be. Her adventures lead her to various experts, scientists, professors, and even folks at the Smithsonian!
For the science nerds - We’ve linked to more info about the Gomphothere and The Ordovician Period in the show notes!
A few mentions:
Ruby’s Arcade - For your next basement pizza adventure - https://rubysarcade.com/
About Taylor - https://www.facebook.com/taylor.endres.5
Gomphothere - We call it a “Nightmare Elephant” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomphothere
The Ordovician Period was a geological time (approx. 485–444 million years ago) in the Paleozoic Era, known for a massive "Ordovician radiation" of marine life, widespread shallow seas, and the emergence of early land plants and arthropods, ending with the first major mass extinction event (the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction or LOME) caused by glaciation and sea-level drop. https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/ordovician/ordovician.php
Andrew Knoll - Harvard Paleontologist - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_H._Knoll
Wednesday Dec 03, 2025
Wednesday Dec 03, 2025
Sofia Samatar returns to the podcast to talk to us about her new book, Friendly City: A Year of Walks. She shares some of her writing strategies, some behind-the-scenes of book publishing, and of course - why this town is worth writing about in the first place!
“Anyone can write about a large city—large cities are open to everyone—but small cities can only be portrayed by people who love them.”
A few mentions:
Ruby’s Arcade - A Harrisonburg original. - https://rubysarcade.com/
About Sofia:
https://www.sofiasamatar.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Samatar
https://www.jmu.edu/english/people/samatar-sofia.shtml
Parentheses - A Harrisonburg Bookstore: (Sofia's book launch is on December 5, 2025 at 5pm.)
https://www.parenthesesbooks.com/
If you don’t buy the book at Parentheses in person, you can still support the store by ordering it here:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/friendly-city-a-year-of-walks-sofia-samatar/18c3d453de56a69e?ean=9781680600056&next=t
Wednesday Nov 26, 2025
Wednesday Nov 26, 2025
We welcome Tony DiStefano, one of our local, fantastic photographers! Tony shares how he and a few other fellow Pennsylvanians found our ‘burg and made it a home.
Tony loves to support our local music scene by capturing images of musicians at work. But, because photography is in his DNA, he explores so much more. With an exposition show focused on macro-photography slated for December 5th at Pale Fire Brewery, you should go see his work first hand!
A few mentions:
Ruby’s Arcade - Macro pizza, micro brews, full-on good times. - https://rubysarcade.com/
Chris Howdyshell and Ellen Atwood music duet, “The Universe” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob2LU-IWbH0
Tony Distefano Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/660491344082992/user/1151650367/
Tony Distefano work - https://tony-distefano.pixels.com/