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Anime Sickos

150 episodes listed below

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Fandom comedy for life under bad systems.

The gist

Anime Sickos treats fandom, labor, media, and internet detritus as one shared ecosystem of bad incentives and stupid miracles. Sketchy cold opens give way to loose, sharply paced conversations about games, posts, guests, collapsing jobs, and tiny social humiliations.

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About Anime Sickos

Anime Sickos is a comedy show about anime, gaming, posting, and jobs, though those categories function less like lanes than pressure points. Everything touches everything else. Tom and Joe move from sketched premises into loose argument, using games, TV, comics, public transit stories, libraries, layoffs, restaurants, and internet posts as proof that modern culture is funny because it is also exhausting. The show is proudly impolite in rhythm, but the editorial engine is precise. It hears the tiny absurdity in a child rejecting Shadow the Hedgehog, then hears the bigger absurdity in adult systems that make work, housing, and media consumption feel rigged. Cold opens often arrive as miniature scenes: genie wishes gone wrong, time travelers warning James Cameron, famous podcasters opening a restaurant where food wears off. Then the conversation sprawls. Slay the Spire 2, Xenogears, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Chrono Trigger, Swam Boy, Avatar, Righteous Gemstones, Game of Thrones, libraries, delivery robots, and funny posts all become fair material. Guest episodes use “guesto mode” as a recurring structure, usually circling the question of whether the guest is an anime sicko. The answer is not just about watching anime. In these episodes, being an anime sicko means having the right contamination of taste, obsession, embarrassment, and confidence. Joe Kasabian connects anime talk to a side series kept away from history episodes. Jacob gives a more hesitant answer, which the show treats as useful rather than disqualifying. Mailbag episodes let the audience feed the machine, especially around favorite guests and past bits. The pacing is quick. Jokes interrupt ideas, then ideas give the jokes sharper teeth. Its politics appear through exasperation more than lecturing: private equity, industry layoffs, unaffordable life, punitive systems, and the narrowing possibility of useful work come up because the show’s world makes them hard to avoid. Anime Sickos suits people who like fandom comedy with a hostile awareness of real conditions underneath it. It is not cozy. It is funny, bitter, specific, and weirdly exact about why stupid things matter.

Made for: Best for online comedy listeners who know games, anime, memes, and workplace dread well enough to enjoy them being treated as one shared problem. It especially suits people who like fast riffs, recurring bits, and cultural criticism that arrives through jokes first.

What sets it apart: Anime Sickos turns niche fandom talk into a broader comic language for work, money, media, and social collapse. Its guest format and cold open sketches make the show feel less like a review program and more like a running argument with its own mythology.

In their own words

A podcast for geniuses about the four pillars of modern misery: anime, gaming, posting, & jobs. Starring Tom & Joe. New episodes every Wednesday.

As heard by us

Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Tom and Joe find sharp, affectionate comedy in the small judgment calls and surreal interruptions of parenting.

Tom and Joe move from tightly built cold-open sketches into freewheeling conversations about anime, video games, internet posts, work, and whatever comic problem catches their attention.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

The genie gives cash instead of deer; if that bothers you, Tom and Joe are your people.

Press play if you want

  • game criticism that explains why a rest point can stop feeling restful
  • parenting stories where mispronouncing 'frog' becomes an impossible straight-face test
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
anime as shame and obsessionvideo games and game cultureposting and funny internet threadsjobs and layoffsguest “guesto mode” episodescold open sketcheslibraries and everyday economicscomics, TV, and pop culture taste

Talks about

Kids & FamilyGaming

Best episodes of Anime Sickos

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

251: Joe Kassabian Goes Guesto ModeApr 15, 2026

A Joe-heavy banter episode that lands on libraries, pirating, and nerd shorthand.

Anime Sickos starts with its favorite kind of headcount joke, insisting there can only be one Joe before swinging into Jet Li's The One and a Perfect Cell comparison.

246: The Sickos Read Some Funny PostsMar 4, 2026

A loose, fast comic spiral from Avatar panic to bus chaos and a clean final sting.

It moves from James Cameron, a finished Avatar script, and a warning about a machine-run future into bus chaos, hostage math, and a steady run of jokes.

245: You Live Here TooFeb 18, 2026

A bedtime anecdote opens into a blunt talk about why daily life feels harder everywhere.

Anime Sickos opens with Tom talking about reading to his son at night, and the shift from the Mario instruction booklet to a nursery-rhyme book that looks embroidered gives the piece its cleanest hook.

244: Jacob Dallas Goes Guesto ModeFeb 11, 2026

A guest chat that makes anime, TV habits, and fandom labels feel oddly adjacent.

The episode turns a guest chat with Jacob into a loose, comic argument about what anime sicko even means. Tom keeps returning to his distance from anime, noting that he gave it a fair try in college because of roommates, liked Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and still tends to…

234: The Sickos Review Silksong PerfectlyOct 8, 2025

A child's frog-and-fork confusion opens into a sharp argument about shards, rest points, and repeated boss attempts.

Anime Sickos starts from a parenting mishap: a child hears both "frog" and "fork" as a swear, and the adults strain to keep a straight face. That small domestic beat gives the conversation a warm edge before it turns to shards, rest points, and the question of whether a mechanic…

Podcasts like Anime Sickos

Episodes

  1. 1

    An Important Anime Sickos Announcement

    ·5m
  2. 2

    250: The Sickos Do a Mailbag Episode

    ·1h 48m
  3. 3

    249: June Sternbach Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 42m
  4. 4

    248: The Slay the Spire 2 Episode

    ·1h 20m
  5. 5

    247: The Devil is Still Real

    ·59m
  6. 6

    246: The Sickos Read Some Funny Posts

    ·1h 5m
  7. 7

    245: You Live Here Too

    ·59m
  8. 8

    244: Jacob Dallas Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 19m
  9. 9

    243: The Sickos x Kame House Party Talk Dragonball Daima

    ·1h 23m
  10. 10

    242: The Chair Company Episode

    ·1h 24m
  11. 11

    241: The Sickos Get Priced Out of Micro Center

    ·1h 16m
  12. 12

    202: The Sickos Go To Gay Paris

    ·1h 17m
  13. 13

    201: The 201st Episode Spectacular!

    ·1h 38m
  14. 14

    200: The 200th Episode Spectacular!

    ·1h 45m
  15. 15

    199: Danette Chavez Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 22m
  16. 16

    198: More Podcasts About Buildings and Food

    ·1h 16m
  17. 17

    197: The Severance Episode

    ·1h 21m
  18. 18

    196: The Sickos Get Laid Off

    ·1h 7m
  19. 19

    195: A.J. Ditty Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 56m
  20. 20

    194: The Sickos Examine the Perfect Pilot

    ·1h 2m
  21. 21

    193: Best in Slot Jokes

    ·1h 10m
  22. 22

    192: Remy Siu Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 52m
  23. 23

    240: The Podcaster's Bill of Rights

    ·1h 47m
  24. 24

    239: Condiment Kids 2: Mustard Monarchs

    ·1h 34m
  25. 25

    Tom's Record Club: Bergtatt by Ulver

    ·2h 12m
  26. 26

    238: The Sickos Become Poverty Chefs

    ·1h 17m
  27. 27

    237: The One Piece Episode - Part 2

    ·1h 37m
  28. 28

    236: Ed Zitron Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 25m
  29. 29

    235: The Tatami Galaxy Episode

    ·1h 31m
  30. 30

    233: Anime Health Nuts

    ·1h 12m
  31. 31

    232: The Sickos Enter the Fourth Dimension

    ·1h 41m
  32. 32

    231: The Walk Hard Episode

    ·1h 47m
  33. 33

    230: Anime 102

    ·2h 20m
  34. 34

    229: The Sickos Eat Eleven Insane Sandwiches

    ·1h 29m
  35. 35

    228: Patrick Cosmos Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 48m
  36. 36

    227: Posting Sucks Now

    ·1h 34m
  37. 37

    212: Hundreds of Beavers is Gaming

    ·1h 17m
  38. 38

    211: Merritt K Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 25m
  39. 39

    210: The Sickos Go Dad Mode

    ·1h 9m
  40. 40

    209: The Sickos Talk Luigi

    ·57m
  41. 41

    208: Cohen Edenfield Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 52m
  42. 42

    207: The Deadwood Episode

    ·1h 45m
  43. 43

    206: It Happened Again!

    ·57m
  44. 44

    205: Maslow's Hierarchy of Posting Needs

    ·1h 10m
  45. 45

    203: The Sickos Complain About that One Photo of John Lennon Where He's Walking Like an Idiot

    ·1h 1m
  46. 46

    191: The Sickos Read Cog Tales

    ·1h
  47. 47

    190: The Sickos Shoot Da Breeze

    ·1h 14m
  48. 48

    189: The Sickos Complain About AI

    ·1h 8m
  49. 49

    188: Oops! All Sketches 2

    ·47m
  50. 50

    187: The Sickos Do A Classic Posting Episode

    ·1h 27m
  51. 51

    186: Crawfish Comic Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 20m
  52. 52

    185: Long Live Akira Toriyama

    ·1h 9m
  53. 53

    184: Josh Boerman Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 29m
  54. 54

    183: The Sickos Do Two Segments

    ·1h 4m
  55. 55

    182: The Sickos Become Literature Geniuses

    ·1h 18m
  56. 56

    181: Guys Who Fell Off

    ·1h
  57. 57

    179: The Sickos Ponder Da Sludge

    ·1h 2m
  58. 58

    178: The Sickos Begin to Rank Every Game Mechanic

    ·1h 5m
  59. 59

    177: The Sickos are Out of Touch, and Right

    ·1h 11m
  60. 60

    176: Joe Has a Baby Now

    ·1h 21m
  61. 61

    175: The Sickos Enter the Void

    ·1h 29m
  62. 62

    174: The Sickos Defeat Death

    ·1h 12m
  63. 63

    173: The Sickos Design Final Fantasy 17

    ·1h 18m
  64. 64

    172: The Sickos Rank the Monsters

    ·1h 15m
  65. 65

    171: Sean Rose Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 29m
  66. 66

    170: Obama is Gay With Tucker's Friend

    ·1h 34m
  67. 67

    169: The Sickos Create the Perfect Parenting Guide

    ·1h 13m
  68. 68

    168: Dan Sheehan Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 39m
  69. 69

    167: The Sickos Steal the Chrono Trigger - An Anime Sickos Adventure

    ·1h 14m
  70. 70

    166: The Sickos Buy Property and Become Evil

    ·1h 9m
  71. 71

    165: The Sickos Log On to X, The Everything App

    ·1h 7m
  72. 72

    164: The Sickos Go Back to Basics

    ·1h 22m
  73. 73

    163: The Making of Sicko Shock 2

    ·1h 35m
  74. 74

    Sicko Shock 2: Episode 6 - Sherry and the Ganja Gang

    ·1h 38m
  75. 75

    Sicko Shock 2: Episode 5 - Tor Client

    ·52m
  76. 76

    Sicko Shock 2: Episode 4 - Dr. Fiona Firewire

    ·50m
  77. 77

    Sicko Shock 2: Episode 3 - Stack Overflow

    ·52m
  78. 78

    Sicko Shock 2: Episode 2 - Sherry Vaporware

    ·53m
  79. 79

    Sicko Shock 2: Episode 1 - Burt Harddrive

    ·56m
  80. 80

    162: GUESTO 2 GUESTO - Rayne and Medley feat. Jimble

    ·1h 3m
  81. 81

    161: The Sickos Watch Asteroid City

    ·1h 8m
  82. 82

    160: The Sickos Visit the Blue Check Zoo

    ·1h 20m
  83. 83

    159: The Sickos Manga Roundup Vol. 2

    ·1h 16m
  84. 84

    180: Goblin Punks with Grant Howitt - An Anime Sickos Adventure

    ·1h 35m
  85. 85

    234: The Sickos Review Silksong Perfectly

    A comedian recounts his toddler confusing 'frog' and 'fork' with the f-word, leading to awkward parenting moments.

    ·1h 13m
  86. 86

    204: The Sickos Rank Some More Game Mechanics on a Tier List

    Two unemployed friends fantasize about their dream jobs, with one describing an ideal morning commute involving Vietnamese coffee and a mysterious job involving horses.

    ·1h 3m
  87. 87

    226: Josh Watkins Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 31m
  88. 88

    225: Dan Sheehan Goes Guesto Mode Again

    ·1h 42m
  89. 89

    224: The Sickos Fix Joe's Brain

    ·1h 20m
  90. 90

    223: The Sickos Present the Unified Theory of Chilling and Hanging

    ·1h 14m
  91. 91

    222: The Police Squad Episode

    ·1h 1m
  92. 92

    221: Corpse Brain 2 - Corpse World

    ·56m
  93. 93

    220: Josh Boerman and Dylan Rank Game Mechanics With Us

    ·1h 50m
  94. 94

    219: Oops! All Goofs 6

    ·1h
  95. 95

    218: Dono from Radio Free Tote Bag Goes Guesto Mode

    ·1h 27m
  96. 96

    217: The Sickos Continue To Be Unemployed

    ·1h
  97. 97

    216: The Sickos Rank Still More Game Mechanics

    ·1h 15m
  98. 98

    215: Complaining Still Kicks Ass

    ·58m
  99. 99

    214: Posting Strikes Back

    ·1h 8m
  100. 100

    213: The Sickos Talk Resident Evil 4

    ·1h 17m
  101. 101

    251: Joe Kassabian Goes Guesto Mode

    Hidden gem

    Tom and Joe welcome Joe Kassabian of the Lions Led by Donkeys podcast, joking about absorbing other Joes for power boosts.

    Apr 15, 2026·1h 35m·2 clips
  102. 102

    250: The Sickos Do a Mailbag Episode

    Tom and Joe mark the 250th episode of Anime Sickos with a scripted cold-open sketch about a trainee genie learning to grant wishes maliciously, then open a listener mailbag.

    Apr 8, 2026·1h 48m·5 clips
  103. 103

    249: June Sternbach Goes Guesto Mode

    On Anime Sickos 249, guest June Sternbach hears Joe explain his “boiler room” method for getting procrastinated tasks done.

    Apr 1, 2026·1h 42m·2 clips
  104. 104

    248: The Slay the Spire 2 Episode

    Tom and Joe make Anime Sickos episode 248 a comedic sales pitch for Slay the Spire 2, which Tom calls a "perfect game." Tom recommends fast mode and playing George Benson's Brezen while learning the sequel's cards and characters.

    Mar 25, 2026·1h 20m·2 clips
  105. 105

    247: The Devil is Still Real

    Two podcasters turned restaurateurs explain their unconventional menu where food is not permanent and only serves to stop hunger.

    Mar 18, 2026·59m
  106. 106

    246: The Sickos Read Some Funny Posts

    Anime Sickos hosts Tom and Joe read three internet posts aloud in episode 246, framed as rare examples of online content that end in pure comedy rather than anger.

    Mar 4, 2026·1h 5m·4 clips
  107. 107

    245: You Live Here Too

    Anime Sickos hosts Tom and Joe spend episode 245 on an extended discussion of what Tom calls the 'nightmare of everything,' centering on ICE operations he describes as a siege of Minneapolis, the deaths and detentions that followed, and the sense that political actors at every level — from Trump's administration to Democratic politicians like Governor Walz — are failing to respond to events that affect everyone who lives in the same country.

    Feb 18, 2026·59m·4 clips
  108. 108

    244: Jacob Dallas Goes Guesto Mode

    Hidden gem

    Anime Sicko hosts Tom and Joe welcome author Jacob Dallas to discuss his fantasy novel They Called Her Rebel, which he wrote specifically so he could depict orcs with the ape-like long arms J.R.R.

    Feb 11, 2026·1h 19m·5 clips
  109. 109

    243: The Sickos x Kame House Party Talk Dragonball Daima

    Jan 28, 2026·1h 23m
  110. 110

    242: The Chair Company Episode

    Jan 14, 2026·1h 24m
  111. 111

    241: The Sickos Get Priced Out of Micro Center

    Dec 31, 2025·1h 16m
  112. 112

    240: The Podcaster's Bill of Rights

    Dec 17, 2025·1h 47m
  113. 113

    239: Condiment Kids 2: Mustard Monarchs

    Dec 10, 2025·1h 34m
  114. 114

    Tom's Record Club: Bergtatt by Ulver

    Nov 26, 2025·2h 12m
  115. 115

    238: The Sickos Become Poverty Chefs

    Nov 12, 2025·1h 17m
  116. 116

    237: The One Piece Episode - Part 2

    Nov 5, 2025·1h 37m
  117. 117

    236: Ed Zitron Goes Guesto Mode

    Oct 29, 2025·1h 25m
  118. 118

    235: The Tatami Galaxy Episode

    Oct 22, 2025·1h 31m
  119. 119

    234: The Sickos Review Silksong Perfectly

    Hidden gem

    A comedian recounts his toddler confusing 'frog' and 'fork' with the f-word, leading to awkward parenting moments.

    Oct 8, 2025·1h 13m·2 clips
  120. 120

    233: Anime Health Nuts

    Sep 24, 2025·1h 12m
  121. 121

    232: The Sickos Enter the Fourth Dimension

    Sep 10, 2025·1h 41m
  122. 122

    231: The Walk Hard Episode

    Sep 3, 2025·1h 47m
  123. 123

    230: Anime 102

    Aug 20, 2025·2h 20m
  124. 124

    229: The Sickos Eat Eleven Insane Sandwiches

    Aug 6, 2025·1h 29m
  125. 125

    228: Patrick Cosmos Goes Guesto Mode

    Jul 30, 2025·1h 48m
  126. 126

    227: Posting Sucks Now

    Jul 16, 2025·1h 34m
  127. 127

    An Important Anime Sickos Announcement

    Jun 18, 2025·5m
  128. 128

    226: Josh Watkins Goes Guesto Mode

    Jun 11, 2025·1h 31m
  129. 129

    225: Dan Sheehan Goes Guesto Mode Again

    Jun 4, 2025·1h 42m
  130. 130

    224: The Sickos Fix Joe's Brain

    May 14, 2025·1h 20m
  131. 131

    223: The Sickos Present the Unified Theory of Chilling and Hanging

    Apr 30, 2025·1h 14m
  132. 132

    222: The Police Squad Episode

    Apr 23, 2025·1h 1m
  133. 133

    221: Corpse Brain 2 - Corpse World

    Apr 9, 2025·56m
  134. 134

    220: Josh Boerman and Dylan Rank Game Mechanics With Us

    Josh Boerman and Dylan Rank discuss and rank various game mechanics, focusing on immersive sims and stealth games.

    Apr 2, 2025·1h 50m
  135. 135

    219: Oops! All Goofs 6

    Mar 26, 2025·1h
  136. 136

    218: Dono from Radio Free Tote Bag Goes Guesto Mode

    Mar 12, 2025·1h 27m
  137. 137

    217: The Sickos Continue To Be Unemployed

    Mar 5, 2025·1h
  138. 138

    216: The Sickos Rank Still More Game Mechanics

    Feb 19, 2025·1h 15m
  139. 139

    215: Complaining Still Kicks Ass

    Feb 12, 2025·58m
  140. 140

    214: Posting Strikes Back

    Feb 5, 2025·1h 8m
  141. 141

    213: The Sickos Talk Resident Evil 4

    Jan 29, 2025·1h 17m
  142. 142

    212: Hundreds of Beavers is Gaming

    Jan 15, 2025·1h 17m
  143. 143

    211: Merritt K Goes Guesto Mode

    Jan 8, 2025·1h 25m
  144. 144

    210: The Sickos Go Dad Mode

    Dec 18, 2024·1h 9m
  145. 145

    209: The Sickos Talk Luigi

    Dec 13, 2024·57m
  146. 146

    208: Cohen Edenfield Goes Guesto Mode

    Dec 4, 2024·1h 52m
  147. 147

    207: The Deadwood Episode

    Nov 20, 2024·1h 45m
  148. 148

    206: It Happened Again!

    Nov 13, 2024·57m
  149. 149

    205: Maslow's Hierarchy of Posting Needs

    Nov 6, 2024·1h 10m
  150. 150

    204: The Sickos Rank Some More Game Mechanics on a Tier List

    Two unemployed friends fantasize about their dream jobs, with one describing an ideal morning commute and a bizarre job involving killing horses with a Zweihander.

    Oct 30, 2024·1h 3m