The Erasable Podcast

Tonight, your hosts take you on a tour of the Back-To-School season of 2016. We run through our favorite back-to-school supplies of this year. If you could go back in time a month, this episode might make your life easier. As it is, you can just reminisce about your frenzied trip down the BtS aisle at Target, dumping crates of ten-cent composition notebooks and brightly striped Ticonderogas into your cart.

Bleistifte! We’ve discussed Japanese pencils and American pencils at length, but we’ve seemingly overlooked products from that great pencil-producing country, Germany. Join Andy, Johnny, and Tim as they discuss a bit of the history of pencil-making in Germany and what makes German pencils so special. Ausgezeichnet!

Have you ever wondered where those funny pencils with a #2 and a fraction pencils fit into the hardness/softness scale of pencils? These are your #2 1/2s, your F grades. Today, we explore that funny little half-grade that exists between HB and H, between #2 and #3. Plus a Snapchat update from Tim, gifts for Johnny, and a plea to Blackwing from Andy.

Johnny's not with us today, but he has a good excuse. Instead, we're honored to be joined by Caitlin Elgin, a genuine Pencil Lady from Pencils.com. We're just talking about our Fresh Points, including a discussion about the new Blackwing Volume 56 (for our 56th episode — coincidence?!), Write Notepad's edition, an update to the CW Pencil shop and a shipment of bright, shiny Indian pencils.

There have been some great releases from the USA in the last few weeks, and we are waiting to see what Blackwing has cooking up for us. While we wax both critical and hopeful on these and other topics, we are joined tonight by Slate’s June Thomas — back herself from other shores, where the stationery getting is good. Tune in for a Worldwide Pencil Party like no other. Tonight’s episode is sponsored by our friends at Write Notepads & Co., whose summer release, The Kindred Spirit, hits members’ mailboxes this week.

After more than 50 episodes, we finally tackle our namesake: erasers. We're joined by our good friend and Veteran Eraser Destroyer Ana Reinert of The Well Appointed Desk (and now also of the Art Supply Posse podcast!). Listen in as we discuss aspects of erasers that we look for and some running-down of our favorite erasers. This episode is sponsored by CW Pencil Enterprise, purveyors of superior graphite. Now through Monday, June 20, CW Pencils is offering an Erasable Eraser pack, with five erasers curated by Andy, Tim, Johnny, Ana and Caroline. Buy a pack on their site for just $4.50, 25% off retail price for individual erasers.

Get out your Stars and Stripes, and get to wavin’. Tonight, we are presenting the second episode in which we explore pencils made in the Land of the Free. Stay tuned to find out how to save 15% on pencils by a certain American brand we know and love with tonight’s sponsor.

The butt. The tip. The non-business end. In Episode 52, we are discussing the backends of pencils -- those colorful dips, those precise plastic caps, the naked rears, and the eraserless ferrules. Join your most Up Front hosts as we discuss the seemingly meaningless end of the pencil. We also rap about the Pencil of the Episode: a Swiss neon pencil from sponsor CW Pencil Enterprise.

We’ve hinted. We’ve teased. Now we finally get Phat and talk about wide-bodied pencils. What are they good for? What are the best? How old can we be and still use them? Listen in, and find out about all this and more.

Tonight, experience our revamped Pencils 101, with some basic — and not so basic — information and strategies for Your Best Pencil Practices. On the occasion of our fiftieth episode, Andy, Johnny, and Tim are proud to present: What To Look For In a Pencil.