And now, here's a soothing musical interlude......
The Musical Innertube

The Musical Innertube

Don Rooney and John Timpane talk with people you'd talk with, if you had a microphone

Play Latest Episode

 WHY IS THIS PODCAST CALLED THE MUSICAL INNERTUBE?

Back in college, John and Don hosted a radio show. Once, they went on the air to introduce "a soothing musical interlude"...but they misspoke, and instead introduced "a soothing musical innertube," and the name stuck.

 

WHAT IS THIS PODCAST ABOUT?

Please check out the attached video for the exciting answer!

Recent Episodes

View all
The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 206 - Summer Music Spectacular!
206
Aug. 18, 2026

The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 206 - Summer Music Spectacular!

Musically, Bill's head is still in the 60s. Don still lives in the 70s. Glenn's time is the 80s. John's head is full of lots of things, including his dad's favorite tunes. Here are a few of their favorite summer songs. You may not have heard these songs for a long time, if at all.
Listen to the Episode
The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 205 - Jesse Wegman and our Lost Founder
205
Aug. 4, 2026

The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 205 - Jesse Wegman and our Lost Founder

Founding Father James Wilson. Wrote "all men are created equal" 6 years before Jefferson. Came up with the Electoral College for the Constitution. A Supreme Court Justice who helped design America's justice system. Jesse Wegman is here to tell us why no one remembers this Founding Father.
Listen to the Episode
The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 204 - Poetry for Dummies
204
July 21, 2026

The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 204 - Poetry for Dummies

Don and John speak with author John Timpane (in a dual role) about his new book, Poetry For Dummies. John also talks with poets Mark Danowsky, Lynn Levin and Ernest Hilbert about their contributions to the book and about the current state of poetry.
Listen to the Episode
The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 203 - Dr. Catherine Meeks
205
July 7, 2026

The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 203 - Dr. Catherine Meeks

As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, the nation still finds itself sharply divided along political, racial and cultural lines. Dr. Catherine Meeks, who's spent a lifetime working on racial healing, talks about what it will take to make America whole again.
Listen to the Episode
View all Episodes

About the Hosts

Don Rooney Profile Photo
Don Rooney

Co-Host

Don has appeared as an air personality on radio stations in Maryland, New Hampshire, Kansas and Florida. He later became a radio news reporter and anchor in Atlanta and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In Harrisburg, he moved to television, as a news reporter and weatherman. Moving across town to the Pennsylvania state Capitol, Don then spent 18 years as a public relations official with the Pennsylvania State Senate.

John Timpane Profile Photo
John Timpane

Co-Host

John has been a college English professor, and is the author of several books on poetry and other subjects. For over 20 years, John worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, where he served as editorial page editor, features writer, book editor and theater critic.

Recent Blog Posts

Gone
May 25, 2026

Gone

Quite the week for departures, wasn't it?  CBS Radio News, dead before it could reach 100. More about that on these episodes of the Innertube: The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 197 - Robert Thompson Remembers CBS Radio News The Musical I…
Read the Blog Post
Kudos for Art and John!
May 13, 2026

Kudos for Art and John!

This fuzzy pic is from the retirement party for Art Caplan, who retired from his post as head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. It shows Don heaping praise on Art, with John ready to also he…
Read the Blog Post
Speaking Up and Speaking Out
April 3, 2026

Speaking Up and Speaking Out

Two of our favorite Innertube guests appear in an article in the latest Philadelphia Magazine.   They're talking about the same things in this article that they talked about on their Innertube discussions:  how the current leadership of public heal…
Read the Blog Post
View all posts

Reviews

John McPhee episode excellent!

"Dear John, I have always wanted to wrlte a Dear John letter. .... Anyway I LOVED your Episode about John McPhee. I have to buy that work. I think I begin reading him rather late, The Control of N…"

Tom Heywood | July 1, 2025

Good Radio!

"Interesting interviews of interesting people, informative and entertaining."

National Park lover | May 17, 2025
See all reviews