Simpsons Zip

Webmasters - Dr. Andrew Nestler
Andrew Nestler holds a doctorate in mathematics and is co-webmaster of the hugely successful Simpsons Math and related group-presentations along with Dr. Sarah Greenwald. He has met with OFF big-shots Groening, Cohen, Westbrook, and Vitti.

Can you give our readers a break-down of your mathematical accomplishments and adventures?

I received my BA from Pomona College, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and my PhD from the University of Southern California, all in Mathematics. I'm a tenured instructor at Santa Monica College, a community college with 25,000 students and the leader in transfers to the University of California system. My colleague Dr. Sarah Greenwald of Appalachian State University and I have given many talks on the mathematics of The Simpsons to students and teachers at conferences, math club meetings and colloquia across the country. At SimpsonsMath.com one can find worksheets we have used in various classes, interviews with Simpsons writers with significant mathematical backgrounds, a link to my Guide to Mathematics and Mathematicians on The Simpsons, and much more.

How long have you been a fan of The Simpsons?

I started watching it consistently in Fall 1991 when I started grad school. Like many fans my age, I became a huge fan of the show once episodes appeared in syndication a few years later. Here in the Los Angeles area, for many years The Simpsons has aired three times a day on weekdays and several more times on the weekends.

You've given some talks on the topic of math in The Simpsons. Who is the stereotypical attendee of one of these? What kinds of questions are most commonly asked?

Often we are invited to give a talk to an audience comprised mostly of math majors, with other interested college students and curious teachers. We explore mathematical content that has appeared in many episodes of The Simpsons over the years, checking for accuracy and using this material as an introduction to a topic of some importance. So actually we are the ones asking our audience members questions; we like our talks to be interactive. In fact, often we have professors answering our questions before students are able to do so. (I am not saying that the professors are correct, just that they like to answer questions right away.)

When our audience consists mostly of teachers, we discuss how we have used this material in our own classes to reduce math anxiety and to train students to be skeptical learners who should verify claims with their own experience and research.

Do you ever surf any other Simpsons fan-pages. If so, which?

I check out Simpson Crazy, Simpsons Channel and The Simpsons Gallery.

What other hobbies do you enjoy?

I have a world-class Madonna record collection, with over 2100 records, and I play the cello.

What are some of your favorite movies and books?

Some favorite movies are Memento, Chicken Run, Way of the Gun, Battle Royale, Jeepers Creepers, Psycho, Proof (1991), The Hitcher, The Linguini Incident and Groundhog Day.

I don't like reading.

What do you think of the newer episodes of The Simpsons (season 14 to 17)?

Every season contains many great episodes, and some not so great. Nearly every episode has something that makes me look forward to seeing it again. While season 17 was very disappointing overall, it also contains the series classic "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" and the brilliant "The Italian Bob" and "Girls Just Want to Have Sums." In the recent seasons they have had lots of great uses of Milhouse, one of my favorite characters, and also I have enjoyed the repeated appearances of tertiary characters like Eleanor "Crazy Cat Lady" Abernathy. I love how in the last few years Moe has become so horribly debauched. I almost always love episodes telling a different story in each act.

What do people in the math community think of the films Pi and A Beautiful Mind?

I like Pi since I enjoy mysteries and thrillers. It doesn't really have mathematical content. I have a poster for that movie on the outside of my office door, and occasionally it's a conversation starter for students (until they see the inside of my office and are overwhelmed by the Simpsons paraphernalia).

A Beautiful Mind, on the other hand, is a terrible movie that most mathematicians probably do not hold in high regard. I read the biography on which it was based. The movie completely covers up John Nash's homosexuality and it presents a troublesome and confusing link between his mathematical genius and mental illness.

I'm glad that you didn't ask me about NUMB3RS.

What are your favorite episodes of The Simpsons? Least favorites?

A reasonable top 10: "Bart Sells his Soul," "Treehouse Of Horror VI," "A Fish Called Selma," "Homer's Phobia," "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken," "They Saved Lisa's Brain," "Behind The Laughter," "I Am Furious Yellow," "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can," "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story"

A reasonable bottom 10: "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer (a.k.a. The Mysterious Voyage of our Homer)," "Saddlesore Galactica," "Kill the Alligator and Run," "The Lastest Gun in the West," "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot," "Dude, Where's my Ranch," "The Bonfire of the Manatees," "We're on the Road to D'owhere," "Homer Simpson, This Is your Wife," and "Million Dollar Abie."

Have you personally met any of the executive producers of The Simpsons?

Yes, my colleague Sarah Greenwald and I gave a talk on math on The Simpsons and Futurama at the home of David Cohen. Attendees included J. Stewart Burns, Dan Greaney, Matt Groening, Ken Keeler, George Meyer, Max Pross, Mike Reiss, Patric Verrone, Dan Vebber, Jon Vitti, Matt Warburton, Ron Weiner, and Jeff Westbrook. It was very exciting to meet them and thank them for work on The Simpsons. Sarah and I also had the pleasure of attending a table read for the episode "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play," and this spring we had the pleasure of sitting in on the musical recording session for this episode, with the orchestra conducted by Alf Clausen as usual.

Do you have any good math-related stories?

Probably.

How did you first meet Dr. Sarah Greenwald? Being in different regions of the country how have you corresponded?

We met in grad school at Penn. It's very easy for us to collaborate via email and the telephone. We have been very fortunate to meet up at occasional conferences and other professional functions, in addition to our invited addresses on math and The Simpsons. In a non-math related note, we even traveled to Montreal in 2002 to see the cast do a reading of "Lisa's Date with Density."

Will The Simpsons Movie be good? What about the return of Futurama?

I hope the movie will be good, but I am not optimistic. I am very upset that Alf Clausen was not asked to do the music for the movie. Without his recognizable and integral score, it will not be The Simpsons as fans know and love it. They might as well change the voices. I heard that the director and producers want to distinguish the movie from what the audience sees for free on television each week. This goes to show that it's all about money, and that there is little understanding at the top as to why fans are devoted to the show. I will enjoy the experience of seeing the movie in the theater with friends, wearing a Simpsons ensemble and being in an audience with other crazed fans. I'm really glad that the series will continue to air original episodes after the movie is released. The movie will come and go, but the show will live on.

I hate Futurama.

What are your plans in the upcoming years with your career, the website, and in general?

If I could find the time to become more proficient with web page design software, I would like to improve the appearance of my Guide page. Sadly I don't know when this would be.

Anything else you'd like to say to the readers?

I was surprised when I received the request for an interview, as I suppose I had viewed my Guide page or SimpsonsMath.com not as a Simpsons site with math content, but rather as a math site with Simpsons content. The Guide page is quite primitive, but it gets the job done. I'd like to thank those who have provided positive feedback.