Area 51 is an irreverent, silly, self-indulgent, 20-25 minutes worth of low-budget radio theater that's an absolute hoot.

The show resolves around short skits that live in the nefarious netherworld between Firesign Theater-like hip, ba-boom ba-bing and let's-see-how-many-people-we-can-piss-off, ideologically tinged performance art.

Make no mistake about it: politically the show is out of left field, but is more humorous than a lot of humor from that side of the aisle.

Take for example Show #20-Crossing the Lines. Here's what wound up in the crosshairs:

Ethnic stereotyping on television, such as the Native American medicine man who teaches hung-up suburbanites to Ghost Dance;

Will and Grace held up as an authentic example of gay life;

The "fact" that by the 22nd century, sexual intercourse will no longer be required for reproduction;

An all-too-true reference to the fact that Ghandi, Dr. King, Jesus Christ and former Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone all died beforeteir time -"but most despots die of old age";

What it feels like to be at a party and watch older person buying the beer with the assumption that he will come across as an authentically cool person - and wind up with a party babe;

Whoa, dewwdd. I can think of some parties where I've been that "old person."

Which shows that to love this Podcast, ya gotta be able to laugh at yourself.