Straight Up Hollywood podcast: Efron gets oily; 'Simpsons' get real

In USA TODAY's new entertainment podcast Straight Up Hollywood, Los Angeles-based entertainment reporters Bryan Alexander, Bill Keveney and Carly Mallenbaum reflect on a week in covering movies, TV and red carpets.

This week, we explain some crazy things we're seeing on our screens, including: how/why Zac Efron got meat juice on his body, what it's like to play Jon Snow's savior Melisandre on Game of Thrones, what contraptions are involved in the costumes on Captain America: Civil War and how Homer Simpson is going to come to life on The Simpsons. (Note: Andrea Mandell was off this time.)

To hear our previous recordings (we call them our "pilot season of podcasting") go to the USA TODAY Life SoundCloud page.