Season 3, Episode 10: Socks, Head Nods, and Winning Kitchen Appliances Like a Real Adult
Mike and Rich cover the full emotional spectrum of middle-aged dad life—from the joy of rediscovered socks to the sobering realization that winning kitchen appliances on a game show is now the ultimate fantasy.
What starts as a simple question (“Where did all my socks go?”) quickly spirals into moving kids out, awkward workplace head nod hierarchies, filming your nephew getting punched in the face, and the silent terror of unanswered calls from aging parents.
It’s heartfelt. It’s ridiculous. It’s aggressively relatable.
What We’re Talking About This Week
The Great Sock Recovery of 2025
When a daughter moves out, silverware mysteriously reappears… along with a lifetime supply of socks previously believed to be eaten by the dryer. A bittersweet rite of passage—with bonus hosiery.
Workplace Head Nod Politics
Is there a formal nod and an informal nod? Rich breaks down the unspoken hallway etiquette of corporate life—and now you’ll never walk past a coworker the same way again.
Workplace Anxiety Nobody Trains You For
One tangled headset. One innocent coworker. One man on the brink of an HR incident because someone refuses to untangle their cords.
Filming a Muay Thai Fight (Mistakes Were Made)
Rich tries to be a supportive uncle by filming his nephew’s first Muay Thai exhibition… until punches, kicks, and blood make him quietly root for the end of the match and consider deleting the footage forever.
Editing Your Spouse’s Texts (For Personal Gain)
Pro tip: If you’re asked to proofread a text, casually insert a glowing paragraph about yourself. Payment accepted in reputation points.
Why Our Aunts and Uncles Seemed Ancient at 50
Back in the day: sitting, smoking, and handing kids $5. Today: grandparents doing cannonballs and coaching soccer. What changed—and why we’re all trying to age very differently.
Don’t Procrastinate the Important Stuff
A powerful reminder about digitizing old tapes, preserving family memories, and why some things shouldn’t be put off “until later.”
Dad Calls Are Always an Emergency
Two missed calls from your dad could mean anything—from a medical crisis to breaking news about Uncle Giuseppe’s opening in Sayville.
The Moment You Know You’re an Adult
Forget jet skis. Forget dirt bikes.
Winning a full set of kitchen appliances on a game show now feels like hitting the lottery—and honestly? That dishwasher alone is worth it.
Why You’ll Love This Episode
If you’re a dad, parent, uncle, or just someone navigating adulthood with mild anxiety and a sense of humor, this episode hits home. It’s observational comedy, parenting stories, nostalgia, and real-life reflection—all wrapped in one extremely comfortable Cool Dad Shirt.
#CoolDadShirtPodcast, #funnydadpodcast, #parentinghumorpodcast, #dadlifepodcast, #workplacehumor, #familystoriespodcast, #observationalcomedypodcast, #socks, #headnods, #appliances
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.