From Nicki Minaj Challenges to Fake Nurses: The Dangers of Internet Trends for 8/13/25

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From dangerous social media stunts to groundbreaking sports milestones, hosts Lawrence Elrod and Meryl Klemo tackle today's most fascinating stories with their signature blend of humor and insight.

The pair kicks off with a deep dive into the dangerous "Nicki Minaj Challenge" that has already resulted in broken bones and spinal injuries. As they question why these risky social media challenges gain such traction, they explore our collective fascination with increasingly dangerous viral trends despite obvious risks.

Entertainment industry drama takes center stage as Meryl shares her passionate disappointment with HBO's decision to cancel "And Just Like That," the Sex and the City spin-off that many fans believe destroyed beloved characters. The hosts dissect how the show's viewership plummeted and question why executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker admitted to not watching episodes of her own show.

The conversation takes surprising turns through stories about unconventional dating app reviews, Las Vegas casino unionization, and the Vatican's unexpected strategy of employing "hot priest influencers" to attract younger followers to the Catholic Church. Lawrence and Meryl bring their unique perspectives to these cultural phenomena, balancing humor with thoughtful analysis.

Some of the most compelling discussions center around boundary-breaking achievements and shocking deceptions – from Jen Paywall becoming MLB's first female umpire during regular season play to the disturbing case of a nurse imposter who treated over 4,000 patients without proper credentials before being caught. Through it all, the hosts maintain their signature conversational style, making complex topics accessible and entertaining.

Whether you're fascinated by peculiar news stories, passionate about cultural shifts, or simply enjoy listening to engaging conversation, this episode delivers thought-provoking content that will leave you both entertained and informed. Subscribe now and join the conversation about the thirstiest topics in today's culture!

Check out Meryl's upcoming performance at the Hollywood Improv this Friday for "Horror Nerd," where she'll be doing comedy about summer slasher films.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

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Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Topics.
I'm Lawrence Elrod.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
And I'm Meryl Clemo.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
How's it going, Meryl ?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
It's so good.
How about yourself?

Speaker 1 (00:26):
I am doing fantastic, I cannot complain.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yay.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Yes, we have some interesting topics and I'm going
to start off with.
Some people may consider thisfun or maybe not so fun, but
there is a new challenge outthere.
It's called the Nicki MinajChallenge and basically what it
is.
Nicki Minaj, some time ago shehad posted herself, you know,

(00:54):
standing on heels, you know onher tippy toes or whatever.
But what's interesting is shedid it on a regular, flat
surface, regular floor.
Well, in the challenge, peopledecided, I guess, they want to
not take it up a notch.
So you got people balancing onweights, people balancing on
cans of food or whatever.

(01:16):
One person was actuallybalancing herself on the
banister of the stairs.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Oh, my gosh and I feel like I'm doing this.
No way.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Have you seen this?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yes, in fact, I saw that a TikToker broke her spine
from this.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yep, Yep that's true, yeah, I guess my question is is
it really that serious?
I mean, do people really wantto get on?

Speaker 2 (01:44):
you know get on that bad I mean, I have to admit,
when I saw it I thought it waslike ai or a trick, because I'm
like, how are people even doingthis?
Like to me, I thought they weresitting a certain way and then
like photoshopping stuffunderneath them.
Um, because I've even I've seenpeople do it with, like their
cats and their dogs.
Like I thought, yeah, like onewith a cat, and I'm like I think
some of them are super imposedon other things.

(02:07):
But yeah, the one where, like,the girl broke her back, and
then especially the one likenikki minaj, where they're
wearing really, really highheels and they're like on a soup
can and everything, I just likemost of us aren't in circus, la
, so I don't think our bodiesare meant for that.
I, I could barely stand on thecurb, so I'm not trying that
anytime soon.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Oh, what's so crazy is, like you said, the person
that hurt her back.
Another person broke her arm,broke her foot, and I'm sitting
there thinking to myself is itreally that serious?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I don't think it is.
I feel like it's just one ofthose things where, like the
mannequin challenge and thestuff that we used to do was
kind of stupid.
The water challenge wassupposedly for charity, so that
was fine, but these aren't like.
They don't require us tobalance on a can and throw
ourselves out of whack oranything.
You're not doing it right nowas we record, is what you're

(02:58):
telling me.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
What's so crazy about this, merle, is you would think
that most people would look atthis and go this is stupid.
I would not do this, but forsome reason that the stupid the
much more dangerous, the muchmore popular it is, and I don't
know why I know, remember a fewyears ago, was it?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
um, it wasn't baking soda, but there was like a
powder that people were tryingto put in their mouths.
Yeah, it wasn't peanut butter,but it was some type of like
sugar or something that peoplewere trying to eat, and then it
would like they would choke onit, or just I forget exactly
what it was.
But that's a perfect example,too, of just like you know
what's going to happen.
And why would you?

(03:41):
Why would you try it?

Speaker 1 (03:43):
oh, it reminds me of the crate challenge.
Remember that.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Oh yeah, yes, that was another one where it just
looked painful.
Oh, and then they were tryingto do the Kylie Jenner lips one,
and so they were like peoplewere getting their lips stuck in
like a jar.
This is how we weed out whoshould be having more than one
child, I think.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
So are you going to do the Nicki Minaj challenge?

Speaker 2 (04:09):
No, no, I'm not even going to look at it.
I feel like my cans, my soupcans and my marinara jars are
strictly for opening and cookingwith noodles.
They're not for my feet oranything.
No, and I saw it.
I mean, I hope the girl thatbroke her back is okay.
That's crazy.
And it has the moment when shefalls and loses her balance.
Just weird.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Can you imagine her at the doctor and they're asking
what happened and she'sexplaining?
It was a TikTok challenge.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
And they're probably thinking.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Wow, and Nicki Minaj is just probably Also watching
this, being like you guys arejust sheeple Because she's
probably getting paid for itlike a lot of money.
I feel like she's not doingthese weird things unless she's
getting a lot of money or likesome weird reason oh yeah, and
even when she redid thechallenge again, she's on the

(05:01):
floor doing it.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
She's not anything.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Floor doing it.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
She's not bouncing on anything dangerous.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Right.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
So it kind of makes you wonder what's wrong with you
.
If she's not doing this andit's her challenge why are you
doing?

Speaker 2 (05:14):
this.
I know, If anything, if I hadvery good video editing skills,
I would just do this on thefloor, but then I would take
myself onto the Eiffel Tower andthe videos.
I think with every with likeCapCut and those types of
editing tools, nowadays youdon't have to actually do stuff.
You could like green screenyourself into something.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Very true.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
But I think they want to.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know they want to take it up a notch, you know.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
I guess I don't think lovingly if my friends are
watching.
I don't know anyone in my lifethat I think should do this.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
It's crazy, but I guess everybody wants that 15
minutes of fame, right.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
That's true, yeah, yep.
Well, speaking about 15 minutes, that's how much we have left
of one of my favorite TV shows,and just like that so we may

(06:10):
have to.
I almost should have pickedthis one last because I have so
much to talk about it with you,because I just I feel like I
could do literally do like a tedtalk by myself on this one.
Um, so you know, sex in thecity was the show and then the
spin-off was and just like thatnow, like I'm a huge, huge, huge
sex in the city girl, like Ifeel like that was definitely
I'm the right age where thatkind of got me through college
and I'm from the east coast, soI always saw these women in New
York and like it really did likeshape my life and I feel like
these characters mean so much.
And then, and just like thatcame on and I'm sure you've at

(06:30):
least heard, if you haven'twitnessed, like they basically
desecrated all the charactersthat we love so much.
You know, like the first episodestarts with her husband dying
and ever since then it's justbeen like some of the worst
writing and just like theweirdest characters and and I've
just I've never seen a tv showlike be so good and then be so

(06:52):
bad later on, you know, andthey've pretty much like I'm not
alone where I know like the thefandom feels, like they've, um,
like disrespected the fan, thelongtime fans, by just taking
apart like every good thing andkind of leaving us with nothing.
So that brings, brings us tonow, which is just that HBO
announced that it's canceled,which comes to a shock, like not

(07:13):
a shock to really no one, but Ithink I think the writers at
least thought they were going toget one more season.
Supposedly, I guess this was ashock to Sarah Jessica Parker,
who I do love, except it wasn't.
Doesn't look good for her thatin an interview like a few
months back, she said that shedoesn't even watch the episodes
of it.
Just like that, like wow.
And I think it's less about thatshe doesn't care and more about

(07:34):
maybe that she cares too muchand that she just doesn't want
to watch herself.
But all of us are like youabsolutely should be watching
this, because maybe, as anexecutive producer, you should
see what's happening to, likeyour brand and your name and
everything.
And so it said that the firstseason of, and just like that,

(07:55):
got 1.1 million viewers, whichis very low, excuse me.
And then season two debuted at460,000, which, like, if you
think about that, just TikToksnow get like a million views and
2 million views.
You know that's so crazy tohave such a big show like that.
And my last little piece I'llsay on this is that, like on my

(08:15):
end, is that I listened to thecompanion podcast for this with
the writers on it, because Ireally earnestly tried to like,
think, okay, maybe they haveother ideas of what they're
doing and maybe they're not poorwriting.
But, like, I really feel likethe writers are missing the boat
and whenever they hearcriticism from fans, like on the
podcast, they talk about how,oh, they don't like these

(08:37):
storylines or they're upsetabout this or that, but it's
like, no, we're trying to tellyou that the writing is horrible
and I feel like they they'renot listening, like they're
definitely in their own bubble.
Are they the same writers asbefore?
Some of them are, so theshowrunner is.
And then there's some that arenew and some that have been
there a really long time, andthey seem like lovely people and
like they seem like totallynice people.

(08:59):
But it's crazy to listen and tohear them say, oh, the people
are mad about this and this.
I'm like no, you're getting itwrong.
You've just created charactersthat no one cares about.
And yeah, it's just, it'satrocious.
And I think that feeling isheld across the board for all of
us fans.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
It almost sounds like there's some creative issues
going on behind the scenes.
Yeah, yeah almost sounds likethere's some creative issues
going on behind the scenes.
Yeah and yeah, and sometimesand you know, sometimes a show
could be very successful and,for whatever reason, somebody
has a great idea.
Let's take this in a differentdirection yeah and they don't
realize okay, if it works, don'tchange it.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
if it ain't broke, don't fix it If it ain't broke
don't fix it Exactly and likethe redhead character, miranda
Hobbs, like they just basicallyturned her into the actress
Cynthia Nixon that plays her.
And it was so funny becausesomeone wrote like something
about how Miranda is so Cynthiaand someone commented and said,
yeah, we could tell, just writea biography and you should like.

(10:03):
You don't need to make thischaracter into yourself.
Like one of the episodes trulywas like Rosie O'Donnell was a
nun dating Miranda.
I'm just like you're reallylike testing our patience here.
I'm just like have you ever hadin your lifetime a show that
you loved so much that then, forwhatever reason, it just like

(10:26):
tanked to the point of nooblivion?

Speaker 1 (10:27):
I mean, I guess, of oblivion.
I'm sure I did.
Let me try to think here,because I know there's a few
shows that happen that way.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
This is a unique experience.
I think I speak for a lot offans.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
I know it's dramatic, but there's a part of me that
is heartbroken over how thiswhole thing has been treated and
, you know, just because youlove it so much I know I was
taking a look at, um, all theepisodes of good time and I
noticed that when they and thenagain a lot of people may not

(11:01):
know this show, but but GoodTimes used to come on, you know,
back in the I want to say thewhat 70s and 80s, I think it
came on.
So, basically, it was a showabout a family living in the
projects of Chicago, cabritaGreens, and it was a father,
mother with children, you know,trying to make it and trying to
deal with everyday struggles,naked, and trying to deal with

(11:21):
everyday struggles.
Well, when he was killed offthe show to me the show
struggled.
Oh really, the dynamic changed.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
How did they kill him off?

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Basically, they had him go to a job down in
Mississippi.
He got the job and everythinghe was doing well.
Then he was going to send forthe family to come down there
and move with him.
But then they got a telegramthat he was killed on his way
home and he crashed into a treeand died.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh my gosh Come on.
So the back story to that is.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
there was some issues , I guess, with pay and creative
issues, so they killed him offthe show basically, and you felt
like it was never the sameafter that it was definitely not
the same after that, and thenhow long did it go on for after
that?
I want to say went on foranother couple of years.
After that there were somedramatic changes where they were
actually going on the rightpath, where the family was
finally getting out of theghetto.

(12:22):
They were doing well, but thenthey ended the series, they
ended the show on again, oh mygod you didn't have a chance to
see them.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Actually, you know, make it and be successful and at
least go in the right directionbut yeah, and then it does, it
plays with your emotions so muchand it's like don't do this to
me so yes, I definitelyunderstand that and I thought it
was kind of crazy the way wedid it.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
But, like I said, you know, writers do things for
whatever reasons, right?

Speaker 2 (12:50):
I know, I know, did you continue to watch it the
whole time, like even up untilthe end, like in real time?

Speaker 1 (12:56):
I still continue to watch it.
I actually didn't appreciate ituntil I became an adult,
because, even though I did watchit growing up as an adult, I
kind of understood a lot of themessaging and a lot of the
things that I was trying toteach you as an adult about.
Oh okay, I see what they weredoing with that, because there's
a lot of life lessons in it.
But again, when you're a kid,you just know that it's a great

(13:18):
show, it's funny, and you don'treally get a lot of messaging.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yes.
Now let me ask you this too,because, like I I love I really
do like love sarah jessicaparker.
Like she's one of those onesthat I will like I just will
watch movies that she's in.
I mean, I really am a big fanbut to me, like I don't think
there's any excuse if you're theexecutive producer of a show,
even if you are like the maincharacter or you don't want to
kind of watch yourself orwhatever there's no excuse why

(13:44):
you shouldn't be watching theepisodes from like a storyline
point of view and just like.
Yeah, so like I think that Imean I think of her as someone
with like really good taste andshe has a big voice just in the
industry, and I I can't see howshe would, in her right mind,
like feel like what washappening is actually it like
moving towards a good thing yeah, and you know, to say that I

(14:07):
don't watch the show and you'rean executive producer is not a
good thing I know, I know and Iunderstand it.
Like when actors are like Ican't watch myself, and then,
well then, then I'm sorry, butthen like, don't be an executive
producer or you know, like thenbecause your name is on it.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Let's face it.
Yeah, you're one of the peoplethere in charge.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yes, and if you're Sarah Jessica Parker, you're
very rich, you're very wealthy.
You've had a million years ofpeople saying that you're doing
a good job.
So I feel like you kind of haveto get over your own whatever
at some point and just sufferthrough it just for the sake of
producing.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
I agree, I agree, yeah, maybe she'll learn for
next time, right?

Speaker 2 (14:46):
I know.
So people were saying maybethey'll take a spin off or
whatever, or maybe Netflix willgobble it up, but it's just like
.
At this point, though, I'm gladthey're putting us out of our
misery, because when I waswatching every week, I was
saying it was my humiliationritual.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
I hear you Talk about hate.
Okay, have you ever heard ofthis app?
It's called the T-App.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
No.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
All right, I just learned something new myself.
This T-App is an app where it'sa dating site.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
But what makes this interesting is that women not
men, but women post about theirexperiences or dates that
they've had from men they've meton the site.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Oh man.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
So they could do a green flag like hey, this guy's
great blah, blah, blah had agreat time, whatever they can,
also red flag it, you know,saying that, hey, this guy's a
creep, this guy's blah, blah,blah, don't mess with him.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
blah blah, blah, blah don't don't mess with them.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Okay now my only issue, my biggest issue with
this is I can see women abusingthis.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, if you're angry at a guy, you could really bash
him big time yes, yes, yeah,and that could get bad, even if,
like someone's your co-workerthat you don't like, or if
someone cuts you off and pop intraffic and you find out who
they are, and you, I mean, Idon't know, do you have to show
proof about that?
Do you think like, how do youprove that you don't like?
Or if someone cuts you off intraffic and you find out who
they are, and you, I mean, Idon't know, do you have to show
proof about that?
Do you think like how do youprove that you dated someone?

Speaker 1 (16:15):
well, here's the problem is one it's anonymous
when they, when they post yeahand the second thing is is that?
No, there is nothing verifiedabout it, it's just them putting
their opinion in there see,that's what I just don't get is
good.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
I know that there's a site that a lot of people use
called like are we dating thesame guy?
And it's a big Facebook group,but I know people will post them
and then a man, and thenthey'll say like oh shoot, I did
go on a date with him.
Or like I'm his wife or youknow.
They'll say stuff like that.
But yeah, it's pretty crazy.
But some funny things have comeout of it, Like just, I always
hear about it a lot and someone,some guy, even just made a

(16:50):
TikTok saying like if I go onone date with you, you don't
need to post the.
Are we dating the same guy?
Cause yes, I am dating lots ofwomen, but I don't know, I feel
like it's.
It's good, I guess, for peopleto have almost like Yelp reviews
as I'm dating, but I could seeit getting out of hand.
If it's not really verified orhow you said, it can be just

(17:13):
someone getting revenge or whoknows.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
There was one guy who made a post on social media
because he was red flagged onthe app and what he was saying
was and again, we don't know, sothis is all alleged.
But basically he was sayingthat he.
And again, we don't know, sothis is all alleged.
But basically he was sayingthat you know, he was flagged
for ghosting.
And he's like, well, yeah, Istopped talking to you because
the date was over and yeah, yeah, so, no, I didn't call back.

(17:42):
Yeah To me.
That kind of scenario, Okay,yeah, Maybe he shouldn't have
ghosted you, but really do youhave to put that?

Speaker 2 (17:50):
I know, and you have to take it to an app, because I
feel like all of us had probablyhad had situations where, like,
the way it ended or went withone person is not representative
of like how my you know myrelationship is now, or anything
like that.
Also, I wonder what's stoppingmen from writing about like he's
the most best, he's the bestguy ever.
Everyone should date him.
Like they're pretending they'rea woman and like you know what?

(18:13):
that's actually a great point,that's true being like everyone
should walk down alleyways withhim oh yeah, I remember
listening to um.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
I want to say I think it was b96 here in chicago and
they used to have this programthey may still have it, because
I don't listen to radio like Iused to where they'll have
someone call in and they wouldhave them reach out to the
person they went on a date withbecause, for whatever reason,
the person's not calling themback.
They go oh no, so the radiostation will call this person up

(18:48):
.
They would identify themselves,as you know so-and no.
So the radio station will callthis person up.
They would identify themselves,as you know so-and-so from the
radio station and say hey, doyou know xyz?
And of course you get thatawkward.
Yeah, well, you know, you wenton a date with them and they
never heard back from you.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
No, it's like, oh, like.
In that case too, I feel, feellike it's good if you went on a
website and, like 25 women wroteand said I got roofied, I got.
You know like this guythreatened my mother.
You know like, I feel like ifthere's so many bad stories
about a man, then it's helpfulin that way because maybe it's
saving you time and money.

(19:27):
But yeah, not just ghostingones.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh yeah.
But you know the crazy thing,meryl, is sometimes you don't
know the whole story, becausethere was an episode of that on
the radio where the woman wasthe one that called in and when
the guy answered and the guy waslike I don't know, understand
why you didn't, you know, didn'tcall me back or whatever I said

(19:52):
.
Well, you kind of creeped meout.
I want to say what did he do?
He picked up in a hearse.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
No.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Why you would buy a car as a hearse.
I don't know.
I never understood it.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
No.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
And when he picked her up there was a skeleton in
the passenger side.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
What.

Speaker 1 (20:14):
Now, obviously it was probably a fake skeleton, but
that's kind of creepy.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, that's very creepy, and then I hope they did
something about her ghostinghim with a skeleton and all that
stuff.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
Right, they were like whoa, and then it was stuff he
was saying on a date and it wasvery clear.
Yeah, there's a reason why shedid not want to talk to him
Right.
But that's a great example ofhow you need to be careful about
judging, because there's alwaystwo sides to a story.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yeah, yeah, and I do think too it's good.
Yeah, yeah, and I do think tooit's good.
But I feel like that's what weused to have in our communities
when we all, just like, lived inthe same city and, word,
traveled fast where it's like,okay, this guy is kind of like a
douche, you know whatever.
I don't know if I could saydude, but like you know, he's
not a good guy or he's dating alot of women I feel like the
more we just like I don't wantbigger cities like New York or

(21:05):
LA or whatever it's harder tohave that kind of connection,
but I feel like for the mostpart, in smaller towns like you
usually just know someone thatknows them or you know, meet the
person's cousin or whatever.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
I don't know.
I guess I'm old school.
What happened to hey?
If you're single, let's sayyou're at the store and you see
someone that you like.
Maybe you're at an event andyou see someone party or
something you know to me.
See dating apps to me, and I'mso glad this wasn't around when

(21:36):
I was sick.
Oh my god yeah, me too me tooglad, but the thing is is that
with dating apps they can bemanipulated so many ways you
really don't know who you'retalking to yeah, I know, I know,
I know, and even sites likethis.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
I feel like sometimes people can manipulate the
system or, you know, get back atpeople.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That's true and you know.
You got to ask yourself how doyou even know you're talking to
a?
You know, like if you thinkyou're talking to a woman, you
could be talking to a man.
Yeah, you really don't know.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
I know it could be like a 16-year-old man writing
like he took me to the mostbeautiful place ever.
That's true, I have to say,though, even all my exes, I feel
like they would still do a goodjob on this website.
They wouldn't fail, theywouldn't have lots of mean
people.
Well, that's a good thing,though, yeah it's very nice and

(22:28):
I wouldn't write anything badabout them.
I would just delete them off ofFacebook.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Well, this one, I thought, was super interesting.
All major Las Vegas stripcasinos are now unionized.
In the historic labor victorybacked by 60,000 members, most
of the casinos in Las Vegas nowhas the largest labor union in
Nevada.
So let's see it finalized latelast year, but I think now
they're just starting to, youknow, get it all together and
this is the first time in the 90year history where all the

(23:01):
casinos on the strip areunionized and this is definitely
good in the way that theircontracts are now like.
This is a good win forhousekeeping people, people that
work there, and then alsohopefully for like just rates of
casinos in general, just withlike a lot of the private owners
.
They can't make it like too too, too crazy.
So I think this is good forpeople that own the casinos and

(23:24):
also work there, which is, likeyou know, no-transcript.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
I agree, and you know .
The other thing too is there'sa lot of side benefits to be
unionized because, let's face it, most unions have excellent
benefits.
I mean excellent benefits.
So I think that's a great thing, especially when you're looking
at something like Las Vegasthat has so many casinos and so

(23:59):
many probably thousands ofemployees.
So I think that's a great thing.
I really do.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
Me too, remember I was reading this and I just
remembered there was like aalmost a threat of a strike.
Um, it said in 2023 there was athreat of a major strike by
over 35 000 hospitality workers,which, which expired contracts,
loomed over the strip but thensee a last minute deal with
caesars was able to help that.

(24:25):
Um, I mean that that would becrazy if, like just everyone in
Vegas was to strike, and then Ithink we would soon realize just
how important these people are.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oh, definitely, Definitely.
And you know the thing is,there's so much money to be made
there that what's wrong withpaying someone a decent hourly
wage and giving them thebenefits they deserve?

Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, I agree, people .
Of course, if someone elseunderstands this, you'll have to
explain it to me.
Like I'm five years old, butlike they said that something
about, I don't even know.
I don't understand this part,but it says like the union's
endorsements among Democrats cansignal who has the best shot at
winning working class votes.
Oh, so maybe that's like, maybethey're thinking, because this

(25:06):
happened, this will work infavor of Democrats who could say
like see, look, I went to batfor you and I got all this for
you.
You know I don't reallyunderstand that part, but
someone smarter than me canexplain the theory behind it,
but that's no guarantee.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
That's what I realize .

Speaker 2 (25:25):
Exactly.
That's not necessarily going tomake everyone turn a certain
way.
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
That's not necessarily going to make
everyone turn a certain way.
And also, too, hopefully theunions do right by them, because
most unions are good, butunfortunately there are some bad
ones out there.
So hopefully this union isdoing right by all the employees
.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
So yeah, yep, I love it.
So does that mean you're goingto, or does that make you any
more or less excited to go toLas Vegas?

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Well, you know what?
I guess it makes me moreexcited, I mean at least when I
lose my money, at least I knowthat I'm taking care of it.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
They need to unionize all of us spending money.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
That is true, that is true.
Well, to keep the hate tourgoing, I mean to keep the number
still going this is interestingHolly Berry's ex-husband.
His name is David Justice.
He's an actual former MLBbaseball player.
He was being interviewed on theAll the Smoke podcast and on

(26:29):
that podcast he was basicallythrowing a lot of shade towards
her.
Now, granted, they were married30 years ago, so this is not
recent and he basically saidthat his marriage did not work
because Holly Berry did not cookor clean.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Oh, my gosh, gosh come on now.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
We could probably talk about this for an hour, but
I'm gonna keep it short yeahnow, what kind of idiot do you
think you are to think thatholly berry, even 30 years ago,
was a big star, would be cookingand cleaning?
I mean nothing wrong with that,right, but the thing is let's

(27:13):
just say okay, jay-z marriedBeyoncé and Beyoncé needs to
stop doing her work, stop doingher tours to take care of the
house.
Yeah or am.
I looking at it the wrong way.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
No, not at all.
It's like she's one of thehottest actresses ever and at
that point too, I would assumethat they would have enough
money to like she's probably hasa house cleaner, it has like 10
chefs and you know like allthat stuff.
And even if she doesn't, whywould she be the one expected to
do that like?
That's so weird to me I wasvery shocked.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
First I thought it was fake, but then I did some
research and like no, it's realyeah, and's embarrassing too.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
I feel like that's like a very low blow to a woman
Like I feel like that's, that'slike a very disrespectful way.
I feel like that would be heralmost saying like oh, he didn't
make any money and he didn'tprovide anything, so that's why
I left him, you know which.
Maybe that was the case, butthat's like a very not nice
thing to say.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah, and I guess in that podcast she also mentioned
that.
You know she should have saidsomething, because people think
that he was the one that hit herand caused her to lose hearing
in one of her videos.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
She never did say who did that.
She just said an ex-boyfriendand just left it at that.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Well, that already sounds.
If he's mad about the cookingand cleaning, that sounds kind
of right up that alley.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
And you know she's also dated stars like Wesley
Snipes and other people likethat.
So she didn't make anyreference to who this person is,
what they did for a living orwhatever.
So there's no way of knowing.
So to me, if you're this angry,I don't know, maybe I'm looking
at it the wrong way, merle, butyou kind of point the finger at
yourself.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, definitely.
I think everyone has a right tolike.
I think if he felt that way,there's a nice way to say it.
I'm just like oh, my idealpartner is a little bit more
domestic, or you know, like hehas a.
Everyone has a right to like,wish things were certain way and
to really say like, okay, ifthat's really important to him,
he has every right to feel thatway.

(29:13):
But just to phrase it in a waythat like takes accountability
for him rather than blaming iton her.
And yeah, I just don'tunderstand like the house
cleaning part.
I mean, she's like rich, so Ijust don't understand how that's
an issue.
Just like hire a house cleaner.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
I just don't understand how that's an issue
Just like hire a house cleaner.
But here's the crazy thingMeryl, 30 years ago she was a
big star there.
Yeah, yeah, it's not like shejust became the star overnight.
You know, when you married hershe was a big star, a Lester, at
the time.
That's why I was thinking I'mlike you know, is this guy just
upset?

(29:46):
Is he just throwing out a lotof salt?
I mean, what's going on withthis guy?

Speaker 2 (29:50):
It seems like he also probably couldn't handle, I
guess, because I mean, halleBerry was always mentioned as
like one of the most beautifulwomen, that like women love and
men love and everything.
So I bet he was really jealousand really threatened because I
feel like she was a lot ofpeople's like dream girl
basically and could was a lot ofpeople's dream girl basically.
Could you just imagine the wayeveryone's talking about her and
then she goes home to a husbandthat was mad that she wasn't

(30:12):
making cinnamon rolls orsomething?
I'd be like bitch, I'm HalleBerry, shut up.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
I was really shocked at the statement.
And what makes this evencrazier?
This was 30 years ago.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
I mean seriously.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
You're still upset about this.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah, that's weird, and and it's for 30 years to go
by and for him not to phrase itin a different way to say, oh,
like our domesticness justdidn't match up, but like I
learned a lot, or you know, likeafter 30 years you should be
able to at least pretend to spinit in a better way yeah, I mean
, I would think that after 30years, if someone asks, hey, why
did you guys work out?

Speaker 1 (30:50):
just say that, hey, you know, we just wasn't a good
match for each other and yeah,it's not for us to, you know, go
our separate ways and leave itat that exactly and something
tells me she wasn't how you said.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
like she's not sitting around eating bonbons
and, like you know, she's notcooking and cleaning and like
laying on the couch in her own,like Cheeto does.
She's working and I think sheprobably was busy and like
probably flying all around andworking out and just taking care
of herself.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
Yeah, I mean one would almost argue is maybe he
was jealous that you know, shewas so successful.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
But I just thought it was weird after 30 years.

Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
You know you're saying all this stuff right now.
It's like what happened thatall of a sudden, you know you
just got this hate going on,where you just want to go out
and just tell people what'sgoing on.

Speaker 2 (31:38):
Exactly.
It's a good reminder that justbecause people are some people
are really, really, really goodlooking, they can still have
idiot spouses.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
That is so true.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
That is so true, that's why it's nicer to be very
average like me.
No, but I mean it's always likeI think we equate like how
beautiful someone is.
I mean I'm not trying to beself-deprecating, but, like you
know, we're always so shockedwhen these like people get
cheated on or how did thishappen?
But it seems like a lot of themiserable people are like
they're like beyond, beyond,beyond beautiful ones.

(32:10):
So it pays to be.
We're trying to all aim to bejust in the normal herd of
things.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
Well, I always say that beauty, beauty is in the
eye of the beholder, and I'vealways said this and people
think I'm crazy for saying this.
There is no such thing as anugly man or ugly woman.
The reason I say that is youtake a man or a woman, doesn't
matter, and let's say it's a manand you line up 10 women, or

(32:35):
you have a woman and you line up10 men.
Every last one of them aregoing to see that same person
differently.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Exactly exactly.
That's.
What I think I love aboutsociety is that some people can
see someone and be like ew, andthen someone else is like that's
my dream person.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
Except every man will pick Jessica Alba, which I
don't really quite understand,but that's for a different time.
That's okay, it's for adifferent.
I'd rather Halle Berry, but oh,this is mine is perfect for the
next one.
This is speaking of hot people.
The Vatican is about to hosthot priest influencers who
spread the word of God toyounger faithful people as the
numbers slump.

(33:12):
So I thought this was so silly.
The Vatican is set to hostinfluencers and missionaries to
discuss spreading the churchmessages through social media
and is looking for some helpfrom hot priests.
They're looking for over athousand priests and friars who
will flock to Rome Last week andbasically they're trying to

(33:33):
reach the younger generation.
And I mean, I think this isreally smart Because they're
having some hot people,Including Father Giuseppe, A
bodybuilding silver fox FromItaly who has more than 60k
Instagram followers.
This just seems like a realityshow waiting to happen, right?

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yeah, I have weird thoughts going in my mind.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
I know this is a little weird.
It's a little weird, but I meanthe same way that firefighters
are hot and it doesn't make usthey're obviously not fighting
fires better, but it does helpus just recognize them more in
the community.
I'm not mad at this.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
I mean, how would you feel, you know, a priest?
You know, basically like aChippendale, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, Bible everyone we're going to read together.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
Exactly, and I don't.
I don't know if that wouldreally sway people.
Yeah, but yeah, this is sosilly.
The caption says that he'samassed a following as broad as
his chest on social media, apulpit where the 58 year old
spreads the gospel, hisreflections on life and beefy
pics.
Alrighty, now everything.

(34:51):
So I don't know, maybe they'retrying to get more modern, which
I think is at least good forbringing in the new generations,
but then then you should getreally modern and like welcome
gay people and welcome all typesof people you know which I?
know they do.
There's more and more placesare starting to, but, um, I
don't know, it's so silly.
I love this guy.
There's another one, a 46year-old who has almost 500,000

(35:12):
followers on Instagram.
He also advocates for rescuebeagles and for fellow Italians
to adopt pets.
I feel like he's using hishotness in a really good way.
He's using what he got.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Whatever it takes to bring in a flock right.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
Exactly.
I have to say I'm not mad atthis.
As long as they're finding outthat these people are truly
meaning well and not trying tomanipulate anything, I'm okay
with it.
Okay, all right, you'rechiseled.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
I'll get you a hot priest calendar and send it over
to them.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
Except I'm Jewish, so I'm going to need the hot
rabbis.
Maybe I'll start one of thosethings.
That would actually be really,really funny having a TV show of
just hot rabbis and hot priests.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
And you know what's so crazy.
That would actually be a showthat would get ratings.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
I know, and then really hot gospel singers.
I want to take every religionand just have like that really
would.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
You should write that down, because that's an
excellent idea.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
I know right, and I guess the competition would be
who can convert more people totheir religion.
It's what God would want.
I would watch it.
Yeah, me too.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
Talk about interesting people here.
This one not so great.
There was a nurse imposter.
Her name is Autumn Berdisaisa.
She was arrested after treatingover 4 000 patients without a
license unbelievable now there'sa whole lot of things come to

(36:45):
mind with this story.
Like for one, no one reallythought about checking.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:52):
So basically the way the story goes is this person
got hired as a nurse registerednurse and she said she went to
the classes she got her license.
So she gave them a validlicense number of someone in her
nursing class.
Oh my gosh, that does have alicense.

(37:12):
Now they have the same firstname.
But then there was a questionas well, your last name is
different than on the license.
She goes well, I just gotmarried, haven't changed yet.
So they're like okay, noproblem, show us your marriage
license because that is common,that's not a big deal.
Well, for whatever reason, fastforward.
A few years later she's doingnursing duties, she's given IVs

(37:37):
and all this other stuff thatnurses do they never go back?
What made them look intoinvestigating her is she was up
for a promotion and they askedher again and they did an
investigation and found out thatshe never did have a license oh
my gosh he was arrested for,you know, for a past, you know,

(38:02):
impersonating a nurse.
Uh, I think at the time she wasarrested she actually did have
her license, she just got it,but I don't know that.
There's a whole lot of thingscome to mind like and I know the
hospital doesn't have anycomment right now that hired her
.
Yeah, comment.
I mean, what do you think aboutthis, meryl?

Speaker 2 (38:21):
I mean I could see how something like that would
pass, could pass through for awhile, because it's like I'm
sure it's not every day thateveryone's like license, please.
My other thought is, like howlong did she think she could
keep this up and what did shethink was going to happen at
some point, you know?
And it's like the longer thiswent on, just the worse.
I also wonder if she'll gettried like 4,000 times.

(38:43):
I mean, you know, that's like4,000 different crimes,
basically that she did with eachpatient, and I bet the severity
of it too, where it's like youknow how you said she's
administering IVs, but who knowswhat else she did for people,
and so I'm sure the level oflike what she did goes up and
down.
But that's just, yeah, that's,that's bad, bad.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
Yeah, but it also highlights too is you know, you
think that the hospital orwherever you're going is doing
their due diligence?
Yeah and to find out thatthey're not.
You know what?
If there was someone that didthis, that did not have any
training whatsoever, and youknow, people were dying as a
result.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
I know, I know and I just don't understand.
Like to me that's just such aslap in the face for all their
people that do do the processcorrectly and it is annoying to
have to, I sure, like get yourlicense and fill out all the
paperwork and everything.
And it's just like that nursethinking she's above everyone or
sneaky is very annoying to me.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
And what's so scary about this, Meryl, is that it's
very easy to verify if a personhas a license or not.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
Yeah, that's just pure laziness.
Maybe I'm looking at it thewrong way.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
No, I agree, Sometimes I feel like stuff like
that in a hospital.
They probably just either letit slide or they just see her
every day or they just believeher.
But to be that long with likeokay, you're using a different
person's license and you saythat you can't change it, that's
just gone on.
I can see like a week, you know, but then after that you have

(40:12):
to find out the truth.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Oh, absolutely Absolutely, and it's a little
embarrassing.
I'm quite sure that after thishappened, they probably did a
massive check on everyone'slicenses after that yeah, yep,
yep.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
I just don't understand, too, why someone
would want to practice on thatmany people unlicensed, like I
don't know.
I feel like if you're gonna gobig, why not?
She should pretend she's adoctor, like a surgeon, why not?
Why not just go in the surgeryroom and be like actually I got
it?
It's showing a low.
I mean, nurses are the absolutebest.
I love nurses so much.
But I'm saying like, yeah, like, if you're gonna, it's like

(40:48):
that le Leonardo DiCaprio, likecatch me if you can, where I'm
like just go rent a plane ifyou're going to go this big.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
That's true, but man, just to think about it, the
only way she got caught isbecause they looked into her,
because they were about to giveher a promotion, which is kind
of scary.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
Yeah, I know.
So then what do you think?
Does it say what's going tohappen to her?

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Not yet, because I know she was just arrested
recently, but I am going to bepaying attention to see because
I'm quite sure the media isgoing to be very interested in
this.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
Yeah, me too.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
So yeah, make sure you you know when you get your
nurses and doctors, just makesure.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
Oh, I'll be asking Even my dentist.
I'll be like show me yourcredentials.
Where did you go to school?
I want to see everything.
I used to always look at thatif I went somewhere, like when
they have their little things onthe wall and I'm like, oh, you
went here.
Yeah, I'm very nosy, that kindof way too, oh no, that's being
safe that's true, but then it'slike they could just make it at

(41:47):
kinko's or you know.
They could print out some,pretend like they could make it
on Canva and just givethemselves a pretend thing.
True true.
Well, someone else that just gotin trouble at work is a
meteorologist in Minnesota, justdefended himself after he was
seen texting his wife live onair during storm coverage.
This just happened not too longago where Nick Jansen was

(42:09):
helping KTTC and his weatherteam track severe weather in the
region.
Concerned about the severeweather, he began texting his
wife just to make sure that hiswife and the daughter were safe.
At the same time, one of hiscolleagues was on camera when a
power outage cut his feed andthen, of course, just as luck
would have it, the switchercamera went back at him who he
was still texting, texting hiswife.

(42:30):
So I think this is one of thosethings too.
He wasn't like it was just oneof those comedy of errors where
he was on and it just becausethe power cut it went right to
him.
I think when the story firstbroke, people were saying that
he was just like picking up hiscamera now, the way that you and
I you know if we're just doingthat he would just be texting.
But, um, I don't know, mean Icould see something if

(42:52):
something's happening in thatminute.
I think he was trying to tellhis family, like, go to the
basement and shelter.
But I just thought also can'tyou just wait like 11 seconds?

Speaker 1 (43:02):
I agree, I mean, and I get it, I get it, you want to
make sure your family's safe orwhatever, but you're a
professional and I guess the wayI look at it, meryl, is what if
you have a quarterback?

Speaker 2 (43:12):
okay, oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
He's supposed to go in because, hey, they're trying
to get this touchdown and hegoes.
Hey, you know what?
Give me one second.
I just need to check, make surethe family's okay.
He's probably not going to play, that's true, that's very true,
and you're right.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Like a Broadway star, like if I was on Broadway and
one of my friends called me, I'dbe like hi, I'm just kind of in
the middle of stuff.
So, yeah, I guess that's true,where there's some things like
an Olympic skater or somethingyou just put, your phone is away
and unfortunately, if somethinghappens in that moment, that's
just life.
The one thing that I think whyI could see a little bit is he
said that she goes to sleepearly and he wanted to keep her

(43:52):
informed of the situation beforeshe dozed off.
So like I could see that partwhere if something's happening
at night and he's not going toget to see them, then that is
important.
Just to make sure, like, hey,you guys might be sleeping for
the next eight hours.
So like just be ready to go tothe basement.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
Oh yeah, and you know the other thing thing too is
the weather section of the newsIs really not that long Most of
the time and I'm quite surethere's a way you can signal To
go to someone you know so youcan text it.
You know whatever In betweenthat's cool, but you know to be
in the middle Of doing theweather, I know you know, hold

(44:31):
on, oh the middle of doing theweather, I know.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
You know, hold on.
Oh my gosh, I do know this.
However, I was so guilty when Idid morning radio.
I would actively be like I hadanother freelance job and I
would literally be on air andlike finishing my other
copywriting job.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
But you're on radio, though no one can see what
you're doing.
I know, I know that's true that, but you're on radio though.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
No one can see what you're doing.
I know, I know, that's true,that's true, but still it's like
you're very like you're stillnot present, which I learned my
lesson.
But even there was no emergency.
I was just actively working onsomething else, as I was giving
movie reviews, you know.
But I definitely think to me, Ithink I would probably be
guilty and I would be like thisguy, but yeah, I don't know,

(45:13):
like this guy, but yeah, I don'tknow.
I feel like, honestly, if I wasworking and there was like a
big weather thing, I wouldprobably risk it and like text
my boyfriend just to make surehe's okay.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true, I can definitelyunderstand that.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
I can understand both of them.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Well, my last one is a very good one.
Well, an octopus grabbed asix-year-old boy's arm at the
San Antonio Aquarium.
So you have some people thatare saying, you know, hey, the
aquarium's at fault.
You know they should dosomething.

(45:48):
And you have other peoplesaying that this mother was
crazy.
Why would you pick up your sonand let them pet an octopus in
the first place?
yep, the basic backstory is is Iguess this is an area where you
know you are allowed with astaff member, you know to touch
the animals, okay, and I guessshe was saying that you, you

(46:10):
know he's been there before,he's touched this octopus, and
this time the octopus was actingkind of weird and it's like
okay, before you finish yourstory, if the octopus is acting
weird, why would you want yourchild touching it?

Speaker 2 (46:23):
But that's the second point, Right, when the octopus
is almost like the length andheight of the child itself.
So like why?

Speaker 1 (46:31):
would you want him to ?

Speaker 2 (46:31):
touch it Exactly.

Speaker 1 (46:35):
And then, when the child touched it, the octopus
grabbed it, held it a littletight and started climbing up
almost to the point of comingout of the aquarium.
So there was one of the workersthat came over and they
couldn't get him off him, so acouple more came over to help.
That's a signal you probablyshouldn't have touched that
octopus in the first place.

(46:56):
Yeah, and I guess they took icecubes or whatever to get the
octopus to move.

Speaker 2 (47:01):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
And there's a bunch of like little hickeys, welts or
whatever.
Oh so you know he's not likeinjured or anything, but it's
basically like a hickey Justlittle dots all over.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
Yeah, like little suction cups or whatever.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Yeah, and I don't know, I guess me personally,
even if you could, I wouldn'twant my kid touching an octopus.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
But that's just me personally?
No, not at all.
I feel like for the sake of theanimal especially, an octopus
is not meant to be manhandled bya million people and it
probably doesn't like.
It's not being bad, it's justthat's what it's an octopus and
it's being like touched by someweird foreign person and it
probably doesn't like that.
If I wonder if this is the sameone that I keep on seeing on
tiktok.

(47:43):
That's like actively wrappingitself around a zookeeper too,
who's like trying to like she'slike it's very nice and
meanwhile it's like mingling herby the neck.
So everyone's like it's verynice and meanwhile it's like
mingling her by the neck.
So everyone's like maybe we putthis one away.
It really doesn't want to betouched by people.
And then it would just be sosad because to me, like if it
kept going, it might have had tobe to the point where they like
euthanized it, and I meanthat's like also disgusting

(48:06):
thinking of like just an octopusbeing killed while it's wrapped
around you.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Yeah, and you know, the other thing too and I think
we overlooked this is thatanimals get stressed too.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
And let's face it, everyone's kid is not very good
okay.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
Yep, I know.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
So you know that octopus may have been stressed
out by how many people aretouching it all the time and
some of them acting real stupid.
You know was irritating them,maybe hitting them or whatever,
and you know, maybe the octopusis like you know what, buddy,
I'm going to have a little funwith you today exactly.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
It's like I'm going to cup your face and if that was
like a really little little kid, I mean it really could like
climb on and like suffocate akid and just like a lion or a
monkey or something like that,that is a creature just existing
and trying to, that has no cluewhat's going on.
So I feel like we need to alsoprotect those and leave it into
a place where it's like safe andnot being touched by a million

(49:02):
random people.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
Oh, yeah, because, if you think about it, the octopus
is in a tank, so which means,unless you physically go over
there, that's octopus can't doanything to you.

Speaker 2 (49:12):
Right, yeah.
Yeah, there's one on TikTok, ifyou see it, where she keeps on
trying to be like we're justletting it be and meanwhile it's
crawling up her and likewrapping it around her hair and
her neck and everyone is like,lady, you don't need to convince
us of everything, just stepaway from the octopus.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
Yeah, but that part kind of really caught me off
guard when she says, yeah, theoctopus was a lot bigger than
the last time and was actingweird, so that's so sad.
Yeah, it's probably likeagitated and upset exactly, but
to me, if an animal looks alittle weird, why would you want
to touch it?

Speaker 2 (49:53):
I know, because especially if it's sick, then
you don't want it being likewrapped around people or having
people touch it, and then ifit's upset or stressed, then
yeah, that's like that breaks myheart thinking.
Even though I like to eatoctopus, I feel bad thinking
about it like stressed in a tankand everything.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
Oh yeah, definitely, Definitely, because you know,
know, that's not a normalhabitat for an octopus, because
the octopus roams the, the, youknow, the oceans and the rivers,
or whatever you know I know, Iknow I feel bad, like the more
time goes on, the more.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
I'm fine just observing like animals, and I
don't need to be touching themor, you know, poking at them or
anything like that yeah,watching them on tv or watching
them through a tank is goodenough for me exactly like I.
Never growing up, I nevertouched an octopus and I was
completely fine like I.
You mean you wouldn't go thereand pet the octopus?

(50:42):
no, definitely not.
I would like if there was onethat was so friendly and they
were like it's begging for it,you know, like like a little
eight of his hands to be touchedand stuff like that.
Like, if it was, if they likedit, I would say yes, but for the
most part it's probably likereally confused and I don't know
I don't blame you yeah, peoplealways like I've seen at the san

(51:04):
diego zoo too, they have toactively stopping people from
like dangling their kids overthe like.
just different, like the cheetahexhibits and everything Are you
serious.
Yeah, it's crazy.
I feel like there's a bunch ofdoo-doo heads that, just like
you know, wow, yep, okay, I know.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
Interesting, Very very interesting.

Speaker 2 (51:26):
Exactly Well, someone that won't be at the tank will
be the first female umpire toreferee a game.
Jen Paywall has made USsporting history by becoming the
first female umpire to refereean MLB game during the regular
season.
I thought this was awesome.

(51:47):
She's 48, and she oversaw.
The first game was the MiamiMarlins and Atlanta Braves, and
she said I'm aware of thegravity, I'm aware of the
magnitude.
She said no, I thought this wasso funny because the first call
that she made my boyfriendshowed me was actually like a
really bad call and she was likereally wrong, which I think is

(52:10):
amazing Of course you had topoint that out.
Exactly, we watched it.
I'm like I love that.
I think that's like so funny,but I'm sure.
But it's like, hey, welcome tothe game.
So I mean this is crazy thather entry came after 28 years
after the NBA allowed its firstfemale basketball referee.
So that's so crazy that likeafter 28 years now that's

(52:34):
happening and it says theNational Hockey League has yet
to see a female referee.

Speaker 1 (52:37):
Yes, yes, and you know it's kind of a shame that
we're in 2025 and this is afirst.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:48):
And I think kudos to her because you know, know, a
lot of these women are openingup doors.
They really are.
When the WNBA came on board,you know a lot of people really
didn't take that leagueseriously, but now look at it,
it's like one of the Hottestthings to watch on TV now.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Yeah, and do you think, like I mean, I wonder, I
don't even know if she came Fromsomewhere specific or If there
was like an opening for her.
Do you think how?
Like I mean, I wonder, I don'teven know if she came from
somewhere specific or if therewas like an opening for her.
Do you think how much of thisbasically was publicity versus
like she was?
I mean, of course she'squalified for the job, but do
you think MLB was like okay,this is also part of like a good
publicity plan.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
I think it was a combination of both, because you
know she went up through theranks just like any other empire
you know, came up from theminor leagues Because you know,
in order to be a professionalreferee, you can't just jump
into that position.
You have to, you know, work yourway to that spot.
So she paid her dues andeverything, everything.

(53:49):
And the other thing is there'sprobably going to be other women
that's probably in the minorleagues right now, that we're
not aware of that at some pointwill come up to the majors.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
That's true, and if they're concerned about drama,
they shouldn't be, because, fromwhat I already see, there's
already so many fights of likeyou did this, you did this, and
then everyone comes rushing onthe field.
So if whatever they'reconcerned about like a
quote-unquote female it'salready either happening or it's
just going to get better.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
That is true.
I agree.
Kudos, though Kudos to havingher on the board.
There's actually female NFLcoaches Not head coaches and not
offensive and defensivecoordinators or whatever but
they are there NFL coaches Nothead coaches and not offensive
and defensive coordinators orwhatever, but they are there.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Oh, that's cool.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
I just think it's probably only a matter of time
before we see one.
It may not happen this year,next year, whatever, but I think
at some point we're going tostart seeing women come up in
roles of refereeingeing,coaching and all this other
stuff.
I think you're going to startseeing quite a bit of that I do

(54:58):
too.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
I wonder if they're going to treat her like if
they're upset about something,if it's going to be better or
worse, and I also I don't wantto see the first coach or player
that like is mean to herbecause she's a female, you know
.
I mean, if someone calls herthat, if you're going to be mean
or mad the way that people are,you have to do it all across
the board and just stay fair andnot give a female whatever

(55:20):
insult.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
I think, as long as they get past the stereotypes,
because one of the big issueswith because I know there's some
female NBA referees and the bigscare about having a female
referee because I actually heardpeople saying this I think it's
kind of dumb, but I candefinitely see the point.
You know, like in basketball,you know they'll pat each other

(55:45):
on the behind hey, good job,whatever.
Or they'll pat you on the headgood job, whatever.
And they're thinking thatwouldn't be good because you pet
a female ref.
You know, know you'd probablyget sued or whatever yeah, yeah,
I'm thinking, but no, it's true.

Speaker 2 (55:58):
So they pet the referees on the buck too, it's
like hey, you know thanks, oh,yeah, yeah yeah, I get it, yep
and it's like they were scared.

Speaker 1 (56:06):
Like, okay, you do this to a male rep, it's no big
deal.
Like, okay, I get whatever, butam I going to get sued or
something?
You know I'm getting a lot ofrep.
It's no big deal.
Like, okay, I get it, whatever,but am I going to get sued or
something.
You know from getting in a lotof trouble if it's a female.
You see what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Exactly.
That's one thing I love aboutcomedy too is that, like when
you're like, after I'm done withthe show or whatever boys
always just know, let like they,they book me the way that, like
a normal, you know that, likethey don't like hold back,
they're not like, oh perfect,you know, but of course they're
not about to like we're notabout to spank each other, but

(56:39):
but also they're not doing thatin real life.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
So that's true story.
We'll see.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
Unless she makes the worst calls ever, then that
would be really silly.
If it's like, come on.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
That is true.
Well, talk about good stuffcoming.
What do you have coming up,Meryl?

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Yay.
Well, this coming Friday I'mpart of a really fun show.
I think I've mentioned thisbefore, but I'm part of a show
called Horror Nerd, where it'sabout horror movies and the
comedians each get five minutesand we do a set based on like a
horror theme, and this theme issummer slasher.
So I'm going to be talkingabout like summer camp and

(57:20):
sleepaway camp, all those likeslasher movies.
Um, so that is this friday atthe hollywood improv, the small
room there that sounds likethat's going to be really good.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
It's so cool, cool.
Well, this was a great, greatepisode and, as always, I had a
lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (57:39):
Me too.
Oh, when someone messaged me,it was either from this podcast
or somewhere else, but it was sosweet where someone was like
I'd love to come to a show, butI'm by myself and and I also
just wanted to say, like peopleare welcome to always come by
themselves I feel like you and Igo places by ourselves.
You know what I mean Like it'scool to go places by yourself.
So if you whether it's my showor something that Lawrence is
doing or someone you know like Ithink, if you're thinking about

(58:02):
stuff, it's not geeky, the waythat it used to be when we were
growing up Like lots of peoplethat I know go to the movies or
go shows by themselves, that wasactually a nice, nice little
post, isn't that so sweet?
I got an instagram message fromsomeone saying like it was
someone I didn't even know andsaid I like watching the podcast
.
Um, I think they were going tobe in, like maybe they're going
to be in san diego, and theysaid is it cool if I, like don't

(58:22):
have anyone to come with?
I'm like oh my god that's sosweet yeah that is cool.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
I mean, uh, I want to to share something that someone
put a post up.
It was actually a reply to oneof the one of the posts that
that I put up and it was really,really, really, really good.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
It's me Go ahead and grab it here, I think we're all
attuned to like negative thingson social media that when people
are nice, we're like thank you.
So much to negative things onsocial media that when people
are nice, we're like thank youso much the reason I'm sharing
this, because it really put asmile on my face.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
Let me find it here.
Content and this is kind ofgoing a little off script
because we normally don't dothis, but I thought it was kind
of cool.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
I love heartwarming things let's see here now.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
Of course it's taking me a few minutes because it was
all in my face early, but now Igotta look for it.
That's okay.
Let's see here.
Oh, here, it is okay.
Um, this person put on heregreat short.
Love the channel.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Oh, I love that.
That's so sweet.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
Thank you to that person, and that's very, very
sweet and nice.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
I feel like when people go out of their way to
say nice things to independentpromoters or just to let people
know promoters, or even just, oryou know, just to let people
know that you're even watching,it doesn't even necessarily have
to be like a nice thing.
I think that just goes a longway, Cause you know, it really
does.

Speaker 1 (59:59):
I mean to me, when a person kind of goes out of their
way to put that up there, youknow, I do like to acknowledge
it if I can, because that'sactually very nice that they did
it, and to actually put itthere where other people can see
it too.
So I'm very appreciative ofthat.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
I've been even just trying to engage more, even on
TikTok, like if I'm watchingsomething and consuming and I'm
like, oh, I like that, and Ijust scroll away.
I'm like wait, wait, wait, letme go back and actually show
that I liked it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
So yeah, Definitely Well, everyone, definitely well,
everyone.
Thank you for watching and umand supporting us and, you know,
always make sure that you reachout to us on social media if
you like what we're doing, haveany ideas or whatever, or, you
know, just want to just see ourbeautiful face, you know that's
exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
If you're one of the hot vatican popes, too, I am
taken, but feel free to send mea selfie too.

Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
Well, everyone, I am Lauren Zellroth.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
And I'm Meryl Clemo.

Speaker 1 (01:00:59):
Have a great day everyone.