Episode 157 of the Still Spinning Podcast opens with a near-choke and a question: what's the worst thing that can happen on the air? It isn't a fart in the studio. It's getting the giggles right before a serious story. Dan and Nicole look back at their own radio days, including a call to a listener who found a jeweled fake-teeth "grill" in the Journal Sentinel lost and found.

Next they ask whether the holidays really start earlier every year, or whether we just see more of it now that the average person sees 4,000 ads a day. A trip to Starbucks on launch day turns into a nerd hunt when Dan spots the constellation Orion in the window stars. That leads to the Southern Cross, a few flags, and a young barista getting introduced to Crosby, Stills & Nash. They also cover a Christmas high tea that sold out in two days, sold-out Rocky Horror showings, shadow casts, and why nobody needs a Sound of Music sing-along.

Then it's Taco Bell, where about 900 locations now take drive-thru orders with voice AI. That brings back the Taco John's robot that couldn't get "Diet Mountain Dew" right, a local Taco Bell so bad the AI might be an improvement, and a firm no on ever ordering from a robot. Longtime listener Frank checks in with a Rocky Horror correction, and the talk moves to AI scams and which jobs AI could wipe out. Along the way they sing a little Grease and discover that Grease 2 (and its ladder scene) is having a moment.

The "forever cruise" was sold as a floating home. After about 750 days at sea, it docked in Cambodia, the company blamed fuel costs, and residents were told to be off the ship by 2 p.m. Then it sailed away. One man paid $350,000 for his cabin, lived on board for 26 days, and now rents a place in Cambodia for $200 a month. Dan and Nicole explain why they never buy "lifetime" anything (sorry, Calm app), and the talk drifts to House Hunters International, Thailand, pools, and very large snakes.

To finish, they talk holiday food: turkey, mashed potatoes (real ones, please), and Dan's case for the hot roast beef sandwich, with the best one at a pink motel-restaurant in Bellevue, Iowa, near Lock and Dam 12. Kraft has two new limited mac and cheese flavors, chili crisp and... cinnamon roll, which sets up a possible taste test on a future show. They close with a week-long hummus-infused Malort.

Episode 156 of the Still Spinning Podcast starts with Dan and Nicole losing a fight with the end of daylight saving time. Dan can barely stay up until eight o'clock, Nicole catches him hiding a yawn, and they argue about why setting your own clocks ten minutes early makes no sense at all.

Then they say goodbye to Sir Patrick Stewart, who died at 86. Nicole remembers meeting him at a stage door in London, where he chatted with her far longer than he had to. Dan admits he says "Make it so" once or twice a week, sometimes in places we won't mention. They also plug Galaxy Quest as one of the most underrated comedies ever, even if they can't remember half the cast.

The Halloween Hall of Shame goes to Martha Stewart, whose homeless costume and "I am hungry, help me" sign came with a plug for her QVC candles, followed by two apologies. The Hall of Fame goes to Heidi Klum, who spent five to six hours getting into a giant severed hand modeled on her own left hand, tattoo included. That raises the big question: how do you go to the bathroom in that thing? Along the way they cover $25 bags of candy, trunk-or-treats, kids getting scared by animatronics, and why General Sherman Appreciation Day never caught on in Savannah, Georgia.

Next it's off to Newark, the airport Dan calls the worst in the country, where United is testing food delivery right to the gate. You can even order a neck pillow. Dan and Nicole have thoughts on just how lazy we've gotten.

After that comes a man who broke four ribs running from a gorilla... in a dream. It turns out to be REM sleep behavior disorder. That leads to Nicole's sleepwalking niece and nephew, Dan's dad's run-in with a dream Marmaduke, and Dan asking Nicole to be his "anesthesia recovery wingman," code word included.

Finally, country singer Jessie James Decker sprays a fellow passenger's bare foot after it lands on her armrest. Dan isn't sure the video is real, and Nicole would just like to remind everyone that her elbow would get involved.

It's Episode 156 of the Still Spinning Podcast with Dan and Nicole: sleepy clocks, Picard, Halloween hits and misses, lazy airports, dream gorillas, and feet that don't belong on armrests. Catch up on past episodes at stillspinningpodcast.com, and follow the Facebook page for show updates.

Episode 154 of the Still Spinning Podcast begins with fall weather, torrential rain, and Riot Fest turning a Chicago park into several inches of mud. Dan and Nicole wonder how many shoes were sacrificed, what might be found with a metal detector, and who gets stuck with the world’s worst post-festival job: emptying the portable toilets.

Then Dan explains how Ed Sheeran’s concert tour became a logistical nightmare because of his opening act, Macklemore. This leads to a larger conversation about the responsibilities of an opening act, respecting the headliner’s audience, and how Dan has apparently been boycotting Macklemore for years without even realizing it.

Merriam-Webster has added 1,400 new words and phrases to the dictionary, so Nicole quizzes Dan on everything from “trash panda” and “vibe coding” to “Sunday scaries,” “California sober,” and “cuffing season.” Things take an unfortunate turn when Dan hears the phrase “Asian buns,” and somehow they end the episode investigating whether AsianBuns.com is available. It is not. Please do not visit it.

Also this week, a collector buys a painting at a Michigan estate sale for $30 and discovers it may be worth $250,000. This is excellent news for anyone who believes the next garage sale will finally deliver their retirement fund. The story also leads Dan to reveal that he owns Civil War letters written by a Wisconsin soldier who later died at Andersonville Prison, while Nicole reveals that her household owns more than 1,400 Funko Pops. These collections may not have equal historical significance.

Finally, a moviegoer gets pepper-sprayed for using his phone during a film. Dan does not endorse the pepper spraying, but he understands the sentiment. He also shares his firsthand experience with both pepper spray and a Taser before proposing a new system in which every American receives three “attitude adjustment” tasings per year.

It’s Episode 154 of the Still Spinning Podcast with Dan and Nicole: muddy festivals, dictionary quizzes, accidental treasures, questionable collections, and the enduring mystery of Asian Buns.

Dan loses his audio ten seconds before going live (again), so Nicole flies solo for the intro while he wrestles his own computer into submission. Once he's back, the two dive into a genuinely rough week for celebrity deaths and somehow land on Tim Curry trivia neither of them saw coming (we won't spoil it, but "It" will never be the same).

From there it's straight into the AI spiral: a deeply unsettling "ChatGPT and Grandma" commercial, Dan's ongoing feud with chatbots that gaslight him mid-argument, and his real-life horror story about Amazon letting itself into his garage. Yes, you read that right. Then things get truly unhinged with "Oreo Gate," the kindergarten mom-group scandal currently breaking the internet, before Dan closes things out with a bedtime story about a doctor, a dream, and a bat that nobody asked for.

Buckle up, it's a bumpy, hilarious ride back into orbit. Catch up at stillspinningpodcast.com, and note: no live show next week for Labor Day, but a "lost" bonus episode drops Wednesday.

Episode 151: Twelve Dispensaries, One Cage, Zero Regrets

Nicole and Dan are back from an unannounced summer sabbatical, and they have receipts. Nicole hit Aspen, Wisconsin, and San Diego. Dan drove to Michigan. Repeatedly. Buckle up.

This week: Google Maps quietly reroutes Dan onto a pitch-black back road in the middle of nowhere, where he discovers twelve pot dispensaries in a row with nothing else around them, all lit up like casinos. He also waited fifteen minutes at a McDonald's counter to order a single Diet Coke, which he got for free, so arguably he won. Meanwhile in Hurley, Wisconsin (population 1,500, strip clubs 6), Dan spots a sign advertising cage dancing next door to a taco place called The Munch, and immediately proposes a five hour road trip. Nicole's only conditions: significant others come along, and Paul is non-negotiable. She's also still waiting on her Munch t-shirt.

Then the actual topics, allegedly:

Illinois is about to require most retailers to accept cash on purchases under $500, and the gang is genuinely torn. Consumer freedom versus getting your ATM ripped out of the wall at 3am. Also settled once and for all: every cash-only business is definitely hiding something. Yes, including Dan's massage place. No, he does not want anyone touching him.

A woman sent $310,000 to a fake Kenny Chesney she met on LinkedIn, then sued the real Kenny Chesney for not stopping her. A judge has finally weighed in. Public service announcement: no celebrity is DMing you for bus fare to Springfield, Massachusetts.

A toddler on a Porter Airlines flight refused to sit down, the plane went back to the gate, everyone deplaned, and the runway curfew killed the whole flight. Dan and Nicole propose a modest solution involving financial liability and a lifetime ban for the entire family.

And in Alaska, Dan Sullivan is running against Dan Sullivan, and has been endorsed by Dan Sullivan. Nicole calls for a boxing ring. Dan calls for a blind taste test.

Plus: the World of CD-ROM in Kalamazoo, the cobbler shop mystery, why two mattress stores can face each other and both survive, and the shocking revelation that Episode 150 was recorded but never published. It's out there. Somewhere. Not Penny's boat.

New episodes weekly, or whenever they get back from Michigan. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Dan and Nicole are back and choking on Canadian wildfire smoke. This week they dig into the air quality mess blanketing the Midwest (PM 2.5 readings over 600 in Chicago and a jaw-dropping 1,200 in Duluth), why nobody can get a straight answer about who's to blame, and Dan's ongoing need for a "Facebook monitor" to stop him from correcting strangers' grammar in the comments.

From there it's a full grab bag: Sebastian Bach canceling his Waukesha County Fair set, the great "where do you think the air in the barn comes from" debate, and vacation planning gone sideways (sorry, Canada, the beef tastes weird and the Starbucks milk is off).

Also on the docket: United's new Economy Plus row that turns the middle seat into a shared table, garbage trucks that finally pull their own weight (now with AI cameras snitching on your overgrown lawn in Cape Coral), the booming gig economy of professional line sitting and the legend of Franklin Barbecue, a surprise love letter to John Cameron Mitchell and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and a deep dive into Flock license plate cameras: fantastic crime-solving tool or creepy government database?

Next week is the big one hundred fifty. The sesquicentennial. Buckle up. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Watch us record live Monday nights on Facebook, and find us on YouTube, Instagram, and X. Hit subscribe.