Apologies Accepted

Encore: Baby Jesus: Away With the Manager

Russ and Phylis have been victims of Christmas pranksters since 2016.  One year the baby Jesus was stolen out of their nativity scene, later returned thanks to the miracle of faith and a very passive aggressive 3-foot-tall sign that Phylis posted on the front lawn.  Another year baby Jesus was stolen and never returned.  In 2019 the merry pranksters struck again, stealing the entire nativity scene…only to return it a few days later with a note of apology (surely returned thanks again to the miracle of faith and yet another giant passive aggressive note signed by Phylis).

 

We’re here to rate the apology note the thieves left behind and explore the mystery of the nativity: how accurate is our modern day understanding of the birth of the baby Jesus?  What about the Wise Men, or the animals in the manger, or even the year and day of the birth?  What is true and what is fiction? We take a deep dive into first century Christianity and all the things around the two completely different birth narratives found in the Bible.

 

Note from Phylis: Do not listen to these two heathens discuss my nativity set or any of the words they can muster out of their mouths. (Note on the note: please note this is not an actual note from Phylis).

FabFitFun: The Cost of Free Speech

FabFitFun is a monthly gift subscription box that arrives filled with surprises.  The idea is that the total cost of the items in the box is worth waaaay more than your monthly subscription price.  Subscribers love it and it's been kicking around since 2010 just delighting people and making money.

That is until the company decided to throw its advertising money on the site-formerly-known-as-Twitter after Space Karen (Elon Musk) decided to add his free speech ability and endorse a tweet that was pretty anti semitic.  “You have said the actual truth.” Musk tweeted in agreement to what is widely known to be an anti semitic trope.  Advertisers fled the site and Musk started waving the banner of free speech.

Later, on stage at a conference, Musk made his "free speech" speech and then said he was being blackmailed by Bob Iger (Disney) and that Bob could go "F'ck Yourself."  This was his heroic mic drop moment but it fell flat since it was based on the false premise that Bob Iger gives a f*ck about what Elon thinks.

But the people at FabFitFun decided that free speech was a worthy cause and that "#gofuckyourself" would make a great promo code and hashtag.  So sign up now and get a box mailed to your house each month filled with presents worth way more than your monthly subscription price!

FabFitFun fans were not amused.  Apparently the whole Nazi anti semitic thing just flew under the radar at the corporate headquarters of FabFitFun.  The $100,000 they threw to Elon to support his free speech movement was wasted money as instead of getting lots of new subscribers, they lost subscribers.

But wait, they apologized and are ready to make things right!

What is free speech, where does it come from, and what use is it?  Is free speech free from consequences?

Weight Watchers: The Skinny on Sorry

Weight Watchers used shame as part of their buffet of options to motivate people to lose weight.  You are what you eat and your self control is visible in the extra pounds you carry around.  It was all tied together nicely and that's the way it was until Ozempic showed up and was like "hey friend, I gotta let you know a secret" and the secret was you could lose weight without Weight Watchers.

There was a sea change in the diet world when Ozempic appeared and that sea change came with a whale of an apology from Weight Watchers.  Suddenly Weight Watchers was losing weight itself, changing its name to "WW" (not Wonder Woman) and taking the word "diet" out of its marketing.  Big changes, but is WW putting its money where its mouth is?

Matt Rife: Domestic Abuse to Please the Bros

Matt Rife is/was a comedian who rose to fame on Tik Tok.  Most of his followers are/were female, to which he credits his glow up from average to pretty dang good lookin!  On Tik Tok, he comes across as empathetic, caring, not afraid to cross a line and offend in the name of humor, and just super likeable.  On his Netflix special, Natural Selection, he decides to let the world know that he is a bro, a hardcore man whose comedy isn't "pandering to women" and to prove it he opens his special with a joke about domestic abuse.  It didn't go over well (not even in the special where it was a room full of super fans).  The rest of the show was meh but then who are we to criticize with zero Netflix specials?

We're Apologies Accepted, that's who. Matt made his public apology to the world for the joke, and let's just say it was an apology rife (you're welcome!) with insincerity.  But if he's looking to be the new MAGA boy king then he's off to a good start.

*Bonus Encore* Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - Guess Who is Coming to Dinner

In honor of Thanksgiving, a super special bonus encore episode of our fan favorite, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  If you are celebrating or if you are not, we wish you the very best for the upcoming holiday season.  May your Quorn Roast be toasted to perfection!

Snoopy is cooking Thanksgiving dinner and everyone is invited!  Jelly Beans and toast for all - including Franklin, the only black kid in the world of Charlie Brown and Peanuts!  Franklin gets a seat at the table all by himself as the other kids crowd around the opposite side of the table.  Some people see this moment in the show as emblematic of the black experience in America: included but excluded at the same time.  Other people see this as Franklin getting a place of honor: by sitting alone he stands out amidst all the chaos of a dog and bird cooking and serving everyone dinner.  Some people see racism, some see cartoon fun, but everyone can agree that a dog and a bird shouldn’t have to do all the work while a bunch of kids sit around and complain about the food.

What is Thanksgiving, where does it come from, what’s the fact vs. fiction in the history of Thanksgiving?  And what about Snoopy – is there racism going on and is there an actual apology being made by anyone for Franklin sitting all alone at a table crowded with white friends?

Get ready to dish (sorry) about the tasteful (sorry) history of Franklin, his first appearance, his meaning and importance in the world of Peanuts (sorry and yes, we’re using it as a food pun), and the sweet (sorry) teacher from Los Angeles who helped flavor (sorry) his creation.

Thanksgiving: Smallpox Pizza

Right Coast Pizza put out an ad in an edgy music magazine.  The ad showed a pilgrim woman offering a pizza to an indigenous man and apologizing for "all the smallpox."  The ad was meant to be funny, but instead it created a social media backlash and both the magazine and the restaurant apologized.  A town meeting was held and ended in hugs, but did that make everything OK?

Thanksgiving is a national holiday that was meant to unite a divided American country after a terrible and bloody civil war.  It later became the starting line in the race to Christmas, but it has always been intended as the one holiday that everyone can celebrate as an American.

Except that not everyone sees Thanksgiving as something to celebrate and says "no thank you" to pizza and smallpox.

Rolling Stone: Art of Articulation

Jann Wenner founded Rolling Stone magazine in 1967 and become the voice of Rock and Roll journalism for 45 years.  The fact that the voice was white and male was a reflection of the times, and the times kind of never changed for Jann. Rolling Stone captured the revolutionary spirit of the 60's counter culture and helped make it mainstream.  The magazine started with a mission to change the world, and just like the boomer generation it catered to, there was a lot of idealism and hope that faded over time.

Jann recently wrote a book about Rock and Roll and interviewed the people he thought had defined both a generation and a genre.  the seven musicians profiled were all white men and when the New York times questioned why there weren't any women or people of color in his book, Jann explained.  It's a well known secret in the music industry that white men have better singing voices and are better song writers than anyone else, but women and people of color sort of sometimes get lucky and make some sales - but the real art of Rock and Roll music is with the white men.  Also women and people of color can't articulate at the same level, to the same depths, as white men.

You can imagine what happened next.  Actually, you don't have to imagine it because it made the news and Jann realized that if anyone was inarticulate, it was he/him/himself (take that, grammar nerds!).

Encore! Justin Timberlake: Britney Speared

All we can say is daaaammmmnnnn. Britney Spears released her memoir and told the world some things and now the world is having a re-think about Justin Timberlake.  Pop culture history has it that Justin and Britney were the golden couple and super happy until she cheated on him and he expressed his sadness in a couple of pop hits.  He dragged Britney for a couple of years but it turns out that pop culture had it all wrong (shocker) and the real truth is available for $20.93 on Amazon books by one Britney Spears, author of a best selling memoir.  An abortion on demand, a break up over text message, and the years long implication that Britney was some sort of ho and Justin was too good for her.

From National Joke in 2008 to National Treasure in 2020, Britney Spears has been a focus of the tabloid media.  She becomes the center of every story, even this one - because this episode is really about Justin Timberlake’s apology to Britney for how poorly he handled their break-up in 2004.  What does it mean to make an apology 20 years later – is it sincere or just a PR move?

Even though it’s Justin Timberlake’s apology, we’re focused on Britney and her story. Is she truly unable to care for herself, or is there something more going on behind the scenes that we don’t know?  Shout out to Britney’s Gram podcast and the loyal fans of the #FreeBritney movement: Gimme More.

And we promise with crossed hearts that we are back live next week ;)

Encore! Halloween Bonus: The Salem Witch Trials

Happy Halloween!  It's a bonus encore episode in honor of Halloween (aka gay Christmas).  We'll be back live in the studio next week because as our manager has reminded us, vacations are not supposed to last forever.

One summer in 1692 some village girls began behaving strangely.  Witches were the only explanation and so began one of the darkest periods in early American history – The Salem Witch Trials.  200 people were sent to jail and 20 were killed by public execution.  The Witch Trials lasted about a year, and seemingly stopped just as suddenly as they had started.  The big question has always been: why?  Why did a group of young girls accuse grown adult women of attacking them with witchcraft?  Why did Harvard educated adult men convict innocent women and men (and two dogs) of being in league with the devil?  Historians, social scientists, writers, and scholars have examined this event and offered clues which reflected the social issues happening in their own eras – but maybe after 329 years enough time has gone by for us to clearly see the truth behind the issues that sparked the most famous witch-craze in American history?

Encore! Halloween: Babies Stealing Your Candy

It's Halloweeeeeeeen!  And our encore holiday episode celebrating candy and the commercialization of the spooky season!

In these strange times we take you back to the more innocent days of childhood.  Stealing a bowlful of Halloween candy from your neighbor’s porch seems like a gentler crime from gentler days…but there is a social contract involved!  You aren’t allowed to trick anyone who has left you a treat.  That’s the rule.  So once you are found out, you’d better apologize.  We walk through the history of Halloween, how it took root in America, and what grew out of it that lead to a child in Wisconsin breaking with tradition and stealing all the candy from a neighbor's porch!

What other social contracts are being violated?  Regulations around our national food supply?  A short but rousing vegetarian approved sidebar that may just make you choose a salad for lunch.  Or maybe KFC really is the only thing standing between your eyeball and a hungry chicken?

Note: discussion of a public shooting begins the episode.