Curmudgeon's Corner

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, Ivan is traveling, so Sam is joined by his wife Washington State Representative Brandy Donaghy, who gives some insights to the goings on in the State Legislature, including the current state budget issues. Plus her take on the national situation. Before that though, a review of a documentary on an old family friend.

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-03-22

Length this week 1:54:31

0:01:05 - But First

Brandy Not Ivan

Movie: Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty (2021)

0:16:53 - Washington State

WA Budget Crisis

Spending Cuts and Taxes

Other Legislation

Town Halls

0:58:32 - USA National

50501 Movement

Diversity Information Purge

Federal Spending Cuts

National Democratic Approach

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan talk about the latest Government Shutdown and related drama, and how some Democrats are rising to the moment, and others are just... not. They also discuss all the recent stock market turmoil and implications for the larger economy. Plus also how immigrants see the US, low information voters, Tesla, Musk, travel bans... and Stargate SG-1!

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-03-15

Length this week 2:02:03

0:02:13 - But First

Immigrant Impressions

Low Information Voters

Importing Authoritarianism

TV: Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007)

0:47:46 - But Second

Strange Coordinates

Shutdown Politics

Ineffective Dems

Effective Dems

1:16:16 - But Third

Stock Market / Economy

Intentional Recession?

Tesla/Musk Stuff

New Travel Bans

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Ivan is out, so Sam brings on Ed to cohost this time, who with his medical background gives us a full helping of medical news, from the measles and bird flu outbreaks, to discussion of preventative medicine, and even Gene Hackman's death. Not everything is medical though. We also get trip reports from India and Nepal, discussion of private prisons, and Ralph Breaks the Internet!

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-03-08

Length this week 1:35:55

0:00:24 - But First

Ed Not Ivan

India

Nepal

Movie: Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

0:21:46 - But Second

Gene Hackman's Death

Measles Outbreak

Fentanyl Trends

Bird Flu

1:00:08 - But Third

Private Prisons

Deportations

Preventative Medicine

Defacing Teslas

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner Ivan and Sam go into the Trump vs Zelenskyy spat in the Oval Office and all the downstream implications of the radical change in US foreign policy direction. Plus a discussion of how various media outlets, and the corporate world more generally are obeying in advance. But first! An outing in a fast car, and a review of the 2016 version of Ghostbusters!

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-03-01

Length this week 1:41:47

0:00:43 - But First

Repetitive Travel

Ivan at High Speed

Movie: Ghostbusters (2016)

0:31:08 - Trump vs Zelenskyy

Oval Office Encounter

USA's Global Role

Global Chaos

Economic Chaos

1:05:17 - Obeying in Advance

MSNBC Shakeup

Other Media Changes

Non-Media

Potential Violence

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan hit all the political highlights in the middle segment of the show. And for the last segment, by special request, they discuss recent plane crashes. But before all of that, gardening, science fairs, and the TV show Bones. Plus bonus hemorrhoids! You all wanted that, didn't you?

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-02-22

Length this week 2:12:05

0:01:16 - But First

Gardening

Science Fairs

Hire Sam

TV: Bones (2005-2017)

0:38:32 - Politics

Ukraine Reversal

European Security

Budget Negotiations

Trump and Russia again

1:32:35 - Planes

Hemorrhoids

General Aviation Crashes

DC Plane Crash

Toronto Plane Crash

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan talk about Trump and Musk and Adams, including tariffs and deficits and foreign policy and approval numbers. You know. All the stuff. Plus Sam liked The Mitchells vs the Machines. And there ya go. A show. A short show. But a show.

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-02-14

Length this week 1:21:27

0:00:22 - But First

World Too Small

Sam Movie: The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)

0:07:32 - Ivan Stuff

Reciprocal Tariffs

Saying Without Doing

Deficit Reduction

Trump Approval Numbers

0:41:14 - Sam Stuff

Mayor Adams Drama

Musk Dominance Moves

Process vs Results vs Appearance

Trump Foreign Policy

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner Ivan returns to the fold and joins Sam to talk about stuff. The usual stuff. Like birthday celebrations, iPads, and busy offices. But then yeah, of course the majority of the show is about everything going on with the still young second Trump presidency. Because of course it is. It is unavoidable.

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-02-08

Length this week 2:03:46

0:00:38 - But First

Ivan's Birthday

Exhausting News

Busier Office

iPad Options

0:33:08 - Domestic

Unrealistic Demands for Dems

FAFO Anecdotes

Court Challenges

Trump Strategy

1:19:12 - International

Territorial Expansion

Ukraine Progress

Trump's Gaza Plan

Tariff Drama

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, Ivan calls out to celebrate his birthday, so Sam is joined by guest host Bruce, who picks this week's topics. After the usual frothy stuff at the start of the show, we get an update on what happened with Oceangate, a discussion of the implications of Deepseek, and Bruce's libertarian take on the first 11 days of the Trump presidency.

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-02-01

Length this week 1:55:09

0:01:45 - But First

Bruce's 2024 Predictions

CC's TikTok Clips

Sam's Media Reviews

0:23:05 - Tech Stuff

Oceangate

Deepseek

0:58:18 - Trump Stuff

Spending Freeze

Israel/Gaza

Killing DEI

J6 Pardons

Panama and Greenland

Immigration

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan can't avoid it any more, and start talking about the new Trump presidency. They talk specifically about the January 6th pardons and the actions against DEI programs, but more generally they talk about how to Trump everything is about commanding attention. Plus a few other random things to round things out.

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-01-25

Length this week 2:23:54

0:01:10 - But First

Paper Mail

Voice Mail

Replacement Chair

Patreon Updates

0:40:28 - Ivan Things

Perception Vs Reality

Actions Vs Rhetoric

Attention and Money

Scorched Earth

1:28:42 - Sam Things

Jan 6 Pardons

DEI Shutdown

DEI Benefits

Using AOC

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, Sam and Ivan seemingly do everything they can to avoid talking about the end of the Biden presidency and the impending start of Trump's. So the topics are Starship exploding, attending inaugural balls (not Trump's though!), email classification and spam filtering, and the TikTok ban. And extra bonus strange noises at the end.

Show Details:

Recorded 2025-01-18

Length this week 1:59:35

0:00:00 - Cold Open

0:04:55 - But First

Exploding Starship

Inaugural Balls

0:40:39 - Email Stuff

iOS Mail Classification

Spam Filtering

Printing Email

1:11:25 - TikTok Stuff

Ban Upheld

Reasons for Ban

Trump the Savior

Refugees on Rednote

Resolution Options

1:53:36 - Chewbacca Noises

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.