Drained Battery Society

EPISODE 13 - Turns Out, This Is the Good Stuff

Somewhere along the way, the things that matter started changing.

This week, Peter takes a look at what becomes more valuable as we get older: time, comfort, independence, and the increasingly wonderful ability to simply say, “I don’t want to.”

There’s also an exit strategy for goodbyes that refuse to end, a Nobody Needed This product that unexpectedly wins its own argument, and a Recharge Recommendation to stop spending backward and finally buy the good version of something you use every day.

Plus, a listener checks in from a sewer in Maine, Luxury Exhaustion makes burnout sound expensive, and we discover that apparently even making the bed has occupational hazards.

At some point, money stops being about what you can buy and starts being about what you can stop doing.

And eventually, “I don’t want to” becomes a complete explanation.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

EPISODE 12:  That’s Geography

Holding the door for someone shouldn’t require geometry, but here we are.

This week, Peter puts some questionable internet wisdom about surviving your 50s to the test, wonders when the little yellow Teams dot became a workplace ankle monitor, and investigates a banana slicer allegedly inspired by a vision from God.

Then, a night at a small local theater becomes this week’s Recharge Recommendation, and a listener from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula checks in with a field report on lake-effect snow, tourists, and buying a snowblower for possible use in August.

Plus, Jenny T and the Step Stools, Woody Johnson, and a BLACK HOLE dedicated to keeping expectations exactly where they belong.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 11 – Won’t Get Fooled Again

This week, Generation FU goes to work.

Back after a fun week on the yacht, Peter looks at what happens when thirty years of experience somehow becomes a liability, every conversation needs its own collaboration platform, and knowing where the button is starts counting for more than knowing whether you should push it.

Then we widen the lens to culture itself—corporate slang, shrinking attention spans, algorithms, “digital natives,” and the uncomfortable realization that the kids didn’t exactly take over. The rest of us just followed them onto the internet.

Along the way: Waiting Room Olympics, the National Endowment for Talking Before Thinking, Organic Dirt, Chronos Minimalist Watches, and a Recharge Recommendation involving the most neglected feature on your smartphone: the phone.

Change is inevitable. Progress is another question.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 10 - The Yacht Rock Roundtable

Episode 10 leaves the dock and heads straight into dangerously smoooooth waters.

Hang onto your captains' hats! Peter is joined (reluctantly, despite promises of superstardom) by DBS contributors Kimberly Q. Delaney and the Fabulous Beth P. for the first-ever Drained Battery Society Yacht Rock Roundtable, a celebration of silky harmonies, questionable facial hair, songs about sailing that may or may not actually involve boats, and the kind of music that somehow makes you want to wear white pants near an open drink.

The panel tackles the big questions: What actually qualifies as yacht rock? Which songs belong on the Mount Rushmore of smooth? If it's the end of the world, what Yacht Rock and Marina Rock songs are thrown into the vault in Norway with the seeds? And how much Michael McDonald is too much Michael McDonald?

Along the way, there are strong opinions, bad decisions, unnecessary awards, marina-level drama, and a five-round Yacht Rock snake draft that might make you consider financing a boat you absolutely do not need.

Pour something cold, drop an umbrella in it, and prepare to sail directly into the soft-rock abyss.

Be sure to check out drainedbatterysociety.com/yachtrock to see and hear more!

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 9 — Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation

This week, Peter introduces Generation FU—not an age group, but the growing collection of companies, products and systems whose operating philosophy seems to be, “We’ve changed things. Figure it out.”

From parking apps and QR codes to disappearing customer service and AI changing the way we find things, the world keeps getting more convenient—as long as you can keep up with whatever replaced the thing you finally learned how to use. Peter also discovers one small problem with his argument: he’s complaining about our dependence on technology while ordering groceries from his phone and discussing the problem with an artificial intelligence.

Progress is good. Build the new thing. Make it faster. Make it better. Just don’t tear down the staircase before everybody figures out how to use the elevator.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 8 – Tuesday Cost Me $147

Convenience has made almost everything easier, but Peter is starting to wonder if some of the effort we eliminated was actually part of the fun. This week, it's a look back at buying music, developing film, getting lost, calling someone's house without knowing who would answer, spending actual cash, and living in a world where the news eventually ran out of pages. Plus, a Bluetooth hairbrush nobody asked for, three television shows that prove it sometimes feels good to feel good, and a listener from northern Maine wondering why she's spent half her life saving the good stuff instead of using it.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 7 – Those People Got...No Reason

One day it happens—you stop noticing "those people" and realize you've quietly become one of them. This week, Peter shares an unexpected trip to the emergency room, the strange realization that older people seem to know everyone's life story, and why there may actually be a waiting room between being young and being old. Plus, a product that somehow turns babies into household cleaning equipment, a reminder that sometimes the best recharge is watching the world wake up before everyone else, and a listener email about arriving everywhere forty-five minutes early...just to sit in the parking lot.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 6 — 16 Tons…and What Do You Get?

This week, Peter wonders when running a simple errand became a part-time job. Self-checkout turns us into unpaid employees, an innocent interest in pickleball threatens the retirement account, and Amazon proves once again that buying one thing is apparently impossible.

There’s also a DIY recording booth, the unavoidable return trip to the hardware store, and a look at electric riding luggage—because apparently walking through an airport was a problem someone felt compelled to solve. 

Plus, a Recharge Recommendation involving a diner, a town where nobody knows you, and 45 minutes with your phone in your pocket. Sometimes getting a little charge back is as simple as going somewhere nobody needs anything from you. 

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 5: Citizen Lame

Getting older apparently comes with rules about what you're still allowed to enjoy. This week, Peter wonders why a $4,000 set of golf clubs is perfectly respectable, but building a giant LEGO Millennium Falcon requires an explanation. Plus, the myth of the "one quick stop," a product that somehow improves on water by making it diet, a sleep mask that turns bedtime into a medical equipment staging area, and a listener from Boston wondering exactly when you're officially old. Turns out the answer may involve bird feeders.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.

Episode 4 – Hair Today, Gone...to the Hardware Store

Getting older isn't about one big moment—it's about a thousand little ones. This week, Peter talks about doctor visits that have quietly become maintenance appointments, the mysterious migration of body hair to places it has no business growing, and why every trip to the hardware store somehow feels better than hauling anything home from it. Plus, a sleeping bag you can wear, a recommendation to support your neighborhood hardware store, and a reminder that growing older may not come with much dignity, but it does come with some pretty good stories.

Drained Battery Society. 

Barely charged.

Fully opinionated.