Gary flies solo with Shannon still on vacation, she was supposed to be in Puerto Vallarta (catch up on yesterday’s pod for that). 

• New doorbell cam footage suggests Nancy Guthrie's abductor cased her home beforehand
• Lt. General Newton on Mexico's cartel civil war & advice for Americans stuck there
• SOTU preview with Kalshi prediction market odds + 37 Dems boycotting
• Why we've forgotten how to talk to strangers
• 10 Year Anniversary Party ticket giveaway — winner called from French Polynesia

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Gary continues week two coverage of the landmark social media addiction trial and dives deep into the El Mencho story, from the raid to his California roots.

• YouTube VP grilled on the goal of 1 billion watch hours/day — their defense: "we're Netflix, not social media"
• Inside the El Mencho capture: how secrecy and intelligence took down a kingpin whose cartel often outguns the military
• El Mencho's California connection — busted for meth in SF in '86
• A 7,000-word hypothetical blog post helped tank the Dow 822 points: what if AI is so good it's actually bad?
• Anthropic study says you're using AI wrong — and most people don't even question the answers they get

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Gary wraps the show with #WhatsHappening, #SwampWatch, a Pentagon bombshell and #TrueCrimeTuesday.

• #WhatsHappening: Guthrie's $1M reward plea, Americans stranded in Mexico flooding the embassy, NBC's best Olympic ratings since 2014, another Northeast storm overnight
• #SwampWatch: Why 37 Dems skipping the SOTU is a bad look — you were elected to represent your district, show up
• Pentagon warns Trump an Iran strike could burn through interceptor supply in two weeks and stretch forces thin
• #TrueCrimeTuesday: Mom left to go Christmas shopping in 2001 and vanished, found alive 5 days ago, says she doesn't want contact with her family

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Breaking news hits as Shannon is mid-flight to Mexico, with cartel violence triggering emergency orders just as she’s about to land. Shannon joins the show from her revised vacation to explain watching the chaos unfold on Wi-Fi, a nerve-racking flight announcement, and why she’s pivoted to a U.S. vacation instead.
Gary breaks down what’s happening on the ground with NewsNation national security contributor Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, who explains how cartel power shifts work and why these groups operate like paramilitary organizations. The hour wraps with a firsthand update from KFI’s Jesse Blackburn, currently stuck in Mexico, and a welcome dose of good news as USA Hockey wins Olympic gold in overtime.

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Gary breaks down the explosive tech trial being compared to Big Tobacco, questioning whether social media regulation is finally coming, the role of Section 230, and why even tech leaders like Peter Thiel and Steve Jobs kept screens out of their own homes. The conversation turns to global crackdowns, including moves overseas and Gavin Newsom floating restrictions on social media for kids under 16.The hour continues with breaking updates on the Secret Service shooting at Mar-a-Lago, with reporting from The Hill’s Ashleigh Fields, followed by Gary’s reaction to lawmakers skipping the State of the Union. Gary also covers a brutal Northeast winter storm and questions New York City’s snow response before wrapping with a Terror in the Skies segment after hundreds of passengers were stranded overnight on planes at Munich Airport.

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Gary covers the biggest stories of the day, from cartel violence in Mexico and a chaotic moment at the BAFTA Awards to USA Hockey’s return to gold and new health updates on Lindsey Vonn.
In SwampWatch, Gary reacts to fallout ahead of Donald Trump’s State of the Union and breaks down controversy surrounding Gavin Newsom’s latest comments while on his book tour. The hour also asks the big question: is Los Angeles actually ready for the 2028 Olympics?

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Gary & Shannon finally say the quiet part out loud. On this Weekend Fix, they spill the behind-the-scenes drama that no longer fits on the weekday show—office politics, deserted floors, and how the once-electric KFI 4th floor became the building’s forgotten dungeon. They react to Tim Conway Jr.’s eerie video shot near the old offices, debate why everyone now sneaks downstairs for bathroom anonymity, and declare their floor the unofficial “poop floor” of the building.
Shannon suggests exposing the secret first-floor bathroom. Gary floats making a public bathroom protest upstairs. Someone says he’s starting to look like John & Ken. Signs are proposed. Lines are crossed. And the episode ends with Gary asking Shannon if she feels anything funny in her breasts—because apparently that’s where this conversation was always headed.

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Gary & Shannon kick off the show reflecting on their first week with Monks & Merrill and reminiscing about covering the O.J. chase, before imagining what a modern-day celebrity chase might look like now. That spirals into high school crushes and a new Wired-featured search tool that lets users find OnlyFans creators who resemble people they are attracted to. The hour also includes a Supreme Court ruling against President Trump on tariffs, a spirited push for listeners to apply to Gary & Shannon’s 10-year anniversary party, a breakdown of the Walmart vs. Amazon retail battle, new questions surrounding Prince Andrew and the Epstein files, and the latest developments and missteps in the Nancy Guthrie case. The hour ends with Shannon’s warning about “the paradoxes of seeking out filth.”

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Gary & Shannon open Hour 2 with baseball Spring Training and Gary’s frustration over the growing wave of jersey advertising before shifting into the latest updates from the tech trial. They break down testimony pointing to signs that social media platforms knew their products were addictive, particularly for children and teens. The conversation pivots live to President Trump reacting to the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling from the White House, calling Democratic justices “automatic no” votes and raising questions about what comes next and whether tariffs could be applied retroactively. The hour wraps with #EntertainmentReport with Heather Brooker, covering Glen Powell’s new movie How To Make a Killing, the realities of stand up comedy portrayed in Is This Thing On, I Can Only Imagine 2, and Heather’s personal reflections on working with Eric Dane during her time connected to Grey’s Anatomy.

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Gary & Shannon kick off the big 11 o’clock hour with listener #WhatILearned talkbacks before diving into #WhatsHappening.  The hour continues with SwampWatch, including President Trump announcing a new 10 percent global tariff under a different statute and the surprisingly muted reaction from Wall Street. Producer Matt’s musical choice sets the tone, followed by listener feedback, Mark Rahner’s perspective, and a full round of Nine News Nuggets You Need To Know. Stories include a vandalized Buffalo Bills stadium, eating crocodile for Lent, a teacher caught doing cocaine at an elementary school, emus running amok, a filter fail that cost an influencer 140,000 followers, a naked ambulance theft, and a shocking insurance dispute involving a deceased family member brought into a bank.

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