Lou Penrose on KFI

It’s the first Sunday after the time change and darkness is rolling in earlier — can you feel it? Halloween’s over for another year, and Lou thinks candy corn gets way too much analysis in the candy news. There’s even debate over how people eat it. Apparently, 83% of parents help themselves to a treat from their kids’ Halloween haul.  

Around 120 tubs of Cheese Balls spilled onto the 105 Freeway on the way to LAX. Listeners are chiming in on Lou’s candy-and-wine pairings; he especially likes red wine with chocolate. He also loves nothing more than a truck crash that dumps the precious cargo all over the road — Cheese Balls, ice cream, cash or cocaine. Would you grab some of that treasure? 

It’s a good thing when manufacturing comes back to the United States, no matter your politics. German automaker Audi is opening its first production line here with a $4.5 billion investment that’ll create thousands of jobs. Do you remember your grandparents ever buying a new refrigerator, washing machine, or coffeemaker?  In 1972, two Westinghouse engineers designed and built a high-quality kitchen appliance in their spare time. That appliance? The Mr. Coffee machine. 

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Was the Cheesecake Factory fight the October surprise? Former President Barack Obama took a dig at President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, comparing the White House to a Cheesecake Factory run by Saddam Hussein. A lot of Cheesecake Factory fans took that personally and jumped to the chain’s defense.  

Some people retire by selling everything and buying a cabin on a cruise ship so they can sail the seven seas with food, drinks, activities, and even a doctor included. Cabins start at $100,000. But the Florida company Villa Vie hit rough water when fuel costs exploded, leaving 200 passengers on the “endless” Odyssey stranded in Cambodia after two years at sea. Talk about sea sickness.  

Rents are climbing coast to coast, not just in SoCal, and millions of Americans are struggling. Nearly half of people under 30 have moved back in with their parents — up from about a third of men under 30 in 2019.  

People are also dropping around $2,000 on the new foldable Apple iPhone Duo only to crack the screens. Cheerios is now being sold in Ziplock bags, as nature (and common sense) intended. It’s a pantry collaboration that kills the bag clips, the folding, and the stale cereal. And let’s not forget Lay’s new line of festive potato chip flavors. Crunch on, KFI. 

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Subway is in trouble — again. An ex-employee leaked how the sandwich chain’s tuna is really made. An independent lab tested 20 SoCal Subways, specifically its tuna, and 19 out of 20 contained no tuna or tuna DNA.  

How long does food last when it’s left out at a dinner party? According to food experts, two hours is already too long. Open-air buffets might be the filthiest way to eat.  

The dump dinner is making a comeback thanks to TikTok. Cover the table in foil or plastic, skip the plates and silverware, dump the food right in the middle, and eat with your hands. It’s less about manners and more about having a good time and making memories — plus nobody has to clean up. But with the price of Reynolds Wrap these days, it’s not as cheap as it sounds.  

It’s cold and flu season — should we really be sharing food like that? The price of OTC cold and flu meds at CVS and Walgreens is through the roof.  

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The California wine industry is in big trouble because nobody is drinking wine. Wine sales are at a 20-year low. It’s been blamed on a generational rift, with fewer young people drinking vino, and on so many people now on a GLP-1 journey. Lou doesn’t understand how wine enthusiasts know what’s what. How do they know what region is good and what year is good? All he knows is that Snoop Dogg’s wine, Cali Red by 19 Crimes, goes down like a dream.  

Does Halloween deserve the same reverence and recognition as Christmas and Easter? Some 58% of Americans want to make it an official national holiday. An HOA has ordered a homeowner to stop giving away the king-sized candy bars during Halloween trick-or-treating — because it’s making the other homes in the community feel inadequate for handing out fun-sized candy. Sparks flying? Must be that aluminum foil in your microwave. There is an art to microwaving, so follow Luigi’s rules and your reheated burger might just be edible again. 

And in other news, a strip-club client thought he was gaming the system by requesting Lynard Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” — and attempting to pay with a gift card. 

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There’s an incoming artificial intelligence revolution coming to the jobs market. Women face a higher risk of job disruption due to AI because they’re more likely to work in clerical, administrative, retail, and customer service roles that will likely be impacted first. But is that really a bad thing? Lou doesn’t think so.  

It’s been an unseasonably hot summer in the US and Europe, and this has been impacting European cows, who don’t eat as much when the temperatures tick up and so don’t produce enough milk. The result? The retail prices of dairy and cheese will likely be increasing.  

The unaffordability talk has gone international — it turns out everything is expensive everywhere on planet Earth. Even in Australia.  

Remember when we were warned that when the clock struck midnight to ring in the new year in 2000, the entire world would reset and go dark? Fun times in Y2K. And that didn’t happen.  

In October 1968 a studio double album changed rock music forever. That album? “Electric Lady Land” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  

Has Noah’s Ark finally been unearthed? A group of scientists have completed the second part of an archeological dig in Türkiye, which has revealed a ridge similar to that of some kind of manmade object. Or is it just a piece of limestone? 

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Hour 1 - When do you tell the person you’re dating how much money you make? First date? A few months in? Once it’s exclusive? When you move in? Lou’s rule is simple: Nobody needs to know your salary unless they’re your husband or wife. Then the social-media debate hits the roommate-couple version. Some say if a couple lives together and one person makes more, rent shouldn’t be a straight 50/50 split. And when that same couple gets engaged, does the bigger earner start covering more now, or do you wait for the ring? Lou’s got opinions on all of it. 

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Lou recounts having to evacuate his South Orange County studio last week while filling in live for Michael Monks as a wildfire closed in. Harrowing. Then the 100-year-old woman in Southern California named Frieda who eats the same meal every night: A hot dog and a Diet Coke.  

Researchers say the most stressful stretch of parenting is middle school, ages 12 to 14 — bodies changing, needs rising, no paycheck yet. Blondie has new music on the way: “High Noon,” their first studio album in nine years. Lou tries to settle the multigenerational fight over the correct lyrics to “The Tide Is High.”  

As restaurant prices climb, some adults are ordering off the kids’ menu. Jersey Mike’s is pushing the Mike’s Mini Bundle, and most people seem happy about it.  

Metallica’s James Hetfield told a crowd they were there to forget the outside noise, not talk politics, and got heat for not picking a side. Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe said something similar and is catching the same flak — except from the fans.  

And one last hack: Take a Big Mac, remove the crown, and now you have a hamburger and a taco. Sounds good in theory. Is it functional? 

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Heartbreaker for the Chargers in Game 1 — they started ahead of the Broncos and didn’t finish that way. Then the Dodgers, and the sticker shock at Dodger Stadium. Whatever happened to a hot dog and a beer? Now there’s a two-foot Dodger Dog for forty bucks and a $35 taco platter that comes with two tacos. You call that a platter? Lou’s a no on relish. Too messy for the stands. Listeners disagree and want the Chicago or Mexican-style wreck. Bring on the mess.  

Rover.com ranked the most beloved dogs in LA County: Lou’s a maltipoo guy, the Golden State’s top dog is the golden retriever, and LA’s official champ is the French bulldog.  

A California Jack in the Box with a loitering problem rigged sprinklers on the drive-through wall and a speaker that yells “Buy something or bounce!” And Lou, king of burgers, says you can’t compare a flame-grilled Habit to a fried In-N-Out. Over at Red Lobster in Georgia, Abdul Hakeem Rasheed couldn’t cover a $63.77 bill, so he called 911 and claimed a medical emergency. The cops did not buy it. Theft and a fake 911. 

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Soup Plantation is coming back, and the all-you-can-eat soup-and-salad cult is losing its mind. Six years after the chain shut all 97 locations, including 44 in California, during COVID. Lou’s perfect salad, which he can make at home: iceberg, cucumber, white onion, garbanzo beans, beets that didn’t come from a can, sliced black olives, oil and vinegar. Listeners are already praying for a Sizzler comeback next.  

Levi’s is bringing back low-rise jeans, full-circling fashion thanks to GLP-1s. Baggy is out this fall, along with ripped and skinny.  

Rocktober started this month in 1969 when Led Zeppelin dropped “Led Zeppelin II,” and Lou goes deep on Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham. DoorDash’s predicted Halloween candy king is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He stays on Robert Plant as a vocalist while listeners argue favorite candy, and chocolate prices may climb again because the last El Niño in 2023 hammered cocoa fields in West Africa. And after more than 60 years, Mama Celeste frozen pizza is getting discontinued. That’s cold. 

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Hour 1 - McDonald's has been using AI technology to help set prices on their menu items, and new protein Doritos are hitting grocery store shelves. Lou tells you all about it.

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