Soft Launch

Is it possible to be too confident, and at what age does your frontal lobe finally start working? This week on Soft Launch, Samantha and JC are talking Halloween in Astoria, the New York City Marathon, bad comedy shows, irrational confidence, embarrassing social media quotes, and the things we all think but probably shouldn't say out loud.

The conversation kicks off with Samantha's walking era and her growing marathon ambitions before getting into Halloween traditions, trick-or-treating in New York City, and JC's unfortunate Jose Alvarado costume experience. Then, we get into irrational confidence, childhood delusions of grandeur, and the moment you realize that having a fully developed frontal lobe means understanding that actions actually have consequences.

In Touching Grass, Samantha and JC share their most unfiltered thoughts, debate the aesthetics of having a pull-up bar in your apartment, and discuss why posting inspirational quotes on Instagram should be a stage of grief. Plus, JC revisits his embarrassing college blog and we get into the weirdly relatable experience of having full conversations with yourself.

Finally, in Closing Arguments, Samantha and JC debate the question everyone seems to have an opinion on: Is daylight savings time actually worth it?

Come hang out with the Softies!

FOLLOW SOFT LAUNCH
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/softlaunch

CATCH US LIVE
November 29 at 8 PM at New York Comedy Club. https://newyorkcomedyclub.com/events/in-rhythm-ft-aminah-imani-mohtasham-yaqub-alfonso-hernandez-jc-mendoza-samantha-santos

#SoftLaunch #DaylightSavings #NewYorkComedy #Halloween #ComedyPodcast

Should couples split driving duties, or is being a Passenger Princess a perfectly valid relationship role? Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza are back on Soft Launch talking marriage, the New York Knicks, mental health, dirty talking in your 30s, and the funny realities of life and love in New York City.

The episode kicks off with morning walks, discovering Astoria Park, and the changing neighborhoods of NYC before diving into New York Knicks fandom, sports rage, and why it can be so hard to choose happiness over negativity. In Touching Grass, Samantha and JC get into getting high, QR code menus, and the awkward realities of dirty talking and sexting in your 30s. They also discuss marriage, communication, intimacy, and keeping romance alive in a long-term relationship.

Then it’s time for Closing Arguments: JC believes couples should share driving responsibilities, while Samantha makes her case for being a full-time Passenger Princess. Who makes the better argument? Listen and decide whether you’re Team JC or Team Samantha!

The New York Knicks, mental health, witchcraft, and a marriage-threatening debate about accent pillows? Welcome to Soft Launch.

Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza are back at the Launch Pad talking morning walks, mental health, Jalen Brunson, Air Jordans, childhood memories, and the terrifying possibility of being framed for a crime you didn’t commit. Samantha shares stories from her childhood witchcraft-store era, JC brings his Knicks confidence into the conversation, and the two revisit some questionable fashion choices from their younger years.

Then it’s time for Closing Arguments, where the Softies go head-to-head over bedroom decor, bedroom feng shui, and the question that really matters: how many pillows does a person actually need on their bed? Is Samantha’s love of accent pillows a sign of impeccable taste, or does JC have a point about keeping things functional? Pick your side and prepare to defend it.

🎧 Listen, laugh, and let us know: Team Samantha or Team JC?

Follow Soft Launch for more relationship comedy, New York stories, pop culture, and unfiltered conversations with Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza.

Is opening a jar a man’s job? Are dangly earrings on men an automatic ick? And why does every corporate happy hour somehow turn into another work meeting?

This week on Soft Launch, Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza get into the little things that make relationships funny, frustrating, and occasionally questionable. JC’s inner cave man comes out when a jar of peppers puts his masculinity to the test, the Softies discuss how long walks have brought them closer, and they unpack the chaos of NYC sidewalk etiquette. Plus, Samantha reflects on her corporate-girly era, they revisit questionable fashion trends, and Closing Arguments tackles the ultimate style debate: dangly earrings versus ear gauges on men.

It’s NYC life, marriage, masculinity, fashion icks, and relationship comedy—all with the Softies’ signature back-and-forth.

Follow Soft Launch for more comedy, relationship debates, and everyday chaos from Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza.

Sound off: What’s the bigger ick on a man—dangly earrings or ear gauges?

AI is taking over the internet, and apparently, it's coming for our jobs too. This week, the Softies get into AI-generated comedians, the future of artificial intelligence, and whether real creatives should be worried. But that's not all…

It's been one year without Monroe, and Samantha opens up about grief, the memories that stick with you, and learning how to move forward while still missing someone you love. Then we get into sleep struggles, anxiety, therapy, personal growth, and figuring out how to stop getting in your own way.

Plus, the Softies have some thoughts about AI-generated celebrity videos, Christopher Columbus, questionable home remedies, and the things you start thinking about when you're just a little too high.

And in this week's Closing Arguments, we settle a very important relationship debate: If your partner wants to order comfort food but you're not hungry, should you order something anyway just to keep them company? Or should they be confident enough to enjoy their food alone?

It's giving artificial intelligence, emotional intelligence, and absolutely no intelligence in some of these arguments.

Press play, join the conversation, and let us know whose side you're on.

Come to our NYC Live Show: https://newyorkcomedyclub.com/events/in-rhythm-comedy-ft-zubi-ahmed-gary-simons-jc-mendoza-samantha-santos-ja-ron-young

PUT IT TO BED 💅🏽

This week on Soft Launch, Samantha finally explains her lifelong obsession with Marilyn Monroe, JC debuts his new haircut, and the Softies introduce TWO brand-new segments that might become their new favorite way to argue.

First up: ONE THING ABOUT WE — Samantha takes us deep into her Marilyn Monroe rabbit hole, from the movie that started it all to the memorabilia, the theories, and why she thinks everyone has Marilyn completely wrong.

Then it’s time to PUT IT TO BED. The Softies tackle whether comedians should date other comedians and why the internet needs to stop diagnosing strangers’ relationships based on a 10-second viral video. Because apparently, seeing one clip of somebody’s marriage is enough for the entire internet to become a relationship expert.

Finally, it’s CLOSING ARGUMENTS ⚖️ — and this week’s case is VERY serious: If your partner introduces you to a Bravo show and you become obsessed, are you legally required to wait for them to watch new episodes together? JC says absolutely not. Samantha says he is brand new to the Bravoverse and needs to know his place. Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip becomes Exhibit A.

Plus: JC’s haircut, marriage and comedy, spoilers, doomscrolling, the Post Office, Samantha’s questionable TV rules, a jailbroken Fire Stick, and why being married apparently means you can never simply watch a show in peace.

Who’s right? The jury is YOU.

🎙️ Soft Launch is hosted by NYC comedians Samantha Santos & JC Mendoza — bringing you relationship comedy, pop culture, reality TV, marriage, and the things couples argue about when nobody else is around.

Follow Soft Launch for new episodes and let us know: Should you have to wait for your partner to watch “your show”?

The Softies are MOVIE STARS?! 🎬 Samantha and JC are back with a chaotic new episode of Soft Launch all about JC’s first movie premiere, walking the red carpet, being happily married, and the celebrity rabbit holes that somehow lead from Jessica Simpson to Beyoncé to Papoose, Remy Ma, and Fat Joe.

JC takes us behind the scenes of his New York Latino Film Festival premiere and what it felt like seeing himself on the big screen for the first time. Then things get very married very quickly: broken refrigerators, Evie refusing to eat, lazy Sundays, wine, edibles, and why being married to your best friend can still have you ready to lose your mind.

And then… the edible kicks in. 🍷💀 The Softies spiral into Jessica Simpson, Ashley Simpson, Jaden Smith, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, live vocals, and eventually the Papoose, Remy Ma, Fat Joe and Terror Squad “Jezebel” conversation that gives this episode its name.

ONE THING ABOUT WE: the Softies are officially entering their movie-star era — and they have a LOT to say about it.

🎧 New episode of Soft Launch with Samantha Santos & JC Mendoza.

OUR VOODOO DOLL’S IN THE FRIDGE

Is Mercury in retrograde? Are the planets causing chaos? Or does somebody actually have a voodoo doll of us?! When it rains, it pours—and this week Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza are dealing with fleas, a broken refrigerator, spoiled groceries, a broken camera, and some seriously suspicious bad luck.

Soft Launch is back after a long hiatus, and apparently life decided to welcome us home by completely falling apart. Samantha and JC try to figure out whether this is just an unfortunate string of events or if astrology, horoscopes, retrograde, negative energy, or an actual CURSE is behind everything going wrong. They talk relationship chaos, gossip, comedy, rejection, personal growth, and the strange ways you start appreciating your life when everything suddenly becomes a problem.

Plus: the fridge dies, $85 worth of groceries is sacrificed, the repairman becomes the most important man in the household, the cameras stop working, and Samantha turns the bathroom into a personal spa because SOMETHING in this house has to go right.

Basically: if you've ever had one of those weeks where you thought, “What did I do to deserve this?”—this episode is for you.

00:00 — Soft Launch is back after a long hiatus
01:03 — One Thing About We: Somebody PLEASE stop messing with our voodoo doll
03:03 — The bad-luck streak begins with fleas in the house
05:22 — Cleaning everything and entering full anti-flea mode
07:12 — JC discovers the joy of vacuuming
09:04 — The laundry lottery and why folding clothes is apparently a man's dream
10:12 — The duvet cover becomes a marriage test
11:42 — Trying to defeat the flea infestation once and for all
12:49 — The refrigerator breaks at the worst possible time
13:19 — $85 of groceries becomes a casualty of the broken fridge
14:05 — The appliance repair nightmare begins
15:09 — The refrigerator technician becomes the most important person in our lives
16:30 — The fridge magically starts working when the repairman arrives
17:29 — No fridge, no ice, no breakfast, no peace
18:21 — When bad luck starts affecting the relationship
20:17 — The cursed week continues with a soupless Pad Thai
21:46 — Samantha explains her customer-service strategy
23:29 — Another food-order disaster: WHERE IS THE LOX?!
25:54 — The cameras break right before recording
26:51 — Touching Grass: Comedy starts turning around after a brutal week
27:03 — Brooklyn comedy, bombing fears, and giving flowers to funny comics
29:08 — Why talking shit behind people's backs is actually a love language
31:17 — Men LOVE gossip too—just call it sports
34:23 — Are we manifesting our own bad luck?
35:07 — Dealing with rejection, disappointment, and expecting the worst
36:13 — Therapy, self-worth, and being proud of your younger self
36:59 — Remembering the wins when you're stuck focusing on the losses
37:03 — JC opens for Damon Wayans Jr.
40:03 — Aight So Boom: WHERE ARE THE PLANETS?!
40:19 — Is astrology behind all this chaos? Mercury, the moon & the planets
40:41 — Samantha's bathroom makeover saves the week
43:37 — Creating a spa-like bathroom when everything else is falling apart
44:02 — Getting way too high while renovating the bathroom
46:13 — Mood lighting, eucalyptus, and turning a shower into self-care
47:14 — Finding things to be grateful for after a terrible week
48:42 — When summer ends and real adulthood begins
49:20 — Marriage, responsibility, and learning to be proactive
50:04 — Why Soft Launch is still building something special

🎙️ Soft Launch Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/softlaunch

📸 Samantha Santos: @makemelaughsam

📸 JC Mendoza: @peachfuzzpapi

📱 Soft Launch: @softlaunchpodcast

🎟️ Comedy Shows & Tickets: See Samantha and JC Live!

$15 Tickets to "In Rhythm" Comedy Show Sunday 9/27 at 8pm at New York Comedy Club, East Village Location

https://newyorkcomedyclub.com/calendar/coupons/4b36ddab86ac2fccffd448163f176f30b0b38d80

💌 Business & Brand Inquiries: [email protected]

NYC subway repairs are ruining Samantha’s life, Daejon Love allegedly scammed women out of millions while pretending to be a 49ers player, Dolly Parton has us emotional, and AI has gotten so good that apparently we’re supposed to investigate every cute animal video before believing it.

This week on Soft Launch, Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza discuss the absolute nightmare that is trying to get anywhere in New York City when the subway decides it simply does not feel like working. We also get into Daejon Love and his allegedly very successful career of convincing women that he was an NFL player, why you should never send a football player money, and whether getting scammed is technically your fault if the scammer was committed enough.

Plus, we debate unannounced FaceTimes, childhood trauma, Santa Claus, people getting hot and immediately forgetting how to act, and the terrifying reality that the sun is eventually going to explode. Most importantly, we’re tired of being judged for believing AI videos. If an otter saves another otter on my timeline, I’m supposed to just know that’s fake now? Be serious.

We’re touching grass, questioning reality, and doing our absolute best not to send Daejon Love any money.

Follow Soft Launch for new episodes every week.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Welcome to Soft Launch
00:25 - One Thing About We
01:02 - NYC Subway Repairs Are Ruining Samantha’s Summer
04:12 - The Four-Train Commute From Astoria to Brooklyn
08:24 - Growing Up Around the Sketchiest Characters in NYC
12:13 - Why Samantha Has Officially Had Enough of Brooklyn
13:18 - Samantha’s Secret Table Read and Accidentally Singing Too Well
15:25 - The End of Summer, PSL Season, and Jalen Brunson’s Birthday
18:41 - Performing Comedy for Rich People in Connecticut
22:46 - Why Some Comedy Venues Are Built Completely Wrong
26:21 - The Best Comedy Crowd of the Year and the Ups and Downs of Stand-Up
28:09 - Aight So Boom
28:12 - Remembering Dolly Parton and Her Incredible Legacy
31:39 - Daejon Love, the Fake 49ers Wide Receiver Who Scammed Women
34:28 - How Did Nobody Question the Daejon Love Story?
37:44 - Samantha and JC Admit They’ve Been Scammed Too
40:41 - Why You Should Never Follow a Crying Stranger Into the Woods
44:57 - Touching Grass
45:14 - Why Unannounced FaceTimes Are the New Showing Up at Someone’s House
49:49 - The Childhood Trauma of Learning the Sun Will Explode
51:46 - When Should Kids Find Out Santa Claus Isn’t Real?
54:33 - Why Newly Hot People Don’t Know How to Act
56:11 - AI Is Taking Over and We’re Sick of Being Judged for Falling for It
57:01 - Fake Otters, AI Videos, and Why Everything Online Looks Real Now
59:49 - When Real Disasters Look So Unreal You Think They’re AI
1:01:18 - Wrapping Up Episode 154

PARTIFUL vs. Facebook invites, marriage arguments, bathroom renovations, and why Ridiculousness with Rob Dyrdek was basically the original doom scrolling. Samantha Santos and JC Mendoza are in their home-improvement era, repainting the Soft Launch studio, upgrading their bathroom, and learning that choosing a bath mat together is apparently a test of marriage. Plus, they introduce Touching Grass, talk Hayden Panettiere and getting older, revisit the glory days of Facebook party invites, and unpack the deeply questionable thoughts that happen when they take edibles.

00:00 — Soft Launch enters its “take it seriously” era
Samantha and JC talk about putting more energy into the podcast and becoming their own biggest supporters. 

00:48 — One Thing About We: We’re done waiting for someone to save us

06:23 — Painting the studio instead of seeing Bruno Mars
The couple chooses a productive Saturday at home over a Bruno Mars concert and turns the studio makeover into their own concert experience. 

12:01 — Why karaoke should never be taken seriously

14:58 — Performative karaoke and the “comedy bit” rule 

16:15 — The Soft Launch home renovation era begins
The studio, changing room, bathroom and entire home are getting upgraded. 

17:35 — Marriage, bath mats and why your partner needs to care

23:21 — The self-cleaning toilet experiment

24:55 — Why is our toilet water THIS blue?

27:12 — Why are public bathrooms always disgusting?

31:36 — We may have improved the house too much

32:04 — TOUCHING GRASS: Introducing Soft Launch’s newest segment
Samantha and JC share the thoughts they had while taking edibles and trying to “touch grass.” 

32:45 — Ridiculousness with Rob Dyrdek was the original doom scrolling
They discover that watching Ridiculousness is basically scrolling through the worst possible algorithm before algorithms even existed. 

36:59 — Hayden Panettiere, aging and the impossible definition of “young”
A conversation about age, women getting older, and why apparently you have to die to be considered young. 

41:08 — PARTIFUL is ruining party invitations

45:41 — Facebook events were the original PARTIFUL
They remember when Facebook invites were basically a social scouting report and having hundreds of people RSVP meant you had serious clout. 

47:48 — Trying to look cool while dancing

48:19 — JC finds his embarrassing high school journals
The journals are so embarrassing that they may be making their way to Patreon.

50:56 — The Facebook party memories that still haunt us

51:52 — JC explains his extremely intentional dance moves

52:47 — That’s all the Touching Grass for today