Talking Ish: Dos Idiomas, Cero Filtros

This week, Pepe introduces the newest four-legged member of the family before the guys somehow find their way to a viral confrontation in Santa Clarita, where a woman threatening a taco vendor with ICE learns an important lesson: everyone has a camera, and the internet has a very long memory.

The guys talk about public backlash, apologies that may come a little too late, and where accountability crosses the line. Whatever you think about Mom's actions, her child didn't make them—and going after the kid isn't accountability.

Then Raúl attempts to secure Talking Ish its first sponsorship by enthusiastically promoting Conscious Bar chocolate despite the minor technicality that they aren't paying us, didn't ask us to advertise for them, and may have absolutely no idea who we are.

Raúl also gives some love to the mask maker responsible for bringing the Talking Ish luchadores to life, while El Profe Bert misses another recording because apparently returning to school hasn't included a course on modern technology. After several unsuccessful attempts to connect his headphones to a stone tablet, Bert discovered his Nokia doesn't have internet.

Education is important, kids.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Cero patrocinadores.
Seriously, Conscious Bar. Cero. We checked. 😂

Talking Ish celebrates Mexican Independence Day the only way Pepe knows how: by yelling “THE BRITISH ARE COMING!” Wrong Independence Day. Although after a quick detour through Hamilton, Pepe starts wondering if King George’s offer is still on the table.

Bert is missing this week because he’s gone back to school to better himself, so naturally Pepe and Raúl honor this achievement by talking shit about him while he can’t defend himself. Thus, a new era begins: El Profe Bert. 🎓

Then the guys dig into the viral video of a fence crew tearing down their work after allegedly not getting paid, separating what can actually be verified from what social media added to the story. It leads to an important Talking Ish PSA: being pissed off doesn’t mean you should create a legal problem for yourself just for five minutes of visceral satisfaction.

From there, they tackle the Macklemore/Ed Sheeran controversy and the artists walking away from Sheeran’s tour, briefly remember this is sometimes a soccer podcast with Cruz Azul vs. Inter Miami, talk midterms and politics, and eventually make their way to WWE Raw in Mexico City. Raúl actually watched Penta vs. Roman Reigns, Gable and Dragon Lee put on a clinic, and somehow the night ends with Raúl talking shit about the Santo wrestling dynasty.

History. Higher education. Legal advice nobody asked for. Politics. Palestine. Fútbol. Lucha libre.

Dos Idiomas. Cero Filtros. Absolutely no transitions. 🎙️🤣

After Bert angered the robot overlords and mysteriously vanished from an entire recording, Talking Ish is back to try this thing again. Bert is off paying his respects—both to Skynet and, more importantly, to a friend he recently lost—while Pepe and Raúl attempt to reconstruct what the machines took from them.

Raúl returns with an update from work: after a little malicious compliance forced management to experience the consequences of its own decisions, the system access everyone supposedly didn't need suddenly became available. That opens up a bigger conversation about leadership, developing your staff instead of simply managing assignments, and a shoutout to one boss who's apparently doing it right.

Then professionalism promptly leaves the building.

Raúl goes full dad-joke mode before offering a potentially life-saving public service announcement: there are certain phrases a wife can say to her husband without incident that a husband should never, ever say back unless he's prepared for divorce court, a 911 call, or his own episode of Dateline.

The guys also revisit their Rosa de Guadalupe plans for Bert's technological suffering, reveal why he needed his wife just to access his own computer during The Lost Episode, and discover Bert's proposed solution for next time:

Remove the thumb.

Don't worry. Talking Ish immediately explores several less… felonious alternatives.

Bert will eventually hear this episode. He probably won't be happy.

But as the guys say every week:

Build a bridge and get over it.

Talking Ish — Dos Idiomas. Cero Filtros. Apparently Cero Backups.

A NOTE FROM TALKING ISH

During this episode, our conversation took a turn into LGBTQ+ issues and transgender participation in sports. Some opinions and claims expressed during that discussion were based on misunderstandings and information that we recognize may not accurately represent the experiences of transgender people or the available evidence.

We're leaving the conversation in the episode because Cero Filtros means allowing honest conversations to happen—even when those conversations reveal that we have more to learn. But being unfiltered doesn't mean being unwilling to admit we don't know enough.

There was no malice behind the discussion, but good intentions don't make misinformation accurate.

The truth is, we're severely underqualified to speak authoritatively about many of these issues. Rather than pretend otherwise, we're going to dedicate our next episode to learning more. We'll revisit what was said, look at the evidence, challenge some of our own assumptions, and hopefully bring in someone better qualified to help us understand perspectives and experiences we don't personally share.

We don't expect to agree on everything. That's never been what Talking Ish is about.

But we do expect ourselves to be willing to listen, learn, and change our minds when the facts give us a reason to.

Cero filtros doesn't mean cero accountability.

This week, Talking Ish gets a little heavier than usual.

Pepe opens the episode after losing his uncle last week, while Bert is dealing with the loss of both an uncle and a friend on the same day. That leads the guys into a conversation that probably doesn't happen between men often enough: taking care of ourselves.

Listen to your body. Go to the doctor. Get the screenings. Ask the uncomfortable questions. Stop convincing yourself that ignoring something will somehow make it disappear.

And no, Raúl, a limpia con huevo, a sobador, three Hail Marys and whatever your neighborhood curandera recommends do not count as preventative healthcare.

From there, the conversation turns toward women in sports after some Mexican podcasters caught backlash for comments suggesting female fútbol players belong in the kitchen or could make more money working at a table dance. The guys talk equality, respect, opportunity, and why women's sports deserve to be taken seriously.

Then...

Things got complicated.

The conversation shifts toward transgender women in sports, LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity and sexuality. Strong opinions were shared, assumptions made, and along the way it became clear that this is a conversation that deserves more knowledge, context and care than we were prepared to give it.

Right in the middle of that conversation, Pepe's internet decided it had heard enough and briefly left the building.

By the time everyone was reconnected, the conversation had moved on, but we knew we couldn't.

We're leaving the conversation intact. Not because everything said was correct, and not because we all necessarily agree, but because pretending it never happened wouldn't accomplish anything either.

Talking Ish has always been a place where we can speak openly, disagree, talk shit, get things wrong and challenge one another. This time, listening back made us realize there are things we need to challenge ourselves on too.

We're not washing our hands of the conversation. We're continuing it.

Next episode, we're coming back better prepared. We'll look at what the evidence actually says, separate fact from assumption, ask questions we should have asked before giving answers, and hopefully bring someone with knowledge and lived experience that the three of us don't have.

We may still disagree after. That's okay.

The goal isn't to think the same way.

The goal is to make sure that when we disagree, we're disagreeing about the facts—and not something we assumed was true.

Sometimes the lesson isn't having the right answer, it's realizing you need to ask better questions.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Siempre aprendiendo.

The World Cup is over, so naturally the guys have found something completely different to argue about.

This week, Talking Ish goes to the movies for a spoiler-filled discussion of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The guys break down what worked, what didn't, the differences between the MCU and the comics, and where Peter Parker's story could go from here.

Pepe even prepared a thoughtful introduction to one of the summer's biggest films, starring Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jon Bernthal. Everything sounded perfectly normal... until he asked Raúl and Bert what they thought of Matt Damon.

Apparently somebody watched the wrong Holland movie.

The conversation also swings briefly into the state of DC before inevitably descending into an argument over Marvel continuity, because Kevin Feige can call the MCU Earth-616 all he wants...

It's Earth-199999.

We will be accepting no further questions at this time.

⚠️ FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

New subject. Same chaos. Same old Ish.

The World Cup has come to an end, and so has Talking Ish's month-long descent into complete fútbol madness.

This week, the guys break down the Final, the numbers behind Spain's victory, and why, despite the result, Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez deserves his flowers for keeping Argentina alive while playing through a broken finger.

The conversation also takes a moment to clear something up. Talking Ish doesn't hate Argentina or Argentinians. The frustration has always been directed at the behavior that overshadowed the tournament and the loud voices that gave decent fans a bad name. To those who called it Argentinafobia... well... nobody's afraid. They just weren't impressed.

Then things take their usual turn.

Raúl somehow gets kicked out of a wrestling show after his cousin decides to test his chops on an actual wrestler.

Rumors begin circulating that Argentina may be taking content creators to court over World Cup trash talk, meaning the guys might have to put Bert's birthday celebration on hold and use that Little Caesars money to pay a 10,000 peso fine.

And because no episode is complete without at least one technical difficulty...

Raúl's "new" computer disconnects.

Twice.

Leaving Pepe to close the show by himself... including Raúl's signature sign-off.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Cero garantías de conexión.

Legal Disclaimer: Any 10,000-peso fines incurred during the making of this episode will be paid exclusively in Little Caesars gift cards

For the first time in Talking Ish history, the show rolls on without Pepe behind the microphone. Instead, Raúl and Bert take the controls while the self-appointed producer lurks behind the scenes.

Surprisingly, they never take the obvious shot.

Instead, Argentina, Messi, FIFA, supervisors past and present, and even a couple of appliance manufacturers absorb the full force of the episode's signature stray bullets. Raúl also proudly introduces his "new" gaming laptop, once again proving that the definition of new is open to interpretation.

The guys revisit Mexico's heartbreaking World Cup exit, celebrate what an incredible host nation Mexico has been, and continue riding the World Cup roller coaster the only way Talking Ish knows how.

As for Pepe... they forgot to roast him.

We're still not sure if he should feel relieved... or offended.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Cero patrocinadores.

For the first time in Talking Ish history, the show rolls on without Pepe behind the microphone. Instead, Raúl and Bert take the controls while the self-appointed producer lurks behind the scenes, quietly feeding topics into the conversation.

Surprisingly, they never take the obvious shot.

Instead, Argentina, Messi, FIFA, supervisors past and present, and even a couple of appliance manufacturers absorb the full force of the episode's signature stray bullets. Raúl also proudly introduces his "new" gaming laptop, once again proving that the definition of new is open to interpretation.

The guys revisit Mexico's heartbreaking World Cup exit, celebrate what an incredible host nation Mexico has been, and continue riding the World Cup roller coaster the only way Talking Ish knows how.

As for Pepe... they forgot to roast him.

We're still not sure if he should feel relieved... or offended.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Cero patrocinadores.

Editor's Note: Rumors that Pepe missed the recording due to the mysterious "explosive diarrhea" making headlines remain completely unverified... but they would've made for a much funnier story.

Welcome to Season 2 of Talking Ish.

We forgot to say that on the episode, because of course we did, but after one full year of recording, laughing, arguing, disappearing, coming back, surviving tech issues, health scares, and whatever curse keeps following us around, we’re calling this the start of Season 2.

Also known as Episode 27.

This week, it’s all World Cup. We talk through Mexico vs England, what Mexico needed to do to pull off the win, the hope we had going into the match, and the reality that hit after.

We recorded this before the game and posted it after, so what started as “Y si sí?” sadly became “Y si no.”

But that’s fútbol. That’s México. That’s being a fan.

New season. Same chaos.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Puro Mundial.

One year ago, Talking Ish started as two friends with microphones and an idea. A year later, we're still here... somehow.

In this special anniversary episode, we celebrate one year of laughs, debates, fútbol, questionable predictions, technical disasters, and friendships that somehow survived all of it.

With the World Cup in full swing, we dive into the tournament's biggest surprises, the unforgettable moments so far, and our thoughts on what's still to come. Bert joins us a little late (as tradition apparently demands), and we take a moment to reflect on how far this little podcast has come over the past year.

From Episode 1 to this episode, we've laughed, argued, roasted each other, created a curse, survived health scares, buried old laptops, and somehow kept showing up.

Whether you've been here since the beginning or just found us recently, thank you for spending part of your day with us.

Here's to Year One...

...and to whatever chaos Year Two has in store.

Dos idiomas. Cero filtros. Un año de Talking Ish.