Comedian, writer, producer, and all-around-Chicago-legend Mick Betancourt tells a story about the time he saw a gun-drawing fight at a Chicago diner on Thanksgiving night along with how little the responding officer cared about the fight. Mick joins CJ and Sean to share some more stories from Chicago, along with some hilarious quotes -- and great advice -- from his time as a writer on Law & Order SVU. Mick's story was recorded from the final comedy show at the original Lincoln Lodge location -- also a diner -- and this leads to a wider theme on how much drunks love diners. CJ and Sean share stories from some of their favorite late-night diners and we also talk about the science of why you want to eat such unhealthy, greasy food when drunk.

Comedian Lele Mason tells some college drinking stories, including how she found a really good set of friends who protected her while drunk. Lele, who has been sober for over 10 years, also talks about what it was like to be drug and alcohol free during lockdown and tells a funny story about her fears of and reaction to anesthesia as a sober person. This somehow leads to a discussion on interesting animal facts with CJ, Sean and Lele along with a conversation on the importance of drunk protectors. CJ and Sean tell stories about how being a drunk protector has changed over the years with the loss of yellow cabs and how sometimes being a protector of drunks can backfire on you if the drunk person is so blacked out they they think you are the enemy that created all of their problems.

Comedian Jonah Jurkens tells the story of the time he did a terrible show in Wisconsin where he was not paid for the show, but got as much free beer as he wanted. Jonah also shares his thoughts on blacking out, which he calls Swiss Cheesing and views as an inevitable part of drinking. Jonah starts us on the topics of blackouts. We discuss the science of what happens to your brain when you blackout and then share the story of a FL man who brought an alligator into a liquor store while blacked out. CJ, Sean and Jonah also talk about terrible comedy shows. Checkout Jonah's new podcast "Let's Get Dumb" with fellow Blackout-Diaries-favorite Joe Kilgallon.

Comedian Brian Lirot tells two stories at our live show: getting drunk at a music festival which resulted in a short mystery about who was to blame for ruining the tent while they slept, and then what his first experience was as a wedding guest when his mom wasn't his date. Brian joins CJ and Sean in the studio and also tells some stories about what its like to work in the reality TV industry (Brian does camera and production work by day). All of this leads to a wider conversation on music festivals and concerts and how they are lot of people's first introduction to booze. CJ and Sean talk about some of the early concerts they attended while drinking, including a George Thorogood show where CJ never saw the first bar of a song. We also talk about some Chicago shows that were famously ruined by drinking and weather, including a Jimmy Buffet show that launched 1,000 negative yelp reviews and a Creed show that ended in a lawsuit.

Comedian Wendy Wilkins tells the story of her first love- a drunk, asshole coworker at Chuck E Cheese. Her story of hooking up with him at bad high-school parties (and nature centers) leads to a discussion on terrible first jobs and the overall terrible experience of drinking at kid themed restaurants. Sean talks about how Chuck E Cheese parties always ended in a fight in Cleveland, sometimes making national news. CJ and Sean talk about the pros and cons of drinking at kid themed restaurants and if, maybe, kids should just be banned from restaurants like a place in New Jersey famously announced. We also discuss the times that family restaurants accidentally served kids booze, creating the words worst drunk- a toddler wino.

Comedian Dan Drees tells a story about going back to his alma mater, Miami of Ohio, for Halloween, only to end up in a jail in rural Ohio while dressed in daisy dukes. This leads to an overall discussion on how much and how weirdly Ohio drinks, in that they either don't touch the stuff or have 19 beers in one sitting. Dan and Sean both talk about being from Ohio, included a few hilarious encounters Dan had with the Cincinnati Bengals. CJ and Sean share some stats on Ohio drinking (they punch above their weight) and extend an open invite to the Cleveland couple that got arrested for arguing about the greatest guitarist of all time too violently (as though there was a quiet way to settle that debate).

Comedian Alex Joyce, who is a coproducer of the live show, and an all-around renaissance drinker, joins on the podcast. Alex tells the story of the time he and his brother invited hillbillies from the mountains of North Carolina to stay with them on the same weekend when hillbillies from the cliffs of Ireland also arrived, creating a hilarious vortex of hard-drinking, high-maintenance house guests. Alex also talks about how differently Chicago police react to everything versus the sheriffs from back these podunks. CJ, Sean and Alex then talk about how all drunks have two groups of friends that can never meet each other, otherwise the evening -- maybe even the universe -- collapses.

Comedian Jarrell Scott Barnes tells a story about the time he took a long bus ride from the south side of Chicago to the north side, to attend a party with some new people. Jarrell gets drunk and is asked to settle some arguments at the party, then learns some white people songs he's never heard before. CJ, Sean and Jarrell then share other stories about dealing with public transportation when heading to parties and how the CTA is both a blessing and a curse for us drunks. We also talk about how hilariously mean CTA employees are, which we blame on them not having good break rooms.

Stories from CJ and Sean about St Patrick's Day in Chicago. Sean talks about the history of how Chicago started dying its river and why no other city is crazy enough to duplicate that process. Chicago also spans St Patrick's Day into a two-weekend bacchanalia rather than celebrate it on just the 17th of March. CJ tells a story about the drunkest St Patrick's Day show he did in Chicago, which ended in two performers being banned from life from the venue and all crowd members insisting upon a refund.

Our favorite comedy duo, The Puterbaugh Sisters, tell a story at our live show about traveling to a wedding while drunk, which is a risky enough idea, made worse by their decision to also pack for it drunk. They land with an impractical collection of clothes and bad hangover. Danielle and Tiffany Puterbaugh were both long-time contributors to The Blackout Diaries, when they lived in Chicago and we discuss how they always managed to keep some daytime job, however dead-end or weird, while working on the show. This leads to a conversation with CJ, Sean and The Puterbaugh Sisters on dead end jobs. CJ and Sean further discuss strategies for happily joining and leaving dead end jobs.