The Side Dish

No guest this week — just three dudes yapping about self-optimization, among other things. Jay blew it big time, James entered a Make Me Laugh Challenge, and Aaron’s thinking about getting jacked. 

05/28/26

The pride of Pflugerville, Hayleen Urbino (aka @pabtong), joins us to talk about Korean dating trends, the state of the Korean modeling industry, and her obsession with 3-wick candles. Other topics include: James’ hack for Mongolian BBQ, Jay getting shamed by Setlog, and our thoughts on how to be appropriately extroverted online. Also, if you catch the episode on YouTube, Aaron picked his nose like eight times. Enjoy! 

05/21/26

Delilah Wells returns to the podcast to talk about arranged marriage, performative males, horny running clubs, and big tittied goth girlfriends. Other topics include: Dutch exhibitionism, James' college memories, and Delilah's hot take on Sally Rooney. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. It's a good one.  

05/14/26

Mehtap Oezkan is a unique blend of Turkish, Swiss and Korean, garnering a following for her makeup videos, comedy skits, and vlogs about living as a foreigner in Korea. But there’s more to Mehtap than crazy social media numbers! Tune into our conversation that spans from The Fairly Odd Parents and SpongeBob SquarePants, to “influencer anxiety”, mewing, and Pokemon Go. Enjoy! 

05/07/26

Mona joins the podcast to talk about anime BL, her embarrassing Chat GPT history, and what it was like attending Harvard throughout the pandemic. We also talk about how to tell if a boy likes you, James' dimples, and the 2021 action/comedy masterpiece, Free Guy. Enjoy!

04/30/26

Kevin Carpenter of @Spillout_Seoul joins the podcast to talk about owning an “influencer” pizza bar, the artistic merits of the 2004 film Garden State, and the definition of the word “zygomatic”. Other topics include: our first AOL screen names, Aaron’s gripe with Project Hail Mary, outdated slang from the Miles Davis autobiography, and a definitive ranking of Seoul’s pizzerias. Grab a slice and enjoy!

04/23/26

Ninj is a seasoned biomedical engineer, part-time micro-influencer, and the prototype of Mongolian beauty (according to several YouTube comments). She’s also hugged a lot of goats. Don’t miss our conversation about CRISPR and antigravity cancer research, the craziest “first date” she’s ever had, and what it’s like being a beautiful person—both inside and out. Enjoy!  

04/20/26

James, Jay, and Aaron share their hot takes on internet personas, restaurant gatekeepers, and whether living in New York makes you a boring person. Other topics include: what your favorite book says about your intelligence, being mean to your friends, and that time James pissed next to Tim Heidecker. Enjoy! 

Seline Jung "joins" the podcast to give us her hot take on cherry blossoms. Other topics include: James' review of America's #1 rated burger, Jay's orchestra concert, and Aaron's thoughts on the Super Mario Brothers Movie. Enjoy! 

04/09/26

A few facts about George Merusi: He was the first American born in Uzbekistan. He was nearly kidnapped in the Congo. And he's probably going to heaven, given how much he knows about The Bible. Stick around for some bad improv at the end! Enjoy?

04/02/26