We’ve seen some car-crash interviews in our time, but this “Madpod” review of Tommy Chong is a masterclass in professional incompetence. Look, we all love Up In Smoke, but at what point do we stop giving Chong a pass just because he’s a legendary stoner? In this segment, we tear down a “professional” interview that sounds like it was conducted by a defective AI from 2004.

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The interviewer, “Shadow Steele,” is a total fraud. He spends ten minutes reciting Wikipedia stats about chart positions from 1973—shit Tommy Chong clearly doesn’t remember or care about—and then asks questions that have absolutely zero relevance to the artist’s life or career. It’s robotic, it’s lazy, and it’s an insult to anyone who actually does the work of music journalism.

Chong isn’t innocent here, either. He’s leaned so hard into the “lazy pothead” persona that he can’t even give a straight answer about his own arrest. He’s collecting checks, collection royalties, and laughing at the idiots who think he’s being “profound” when he’s really just bored. We break down the cringe, the “Evil Batman” voice, and the moment Chris and Neeley realize this whole thing is a total bloodbath. This is why mainstream music media is finished. They worship icons who are coasting on fumes and employ hacks who can’t even get the terminology of a record right.

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