Unfortunately, I'm Listening

Jonathan joins Steve and Mike for a third-brother trial run, because apparently sharing parents does not guarantee a podcast job. His topic: theme-park queues, FastPass nostalgia, and how trying to skip a line turned into a system that needs its own homework. The brothers debate Disney perks, expensive shortcuts, and the very specific frustrations of Legoland.

Then Mike revisits D.A.R.E., sharing the troubling history he found and sending the conversation into school anti-drug programs, ironic T-shirts, and the extra prevention class their parents thought they needed. Along the way: an anchovy-pizza aftermath, a Point Break detour, and the revelation that buying a house for your dogs may hurt your theme-park budget.

Explicit language. Includes drug-use discussion, descriptions of vomiting, and Point Break plot spoilers.

Steve takes Mike into the West Virginia coal wars through the story of "Smilin'" Sid Hatfield: gold teeth, two pistols, striking miners, and a confrontation with company power that leads toward the Battle of Blair Mountain. The brothers discuss company towns, private guards, and labor conflict—with a detour over whether anyone can still say "hired goons."

Then Mike's promised fish-tank talk takes a suspicious turn. An ominous voice hijacks the show and puts Steve through a 15-question quiz about their own past episodes. Every wrong answer means another large anchovy pizza. Does "Unfortunately, I'm Listening" describe Steve's actual listening habits?
Plus: a correction to the earlier Daigo-parry discussion, followed by an apology that is withdrawn almost as soon as it begins.

Content note: strong language, sexual innuendo, and discussion of historical shootings and labor violence. Historical details are presented as the hosts' discussion; this episode has not received an independent factual audit.

Can ten listens to 100 gecs turn irritation into appreciation? Steve puts Mike through a Money Machine experiment, complete with Mike's recorded reactions after listens one, five, and ten. The brothers dig into hyperpop, abrasive pop hooks, digitally altered voices, and the deeply annoying possibility that Steve's plan worked.

Then Mike follows a trail from Hanuman and the Ramayana through Sun Wukong and Journey to the West to Dragon Ball and One Piece. Steve has questions about immortality stacking, questionable peach-orchard management, and how long an anime discussion can go without mentioning anime.

Explicit language and adult humor. Includes discussion of a fatal fall, mythological violence, and spoilers for Dragon Ball and later One Piece abilities. The mythology and influence connections are the hosts' discussion, including a debated Hanuman–Sun Wukong connection.

Mike tells Steve how he got into Dungeons & Dragons, accidentally recruited a roommate, and developed a grudge against Strahd so strong it needed a whole campaign to settle. Holy water, creative rules interpretations, and an extremely impartial Dungeon Master all make an appearance.

Then Steve introduces Evo Moment #37: Daigo, Justin Wong, and a Street Fighter comeback that takes a lot more explaining than Mike expected. We get into arcade culture, parries, prediction, and why the crowd loses its mind. Plus: Naruto outfits, an unfairly maligned ferret, and an Otamatone finale.

Explicit language. Contains Curse of Strahd spoilers and discussion of fictional violence and suicide in a character backstory.

Steve introduces Mike to Gene Ray's Time Cube, a theory with four simultaneous days, a very confident website, and an increasingly bewildered audience of one. Mike tries to get a straight answer while Steve makes the case for cubic time.

Mike follows with a winding discussion of Halloween's history, from ancient festivals and wandering spirits to jack-o'-lanterns, trick-or-treating, and horror movies. Along the way: a devil who keeps getting outsmarted, a badly timed AC break, and the brothers' first YouTube critic.

Contains strong language, discussion of racist ideas in the Time Cube material, and plot details from Halloween (1978). 

Mike introduces Steve to Tarrare, the notoriously hungry Frenchman whose story gets stranger with every meal. They work through accounts of his enormous appetite, disastrous spy career, and a doctor who was not about to lose his watch. Steve has questions about basic physics; Mike has his own theory about what might explain the medical mystery.

Then Steve takes the hot-dog-is-a-sandwich debate into the Cube Rule of food. Hot dogs become tacos, Pop-Tarts cause a classification crisis, and cereal turns out to be nachos. By the time croutons enter the conversation, even a Caesar salad is in trouble. By the end Mike and Steve are wondering if they themselves are food.

What if Naruto's genjutsu worked in real life—and someone sued you for it? Steve and Mike take illusion powers into the real world, debating imaginary injuries, time-dilated punishment, and whether an experience still counts if it only happens in your mind. Then they find more practical uses: extra study time, instant vacations, the perfect comeback, and a job interview with far too much time to overthink.

Mike follows with his review of *Lesbian Space Princess*, walking Steve through its surreal plot, literal chick magnet, and very blunt satire. They debate the difference between a bad movie and an unfairly hated one, detour into *Neo Yokio*, and discover that having strong opinions does not necessarily mean having watched the show.

**Content:** Explicit language and adult discussion. Spoilers for *Naruto* and *Lesbian Space Princess*, with additional discussion of other animated shows. 

Steve introduces the world’s worst yoga teacher, Shoko Asahara, while Mike tells the story of Karsus’s Folly and the wizard who broke magic. Along the way: Gundam retirement plans, questionable skill trees, and the logistics of floating cities. 

Michael puts Pokémon on trial, from a trash bag with teeth to the key ring that inspired his entire rant. Then Steve attempts to explain Hunter × Hunter’s Nen system while Michael questions why enjoying an anime requires homework. 

Major Hunter × Hunter anime and manga spoilers.

Steve and Mike launch Unfortunately, I’m Listening with two topics neither has revealed to the other. Steve explores the bizarre real-world story surrounding Final Fantasy VII and “Jenova’s Witnesses,” before Mike turns the conversation toward evolutionary compromises, human anatomy, and how they might redesign the human body. Every reaction, detour, and misunderstanding happens live.

Content warning: Strong language, discussions of coercion and abuse, and explicit anatomical and sexual references.