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A neighborhood cat, a driverless car, and a city that suddenly feels colder—our hour starts with the story everyone can’t shake and the question no one can dodge: who’s responsible when machines make human-sized mistakes? We sit with the grief and pull the thread into accountability, street safety, and the real-world limits of autonomous tech when life moves in messy ways no model fully predicts.

From there we swing into the emotional physics of the holidays. Candy canes in early November, Thanksgiving squeezed on the calendar, and a house that feels better with warm lights flicked on—can both be true? We talk about joy that lasts, the stress of shopping cues, and how to savor the season without letting the mall set the rules. Along the way, we detour into language whiplash as “six seven” somehow becomes word of the year, and ask what happens when virality outruns meaning.

Money gets tactile when coins go missing. With penny shortages pushing exact change and rounding policies, we unpack the nostalgia of loose change, the ick of handling cash, and why a mostly cashless generation still collides with checkout counters. Then we exhale with a World Series that went deep—Dodgers edging the Blue Jays after a marathon stretch that even non-fans felt in their bones. We close on heart-forward news: restaurants like Manny’s Deli stepping up with free meals for SNAP families during a government shutdown, proving that community action fills gaps policy leaves behind.

If you care about tech accountability, holiday sanity, language that means something, and neighbors feeding neighbors, this one’s for you. Hit follow, share with a friend who loves spirited debate and good news with teeth, and leave a review to help more curious listeners find the show.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

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Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."

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