Are You Garbage? – Episode with Katherine Blanford (Sept 29, 2025)

Overview

Theme:
Hosts H. Foley and Kevin Ryan welcome comedian Katherine Blanford to determine if she, like them, is "garbage"—a term of endearment for anyone whose upbringing and habits skew more trashy than classy. The episode blends playful interrogations about childhood, family, travel, jobs, and dirtbag traditions, with Katherine’s quick wit and self-deprecating humor shining throughout.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Katherine’s Background: Family, Roots, and Upbringing

• Where She’s From:
  • Grew up in a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky ("Suburbs, suburbs, suburbs! We were in a cul de sac." – Katherine, 04:58)
  • Parents did better financially than other relatives but had deep rural roots (tobacco farming).
• Family Dynamics:
  • Dad: One of ten kids, raised on a tobacco farm. Eventually became a pharmacist after moving to the "big city."
  • Mom: Nurse from Owensboro, Kentucky.
  • "Both my parents grew up on tobacco farms. My dad is one of ten. His brothers are his cousins and his aunt is his stepmom." (Katherine, 05:11)
  • All three kids attended Catholic schools; Katherine describes the local Catholic school community, including the sibling dynamic with her brothers and the fun of having an older brother’s friends bail her out with fake IDs (11:01).

Family Wealth and Trappings

• Modest Middle-Class Comforts:
  • Four-bedroom house, but next to a sod farm, not a pool; parents worked hard night shifts (Mom as a nurse, Dad as Walgreens pharmacist).
  • "He worked night shift at Walgreens most of my childhood." (Katherine, 09:31)
  • The family’s success was relative—well off compared to their more rural kin but not extravagant.

Growing Up Kentucky

• Rural Kentucky Culture:
  • Hilarious confusion over local place names ("Versailles" pronounced "Ver-Sales") and rural practices.
  • Detailed stories about the sod farm and “mass grass” shipped to Japan, turning the leftover mud strips into kids’ slip-and-slides (13:15).
  • Reflections on being part of the “last latchkey generation”—parents at work, kids left to wander and do “Jackass” stunts (14:07).

Sports and School

• Cross-Country Confessions:
  • Only joined cross country because it was no-cut, regularly faked passing out to avoid running, and managed to do it for years.
  • "I started fake passing out...so that somebody would be like, 'We've got one down.'" (Katherine, 21:36)
  • Her mom took her to doctors to investigate, and only years later did her family learn the truth.

Family Vacations & Traditions

• Vacations:

  • Myrtle Beach, Gulf Shores (AL), Destin (FL), Disney World.
  • "Myrtle Beach, baby. Dirty Myrtle." (Katherine, 29:56)
  • "We’re all sleeping in, like, one... my parents have a double bed and the kids have a double bed—we’re typically doing that." (Katherine, 31:33)

• Passport & International Adventures:

  • Only left the US as a kid to visit Canadian relatives for Calgary Stampede—which turned out to be decidedly not family-friendly.
  • Later studied abroad (sort of) in London for the Olympics, which led to a wild tale about living and working in borderline slum conditions with Hungarian and Spanish coworkers. Faked being an official cleaner to sneak into Olympic events (41:13).

Food, First Jobs, and Daily Rituals

• Meals and Groceries:

  • Grocery store: Kroger. Special occasions: Benihana.
  • Childhood treats: Frozen White Castle sliders, TGI Fridays artichoke dip, and improvised nachos (microwave cheese on tortillas).
  • "Vienna sausages...cut those up, put those in SpaghettiOs: Italian dinner!" (Katherine, 52:39)

• First Job:

  • Old Navy Black Friday: Nine hours on a fleece wall, hands bleeding from the material (44:36).
  • Dark humor about pushing predatory credit cards at Old Navy, and the humiliation experienced by customers getting denied credit (45:40).

College, Cars, and Transition to Adulthood

• College:

  • Attended the University of South Carolina in "Sport and Entertainment Management" through the Academic Common Market for in-state tuition (54:00).
  • Noted the regional culture shock: "I thought Kentucky was Southern until I went to South Carolina. That’s old money debutante." (Katherine, 55:25)

• First Car:

  • Champagne-colored Mazda Protege at 16 (58:54).
  • "You whip a Mazda Protege everywhere, dude. A champagne color car." (Katherine, 60:23)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Kentucky Rural Life:

  • "His brothers are his cousins and his aunt is his stepmom." (Katherine, 05:11)

• Cross-Country Antics:

  • "I started fake passing out...so that somebody would be like, 'We’ve got one down.'" – Katherine, 21:36
  • "She did this for four years! Just stop running. Join the chess club or something." – Kevin, 25:22

• International Adventures:

  • "You were an indentured servant for the Olympics with Hungarian guys." – Kevin, 41:13
  • “All these fun experiences, but I never got in lavishly… always like these little back doors.” – Katherine, 41:21

• On Derby Debauchery:

  • "You try and run across the [porta potties] and they’re chucking beer bottles to try and knock you off." (Katherine, 64:58)

• On Parenting & Vaginal Itch Remedies:

  • "You want to take a round brush up there?" – Katherine quoting her mom, 67:54
  • "That’s how she keeps me from getting pregnant. Just use a round brush, honey." (68:13)

• On Breakfast of Champions:

  • "We’d wake up, watch Blue’s Clues for my little brother… then Maury Povich… then Price is Right… and then go outside to the sod field." – Katherine, 53:00

Timestamped Segment Guide

• Kentucky Roots & Family (04:58–09:38)
• Catholic School, Sibling Dynamics (10:32–11:16)
• Sod Farm Childhood & Latchkey Era (12:05–14:44)
• Cross-Country Fainting & Academic Slacking (20:39–25:55)
• Family Vacations & Benihana Discussions (29:55–31:47; 48:26–50:56)
• Study Abroad/Olympics (Cleaner Scam) (41:13–44:13)
• Old Navy, First Job, and Credit Card Stories (44:36–47:46)
• Sod Farm Kids vs. debutantes at USC (54:00–56:14)
• Derby Porta Potty Run (62:29–65:36)
• Mother’s Home Remedy Anecdote (67:14–68:42)

Tone & Style: Southern Trashy Pride Meets Urban Sarcasm

The episode maintains the signature "Are You Garbage?" balance of genuine curiosity, friendly roasting, and warmth. Katherine matches the hosts quip for quip, embracing and laughing at the dirtbag traditions of her Kentucky upbringing, her later travels, and her misadventures—whether faking fainting in high school, sneaking into the Olympics with a broom, or running the Kentucky Derby’s infamous porta-potties.

Verdict

100,000% Garbage – Declared with love and respect by Foley and Ryan, underscoring Katherine’s embrace of her uniquely American, “middle-class with a southern twang,” dirtbag journey.
("Money’s got nothing to do with it. You’re doing fake pass outs in high school." – H. Foley, 62:20)

Katherine's Plugs

• Podcast: Coastal Idiots (with Shane Torres)
• Upcoming Shows: Minneapolis, Lexington KY, Tulsa
• More Info: "katherineblanford.com for tickets!" (72:06)

This episode is a hilarious, open-hearted tour through the middle-American, slightly-trashy rites of passage that make Comedian Katherine Blanford, by the hosts’ metric, gloriously "garbage."