Casuals with Katie Nolan

Episode: ROAD TRIP! Turf Farms, Xmas Sports, and Big Questions of 2026

Guests: Katie Nolan (host), Dan Soder (comedian, fiancé)
Release Date: December 30, 2025
Duration: ~86 minutes (excluding ads/intros/outros)

Overview & Main Theme

This festive, freewheeling episode of Casuals follows Katie Nolan and Dan Soder on their annual New York-to-Denver holiday road trip. Broadcasting from a hotel after an Airbnb snafu, the couple recounts mishaps on the road, delivers classic banter, and shares family moments—before digging into the perennial "Christmas sports" debate, NFL/NBA playoff stories, college football chaos, the Pop-Tart Bowl, and a lightning round of hilarious 2026 sports and culture predictions.

The episode aims for all types of listeners, blending relatable travel grief, midwestern Americana, and accessible sports chat, all mixed with sharp comedic takes and inside jokes.

Road Trip Tales, Midwest Weirdness & AirBnBust (03:07–11:26)

• Setting the Scene
  Katie and Dan are in a Chicago hotel after a botched Airbnb stay. The trip takes them from New York to Denver for Christmas, stopping to see family in Chicago and Nebraska.

• Airbnb Disaster

  • Arrive to find an unclean, possibly occupied Airbnb; a mysterious neighbor probes for info.
  • Beds unmade, shower hairy, towels suspicious, two mugs out, disheveled blanket (“That’s not...”—Dan).
  • The owner offers a refund, no questions asked—a sign she’s juggling too many properties.
  • Dan: “The cleaning place never showed up, or it was a squatter.” (09:04)
  • Quick pivot: immediate cancellation, pet-friendly Hilton instead (“Hiltons and Hyatts—dog friendly, good to know!” —Dan, 11:10).

Holiday Observations: Cousin Walks, Midwest Coffee, and Turf Farms (11:26–25:28)

• Roadside Americana

  • Emailer affirms correct (if “creepy”) pronunciation of “Maumee, Ohio.”
  • Katie and Dan’s “Scooters Coffee” redemption arc: attempted, but confirmed a disaster (“Within my first five sips I had to fight diarrhea.”—Dan, 15:38).
  • Dutch Brothers Coffee receives approval (“Like sludge, but welcome to the family!” —Katie).

• Inside Jokes & Delusions on the Road

  • Ongoing bits about Parker Posey car commercials and “Graf Turf” (turf farm) ads.
  • Jesus metal roadside statue becomes a personal symbol for Katie: “Even if the burden is twice your size, you gotta keep going.” (24:54)
  • “Fort Morgan to Denver, Colorado”—consensus: the least pleasant leg of the drive.

Family Moments: Christmas Wii Golf & Friendly Rivalry (25:40–29:28)

• Wii Golf Legends
  • Katie plays Wii Golf with Dan’s mom Trish (“She’s played the same nine holes for 15 years!” —Dan, 26:06).
  • Katie ties the house record, then drops four eagles in nine holes—generates competitive (but supportive) family banter (“My mom’s getting jealous. She’d be embarrassed to hear that—but it’s true,”—Dan, 27:15).
  • “Christmas game” ends in a rare three-way tie for the family, ending a tradition of one person melting down.

Transition: The "Real" War on Christmas—Sports Leagues Compete (35:07–38:28)

• NFL vs NBA Christmas Clash

  • Dan: “I’m a football fan first, but Christmas is NBA. You always get premium NBA matchups.”
  • Katie: “We didn’t watch any basketball this year. I guess we voted football.”
  • Three NFL games this Christmas (“It feels selfish… Give Christmas back to basketball!” —Dan, 36:10).
  • Peak “sports calendar” moment: “Greatest week of football is between Christmas and New Year’s—playoff-style NFL, college playoffs, everything.”

• Serotonin Crash Post-Super Bowl

  • Dan prescribes the NBA to capture fans right after the Super Bowl to “avoid the crash.”

NFL Highlights: Patriots Glory, Josh Allen’s Burden & Brock Purdy Disrespect (39:08–47:00)

• Patriots Rout the Jets

  • Katie: “Sorry, my Patrick’s won. Sorry, win the AFC East again. Went from worst to first!”
  • Dan notes the poetic arc: “Drake May looks phenomenal…You gave Mike Vrabel the storybook—worse to first at the team he won Super Bowls on.”

• Bills-Eagles Classic

  • Bills lose on a failed two-point conversion; Allen “always doing all of it.”
  • Dan: “Josh Allen’s a single mom that works too hard…” (42:29)
  • Strahan laments the decision not to kick an extra point—was the kicker’s earlier miss to blame?

• Niners-Bears: Purdy Ascends

  • “For a day Purdy was Josh Allen. Five touchdowns. Keep him underrated.”
  • “He’s a winner, but he can’t dance.”
  • “I love his World War I face. Just a boy.” —Dan
  • Resurgence of coach Robert Saleh (“Hot daddy’s coming home. He is a daddy! Ten kids, I think.” —Katie, 47:10)

• NFL Playoff Preview

  • Niners-Seahawks classic rivalry for NFC top seed.
  • Steelers-Ravens and Bucs-Panthers with division titles on the line.
  • Browns play “spoiler” vs. Steelers; Myles Garrett’s near-record.

Pop Tart Bowl & College Football Life (57:01–62:52)

• Pop Tart Bowl Escalates

  • BYU vs Georgia Tech: Booger McFarland’s strip club per diem story (58:09).
  • Pop Tart sacrifice—“Their way of soft-launching human sacrifice back into society.” —Dan, 59:09
  • Humiliation ritual: winning coach has to eat a massive (clearly not real) Pop Tart.

• BYU Religious Requirements?

  • Katie ponders if coaches/players must be Mormon (not required, just a “strong preference”).
  • Dan draws parallels between BYU policy, Army/Navy team requirements, and academic rigor at Stanford/Notre Dame.

Notable Sports Stories, Relationship & Media News (65:34–69:36)

• Biggest NFL Suspension/Controversy Update: DK Metcalf

  • Suspended two games for grabbing a fan (52:47).
  • Longstanding fan feud—accused of using a racial slur; public sympathy diminishes after fan’s cringy press conference in a backward hat.
  • “A backward hat at a press conference nullifies anything you say.” —Dan, 54:41
  • Katie: “Case closed. That guy sucks. But NFL players should try to avoid physical confrontations with fans.” (57:02)

• Love & Gossip:

  • Jordyn Woods & Karl-Anthony Towns engaged.
    • “Don’t get married before us!” —Katie (65:41)
  • Al Michaels obsesses over the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce wedding guest list.
  • Christian Pulisic loudly denies romance rumors with Sydney Sweeney.
    • Dan: “Honestly, even to be linked to her as a young guy… Pretty awesome.”

• Pop Culture & Halftime Shows

  • Upcoming Super Bowl: Bad Bunny vs “All American Halftime Show.”
    • “We can’t even hate-watch. Gotta let it flop on its own.” —Katie, 71:16
    • Dan imagines a JD Vance musical number.

Lightning Round: Big Predictions & Fun Questions for 2026 (69:34–78:00)

• Will a new quarterback win a Super Bowl?

  • Both agree: Yes.

• Can Bad Bunny outperform the “All-American Halftime Show”?

  • “By leaps and bounds.” —Dan, 70:08

• Bill Belichick to Giants?

  • “No, but please.” (Both agree it would be emotionally complicated.)

• Will the US embarrass itself at the 2026 World Cup?

  • “I think we will,” says Katie, but Dan hopes for moments of “true patriotism.” (74:30)

• Any Stranger Things kids become stars?

  • Shady question; neither has high hopes; Katie: “What a tough job to age through…”

• Avalanche, Thunder, Dodgers chatter:

  • Dan is a Bruins fan, not Avs.
  • Both root against Thunder breaking Warriors’ record and Dodgers 3-peating.

• Soder-Nolan Wedding vs. GTA 6 Release:

  • Odds are that GTA 6 comes first.

Notable Quotes

• “Within my first five sips I had to fight diarrhea.”
  — Dan on Scooters Coffee (15:38)

• "Beds aren’t made. There’s hair on the wall of the shower. All the towels… you can’t tell if they’re dirty…”
  — Katie on that Airbnb (08:33)

• “Josh Allen’s a single mom that works too hard … gentle hands, heart of a fighter.”
  — Katie (42:29)

• "I love Brock Purdy. His World War I face… Just a boy."
  — Dan (44:43)

• "A backward hat at a press conference nullifies anything you say."
  — Dan on the Metcalf fan controversy (54:41)

• "The Pop Tart Bowl is just soft-launching human sacrifice."
  — Dan (59:09)

• "Don't get married before us!"
  — Katie to Jordyn Woods and Karl-Anthony Towns (65:41)

Key Timestamps & Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-------------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 03:07 – 11:26 | Road trip setup, Airbnb chaos, travel tips | | 11:26 – 25:28 | Midwest travel stories, hotel/Airbnb jokes, email bag| | 25:40 – 29:28 | Christmas Wii Golf, Nolan-Soder household traditions | | 35:07 – 38:28 | The Christmas “sports war” (NFL Vs NBA) | | 39:08 – 47:00 | NFL holiday games, Pats rise, Bills heartbreak, Niners| | 52:47 – 57:36 | DK Metcalf suspension & the cringe press conference | | 57:01 – 62:52 | Pop Tart Bowl, college football quirks/questions | | 65:34 – 69:36 | Relationships, pop culture, halftime show debate | | 69:34 – 78:00 | 2026 predictions (Super Bowl QBs, halftime, World Cup)| | 78:00 – End | Bruins vs Avalanche, NBA/NHL questions, outro |

Tone & Style

Warm, conversational, irreverent, yet approachable. Katie’s self-deprecation and Dan’s sharp humor keep the show moving. Occasional insider sports banter, but always looping the “casuals” back in.

Summary Takeaway

This was a signature Casuals episode: sports as the backdrop to real-life road-trip weirdness, family moments, and wry holiday reflection. Amid Airbnb horror stories and caffeine mishaps, Katie and Dan riffed their way through the holiday games, called out NFL playoff drama, and looked ahead to 2026’s biggest sports and culture stories—never too serious, never too esoteric, always funny and big-hearted.

For anyone new: You’ll laugh, you’ll learn which hotels are best for dogs, you’ll hear why Christmas is now a battleground for sports leagues, and you’ll wish you could tag along for the next wild Nolan-Soder road trip.