Distractible – "The Smell You Can Lick" (March 9, 2026)

Podcast Hosts: Mark Fischbach (A), Wade Barnes (B), Bob Muyskens (C)
Episode Theme: Exploring Sensory Imagination and Everyday Absurdities

Episode Overview

In this lively segment of Distractible, Bob takes hosting duties while Mark and Wade compete. The trio embarks on a journey through sensory imagination — focusing on how vividly (or not) they can conjure sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and movement in their minds. Along the way, they riff on internet rumors, fame-related controversies, slander vs. libel, John Grisham novels, improv, and the existential horror of people who can vividly imagine licking feet. Layered with their trademark banter and self-deprecation, it’s an episode equal parts thoughtful, ridiculous, and surprisingly introspective.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Controversy, Headlines, and Fame (00:07–08:19)

• Mark’s Growing Fame: Mark describes being quoted out of context and sparking controversy over his filmmaking decisions—particularly with his VFX team for Iron Lung.
• Misinformation Online: The crew mock the bizarre headlines that result (“Markiplier ditched Iron Lung VFX over budget,” “Markiplier goes bankrupt”).
• Libel vs. Slander:
  • Mark: "I think this counts as libel. Is this libel?" (04:31)
  • Bob: "Libel is when it done been written." (04:35)
• Wade as ‘Slanderman’:
  • Wade riffs: “I’m going to grow a couple extra arms. Call me the Slander Man.” (05:03)

2. Life Updates and Small Talk (08:12–11:45)

• Bob: Recounts vet/dentist visits, struggles with reading at night, and working through John Grisham’s Runaway Jury.
• Mark & Wade: Both mention recently finishing or reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, marveling at the author’s escalating stakes.
• Media Consumption: Mark admits to bingeing the series, with Bob noting how audiobooks shape character voices in his head.

3. The Mind’s Eye and “Aphantasia” (14:13–23:54)

• Aphantasia Defined: Bob explains his lack of internal visualization (aphantasia)—the inability to conjure images in his "mind’s eye." Mark excels at visual imagery, Wade falls somewhere in between.
  • Bob: "I have complete aphantasia. I don't see shit. If I close my eyes and try and imagine things, I see, like, blackness." (14:16)
• Audio Imagery: Bob can’t internally "hear" music or voices, contrasting with Mark and Wade who can vividly recall lyrics and even specific voices (e.g., Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken).
  • Wade: "It's harder to hear the instrumental... I can hear the lyrics very clearly." (15:58)
• Impressions vs. Imagination: Discussion of doing vocal impressions, with the consensus that mental impressions always sound “perfect” internally—even when reality doesn’t match.
  • Mark: "That's in my head. It's, like, perfect. But if I tried to do this out loud... is the subconscious just a complete liar?" (19:04)

4. Sensory Imagination Across Senses (23:54–38:39)

A. Reading & Audiobook Voices

• Mark distinguishes between reading modes: slower, with voices; faster, with no imagery.
  • Mark: “Sometimes I'm reading the words in my head ... and then the characters ... it can be their voices.” (21:57)

B. Improv & Spatial Imagination

• Wade explains how visualizing a scene aids in improv.
  • Wade: “That's how I keep track of ... physically where things are.” (24:33)
• Bob, unable to visualize, feels "lost" on stage: “I might as well be standing in the middle of space ... I can't see.” (25:37)

C. Smell and Taste (29:07–35:17)

• None of the hosts can vividly conjure smells.
  • Mark: “I could not tell you what a thing smells like to save my life.” (29:07)
  • Wade: “I can't conjure anything. Even if it’s bad smells, like just poop, straight poop, I can't smell and I'm grateful for that.” (30:39)
• Taste is similarly vague; texture is easier.
  • Mark: “Texture I can picture vividly. ... Taste, though, is vague, ethereal, but it's there, but it's less concrete.” (32:45)

D. Texture and Licking Objects (35:17–38:36)

• Licking things is a universally strong sensory memory—often gross, sometimes funny.
  • Mark: “If you can imagine yourself licking something ... you know exactly what it would feel like.” (35:17)
• Bob points out the mental “ick” of e.g. licking hair or Styrofoam.
  • Bob: “My brain did something horrible where I got hair—like licking hair sensations.” (35:20)

E. Proprioception/Motor Imagery (38:55–45:48)

• Mark describes childhood and adult methods for imagining motion (e.g., feeling like he’s swinging, or moving invisible bowls while falling asleep).
  • Mark: “[If] I would imagine my whole bed was swinging ... I could feel my center of gravity shifting.” (39:36)
• The trio discuss studies showing athletes improving performance via mental rehearsal alone, highlighting the power of motor imagery.

5. Cars, Identity, and “Becoming the Vehicle” (47:53–50:44)

• A brief tangent on whether people feel a sense of merger with their cars.
  • Bob: “Not at all do I feel connected to it. Like you're describing, it feels like I'm driving the thing and together we're a team and the car is always separate from me...”

6. Podcast “Rules,” Meta-Jokes, and Wheel Spinning (50:44–End)

• The group debates punishment/reward rules for missing the use of their trigger word (“unfair”), and how the subreddit should be involved.
• The infamous “wheel” and “coin” mechanic yet again determines who wins—a recurring Distractible tradition ripe for meta-mockery.
  • Mark: “The coin is my favorite part of the whole thing.” (56:18)
• Points tally is humorously debated for its fairness, giving Wade an unexpected victory.
• Closing speeches: Mark indulges in exaggerated humility regarding his fame and fate, Wade basks in a rare win despite having “less points.”
  • Wade: “Even when I do win, I win with the same amount of points as somebody else. I’m never going to catch up...” (61:02)
  • Bob: “You actually won this episode with less points than Mark. To be clear, the score was 10 to 9 when it was declared a tie and we entered Sudden Death.” (61:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mark on Controversy: “Every sentence I speak can be misinterpreted to make a headline for an article.” (02:11)
• On Slander/Libel:
  • Wade: “I’m going to grow a couple extra arms. Call me the Slander Man.” (05:03)
  • Bob: “Libel is when it done been written.” (04:35)
• Bob on Aphantasia: “I have complete aphantasia ... I see, like, blackness and I got nothing.” (14:16)
• Mark on Smell: “I sometimes wonder if I have a sense of smell and I go like no, I can smell that.” (29:50)
• On Licking:
  • Mark: “If you can imagine yourself licking something ... you know exactly what it would feel like...” (35:17)
  • Bob: “Markiplier licks feet live on Distractible.” (37:19)
• Meta-Commentary:
  • Bob: “I hope everyone finds it interesting. But I found it very interesting, which is all I care about.” (51:42)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:07 – Mark’s “controversy” and the VFX rumor headlines
• 14:13 – Introduce aphantasia and mental imagery tests
• 24:33 – Improv and visual imagination in performance
• 29:07 – Discussion of olfactory imagination
• 32:13 – Imagining taste and food texture
• 35:17 – Licking and tactile imagery
• 38:55 – Motor imagery and proprioception
• 47:53 – Sense of self vs. vehicle while driving
• 50:44 – Rules for “unfair,” subreddit involvement
• 56:00–60:00 – Wheel & coin chaos, Mark’s meta reflections

Summary Table of Sensory Imagery (as discussed)

| Sense | Mark | Wade | Bob | |----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------| | Sight | Highly vivid | Moderate | Zero | | Sound | Vivid | Moderate-vivid | Zero | | Smell | None | Rare/specific | None | | Taste | Vague, partial | Vague | None | | Texture | Highly vivid | Highly vivid | Moderate | | Motion | Trainable/vivid | Moderate | Not a focus |

Closing

The episode balances the show’s self-deprecating humor with genuine curiosity about the diversity of sensory experience and imagination. If you’ve ever wondered about how (or whether) your friends or idols visualize, hear, or even “taste” things in their heads, this is the episode for you.

Host Next Week: Wade will take over as host for the next episode.

For more odd, insightful, and hilarious explorations, follow Distractible and join the subreddit to share your own sensory imagination stories!