Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers — Episode Summary

Episode: MATT & TOM BERNINGER on Growing Up in Cincinnati, The National’s Brotherly Tensions, and the Documentary Mistaken for Strangers
Date: August 26, 2025
Hosts: Seth Meyers & Josh Meyers
Guests: Matt Berninger (Lead singer, The National) & Tom Berninger (Filmmaker, Director of Mistaken for Strangers)

Episode Overview

This lively episode of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers features Matt and Tom Berninger, known for their close but comically different brotherhood—and, as Matt points out, for being part of one of the most “brother-forward” bands around, The National. The conversation weaves from hilarious childhood memories in suburban Cincinnati to reflections on family dynamics, brotherly creative tensions, and the making of the cult-favorite documentary Mistaken for Strangers. There’s also plenty of banter about parents, family trips gone awry, and the unique experience of being the youngest sibling by nearly a decade.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The National’s Unique “Brother” DNA

(10:18–11:52)

• The National contains not just Matt and Tom, but also two other sets of brothers. This, Matt explains, creates a “diplomacy” that mellows out tensions, unlike famously combative bands like Oasis.
  • Matt: "Our groups of brothers in the National...all kind of balance each other out...maybe there’s a little bit of diplomacy that happens with us that maybe doesn’t happen in Oasis." (10:51)

2. Making ‘Mistaken for Strangers’: Documentary as Brotherly Therapy

(12:00–16:22)

• Tom joined the band on tour, intending just to make fun short clips. Gradually, the project became centered on Tom—and their relationship.
• The real breakthrough came thanks to feedback from Matt’s wife, Corinne, who insisted the real story was their dynamic, not silly stunts.
  • Matt: "Corinne...she just said, ‘these aren’t funny enough’...the stuff that was more actual tensions...that was the stuff." (14:25)
  • Editing help from comedy legend Greg Daniels gets a shoutout. (16:53)

3. A Nine Year Age Gap: Sibling Memories and Missed Connections

(17:33–19:53)

• Tom is 9 years younger—so Matt recalls Tom as “the funniest, the sweetest,” growing up entertaining everyone, with an adorable story of being taken to see Terminator 2 and frightening himself with RoboCop way too young.
  • Tom: “I watched [RoboCop]...I was seven years old and that’s too early!” (19:53)

4. Growing Up in Cincinnati: Suburbs, Farms, and (Mis)Adventures

(22:18–30:23)

• Their West Side Cincinnati childhood mixed the suburbs and their uncle’s farm—holidays spent cutting Christmas trees, sweltering summer pruning thorns, and yes, toting rifles down train tracks.
• Hilariously dangerous stories abound: firing guns at raccoons, blowdarting squirrels, and shooting a skunk in the garden, triggering a neighborhood stink.
  • Matt: “He throws on the lights and he starts blowing away and all the corn is falling. He’s shooting down all the corn and it was a skunk and he hit a skunk and it just exploded the neighborhood.” (28:33)

5. Trips: Boundary Waters, Canada, and Gatlinburg Memories

(42:44–47:52)

• Family canoe trips in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters—most remembered for endless rain, leech-infested lakes, and make-do camping toilets. Also, annual adventures to kitschy Gatlinburg, Tennessee—more for miniature golf and haunted houses than wilderness.
  • Tom: “I mainly remember all, like, the miniature golf, like, the jungle golf and hillbilly golf and in the haunted houses.” (46:44)
• Story of losing at mini-golf and having to “boof a gorilla” statue with three suggestive thrusts, at their mom’s raucous urging.
  • Matt: “Mom said, no you have to do three thrusts.” (47:28)

6. The Berninger Sense of Humor (and Mom’s Legendary Farting Incident)

(47:55–50:06)

• Their mother’s hilariously dirty sense of humor is legendary—described by Matt as a Christmas dinner troublemaker, and immortalized in Tom’s favorite memory: her peeing her pants from laughter during Ace Ventura at the movies.
  • Tom: “She was laughing...so hard that she kept farting and peeing in her pants...I had to get...a popcorn thing so she can cover herself.” (49:59)

7. Old-School Cincinnati Vibes & Family Dynamics

(65:56–67:28)

• The family had deep roots in Cincinnati—longtime family gatherings, cousins galore, and stories of the city’s revitalization and Midwest architectural charm.
  • Tom: “It’s a Midwest city...they didn’t tear any buildings down. So it’s a really old city that they’ve kind of revitalized, and it’s got some beautiful architecture.” (70:15)

8. Music Tastes: Sibling Rivalry by Stereo

(57:18–62:45)

• Despite being in a musical family, Matt and Tom didn’t (at first) share musical tastes. Matt gravitated toward alt-rock (The Smiths, R.E.M., Violent Femmes) while Tom rebelled with heavy metal, proudly becoming a Judas Priest and Cannibal Corpse aficionado.
  • Tom: “I, I kind of got into that radio metal...I want to be an expert on what I thought was, like, dumb music.” (58:52)
  • Matt: “When I listen to metal now, I hear it differently. It’s not macho at all...it’s showing all the fear and anxiety...the beauty and emotional catharsis that metal is.” (63:39)

9. Family Speed Round

(69:01–71:12)

• Most-anticipated vacation style? “Relaxing” (both brothers).
• Family they’d vacation with: Tom picks The Muppets, Matt goes with The Royal Tenenbaums.
• Who to be stranded with on a desert island? Matt says Tom, Tom chooses sister Rachel (to avoid the fight).
• Would they recommend Cincinnati? Yes—up-and-coming, historic, great for visitors.

10. The Grand Canyon Story

(71:13–72:22)

• Matt recalls a childhood family road trip west—where the overwhelming memory is seeing a crash scene with a dead trucker, rendering the Grand Canyon itself a background detail.
  • Matt: “He wakes us up and he said, guys, get up, kids, There’s a dead guy...that was on our way to the Grand Canyon...I barely remember the Grand Canyon at all.” (72:07)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Family Documentary Feedback:
  • Matt (on Corinne): “She just said, ‘these aren’t funny enough’...she was very, very involved in being brutally honest about every little bit. She’s like, ‘I’m bored here.’” (14:25, 16:04)
• On Guns in Childhood:
  • Matt: “We would go to the gun and knife shows...my cousins had an M16. We were shooting M16s on the farm.” (25:24)
• On Sibling Dynamics:
  • Tom: “I just realized...the family unit was already created between my brother and my sister. And then there was some joke...like, then Tom came along...I had no idea.” (37:15)
• On Mom’s Humor:
  • Matt: “She’s really gross and she’s really, really...anything sexual, just like, she can’t let it go. Just laughs about it so much.” (48:00)
• On Theme Park Losers:
  • Matt: “Mom said, no you have to do three thrusts.” (47:28)
• On Metal Music’s Emotional Depth:
  • Matt: “It’s not macho at all. It’s the opposite. It’s kind of showing all the fear and anxiety and...made me kind of appreciate the beauty and emotional catharsis that metal is.” (63:39)
• On the Grand Canyon:
  • Matt: “Even, like, the majesty of the Grand Canyon cannot compete with the dead guy in the truck.” (72:19)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening Banter (family trips & whale watching): 00:00–09:15
• Meet the Berninger Brothers & Band Brotherhood: 10:05–11:52
• Mistaken for Strangers Origins: 12:00–16:22
• Childhood Age Gap & Sibling Stories: 17:33–22:12
• Growing Up in Cincinnati/Farm Life: 22:18–30:23
• Family Adventures & Danger (guns, animal patrol): 24:23–30:23
• Boundary Waters & Gatlinburg Trips: 42:44–47:52
• Mom’s Legendary Humor & Ace Ventura Story: 47:55–50:06
• Music Tastes & Creative Rebellion: 57:18–62:45
• Speed Round: 69:01–71:12
• Grand Canyon & Dead Guy Story: 71:13–72:22

Tone & Atmosphere

The vibe is a comedic blend of sincerity and nostalgia, full of affectionate ribbing, vivid storytelling, and warmth. The Berninger brothers’ dynamic mixes older-sibling exuberance and kid-brother irreverence, with the Meyers adding their trademark sibling chemistry throughout.

Whether you're a National fan, a lover of brotherly stories, or just craving a trip down memory lane, this episode is a heartfelt and hilarious ride through family, music, and the kinds of journeys—literal and metaphorical—that leave lasting marks.