Garage Logic (MISCHKE): Doomsday Hiccup – Episode Summary

Date: February 7, 2026
Host: Tommy Mischke (“Mishke”)
Podcast Network: Gamut Podcast Network

Episode Overview

This episode of Garage Logic, led by Tommy Mischke, weaves together trademark humor with reflections on human resilience. Mishke ricochets from satirizing Valentine’s Day consumerism to pondering the symbolic Doomsday Clock, riffs on the world’s longest case of hiccups, and then connects with a listener, Tracy, for a candid, moving conversation about grief, mental health, and hard-won gratitude. The tone is an engaging mix of wit, warmth, and unflinching honesty.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Valentine’s Day Satire & Relationship Tropes

[02:00–09:30]

• Mishke opens by lampooning breathless media coverage of Valentine’s Day, especially “36 Best Valentine’s Day Gifts That Will Make Him Fall in Love All Over Again.”
• He pokes holes in the logic of “falling in love all over again,” questioning how an already-in-love partner could “fall in love again” via gifts like a cord organizer or an electric shaver.
• Quote:

  “You’re madly in love … but you’re getting this gift so that he will fall in love with you all over again. What will that look like?” – Mishke [03:00]

• Lampoons consumer-driven emotions:

  “We really don’t understand emotions outside of buying products, do we?” – Mishke [05:20]

• Mocks magazine advice for rekindling romance (“Try holding hands and taking a walk”), launches into a bit about shouting at couples holding hands to report on their progress, and muses on the awkwardness of hand-holding as a youth.

2. The Doomsday Clock & Dark Humor on Existential Threats

[11:00–17:00]

• Mishke transitions from relationships to global doom, discussing the Doomsday Clock being set at 85 seconds to midnight – the closest ever.
• Explains the clock’s symbolism (midnight = global catastrophe) and the lack of global progress blunting existential threats: nuclear arms, climate change, misinformation, AI.
• Quote:

  “That’s like me setting an alarm for work and then dying in my sleep. It makes having set the clock a complete waste of time.” – Mishke [15:10]

• Suggests tongue-in-cheek that some mechanism should push the clock to midnight so there’s “closure” if the unthinkable happens.

3. Doomsday Hiccup: The Story of Charles Osborne’s 68-Year Hiccup

[19:30–28:00]

• Mishke uses the story (“when you’re feeling blue…someone once had the hiccups for 68 straight years, and it wasn’t you”) as a back-pocket gratitude check.
• Tells the true tale of Charles Osborne, who started hiccupping in 1922 after a farm accident and couldn’t stop until 1990.
  • 20–40 hiccups per minute; over 480 million hiccups.
  • Married, had eight kids, lived a relatively normal life despite the affliction.
• Riffs in song and comedy on folk remedies (being scared to cure hiccups), imagining poor Charles being startled throughout his life.
• Quote:

  “So the hiccups were only part of the problem. There was the lifetime of endlessly being frightened and scared and shocked and startled. That actually was worse.” – Mishke [25:15]

• Notes that after Charles’s hiccups stopped, one guy kept scaring him out of habit.
• The story becomes a comedic tribute to enduring the absurd hardships life throws at people.

4. Listener Call-In: Deep Dive with Tracy on Grief & Survival

[36:07–53:07]

• The show’s heart and gravitas unfold in a candid call with Tracy, a longtime listener.
  • Tracy jokes about Mishke being a “hall pass,” then reveals living with disabilities and a history of depression.
  • Conversation shifts to tragic loss: Tracy’s son died at 17.5 from an accidental overdose. She movingly describes the pain, the slow process of healing, and struggling with guilt and faith.
• Quotes:

  “When it hits the two year mark, you’ll feel better. And I thought she had 12 heads because I felt so awful. But right around the two year mark…I started to think…not ‘Oh my God, he’s gone,’ but ‘Oh my God. I had an opportunity to know that boy.’” – Tracy [40:59]

  “I watch True Crime and I hate it when these parents…start to cry and they look at the producers and they go, I’m sorry. You have a damn good reason to cry.” – Tracy [39:29]

• The two discuss the son’s mental health (misdiagnosed depression vs. likely undiagnosed bipolar), the pain Tracy’s daughter faced losing her brother (and subsequent struggle with self-harm and a suicide attempt), and how grief changed their lives.
• Mishke and Tracy banter darkly about using perspective (“things could be worse,” the Holocaust, and gallows humor as in Young Frankenstein).
  • Mishke relates a haunting Holocaust anecdote about a man deciding not to wake his bunkmate from a nightmare because “what could be worse than what he wakes up to.”
• Quote:

  “The thing that moves me every day: You don’t know how many times I look up at God and I say thank you so much because things could be so much worse.” – Tracy [47:05]

• The segment blends tears and laughter, with Mishke closing the conversation by playfully imagining the dreams of Tracy’s husband (Olivia Newton John and Bea Arthur cameos).

5. Gracious Closure & Reflection

[53:08–end]

• Mishke shifts gears, noting it’s been a year since he restarted (at Hubbard Broadcasting) and reflecting fondly on the comfort, nostalgia, and “old radio” feel of his current studio.
• Shares gratitude for listeners who’ve stuck with him and expresses hope to continue offering meaningful, companionable entertainment.
• Recaps his philosophy: radio/podcasts are for listening while living your life, doing other things – not just watching a screen.
• Ends with a nod to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (“So we beat on, boats against the current…”), humorously claiming he coined it, not Fitzgerald.

Notable Quotes & Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• “You fall in love, and then you’re in love, and you’re living your life, and you’re in love. You’re not out of love, and then you fall in love again.” — Mishke on gift-giving clichés [03:05]
• “We haven’t been able to detach our emotions from products.” — Mishke [05:20]
• “At the dawn of the nuclear age, scientists created the Doomsday Clock… Well, this past month…the clock was set closer to midnight than it ever has been… 85 seconds away from midnight.” — Mishke [11:20]
• “That’s like me setting an alarm for work and then dying in my sleep. It makes having set the clock a complete waste of time.” — Mishke [15:10]
• “Someone once had the hiccups for 68 straight years, and it wasn’t you.” — Mishke’s perspective-shifting mantra [19:40]
• “His whole life, for 68 years, he put up with that. So the hiccups were only part of the problem. There was the lifetime of endlessly being frightened and scared.” — Mishke on Charles Osborne [25:10]
• “When it hits the two year mark, you’ll feel better… But right around two year mark, I started to think… ‘Oh my God. I had an opportunity to know that boy.’” — Tracy on grief healing [40:59]
• “Things could be so much worse.” — Tracy, after detailing unimaginable loss [47:05]
• “That was the worst story I had ever heard.” — Mishke, on a Holocaust anecdote where nightmares were the only escape [50:48]

Section Timestamps

• Valentine’s Satire & Consumerism: 02:00–09:30
• Doomsday Clock & Global Threats: 11:00–17:00
• Hiccup Story (Charles Osborne): 19:30–28:00
• Listener Call (Tracy/Grief): 36:07–53:07
• Personal Reflection/Studio: 53:14–End

Tone & Takeaway

• Language & Tone:
  Mischke’s language is sharp, irreverent, and deeply humane. He blends jokes, philosophical musings, musical interludes, and unsparing honesty.
• For New Listeners:
  If you like a show that pivots from parodying holiday hype to reflecting on the state of the world, then plunges into sincere, vulnerable conversations about human suffering—then returns to humor and hope—this episode is a quintessential sampler of Mishke’s range.
• Lasting Message:
  No matter how grim things get, “things could be worse.” Through life’s hiccups—literal and cosmic—humor, human connection, and perspective are Mishke’s core remedy.

Contact:
Call or text the show: 651-321-8949
Email: mishkebard@radio.com

Next Episode: Stay tuned for more stories, more laughter, and a little more gumption from Gumption County.