MISCHKE: Love to Love You, Baby (ep. 117)

Summary

Garage Logic: MISCHKE: Love to Love You, Baby (Episode 117) Published June 5, 2026 – “The Mayor” Joe Soucheray, Gamut Podcast Network

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Garage Logic, hosted by Tommy Mishke, dives deep into nostalgia, discomfort, aging, and human connection—threaded together through memorable storytelling, listener calls, and Mischke’s unique observational humor. The central theme kicks off with an awkward memory of listening to Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” as a teenager, exploring social mores, culture shock, and generational divides. The show then moves into thoughtful and often humorous conversations with listeners about hearing loss, aging, impending mortality, and brushes with the miraculous.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Tone and Main Story: Remembering "Love to Love You Baby"

• [03:29 – 14:54] Mishke shares a vivid childhood memory: a group of teens and a buttoned-up dad endure 17 minutes of discomfort while Donna Summer’s moaning, sultry disco classic “Love to Love You Baby” plays in a station wagon after a ski trip.
  • He reflects on the sheer awkwardness and cultural shockwaves of hearing an overtly erotic song with adults in the car.
  • Memorable quote:
    • “I swear I saw him getting red-faced. I think he didn’t want to turn it off because that would be acknowledging that he knows what we know and that we’re all listening to this together and that we’re eavesdropping on Donna Summer’s bedroom. We shouldn’t be in the bedroom and she shouldn’t be allowing us anywhere near that bedroom.” – Mishke [05:20]
  • Mishke observes the uniqueness and boldness of “Love to Love You Baby”:
    • “It’s strange in that the whole song seems to have been created solely to have porn on the radio.” [08:00]
• Cultural Commentary:
  • Mishke marvels at how the song managed to make US airwaves in 1975, noting the tension between changing social norms and parental discomfort.
  • Imagines the absurdity of kids trying to turn the song into a lakeside campfire sing-along, fully capturing the generational gulf:
    • “Mr. Jensen? I think it was recorded when she was having a nightmare in bed… She was sleeping, and those were sounds she was making because she was having a nightmare.” [14:10]

2. Listener Call #1: Melissa, Audiologist—Hearing, Denial, and Aging

• [16:07 – 29:57]
  • Mishke calls Melissa, an audiologist, after randomly selecting her from the listener list.
  • They discuss denial in hearing loss and the social dynamics of aging.
    • Quote: “Everybody’s got a story with their spouse. The person who doesn’t hear well is reporting that the spouse suddenly is mumbling all the time…if everybody else would just talk louder all the time, or if we could just have the TV at 100 all the time, you wouldn’t even have to buy hearing aids.” – Melissa [17:41]
  • Mishke draws parallels between hearing denial and broader existential denial regarding aging and death.
  • The “death doula” concept: A brief, engrossing detour in which Mishke introduces the role of a death doula—someone who helps people “give birth to their death” consciously.
    • Quote: “Most people play Sudoku right to the end. Most people watch television right to the end. Anything to distract themselves from what is coming and what is happening. And then it comes and it happens and they’re gone.” – Mishke [23:06]
  • Discussion of the transformative moment when hearing aids are fitted:
    • “As soon as you put those in their ears and they can hear, it is sometimes the most beautiful thing to actually be sharing some tears occasionally, like, wow, I didn’t know I wasn’t hearing these things.” – Melissa [24:19]
• The World’s Quietest Room: Mishke describes a famed ultra-quiet room at Orfield Laboratory in Minneapolis, relating it to his fascination with sound, silence, and sensory extremes. Melissa, intrigued, says she’ll look it up.
• Deprivation Tank Anecdote: Mishke humorously recounts his failed attempt at a sensory deprivation tank due to a plethora of unnoticed cuts and the subsequent agony (“Hurts like hell in there.”) [28:13]

3. Wordplay & News Oddities: “Dilapidated” and the Flesh-Eating Screw Worm

• [30:10 – 41:58]
  • Mischke riffles through news stories, focusing on a headline where neighbors saved a “dilapidated house.”
  • Wordplay segment: He playfully riffs on the musicality and rhythm of “dilapidated,” comparing it to less melodic words like “constipated.”
  • Blends real estate cliches with self-deprecating family lore, making “dilapidated” the punchline of a running joke.
  • Reading about the “flesh-eating screw worm” found in US livestock, Mishke spirals into an absurdist, darkly comedic fictional bit involving terms of endearment between “Todd” and his wife:
    • “In the evenings, I would give him a gentle kiss. I would say, Todd, good night, my sweet flesh eating screw worm…” [41:14]

4. Listener Call #2: Tommy—Hurricanes, Roofing, and Miracles

• [42:54 – 52:30]
  • Tommy from Florida, a commercial roofer, picks up amidst hurricane winds.
  • The conversation dances between humorous banter about the merits of hurricanes (for roofers), the strange reward system of disaster recovery, and the randomness of American town names.
    • “How does it feel to have a job that a good day for you is someone else’s bad day?” – Mishke [45:11]
  • Mishke and Tommy swap near-death stories—falling off cliffs and morbid tales of natural hazards.
  • They compare Grand Canyon selfie fatalities, revealing 11 deaths “this year” alone from such accidents. [48:59]
  • Mishke asks about miracles; Tommy shares the story of a family member’s unexplained recovery from terminal cancer through prayer.
    • “The doctors couldn’t explain it… family members and friends just kept praying and they were healed.” – Tommy [49:48]
  • Discussion closes with Mishke recalling times he intervened or was contacted during listener suicide crises, highlighting the show’s impact on real lives.
    • “One time a cop called me and he said he used me to talk a guy out of suicide. And a guy was sitting in his car at an overlook. And the cop walked up and he was listening to my show while he was getting ready to die.” – Mishke [51:35]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mishke on Donna Summer’s boldness:

  • “There are a lot of music and there are a lot of lyrics, and then there’s…other sounds in Love to Love You Baby that sound like Donna’s having a pretty good time, probably under a mirrored ceiling.” [04:26]

• On confronting aging:

  • “I feel life moving. I know where it’s heading. I’m there for all of it. It’s not tricking me. I’m watching it happen. I’m watching the losses and the gains. The stages are real and they’re intended to be felt.” [21:14]

• On denial at end-of-life:

  • “Most people play Sudoku right to the end…Anything to distract themselves from what is coming and what is happening. And then it comes and it happens and they’re gone.” [23:06]

• Mishke’s Deprivation Tank Disaster:

  • “Every single one of those cuts or marks or scrapes…a hundred times worse than the original cut. The salt was going into all the wounds.” [28:13]

• Relentless humor about disaster:

  • “How does it feel to have a job that a good day for you is someone else’s bad day?” [45:11]

• On show’s real-world stakes:

  • “I actually have not had that happen, but I’ve had people call me in the midst of getting ready to commit suicide. One in his garage with a car running, one with a shotgun in his lap…I talked him into leaving the car and going into the house.” [51:28]

---

Important Timestamps

• 03:29 – Mishke begins his Donna Summer “Love to Love You Baby” story
• 05:20 – Reflections on the awkwardness in the station wagon
• 14:10 – Comedy imagining “Love to Love You Baby” as a lakeside campfire song
• 16:07 – Call to Melissa, the audiologist
• 17:41 – Melissa’s observations on hearing loss denial
• 23:06 – The “Death Doula” explainer
• 24:19 – Melissa on restoring hearing with aids
• 26:54 – Orfield Laboratory and the world’s quietest room
• 28:13 – Deprivation tank anecdote
• 30:10 – Riffing on the word “dilapidated”
• 41:14 – Flesh eating screw worm as a term of endearment
• 42:54 – Call to Tommy, Florida roofer
• 45:11 – Discussion of profiting from disaster
• 48:59 – Number of selfie death falls at the Grand Canyon
• 49:48 – Tommy’s family miracle story
• 51:28 – Suicide intervention stories

---

Recap & Takeaways

This episode masterfully blends biting humor, nostalgia, wordplay, and genuine human connection. Mishke’s signature style—wry, observant, quick-witted, and willing to veer abruptly from laughter to gravity—makes even the most awkward or weighty topics approachable. Listeners are left with food for thought about the passing of time, the denial of aging, life’s oddest surprises, and the rare connections drawn through a call-in show where, sometimes, a good conversation can be the difference between life and death.

Garage Logic continues to be the go-to for “common sense,” but also for those moments when sensibility, vulnerability, and absurdity converge in the most human of ways.

Transcript

[Melissa]

Grainger knows. When you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building,

[Mishke]

you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to

[Melissa]

see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to

[Mishke]

clog H Vac on its last leg.

[Melissa]

If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Mishke]

Garagelogic isn't just another podcast. It's a trusted voice with a loyal audience. Every day, listeners tune in and pay attention to the businesses we feature. When you advertise with garagelogic, you're putting your brand in front of people who listen and act. We're number one in Anguilla, and we'll make your business number one with G. Ellers. Here's what one of our clients had to say. Hey, it's Pete Arnold from Hire It Pro.

[Tommy]

And I've used garagelogic to promote my

[Mishke]

business for years, and I've seen great

[Tommy]

results and new clients for my services from the GL audience. I recommend it to any business looking for new customers. G L ers are pretty awesome.

[Mishke]

You just gotta ask for an introduction. You just heard how garagelogic delivers results for our advertising partners. Now it's your turn. Reach our engaged audience of G L ers and grow your business by contacting account executive mark [e-mail] that's mark.ellisbi.com Put your message where it belongs, right in the ears of listeners who trust garagelogic. All right, buckle up, everyone. Buckle up. Buckle up. Ah. Why are you saying that? I don't know. Just trying to get everybody in the mood for the show, you know? Buckle up. Yeah, that was stupid. My name's Mishke. Coming to you from the bleak, barren tarmac of University Avenue, buried inside the old outpost straddling the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ready to rock, ready to roll, Ready for all that jazz, you folkies. Let's do a show. I was driving into work and I was listening to the radio and they were playing an old tune from the mid-70s came out when I was about 13 years old and I laughed out loud because I remembered driving in a station wagon with some old guy, a dad of one of my friends. There were four guys and four girls in the car, all about 13 years of age. We are being driven home from having been downhill skiing on a winter evening. And this One friend's father was a bit of an uptight businessman. He didn't have any rapport with any of us kids. His wife had sent him out to pick us up on a winter evening. So we pile into this station wagon and we're driving home and the old man allows his kid to put the radio on. Well, what pops on for a song but Donna Summer singing Love to love you baby. Now there isn't going to be a more awkward moment in a car full of kids with some stuffy businessman, middle aged dad at the wheel, then listening to Donna Summer have what appear to be. What would you call him? Something was going on during that song multiple times. And to this day I have a hard time believing that song was allowed onto the air. I really do. I don't think we have anything else like it, do we? She even admits that she turned out all the lights in the studio and laid down on the ground in the studio to record this thing and tried to get in the head, she said of some sex pot like Marilyn Monroe, that's her quote. And anyway, there's a lot of. Well, there's a lot of music and there's a lot of lyrics and then there's. There's other sounds in Love to Love youe Baby that sound like Donna's having a pretty good time, probably under a mirrored ceiling. But the weirdness of driving in the car. The old man is clearly listening to this. We're not knowing if he's hearing this for the first time, but we're assuming he is because he doesn't listen to this station. And golly, I swear I saw him getting red faced. I think he didn't want to turn it off because that would be acknowledging that he knows what we know and that we're all listening to this together and that we're eavesdropping on Donna Summers bedroom. We shouldn't be in the bedroom and she shouldn't be allowing us anywhere near that bedroom. But there's Donna, According to the BBC, 23 different times she has during this song what could be called a. Well, there are a lot of different words for it, but I remember I was as uncomfortable as that old guy at the wheel. Had to be because we are listening to this with girls in the car. Now if it was just four of us guys at 13, we would have made some fun jokes. Probably not to the old man, but to each other. Whispered something, I don't know. But with the girls in the car we couldn't really say what we were thinking. But there we all are listening to this thing. The song goes on and on and on. And Donna Summers pours it on in terms of her simulation of different things she's doing there. And that guy just keeps staring into that windshield, plowing ahead through the snow, thinking to himself, my God, what's happened to our culture? I'm sure he wanted to put on a Bing Crosby song or something. But there he was, driving in that old man's jacket with that old man's hat and that old man stare. Those old man glasses looking through the windshield, wondering what is the best move right now as a responsible parent? Get the kids singing campfire songs or something to drown out the radio again? I think he could have easily turned off the radio, but didn't because he had said it was okay for his kid to play it. And if he turns it off, he's gonna have to explain why. And that's gonna get awkward. With four boys and four girls in the car, the whole thing was a mess. Meanwhile, that song goes on and on and on, and Donna Summer just enjoys herself more and more and more. It's strange in that the whole song seems to have been created solely to have porn on the radio. I. I don't know what the point of the song was beyond. Let's see if we can even get this on the air. And it's mostly her saying she loves to love you, baby, and moaning. But it came out at the start of the winter in 75. And around Christmas time, you know, we were. We were hearing it in place of Bing Crosby. If we were putting on our station instead of the parents station. Donna said in interviews when she sang it, she was thinking about her boyfriend, Peter. What would it be like to be Peter listening to that thing? And what a hilarious name. Anyway, I was driving into work and that was planned. And I flashed back to that winter night. 17 minutes of driving in silence. I ought to contact those seven other people and ask what their experience was. We never talked about it after that. The old man's long gone. I'd sure like to interview him. Give me all your thoughts for those 17 minutes driving us home from that ski hill. I was more uncomfortable there, Tom, than I had ever been in my life. And that's saying a lot. Cause I was in the army and I had an accident in my trousers. And the fellows in the platoon were pretty hard on me, but this was more uncomfortable. I didn't know what to do. There were all sorts of dominoes that would fall if I turned it off. My kid'd get upset. I'd have to explain why all of a sudden everyone in the car is listening to me talk about what Ms. Summer is up to there. I thought it would be a three minute song. Most of the songs the kids were listening to back then were two and a half, three minutes. The damn thing just went on and on and on. This summer lady was going longer than any woman I'd ever encountered before. What the devil was happening in that studio anyway? It was a godawful evening. I got home, I put the car in the garage, I walked in the house, I went straight to bed. I'm assuming all of you know this song, Love to Love youe Baby. It went to number two on the US charts. It would have hit number one that winter if it wasn't for Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave youe Lover. And I'll tell you, Paul Simon would not have left his lover if his lover had been down a summer. It was a huge hit. It was played everywhere. Kids all over America were turning on their favorite station. And with their parents present, we're hearing Donna Summer enjoy levels of ecstasy few people have eavesdropped on in this world. I would argue it's the single most risque song ever put out in terms of pop music. And it still astounds me that it was allowed on the air, especially in 75. Wouldn't it have been fun that following summer when families were at the lake in the evening sitting around the campfire, adults and kids together. As often happened at lake cabins, the adults and kids together. Hey, let's sing some campfire songs. And one of the more hip parents says to the youngsters, hey you. You kids, you must have a favorite song you like that's different from the ones we know sitting around the fire at the cabin. My parents would sing with someone like you A pal so good and true I'd like to leave it all behind and go and find someplace that's known to God alone and just a spot to call our own. And some parent could have then said, you kids take it now. I heard you listening to something the other day on the radio. What was that? A Donna Summers song. Let's get a little campfire jamboree. Sing along. Going to that new Donna Summers song. I think it's Love to Love you baby or something. Let's hear it. Kenny, why don't you start it out? I don't have a very strong voice. Okay, Kenny, that's fine. Paul, why don't you start? Paul, I don't know what's wrong with you, Steve? Go ahead, Mr. Jensen. I just think, given the fact that Donna Summer is a woman, maybe one of the girls would like to sing it. We can join in at the chorus if there is one. Okay, we'll go with the girls. Jenny, why don't you start it out? Um. Oh, okay. I'm scared. What's the matter, kids? I tell you what. Your mother and I are going to go in the cabin and listen to it a bit and we'll come out and maybe we'll teach it to you. It's one of your numbers. You guys should know it. Come on in, honey. I think there's a record that's in there. One of the kids bought the record. Let's listen to it. And the parents come back out 20 minutes later. Dear God. In the name of all that is holy. What did we just listen to? Mr. Jensen? It's not really a campfire. Sing along. It certainly is not. What the hell is the sound that woman is making during that song? Mr. Mr. Jensen? I think it was recorded when she was having a nightmare in bed. She was sleeping, and those were sounds she was making because she was having a nightmare. I don't think that's what it is at all. Whose record is that in there? Who purchased it? Tell me now. Congratulations, you've been injured. Now, before you go crying about it, and we understand, we've seen the X rays. Go ahead, cry away. But before you do, we want you to understand something. That injury, that ain't a setback camper. That's a lottery ticket with a bruise on it. Bradshaw and Bryant are my personal injury attorneys. They've spent decades turning other people's negligence into your financial windfall. Somebody clearly wasn't paying attention out there. Somebody cut a corner. Somebody said, I think this will be okay to do. And it wasn't okay to do. And you're paying the price. Bradshaw and Brian say, no, no, no, no, no. They're paying the price. Insurance companies have entire buildings full of people whose only job is to make sure you get as little money as possible. They haven't met Bradshaw and Bryant. When they do, they meet their match. And because of that, you're going to do just fine. Learn more at Minnesota Personal Injury. You've been trying to figure out how to say it. How do you tell someone you love, someone who maybe doesn't fully understand what's happening anymore, that you're changing things up, that you have found a place, you need to get them help. You can't give them it's the hardest sentence you'll ever have to utter. At the Wellshire Memory Care Center. They want you to know something. Their place was not built to warehouse people. It was built because someone understood that a person living with memory loss still deserves a life that feels like living. There's a cinema at the well Shire, an ice cream shop, a salon, a barbershop, a library, gardens, warm balconies, live music, a town square environment, and incredibly caring human beings. Astoundingly compassionate souls. The Wellshire does one thing, and that's it. Memory care. That's all they focus on. You had to make a hard decision. You made it out of love. Make sure the decision involves the Wellshire of Bloomington and Medina. All right, let's get ourself a name from the listener list using the reciprocating Dynawobbler synaptic subatomic name dispenser. Fire it up. Let's roll. Melissa. Melissa. A beautiful name and a rare female. They just don't come around that often.

[Melissa]

This is melissa.

[Mishke]

Hey, melissa, it's mishke calling.

[Melissa]

It's not a recording.

[Mishke]

Absolutely not. And you're not either.

[Melissa]

That's too funny. What?

[Mishke]

What am I catching you doing?

[Melissa]

I'm at work.

[Mishke]

What's your job?

[Melissa]

I test people's hearing, and I treat them with hearing aids.

[Mishke]

Is there anyone right in front of you right now?

[Melissa]

No one right now.

[Mishke]

How did you get on this list?

[Melissa]

My husband put me on that list.

[Mishke]

I knew it was something like that. Most of the women on here have been brought on this list against their will. Did he ask your permission?

[Melissa]

He didn't. Well, you called and left a message one day, and then I went home and I said, you're never gonna believe this. And then he let me ramble, and then he said, I have to admit I put you on the list. I was like, what? That's so cool.

[Mishke]

Well, that's great that you react that way, but I can't imagine everybody would be fond of learning without them knowing their boyfriend or husband just threw them on there. In your case, though, I'm quite delighted with your reaction. I am kind of curious about your job, though. I have not talked to someone in your field. What is that like for you?

[Melissa]

I just am laughing. So this is fun. And I don't know if you're serious.

[Mishke]

I'm very serious. I have a feeling that this job comes with some unusual experiences.

[Melissa]

Everybody's got a story with their spouse. The person who doesn't hear well is reporting that the spouse suddenly is mumbling all the time. And why doesn't the spouse speak more clearly? And why is the spouse walking away and talking and not talking to me? And so then it's when I'm talking to the person who needs the hearing help, I'm saying to them, if everybody else would just talk louder all the time, or if we could just have the TV at 100 all the time, you wouldn't even have to buy hearing aids. That would be great, wouldn't it? And they're just like, yeah. And then also they realize, oh, it is my fault, you know, that kind of thing. But yeah, so everybody's got a. Somebody in their life is mumbling.

[Mishke]

This is fascinating to me. So the initial interaction with the person you're dealing with, they're talking about someone else having a certain problem mumbling. And yet there they are. They're there for a hearing test.

[Melissa]

Yes.

[Mishke]

And you're potentially going to offer them hearing aids, but the hearing aids are only going to be because of the sudden mumbling that's going on in relationship. And they really do think that they may be getting a hearing aid to address a mumbling issue.

[Melissa]

Right. The reality in the back of their mind is like, yeah, I probably have this, but I sure would like to play the role of everybody else as the problem.

[Mishke]

And you will humor them in your job, you will humor them and say, yes, I know just what you're saying. When people mumble like that, it's so difficult to hear. With this new mumbling problem with your spouse, these hearing aids might help quite a bit.

[Melissa]

Yes, that is what I say.

[Mishke]

What's entertaining to me about it is there is a way in which they could look you in the eye and say, are you able to test right now whether I'm hearing as well as I should? Because that is what you're there testing for. You can actually give them a very objective take on their hearing, but they don't seem to think about that.

[Melissa]

That's kind of what it is. Or can you give me some proof so that we can identify that it's her problem? Not min. A lot of times they're both there, especially if the one person's been prodded. Come on, this is it. Get in there, get in there, or it's over.

[Mishke]

And when the two people are there, there has to be that moment where the one says to the other, see, I told you.

[Melissa]

Yes, yes, that happens. And then we just try to be. I try to be very quiet.

[Mishke]

What an odd thing to encounter regularly knowing you're going to deal with it knowing these patterns, knowing how it works, being able to predict it, and it being so different from what the average person would expect, which is you just come in and say, yeah, hi, I'd like to get my hearing tested. I think I don't hear as well as I used to. I may need hearing aids. Does anyone ever argue with you that you have it wrong?

[Melissa]

They want to dispute the accuracy of it. There's this huge chunk of folks that have the stigma that says this little device represents me being old now. I am now old. So, yeah, there's a lot going on up there.

[Mishke]

You should almost have a sheet that you put in front of them that says you have gray hair. You didn't when you were younger. You can't run like you used to. You work in the backyard and the next day you're sore now. And just a whole list so that the hearing aid just becomes one more thing instead of this, the sign that they're aging.

[Melissa]

Yes, you're right. That would be good. That would be clever.

[Mishke]

Because I think there is some sense that they're not waking up to a few other things. I always tell my friends this and they find it a little bit odd, but I think they live in denial. I tell my friends I felt all the stages of life come and go. I felt childhood leave. I felt the youthful stretch of my adulthood leave. I felt at 47, I felt myself switching to a different gear. I felt myself in my 60s shifting to a different gear. I feel life moving. I know where it's heading. I'm there for all of it. It's not tricking me. I'm watching it happen. I'm watching the losses and the gains. The stages are real and they're intended to be felt. And ultimately you're going to feel the last one, which is you're going to watch yourself go in some hospice facility. And you should probably know that one fully as well. And this is something interesting. Someone told me one time it was a death doula. Are you familiar with the role of a death doula?

[Melissa]

No.

[Mishke]

A death doula actually is hired by people who are dying to help them through that process, to help them give birth to their death. People who want to die consciously, they want to be very aware of the process and really embrace it, accept it, and go through it with great awareness and great intention. What she told me was when she talks to nurses, when she talks to people in hospice care, they say after a 30 year career, they can count on one hand how many people were curious about their deaths. Most People play Sudoku right to the end. Most people watch television right to the end. Anything to distract themselves from what is coming and what is happening. And then it comes and it happens and they're gone. She said time and time again, she runs into people in hospice care who say nobody wants to engage with the fact that they're dying. And so a given Tuesday looks a lot like a Tuesday a year earlier. Whereas what she does with people is really work with them on what death is, what's going to happen to them, what music do they want playing in their room as they contemplate their death? What do they want around them? What do they want their death to be like on the day they die? Who do they want there? And there's this lack of curiosity, particularly I think, in America about it. But in a way it sounds. There are little shades of that denial with these people who are losing their hearing. Just a little bit of what? No way. Of course you are losing your hearing. Pretty soon you'll be very, very frail and then you'll fall one day and then you won't ever, ever really come back from that and you'll die.

[Melissa]

And also, as soon as you put those in their ears and they can hear, it is sometimes the most beautiful thing to actually be sharing some tears occasionally, like, wow, I didn't know I wasn't hearing these things. So that is really beautiful.

[Mishke]

Are you familiar at all with a room in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis over on 25th Street? It is a room that is considered the quietest room on planet Earth.

[Melissa]

No, no.

[Mishke]

And I know this sounds strange, but they actually have determined this. If you're just in, say, a quiet bedroom in a quiet neighborhood in the middle of your house at three in the morning on a given night, that room you're in is way, way louder than this room in Minneapolis.

[Melissa]

Really.

[Mishke]

It's a chamber. You can go into it. I don't know if you pay. I have not experienced it. It in some ways sounds like a place I don't want to experience. It's a very difficult room to remain in. It absorbs 99.99% of all sound using double walls of insulated steel and concrete surrounded by more than 3 foot thick fiberglass acoustic wedges. And then it has this weird mesh floor. And again, it's designed to absorb every possible sound. I mean, I don't think we realize what a loud world we live in. There's no background noise at all. Nothing. And so you, when you are in the room, you are the sound Anything you hear is you. You will hear in this room, your own heartbeat. You will hear your lungs, you will hear your stomach. You can hear sometimes the very blood pumping through your veins and the lack of any echo at all, any echo disorients your sense of balance. And people can only be in there a limited time. It's very hard to imagine this in the abstract without going there. But it is part of this laboratory, I think it's called the Orfield Laboratory. I'm not sure what all this room is used for.

[Melissa]

I'm going to look it up. That's so interesting.

[Mishke]

Yeah. And if you get a chance, especially in your field, might be interesting to go there. But I've been intrigued with it for a long time. Every now and then something happens that makes me think about it. And talking to you has made me think about it anyway, because they have

[Melissa]

those float chamber, you know, where it's anti gravity or however that is. You're just in there floating in salt water. And that is also very quiet and difficult at first time.

[Mishke]

Now that I have done. What's it called? Is it a deprivation tank?

[Melissa]

Yeah, yeah, that's it. There we go.

[Mishke]

And you're right, there's salt water in there and it's pitch black. The salt water kind of allows you to sort of float there and not sink. And so you don't have to hold yourself above the water, but you go into this tank and close the door. If you're claustrophobic, you're screwed. It's a tiny, tiny little tank. The only problem was on the day I arrived, there was a new person at the desk, some sub. And the sub didn't know all the things you're supposed to say to someone on their first visit. They took my money and I went into the tank, got in the water and I began to scream in pain.

[Melissa]

Oh, no.

[Mishke]

What this person should have said was, do you have any cuts on your body? Well, here's the story with me. I always have 20. I'm always doing something. I'm out in the woods somewhere up north, or I'm doing something in my backyard, or I'm just in the garage and I'm cutting myself or I'm stepping on a chain. So I'm doing. I'm always cut. And I don't even care about it anymore. I don't even do anything with it. I just let it happen and I go on with my life. But I never think about it. I sure didn't think about it in this case. And I got in and Every single one of those cuts or marks or scrapes or anything anywhere in my body, a hundred times worse than the original cut. The salt was going into all the wounds. What they're supposed to do when you go there is they say, do you have any cuts? We just take a little dab of Vaseline, we put it on all your little cuts, all the little marks on your legs, on your arms and your fingers. Anyway, if you got anything on your head, a branch caught your head or something, get that. And now you'll be fine in there. He didn't do that. He did not do that. Well, I ended up getting out of there, getting dressed, going out there. I don't know what the deal is. Hurts like hell in there. Oh, I was supposed to tell you I left. So. I've never done it the right way. I have never done it the right way. God knows, the day I go to the Silent Room in Minneapolis, it'll probably be a new guy there too. A substitute who forgets to tell me A, B or C, and I end up going into this room and having a heart attack. Always make sure the regular guy is at the desk. Well, listen, I'm gonna let you get back to your job, but I've delighted in visiting with you. And thank you, Melissa, for visiting with me.

[Melissa]

Thank you so much for calling. You made my mug.

[Mishke]

So long.

[Melissa]

Thanks. Bye. Bye.

[Mishke]

Think about the last time a professional came to your house. A real technician. A serious, knowledgeable, skilled worker. What did that visit cost you? What does it cost anybody? I promise you one thing. It was a lot more than 49 bucks. Minneapolis St. Paul Plumbing, Heating Air and Electric is offering a special right now if you mention my name when you call them. If you have central air and you have not had it tuned up this season, this is the least expensive tune up you're ever going to encounter. Mention my name at MSP, Minneapolis St. Paul Plumbing, Heating, Air and Electric, and you will get a tune up on your AC for only 49 bucks. This is an exhaustive, involved, impressive tune up that will ensure that your AC is working all summer long. Nothing worse than some 93 degree day and your AC goes out. You're at home getting more and more perturbed, more angry, shorter fuse. You're edgy when it's hot, you miss your central air. Well, for the least amount of money you'll ever spend, get it tuned up now for 49 bucks. This is only a June special. Call MSP, mention Mishke and get a $49 air conditioning tune up. I was perusing the news recently and came upon a story of some residents in a Minneapolis neighborhood who had banded together to successfully stop a house, a dilapidated house, from being torn down. The headline said, residents saved. Residents save Dilapidated House. Those kind of headlines are funny to me. Residents save dilapidated House. Good. We need more of those. I'm sure there was a story behind it. In fact, I read a little bit and learned it was some historic house they wanted to hang on to. But it was in awfully rough shape. There was a photo of it. It was one of the worst looking houses I'd seen in a while. Dilapidated was the right description. And what a lovely word, by the way. Dilapidated is. Don't you love that word? You have to love it for the number of syllables alone. Dilapidated. I mean, that's five syllables right there. Five fun syllables. It's like someone drumming. Dilapidated. It's like that. It's. It's drumming. The rhythm of words is always so interesting to me. And dilapidated has a rhythm to it that constipated does not. Dilapidated has that extra syllable in there that makes it more of a. Of a drumming rhythm kind of thing. Constipated. Okay, that didn't do anything for me. Dilapidated. Very, very lovely word. So I was reading that these residents saved a dilapidated house. You don't want to tear that one down. That one's dilapidated. Oh, it's dilapidated. Yeah. Well, I didn't know that. Yeah, I better not. No, don't touch that. That's one of the dilapidated ones. Hi, Jim and Donna. It's Paul, your realtor. I have a house you might want to look at. All I gotta say is location, location, location. Yeah, well, that's great, Paul. That sounds like it's gonna be in our part of town. It is. It is, Jim and Donna. And I'd like to take you over there to see it during what we like to call in the biz, the real estate hour. That's when the sun is low in the sky, cutting in just the right way to provide a golden glow to the whole neighborhood. Houses look so much better in that light. I proposed to my wife during the real estate hour. I said to her, honey, I want to put a Sold sign around your neck and stick you in the front yard. She thought that was so romantic. And she paid the closing costs, which was nice. About that house, Jim and Donna, shall we take a look? Well, Paul, you've said nothing about the house itself. You mentioned the location is ideal. That's on purpose, Jim and Donna. I've said nothing about the house, because I didn't want to turn you off. But I will give you one word for it. Just one word. But it's five syllables, so it'll sound like a whole sentence. That's what's kind of neat about this word. Are you ready, Jim and Donna? The word is dilapidated. Come again, Paul? Dilapidated. The house is dilapidated. Dilapidated. Dilapidated. Paul, what the hell's wrong with you? Dilapidated? How dilapidated are we talking? It's completely dilapidated. Why would we ever want to see a completely dilapidated house? Well, Jim and Donna, because it has the things you wanted. Three bedrooms, two baths, a large kitchen, a family room and a two stall garage. What's the garage like? Dilapidated. Paul, what the hell? Don't be so snooty, you two. You come across as complete snobs. I grew up in a house that was completely dilapidated. My parents were both completely crippled. And my brothers and sisters were completely deformed. But I'm telling you, when the sun was setting just before twilight, the world would take on the golden glow that made everything seem pristine and perfect. This house I want to show you is the kind of a house you walk into and you say to yourself, well, at least we're alive. At least we're alive. We can always fall back on that. We're breathing. And that's something to celebrate. Now come on. Try to snap out of your preconceived notions of this concept of dilapidation. Dilapidated can be a lovely word. It rhymes with terminated, obliterated, humiliated, exterminated and asphyxiated. All fun words as well. My brother's issues left him emasculated. My daddy's issues left him intoxicated. But while our home was dilapidated, unsophisticated, and eventually incinerated, in fact annihilated, it was still home. And those two lovely men were still family. Despite being incapacitated, unmotivated, uneducated and barely domesticated. Now, are you two ready to roll? I want to show you this house. As I mentioned, location, location, location. There was one other headline I stumbled upon that intrigued me. I always think the greatest stuff in the world is the true stuff, the real stuff. The stuff you can find out there. In the world of nonfiction, you'll notice I don't interview fiction authors. The world that fascinates me is real. It's the non fiction world. It's. It's the reality that you almost can't believe is reality. For instance, you get a headline like this in the news. Flesh eating screw worm found in Texas and California. The Flesh eating screw worm. Did you know such a thing existed? I did not. But they've found the damn thing in Texas and Florida and they're a little worried. I'm a little worried knowing that there's something called the flesh eating screw worm out there. Says here the case of this flesh eating screw worm found is the first confirmed in US livestock in decades. Okay, right away, I can breathe a little easier. It sounds like it's something that infects livestock. But then in the headline it still adds, usda says human cases are uncommon. It didn't say they're non existent. It says they're uncommon. Well, isn't it a little uncommon in livestock, too? You haven't seen it in decades. It's coming back into livestock. Could it be coming back into humans? Let me tell you something, folks. Covid as a word, not a scary word. Covid. Flesh eating screw worm. Human. Uncommon, not non existent. That means there's someone out there, a human being, who can say, wow, I got stories of my stay in the hospital with that bastard every night, wrestling it. You know Tom? Who's that? You know Tom. That was my nickname for my husband, who said that. Over here, Tom. Hi. I'm in the middle of a show right now. If you'll forgive me, I'd like to be alone in this room. I was just hearing you talk about the flesh eating screw worm. That was my nickname for my husband. Oh. We had affectionate terms of endearment for each other. We did? Yeah. In the years before he passed away, he called me his little kitten. Todd would say, you're my little kitten. I thought that was so precious, so cute. He would say, I'm home. Where's my little kitten? Oh, how I miss that man. He was such a kind and gentle soul. So attentive, so solicitous. And of course, I felt obligated to come up with something equally intimate and endearing for him. So I called him my flesh eating screw worm. I can't say he loved it, but he understood that was the best I was able to do. I told him I'm not good with these sorts of things. I just didn't have anything to match the simple, graceful beauty of my little kitten. That's what he called me. My little kitten. I couldn't match that. He was so good with words. Yeah, that's. That's really great. Would you get the hell out of my studio, please? Oh, I will, Tom. I will. But first, let me tell you. In the evenings, I would give him a gentle kiss. I Would say, tod, good night, my sweet flesh eating screw worm. Sleep well. And then I'd watch him turn out the light. And he'd turn over on his pillow and he'd settle in. And as he did, I would pour a big bucket of liquid laundry detergent all over his head. A good half gallon of liquid laundry detergent all over his head. Then I too would roll over and fall asleep. And he'd always get so mad at me. And I'd say, oh, that's it, my flesh eating screwworm. Show me your rage. You're adorable when you're angry. And in the mornings, I'd make coffee for us and then we both head off to take care of our separate errands. He'd stop by the florist's for some roses, and I'd buy a hockey goalie mask and a straight jacket. We had such fun, Todd and I did, before he died. Well, I had fun. I had fun. Fun he never did, really, Especially the day he died. I'm sure if he were alive, he'd blame me. But I didn't know all the different things ammonia could do. Anyway, when you said flesh eating screw worm, I thought of Todd. My dear Todd, who's passed away. Could I continue with my show now? Oh, yes, yes. Let's get back to the phones. We need another name kickstart. The name dispenser. Let's see what we have, Matt. We're gonna try ma. Tommy? Hello, Matt.

[Tommy]

Wow, I can't believe I'm actually talking to Tommy Misky.

[Mishke]

We are having a conversation, and so far it ain't been bad. You sound like you're driving across the country.

[Tommy]

Driving from Inverness, Florida, back to Orlando, Florida?

[Mishke]

What kind of a town is Inverness? They just stole a name from Europe. Is there any connection whatsoever?

[Tommy]

Hasn't most of America stole their names from Europe?

[Mishke]

Now, hold on a second. We stole our name for our town from some guy who started Christianity.

[Tommy]

St. Paul.

[Mishke]

Yeah, I guess he was the big shot. I remember reading a time magazine article on the most influential people ever. They had St. Paul above Jesus because he apparently was the marketing guy. Okay, well, because Jesus wasn't going around saying, I'd like to start a religion. And St. Paul said, I'll take it from here, fella. We'll get this baby going. You watch. Did you just go into the ocean? It sounded like a big wave just came over you. A big wave.

[Tommy]

Now it's a big wind.

[Mishke]

Oh, big wind.

[Tommy]

Yeah, we're in hurricane season now.

[Mishke]

Well, if you're taken out you wouldn't be the first guy to die in the middle of talking to me.

[Tommy]

No. You had someone die while talking? I don't remember that.

[Mishke]

Neither does the person. That's the thing. After you die, you never recall it. What are you doing right now?

[Tommy]

I sell commercial roofing.

[Mishke]

Commercial roofing?

[Tommy]

Yes.

[Mishke]

Gravel.

[Tommy]

Could be gravel on there. Yes.

[Mishke]

Rubber stuff?

[Tommy]

Yeah, it could be some rubber stuff. I don't want to get into the minutia.

[Mishke]

Where were you raised?

[Tommy]

In Roseville.

[Mishke]

And you ended up in Florida from Hurricane Charlie. It blew through Roseville and knocked you down there.

[Tommy]

I was working for a company that sold storm damage restoration, and they opened an office here after Hurricane Charlie came through.

[Mishke]

Hurricane Charlie. Almost sounds like a friendly hurricane. It's like Casper the friendly Ghost. Hurricane Charlie. How can you run from that?

[Tommy]

You run scared. That was a bad one.

[Mishke]

When a hurricane comes through, do you get rich?

[Tommy]

Sometimes.

[Mishke]

How does it feel to have a job that a good day for you is someone else's bad day?

[Tommy]

Bad day for others is a good day for me. Well, someone's got to do it, right?

[Mishke]

I swear to God, it sounds like a wave's coming over your truck.

[Tommy]

That one. I kind of lost you a little bit.

[Mishke]

How windy is it? Every now and then it sounds like a big crash and waves coming over you. Picture you being swept out to sea. But if you're sure you're okay, listen. There's another one. Dear God.

[Tommy]

I'm pretty sure I'm safe.

[Mishke]

All right. So how long have you been on the listener list?

[Tommy]

Well, I can go back and check my text to you.

[Mishke]

I'd be curious to know.

[Tommy]

Well, let me go check my text.

[Mishke]

I gotta give that phone number out a little more often. I should do it right now. It's 651-321-8949. If people listening right now would like to be added to the listener list. 6513-218-9949. It is interesting because I'm getting down to the bottom of the list.

[Tommy]

Are you really?

[Mishke]

Yeah. Right now I have remaining 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. There are only 10 people left. I haven't called, and it was an exhaustive list at one point.

[Tommy]

Well, I'm glad I was the 11th to go.

[Mishke]

You're near the bottom of people who have added their names to it. February 10th, February 10th. February 10th of this year.

[Tommy]

Good morning, Mishke. You can try calling me anytime. I love the show. You're one of the best interviewers ever. And storytellers. Yes, I'M sucking up to you.

[Mishke]

Yeah. And look what that got you. You still waited how long for your call? What's the closest you've ever come to dying?

[Tommy]

Hiking in Essex Park. We're on a cliff, and it was a pretty good fall, probably 100ft down. And we were pretty. It was pretty steep where we were trying to.

[Mishke]

I knew a guy, middle of the night, camping, came out of his tent just to relieve himself. Wanted to walk a little ways away from the tent, obviously, but walked a little too far. Walked right off a cliff. I knew another guy. He was standing on the edge of a river. Friend of mine, just standing on the edge of a River, about 10ft up, just on the bank of the river, watching the river go by. While he's standing there, the bank gave way. The whole bank gave way, sent him into the river. He was gone.

[Tommy]

Yeah. How about all those people you hear about doing their selfies at the Grand Canyon and, like, step off the edge?

[Mishke]

So how many people actually fell off the edge of the Grand Canyon doing a selfie?

[Tommy]

I'm training a guy in this commercial roofing gig. He's gonna look that up, he's gonna chatgpt it.

[Mishke]

Okay. The guy you're training, in my sense is he's smoking a cigarette, and every time I hear that wind, that's the window going down as he tosses it to.

[Tommy]

Nope, your sense is wrong. About 180 to 200 people have died from falls in and around the Grand Canyon over the years.

[Mishke]

Well, sure, but not from selfies.

[Tommy]

Total deaths from all causes, Grand Canyon, nearly 900 or more. How many from selfies do they say? Well, we'll see.

[Mishke]

I found the number. It's 11. Oh, my God. Eleven this year. Eleven this year. Including three in a week.

[Tommy]

Wow.

[Mishke]

You know where you never see someone dying, taking a selfie? Those. Those people who drown. What's the closest thing to a miracle or a completely unexplainable event you've ever witnessed?

[Tommy]

The healing of a family member.

[Mishke]

What happened?

[Tommy]

Well, they were on death's door with cancer, but then they got healed.

[Mishke]

And do you know how?

[Tommy]

Prayer. The doctors couldn't explain it.

[Mishke]

There was no other treatment used outside of people praying?

[Tommy]

Correct. The doctors had no more options for a cure to even get into remission. So it was, you know, family members and friends just kept praying and they were healed. And the doctors couldn't figure it out. They said basically it had to be a miracle because we were out of options.

[Mishke]

Well, that's quite extraordinary. That must have had a Profound effect on you.

[Tommy]

Yeah. I love the questions you ask people. And I'm like, what am I gonna ask Me? I don't sound as interesting as a lot of these people.

[Mishke]

It's a funny game because I call somebody who's a complete stranger, and if I knew your whole life, I bet I'd know exactly where to go with all my questions. But I don't. So I always have to start moving around. And it's always a game of moving around.

[Tommy]

You don't ask. Just superficial crimes. You get down to the meat of the matter. And things that they probably never get asked. Do you ever call anyone back to see how they're doing? Like that one guy he had on that. He said he was suicidal or something.

[Mishke]

Yeah, I followed him privately. So he stayed in touch with me all that winter. He ended up doing really well. He went through treatment. Yeah. Certain guys, when it gets real serious like that, I do stay in touch with them privately. Just kind of monitoring them because I get a little worried. I joked earlier about people dying on the show. I actually have not had that happen, but I've had people call me in the midst of getting ready to commit suicide. One in his garage with a car running, one with a shotgun in his lap.

[Tommy]

You called them just at the right time?

[Mishke]

No, no, this was. This was when I was on radio. They called me.

[Tommy]

Oh, they called you. Okay.

[Mishke]

And one time a cop called me and he said he used me to talk a guy out of suicide. And a guy was sitting in his car at a overlook. And the cop walked up and he was listening to my show while he was getting ready to die. The guy who was in the car with the car running in the garage, I talked him into leaving the car and going into the house. I did it by saying, finish the call with me in your house first, then you can go back to your car. I wanted to get him out of the car and in his house, and I did. The next show was a nationally syndicated coast to coast AM show with Art Bell. I kept this guy on through Art Bell show for another hour and eventually got him to not do it.

[Tommy]

That was late at night. Late at night, early morning.

[Mishke]

Late at night. Yeah. You sound like you arrived. The wind stopped.

[Tommy]

Yes, we are in the parking lot of my apartment complex.

[Mishke]

So glad I got ahold of you. And thanks for giving me all this time.

[Tommy]

Well, you're welcome. Thank you.

[Mishke]

All right, so.

[Tommy]

Okay, bye. Bye.