Josh (2:51)

I couldn't agree more because again, it's one of those great things where there wasn't an opportunity to plan for it. So you don't. There's no plan B. Your plan is doing nothing except maybe enjoying the weather.

Ben (3:05)

100%. 100%. And, like, what they're going to miss. What. What is a seven year old going to miss at school that they need to learn online in one day? Nothing. Nothing. Okay.

Josh (3:15)

We have good family friends, Carson Palmer and Matt Castle, who are, you know, former NFL quarterbacks. And so they've had to move their families around a lot with getting traded and, and everything. And what the wives have sort of explained to my wife, because I've had opportunities that have come up to maybe go do another show in Montreal for a year or what have you. And she's. They're like, until the kids are in middle school, do it. They're like, middle school, high school, their identity, their friend groups. They start getting very serious about hobbies, sports. But until then, the experience of going to Montreal for a year would give them so much culture and so much to talk about for the rest of their life.

Ben (3:55)

Totally. Totally. They're too young, like, and they'll keep their friends. They'll make new friends. They're, they're, they're, they're little. I totally agree. Totally. Ooh. And they'd come back with little accents, you know, like, and the younger they are, the more French they become.

Josh (4:12)

And they, and they, they're asking for the most American things, but in a French accent. Like, I'll have the nachos. Merci. Nacho, Extra cheese. Merci. S.

Ben (4:26)

Oh, my God. And McDonald's over there is just much better. I remember the one time I went to Montreal, this freaking McDonald's, Josh, you kidding? So much better. Fresher. The menu's better. I don't know what we're doing over here at our Mickey D's, but over there, they know what they're doing. All these international McDonald's, they know what they're doing.

Josh (4:44)

Did you find that when you were at the McDonald's in, in Canada, that I remember I got nuggets once and I wanted barbecue sauce. And I'm so used to the nuclear syrup of American that I was like, this tastes like tomato sauce. And they're like, yeah, like barbecue sauce that's real. Is sweet tomato sauce.

Ben (5:02)

Yeah. By the way, you can totally miss me on healthy sauces. I want the nuclear, okay. I want the liquid. I want that liquid smoke. I want that. Okay. Like, that's what I need. My sister is just in Japan.

Josh (5:13)

Josh, wait. Can that be your porn name? Liquid Smoke. Yeah, you want that? Liquid Smoke, baby.

Ben (5:21)

It's just barbecue sauce. Ew, ew, ew. That's disgusting. My sister just got back from Japan and they. She told me about the 7 11s there. I know we've spoken about this, but she saw them. She saw them. Her husband was like, getting like pickled eggs and he said it was the best thing ever. That it's just, it's. It's not even close to what we have here. It's like a gourmet Japanese grocery stores every 7 11. Why can't we do that here?

Josh (5:49)

I eat the egg sandwiches here. They're lovely.

Ben (5:52)

But why can't we do that? I agree that there are still delicious. There's still delicious snacks at 711 and all these places. I'm just curious, like, why. Why do we talk about McDonald's being better there? Why do we talk about 711 being better there? Like, why can't it be better here? Like, what are we doing? It's. There's still capitalism there, by the way. That's why they exist. It's not like a capitalism or greed. Like, what is it? Like, why do we have just worse fast food?

Josh (6:20)

I think it is the advantages and disadvantage of hyper capitalism, which is what our country thrives on. And what are also some of the pitfalls, right? Is that, like, we've accepted these, like, chemically induced umami bombs that are trash. And we also will pay a premium for it. Like, our fast food is more expensive than around the world. And you see it too with like, kids food when it comes to cafeteria food at school, like in Japan, in France and these places, like, kids are eating adult meals that are just slightly altered. But it's like real food. It's not from a can. And they're, you know, they're not brought up on just like purely beige foods so that their palate is way more expansive from a young age. It can be done.

Ben (7:14)

I just wonder when the mother. Mother. When the rubber meets the road as it comes to these traditional big fast food joints and when they just change. And I'm not saying that because I don't love a lot of these foods. A Burger King, Are you kidding me? It's the best. I Love it. A McDonald's. These places are great. But at some point, the way that we've looked at basically everything else, and we're like, we need to be buried better. Everything is going towards better for you. And they love. Like, we've spoken about this before. These, like, catch Alls with seed oils and whatever the hell it is. The food is not good for you. It's not the oil that it's being cooked in.

Josh (7:53)

Totally.

Ben (7:54)

The food is not good for you and the food doesn't taste as good as it should. Like we, we, we know that there are better burgers. You just pointed out something that's fascinating to me. The Shake Shack burger probably costs the same if not less than the McDonald's burger. Or they're close. Like what's it maybe a dollar more? And the Shake shack burger is 2000. The burger of the McDonald's burger, like it's just like if we're not going to change because of ingredients, which I think we are, because we're changing in terms of ingredients and everything else, we should change in terms of quality of food. Let's just make some better food. Like hire better chefs, figure out better infrastructure. Don't use like the weird part of the chicken. Like I don't, I don't know. Right.

Josh (8:40)

It's a number of things. First we put these health halos around things which, you know, being in the food and beverage business, which is like there are so many real dog shit foods that you can say sourced from real ingredients. Of course Oreos are vegan, right? Like, yeah, there are so many things that are literally just, and God bless a good Oreo, but like things that are mostly man made ingredients or ultra processed that are vegan, that are, you know, sometimes they just add supplementary like fiber to it and then they can say a high fiber food, but it's also high fat, high sugar, all these things. So, and I think it is the balance of, you know, it's, it's lobbyists, right? Because these companies, the Cisco foods, these food magnets who are sourcing the foods for elementary, middle and high school pools everywhere in the country, like they're not going to be put out of business. And certainly ones that are providing the fast food restaurants, when you think of like even Canada for example. But like, like Sao Paulo doesn't allow billboards. Like there's just something about the advertising agency where they're like, we don't want to be infected with being sold everywhere you look. So we're just not going to do it. Or like cigarettes in Canada. You know, you go to any 7 11, you go to any convenience store, it's a wall of tobacco products and, and now it's also the nicotine alternatives, the zins, the jewels, these things. And if you go to a 711 in Canada, it's in a Locked, dark case that you can't see in the. Like, we have it if you want it, but.

Ben (10:23)

And then when you buy.

Josh (10:24)

Looking at it, and then when you.

Ben (10:25)

Buy it, there's the scariest message on it, too, telling you exactly what you're doing to your body.

Josh (10:30)

It's dead babies. It's pictures of, like, black lung.

Ben (10:35)

So what does it say about us as a society that we will pick up that cigarette knowingly and happily and smoke it with the black lung and the dead baby on it? Similarly, here that we are talking about the fact that the Oreo, for example, maybe, and I don't mean to throw around Oreo, but the Oreo maybe could be made better. But I love Oreos. I'm not going to stop eating Oreos ever. So, like, one, what does that say about us? And then two, why can't. I guess because, like, people will be like, what happened to the recipe? I was thinking, like, why can't Oreo just, like, be made with better ingredients? Or why can't Chips Ahoy or any of these things? Like, why can't they just be a little bit better?

Josh (11:19)

But it's also. It's give and take, right? Like that. That clip I sent you of people going, like, I had fries fried in beef tallow instead of canola oil. It's like, fuck yourself. It's still horrible for your health.

Ben (11:31)

100%. It's fried food. Yeah.

Josh (11:34)

It's 2% better in beef tallow, if you can choose. God bless you, but don't kid yourself.

Ben (11:41)

No, the beef tallow is like. Is cool. I've seen that before.

Josh (11:44)

Delicious.

Ben (11:45)

Yeah, it's a cool and. Exactly. A delicious alternative. A better alternative. It's like the equivalent of, like, you have two options. You're going to make a soup with chicken stock or you're going to make it with vegetable stock. Obviously, the chicken is going to be more flavorful. Obviously the beef stock is going to be more flavorful. Right? Like, if you have. If you have these choices, you're you and you're able to. You should use the beef broth just like you should use the towel. But to say that fried food doesn't cause more inflammation than the delta between a canola oil, a vegetable oil, and a beef tallow is just wrong. The thing that causes the inflammation is 100% the fried food.

Josh (12:22)

Right?

Ben (12:23)

It's fried. That's it. Fried food's not gonna make you feel good no matter if it's centale or canola oil, which is why I am exclusively using vegetable oil. Again, it's too expensive. I can't keep up. I can't keep up. I can't keep up with the avocado oil. It's $27 for like this big. You fry one thing. Vegetable oil, Josh.

Josh (12:46)

Three bucks it is, it's. It's cost effective. You can get like, Primal Foods, I think they're called, has a great avocado oil. Most of their products are pretty cost effective. But yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. Ben and I love when we agree. I love it, love it, love it. Well, it's because.

Ben (13:02)

It's because at the core, I would always say, which you just pointed out masterfully, I would always say beef tallow is better for you, or avocado oil is better for you than vegetable oil to fry in. But the point that you're missing is that you're still frying it, right? So, yeah, it's better. You said 2%. If you're eating so much fried food that you get the benefit of that 2%, you're dead. Right. It means that you're eating fried. If you're eating beef tallow, fried chicken every night, you're dead. Like, it doesn't matter if you use vegetable or beef.

Josh (13:38)

Right?

Ben (13:39)

You're dead. Totally. And like nobody. I think that since the beginning of time we've known that you probably just shouldn't give things like Red 40, things that are just made in a lab to babies and children. Like, that's been the big topic of conversation. That it like makes them a little bit more add. Like, yeah, you just. If you can avoid those things, great. Like, I think that's a very known thing that if you were to fresh squeeze your own cranberry juice, it would be better for your child than whatever ultra processed thing you're getting at the grocery store.

Josh (14:08)

Right?

Ben (14:08)

Right. Like these are, these are just known things. This episode of the Good Guys podcast is brought to you by our friends at Caraway. Folks, seasonal depression, it's not just you. It's freezing cold across the entire US Snow to the ceiling, trash to the ceiling. Okay, that's just New York. And let me tell you, the number one way to avoid seasonal depression is to cook things that you love and to cook things that you love in a non toxic way. Let me tell you that it's not just your attitude. Okay? You shouldn't be cooking with a toxic attitude, but you should be cooking on non toxic pans. Was that a good joke? I don't know. Look, you should be making soups out of caraway's beautiful. As my wife and sister in law would say, Pliny or gorgeous pots, pans, everything, cutting boards. Caraway has everything. But let's focus on the pots, okay? We are making a beautiful soup. I just made the most delicious ginger lemon chicken soup. It was made golden with turmeric. Let me tell you, it will lift you out of seasonal depression immediately. I have so many unbelievable recipes on my Instagram. I made them all with caraway because caraway is easy cooking. We're talking ceramic because it naturally is slick, which means that you don't need so much oil, you don't need so much butter and have them slide off nice and easy. Nothing worse than a fried egg getting stuck to the pan. We don't need that. What are you nuts? And let me tell you, it's well loved. Not just by me, but by over 100,000 people that have rate five stars about their Caraway kitchen. Now it's time to try it for yourself. Folks, what are you waiting for? Caraway's cookware set is a favorite for a reason. It can save you up to $190 versus buying the items individually. Plus if you visit carawayhome.com good10 you can take an additional 10% off your next purchase. This deal is exclusive for our listeners, so visit carawayhome.com goodten or use code good10 at checkout. Caraway non Toxic Cookware made Modern. This episode of the Good Guys podcast is brought to you by our friends at Element. Folks, we love Element here at the Good Guys podcast because we love staying hydrated. That's right. You know, you're thinking to yourself, I have a headache. I feel a little bit thirsty. I'm going to drink a bottle of water. No, no, the water isn't it. Sure. It's like a part of it because you have to put your element in water. But if you just drink water, you're going to drink water on end. And let me tell you, you're going to drink so much water, you, you're not gonna feel good, you're still gonna be thirsty, your headache's still gonna be there because your body is craving electrolytes. I mean, I've told you this like a hundred times. So if you don't get it now, I don't know when you're gonna get it. You need to try Element because Element is going to hydrate you. And all of the problems that we're talking about, all the problems that we're talking about are due to electrolyte deficiencies. Not due to dehydration by not having enough water. Element is an electrolyte drink born from the growing body of research revealing that optimal health outcomes occur at sodium S O D I U M levels two to three times. Government recommendations. The government is out to get us again. Let me tell you, folks, you need Element because Olympians use Element. My friends use Element. I use element. CEOs use element. I use element. You don't need those other people. I use element, okay? That's like when you invite somebody to dinner, okay? And they say, who else is coming? Who cares who else is coming? I'm coming. Who cares who else drinks Element? I drink Element. And if I drink Element, okay, you will absolutely love it. And they have new flavors, all the beautiful stuff. Go to drinklement.comgoodguys because today they are offering a free 8 count sample pack of their most popular drink. Mix flavors with any purchase, which is a great way to find your favorite Element flavor or share it with a friend. Get yours@drinklmnt.com goodguys this deal is available only through my link. You must go tO-R-I-N k l M-N-T.com.

Victoria Garrick Brown (17:56)

Goodguys I used to care so much about portraying a perfect life and acting like everything was okay when really things were far from it. I was secretly struggling with my mental health and wondering if other people were too. That's why I created RealPod. Hi, I'm Victoria Garrick Brown, and every Wednesday I host the types of conversations that most of us only have in therapy. RealPod brings you the heart to heart moments we all need to be having and will leave you feeling comforted no matter where you're at in life. So leave the filters at the door because it's time to get real. Tune into Real pod wherever you get your podcasts.

Josh (18:37)

And there's like, also little things that you can do that are, like, very accessible. Like, I've started using retinol. I've got a Kiehl's retinol cream. I actually did an ad for it, but I actually really use it.

Ben (18:47)

Shout out.

Josh (18:47)

I do with all my ads, shout out Kiehl's and you know what it's like. It's. The price point's pretty accessible. It's $60, which is not nothing, but it's like far less expensive than, you know, Botox and injectables and laser treatments. And it's basically just concentrated vitamin A that helps your skin turnover. Obviously not a doctor, not perfect for everyone. But I've noticed a wonderful difference. I'm talking less sunspots. I'm talking newer, fresher, plumper, cuter skin.

Ben (19:18)

You know who's the number one? Kiehl's user, Josh number one. Bruce Offer. Bruce number number one. I'm number two. As a result, my dad has been using their creme de corpse since I'm born.

Josh (19:32)

I put it on my heels, Benjamin. My heels crack. There's nothing like creme de corps. I love how yellow it is.

Ben (19:40)

He loves that big tub. And he turned me onto their shampoos. Do you use their shampoo conditioner? Body wash Jackson.

Josh (19:45)

Fabulous.

Ben (19:46)

Are you kidding me? With the coconut amino acid shampoo and conditioner and the grapefruit soap. This is king shit. Okay? This is king shit. You want to treat yourself? You want to splurge for a second on self care? Skip the massage one time and order Kiehl's products because these. It's a spa every day.

Josh (20:06)

So true. And I like good crack.

Ben (20:09)

I heard that over here.

Josh (20:10)

Oh yeah.

Ben (20:10)

Holy moly.

Josh (20:11)

I will have a trans ischemic attack like Terry Dubrow one day. But it sounds good.

Ben (20:16)

Did you hear that?

Josh (20:17)

Yeah, I did.

Ben (20:18)

Yeah, I couldn't get it that way, but I, I got it the other way. Oh no. The creek in my neck is back.

Josh (20:26)

I, I have, I wait. I've been writing down some topics that I wanted to talk about. Oh, we're gonna be so late on this. But do we need to talk about the Beckham's?

Ben (20:35)

Too late, too late, too late, too late. But like, yeah, we're topical. But like we decided to be topical after it came out. We can't. It's too late. But it's nuts. But it's too late.

Josh (20:47)

Okay, what about with all this snow that's going on? And granted this is late too, but it'll come out in February, so there might be more snow.

Ben (20:53)

Yeah.

Josh (20:54)

What about all these people who are having heart attacks shoveling their driveway? You've heard of this?

Ben (20:59)

No. No. Oh my God. Really? People are passing away shoveling their driveway.

Josh (21:04)

Here, I'll, I'll talk to Our co host, ChatGpt. Will you give me a quick blurb I can talk about for the podcast about Snake Safe snow shoveling and what the phenomenon is of people having random heart attacks while shoveling their driveways during a heavy or mild to heavy snowstorm. Let's see, let's see. Give it to me, Chad. Give it to me. Sam Altman. They said, oh, this is a great and genuinely useful mini PSA for good Guys. Okay, here's why it's dangerous. Doctors even have a name for it called Snow Shovelers Heart attack. You're doing sudden, intense exercise, usually without warming up in freezing cold. The cold makes your blood vessels tighten, your blood pressure goes up, your heart has to work harder, and then you're holding your breath while lifting heavy snow, which spikes your blood pressure even more. It's like you're deadlifting outside in a freezer after sitting on the couch all day. And a shovel full of snow can weigh up to £20. Wow. Crazy, right?

Ben (22:07)

Easy. That's no good. I'm trying to think of a solution. Josh. I'm trying to think of a solution. I guess that's. Oh, that's a good solution. Great idea. Everyone should have a blowtorch. What could go wrong?

Josh (22:21)

Get the. Get the Tesla one that you like, the SpaceX one that Elon sold.

Ben (22:26)

Blowtorch. Yeah. What? That's significantly better than salting salt. Meat my blowtorch salt.

Josh (22:34)

Did you hear about. I just saw this headline in the Post, and it made me laugh because it's as peak Trump as Trump can get. They were talking about getting Maduro in Venezuela, and there was something that helped the troops go in the special forces and quickly overtake Maduro's security, which was, and to quote Trump, the discombobulator weapon in Venezuela was key. Like, the discombobulator was so incredible.

Ben (23:08)

Did you see what he also just said? I think it was something that Greenland. Like, when I go to Greenland, they call me Daddy.

Josh (23:16)

Jerk Off. Insane. It just sounds like Austin powers if, like, Dr. Evil was like, get me the discombobulator.

Ben (23:29)

Yeah. Yeah, literally, you know, which, by the way, gotta watch those movies again. What's better than a good Austin Powers? Where's Mike Myers? What's he doing? What's he up to? Have you seen Mike recently? Just, like, walking his dog.

Josh (23:44)

He, He. He jumps out like he. He appears in great movies. Like, I remember he was in Inglourious Basterds, which was like, you know, 15 years ago. But he's got gray hair, he looks cool. He's. He's a genius.

Ben (23:57)

He's a genius. So genius. So good. And just like, what's better than that? You show up. It's kind of like what Eddie Murphy just did with this documentary. You don't hear from him, and then he just shows up and reminds you how fucking cool he is and how talented and how great. Like, when you're that great, you can disappear for a decade and then pop back and everybody missed you the entire time, even though they didn't think about you every day. Like, that's the pinnacle of success, Right? Especially in Hollywood, 100%.

Josh (24:27)

And think about Mike Myers in the 90s creating two iconic characters that led to sequels that. I mean, Wayne's World and Austin Powers are, like, part of the.

Ben (24:40)

They are, 100%. I think more people wear, like, Wayne's World must have an amazing licensor because the amount of people that just, like, wear Wayne's World hats and Wayne's World T shirts that they probably bought at Walmart and they have never even seen the movie. Like, Wayne's World is everywhere still. And it's so good. And Austin Powers is just. I mean, fook me. Fook you, Right? Those twins.

Josh (25:06)

Genius.

Ben (25:08)

So dumb and so good.

Josh (25:09)

One of my favorite lines is in the first. I think it's the first Wayne's World where. Where Maybe the second one anywhere.

Ben (25:18)

It's.

Josh (25:19)

It's where Garth is going into the Laundromat.

Ben (25:21)

Yeah.

Josh (25:22)

To do his laundry. And he runs into Kim Basinger, who's, like, stunning and coming on to him. And she says, would you like to have dinner some night? And he goes, oh, I like to have dinner every night. It's so good.

Ben (25:40)

So unbelievable.

Josh (25:42)

Brilliant.

Ben (25:42)

Those movies just, like. We just need to watch more of those. We just need to, like, disconnect. Speaking of disconnect, I wanted to tell you I kept my version. Actually, I'm not gonna say it like this. I shut my phone over Shabbat for the second week in a row.

Josh (25:56)

Nice.

Ben (25:57)

I don't know what it means. Like, again, I am still. I'm driving, I'm doing. I just don't have a phone. From 5:30pm Friday night to 6:30pm Saturday night, my phone is off. And I've never done that before in my life. I guess maybe I used to do it in summer camp. Cause, like, they forced you to do it, but you didn't have phones then, so that doesn't count. You didn't have phones the whole summer. Like, I love it. It's just, like, I didn't realize I'm addicted to my phone. And, like, I'll pull it out for no reason. And I noticed on Sunday that I pulled my phone out so much less. And I wasn't constantly thinking about it because I didn't use it from Friday to Saturday. And I just wanted to tell you that I'm doing that. It's really. It's special. You're just, like, sitting around. Like, I'm sitting with Claudia And Ruby. And I'm like, I don't need anybody else for the next 25 hours. And if we make plans, no problem. I'll drive there and then I'll be present with the people that we made plans with. But, like, for that one day a week, it's. It's been really great. It's been really great. Would you ever try that? Is that anything that interests you at all?

Josh (27:11)

Hundred percent.

Ben (27:12)

I. Yeah.

Josh (27:13)

I overall have tried to be much less on my phone. Like, granted, I don't know why. I think maybe because I listen to podcasts so much or sometimes I'll watch a show, like if I'm on the treadmill at the gym or something. But since I had kids, like, oh, and then if we go to dinner sometimes. Sorry, guilty. But if my wife and I want to have, like, you know, chat, like, I got the stand in the phone. The kids eat. Not the whole time. I'm like, max shy here. Just. Can I. 15 minutes.

Ben (27:44)

Can I have a moment?

Josh (27:49)

But it's great, this. Stan. Oh, my God, check that. Dad.com. no great stuff.

Ben (27:55)

Dad.com.

Josh (27:58)

Is that our new business?

Ben (27:59)

That's so good. I love it. It just. Screens for kids. Yeah. Yeah. We go against the grain. Everybody's like, no. Screens are like, what do you mean? Make them bigger.

Josh (28:09)

More screens, the better. My kids are smarter from watching Sesame street and then Mark Rober and Science Max and all. Like, they just are. But my. My. My screen time has significantly gone down to, like. Like, gone down by three hours. And I'm hoping to check out more.

Ben (28:31)

This episode of the Good Guys podcast is brought to you by our boys at Quo. Folks, New Year, New Me. But for your business, as in, maybe this is the year your team finally stops operating like a group chat with commitment issues. What are you, nuts? Nothing kills momentum faster than a big opportunity slipping through the cracks because everyone assumed somebody else was on it. In 2026, the real glow up is communication that actually works. A team that knows what's happening and never misses the customers already trying to give you money. Eventually you look at the chaos, sigh, and think, let's fucking Quo, baby. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q U O. The smarter way to run your business. Communications, folks. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with over 3,000 reviews built for how modern teams work. That's why more than 90,000 businesses, from solo entrepreneurs to growing teams, rely on quo to stay connected, professional, and consistently. Quo works wherever you are, right from an app on your phone or computer and lets you keep your existing number, Add new numbers or teammates in minutes, sync your CRM and rely on seamless routing and call flows as your business scales scale season, your entire team can handle calls and text from one shared number. No more missed messages or disconnected conversation. Everyone sees the full thread, making replies faster and customers feel genuinely cared for. Folks, it's easy. Calls, texts, voicemails, transcripts, and contact details all live in one clean view. With full context at your fingertips, your team communicates faster, stays aligned, and delivers a more personal experience. Make this year where no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try quo for free plus 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.comgoodguys that's Q U O.com goodguys quo no missed calls, no missed customers. This episode of the Good Guys podcast is brought to you by our friends at Home Chef. Folks, this time of year, when it's cold and dark by dinner time, all I want is something warm, comforting and easy. Home Chef has been my go to for cozy home cooked meals without the hassle. From easy oven ready meals to hearty, satisfying recipes that make winter dinners feel effortless. Let me tell you, okay, as a celebrity chef that cooks literally for a living, sometimes you get just a little tired. Sometimes you don't want to do all that chopping. Today I made a gorgeous cowboy caviar. It literally took me two hours. It takes so long. Okay, that's because I was filming too. It probably would take you, I don't know, 45 minutes to an hour plus shopping. Okay, so we're at two hours. It's just, it's just a lot. Okay. And it's nice to supplement in some easy cooking. Maybe a microwavable meal here and there. Home Chef is it. I'm telling you, it's absolutely fantastic because it makes cooking simple, fresh food delivered, easy recipes to follow, and meals that actually taste great. And people love it. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. And I'm telling you, this is the perfect complement to cooking. I'm not telling you you should only use Home Chef. They're going to kill me for saying that you should obviously sometimes still go to the grocery store and make your own things. But Home Chef makes it so easy. They make it so easy. I would highly recommend trying them for all of their suites of products because let me tell you, the 30 minute meals, oven ready trays, quick microwavable lunches, or just Fresh ingredients for classic recipes. They make everything so seamless and easy. You've got to try it. If you've never tried it, I'm telling you. And for a limited time now, now is the time because Home Chef is offering my listeners 50. I love a big code 5.0percent off and free shipping for your first box. Plus free dessert for life. If you go to home chef.com that's homechef.com goodguys for 55.0percent off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com goodguys must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Obviously, I just want to look. I haven't looked at my screen time.

Josh (32:35)

To see the problem is too. Do you track your steps on your phone? Because, like, I do. And so then I never want to not have it in my pocket because I want to miss a step.

Ben (32:43)

That. That's true. That's absolutely true.

Josh (32:46)

But I should just get a wearable. Hey, anyone who's like a real big macher. Wearable, lover of wearables, get at me. DM me. You know, should I be hooping? Should I be oura ringing? Should I just get the new Apple Ultra watch? Because the ultras are cool, cool, cool. Shout out Apple. Shout out my friend Dylan Loewy who works there. Love you, dude.

Ben (33:05)

Oh, this is so dumb. I had no idea. So screen time includes throughout the night. I use a white noise app, and that's counting towards my. My phone's on. That counts towards my screen time. It's like you used. I was looking at it. I'm like eight hours and 30 minutes on average. That can't be possible. Seven of those hours, Josh was a noise machine. I think my screen time.

Josh (33:28)

That's not possible, though. Your screen time is not an hour.

Ben (33:31)

I think it is. Josh.

Josh (33:33)

Nah, look at. Go look at what apps have you. Like. Okay, my daily average is 4 hours, 48 minutes.

Ben (33:40)

But my. My daily average right now, including under health and fitness, which is the white noise app, that's six hours and 50 minutes. My daily average is nine hours, including that. Okay, so that means that my daily average is 3 hours.

Josh (33:57)

But is. Do you do a lot of work on your laptop? Like a lot of texting and I.

Ben (34:01)

Do a lot of work on my laptop.

Josh (34:03)

Okay, gotcha.

Ben (34:04)

A lot of work. A lot of work. Instagram is. I can tell you Instagram, because, like, usually TikTok. Yeah, Instagram's an hour and 41 minutes per day. Per day.

Josh (34:18)

Yeah, I'm usually about there, but it's split between TikTok and Instagram. Like 50 and 50 or an hour and an hour.

Ben (34:25)

And TikTok has been 29 minutes. It seems light.

Josh (34:29)

Yeah. Because how are we going to get our sick ideas for content?

Ben (34:33)

I love American content 100%. You just have to avoid. There needs to be a setting on TikTok and Instagram. You log on and it's like a void, rabbit hole. Or like avoid, like something that's gonna bother me. Like sometimes I. I want to go on Instagram and TikTok and I want to see recipe inspiration. I want to start thinking about new things that I want to make. And then all of a sudden I end up on just like something that I didn't want. And that's what's driven me to this, like day off, my version of Shabbat. Because I go down those rabbit holes and then I'm less happy when I hop off of my phone, which is not right. And I'm checking my phone during dinner or I'm checking my phone when I'm with Ruby. Like, what is he? What do I need to do that for? There's nothing going there at 7pm Nothing. And especially on a Saturday, there's nothing going on there. The emergency can wait.

Josh (35:30)

The algorithm needs to learn me better because it's like I want to watch one breastfeeding video, not a hundred, you know, So good. So creepy. So good.

Ben (35:47)

Like, I had a weird fetish once. Ok, I don't need to see. What was it? Our park friendly park hoppers. What are those?

Josh (35:59)

Plus sized park hoppers.

Ben (36:00)

I don't need to see plus size park hoppers one time. I googled it. Okay, I don't need it.

Josh (36:07)

Should we get to a speak pipe?

Ben (36:09)

Yes, yes, yes.

Josh (36:15)

All right, let's get to our moron mail, guys. If you want to ask us questions, get advice, go to speakpipe.com Good, guys, keep it brief. Brevity's key. We don't want your witty and nuts is.

Ben (36:25)

Nope.

Josh (36:25)

I threatened you. And I said that moron mail was possibly going to come to an end because the things you were sending were such hot garbage. And you know what? You did a little better this week. A little bit.

Ben (36:35)

They improved.

Josh (36:36)

You're still on probation.

Ben (36:37)

You're like Kanye. You're still on probation, but you keep proving yourself and maybe, just maybe, you'll be let out of the doghouse. Okay. Week after week. Okay. Keep improving.

Josh (36:50)

That should be Kanye's new song, Probation.

Ben (36:53)

Yeah, it should.

Josh (36:54)

Yeah. Probation, probation. The Jews got me on probation.

Ben (37:05)

We're Like, Kanye. No.

Josh (37:07)

Mordecai, how are you? What's going down?

Ben (37:11)

You're doing it again, Kanye.

Josh (37:12)

No joy. He has a handler like he has a sober companion. But it's an anti Semitic companion.

Ben (37:25)

No, Kanye, don't.

Josh (37:32)

Keep it to yourself, Kanye. Rabbi, he invited Dave Chappelle over. I'm. I'm famished. Not good, Rabbi.

Ben (37:48)

Good.

Josh (37:49)

All right, let's get to our first one, which is from Anonymous.

Anonymous Caller 1 (37:54)

Hello, good gentlemen. Brevity is key, so let's go. In college, I would only drink beer because liquor made me want to vomit. Now I'm no longer a little bitch, and I've grown past that. However, the problem with the beer was that it would make me chew really loud. Additionally, I also had a hoe phase in college, so I vividly remember a handful of times in which I had canoodled with a man. We were laying beside one another asleep, and then I would wake myself up with a very loud toot. Now I'm in my early 30s, happily married to a man I met long after college. We have a child. All is well and good. However, I still think about these times, wondering if I'm the laughingstock of the man group. Do people also still think about this? Am I a joke? Or should I just up my anxiety meds? Hurt my feelings? Okay, thanks. Love you.

Josh (38:42)

Bye.

Ben (38:44)

First of all, lady, you have a gluten intolerance. Okay, I don't know if I'm the first one to tell you this, but you're allergic to gluten beer. It's like eating a loaf of bread. Okay, this is not. I didn't even mean for this to happen, but spritz, society is gluten free, okay? 100% gluten free. It's made from wine. That's why we made it, because we were getting belly aches from these white claws, these trulies, which are made with malt, which is the same thing as beer. Okay, you have a gluten intolerance. Now let's move on to the part that I really need you to hear me. No one is thinking about you ever. I don't if you. I can't opine on upping or lowering your anxiety meds, but I can tell you, no one from college that you slept with has ever thought about you again. The group chat has not been about you ever. Like, I'm sorry, it wasn't. Maybe one time, one guy mentioned to his friend, holy shit, man. This girl, she couldn't stop farting. They laughed for one second and they never thought about it again. So, no, you're not the laughingstock. I'm sorry, you're not that important. And I say that to try and help because I think a lot of anxiety comes from people thinking that they're too important. At least personally. I've had it before where I'm like, oh, are people thinking about me? Are they talking about me? Are they doing this? Why isn't he answering? Why isn't she answering? What are they doing? It's like they're living their life and you're thinking about them. They're not thinking about you. They're just living. You're not that important. And I hope that helps.

Josh (40:13)

I completely agree. I think that's great advice. And if you're really good at canoodling, it's like, then it's like a cool title. Like, this girl rock my world. And she dude. But, like, any dude, like, is gonna be like, well worth that trade dog. Totally. And her total smell like Sam Adams.

Ben (40:37)

They're heavy beard, just like, oh, my God, yucky.

Josh (40:46)

You know, you're in trouble if the man you're with now is like, you order an ipa and he goes, babe, maybe get a vodka.

Ben (40:56)

Totally.

Josh (40:58)

She's awesome. All right, this next one is she's awesome from Kayla.

Kayla (41:04)

Hey, Joshi. Hey, Benny. So I need some advice with just really how to navigate for my friendship. So I just found out that my last friend was. That doesn't have kids already, is pregnant. And while I'm super happy for her, you know, both her and I are like the last ones. And we've been really struggling for families, and it's been a whole thing and kind of been in it together. So while I'm really happy she's having a baby, I'm a little upset because, like, who are my husband and I got to hang out with now? Like, each other. I mean, I guess that's an option, but, like, you know, sometimes you want to go hang out with your friends. And like, all my friends with kids, like, anytime I try to ask them to do anything, like, it's always something. I get it, you know, whatever. But, you know, if every time I ask them, they're not going to. Not going to be able to do it. Like, is it wrong for me to be like, hey, assholes, like, invite me to do something. Like, invite me over to your house. I don't want to just invite myself there. Which I probably could. Like, I've been friends with them for a while, but I don't know, I don't want to be rude. Like you have a family of shit going on. I don't know what I do. How do I navigate this? I don't know. I need advice. Thanks. Love you guys.

Ben (42:13)

Love you. It's kind of the same thing that we just told the other anonymous woman. When you at least speaking with one child, Josh has three, his is amplified even more. Like, life is so busy that I would love to see you friend. I'm just not thinking about you right now. I'm sorry, I'm not. But the second you text me, I'm flooded with memories and emotions and I'm like, oh my God, I would love to see you. And I might not be able to see you in the context that you want to see me. Can I see you for a 10 o' clock dinner and then go out? No. Can I invite you over for a barbecue or can we meet for lunch or can. Like it's. It might not be the quality time that you're looking for, but I guarantee they also want quality time in their new way, which is probably temporary. Like Josh, you can speak to it better than me, but I guess now you're sort of back in the rat race. But eventually as your kids get older, your schedule sort of settles, but your life is your kids. And that doesn't mean that people can't fit into it, but they have to fit in in a way that makes sense for you now. Right? And that's not disrespectful. It just, it just is what it is. And you want to see them too. I want to see them. I just, it just needs to be for right now, on my time, right?

Josh (43:40)

Yes. And I think you have a superpower right now, Kayla, which is that if you love kids but you don't have your own yet, but you have a bunch of close friends who do, you get to be a part of their kids life and their life. And it's very easy for you. Like the great kid David who comes in the pod, he's so much a part of my kid's life because he can come over for dinner and then he gets the biggest, best thing which is to leave. Like he gets to leave and then I go, I guess I'm doing bedtime. But it's fucking awesome. Like, and you get to then go have that domestic experience for. In cosplay, you know, that family energy for three hours and bounce and you build relationships with the kids. You get to take that family life for, for, for practice. And I think when we are without kids, we really venerate impulsivity and the randomness of, like, being able to do what you want when you want. Making plans an hour before or a day before. I think you can still have friendships as an adult with kids. You just need to better plan it. And for instance, I have. I go to my home group a meeting every Tuesday night at 8 o'.

Ben (44:53)

Clock.

Josh (44:54)

And Paige knows. And I've like, timed out bedtime perfectly where all children are in bed except for Max. But Paige puts Max to bed by 7:15. And I go to my meeting, I'm with my boys. Like, I enjoy it from eight to nine once a month, maybe we'll go get a quick dinner after. But I'm like, I have that and I look forward to it and. And my wife's cool with it because it's set and we know. So.

Ben (45:16)

Yep.

Josh (45:16)

Have a set. Have a once a month thing. Like, let's all agree that once a month, once every six weeks, we're gonna have a dinner with the friends and then you can plan on it and. And look forward to it.

Ben (45:27)

Yeah. And also know. I think that's great advice. Also know that the things that are of importance to you, that were important to me, are no longer important to me. Not because they shouldn't be important to you, but because I have more important things to worry about. Let me. That was word jumble, but let me sort of open it up. Sports, for example. I have friends who don't have kids, who aren't married, that are still obsessed. Obsessed with football, for example. I simply don't have time to keep up with football the way that I once did. It is mental energy that I'm realizing through my 20s. Josh. I would think about football all the time. Like, it just, like, is a part of male life, or at least it was for me. And so that doesn't mean that I don't want to go to a football game with you. Don't not invite me, because every single day we're not talking about sports anymore, I still want to take in an experience with you. Does that make sense? Like she was saying, like, should I continue to reach out? Like, I keep getting told no. Keep reaching out, keep reaching out, keep asking one time, I will say yes. And it's again, not because I don't want to do these things. It's because you're asking me to come back into your universe that I'm no longer in. But there will be a moment where I can pop out of mine for a second and I can go to a Sunday football game even Though that's abnormal to your point, it helps with planning. It's really easy for me to tell my wife, in three months we're going, I'm going to Jet's bills at one o' clock because it's planned, it's there. If you invite me for tomorrow, it's never going to be worth it to me. That's just the truth.

Josh (47:13)

My friends who have kids and families and you start having two, three, four kids. In my opinion, you benefit when you really make your family your focus. And I know that sounds inherent, but like, if you make your social life, if you make having fun, like my weekends are for my kids and my family, like, there's not even an idea that I'm gonna make plans for myself other than maybe I'll. I always try to slip an hour to go work out, you know, and my wife's cool with it and like, I'll take the boys out by, by ourselves for two or three hours to give my wife a little bit of break. And she knows that that one hour in the gym gives me like a relaxing attitude for the weekend. But my family is my social life. They're my main focus and I benefit from it. Everyone I know, and I've seen this way more with our female friends, every mom group, dad group I know who've said my social life is really important. And by the way, kids and family, it's overwhelming. It is important that you have some balance, but I would argue it needs to be like 90, 10, 85, 15. Of course, because every mom group. And this was. I'll be honest, there's a mom group I know that was like, it's about us and it's about the moms and it's about our friendship and it's about getting out there and finding ourselves and getting our groove back. They all cheated. Like, they all, they all. It was a good front for what they really wanted to do, which was.

Ben (48:43)

To get away from their families and not grow up. But that's so interesting. It's like you made a conscious choice to have a family. That's why that's what your weekend looks like. My weekend is the same. I only have once. I. My, My one son, my Ruby, and my weekend is his. And I love it, though, whether or not I. I don't think I had to brainwash myself. I've loved it from the beginning. I'm very public about that. I know that it comes harder to some. I love it and I love my weekends with him. And my weekends are not my own. But that's okay. My weekends are slower. My weekends are planned. My weekends are, are fun. It's like people would look at it and they'd say, oh, that's not fun because you're not playing golf. Or oh, that's not fun because you're not watching sports or you're not. These are things that I no longer value. In the same way, during that time, I'll find other time to do things. You mentioned, like you're meeting Tuesday nights or like the gym or whatever, whatever it is. Like there is plenty of time to do things if you really want to. When they're asleep, they sleep. They sleep a lot. I'm very lucky. Ruby sleeps a lot. If I wanted to do something after 8 o' clock most nights of the week, I could. For me personally, I'm so unbelievably tired at the end of the day that I want to lay in bed with my wife, eat some food and go to sleep. Right. But I could do stuff and, but.

Josh (50:02)

You could do it during the day too. Like if you had a buddy in town who was like, let's get lunch on a weekday.

Ben (50:08)

Of course, of course. During the day, during the week, absolutely. The time that is. I don't know if you're the same. The time that is 100% my son's weekends. Morning, evening, nothing will ever. Unless I have to. Unless Mr. Beast is like, I need you. Nothing else interrupts that time. Or like that's what I try to hold sacred. But yeah, of course, like I would love to grab lunch with you during the week. No problem. Like let's do it. Or yeah, so.

Josh (50:39)

And maybe it's, maybe it will change, maybe it won't. But like I've had. So I've been with my family like non stop and I have a non traditional work schedule, so I don't miss a lot. And I love it. You know, I wake up with the kids at 6am, I wake up with Meyer, I get them ready for school, I take Max to school, Paige takes Chai to school and I put them down every night. I'm always home by 5 o' clock or earlier. I don't miss taekwondo, I don't miss games. It's been so great to the point where if this year I got, and it used to kill me before I got offered something to go work for a week or two weeks on something great that I was hyped about, like, I also can balance that and be like, I've had a year and a half of like unstoppable amazing family time. And I can give this to myself too, if this work thing is something that I'm so jazzed about and I'm gonna grow as a performer and as a professional. Like, I think that balance is. Is important too.

Ben (51:40)

Of course. I do wonder how you would feel being there.

Josh (51:43)

It hurts, but I think there'd be more of a balance.

Ben (51:46)

Yeah.

Josh (51:47)

And I think you will find that Ben, Baruch, Hashem, when you have two, three kids.

Ben (51:51)

Yeah.

Josh (51:52)

And you've got seven years under your belt where you will feel less bad if you have a two day work trip.

Ben (51:58)

Got it. Yeah. Because that's the thing. It's like, do I. Am I entitled to it? Absolutely. Would Claudia or Paige be like if I had a once in a lifetime. Not even once in a lifetime. If I had something that would greatly benefit my career. In the end of the day, you're also a provider for your family. So like going and doing a two week work. It's work. Right. And it pays bills and it's great for your overall career. Would I have a hard time pushing something like that through? No, not at all. I'm just like in my current state, which is not your state. Mine is so fresh. I fear that I would feel very sad and whatever I was doing wouldn't. Wouldn't feel as exciting to me anymore. I don't know. I think it's just too fresh. Like the idea of right now, all my work trips. I do my absolute best, even if it's far. Like, I just did a work trip to Seattle. I did an in and out from Seattle. No one does an in and out from Seattle. I did that not because I couldn't stay there for a night. I did it because I didn't want to. And. But that won't always be feasible. Like sometimes you do have to spend more than do the in and out to Seattle allowed me to be there for three hours like that. That was a very specific example. And right now all of my work stuff happens to be okay, it's a meeting. But there are times where I need to be on location for something for days and.

Josh (53:27)

Or just one day that will bite you because yeah, the travel. Well, you'll. You'll play yourself. Right. Like my friend always says, whether within reason. If it's a long flight. Right. Like yeah, there for almost every businessing, there is no excuse for not flying in the night before because happens totally. So like totally. I hope it never happens. One day you're gonna get burned and you're gonna be so stressed and you'll say I was meshuggah. I would have missed two hours with Ruby, which I hate. But I should have flown in the night before.

Ben (54:01)

100%. 100%. 100% and flying in the morning.

Josh (54:04)

But I wouldn't want to leave that Ruby either. He's so cute.

Ben (54:07)

I know, it's just so hard. But you're right. Flying in the night before because in the end of it I ended up needing to take a red. Whatever. Yes, the night before, especially for something like that, is the move you fly in the night before the time change occurs, then you take a morning flight out of your home. I agree with you. Too stressful. And I hope I never get burned. I haven't been burned like that yet. I always take a couple flights early. Like I'm never flying in. I used to do that where like if I have a meeting at 2 o' clock and I'm landing at 1, which was nuts, and I still haven't been burned for it. But now I'll take a flight like two flights early just in case my flight gets canceled, I can always hop on another one, right?

Josh (54:46)

Like I'll do a college gig in wherever and it'll be, you know, 5 o' clock or 6 o', clock, right. And but with the time change coming from the west coast, like sometimes it'll be like a 7am flight that gets in at 3 or 2 even.

Ben (55:00)

Yeah.

Josh (55:00)

But I go, okay, so I get in at 2 and I don't have to be there till 5 and it's about 30 to 45 minute drive from the airport. I'm like, if anything goes wrong, I'm fucked 100% if the flight gets pushed, if there's a bad accident. And so I hate it. But I go, I'll put kids to bed the night before, fly out on the red eye, get in at 10am I'll crash at the hotel for a couple hours, have a bite, do the college gig, fly out that night or.

Ben (55:28)

The next morning you are, you do benefit from having a much, much, much better flight home. Flying east to west is so much worse because you're saving time when you don't need to save time. And then you're losing time when you really need the time. Like you fly in, you lose time in. In the day before where you can prepare for that, right? And then the second your gig's over, you're home versus me in the reverse. I'm flying home from LA. If I leave at 4 o', clock, I'm home at 1 in the morning, and if I can't catch that 4 o' clock flight, it's a red eye. What are you, nuts? Moment is our gripes of people, places and things both big and small. Whatever. Sticking your craw. Big and tall. I meant big and tall. Yeah, anything.

Josh (56:17)

Of course I do. And that's. We have an orange and lemon tree near our house or right outside our house. It's on my fucking property. And listen, you can help yourself to a orange or lemon, but my house is not Whole Foods. What are you, nuts? Don't bring a basket. This is not an experience. Help yourself to one or two, but don't take a dozen. What are you, nuts?

Ben (56:38)

People are taking your fruit off your property. They're coming and stealing your fruit. But it's.

Josh (56:45)

It's not. It's not like gated in. Like it's accessible, but it's still your.

Ben (56:50)

Tree on your property. That's nuts. That's completely, completely, completely nuts, Josh. Completely nuts.

Josh (56:59)

I know.

Ben (57:00)

Oh. Oh, I just lost mine. One second.

Josh (57:05)

Thank you. Time. He's taking Zyrtec again. He must have taken a Zyrtec and had a bagel.

Ben (57:13)

It's not his fault, by the way. Josh, I had. I had a bagel. I'm good. My bagel. I don't. I'm not even gluten intolerant. I was Zyrtec intolerant. My woody and nuts. What is my. What are you fucking nuts? My what are you nuts? Moment. I was walking my sweet Romeo. This happens all the time, okay? Somebody will come up with a clearly aggressive dog. Josh. Clearly aggressive. Barking at Romeo, barking. They'll walk by, they'll say, I'm so sorry. He's normally so sweet. What are you, nuts? Of course he's not normally so sweet. This is a. This is a grizzly bear, okay? This is a big, mean dog. He's. Maybe he's sweet to you because you're completely delusional and brainwashed, but this is not a sweet dog. If your dog only ha. Oh, he only barks around other dogs. That's what. He's a dog. He's gonna be around other dogs. You're walking the dog in the street with other dogs. What are you, nuts?

Josh (58:03)

Nuts.

Ben (58:05)

Nuts, Josh. Well, folks, that's our show. This is five stars. Otherwise, what are you, nuts? Listen to us wherever you get your podcast. But most importantly, okay, most importantly, rate, review and subscribe, because every single week, we are going to pull one beautiful review. Okay? We're gonna pull one gorgeous review. We're going to Read it aloud. Let me be clear. We are only reading five star reviews, okay? You leave us a four, you leave us a three. God forbid our two or one, you're done. You're kaput. You're out. Also, by the way, if you've ever left us a one star review, you shouldn't be allowed to listen to the show anymore.

Josh (58:41)

Okay?

Ben (58:41)

That should be your parting gift. If you've left a one star, you can't come back. You can't come back. You can't be. I came for the Drake episode. The Fed's annoying. Now, if you left that. Done the put sayonara. But we're gonna be reading five star reviews. We're staying positive here, Josh. Five star reviews. Do we have one to read?

Josh (58:59)

Yeah, we sure do. From Beef of One. Free for all. Five stars. Finally, a fun podcast that doesn't worry about being PC all the time. When the guys are joking. We never need an apology just in case a few people would take it the wrong way. Thank you.

Ben (59:14)

Hell yeah. That's right.

Josh (59:15)

Beef Go Beef Beef A one.

Ben (59:18)

Go Beef A one. Love you. And we'll see you every Monday and Thursday. We'll see you next time.

Victoria Garrick Brown (59:32)

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