Holmberg's Morning Sickness – Arizona’s #1 Morning Radio Show

Episode: 01-20-26 – FULL SHOW – TUESDAY
Hosts: John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, Dick Toledo
Date: January 20, 2026
Station: 98 KUPD | Hubbard Radio

Overview

This raucous, fast-paced episode of Holmberg’s Morning Sickness jumps out of a sports-drenched Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend with plenty to celebrate, complain about, and ridicule. John, Brady, Brett, and Toledo dissect recent NFL playoff drama, roast hapless Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, debate everything from boogers as protest to the future of radio and even the aurora borealis. It’s all delivered in their irreverent, laugh-a-minute tone — loaded with hard opinions, wild tangents, and off-the-rails banter.

Episode Highlights & Key Segments

MLK Weekend Sports Mania & NFL Playoff Recap

• (00:38 – 11:48)

• John jokes that MLK’s “real dream” — every American, black or white, unified on the couch for a full weekend of football and basketball — has finally been realized.
• Stories from the crew’s own weekends: time spent at Talking Stick Casino, collective football immersion, and friendly rivalry jabs.
• Bears Lose, Seahawks Hopeful:
  • Bret laments the Bears’ OT playoff loss; John and Toledo poke fun at manifesting Super Bowl dreams or “jinxing” their teams.
  • “If I’d have told you back in September you’re going to lose in the division round of the playoffs in overtime…”
    — John to Bret (03:05)
• Deep dive into eye-rolling at Patriots fans and conspiracy theories about NFL officiating.
• Patriots' Revival:
  • John: “Could this team be more blessed with bigger assholes as fans?” (05:14)
  • Bills fans, Denver drama, and NFL “scripted” conspiracies.

Boogers for Bidwill: A Campaign is Born

• (11:48 – 40:36)

• John leads an epic, extended roast of Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, naming him the “biggest loser” of the NFL weekend due to high-profile NFL coaching vacancies making the Cardinals job even less desirable.
• The Booger Protest:
  • Inspired by bad bosses, booger art, and civic frustration, John launches the “Feed Michael Bidwill Your Boogers” movement:
    • “He needs boogers every day until this team does something where you’re like, hey, he’s figured it out. Boogers. Everybody should... just do it.” (27:56)
  • The hosts riff on making Bidwill as unwelcome in Phoenix as possible, comparing Cardinals fans’ suffering to being perpetually disappointed in an ugly spouse.
• Legendary Rant Moments:
  • “He’s the Yoko [Ono] without Lennon… you didn’t even have the Beatle by your side!” — John (23:57)
  • “If he's at Starbucks... The barista should go ‘next, b*tch’... Your money's poisoned.” — John (25:41)

Solar Flares, Elephants in the Streets, & The End of the World

• (47:00 – 67:17)

• Solar Flare Panic:
  • The crew discusses a “coronal mass ejection” and potential for the Northern Lights to be seen as far south as Arizona; John can’t stop giggling at the name (“coronal mass ejection... they're trolling us!” 59:04).
• Only Radio Survives:
  • Enthusiastically, the guys imagine a world where only radio survives the solar shutdown:
    • “Radio is the one thing that works. It's hanging its hat on that too... The Bobs would be excited.” (64:07)
• “Release the Elephants!”
  • John argues the only way to unite America’s divided protestors is to unleash angry rogue elephants like in India, so at least they’ll have a common danger.
    • “Put one of them mean elephants out there... whoever is the last man standing [wins].” (46:49)
  • Laughter and dark analogies abound as John insists humans have gotten too soft, and primal terror is the missing ingredient for unity.

Booger Art, AI Cows & Transcendent Tangents

• (34:33 – 57:12)

• Off-the-wall tales such as a disgruntled tenant using boogers and blood to scrawl messages on walls, and cows developing tool use to scratch their itches:
  • “He wrote his name in the last two weeks he was there on the front wall in boogers and blood.” — John (34:33)
  • “She picked up a broom… used it to scratch her back… It’s the first use ever of bovine tools. That’s how it starts.” — John (56:31)
• Spirited digressions about animal intelligence, odd news, and the ever-present risk of AI advancement (including robo-cops in China).

What Would Brady Do? — Listener Advice Segment

• (123:29 – 143:34)

1. Son Quits Sports for Poetry
   • Listener’s 14-year-old, 6’2” kid drops all sports for poetry—dad is at a loss.
   • Panel suggests combining poetry with sports:
     • “Why don’t you write your old man a poem about football... make him watch a game with you and write a poem about it.” — John (124:30)
   • Humorous resignation to “just let your strapping young twink poetry boy” do his thing.
2. Wife Addicted to Holistic Medicine
   • Listener’s wife spent $100k on ‘wellness’ last year. Should he cut her off?
   • John: “If you spend a hundred grand and I'm going through my taxes, and you're not better, we're redistributing that somewhere else.” (138:51)
   • The group debates men’s and women’s very different relationships to doctors, wellness, and self-care.

Music, AI Songs, and Segment Staple "Hot Releases"

• (144:25 – 162:00)

• Reviews of new music, including Metallica/ Megadeth side-talk, the AI disco song “Nut in My Butt” (“That’s beautiful. That’s poetry.” — John, 160:26) and bluesy AI-generated lyrics (“Your cat smells like a dead catfish…” – 157:53).
• Calls for an “end to Yacht Rock” on men’s golf outings; John exasperated by boat-groove anthems on the greens.
• Revivals discussed: new Star Search, HBO’s “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” and “Fouda,” (the Israeli thriller John plugs heavily).
  • “This show is intense… It’s one of the better shows I’ve watched in a long time. You got that whole Jews versus Arab thing. And they’re human.” — John (146:43)

Notable Quotes & Moments

On NFL Conspiracies & Officiating

• “If ever you think football is rigged, look no further than that Bills Broncos game… the reception... the next game, exact same play...” — John (08:53)

On the Cardinals' Coaching Situation

• “The coach that takes [the Cardinals job]… I’m the least desirable head coaching candidate because the Cardinals were the only ones that hired me.” — John (11:48)

On Boogers for Bidwill

• “Not suggesting it. I’m demanding it now.” — John, re: giving Bidwill his daily booger tribute (27:56)
• “Feed those to Michael Bidwill. Every Cardinal fan should be on board with my program.” — John (32:15)

On American Unity

• “We need elephants now, immediately… they get the job done… and for a couple days [in India], none of them were arguing about politics at all. The whole thing was like, ‘I’m on your team, brother.’” — John (50:24)

On Men vs. Women & Health

• “If you as a man went to a dude who charged you $450 for the bionic band… and it didn’t work, and then you went back… you’d say no.” — John (135:40)
• “If you spend a hundred grand and you don’t feel better, you wanna keep doing it? Cut it off.” — John (135:51)

Other Fun Bits & Segments

• “N-word or F-word” — Predicting which slur/curse word appears in a rap song first.
• “Brady Report / Hot Releases” — New pop culture drops, true to the show's irreverent style, including review asides on game shows, prime time melodramas, and streamable series.
• Random Movie Trivia — Debunking the “dead munchkin” Wizard of Oz myth; Pulp Fiction’s briefcase doesn’t have a ‘secret meaning’; Titanic’s door actually wouldn’t hold Jack and Rose after all.
• AI & Algorithm Jokes — The guys riff on the wild stuff buried in each other’s social media feeds, from AI-generated music to grotesque surgically-altered faces.

Overall Tone and Delivery

• Wild, irreverent, and extremely local: Everything is framed with Arizona/Valley sports pain, inside jokes, and regional commentary.
• Free-association humor: Long tangents—sports to personal horror stories to booger-based activism—blend seamlessly.
• Camaraderie & Roasting: The cast loves to needle each other (and their old bosses, home team owners, and anyone else in the local news).
• Memorable Imagery: From booger walls to rogue elephants chasing protestors, the show is rich with over-the-top visual metaphors.

Suggested Listening Timestamps & Key Segments

• Sports Weekend Recap: 00:38–11:48
• Cardinals/Bidwill Roast / Booger Campaign: 11:48–40:36
• Solar Flares/Elephants/Radio Rants: 47:00–67:17
• What Would Brady Do?: 123:29–143:34
• Music/AI/Yacht Rock: 144:25–162:00

If you crave local sports catharsis, aggressive satire, and an unfiltered, hilarious tour through pop culture and personal grudges — this episode is a must. Just be glad you’re not Michael Bidwill.