Episode Overview

Theme:
This episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness revolves around surprising pop culture stats, offbeat news stories, and classic banter among John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo. The standout topic is the unexpected streaming dominance of the band Train, which launches the crew into analysis, incredulity, and plenty of comedic riffs. Regular segments return—quirky news, oddball crimes, culinary debates, and digressions on everything from karaoke meltdowns to historical road trips.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Train Surpasses Legendary Bands on Spotify

• Brady's Fun Fact: The band Train has more monthly Spotify listeners than icons like Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Van Halen, Tom Petty, U2, REM, Pearl Jam, and Elvis.
  • Quote (Brady, 02:21): “Train has more monthly listeners on Spotify than Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Van Halen, Tom Petty, U2, REM, Pearl Jam, and Elvis.”
• The group is shocked, initially thinking it was a sum (all the bands combined), then clarifying it's each band individually (02:37).
• Discussion on Train’s wedding staples (“Marry Me”, “Hey, Soul Sister”) and speculation these are driven by women and wedding DJs.
  • Quote (John, 03:05): “The one that no man listens to. It's the Taylor Swift of music.”
• Actual streaming numbers:
  • “Hey, Soul Sister” – over 1.7 billion listens
  • “Drops of Jupiter” – over a billion
  • “Drive By” – 857 million (05:10, 05:25)
  • Quote (John, 05:17): "I don't understand this at all."

2. Music Stats and Industry Oddities

• Recounting bands whose sophomore albums sold more than debuts; mention of Def Leppard as an unlikely member (06:26).

3. Brain-Chip “Severance” Technology Thought Experiment

• With inspiration from the “Severance” TV show, the group wonders if they'd erase workday memories if technology allowed it.
  • 10% of Americans said they'd do it, 4% would “definitely” (06:50–07:03).
• John jokes that aging naturally erases work memories anyway (07:13).
  • Quote (John, 07:13): "You just forget it on naturally. Just everybody ends up getting old enough to where you forget your workday no matter what."

4. Hot Pot Restaurant Pee Incident

• Chinese teens film themselves urinating in their personal restaurant hot pot; confusion over whether it affected others.
  • Company only discovered it four days later; 4,000 customers got refunds (08:12–09:54).
• Debate about whether washing the pot is sufficient, and detour into Mongolian BBQ food hacks (11:01).
  • Quote (John, 11:13): “Brady gives his bowl to the cook and his hand drops like he handed him a bowling ball.”

5. Karaoke Disasters: Gunfire Over Cranberries

• Florida man arrested after pulling a gun in a bar because the karaoke machine was broken and he couldn't sing “Linger” by The Cranberries.
  • Quote (Brady, 14:58): "He was upset at the OverTime Sports Bar 2:30 am because the karaoke machine wasn't working."
• The team riffs at length on how absurd (and relatable) this is, even performing bits of the song (17:01–21:05).
  • Memorable moment: The group sing-alongs to “Linger," weaving in mock threats and fake bar patter.

6. Weird Crime Stories

• Another Florida story: Man punches a woman while living out of a car; odd twist that he thought they were dating, but she didn’t (21:41–22:17).
• The old “guess the crime” routine around race and expectation, with humor and running gags (22:25–23:32).

7. American Cheese’s Identity Crisis

• Sargento launches a new “real” American cheese that qualifies as actual cheese (not just “cheese food”).
  • Heated debate on what counts as real cheese, melting characteristics, and grilled cheese best practices.
  • Quote (Brady, 24:03): "Sargento just released a new type of American cheese that actually qualifies as cheese."
• John lampoons the notion that the world needs a new processed cheese now (24:46–25:42).
  • Quote (John, 26:17): “I just love that there's finally, like, an exhale from fat world. Oh, finally. No more of those awkward, strange, inconvenient grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve been struggling with my whole life.”

8. Historical Digression: Wagons West, Gender, and Murder

• The group riffs on wagon train journeys, hypothesizing tongue-in-cheek that men arranged for Indian attacks to rid themselves of family on tough journeys (29:01–31:41).
  • Memorable Exchange: Joking about manifest destiny and the “OK” hand signal’s origins.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Train’s Popularity

  • “Say that again.” (John, 02:35)
  • “Train has more monthly listeners…” (Brady, 02:37)
  • “It’s the Taylor Swift of music.” (John, 03:05)

• Spotify Stats

  • “This one’s got 290 million… that one’s got a billion.” (A, 05:04)
  • “Hey, Soul Sister… over a 1.7 billion listens?” (John, 05:12)

• Work-Erasing Brain Chips

  • “You just forget it on naturally…” (John, 07:13)

• Hot Pot Incident

  • “A couple of 17-year-old teens posted a little video of them peeing in their hot pot.” (Brady, 08:12)
  • “They pissed on their own food? So who cares?” (John, 09:25)

• Mongolian BBQ Bowl Trick

  • “He just starts taking food and smashing it into the bottom of the bowl and making it like paper thin…” (John, 10:54)
  • “Brady gives his bowl to the cook and his hand drops like he handed him a bowling ball.” (John, 11:13)

• Karaoke Gun Incident

  • “[He] pulled a gun out of his waistband, pointed at the other man, shouted, ‘I don’t effing care.’” (Brady, 17:20)
  • Singalong: The crew belts out “Linger” interwoven with fake threats and comedic asides (17:01–21:05).

• Cheese Debate

  • “Sargento just released a new type of American cheese that is actually—it qualifies as cheese.” (Brady, 24:03)
  • “It’s fake cheese that tastes real.” (John, 24:34)

• Wagons West Sidetrack

  • “No way that it was all disease, famine, and Indians that were killing all those ladies as they tried to, you know, manifest destiny.” (John, 30:40)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Train surpasses legendary bands on Spotify: 02:21–05:31
• Def Leppard and album stats: 06:26
• ‘Severance’ brain-chip poll: 06:35–07:26
• Chinese hot pot incident: 07:52–09:54
• Mongolian BBQ bowl hack: 10:48–12:03
• Karaoke gun incident ("Linger" debacle): 14:58–21:05
• Odd crimes—living-in-car conflict: 21:41–23:32
• Sargento “real” American cheese & grilled cheese debate: 24:03–27:08
• Wagon train historical riff: 29:01–31:41

Overall Tone & Style

The tone is irreverent, playful, and rapid-fire with plenty of group laughter, silly voices, and tangents. The chemistry between hosts is the star, driven by fast ad-libs and the kind of inside jokes only years of radio can foster. Pop culture, true crime, and snack food all get the full HMS treatment.

For listeners:
This episode is a wild ride through pop stats, culinary quirks, and true crime oddities. If you like your news with a heavy side of sarcasm and sideshow-style tangents, this is classic Holmberg’s Morning Sickness.