Holmberg's Morning Sickness - 08-20-25 (Wed)

Special Guest: Frank Caliendo
Main Theme:
A raucous Arizona-flavored morning featuring comedian Frank Caliendo, riffing on everything from the quirks of the collapsing radio industry to bizarre Amazon purchases, and spiraling into wild video reactions, local news oddities, and the anatomy of modern media stupidity.

1. Opening Banter & Frank’s Local Ties

• [01:16] Frank Caliendo joins the show, introduced as a local and "officially a fella," performing at Desert Ridge Improv that weekend.
  • Holmberg: “You’re officially a local guy.”
  • Brady: “And a fella. Officially.”
• The team teases Frank, joking about supporting local comedy and imagining a sex robot raffle at his shows.

2. The State of Radio & Media Evolution

• [03:04] - [06:07]
  • Lamentation over National Radio Day and the apparent "death spiral" of the industry.
  • Brady: “Maybe the last one. As the executives… continue to chop away at the moorings…”
  • John blames radio’s decline on executives with cookie-cutter ideas:
    • [03:30] John: “Too many chefs in the kitchen giving too many bad ideas that worked in one place. It’s not one size fits all.”
  • Only three hosts ever succeeded nationally: Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Dave Ramsey.
    • Brady: “Dave Ramsey just runs an infomercial nobody listens to.”
  • The team pokes fun at media’s misunderstanding of localized success and their failure to let shows grow organically.
    • Reference to "Suits" finding new life thanks to streaming.
    • Podcasts’ global niche appeal: “People in different countries listening to Bobby Lee right now.”

Quote Highlight:

• [03:57] Brady: “The media of radio is the locality. Yes. And when you try to steal that from it...”

3. Random Facts & Astrology Riffing

• [07:20] - [09:12]
  • Frank delivers odd trivia (e.g., Taco Bell started as a hot dog stand).
  • Korean fairy tales: “In the old days when tigers used to smoke.”
  • (Astrology Debunked)
    • Study: No astrological sign correlates to marriage success.
    • Brady: “That’s right. Because it’s not real.”
    • The crew riffs on Sedona crystals and “vortex” tourism.
    • John jokes about being accused of pushing his wife off a cliff at the Sedona vortex.

4. Feature Story: Multiple Anvil Orders on Amazon

• [09:13] - [10:59]
  • Man orders and returns ten 110-lb Acme anvils from Amazon “just to make the workers miserable,” showing off his order history on TikTok.
  • Brady’s take: “For free, just to make the workers miserable.”
  • The man trolls critics by posting Obama’s address as his own.
  • Jokes that journalists asked what anvils are for: “Dropping on roadrunners.”
• Amazon Still Sells Anvils…
  • The cast is shocked that one can buy an anvil online.
  • They roast the absurdity of needing a new anvil: “Normally people who need an anvil start with the anvil.”
  • [12:08] Brady: “I think anvils come with it… look at that, different color anvils, you want to be a sassy anvil owner.”

5. Fun with (and Disgust at) Bizarre Video Clips

• [19:46] - [28:30]
  • Variety of viral and graphic videos, escalating from TikTok fails to explicit content.
    • [19:46] Frank: “First one’s a TikTok fail.” (girl twerking, phone drops)
    • [20:40] Frank: “Father get the hang.” (Dad gives loaded handgun to toddler, who shoots him)
    • [21:27] Frank: “This last one has some cussing in it.” (student fighting teacher, wild crowd)
    • Series of shocking and explicit videos, with escalating reactions from disgust to humor.
  • Frequent meta-commentary about the absurdity and normalization of viral content:
    • Brady: “You can do that at home. You get a good enough one, they’ll let you do that.”
    • John: “That thing could take a Louisville Slugger, man.”

Notable Quote:

• [23:05] John: “That is the dream of every junior high and high school resource officer: to body slam one of those pricks.”

6. Local & Offbeat News Highlights

• [13:37] - [16:13]
  • FDA warning: Don’t eat Walmart’s Great Value raw frozen shrimp due to possible radioactive contamination (cesium-137).
  • Florida mom packs a handgun in child's backpack as a custody feint:
    • Brady: “Here’s your pencils, your Trapper Keeper, and your Glock… woof. That’s brutal.”
  • Missouri: Truck with 40,000 lbs. of ribeye steaks catches fire.
    • Brady pretends he’s there as the “cleanup crew.”
  • Wild, stereotypical street scene observed from studio window:
    • Brady: “Black guy running as fast as he can, dribbling a basketball… now a Chinese guy in a rickshaw…”

7. Running Jokes, Outrageous Bits & Ending Riff

• The group frequently riffs irreverently on local Arizona culture, internet behaviors, and physical humor—especially around the anvil story, turning it into an absurd sex-toy bit and drawing wacky parallels to sports drafts.
  • [30:21] Brady (mock-draft voice): “Mel Kuiper’s horror draft 2025. This would only cost a dollar. Mel, what do you think of her work?”
  • [30:30] John (analyst voice): “Tremendous value. Low ceiling—you know, high ceiling, low metrics. Incredible. At the combine took 114 inches…”
• Explicit content disclaimer:
  • As usual, the team dances gleefully past the boundaries of taste, with explicit sexual and bodily humor, culminating in extreme video descriptions and a persistent eye for the grotesque in American culture.

Memorable Quotes

• [03:57] Brady: “The media of radio is the locality. Yes. And when you try to steal that from it…”
• [09:00] Brady: “Nobody tries to push their wife off and fails. You either do it or you don’t.”
• [12:08] Brady: “You want to be a sassy anvil owner.”
• [23:05] John: “That is the dream of every junior high and high school resource officer: to body slam one of those pricks.”

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• [01:16] — Frank Caliendo intro & Arizona comedy plug
• [03:04 - 06:07] — State of radio/media industry
• [07:20 - 09:12] — Factoids & astrology jokes
• [09:13 - 10:59] — Amazon anvil prank story
• [13:37 - 16:13] — News: radioactive shrimp, gun in backpack, ribeye fire
• [19:46 - 28:30] — Wild viral and explicit video reactions
• [30:21] — Mock horror draft riff (absurd sports-analyst style)

Summary Tone and Style

The entire episode blends quick wit, local color, dark humor, and irreverent digs at pop culture, with the guests and hosts bouncing off each other in a manner that's both engagingly abrasive and unmistakably “morning radio.” Frank Caliendo’s improvisational energy fits right in, amplifying the show's trademark chaos.

For listeners:
This is an hour of relentless banter, insider Arizona jokes, bonkers viral news, and jarring comedic visuals, with a sharp satirical edge about the decline of “old” media and the rise of absurdity in the internet era. It's not for the faint of heart, but absolutely signature Holmberg.