Holmberg’s Morning Sickness – Episode Summary
Episode Title: 09-23-25 - BR - TUE - What Pocket Do Most Keep Their Cell Phone - How Many Smoke Alarms Should Be In Your Home
Air Date: September 23, 2025
Hosts: John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, Dick Toledo
Episode Overview
This episode of Holmberg’s Morning Sickness is trademark irreverence: rapid-fire banter, edgy humor, and a blend of pop culture, quirky polls, weird news, and listener emails. John Holmberg and his co-hosts riff on celebrity activism, cancel culture, silly social trends, outlandish radio videos, and everyday oddities like where people store their phones and how many smoke alarms you need at home. The show maintains a witty, sarcastic, and sometimes profane tone, peppered with real Arizona flavor.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Celebrity Petitions & Cancel Culture
[01:01–04:26]
- Holmberg launches into a satirical bit about a petition signed by 400+ celebrities (including Tom Hanks), poking fun at celebrity influence:
“We should do a cartoon like the old Hall of Justice. It’s time to call the celebrities and just have them flying around, filling out forms and paperwork and marching. Meanwhile, at the hall of Celebrity, Tom Hanks yells at Oprah, ‘I want out of here right now!’” (John Holmberg, 01:30)
- Discussion segues into Jimmy Kimmel facing backlash for old blackface skits versus “today’s cancel culture.” Holmberg uses an NFL analogy:
“You can't go back with today's rules and change yesterday's rules. ...If you apply today’s rules to [Kimmel in the 90s], it’s not [the same]. That’s why I hate that Cancel culture.” (John Holmberg, 03:32)
- Holmberg’s stance: defending Kimmel not as a fan, but to push back against “changing the rules after the fact.”
2. Tylenol, Pregnancy Pain, and Laughs at Listener Emails
[04:59–06:28]
- The crew lampoons a listener’s email about pregnancy:
“All these bitches out here complaining about a little discomfort during pregnancy. My girl didn’t need one single Tylenol pill...That baby slid right out. Easy.” (Listener email read by Holmberg, 05:21)
- They joke about notable reactions to Tylenol and fentanyl, with running gags about pronunciation and outlandish listener advice.
3. Fun Facts (Brady Report)
[07:15–09:15]
- Orange chicken isn’t Chinese—it’s Panda Express-invented (1987).
- Marilyn Monroe’s rumored IQ (163) versus Einstein’s (160, both undocumented).
- The team riffs sarcastically on these facts, poking at definitions of “weird” and Chinese food authenticity.
4. Poll: Where Do You Keep Your Phone?
[09:15–09:52]
- A poll finds 57% keep their phone in the right pocket, 19% left, 7% back pocket, 5% underwear, 12% in a bag.
- Hosts laugh off the poll’s usefulness and joke about respondents “goofing around.”
5. Heavy Soda – Social Media Trend
[09:52–10:53]
- A new trend: “heavy soda” (high syrup ratio), originally popular in Missouri, trending now on social media and available at places like QT.
- Crew shares personal soda machine tricks for more syrup; humor about “exciting lives” and soda-nerd culture.
6. Weird News
[11:08–13:01]
- UK parents want to name their baby "Brisket"—discussions on naming laws, meat fandom, and outlandish baby names.
- The show pivots to a dark take on a musician (D4VD) involved in a crime, with typical brutal honesty:
“Good thing he didn’t get famous before he hacked someone up.” (Holmberg, 12:55)
7. How Many Smoke Alarms Should You Have?
[12:55–14:47]
- NFPA recommends one inside each bedroom, outside sleeping areas, and on every level—typically 5–10 per home.
- Co-hosts discuss personal setups, the nightmare of interconnected alarms, and the hilarity of fire alarm “memes.”
- Fun moment:
“When you can’t figure them out and they start telling each other, ‘Oh, he knocked me down. Ring another!’ – They all go off.” (Holmberg, 14:05)
8. Oddball Arrests
[14:47–15:37]
- Florida woman arrested for “battery” with Silly String.
- The team mocks this “silly” story; crack jokes about her mugshot and possible motives.
9. Radio Videos – The Usual Onslaught
[15:52–22:33]
- A series of shocking, bizarre, or gross viral videos:
- A “dancing machine” man with unique physical features
- Public urination challenge (The “Whiz Cross the Street”)
- Train track incidents, dangerous stunts
- Fetish/bondage clips and increasingly NSFW content (“tattoo artist having sex with a client while tattooing her face”)
- Classic group reactions: disbelief, mockery, hyperbolic disgust, and attempts to one-up each other’s shock levels.
- “Holy smokes. That train one got me.” (Holmberg, 19:59)
- “This is violent and…hot. I don’t know what’s going on.” (Holmberg, 21:51)
Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp
- [01:30] (On celebrity activism):
“Meanwhile, at the hall of Celebrity, Tom Hanks yells at Oprah, ‘I want out of here right now!’ Calm down, Tom. I’m gonna eat a baby.” - [03:32] (On cancel culture):
“You can't go back with today's rules and change yesterday's rules.” - [05:21] (Listener on pregnancy):
“My girl didn’t need one single Tylenol pill her entire pregnancy. Not a peep out of her. No bitching or moaning like these women today who have to have Tylenol and epidurals. They're weak ass hoes out here. That baby slid right out.” - [14:05] (On smoke alarms):
“When you can't figure them out...they all go off. It's impossible to turn them off. I hate those things.” - [19:59] (Reacting to a viral video):
“Holy smokes. That train one got me!” - [21:51] (On a bizarre NSFW video):
“This is violent and…hot. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 01:01–04:26: Celebrities, petitions, celebrity culture, Jimmy Kimmel’s blackface, cancel culture
- 04:59–06:28: Listener email on Tylenol and pregnancy discomfort
- 07:15–09:15: Brady Report: fun facts and witty tangents
- 09:15–09:52: Poll – Where do you keep your cell phone?
- 09:52–10:53: Heavy soda trend
- 11:08–12:55: Baby names (“Brisket”), true crime musician tangent
- 12:55–14:47: Smoke alarms: best practices and personal stories
- 14:47–15:37: Silly String battery news
- 15:52–22:33: Viral videos and wild group reactions
Tone and Style
The hosts maintain their signature mix of sarcasm and outrageous, unfiltered humor. They relentlessly lampoon internet fads, pop culture figures, and themselves, all while inviting listeners to laugh at life’s absurdities. The content is peppered with raunchy banter and comically exaggerated reactions, perfectly reflecting the show’s role as morning drive-time entertainment with a naughty edge.
This episode is for listeners who enjoy edgy, quirky morning radio that doesn’t shy away from cynicism, dark humor, or the stranger side of American pop culture.
