10-15-25 - Frank Is Joining John As Moderators For William Shatner Khan Tour Next Month Here In PHX - w/July Interview Replay

Summary

Podcast Summary: Holmberg's Morning Sickness - "Frank Is Joining John As Moderators For William Shatner Khan Tour Next Month Here In PHX - w/July Interview Replay"

Date: October 15, 2025
Hosts: John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo
Guests: William Shatner (interview replay, originally recorded July 2025)
Main Theme: Announcing John Holmberg and Frank Caliendo as moderators for the upcoming William Shatner "Wrath of Khan" event in Phoenix, and an in-depth conversation with William Shatner about his tour, experiences in space, and his perspective on Earth and aging.

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Overview

This episode celebrates John Holmberg and comedian Frank Caliendo co-hosting William Shatner’s "Wrath of Khan" tour event on November 12th in Phoenix. The show features an engaging and thoughtful replayed interview with William Shatner—originally recorded in July—where he discusses the upcoming show, his experience in space, perspectives on the environment, and his ongoing motivation to perform.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Modern Radio, Apps, and Data Tracking

• Hosts discuss the push for listeners to download radio apps, expressing skepticism about corporate motives.
• Key Insight: Traditional radio is unique in that it doesn’t track users, unlike streaming apps.
• "Radio is the only thing that doesn't follow you around all the time. And we're abandoning it as radio...But now we can't because we got that app." — John [03:15]

2. Health Chat – Vaccines & Shingles

• Listeners share advice about shingles vaccines; hosts consider their own health laziness.
• "I know this is going to end me with shingles because I keep going, 'Oh, I need to do that.' And it’s not because I’m trying to fight the good fight, I’m just too lazy." — John [05:11]

3. Announcement: William Shatner Event Moderated by Holmberg & Caliendo

• Confirmed: John Holmberg and Frank Caliendo will co-host William Shatner’s "Wrath of Khan" event at the Orpheum Theater, Phoenix, November 12.
• Frank will join with humorous reenactments of Shatner's anecdotes (e.g., meeting Stephen Hawking and Terry Bradshaw).
• Tickets available at 98kupd.com.

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William Shatner Interview Highlights

[08:42–09:02] Opening Banter & Show Name

• Shatner’s humor: Questions the podcast/show name "Morning Sickness"
  • "If I were to choose a name for a show...the last name I would think of using is Morning Sickness. What is a vomitus kind of tinge to the morning sickness?" — Shatner [08:42]

[09:17–10:15] John’s Tenure & Staging with Shatner

• Shatner jokes about John "Original Homburg" still being alive.
• Reminisces on prior event together; Shatner playfully dodges authority over event invitations.

[10:15–11:21] Squirrel and Dog Interlude

• Memorable moment: Shatner breaks from the interview to shoo away a "fearsome squirrel" with his dogs.
• "It's a squirrel. And it's a fearsome squirrel. Mac. Hey, hey, hey." — Shatner [10:15]

[11:23–13:21] The Key to Happiness: A Good Mattress

• Shatner reiterates his advice: “The key to happiness in life is a good mattress.”
• Jokes about the perils of sleeping in hotels and touring with a band.
• "Have a good mattress, and watch out for the 14 guys. That's success on the road." — Shatner [13:15]

[13:21–17:50] Shatner on His Space Flight & The Fragility of Earth

• Reflects on his emotional experience after returning from space—crying unexpectedly, later attributing it to grief for the planet.
• Discusses ecological vulnerability, environmental responsibility, and the interconnectedness of all life—particularly the parallel between humans and trees.
• "When I exited the spaceship, I found myself weeping... I realized that's why I was weeping. I was in grief for our planet." — Shatner [13:47]
• "We're more alike than unlike a tree." — Shatner [17:35]
• "Everything is interconnected in this beautiful thing we call Earth, and we take it for granted and throw a plastic bottle in the roof." — Shatner [17:41]

[17:50–19:54] Littering, Global Warming & A Call for Awareness

• Shatner is appalled by the state of litter on highways, especially in California.
• Offers a stark warning about the consequences of environmental neglect.

[19:54–21:21] Shatner's Motivation for Touring

• On why he still tours: validation as an entertainer, a need to feel alive, keep working, fear of irrelevance and mortality.
• "So the more I can do what I do, the more alive I feel." — Shatner [21:21]

[21:21–22:08] Closing & Thanks

• John thanks Shatner for his legacy; Shatner promises to try for John’s co-moderator spot, says the film will be in a restored state.

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Notable Quotes

• On cynicism and hope for the future:
  "There are a large number of people striving to mitigate those effects, but we're being overwhelmed by people who don't believe." — Shatner [15:29]

• On the beauty of Earth:
  "In that moment, when I saw this little blue dot in the middle of this blackness, I thought, the beauty of life, the stuff that we look at every day, we take for granted." — Shatner [15:15]

• On entertainment as validation:
  "It validates me...the more I can do what I do, the more alive I feel." — Shatner [20:43, 21:21]

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:00 – 03:15: App promo, listeners’ questions, and radio vs. app tracking discussion.
• 03:10 – 07:44: Health (shingles, vaccines), prepping for William Shatner event, event announcement.
• 07:44 – 08:42: Context for interview, setting up Shatner replay.
• 08:42 – 22:08: William Shatner Interview — humor, advice, environmental activism, space reflections, philosophy on aging, and tour plans.

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Tone and Style

The episode blends irreverent morning show banter with deep, thoughtful moments—especially in Shatner’s interview, which oscillates between humor, introspection, and impassioned calls for environmental consciousness. The hosts maintain their playful edge while giving space for serious topics.

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Conclusion

This episode serves as a dual celebration: a milestone in Holmberg’s career (hosting again with Shatner) and the wisdom of a legend. Shatner’s personal reflections and advocacy add gravitas, well-balanced by light comedic moments. Listeners are left entertained, informed, and perhaps newly inspired to care more for their world—and their mattresses.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to the HMS Podcast, brought to you by MMP guns.com your most trusted online marketplace for firearms, ammunition and accessories. Flying right along through a Wednesday, and everything's going swimmingly. We have our word right now. You got another few minutes to get the 8 o' clock word in the promo code. If you haven't heard it yet, the word is tune. You go to the app, you click on that thing, you hit the take it in the app button and you find your eight o' clock square and put the promo code in there. T U N E and a thousand bucks could be yours. That's how this works. We are certainly attempting to buy your affection, make you listen longer. Download our app. It's all great for us if you guys play along. And then in the end it'll be great for one of you. You can win prizes, though. If you're on the app and you listen on the app, you get prizes just randomly handed to you. Kind of. Same way with radio when we phones work, but this guy says, I'm driving to work and you guys are on the radio, not the app. I open the app to enter the word when you provide it, but I'm not keeping it open or listening through it. Does this even count for you guys? I'm trying to help. I mean, earbuds apparently don't count, but I'm wondering how many do the same as what I'm doing. Yeah, if you're listening on the radio, everything's kosher. That's great. If you're listening on the app, that's great too. But you can't listen to the app in your earbuds because nothing that just did disappears into the vapor. We need you guys to listen on speakers. That's the cool part. If you can just turn it off a little bit. I know, turn it up. I can't wait till David Lee gets, like, too old to do the job and nobody will tell him so. Yeah. Thank you, Andrew, for participating and asking those important questions of how do you listen to the radio in the modern times. Because even our executives have no idea. This one says, I'll download the app because you ask so very nicely. But why do the Bobs want us downloading the app? Seems every damn company wants you to get their app and I think it's to collect data and sell extra app ads. Exactly, Adam, that is absolutely. Think about it. Radio as it lives in its beauty as a over the air transmission. We can't track you. It's the only thing left that can't track you anymore. Like it doesn't follow you around. It doesn't. It doesn't algorithm you. It doesn't. It doesn't. So then they want us to do that. Well, you're selling it. I'm telling you, boy, sign me up. Look, the radio is awesome. Yeah, the app is just simply to bother you with all sorts of stuff forever and also sell you things. That's the world we live in. Everything you do isn't for you. It's for the company to find you again. I bought pair of jeans. Look, I'm wearing the hat today. I'm a shill. Mugsy jeans, I love them. I bought a pair of these jeans, they sent me a hat. And now I get texts every once in a while going, how the jeans working out? Like, they're great. Here's some more. Like, yeah, so I bought more. It works.

[B]

How about what we found out? I didn't know this about even xm.

[A]

Oh yeah, XM can track you. You're tracked. Well, yeah, cuz you're triangulated to satellites. Radio is the only thing that doesn't follow you around all the time. And we're abandoning it as radio. So one thing we should be embracing, saying constantly, hey, we're not chasing you all over the place. We're not gonna bug you later. We're free. And yet the Bobs have screwed that up and made it so it's like, how do we get them to. How do we get them to listen? I want to follow them around. They're all perverts. Every one of our. They're all perverts. They just want to follow you around and get in your pants, get in your business, sell you stuff. They're weirdos. These radio executives are nuts. If anything, we should be a bunch of like, minimalists who embrace the idea that over the airwaves is no government interference. They can't steal your passwords. No, no. But now we can't because we got that app. Anyway. Download that immediately, please. This guy says you talked about bruises on a bike ride this morning. That ain't nothing compared to what I just dealt with. I'm recovering from shingles. What I thought was a bug bite last Sunday put me through the worst pain I've ever felt in all my life. I'm 62 years old. If you're over 50, get that shingle shot or suffer these consequences. I have. They sent me pictures of the progression of it. I don't know how anti vaxx you'd have to be until you cease My aunt had shingles really bad and it looked like somebody just stripped her skin off down the center of her. It was horrifying. My dad too, he's still scarred from it. This was 30 years ago. Oh, yeah. Just brutal. And yeah, I, I'm not an anti vax guy. I don't care. Like, again, I can't complain about what I put in my body because the things I put in my body are horrific. Like, I, I never. Whatever you're doing, it's blocking shingles.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. I don't know what it is, but the things I stuff in my body are gross. No, I'm gonna blame Brett for that. Didn't mean it that away. But the ingredients and stuff. So I can't sit and claim that I'm, you know, I would never put that in my body. And maybe they're trying to track it too. That's the other thing. Nanobots. I don't know what's going on. I'm way too dumb and way too behind it to try to ever figure out what fixes what. But I do know this. I don't want that shingles. So every time I go to like a Walgreens and I see that little sandwich board shingle shots inside, I think about it. That's that look. I'm thinking about it for a year now to get them. I know. And I never do it. And I know. You know what? I know this is going to end me with shingles because I keep going, oh, I need to do that. And it's not because I'm trying to fight the good fight, not I'm just too lazy. I got to go get that shot. In fact, I might do it today. Oh, yuck. Anyway, also this is officially confirmed now, and I believe the date. I have to check again, make sure you've heard the commercials for it. Yeah. On November 12th, William Shatner's coming back to town. We're gonna screen the Wrath of Khan. Now. Seven years ago, I was asked to moderate this and host and be on stage with the great William Shatner. It was an awesome night for me. I loved every second of being in his presence and feeling like the energy of William Shatner. And sitting across from him, just the two of us on stage, was. It was weird, surreal. They called me back, they asked, do you want to do this again? And I said, of course. And I said I had an idea because that night I was with William Shatner seven years ago, Caliendo, Frank Caliendo came with me and we hung out with William Shatner's dressing room for about an hour before the show. Actually, I was prepping some stuff for the. For the stage thing, just getting questions ready and all the stuff. And Shatner and Frank were just chatting about things, and I was kind of in and out of the conversation, but it was great. And I said, I don't know if he remembers this, and he didn't, but Frank Calendo would also like to be part of this. He's going to co host the thing with me and we have a couple of, like, ideas, hopefully. And Shatner's in on it. They called him and they said, the guy who did it last time is going to do it again. He wants to bring comedian Frank Caliendo on there, too. And he goes, I very much want to join that. I think that'll be fun.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

He said, so he's gonna be up there, Frank's gonna be there and what the plan is, because he's got a couple stories about, like, Terry Bradshaw and the great. The new superstar of the last two weeks, Stephen Hawking. He hung out with Hawking. So then Frank and I were just gonna reenact his stories real quick after it's like Hawking and Shatner, or then I'd be Shatner and he'd be Terry Bradshaw and just kind of add a little weird element to this already. Great show. Tickets are available. You can check it out 98kupd.com or just Google search William Shatner in Phoenix. It's over at the orpheum Theater. It's November 12th. And just as a little teaser for that Toledo. Nice job. We interviewed William Shatner back in July about this, and we didn't air it because it was too far away. But then we were like, we'll get it closer. This is before we knew that I was going to host it. This is the great William Shatner chatting with us about his big show coming up November 12th. We're very excited for this. It's awesome. Here's William Shatner, Everybody. All right, Mr. Shatner, are you there?

[B]

I am here. And I. If I were to choose a name for a show. Yeah, the last name I would think of using is Morning sickness. What is a vomitus kind of tinge to the morning sickness? Yes, serious.

[A]

It's a very. It's a. First off, it's 24 years old, this show, so it worked despite its ridiculous name. And, yeah, it's a very, you know, it's something men don't talk about enough. So we focus heavily on women's four years Old. What's that?

[B]

Is it still Homburg?

[A]

That's me. Yeah.

[B]

So are you a relative or did you put your name.

[A]

The original Homburg is me. He hasn't passed away quite yet. I'm getting up there, though. I'm aging.

[B]

You've had the show 24 years.

[A]

Yes. How about that?

[B]

That's wild.

[A]

That's not bad. And you and I, we have. Last time you brought Ratha Khan here to town, I was the guy with you on stage. I helped. I helped out here in Phoenix and did.

[B]

No kidding. That handsome man.

[A]

That handsome bastard was me.

[B]

Yeah. I'm so pleased to come back. Are you going to join me?

[A]

I would love to. Am I invited to join you again?

[B]

You mean on stage? I don't know. Somebody else books it.

[A]

Yeah. All right. Well, if they book it, I'd be happy to do it. If not, I'll be happy to be in the crowd for it as well. Mr. Shatner, I believe someone's breaking into your home right now. Do you need to take a break?

[B]

Yeah. It's a squirrel. And it's a fearsome squirrel. Mac. Hey, hey, hey.

[A]

There you go. Well done. Listen to that.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

That's dog training. I haven't seen the likes of since Boys of Brazil. That was impressive. Well done.

[B]

That's right. Well, the same breed.

[A]

Cut.

[B]

Pierce, they're Dobermans.

[A]

You got them under control? I like it.

[B]

And they have. Yeah. No, I mean, the squirrels are just. You never know what a squirrel's gonna do.

[A]

They'll get you.

[B]

Now, a squirrel could bite.

[A]

They could. They can hurt you. Can you stay inside? Let the dogs handle this? That's the thing. Last time you were here, we did the squirrel, we did the Raspicon. Homburg's morning sickness. You gave me advice last time we were here that said, the key to happiness in life is a good mattress. Do you still believe that to be true?

[B]

Yes, it's absolutely true. Especially because you're hanging in there 24 years behind a microphone. You never leave home. You got the same. The show's over. You walk on my mom there. Okay. What do you want for dinner? Well, I don't care. And you get the same thing for dinner.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In my case, I. I never know where I'm going to be. Like, I'm going to be in your city.

[A]

Phoenix.

[B]

On Phoenix and Arizona. Right.

[A]

That's where we are still.

[B]

And what date am I on?

[A]

November 13th at the Orpheum Theater.

[B]

Okay. So, no, November 13th will be another voyage of unknown. I Don't know what mattress I'm gonna have. I don't know what pillow. It's usually bad. And the more expensive the hotel, the less likely you're gonna sleep. I mean, it's torture. Being on the road is a real torture for. Everybody goes on the road unless they're in their own bus. And I've never been. I never slept in a bus. But can you imagine with 14 guys and some girl who's being passed around on the bus? And you don't want to do any of that. You want to just get a nice hotel room with a good mattress and that's impossible to find.

[A]

That's right. And you don't need those other 14 guys, just the girl. Right.

[B]

And you don't need the girl.

[A]

Yeah, well, you could. I mean, you're going to sleep a little better if she does her job right? But still, it's impressive so that we.

[B]

Don'T even talk about that. We don't even. That's not a part of the picture. The girl doesn't enter into it at all. It's the 14 guys you got to worry about.

[A]

That's more sound advice. You're sage. You're. You're. You're an oracle of information.

[B]

Have a good mattress and watch out for the 14 guys. That's success on the road.

[A]

That's there. That's going to get you through most days. Let me ask you this. You've been to space since I've last spoken with you.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Unbelievable.

[B]

No mattress there. There was no mattress there either.

[A]

Did it. Was it. Did it live up to expectations? I've seen your interviews and where you were. We were. You felt like it was the greatest thing ever. But I mean, what if. As time has passed, what do you. What do you think about when you think of that trip?

[B]

Well, that's an interesting question, because when I exited the spaceship, I found myself weeping.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Crying uncontrollably. Yeah. And I wondered why. And I went off into a corner. Everybody else tossing champagne around, and I went into a corner. What is the matter with you? There's all these cameras, and I'm weeping uncontrollably. And I realized that because I've been, I guess, put it simply, an ecologist, but followed the. The ark of destruction that our world is being subjected to, that I fought. I have tried my best to take on causes. And I'm. I'm aware. I'm very. I'm hyper aware of global warming. And I was struck by how vulnerable our planet is, how fragile everything Is, you know, I'm a pilot. I know that above 12,500ft you need oxygen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So two miles above the surface of the planet, you can't live. You got a handful of dirt that is supplying the food. It's like, what, six inches soil around. We're so vulnerable. We're so tragically vulnerable that the fact that we don't take care of our planet, this beautiful interconnected planet, was. Is such a tragedy that I saw it more fully.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

On that trip. And that's. I realized that's why I was weeping. I was in grief for our planet.

[A]

Really. Did it make you more hopeful or more cynical?

[B]

Well, I'm. You know, I talk to people about the future, and so many. So many very bright people and companies are striving to do their best to take the plastic out of the air, the ocean and the. And the ground and the carbon dioxide and all the ills that we're promoting. There are a large number of people striving to mitigate those effects, but we're being overwhelmed by people who don't believe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, it's like, I don't believe that. I need a breath to. To live. That global warming exists. I mean, here we're seeing a result, a result that can't be turned around with these terrible rains that are happening in the Southwest. These terrible rains are part of global warming, part of the fact that the air heats up, the molecules get more separated, they can contain more water, and the rains become more profound. And that's what's happening. And in that moment, when I saw this little blue dot in the middle of this blackness, I thought, the beauty of life, the stuff that we look at every day, we take for granted. Like, while I'm talking to you, I'm looking out at trees. Do you know that trees communicate with each other? The trees not only communicate with pheromones, but communicate by electrochemical signals sent along fungi, sent along the mycelium of fungi. Our brains work on electrochemical signals sent along a nerve, much like a fungi.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And the relationship of trees and us is so profound.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We're more alike than unlike a tree.

[A]

Yeah. It's all interconnected. It's crazy.

[B]

Everything is interconnected in this beautiful thing we call Earth. And we take it for granted and throw a plastic bottle in the roof.

[A]

And just chuck it on the side of the road. Do you, as that kind of person who is connected that way ever? Because this just hit me a couple of weeks ago. I watched you with Neil DeGrasse Tyson and I was watching a bunch of his stuff, and he broke out the actual.

[B]

Wasn't that something?

[A]

Amazing. But then he broke out. The speeds were constantly going. We're at a million point three miles an hour around the galaxy, 87,000 miles around the sun, and a thousand miles an hour around a day. And it's just this craziness that has to keep happening for this to keep working. And you're right. And then we go about with the flippant nonsense of chucking bottles out our windows and not caring about what it is, because in the end, it's just this tiny little thing we got to protect.

[B]

I look on with horror at the. I'm in California, at the California highways. I mean, it's like third world country. Nobody thinks about putting the garbage in a bag, for crying out loud. They throw it out the window and it's literally the highways. It's, it's, it's. It's a blasphemy for me to see the garbage on the sides of roads and things that people don't care about, don't think about.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, not enough funds in the government send out cleaning trucks all the time. It's a mess. Yeah. And we, we got to do something about it. Otherwise it'll all blow up. Mine will have.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I'm not having any children. I think you gave me that advice a long time ago as well. And I respect that, too. Thank you. Yeah. Good squirrels are just as good squirrels. Let's talk about you coming to town. You're going to be here November 13th doing Rathicon. Now, I did this last time with you, and I'm telling you, it was one of the most fun things I've been a part of in doing this show for 24 years. You were incredibly entertaining. You were gracious, amazing person to work with up on stage, and it was all yours. I had nothing to do with it. You made me feel like I had something to do with it. So first off, thanks. Second, why are you still doing this? You could stop doing this at any given time. You keep wanting to go on the road and be part of this, and we're grateful for it. But why do you keep.

[B]

You know what it does? It validates me. I'm an entertainer, and so I'm Got a hit show on called the Unexplained. Maybe another one coming on soon. I appear and I. I did an appearance with Neil DeGrasse Tyson for on Stage. I've got stage things going. I go to conventions with some frequency and talk like you and I are talking. I'm a busy actor at my age, and working like this and seeing people and making money and all is part of my validation as an entertainer.

[A]

So it's actually an insecurity that you must feed.

[B]

Well, you know, insecurity is you tremble at the, at the tsunami of age related things and approaching death. And I mean, there's all kinds of complications, if you're aware. If you think about it, what's it going to be like when I die? And I don't want to die and leave this wonderful earth and miss talking to people like you. And it's complicated. And so the more I can do what I do, the more alive I feel.

[A]

Well, that's awesome. Well, stay that way. Keep doing all that stuff and don't stop. I hate that they're wrapping us up. That makes me angry. I want to talk to you for hours on end because you were the most interesting person going right now. A guy who's been to space, both fake and real, and done amazing things on TV and movies and everything else, and evidently you're not done yet. And for that we thank you. November 13th, you're going to be here in Phoenix, Orpheum Theater, wrath of Khan 2. And maybe, just maybe, you'll put in a good word for me and I can help again.

[B]

Indeed I will. And then the film will play. Excuse me. The film will play in a refurbished state and then I'll come on stage afterwards and try to amaze in the museum.

[A]

And I. And I've seen it before. You will do it, William Shatner. Thank you so much. And they hung up. I was trying to cut him. That's not me. He was awesome. It's out of control now.