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

Podcast: Holmberg's Morning Sickness - 98KUPD
Date: October 24, 2025
Episode: Full Show – Friday

Episode Overview

In this high-energy Friday episode, John Holmberg and his crew—Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo—bring their signature mix of irreverent humor, topical discussion, and listener interaction to Arizona’s airwaves. The morning is packed with talk of underground gambling scandals shaking the sports world (and Phoenix), wild conspiracy theories, dangers of “sex warfare” in tech, and a passion-fueled rant about horror movies—perfect for Halloween season. The team takes live Fireside Chats from listeners, drops promo codes for contests, and closes out with the infamous, unfiltered Guadalupe Squares.

Tone: Conversational, sarcastic, quick-witted, often edgy, and deeply tied to the crew’s Arizona roots.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Phoenix’s Underground Gambling Scandal

Timestamps: 05:45 – 15:00

• The show opens midstream on local buzz about the FBI’s crackdown on illicit sports gambling—a topic that’s rocked Arizona’s sports and restaurant scenes.
• A listener email describes Phoenix’s high-stakes, underground poker games, celebrity “fish” used to lure in big spenders, and cops to the presence of free drugs and “prostitutes (ASU’s finest)” at the events.
• Brett explains the lingo:
  • “Fish” = someone brought in to entice others into high-stakes games, often celebrities or retired athletes.
• The hosts reflect on Phoenix’s longstanding mob ties, money-laundering through unnamed pizza parlors, and NFL rookies historically warned away from “pizza boxes with no name”—seen as a sign of organized crime.
• Speculation abounds over how deep the rabbit hole goes, with suggestions that “businesses all around town” could be involved, and concern that more Arizona teams will be swept up next.
• Quote (Brett, 10:55):
  “If you are getting pizza from a place that doesn't have a name on the box, that's getting a deal… they're getting a deal. That's why they could hand you free boxes so they could launder money through your place.”

2. Politics & Revenge Conspiracies

Timestamps: 10:57 – 13:29

• They riff on Stephen A. Smith’s theory that Trump is leveraging his mob/casino connections to “get revenge” on NBA/NFL critics via government investigations.
• Point that Trump “knows who’s who” in Atlantic City, construction, and sports teams, and may have real dirt.
• Speculation on which major local and national sports franchises could be at risk.

3. Athletes, Gambling, and Naïveté

Timestamps: 13:29 – 20:30

• Discussion turns to the culture of sports, gambling, and the blurred lines around it all.
• Stories about NBA legends like Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan (and his suspicious break for baseball), and the prevalence of “appearance fees” to attract stars into shady games.
• Quote (John, 18:48):
  “His dad took some time off permanently.”
  (Referring sardonically to rumors about MJ’s dad’s murder tied to gambling debts.)

4. Listener Emails & Relationship Riffs

Timestamps: 20:30 – 23:42

• A listener thanks the show for “waking up” his girlfriend to step up her game, leading to a spirited discussion about relationship standards and “sweatpants syndrome.”
• The “Disneyland Pinocchio” joke: playful suspicion about listeners associating Holmberg with anything Italian or mob-related.

5. Conspiracy Theories & Brady as a Druglord?

Timestamps: 23:42 – 24:56

• A listener spins a wild conspiracy blaming Brady for running heroin from his friend Tong’s Vietnamese restaurant.
• The hosts riff gleefully—Brady’s too lazy to be a night criminal, but maybe he’s secretly scouting kitchens for “operations.”

6. The Dangers of 'Sex Warfare' in Tech Industry

Timestamps: 25:23 – 36:21

• John breaks news about an alleged wave of Asian and Russian “honeypots” targeting tech workers in Silicon Valley and Arizona.
• Warnings: “If she’s a 10 and you’re not, you’re being played. You’re an asset.”
• Extended comedic bit about nerds being duped by spies, with ideas on how to run “honey trap stings” using ugly decoy guys like themselves (“operation lowercase b”).
• Quote (John, 28:45):
  “If you work at the nuclear power plant and a hot woman with an accent suddenly wants to blow you, you’re an asset. That’s it.”

7. Horror Movies, Halloween, and Desensitization

Timestamps: 50:32 – 67:03

• The hosts discuss the decline of truly scary horror movies, comparing classics like The Ring, Blair Witch, and Deliverance to real-world horror stories found daily in the news and online.
• Theories: Horror movies can’t compete with the graphic, disturbing reality of contemporary news and the internet.
• Horror recommendations: mention of Tusk, Human Centipede, Saw series, Babadook, The Grudge, Silence of the Lambs, and others.
• Quote (John, 61:13):
  “If you get rid of Freddy after... that first one is, like, truly scary because it’s based on the idea that if you die in your dreams, you die. What if there’s a murderer that can get in there?”

8. Fireside Chats—Listener Interactions

Timestamps: 117:26 – 133:35

Highlights:

• Kevin Falcone: Shares a rough week—father died, lost his job, but credits HMS for laughs.
• Dave: Calls in about 'stand your ground' self-defense laws; his father prosecuted a high-profile case featured in a true-crime documentary.
• Paul: Longtime, legally blind listener shares how he “hears” the show and occasionally dreams about John.
• Mark: Advocates for Arizona Cardinals to rebrand as the "Scorpions" to better fit the desert state.

9. Entertainment & Pop Culture Drill

Timestamps: 139:31 – 147:26

• Rapid-fire entertainment news including:
  • Stranger Things finale coming to theaters.
  • Johnny Depp in a new ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ film, competing with Willem Defoe’s version.
  • Bruce Springsteen biopic debate—Holmberg calls him “the most overrated performer in rock, period.”
  • Soft Cell’s Dave Ball passes away; riffed as “pulled Soft Cell out of your ass.”

10. Guadalupe Squares (Game Show Parody)

Timestamps: 147:27 – End

• The show’s signature, raunchy, locally-themed version of Hollywood Squares.
• This week’s impersonations include:
  • Vito Corleone, Donald Trump, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Morgan, Shaq & Charles Barkley, a “Patriotic Man Whore” Brady, and Trip Reeb.
• Running gags about the gambling scandal, NBA, "man-whoring for America," and sports team names.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On sports gambling/mob ties (Brett, 10:55):
  “If you are getting pizza from a place that doesn't have a name on the box, that's getting a deal… that's why they could hand you free boxes so they could launder money through your place.”

• On tech “sex warfare” (John, 28:45):
  “If you work at the nuclear power plant and a hot woman with an accent suddenly wants to blow you, you’re an asset. That’s it.”

• On horror movies/reality (John, 63:05):
  “We can start the horror every day with a story we read or something we see on Instagram or in the news. I think we’re surrounded by so much horror movie stories that the horror movies are silly now.”

Timestamps Reference

• 05:45 – 15:00: Phoenix’s underground gambling culture
• 20:30 – 24:52: Listener emails, discord about women “letting themselves go”
• 25:23 – 36:21: Sex Warfare & spy stories
• 50:32 – 67:03: Horror movies, reality vs. fiction
• 117:26 – 133:35: Fireside Chats (Listener calls)
• 139:31 – 147:26: Entertainment/Pop culture news
• 147:27 – end: Guadalupe Squares

The Show’s Tone & Humor

• Sarcasm, self-deprecation, Arizona inside jokes
• Routine ribbing of each other and callers (e.g., grilling a stoned smoke-shop worker, lovingly mocking listeners’ jobs and habits)
• No topic too taboo, but the mood is always fun, never mean-spirited

Summary:
A quintessential "Morning Sickness" episode: the team tackles Arizona’s sports underbelly, big-tech paranoia (“sex warfare”), horror movie nostalgia, and listener stories—with plenty of lowbrow digs, camaraderie, and local flavor. Perfect for listeners seeking a dose of edgy, comedic banter and real talk about the weird, wild world of Arizona—and beyond.

For Listeners Who Missed This Week:
You’ll be fully caught up on current Arizona scandals, find new conspiracy theories to ponder, receive unsolicited advice about relationships, avoid nameless pizza boxes, and be warned: if a perfect “10” suddenly wants you for your tech skills, you’re probably a mark.

Key Advice This Week:

• “If you’re ugly and a 10’s after you, beware: you’re an asset!”
• “If there’s no name on your pizza box, you might be dining in a mob front.”
• Laugh at everything—just don’t take yourself too seriously.

FINAL REMINDER

Promo contest codewords dropped for app users:

• 6am: “tix/ticks”
• 7am: “cheddar”
• 8am: “mix”
• 9am: “stack”

Note:

Ads, intros/outros, and breaks have been skipped to focus purely on the episode’s core content.