Holmberg's Morning Sickness – November 7, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Holmberg’s Morning Sickness kicks off with its trademark blend of irreverent humor and honest, sometimes heartfelt, banter. John Holmberg, joined by regulars Brady Bogen, Brett Vesely, and Dick Toledo, responds to a moving listener email about early onset Alzheimer's, then detours through tales of awkward social encounters at a Suns game, ongoing show in-jokes, and wild celebrity news about Antonio Brown. The tone is as always: brash, self-deprecating, and unscripted.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Vince and the Weight of Meaning ([01:22]–[13:44])

• Vince's Email:
  John reads an impactful email from Vince, a 44-year-old listener recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Vince shares how the show was the first thing to make him laugh after his devastating diagnosis, referencing specific bits (“Irish guy calling the cops about the lion dog”).

• John's Reaction:

  • Overwhelmed by the emotional weight, John jokes uneasily about the pressure now placed on the show's humor:

    "I'm glad you're gonna forget that I say this, but come on, man. I show up here every day and just goof around. ... I cannot take that kind of life." – John Holmberg ([03:34])

  • He turns the situation into dark humor, riffing about responsibilities and joking about dementia care, but beneath it, the group shows real empathy.

• Show’s Philosophy:

  • The crew is both flattered and disquieted by the knowledge their comedy affects listeners on a profound level.

    "I like nihilism with my funny. ... Everything I say is sort of stupid and meant for, you know, novelty purposes only." – John Holmberg ([07:10])

  • Brady points out the mind-bending cruelty of early diagnoses (“It’s a mind screw.” [05:47]), while John wrestles with how flippant comedy sometimes intersects with real life.

• Past Listener Stories:
  The hosts recount other heavy listener stories (ALS Matt, Gary), with the show becoming an unlikely emotional outlet ("Gary’s wife's a whore" running joke resurfaces), ultimately wrestling with their impact and responsibility (and discomfort) in being a touchpoint for suffering listeners.

Notable Quote:
"I need to think of them all as just kind of gray, nameless faces going from A to B in their little tin boxes ... This ant farm doesn’t need to have feelings and bring them back to me." – John Holmberg ([12:33])

2. Comic Relief, Show In-Jokes, and Lightening the Mood ([13:44]–[16:54])

• ALS Walk and Dark Humor:
  • The show receives a shoutout for the ALS walk and responds with their characteristic gallows humor, comparing the event to wrangling livestock.
  • John insists: “I don’t like diseases. I don’t like talking about diseases. ... And someday I will, too. Maybe I do now, and I don’t even know it..." ([15:40])

3. Awkward Encounters at the Rah Rah Room and Suns Game ([16:54]–[25:36])

• Name Changes and Friend Transitions:

  • John’s friend Dorsey, now going by “Dean" because of continuous telemarketing gender confusion, prompts jokes about identity and “transitioning” to a new male name, with the hosts playing on social awkwardness and generational confusion.

• Waitress Melancholy:

  • The group discusses a notably sad waitress who wants to vent on the show, riffing on the odd tension when service staff break the role of cheerful server.

• The Doug Hopkins 'Son' Mix Up:

  • John shares a highlight: TV's Doug Hopkins, his friend and commercial co-star, was asked if John was his son. The two are only a year apart, leading to a long, playful riff on age, mistaken relationships, and mutual ribbing.

    • “Some guy thought you were my son in those commercials. … That’s because I look good. You look horrible.” – John Holmberg ([18:56])

• Odd Suns Game Guest:

  • The crew expresses concern over a friend bringing his best friend’s daughter’s ex-boyfriend to the game—cringing at the optics and spinning it into a bit about “adopting” young male companions for golf connections.

    • “If I told you, hey, I’m going with my best friend’s daughter’s ex-boyfriend, you’d start doing the math in your head and going, why is he even friends with that kid?” – John Holmberg ([23:01])

4. Escaping Heavy Topics: Hand Modeling and the Need for Nonsense ([25:36]–[33:43])

• Refusing Emotional Responsibility:

  • John circles back to Vince’s email, openly grappling with being more empathetic than he wants, hating the emotional responsibility of knowing listeners’ pain.

    • “This just proves something that I hate about myself. I am an emotional, empathetic human being. Ew. I don’t want to be that. … I have feelings.” – John Holmberg ([26:07])

• Hand Modeling Riff:

  • Before Vince’s email, John was searching “how to become a hand model.” The hosts rate their own hands, joke about jewelry endorsements, and pontificate about lucrative hand-modeling careers.

    • “My left hand is an eight.” – John Holmberg ([31:28])

5. News and Celebrity Absurdity: Antonio Brown’s Arrest ([33:43]–[41:32])

• Antonio Brown Arrest Discussion:
  • The team covers Antonio Brown’s attempted murder arrest in Dubai—predicting it, comparing it to “bingo cards” of inevitable disasters, and likening it to Ralphie May’s death, which they saw coming.
  • The conversation swings between morbid humor about news predictability and bewilderment at celebrity self-destruction:

    • “Antonio Brown arrested on murder charges ... There wasn’t an ounce of ‘Oh my God.’ ... We all knew we’d get [that call]. We just didn’t know when.” – John Holmberg ([35:52])

  • Side tangents: OJ Simpson, Bill Cosby, and knowing when certain tragedies are inevitable.

6. Wake-Up Song & Closing Banter ([41:32]–[41:49])

• The show invites listeners to pick a “wake up song” to shake off the heavy talk, suggesting tracks like “Everclear, Father of Mine” and “Cats in the Cradle” as nods to their own running jokes about absent or unlikely fathers ("Doug ‘Pop Pop’ Hopkins").
• John closes with:

  “Let’s get a wake up song. Maybe for Vince, maybe for Doug Hopkins, my pop pop. … A good one. We’ll scream it together.” ([41:32])

Memorable Quotes

• John, on comedic responsibility:
  “Now I’m going to want to go know you and hang out and talk to you and maybe end up… cleaning your body and all. … Vince, it’s too much pressure on me for this. … I can’t take that kind of life.” ([03:34])

• Brady, on coping with disease:
  “It’s a mind screw.” ([05:47])

• John, on audience anonymity:
  “I need to think of them all as just kind of gray, nameless faces... This ant farm doesn’t need to have feelings and bring them back to me.” ([12:33])

• John, on being mistaken for Doug Hopkins’ son:
  “Some guy thought you were my son in those commercials. ... That’s because I look good. You look horrible.” ([18:56])

• John, resisting emotional closeness:
  “This just proves something that I hate about myself. I am an emotional, empathetic human being. Ew. I don’t want to be that.” ([26:07])

• John, on hand modeling:
  “My left hand is an eight ... My right hand is a little less... but they’re also classy.” ([31:28])

• John, on anticipating Antonio Brown’s trouble:
  “Antonio Brown arrested on murder charges ... There wasn’t an ounce of ‘oh my God’... We all knew we’d get [that call]. We just didn’t know when.” ([35:52])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Listener Vince's Alzheimer's Email & Show Responsibility:
  [01:22]–[13:44]

• ALS & Listener History, Gallows Humor:
  [13:44]–[16:54]

• Rah Rah Room, Commercial Son Mix-up:
  [16:54]–[25:36]

• John's Hand Modeling Aspirations:
  [25:36]–[33:43]

• Antonio Brown Arrest, Celebrity Disaster Talk:
  [33:43]–[41:32]

• Wake-up Song, Closing Segment:
  [41:32]–[41:49]

Tone & Language

The episode is a whirlwind of dark humor, personal reflection, local anecdotes, and brash honesty. The Holmes Sickness crew doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths, but always uses humor as both shield and sword—reflecting, deflecting, and processing even the heaviest of news through their unique comedic lens.

For New Listeners

Even if you’ve never tuned in before, this episode gives you a clear window into what makes HMS stand out: smart, raw sarcasm, an ability to touch (and avoid) emotion at the same time, and an always-unfiltered look at the wild stories of everyday life, Arizona style.