Podcast Summary: Holmberg's Morning Sickness – November 19, 2025

Episode Overview

On this especially rainy Arizona morning, John Holmberg and the Morning Sickness crew – Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo – battle sleepiness, dish on local news coverage, debate the “Epstein files” release, muse about odd news stories, and roast local institutions like Maryvale's Chamber of Commerce with their signature irreverent and quick-witted banter. The tone ranges from sleepy and sardonic to raucous and absurd, all steeped in observational humor about the day’s events and Phoenix life.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Weather, Sleepiness, and "Grilled Cheese Days"

• John opens by admitting he’s “faking” being awake after a perfect rainy night, declaring it a “grilled cheese day” (00:44)—the sort of cozy, lazy days when productivity feels optional.
• “Whatever you're doing, don't be so self important to think that it can't wait a day. I highly recommend you turn this show off right now and go right back to sleep.” (01:30, John)
• The crew fantasizes about instituting “nap time” radio and encourages listeners (and their boss, Trip) to take the day off, riffing on modern “wellness days”.

2. Local News in the Rain: The Reporter Splash Game

• Hysterical roasting of how Phoenix news channels cover rain—sending reporters to stand in puddles, warning of “flooding” where it’s just a slow storm drain.
• Idea: viewers purposely aim to splash rain reporters with trucks/jeeps for ratings gold. “$5000 to anybody who gets the big drench on one of these guys and wrecks some of our cars built in the community.” (06:12, John)
• “They’re the reason people will hydroplane and kill other people is because he set up shop in the circle of doom.” (05:38, John)
• Memories of the past: John’s old radio antics launching water balloons at lying TV news crews who pretended to be in field locations, with stories of local on-air feuds.

3. Media Fabrications and Accountability

• Longtime Phoenix newsies outed for pretending to be out “on scene” when they were on rooftops, including now-politician Mary Kim Titlow and radio correspondent Jim Cross.
• “I'm proving you guys are fake journalists. Come on, man.” (12:10, John)
• Holmberg’s shenanigans supposedly put a stop to this, exposing how easy it was to see through their setups.

4. Homelessness and Empty Office Buildings Rant

• John’s pet peeve: News reports lamenting “nowhere for the homeless to go” in bad weather, when downtown boasts huge empty corporate buildings.
• “Put them in there and then in the morning rustle them out like rats. Let them walk around when the weather's better and if it's raining, you just stuff them in there.” (16:40, John)
• Sharp critique of local reluctance for obvious solutions: “If you care, fix it. Because it's easy—if you don’t, shut up.” (17:14, John)

5. Epstein Files and the Perils of “Releasing it All”

• Discussion shifts to the Congressional debate over publicizing Jeffrey Epstein’s case files. John admits feeling both curious and uneasy:
• “Don't pull that sweater thread. You don't know what's going to take down and it might hurt us in the end.” (22:55, John)
• Debate over privacy: innocent acquaintances caught up by association, referencing John Gruden’s downfall as a cautionary tale about out-of-context private messages.
• “I can't really think of a friend I like that I haven't sent something to... taken out of context, I'm ostracized. That's all of us.” (27:32, John)

6. Humor on Dark News: Text Chains & Sex Island

• Candid tales about what actually populates their group threads (“our texts are awful”), including horrifying and hilarious videos, and the danger of any of those messages coming to light.
• Absurdity of being linked by text to a billionaire’s eventual scandal: “You meet a friend who has a plane, they get a little more grace... What if he has an island? ...Yeah, I do, billionaire pal. Do you know why they call it Sex Island? Like, I have a pretty good idea...” (33:49–34:39)
• Argument: selectivity is required—the “gotcha” game destroys reputations over mere proximity, not wrongdoing.

7. Trump's "Piggy" Comment and Modern Decorum

• The show lampoons Trump’s latest headline-grabbing insult to a female reporter (“Quiet, Piggy!”), using it to illustrate how the political climate now asks “what did she do to deserve that?” versus “should a president do that?”
• “He spun it to where people are like, you know, what did she do to deserve that?...You’re not supposed to call people piggy when you’re the president.” (37:32, John)
• Reflection on shifting standards and public expectations—often with more concern for the instigator than for decorum.

8. Maryvale's Chamber of Commerce & Visit Rwanda: Satire of Tourist Marketing

• Extended riff on the challenge of marketing Maryvale (a local, less-desirable neighborhood) and Rwanda (clad in genocide history) as tourist destinations.
• “Who started a resort in Rwanda after that movie?...You just move away.” (66:48, John)
• Created parallels between hiring newscasters and strippers: selection for diversity, “body positivity,” and ratings appeal (55:32–56:16).
• Visit Rwanda's Clippers jersey sponsorship is mercilessly mocked as a masterclass in PR futility, “That’s all I’d be thinking about—don’t watch that movie. It’s too soon.” (59:58, John)

9. Milk-Sweating Woman & Other Bizarre News

• John recounts a story about a woman sweating milk from her armpits. Actual diagnosis: “got a boob growing under her boobs...her sweat glands now just ooze this white milk” (76:46).
• Predictably devolves into the crew fantasizing about cereal options and the taste of “armpit milk,” in a way only Morning Sickness can make both disgusting and hilarious.
• “I'm gonna see you, Brady. You take some cereal and you pour it in there and get ready...” (80:44, John)

10. Working from Home is a "Grift"

• John rails against the notion that “working from home” is real work, poking fun at coworkers’ justifications.
• “People who work from home are running the greatest grift on the planet...you’re sleeping till nine and you’re keeping the phone on high.” (49:59, John)
• Calls out those who claim to be too busy at home, knowing full well they aren't working as hard as they claim.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sleepiness & the Day:
  • “There's this energy you hear is artificial. Nothing about me says go today at all. Not even close.” (01:04, John)
  • “It's nap time. We're gonna take the next 45 minutes and do nothing. We're just gonna sleep.” (02:59, John)
• On News Reporters Standing in Rain:
  • “They’re the reason people will hydroplane and kill other people...they set up shop in the circle of doom.” (05:25, John)
  • “Send out target boy on rainy days and find puddles...$5,000 to anybody who gets the big drench on one of these guys.” (06:12, John)
• On Old Newscaster Feuds:
  • “I would scream, brought to you by the king of beer's Budweiser, suck on this Titlow, we'd say. And then we'd chuck water balloons.” (10:31, John)
• On Homelessness:
  • “Put them in there and then in the morning rustle them out like rats...homeless yoga. I don't know.” (16:40, John)
• On Recording Scandals:
  • “Don't pull that sweater thread. You don't know what’s going to take down and it might hurt us in the end.” (22:55, John)
  • “Focusing in on just who did what and releasing the files to the general morons could be dangerous, could be horrifying.” (27:32, John)
• On Trump's "Piggy" Gaffe:
  • “We all know better...you’re not supposed to call people piggy when you’re the president.” (38:01, John)
• On Maryvale, Visit Rwanda, and Tourist PR:
  • “Visit Rwanda. You gotta balls on you, Clippers.” (70:07, John)
  • “Maryvale's Chamber of Commerce...the hardest job...try to get people to do tourism in Maryvale.” (146:36, John)
• On Woman Sweating Milk:
  • “She has a boob growing under her boobs...her sweat glands now just ooze this white milk.” (76:46, John)
  • “Would you taste it? ...In the heat of passion, you see, she's like, yeah — I'm gonna give that a taste.” (79:49, John)
• On Remote Work:
  • “Working from home's the biggest grift alive...every person that says, I work from home, ask them, go, what’d you do yesterday? Watch how mad they get.” (49:59, John)
• On Chamber of Commerce Diversity (Strip Club Analogy):
  • “To hire newscasters is a lot like being a strip club owner. You’ve gotta have a white one, a black one, a Mexican, a blonde, brunette, redhead, fat one, skinny one, and a short one.” (54:14, John)

Key Timestamps

• 00:45–02:59 – Rainy day descriptions, “grilled cheese day” mood, encouragement to sleep in, news coverage critique.
• 06:11–14:30 – News media in the rain, memories of reporter balloon attacks, past Phoenix TV news blunders.
• 16:20–17:23 – Rant on homelessness and empty office buildings.
• 21:45–34:39 – Deep dive: Epstein files, texting scandals, personal privacy, “Sex Island” hypothetical.
• 37:17–38:51 – Trump’s “Piggy” moment; politics and modern standards.
• 55:32–57:34 – News anchors as strip club hires, ratings through sex appeal, Chamber of Commerce as metaphor.
• 59:58–70:20 – Visit Rwanda ad campaign and Chamber of Commerce mockery.
• 76:39–83:52 – Woman sweating milk: body oddity, cereal fantasies, comic disgust.
• 91:20–101:33 – Grilled cheese talk, humor about Velveeta, more on “working from home grift”.
• 149:17–152:55 – Rock Wars segment: Maryvale's Chamber of Commerce theme songs, musical showdowns.
• 160:00–164:36 – Entertainment news: Maxwell & Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg’s gin, music rights sales.

Episode Highlights

1. Rain Coverage Satire

A signature bit on the show—Phoenix media’s over-the-top rain coverage is mercilessly skewered with personal war stories about sabotaged broadcasts and the suggestion of a “splash-a-reporter” contest.

2. Unfiltered Look at The “Release Everything” Movement

Holmberg provides a rare, self-aware critique of the push for total transparency, warning listeners of the dangers of a world where every private text or joke can be weaponized—making the case with stories about infamous firings and his own group chat antics.

3. Local & Global Satire

From dissecting the marketing futility of “Visit Rwanda” to comparing news anchor hiring to strip club rosters, the crew provides roast-level commentary on local institutions, branding campaigns, and American obsessions with diversity optics.

4. Rock Wars: Maryvale Theme Song

The team crowns Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Brain” as the tongue-in-cheek winner for Maryvale’s ideal theme song, after a lively showdown with picks ranging from “No Money, No Fiesta” to Body Count’s “Talk S***, Get Shot”.

Overall Tone & Style

• Loose, conversational, and unapologetically irreverent, the crew blends humor with pointed social observation—with healthy doses of local color, dark jokes, and willingness to laugh at themselves and “taboo” topics.
• Absurd hypothetical situations (Sex Island, “milk sweat” cereal bars, splashing news reporters) are common, alluded to with both comic disgust and glee.

For First-Time or Non-Listeners

This episode is emblematic of Holmberg’s Morning Sickness—combining sleep-deprived honesty, inside jokes about Phoenix, razor-sharp satire of the media and news topics, and hilarious descents into “what-if” scenarios. Whether it’s the group’s critique of transparency culture, or a tangent about the taste of “armpit milk,” the show’s blend of topicality and blue-collar humor is both welcoming and subversive, always reminding you not to take any of it too seriously.

Those seeking “serious” news will find chaos; those looking for comic relief—especially about the ridiculousness of both local and national headlines—will find a home here.

Further Listening Suggestions

• If you enjoyed the media lampooning, try other episodes after big local weather events.
• For recurring themes, seek out “Rock Wars” or episodes after controversial national news, where the crew’s satirical style is at its sharpest.