Kennedy's Labor Day: Mullets & Mayhem

Summary

Kennedy Saves the World

Episode: Kennedy's Labor Day: Mullets & Mayhem

Date: September 1, 2025
Host: Kennedy
Guest: Jimmy (recurring, friend/co-conspirator)

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Episode Overview

For this special Labor Day episode, Kennedy and her friend Jimmy bring their trademark irreverence and wit to reflections on aging, parenting styles, generational differences, and the eccentricities they hope to own in their golden years. The duo swap wild family stories, muse about the pitfalls of “gentle parenting,” and share visions of their older selves – with mullets, mayhem, brightly colored lipstick, and the hard-won wisdom of backyard storytelling. Through jokes, nostalgia, and cultural commentary, they ask what it means to grow older with both dignity and flair in America.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Labor Day Aesthetics & Personal Celebrations

• Both Kennedy and Jimmy are overdressed for Labor Day, poking fun at their own lack of planning and out-of-place attire.
  • “This is like the worst barbecue attire. This isn't staying on, just so we're clear.” – Jimmy [00:18]
  • “We're not dressed for Labor Day. … We have failed the American people.” – Kennedy [00:27]

2. On Aging, Parenting, and “Grandma” Jokes

• Kennedy discusses being teased by her kids about being “almost a grandma,” and her lighthearted attitude toward the idea of another baby around.
  • “My 19 year old thinks it's really funny to every week… be like, 'I'm pregnant.' Does that scare you? And I'm like, no, because I know I would have to raise the baby. So I'd be fine with that.” – Kennedy [01:06]
• They riff on how their age gives them confidence to parent with less patience for nonsense.
  • “You would be an amazing mom because you would put up with absolutely nothing and you know all the good stuff.” – Jimmy [01:37]
  • “That's one of the challenges though is like, I feel I was raised pretty well, but a lot of the techniques are illegal.” – Jimmy [01:49]

3. Gentle Parenting vs. Old-School Discipline

• The duo compare “gentle parenting” (respectful, non-confrontational) with the harsher parenting style of Gen X’s childhood.
  • “When Lincoln and… my girls were little, it was all gentle parenting... maybe we can make a better choice, as opposed to Gen X's … get the Desert Storm. Shock and awe. That's how it went down.” – Kennedy & Jimmy [02:03–02:19]
• Jimmy narrates a hilarious story about his son Lincoln’s mullet phase, overindulgence at a deli, and how a minor act of discipline (a gentle whack with a Rice Krispie treat) ended up being a significant parenting moment.
  • “I held up the Rice Krispie treat, hit him once with it, he cried... But at the same time, I've never in any capacity had to hit him again.” – Jimmy [05:17]

4. Generational Work Attitudes

• Kennedy brings up a study showing Millennials & Gen Zers use all their vacation time, unlike Gen Xers, who remain “terrified they’re going to be fired.”
  • “49% of millennials and gen Zers use more than their vacation and sick time… Whereas Gen Xers are still, like, terrified they're going to be fired, even though it's, like, the best, most solid part of the workforce.” – Kennedy [06:48]

5. What Kind of Old People Will They Become?

• Jimmy imagines becoming an old man spinning wild stories in the backyard – inspired by colorful Long Island cop tales from his youth.
  • “I've always lived my life for the old man version that gets to tell stories in the backyard because I grew up around cops.” – Jimmy [07:49]
  • Memorable story: a retired cop, paid in scotch, recounts surviving a fight by biting an assailant in the groin.
    • “‘Hey, when the whistle blows, anything goes.’ And just kept talking. … I’ll never forget him saying that to me.” – Jimmy [09:18]
• Kennedy aspires to be a fabulously eccentric old New York woman, always overdressed and accessorized, no cats, possibly a teacup Frenchie.
  • “I want to be one of those women with… the big glasses and the pearl choker and the Chanel accessories… just rich and eccentric.” – Kennedy [10:26]
  • “Definitely going to be smoking cigars, but really super dressed up, overly accessorized, lots of really bright lipstick… Like turbans, but no cats.” – Kennedy [11:04]

6. Eccentric Tails & Modern Manners

• Jimmy relays odd stories from New York taxi-driving days, observing the virtue-signaling even in the city’s kink clubs.
  • “There was a guy getting walked around on the dog leash who made it a point to say he was a rescue.” – Jimmy [11:49]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Gentle Parenting:
  “Gentle parenting doesnt’ [work].” – Kennedy [02:03]
• On Confidence in Older Age:
  “You would be an amazing mom because you would put up with absolutely nothing and you know all the good stuff.” – Jimmy [01:37]
• On the Wisdom of Old Cop Stories:
  “‘When the whistle blows, anything goes.’ And just kept talking.” – Jimmy [09:18]
• On Future Eccentricity:
  “I want to be one of those women with… the big glasses and the pearl choker and the Chanel accessories… just rich and eccentric.” – Kennedy [10:26]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Labor Day Attire Fails – 00:18
• Parenting & Grandma Jokes – 01:06
• Gen X vs. Gentle Parenting – 02:03
• Lincoln’s Mullet & Deli Mayhem Story – 02:45 to 05:17
• Work Ethic by Generation – 06:48
• Vision of Ourselves As Old People – 07:49
• The Legendary Cop Story – 08:29 to 09:18
• Kennedy’s Glamorous Older Self Fantasy – 10:26
• Eccentric New York Stories – 11:49

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Tone & Final Reflection

The episode is quintessentially “Kennedy”: fast-moving, offbeat, and rooted in affectionate mockery of generational quirks. Kennedy and Jimmy dish out both laughs and insights, never afraid of poking fun at themselves or society’s changing norms.

• “We did it. Full circle, Jim.” – Kennedy, bringing the riff on gentle parenting, Labor Day, and generational difference to a close. [12:21]
• “Off to the barbecue.” – Kennedy [12:23]

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Listen if You Enjoy:

• Irreverent takes on parenting and aging
• Gen X nostalgia and family storytelling
• New York eccentricities and humor about modern manners
• Banter that blends humor, vulnerability, and a dash of cultural critique.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Hello and welcome to this Labor Day episode of Kennedy Saves the World. Jimmy and I are going to our own professional funeral. So we're dressed very nicely.

[A]

I know. This is like the worst barbecue attire. This isn't staying on just so we're clear. But it's funny.

[B]

You're gonna be covered in rib sauce in about 20 minutes.

[A]

But it's so funny because, like, you do run in here on Labor Day to tape something, but you don't plan what you'll have at your disposal. No, like, we're not dressed for Labor Day.

[B]

No, absolutely not.

[A]

We have failed the American people.

[B]

No, it's like there's like these tack on little silvery beads that are very like punk rock Elvis.

[A]

We look like the Hollywood Foreign press, but like, Hollywood.

[B]

Hello, Mrs. Julia Roberts. I would like to know how does it feel getting the best actress nomination for you?

[A]

And I'm just taking pictures. Click, click, click, click, click. Happy Labor Day, Olaf.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

There it is.

[B]

So, Jim, I was thinking about our Labor Day conversation. And you know, my children already accuse me of being like a Grandma. And my 19 year old thinks it's really funny to every week. I'd be like, I'm pregnant. Does that scare you? And I'm like, no, because I know I would have to raise the baby. So I'd be fine with that. Yeah, it's like, yeah, but they're like, you're almost a grandma. I'm like, don't say that. Like, no, you don't want that. Like, I don't mind it. Like, just it's, it's one more on the pile. I'd have a great time with a baby.

[A]

Something to do. Good action.

[B]

No, and, and you can ask Jenny, like when you're, when you're late 40s, early 50s, like, you know, you would be an amazing mom because you would put up with absolutely nothing and you know all the good stuff to.

[A]

Yeah. You know how to do it now.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. Right.

[A]

That's, that's one of the challenges though is like, I feel like I was raised pretty well, but a lot of the techniques are illegal.

[B]

You know, it's like they're coming back on Instagram.

[A]

They are, though.

[B]

I was just watching this stuff. Like there's this whole movement. Gentle parenting doesn'.

[A]

Work. Oh, it doesn't.

[B]

And it's like, you know, when, when Lincoln and, and our. My girls were little, it was all gentle parenting. Just like, maybe we can make a better choice as opposed to Gen X's Gen Xers were raised, like, get the.

[A]

Desert Storm. Shock and awe. That's how it went down.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I got roughed up a lot. And there's a lot of value in that and in, you know, the whole peace through strength thing. No, it does matter. If your kid is taught consequence at an early age. It's a compass for them that really serves them well later in life. So I'll tell you one that happened with me and Lincoln, and this is one of my favorite memories ever. So when Lincoln was going through that phase, do you remember when Lincoln had the mullet?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And he hadn't hit his height spurt, and so he was a little plump. I always used to refer to him. I say he looks like the toughest woman in prison. Cause he had a mullet, but he had, like, a gut and he had some boobs.

[B]

Okay. But I'll tell you, the butterball turkey is succulent. No one wants a skinny butterball turkey.

[A]

Frank Perdue was sad to see it go. Okay. He's sad to see Lincoln go. But he hit his growth Spurt. He's like 6, 5. He's in shape now. He's like an Adonis. But when he was a porker. Okay, he wasn't a porker. He was a porker. I mean, I was a porker. I come from a long line of porkers. It's not a. I'm not slandering the man by calling him one. I'm saying he's a part of this thing of ours. This thing of ours. Anyway, so we used to go to Fred's Deli in Levittown, and Lincoln was, you know, a bit of an ambitious snacker. Okay. As were I. I mean, to be clear, the. The behavior I'm modeling, I mean, I.

[B]

Would say, I assume when you're that age and you live on Long island, you want to be a competitive eater.

[A]

Yeah, you do.

[B]

Like, there's a mystique to that.

[A]

You're surrounded by it, too. It's a thing. So understand, I'm not modeling good behavior here. Okay. I would go to Fred's Deli, and I would get a hungry man, which is like a hero. It's six eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, home fries, and cheese. I would eat two of them.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I would eat two of them.

[B]

Is this a sandwich?

[A]

Yes, it's a monstrosity. This is incredible.

[B]

Like, these are the moments where I really miss gluten when people talk, because there's no way to construct something like that. Gluten free, where it would be delicious. But I. I know, like, pre2010. I know exactly.

[A]

Yeah. You know what it's all about. And I'm a 700 pound man trapped in a 300 pound man's body. I mean, that's, that's my eternal struggle. So anyway, I was a bit of an eater, but we went to Fred's Deli, okay. And Lincoln, okay, who got his bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel, also got a Yoo Hoo. Also got a pack of Twinkies and got a chocolate covered Rice Krispie treat. And I was like, dude, mommy's going to lose it. We can't blame it on Mommy, by the way.

[B]

Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, she's the fat cheater.

[A]

I told her I got to police this thing.

[B]

Yeah, she's giving him Richard Simmons. Deal. A meal.

[A]

Rip, you can't Rip, you can't go. Well, I think he's still alive. His name is Tim Waltz. He just changed his name. Richard Simmons is still with us. Yeah. Oh, gosh.

[B]

Stop it right now.

[A]

Race the arms. So stick with me. So I told Lincoln, just two of the three just help a brother out. Get the Yoo Hoo and the Twinkie. Get the Yoo Hoo and the crispy treat. We're good. I want all three. And under the auspices that I had gotten rid of one of them, I actually didn't. So it was weak parenting in the moment. Okay. We walk a 5 year old Lincoln out to the car at Fred's Deli. He assumes his item is not in the bag, slams the door. We get home to our house, okay? He gets out of the car without talking to me once on the way home, slams the door, walks in the front door at our old house, Mommy's like, you know, how was Fred's? Like, it was the worst. Daddy wouldn't get me anything. And I held up the Rice Krispie treat, hit him once with it, he cried. And when I left the room, he ate the Rice Krispie treat in the fattest moment I've ever seen. But I was so happy for him that he still got his Rice Krispie treat. But at the same time time, I've never in any capacity had to hit him again. Which is good because I couldn't take him. But it was about five when that happened. And I'm not saying like, I beat him like it was a nightstick. I did that to Jenny. I was like, you raised this? I'm kidding. But the point is just that minimal interaction with a bad result is helpful and gentle parenting does fail. So the fact that you know your daughter is joking about being pregnant and all that, and you'd welcome it is good. But the fact that every parent out there has some trepidation about.

[B]

Yeah, but I'd be weird about it. Like, I would. I would wear, like, the pregnancy belly and then be like, oh, yeah, I can't believe I'm showing.

[A]

Are you going to Pete booty judge this grandkid?

[B]

A thousand percent. And I show up at the newborn like, isn't it a miracle?

[A]

Yeah. Well, in that case, I'm breastfeeding it. I'm putting on the. Remember, he took those pictures. It's like, this is who's running the country.

[B]

That's normal.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Gentle. We're being led by gentle parents. Yeah, that's the problem.

[B]

Don't go anywhere more. Kennedy Saves the World right after this.

[C]

It's the Will Kane Show. Watch it live at noon Eastern Monday through Thursday on foxnews.com or on the Fox News YouTube channel. And don't miss a show. Get the podcast five days a week at fox newspodcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.

[B]

That is the absolute problem. So there was a study that just came out that it's like 49% of millennials and gen zers use more than their vacation and tick time. Like, every chance they get to take time off, they take it. Whereas Gen Xers are still, like, terrified they're going to be fired, even though it's, like, the best, most solid part of the workforce. They're like, jenny.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They're, like, a little bit scared always.

[A]

You know, she keeps going. You'll find a day where she shuts off her only fans and tell me, because I'm with her all the time. It's on. It is on. I'm there, not there. It doesn't matter. Nose to the grindstone, that girl.

[B]

That's so not true. In fact, I texted Jenny a couple days ago because I needed to know how long to cook my cobbler.

[A]

Is that true?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And that's not a euphemism, actually, that.

[B]

Is a euphemism because I had pooped in a casserole dish and I was going to show it on my own.

[A]

Yeah, we've all been there.

[B]

It's called cooking the cobbler.

[A]

You gotta. You gotta cook the cobbler. It's Labor Day. We're laboring.

[B]

We are.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

What kind of old guy do you think you'll be?

[A]

Ooh, this is interesting. Okay. Because I never thought I would be one because I had a lot of, like, destructive habits in my 20s. But I think I have gotten mellow. So you know what, old guy I want to be, and this is what I hope to achieve. I've always lived my life for the old man version that gets to tell stories in the backyard because I grew up around cops. And my dad's friends would come over and get hammered. And if you stayed awake late enough to listen to them talk. Yeah, about the fights they got into.

[B]

The smartest thing a kid can do is just absorb. Shut up. And they. They don't realize you're there.

[A]

Yes, absorb.

[B]

Do not add anything. Don't be obnoxious. Just be quiet and blend in. And you will hear everything.

[A]

Everything. And that's why I had heard. We had a buddy, his buddy, Tommy Wentz. My dad hired a retired cop to put a dormer onto our house. And he paid him in scotch. And it seemed like a good deal till the first.

[B]

This is the most famous story.

[A]

Yeah, it's the most Long island story. He paid Tommy Wenz and Cutty Sark. Whiskey or scotch, whatever the hell it is. And it was the greatest deal in the world till the first day it rained and we had, like, 12 buckets in our living room. But anyway, after he was done constructing each day, he would drink his scotch and tell stories in my backyard. And he had told a story about. Here's Labor Day for you. One time when he was a beat cop and he got jumped and a guy was hitting him with his own nightstick. He had to bite the guy's balls. And, like, he remembered I was in the yard and I was aghast. And I never forget. He. Like, he didn't laugh. Yes.

[B]

That's actually foreplay for cooking the cobbler.

[A]

He didn't apologize. He goes, hey, when the whistle blows, anything goes. And just kept talking. It was just like. I'll never forget him saying that to me. When the whistle blows, anything goes.

[B]

What an incredible phrase. And I'm kind of shocked that you haven't, like, you know, it's like, I'm not taking the jersey off the Raptors.

[A]

Speaking sports metaphors.

[B]

Well, that's good as a hit.

[A]

No, no, I've always sat on that. And what I'm hoping to become is that oracle, that old man that gives a bunch of kids that piece of insight that they take forward. That would be the goal. What will I be? Probably a guy to horse track with no money, giving handies in the parking lot.

[B]

Also, no teeth.

[A]

Twice as much guaranteed no teeth. You get more money as you say.

[B]

No, I Want to be. I want to be. I always see these old women in New York, and I find that the older I get, the more I dress up, which I thought it would be the opposite. But I start out, like, really sloppy. Like, I came of age on MTV in, like, the grunge era, where it's like women look like they were fished out of a gutter. And, like, men's shorts and it was like, oh, my God, she's so hot. It's amazing. And so now I like to dress up, but I want to be one of those women with like, you know, Is that. Is that the feds? Is that my pearl office?

[A]

Is my ankle bracelet? Continue. You want to be one of those women who. What?

[B]

Why are you wearing my ankle bracelet? As a ring. That's something to tell my parole officer. No, but like, with the big glasses and the pearl choker and the Chanel accessories, like, just rich and eccentric. That's not like Jocelyn Wildenstern. But, like, lots of nice take taxis.

[A]

And call the guy driver. I had a woman who used to do that in my cab who wore elbow length gloves, and she'd be like, driver, I'm going to 23rd Street. It was wonderful. I'll be her. Be her.

[B]

But I'm definitely going to be smoking cigars, but really super dressed up, overly accessorized, lots of really bright lipstick.

[A]

I was gonna say, you're gonna have the big lipstick on.

[B]

Yes, absolutely. Like turbans, but no cats.

[A]

I love this.

[B]

I hate cats. No offense. I know you've got two cats.

[A]

I'm very pro cat.

[B]

I know.

[A]

I grew up in a cat house. Frisky was 24 with no meow box at the end. It was an old kung fu movie. She'd meow and no sound would come out. Oh, she'd just do that. And that was it. I was like, what up, Frisk? And that's all you got. But it was cute. She was 24, so I get it. No cats for you. You get a dog, maybe grow.

[B]

You'll get a dog. I'll have like a, you know, I'll have a little teacup Frenchie. Just like, oh, yes, here's Mr. Belvedere. Get it.

[A]

Somebody told me in my taxi once that at sex clubs in New York, some of the people who frequent them still virtue signal there. And just like, there was a guy getting walked around on the dog leash who made it a point to say he was a rescue. I'm like, all right, nobody care. There's no virtue here. There's nothing adopt own shot. I'm not.

[B]

I'm not from a breeder.

[A]

They're literally kicking the guy with the heel. It's a good, virtuous person here.

[B]

You know what? That person is a victim of gentle parenting.

[A]

We did it.

[B]

Full circle, Jim.

[A]

Off to the barbecue.

[B]

There we go. Happy Labor Day. Oh, happy Labor Day to you. This has been Kennedy Saves the World along with Jimmy Family Bang bang. Listen ad free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts and Amazon Prime. Members can listen to this show ad free on the Amazon music app. Oh, go ahead and leave me a review while you're there. I'd love to hear what you have to say. You've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the Fox News Podcast network.

[C]

It's Will Tane Country. Watch it live at noon Eastern Monday through [e-mail] or on the Fox News YouTube channel. And don't miss the show. Listen and follow the podcast five days a week at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.