Podcast Summary

Podcast: My Brother, My Brother and Me
Episode: 783 – "Spidey Spaghetti"
Release Date: October 6, 2025
Hosts: Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy

Episode Overview

In this episode of MBMBaM, the McElroy brothers dive into their signature mix of absurdist comedy and offbeat life advice, riffing on topics from government shutdowns and air traffic control to the philosophy of collecting rubber ducks, and culminating in a deep (and deeply silly) exploration of Wendy’s new “Tendies” chicken tenders. The show features classic bits like Munch Squad and plenty of banter about food branding gone haywire. Expect rants, wild hypotheticals, and lots of loving mockery.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Government Shutdown & Trav Nation (01:10–09:00)

• Opening Banter: The brothers address the real-world government shutdown with anarchic humor, wondering aloud if they should be podcasting during such times.
• Trav Nation Proposal: Travis offers to envelop the US under "Trav Nation," promising to reopen national parks and make every bear a citizen.
• Air Traffic Control Bit: The trio grimly jokes about unpaid air traffic controllers, proposing to improve their work conditions (ex: letting the Property Brothers decorate control towers, giving them race car beds).
• Funding Scheme: Travis suggests selling decommissioned tanks to American collectors (after removing ammunition) and letting kids ride them at “Tank Town” amusement parks. The others laugh at the daredevil logic.
• Superman Bomb Disposal Debate: A tangent leads to questioning Superman’s wisdom in throwing all nuclear weapons into the sun (“Did he talk to any science guys about that at all?” – Justin, 06:44).
• Political Frustration: The brothers ridicule certain politicians' handling of the shutdown, with several expletive-laden rants aimed at Mike Johnson (“I hate how much oxygen I share with that absolute fucking choed wrinkle” – Griffin, 09:21).

2. Advice Questions

A. Rubber Duck Collection Gatekeeping (10:07–17:18)

• The Dispute: A listener feels that their 15-year, 300-duck collection is being cheapened by casual collectors.
• Brothers’ Take: Reluctantly engaging in “gatekeeping,” they define a real collection as something more significant than simply having a handful.
• Tactics for Subtle Dominance:
  • Peacocking: Ostentatiously displaying ducks or having a phone wallpaper featuring the collection.
  • Carry ‘Burner Ducks’: Use less valuable duplicates as props when challenged (“These are literal trash to me. This is gravel” – Justin, 13:24).
  • Social Pitfalls: Griffin warns that announcing your collection leads to an avalanche of boring, basic gifts.
• Display Ideas: The brothers imagine an adult carnival-style rubber duck display involving a circulating ring of water.

B. Popsicle Etiquette at Work & “Spidey Spaghetti” (17:34–27:16)

• Listener Query: Is it okay to bring fruit popsicles to the office?
• Diving Deep: The trio analyzes popsicle etiquette, flavors, and pitfalls of office snack theft.
• Homemade Popsicles: Griffin suggests making your own, perhaps with herbs, to project adult sophistication, but wonders if that would earn you “office popsicle guy” status.
• Theft & Shrinkage: “Anything individually wrapped in a box of more than four, you could totally lose one of those just to theft.” (Griffin, 23:00)
• Parent Life: Anecdotes of dividing food precisely for picky kids segue to lamenting about cartoon-branded foods that don’t taste any better—such as Spidey Spaghetti (“He won’t make it taste how Spider Man feels to you, to see him” – Griffin, 21:57).

Munch Squad: The "Tendies" Discourse (31:49–51:28)

The Segment (Munch Squad intro at 31:49)

• Big News: Wendy’s is launching “Tendies” (chicken tenders), and issued a bombastic press release.
• Sign of the Times: The new sign just swaps the “W” in the Wendy’s logo for a “T.” (“You can tell that’s what happened because the kerning is, like, fucked up.” – Griffin, 33:17)

Press Release Satire

• Mocking the Hype: The brothers lampoon the overblown, jargon-laced copy, comparing the 18-month development cycle to vaccine development and ridiculing claims of “bold new sauces.”
• Mixing Sauces: Wendy’s allegedly discovered young people like to mix sauces (“Flocks to sauces”—Travis, 40:17).
• Sauce Names: Phony experimental sauce ideas (“They didn’t like mummy piss, guys. They did not like mummy piss.” – Griffin, 42:09).
• Product Packaging: “Tendies come in vessels built for dunking with a dip cutout…a reflection of how consumers want to eat.” (Justin, 46:10)
• Existential Dread: Griffin wonders aloud if the press release is even true since the website simply lists “tenders,” not “tendies.”
• Final Thoughts: They conclude the launch is a non-event disguised as innovation: “18 months spent: people like chicken tenders, dipping in sauce, sometimes they mix them. And have you ever noticed that Wendy’s sounds like tendies?” (Travis, 45:55).
• Self-Referential: The brothers note the similarity between the QSR press game and their own: “That’s the podcast game we’ve been playing the whole time.” (Justin, 48:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Gatekeeping Rubber Ducks:
  “Have a bag of 20 to 30 discreet ducks on you at all times...These are literal trash to me.” (Justin, 13:15)
• On Popsicle Office Etiquette:
  “Anything individually wrapped in, like a box of more than four, you could totally lose one of those just to theft.” (Griffin, 23:00)
• Superhero Logic:
  “Do you think he talked to any science guys about that at all?” (Justin, 06:44, on Superman throwing nukes into the sun)
• Wendy’s “Innovation”:
  “Have you ever noticed that Wendy’s sounds like tendies?” (Travis, 45:55)
  “Tendies come in vessels built for dunking with a dip cutout...It’s a reflection of how consumers want to eat.” (Justin, 46:10)
• AI Press Release Satire:
  “I think AI wrote this and it’s putting me in a headspace, like, maybe it’s all a…AI Matrix human battery, and I’m asleep...” (Griffin, 43:27)
• Product Tie-ins & Grousing:
  “You don’t like spaghetti? I’m not giving you the ragu with the battle bus on it.” (Griffin, 21:47)
  “He won’t make it taste how Spider-Man feels to you, to see him.” (Griffin, 21:57)
• The Aftermath:
  “Thank you, Wendy's, for making me think about Popeyes.” (Travis, 51:00)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Government Shutdown, Trav Nation | 01:10–09:00 | | Superman and Nukes | 06:10–08:09 | | Gatekeeping Rubber Ducks | 10:07–17:18 | | Popsicles at Work/“Spidey Spaghetti” | 17:34–27:16 | | Munch Squad: Wendy’s “Tendies” | 31:49–51:28 | | Notable Quotes/Bit on “Tendies” press release | 43:00–47:10 |

Overall Tone & Takeaways

• Language & Tone: Irreverent, energetic, and always in service of the bit; full of inside jokes, pop-culture asides, and casual swearing.
• Humor: Much of the comedy arises from taking mundane advice questions or PR releases to their logical-extreme parody.
• Utility for Listeners: You won’t get expert advice, but you will get permission to make your collection (ducks, or anything else) as Extra as you want. And you'll never look at fast-food innovation the same—especially if it's called "Tendies."

For anyone who missed this episode: You’ll get the McElroy brothers at the top of their goof game, offering laughs about the state of the government, collecting ducks, office etiquette, and the wild world of corporate food branding—plus a withering takedown of bland product launches everywhere.