My Brother, My Brother and Me (MBMBaM) Episode 791: "A Safe Space to Hurt Travis's Feelings"

Release Date: December 1, 2025
Hosts: Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Griffin McElroy

Episode Overview

This episode is classic MBMBaM: part goofs, part sibling therapy, and part bad ideas hotline. The McElroy brothers tackle hypothetical trust in cryptid sightings among themselves, creative solutions for returning stolen traffic cones, the philosophy of repairing a broken family heirloom, and a truly unhinged deep dive into Wicked tie-in products. The ongoing thread is questioning credibility, belief, and why anyone would trust any of the brothers with a story about Bigfoot.

Key Segments & Insights

1. Would You Believe In Bigfoot? (03:04–13:05)

Discussion:

• Travis poses the question: If he claimed with total sincerity to have seen Bigfoot while camping, how much would his brothers actually believe?
• The ensuing conversation becomes a hilarious exploration of trust, credulity, and sibling dynamics.

Highlights:

• Griffin and Justin agree that given Travis’s prior cryptid enthusiasm, they’d believe him less.
  • Griffin: “...the fact that you are doing it and so serious about it has in my mind assured me that it's a bit.” (05:42)
  • Justin: “If someone was gonna find him, it would be you. But if you come to me and say you found Bigfoot, that is my last little glimpse of hope going out.” (06:02)
• Travis’s wife gave him a 35% belief score, which the brothers call shockingly high.
• The conversation turns to who does inspire genuine belief—Pete Buttigieg, apparently, would be far more credible.
  • Justin: “If [Pete Buttigieg] comes out and he's like... with 100% certainty Bigfoot's real. You've got one true believer in 90 West Virginia.” (09:33)
• The brothers discuss degrees of belief if each other reported a Bigfoot sighting, landing on Griffin as the most likely to be believed because he’s least likely to rationalize it away.
• Establishes the episode’s subtitle: “A Safe Space to Hurt Travis’s Feelings” (04:14)

2. How Many Reports Before You Believe? (13:06–16:28)

Discussion:

• Travis wonders how many independent, unconnected reports of Bigfoot it would take before someone would actually start to believe.

Takeaways:

• Travis: “Three for me. Cause now we've got a triangle. Right Now I've got quantifiable data.” (13:36)
• Griffin wants a control group and evidence, wary of a flash mob if too many people claim sightings.

3. Life Goals and Puzzles (14:09–18:46)

Conversation:

• Justin fantasizes about plotting mysterious points on a map, drawing connecting lines, and discovering a hidden secret—just once, for the cinematic drama of it.
• The brothers riff about assembling adventure puzzle tropes in real life (e.g., focusing moonlight through a citrine staff, arranging gemstone skeletons, ancient Indiana Jones-style riddles).
  • Griffin: “I would love to focus a beam of light through a staff...” (16:40)
• There’s nostalgia and a bit of wistfulness in wanting life to feel this magical, even if it’s fake.

4. Advice Question: Returning Stolen Traffic Cones (18:54–24:56)

Question:
A listener’s friend drunkenly stole traffic cones, now wants to return them—how?

Advice:

• Griffin: Just put them back on the street; traffic cones are “flowers humans make” and are everywhere (19:16).
• Travis: Make it an art project by arranging them in a triangle or drawing faces (19:45, 20:29).
• Justin: Use them to block off a random road or intersection, or just keep them in your trunk to deploy in weird places (21:08, 21:45).
• The “throw it in a river” solution (noting that's not environmentally sound), becomes a running gag about making problems someone else’s, culminating in a riff on the unknown final destination of rivers. (22:57–23:49)

Memorable Quote:
Griffin:
“Traffic cones are like flowers that humans make.” (19:16)

5. Advice Question: Accidentally Breaking a Family Heirloom Bed (25:05–32:23)

Question:
A listener broke an “ancient” bed in their partner’s grandparents’ home. What should they do?

Advice:

• Travis and Justin joke about sleeping on broken beds in youth versus adulthood’s fragility.
• Justin: “Wood glue is stronger than wood.” (28:13)
• The brothers advise a stealth repair as a “living document,” referencing wabi-sabi (embracing flaws).
• Griffin shares relief at discovering a major past home repair himself, not a contractor, to deflect blame.
• Justin: Suggests the bed may have been poorly repaired before; you’re just another hand in the lineage.

Philosophy:
Heirloom repairs are “a living document. First, the hands who took the wood, then the hands who made it, then those who repair it...” (29:27)

6. Wicked Product Collabs Deep Dive (40:02–62:40)

Justin’s Showcase:

• Justin brings a gargantuan list of bonkers Wicked (musical/movie) tie-in products for the others’ amazement.
• The riff covers pink-and-green protein bars, singing toothbrushes, deodorants with in-universe scents (Fantabulous Floral/Wonderfulest Woods), dish detergent, Hostess cupcakes, Hovis “Best of Both” bread, and more.
• The brothers critique lazy branding (“just make it pink and green”) and start inventing Wicked-branded products themselves—spaghetti sauce, Crocs, tumblers, rugs, Dutch ovens, and even caboodles (tackle boxes full of makeup).
• They ridicule overly poetic or unhinged brand copy.
  • Justin: “Nobody touched Oz harder than the copywriters at Foster Grant.” (61:44)
• The recurring gag: whether collaborators “touched Oz”—i.e. made something magical, or phoned it in.

Memorable Exchanges:

• Griffin: “I think a really powerful mantra for when someone isn't being fun and magical enough is to tell them to touch Oz.” (44:50)
• About Hostess cupcakes with Ariana Grande:
  Justin: “The facial expression is gobble it up, piggy. That's like what she's saying with her face.” (47:33)
  Griffin: “She is staring at you like she is some sort of war goddess...” (47:41)
• Fully collapses into goofs about “giblet chalices” and how some products barely tried (“just says Wicked.”) (54:34–55:29)

Riff on Product Philosophy:

• Griffin: “If one of us isn’t playing enough in the space... tell them to touch Oz.” (44:50)
• On rug: Travis: “If I sit on that rug and it does not lift me off the ground, I would like my money will [sic].” (58:10)
• On soap shaped like Jonathan Bailey: Griffin: “Do you rub the Jonathan Bailey face soap on your body face first, or do you leave that sort of for last?” (59:30–60:04)

7. Sibling & Community Updates (64:36–68:01)

Announcements:

• New TAZ: Balance dice tray and merch; Candle Nights (charity live show for Harmony House) December 6th; details at bit.ly/candlenights2025
• Champions Grove game event info at championsgrove.com
• Family Clubhouse live stream finale (Nick Arcade episode); more gaming content planned for 2026.
• Mention of “Til Death Do Us Blart” annual podcast returning.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “This is a safe space to hurt Travis’s feelings.” – Justin (04:14)
• “Traffic cones are like flowers that humans make.” – Griffin (19:16)
• “Wood glue is stronger than wood.” – Justin (28:13)
• “If someone was gonna find [Bigfoot], it would be you. But if you come...that is my last little glimpse of hope going out.” – Justin (06:02)
• “If [Pete Buttigieg] comes out...with 100% certainty Bigfoot's real. You've got one true believer in 90 West Virginia.” – Justin (09:33)
• "If one of us isn’t playing enough in the space with the others...try to set it up...tell them to touch Oz." – Griffin (44:50)
• "[Ariana Grande] is staring at you like she is some sort of war goddess..." – Griffin (47:41)
• “Nobody touched Oz harder than the copywriters at Foster Grant.” – Justin (61:44)

Thematic Wrap-Up

This episode is pure McElroy charm: a mixture of absurd sibling logic tests, making even the most mundane advice irreverently delightful, and descending into world-class riffs on pop culture branding. It’s full of inventive metaphors for trust (“flowers that humans make,” “living documents”), and the persistent question of how much you’d believe someone you love... especially if they have a proven record of magical thinking.

If you want to know how to return traffic cones, repair heirloom beds, or simply want to mainline straight goof energy about the business of Oz, this episode is a must-listen.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Bigfoot Sincerity Test: 03:04–13:05
• Evidence for Believing in Cryptids: 13:05–16:28
• Secret Maps & Life Goals: 14:09–18:46
• Stolen Traffic Cones Question: 18:54–24:56
• Broken Heirloom Bed Question: 25:05–32:23
• Wicked Product Rundown: 40:02–62:40
• Announcements & Plugs: 64:36–68:01

Tone: Goofy, earnest, self-mocking, sincerely ridiculous
For Fans Of: Unfiltered sibling banter, creative problem solving, and people who wish their lives were slightly more like a point-and-click adventure game.