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A
This is exactly right. Hello, and welcome to my favorite Murder the Minisode.
B
We read you your stories.
A
You love it.
B
We love it.
A
You go first.
B
Okay. This is called Family Drama. And my MFM origin story. Dear. What?
A
I like the idea. Do we ask for MFM origin stories?
B
No. I guess we should. Dear Karen, Georgia kitty cats, and the rest of the team, I am not a Day One listener, but my college epidemiology professor is. And in epidemiology 315, she assigned us a project called My Favorite Outbreak Girl. I know.
A
I'm so proud. Yeah.
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This was 2018, question mark. And she introduced the project by saying you were her favorite podcast, and we were going to research a pandemic and present it as a podcast.
A
2018.
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Yeah. Before we needed the who, what, when, where, and how of the outbreak. And we would pull assignments randomly from a hat. Like, if I had known college, it was gonna be like this.
A
I know.
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Would have tried a little harder.
A
There's a difference between, like, good teachers and bad teachers. We were just like, I like learning.
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Totally. What did my group pull? The 1984 bioterrorism attack committed by followers of the Bagshwee. What is it? Bhag. Bhag. Bhagwan. Shri Raj.
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Rajneesh.
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Bhagwan. Shri Rajneesh.
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Sri Rajneesh.
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Bhagwan. Shri Ranish.
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Rajneesh.
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Bhagwan. Shi. Rajneesh. No.
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I'm so sorry.
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I know. I get it. I get it.
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It's hard. Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh.
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Got it by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. That's close enough.
A
Yep. That ending. You, like, pulled it back.
B
Whew. That's a hard one.
A
You nailed it.
B
Which you covered in episode 50.
A
Can we please keep that in the whole.
B
Me trying to pronounce it? Sure.
A
That's so funny.
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Oh, that was hard. I obviously can't fit all the details in this email, so people can find them there in episode 50.
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Thank you for doing really good research.
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Yeah.
A
Yeah.
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Meanwhile, I grew up in a religious household, and as a child, I had an aunt that I would describe as, quote, very cool. She lived in Manhattan, she worked in television, and then as a massage therapist. She always smelled like essential oils. Studied film when she was in college, and at one point, she had a horse. I mean, that's all the trappings of a cooling animal.
A
How did she check every box?
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Seriously?
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Truly. We have to get horses now? Yeah.
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To top it off, she traveled a lot, particularly to India, and always brought Back jewelry, saris, and other trinkets. It was always the best when Aunt Holly, name changed, came back from India. Fast Forward back to 2019. I've graduated with my degree in public health, and after a brief stint in the psych ward, I'm on my way to New York City to study theology.
A
Yes, girl, just a gotta dip in to maybe like, just hang out in a robe and smoke some cigarettes and.
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Take it easy and don't explain it to us.
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You don't have to.
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We fucking get it.
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You owe no one any explanation.
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Absolutely not. Hang out with Aunt Holly and live in Harlem. She did body work in a center with a lot of different therapists, and I attended workshops and listened in on their radio show and helped in the office. I got to meet some of her friends going to meditations, and before you know it, I was in a retreat outside the city with followers of osho, also known as Bhag, as Bhagwan Shree, Rajness, Rajesh.
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Rajneesh.
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Rajneesh.
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The only reason I know that is because all through the early 80s, he was on the news every single night. And because it was Oregon and they were like, these people are taking over.
B
It was like your story.
A
Yeah.
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Come to find out as a fully grown adult that my aunt wasn't just visiting India throughout my childhood, but studying meditation in Pune at the OSHO International Meditation Resort. There she met her life partner and remains a follower of OSHO to this day.
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Oh, my God.
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If I didn't do the my favorite outbreak project, I wouldn't have known the details of the 1984 Salmonella outbreak when I was introduced to some of the group in 2019. My aunt maintains OSHO is innocent, and personally, I do vibe with some of the meditations. I'm quite distant from it all now. The Rajneesh and followers of OSHO are still very much a thing, and they have really snazzy meditation retreats with names like Mystic Rose. Then it says, don't be fooled though, because in one of them, all you do is cry for like three weeks.
A
Done and done. Easy.
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Flying colors. Anyways, thanks so much for reading and for all you do to highlight the lives and stories of victims. Stay sexy, listen to podcasts recommended by your professors, and don't eat from the salmonella salad bar.
A
V. V. I mean, that's the thing about people like that though, is that, like, of course people vibe with the meditations. All of it is based on really good, like, scientific, like, breathing in a certain way helps you. Sitting and concentrating helps you blah, blah, blah, whatever. So it's like, yeah, that's all so beneficial.
B
Totally.
A
Just like, he didn't invent it.
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Your aunt was in a cult.
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Aw, Kool and in a cult.
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I mean, we got some work to do.
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We.
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Well, kind of in a cult already.
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Yeah, this is definitely cool. We started our own. That's the coolest dance move of all time.
B
Oh, my God. That's a fun cult.
A
It's a fun cult where we're kind of not really in charge. But wait. The fact that Vee used the descriptor snazzy is. That was my mom's descriptor for things when she was like, you can get, like, a snazzy blouse. Like, that was.
B
I love it.
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It's the funniest. I haven't heard it in years.
B
Oh, my God. No one says that anymore.
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Snazzy.
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Snazzy.
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Let's bring it back. On behalf of Vee and their aunt and your mom and my mother, who is always with us. All right. And speaking of which, the subject line of this email is stories from the golden age of parenting and landline phones.
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Oh, dear.
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Hi, Karen and Georgia and all who love you. A longtime listener but have never written in. You asked for stories of the kitchen phone and all its related trauma, so here you go. I was born the youngest of six kids with four older brothers and a sister who were all much older than me. Yes, I was a big oops. Four years after my dad's vasectomy. I've been told, shut the up.
B
Can you get that DNA tested, girl? One guy that was like, I'm not ready to be done and slipped on by.
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He's like, I'm a fighter.
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Actually.
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Actually. Anyway, one kitchen phone for all those people. Chaos, to say the least. It is so. It is. Was not that long ago. And it is like the Stone Age where it's like, if you're on the phone, that means somebody else waiting for a call. Couldn't get a call.
B
Absolutely. And you fucking. You talked as long as you could just to fuck with them.
A
Yes. And these days, if you had to share a phone number with someone, could you imagine when I have to hand.
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Vince my phone so he can order what he wants off the food delivery app. I'm like, where's my phone? Where's my phone? I need my phone. Like, he has it for two minutes to order sushi, and I can't fucking handle it.
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There's no worse feeling in my world than when I'm like, I can't find my Phone. I'm walking around looking for it forever, and it is in your fucking hand.
B
Mm.
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Okay.
B
Okay.
A
Back to the email, obviously. What.
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What do you do that when you're on the phone and then you're like. You're walking over, where's my phone? And you're on it, like, having a phone call? Did you never make a fucking phone call?
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I'm, like, listening to my sister talk, but I'm like, wait, I have to get my phone before I leave.
B
Did you say, okay, stop.
A
Okay. We clearly drank a ton of caffeine before this episode. I had a. I had a cappuccino made for me in. In our kitchen. Okay. Obviously, dinner time was not a good time for any of our friends to call. Although I'm not sure how they were supposed to know we were eating. But if my parents. Friends called during dinner, all good. We would wait at the table for a goddamn hour while my mom talked and we stared at our food. It's no wonder that my brothers tried to distract themselves by making me laugh, because I sat underneath where my mother would be gabbing on the phone. If I start laughing, I got a big crack on the back of my head.
B
No.
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And they got some big laughs themselves. Mission accomplished. But I digress. One thing I definitely remember was how my parents used that phone to call Joe when any of us were misbehaving. Joe was a vigilante of sorts who apparently roamed around the burbs picking up naughty kids and taking them away in his nasty pickup truck. This scared the shit out of all of us. Although by the time I was of the age to get the calls made on my behalf, my older brothers weren't having it. They spilled the beans that Joe was fictional pretty early on. Anywho, after 10 years of therapy, much dysfunction, and lots of life later, we can all now laugh at that ridiculously sadistic parenting technique.
B
So what?
A
Haven't seen that one in the most recent parenting books. Although it is 2025 out there, so you never know. It may make a comeback.
B
Oh, my God.
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Stay sexy. And no matter what anyone says, thank God for cell phones.
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Lisa, my mom had one of those, and she'd pick up the phone and, like, start ringing it to her ear and say she was gonna call whoever. Yeah, and it.
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It worked.
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It worked.
A
Yeah. That was like, Adrian's one of the man is gonna see you. And she would say it scared to her own kids. Like, she was scared too. And it would. I was just like, jesus. And she's like, have you ever had Three kids under the age of eight in a restaurant, you know, at a table in Applebee's. And I'm like, no, you're right.
B
You gotta do what you gotta do. Sometimes you do. I really love this next one. I'm not going to read you the subject line.
A
Okay.
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Hello, friends. You asked for crazy wedding drama and do I have some telenovela level nonsense for you.
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Yes.
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My second attempt at marriage. First one is. At least three separate emails. Ended with an opportunity to embrace my entrepreneurial side and turn lemons into dough.
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Yes.
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I am a professional ballroom dancer and own a dance studio.
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Pause. What?
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Amazing.
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Professional. Do you know how hard that is?
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Yeah. To like make a living as a dancer.
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God.
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Yeah.
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And it's just a hard. I started watching Dancing with the Stars only because of Ilona Mar and her partner Alan something or other. And they were having. They were trying to do this thing where it was almost like a love romance thing that I. That was so captivating on TikTok. It was the best. But it is so hard.
B
Yeah. And hard on your body and everything. Yeah. Which is where I fell in love with my co worker and fiance number two. I was very happy despite the red flags littering our conversations. In my defense, I was trying to be tolerant and he was super hot. And he found a non refundable, all inclusive wedding venue that we put a deposit down on. Five months before the wedding, he came home one night to tell me he isn't sure about the wedding. The next morning, he wasn't sure about our relationship. After he ended things a week later, I found out that he was already planning to move out of state to be with the new woman he met at a dance competition I didn't attend.
A
I just don't understand why you meet that person, go with it and let the other person fucking know totally instead of immediately you're planning a wed. Why would you go all the way in the other direction?
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Yeah, no, it's super fucked up. He leaves a couple months later assuming no financial responsibility for any part of our wedding. Then it says, or the Southern California rent he left me with and I put on my capitalism thinking cap. I couldn't get a refund and was left with all the pieces of a great party. So I turned my wedding into a ballroom dance competition for a few local studios.
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Yes.
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Brilliant.
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Yes.
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I had the pleasure of telling several vendors about the change in plans. Wedding cake is now cupcakes dance playlist now is full of tangos and cha chas. So many awkward phone calls and emails. I in no way covered the financial loss on that event because the wedding industry is a scam, but it certainly helped. However, the students love the event so much, it has since become an annual tradition that grows every year. And this year is poised to be our largest yet. Can we host it? Let's emcee it, you and me. Can we be judges?
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Yes. And we go and we have to do a dance.
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Where to dance too. All caps. It's not a horrible reminder of my trauma.
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Lol.
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It was a bittersweet day that has been replaced annually with much better memories, with much better people. I'm now planning wedding number three to a lovely man who is not in the dance industry. He is a thoughtful, loving, intelligent person and the cats love him the most out of any of my past partners. Coincidence? I think you know the answer. Thanks for reading and stay sexy and don't date ballroom dancers. Kristen, Santa Barbara, California Kristin. Oh my God.
A
So wait, is the fest. Is this ballroom dance competition yearly in Santa Barbara?
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I think it must be, yeah.
A
God, I love that idea.
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It's like lemons and a lemonade. My friend Jocelyn, he was on her, what was supposed to be her wedding day with fucking asshole. What she called an unwedding weekend where she just. All her girlfriends came out. We did all kinds of fucked up, funny things around weddings, and it was not a depressing weekend for her.
A
Nice.
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You know. Yeah, it was really smart.
A
That's very good. It's like being proactive about.
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I know this is gonna suck.
A
Yes. I mean, I've seen a lot of those stories on TikTok too, where it's like, yes, you got left at the altar or you got, you know, two days before or whatever. And it could go this way. And you're gonna just decide it's gonna go this way?
B
Absolutely. I love that.
A
All right. The subject line of this email is, my Petty family. Hi, Karen in Georgia. My girlfriend is a longtime listener, but she knows I love the hometown, so we often listen to the minisodes together. You guys asked for petty, and boy, do I have some for you. The telescope. My family. So each one of them has its own title. Okay. The telescope. My family has an old farmhouse that we use as a vacation spot. One of my uncles had a rather nice telescope that he kept up there that anyone could use. One weekend when my uncle's family and my family were up there at the same time, the telescope was found broken on the porch. But who was to blame? Three question marks. No one confessed. So my uncle, being a rational adult, used deductive reasoning and decided the most logical move is to blame my sibling. Why, you might ask? That's a great question that I have no answer for. But for almost a decade and a half, he held a strong grudge against my sibling. He would be rude, mean, and not talk to them all over a telescope. That he had no proof of them breaking what they did not break the telescope and still nobody knows who did. But the grudge was formed.
B
I bet he broke it himself, right? Yeah.
A
Trying to get someone to pay for it. I mean, I would love right now to be able to see a family photo when we just go through and say who we think didn't do it.
B
Absolutely. It's a whole podcast.
A
It's some like old kindly grandma that no one would suspect. Yeah, that's what I want.
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Smash.
A
I don't like stars.
B
Smash.
A
Okay, this one is popovers. My grandmother was quite the cook in her day and in her old age would often still make elaborate breakfasts and dinners for the family. One day the whole family was up at the old farmhouse and my grandmother decided she was gonna make popovers for breakfast. A small pastry like pancake that you can put jam and butter in. They'll change your life if you've never had them. I don't think I've ever had them.
B
It reminds me like a Dutch baby.
A
They kind of look like little muffins.
B
Yeah, well that's like a pan. Yeah, I don't know. Sounds good. I'll fucking eat it.
A
I don't have to look into it. They are a very labor intensive thing to cook and they take a rather long time. So my sibling and my cousin got hungry because it was already 11am and breakfast still wasn't ready. They went into the kitchen to make a piece of toast. This was their first mistake. They made their toast and ate it in front of my grandmother. Second mistake, she did not like this and decided she's not gonna finish cooking because nobody's gonna be hungry anyway because they're all too busy eating before breakfast is even ready.
B
My God.
A
She stopped cooking, left the kitchen and went around telling everybody how breakfast wasn't going to happen anymore because everyone is so full of toast.
B
Oh my mother, that is so petty.
A
If anybody in my family did that, the second they would start saying that everyone else would be like, oh shut the hell up. Like truly immediately crowd shamed. Okay, good. My mother made my sibling and cousin apologize to try to smooth things over. My grandmother, quote unquote, accepts their apology, finishes making breakfast, but doesn't allow them to eat any of the popovers because they were still too full of toast.
B
Yeah.
A
This might be a deep lesson. A deep lesson. Lesson about patience or just extreme pettiness. The popovers were amazing, by the way. I mean, there is that thing where it's like, hey, my old wretched hands. It's. You know, I have arthritis. It hurts me to make this. And you're just gonna, like, you're just gonna be uncaring as long as you.
B
Eat them still, you know? Yeah.
A
And give people a chance to eat them.
B
Yeah.
A
Although it does feel good to punish.
B
It does.
A
A lonely movie theater.
B
Okay.
A
My sibling and my grandmother were spending a day together, and they decided to go see a movie. My sibling accident. I don't know why I'm already laughing. I don't know what the story is. I think it's caffeine.
B
Yeah.
A
My sibling accidentally inferred that my grandmother was old, so it's the same fucking grandmother. I think My sibling accidentally inferred that my grandmother was old in front of her. And my grandmother did not take this well.
B
No.
A
And so sat my sibling in the back of the theater and then went to the front of the theater and sat separately for the entire movie. Wow. After the movie. After the movie, she drove my sibling home in complete and total silence. All things considered, though, my grandmother was a fantastic woman, A true. It's too late. No, it's too late.
B
No.
A
She was a fantastic woman, a true badass, and could have very well been a NASCAR driver. I have many stories of her legendary yet terrifying driving abilities. Sorry for the amount of stories and the length of them. I hope my family's drama brought you laughs and maybe put a smile on your face. They did. Thank you, as always, for the wonderful job you do. Your stories always make long drives and doing dishes far more entertaining. Sincerely, a friend. Oh, thank you.
B
I think this is a good reminder that you can write in your partner's story. If they don't listen, you can still use it.
A
Yes, exactly.
B
Right.
A
And also, this person's saying that they don't feel like they're a murdering or they're listening.
B
They're not into true crime.
A
But then they're like. But also, I like what my girlfriend likes.
B
Right.
A
So.
B
And the hometowns are so different that it's like anyone could listen to that.
A
I mean, who couldn't listen to this bullshit?
B
Try it. We dare you. Okay. My last one is called My greatest Comedic moment Home voicemail story. Hello, friends. While our phone number was never accidentally dialed for a funeral Home or published as a doctor's office. It was one digit off from a classmate's and I would sometimes have to tell people they called the wrong house and what the correct number was. But that isn't my story. My best home phone story comes from my comedic genius. As a nine year old, my family had just gotten a new home phone with a voicemail system. Pretty sure we just had replaced the cassette voicemail thingy and we were having an upbeat discussion about what our outgoing message should say over dinner. That's when it hit me. A bolt of inspiration. You see, our last name is Stump, like a tree stump. Our voicemail message Since I was 9 is thanks for calling the stumps. Now make like a tree and leaf a message. I peaked. Melissa.
A
Melissa, you did.
B
P.S. my parents still have a home phone and had to replace their phone system, which means I no longer greet incoming callers with my little voice. But I did for 20 plus years.
A
Oh, imagine being able to call and listen to your 9 year old self.
B
Right now when you have like when you have a bad day and you're like, I'm not worried, you know, you're feeling down on yourself. Just be like when you were nine, you fucking did this.
A
You had comedy coming out your pores.
B
Comedy gold.
A
Here's the lasty got this stump the subject line. You've got this stump subject line. No, you really won't believe this. I was listening. It just starts. I was listening to Minisode 418 and the writer mentioned how her grandpa rejected the opportunity to draw the golden arches. Oh yeah, remember that one? Yeah, he's an architect. It was beneath him. Well, I got one better. My father told me the story that my great grandfather was sitting in his recliner feeling lazy and decided to create something that would allow him to change the channels from his seat without having somehow he MacGyvered a box with a wire that went from his chair to the tv. He called my great grandma in with excitement to share his invention with her. She took one look at the contraption and told him it was ridiculous to think that people would be so lazy that they wouldn't even be willing to get out of their chair to change the channel. She scolded him first, then took the invention and tossed it in the trash.
B
Wow. Now that's petty.
A
That is. That is some old school marriage right there. I don't believe in you. Get your shit out of my way.
B
Oh my God.
A
It wasn't until sometime later that the TV remote was invented by some other man who was lucky enough to not have a wife scold him and toss it in the trash. I could have been the heiress to the TV remote empire, but instead, I'm a public high school teacher.
B
You're raising the next generation of mentors, at least.
A
Yep. With that bitterness in your heart, you could have had it all. And there's a they do my favorite little type smiley face. That's sideways. Love you both more than you know. What you do is needed more than you know. Keep at it. Christina. She her.
B
Oh, my God. This is why it's so important to be supportive in your relationships.
A
That's right. We need you guys to support us so we can keep reading your emails.
B
By sending them to my favorite murder at Gmail, please. About anything and everything.
A
So many things. Just a good story.
B
Yeah, Good stories are.
A
That's good. Stories are great.
B
That's all we want. Stay sexy and don't get murdered. Goodbye, Elvis. Do you want a cookie?
A
This has been an exactly right production.
B
Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
A
Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.
B
This episode was mixed by Liana Squillace.
A
Email your hometowns to my favorite murder.
B
Gmail.Com and follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My favorite murder.
A
Goodbye.
My Favorite Murder Minisode 424: A Detailed Summary
Released on February 24, 2025, "MFM Minisode 424" of My Favorite Murder dives into a collection of heartfelt and humorous listener-submitted stories. Hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, this episode weaves through themes of family drama, nostalgic parenting anecdotes, wedding mishaps, and petty familial antics. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the essence of the discussions, highlighted by notable quotes and their corresponding timestamps.
Timestamp: [00:27 – 05:21]
The episode kicks off with a listener-submitted story titled "Family Drama. And my MFM origin story." The narrator shares how their college epidemiology professor assigned a project named "My Favorite Outbreak Girl" in 2018. Inspired by the podcast, the project required students to research pandemics and present their findings as a podcast.
Notable Quotes:
The story transitions to Georgia's personal background, describing her upbringing in a religious household and her aunt's deep involvement with the OSHO International Meditation Resort. This connection led Georgia to explore the Rajneesh movement deeply, culminating in her understanding of the 1984 Salmonella outbreak linked to the group. Georgia reflects on her evolving relationship with meditation practices and her distant stance from cults today.
Notable Quotes:
Timestamp: [06:12 – 09:20]
The next segment features a nostalgic look into the era of kitchen phones and traditional parenting techniques. A listener recounts growing up as the youngest of six children, navigating a household with a single landline phone. The story humorously highlights the chaos of sharing one phone among multiple family members.
Notable Quotes:
The discussion touches on inventive yet stern parenting methods, such as calling a fictional vigilante named Joe to discipline misbehaving children. This technique, though fear-inducing at the time, is now viewed with humor and reflects on the lengths parents went to manage large families.
Notable Quotes:
Timestamp: [09:55 – 13:51]
This segment delves into tumultuous wedding experiences shared by listeners. One particularly vivid account describes Georgia's second marriage attempt, where her fiancé called off the wedding after five months. The story unfolds with the fiancé's sudden departure for another relationship and the financial fallout from a non-refundable wedding venue deposit.
Notable Quotes:
The listener humorously transforms the failed wedding into an annual ballroom dance competition, turning a distressing event into a beloved tradition. This creative pivot not only mitigates the financial loss but also fosters community engagement, highlighting resilience and adaptability in the face of personal setbacks.
Notable Quotes:
Timestamp: [13:51 – 22:25]
The episode shifts focus to tales of familial pettiness and quirky interactions. One story revolves around a broken telescope at a family farmhouse, where blame is unfoundedly placed on a sibling, fostering long-term grudges. Another humorous account details a grandmother's elaborate popover breakfast attempt thwarted by overeating toast, leading to breakfast cancellation and subsequent tension.
Notable Quotes:
Additionally, the narrative touches on generational misunderstandings, such as a sibling's inadvertent insult to their grandmother's age, resulting in an awkward movie outing. These anecdotes paint a vivid picture of the complex dynamics that can exist within families, blending humor with underlying tensions.
Notable Quotes:
Listener submissions also include amusing voicemail stories and inventive childhood phone messages, adding layers of nostalgia and personal reflection to the discussions.
Notable Quotes:
Timestamp: [22:20 – 23:11]
As the minisode draws to a close, Karen and Georgia express gratitude towards their listeners for sharing personal stories that add depth and relatability to the podcast. They encourage continued listener engagement and remind fans to send in their hometown stories to further enrich future episodes.
Notable Quotes:
The episode concludes with acknowledgments to the production team and a heartfelt thank you to the audience for their continuous support and participation.
Final Thoughts
MFM Minisode 424 masterfully balances humor with heartfelt reflections, showcasing the intricate tapestry of family relationships and personal growth. Through engaging storytelling and relatable anecdotes, Karen and Georgia continue to solidify My Favorite Murder's reputation for blending true crime with comedic undertones, offering listeners both entertainment and introspection.