Rewind with Karen & Georgia - Episode 40: Squad Gourds

Summary

Episode Summary: Rewind with Karen & Georgia - Episode 40: Squad Gourds

Release Date: April 9, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 40 of Rewind with Karen & Georgia, host Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark revisit their earlier discussions, bringing fresh commentary and insights to the original content. The episode, nostalgically titled "Squad Gourds," delves into the intriguing and unsettling phenomenon known as the "My Way killings" in the Philippines—a series of violent incidents tied to karaoke culture.

Recalling Episode 40: Squad Gourds

Karen and Georgia begin by humorously reminiscing about the original episode, highlighting their enduring friendship and the unique dynamics of their podcasting journey. They share anecdotes about unexpected gifts from their friend Stephen Ray Morris, emphasizing the personal connections that enrich their show.

Karen Kilgariff [04:30]: "If you've got a million tabs open in your brain at all times, you don't need a wireless service that slows you down."

Georgia Hardstark [10:35]: "Special shout out to Jessica Hullinger for her article 'Why I Am a Murderino.'"

The My Way Killings: A Deep Dive

The core of the episode explores the "My Way killings," a disturbing series of murders in the Philippines where individuals singing Frank Sinatra's "My Way" at karaoke bars were targeted and killed. Karen meticulously outlines the cultural backdrop of karaoke in the Philippines, explaining its significance as a national pastime and a communal escape mechanism in a country grappling with economic hardships.

Karen Kilgariff [31:20]: "Every birthday party, every holiday party, and they have so many karaoke and videokee, which is a different version of karaoke where you get scored against other people that are doing karaoke that night."

Cultural and Social Factors

The discussion highlights how karaoke serves as a vital outlet for Filipinos dealing with poverty, offering moments of joy and community bonding. However, the competitive nature of karaoke, especially with scoring systems that judge performances, has created a volatile environment ripe for conflict.

Stephen Ray Morris [37:06]: "Singing is like an infusion of the perfect tranquilizer... it combines soothing your nerves and elevating your spirits."

Case Study: Jonathan Schmitz and Scott Ameejor

Karen recounts the tragic case of Jonathan Schmitz, a former participant on the Jenny Jones Show, who murdered Scott Ameejor after a contentious karaoke performance of "My Way." The hosts discuss the interplay between reality TV show dynamics and personal vendettas, examining how production practices may inadvertently foster hostile environments.

Karen Kilgariff [41:18]: "A 29-year-old karaoke singer was shot dead as he sang the tune by the bar security guard who was arrested after the incident."

Legal and Ethical Implications

The hosts delve into the legal aftermath, where Schmitz was convicted of murder but later had his conviction overturned before being reconvicted. They critique the Jenny Jones Show's role in the events, discussing the ethical responsibilities of reality TV producers in orchestrating potentially explosive situations.

Stephen Ray Morris [70:10]: "The Michigan jury found the Jenny Jones show negligent and responsible for the events."

Global Perspectives on Karaoke Violence

Expanding the scope, Karen and Stephen share other international incidents where karaoke performances led to violent outcomes, citing cases from Malaysia, Thailand, and China. This segment underscores the universal pressures and emotions tied to karaoke that can escalate into aggression.

Karen Kilgariff [50:56]: "There have been several reported cases of singers being assaulted, shot, or stabbed mid-performance, usually over how the songs are sung."

Personal Stories and Listener Engagement

Interwoven with the main narrative are personal stories from Karen, Georgia, and their listeners. They share humorous and heartfelt karaoke experiences, highlighting the show's community-driven nature.

Stephen Ray Morris [81:09]: "I reconnected with Mimi, my cat. Elvis gives zero shits about anything but cookies."

Insights and Conclusions

In wrapping up, Karen and Georgia reflect on the delicate balance between entertainment and safety in social settings like karaoke bars. They ponder the broader implications of how cultural practices and media representations can influence real-world behaviors, advocating for more mindful production and participation in such activities.

Karen Kilgariff [73:27]: "Humans have learned that being in that victim stance can actually be good for your career."

Stephen Ray Morris [77:51]: "We hate late night talk shows. They make us want to scream at the TV."

Notable Quotes

• Karen Kilgariff [31:20]: "Filipinos love karaoke. It's essentially their national pastime, providing both an escape and a communal bonding experience."
• Stephen Ray Morris [37:06]: "Singing is like an infusion of the perfect tranquilizer. It combines soothing your nerves and elevating your spirits."
• Karen Kilgariff [41:18]: "A 29-year-old karaoke singer was shot dead as he sang the tune by the bar security guard who was arrested after the incident."
• Stephen Ray Morris [70:10]: "The Michigan jury found the Jenny Jones show negligent and responsible for the events."
• Karen Kilgariff [50:56]: "There have been several reported cases of singers being assaulted, shot, or stabbed mid-performance, usually over how the songs are sung."

Final Thoughts

Episode 40 of Rewind with Karen & Georgia masterfully blends humor with a sobering true crime investigation, shedding light on the darker side of karaoke culture. Through engaging storytelling and thoughtful analysis, Karen and Georgia offer listeners a comprehensive understanding of how cultural phenomena can intersect with violence, emphasizing the importance of responsible entertainment production.

Conclusion

Whether you're a long-time fan or a new listener, this episode provides a captivating exploration of a unique true crime case intertwined with cultural insights and personal anecdotes. Karen and Georgia's signature blend of comedy and storytelling ensures that the episode is both informative and entertaining, embodying the essence of My Favorite Murder.

Transcript

[Karen Kilgariff]

This is exactly right. You know those commercials where a single impossibly shiny car glides down a beautiful winding country road with a horse running along a fence?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, yeah, that's not real life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Stephen Ray Morris]

Hyundai vehicles are equipped with a standard.

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

Learn more about Hyundai at Hyundai USA or call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's H Y U N d a I usa.com or call 562-314-4603.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Goodbye.

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

See visible.com for plan features and network management details.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Goodbye.

[Unknown]

At Amica Insurance, we know it's more than a life policy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's about the promise and the responsibility.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That comes with being a new parent.

[Unknown]

Being there day and building a plan for tomorrow. Today for the ones you'll always look out for. Trust Amica Life Insurance. Amica Empathy is our best policy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Hello and welcome to Rewind with Karen in Georgia.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It is Wednesday, which can only mean one thing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That means we're trapped in your phone, in your ears, and we're forced to recap our old shows with all new commentary, updates and insights.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Forced. We have the privilege of being forced. Today we're recapping episode 40, which at the time we named Squadgourds.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God. Iconic.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So iconic. Just FYI, this episode came out on October 26, 2016. That's the same day Marty McFly traveled back in time. That's fun, right? Because we're about to travel back in time. But although he traveled back to 1955, we're going back to 2016. And it also doesn't work because we're going back to October 26th, and he was traveling from the.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You're overthinking. You're overthinking this. Let's Just listen to the intro of episode 40.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Let's start with a prayer.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. Good idea. Dear Oprah, can you help us, please?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Please, Oprah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oprah. We just need ten hundred thousand dollars.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

What if we were like, oprah's our guest at the Chicago Podcast Festival.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Someone asked us that on Twitter.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's right. That's right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They were like, is the guest gonna be Oprah? And I immediately wrote, no, because I just didn't want her to be sad or have any big feelings.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I don't wonder if she would talk about murder. I feel like she's, like, not in that headspace anymore.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh. But I feel like that's what that show was. I mean, like, in the beginning, that show was like, this man lit his child on fire. Like, let's give him a makeover for real. That show was like, oh, really? Sally Jesse Raphael. Well, we're gonna take it one step lower.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. However, there is one episode where club kids are on one of those shows, and it's like, fucking epic.

[Karen Kilgariff]

On Sally. Jessie.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I think so.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I feel like I've seen, like, screen grabs from that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. Anyways, like, go ahead. No, no, no, no, I won't. No. And I just. No. Ended you so hard.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. The first thing I would like to talk about is how we. Although it is not our birthday, nor is it yet Christmas, you and I. Yes. We got a surprise gift from Stephen.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And, you guys, if you ever want to get me a gift, don't bother, because this is the only gift I've ever wanted. Stephen brought Georgia and I, the book, Mysteries of the Unknown, the Time Life.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Series we each have that we talked about last week. And then he went on ebay. He must have had to overnight these on ebay. Here's the problem.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Spent all the money in the world.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The problem is you're so like, he brought over a bottle like we were drinking. We drink my whiskey and he brought over a bottle and like, stephen, no. You're like, we're supposed to be buying you all the shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're our unpaid intern.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's so thoughtful, but I get college credit at the sat. Scientology. You got me Phantom Encounters.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, we're gonna co own these, though, right? Because I immediately. The second he handed you yours, I was like, but wait, what's that one?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We share these with the universe.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's true. Mine is. Except for you guys can't borrow. Mine is Mystic Places, which was the one in the Google Image search. Yeah, that's right. With the pyramid and the eye and the Sphinx. Some Illuminati shit.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It is so crazy. This is beautiful.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, I just can't stop staring at it. It's the best gift.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Here's one. Here's an article. Here's a page titled, Banishing Baneful Ghosts.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Nice. Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Who came up with that?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just some bullshit time writer who was.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, I was so unhappy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. They were like, I'm so sick of talk of, like, writing about Nixon and Shakespeare's haunted stage.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm getting a paycheck.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Mine's tracking the Earth's energies. And look at this guy who has, like, those crazy sticks that go in different directions.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

He looks like he has one of those hats on that have, like, a pinwheel on the top. Oh, Steven, thank you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. This is amazing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Steven Ray Morris from the Purrrcast podcast.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We should actually put these down. Cause now we're reading books on our podcast. Oh, my God. That's how good they are.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, that was terrifying.

[Karen Kilgariff]

These are. I feel like these were on every coffee table in the 80s where, like, if you went to your boring aunt's house and got st. My mom's classic thing was, sorry, it's adult time. So we would get banished into the TV room. And then if nothing good was on TV. Cause there were only four channels. Cause I'm 67. God bless the house that you went to that had a Time Life series book on the coffee table.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

But do you remember those people's houses you used to go to? Like, friends or boyfriends, families when you were staying for Christmas or whatever? And it was like you had memorized the one magazine that they had in the bathroom because you went to the toilet to fucking escape.

[Karen Kilgariff]

To get away.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Just to get away. And so you knew that fucking. The fucking us weekly from 10 years ago. Not 10. Like, it's more like four. But it's still somehow crazy outdated.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I would have memorized every word of these books as a kid. Because I would have just read them over and over again at my aunt's house.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's right. And nothing when I was a child was catered to us. There was a box of toys that were entertaining when we were three and under. And then it was like. And if something good's on tv or even if something. My boyfriend's here. Bye. Cool writer.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We played. I remember this as a kid. Like, here's what it was. Like, we played with kitchen utensils under my grandma's grand piano. And you need to shut the fuck up and play with this ladle from 1960. And, like, pretend it's something.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. Just use your imagination.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Potato masher.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Ours was always just go outside. Cause we would. Like we were on a farm. There was all kinds of shit you could be doing outside.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Now everyone has lime.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. God, these children are tired. So thank you, Steven. You're the greatest.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, Steven, we really appreciate. You're an angel.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Human couple. Should I just do some Twitter corners?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Hell yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Cause there's been some great stuff happening on our Twitter page. First of all, Krista tweeted at us because Gary Condit is gonna appear on Dr. Phil.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Shut up.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Uh huh. He's gonna discuss the Chandra Levy murder on Dr. Phil.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It took me a minute because I'm so bad with names. But now that all makes sen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I should have included both. I'm just trying to open this link so I can tell you exactly what's gonna happen. But I could also ask my friend. Cause it may have already been taped.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Well, so we know that now the person who got. Who was suspected of killing Chandra Levy was let go. That's right. And so they're starting to open up that maybe it was Gary Condon, the former senator.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, they're basically. They exonerated the person who was in jail for the murder and they have reopened the investigation. No one's named Gary Condit specifically, but we do know that they've gone back in. They're looking into like, basically people who gave him. What do you call that, like I was there. Alibi.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Alibis.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Alibis.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They're called I was there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're called the I was theres.

[Georgia Hardstark]

We're the best.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I was there when he wasn't killing her. I believe.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Alibis. Man, those things get shaky after fucking couple of years.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's right. And it's been quite some time.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh man. And you know, he's had another affair and so his wife is like, you know what? Fuck this. He wasn't at home with me watching fucking Matlock.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, I feel that's kind of the kind of the key to like an old cold case totally is you get those people who are like, oh yeah, remember your awesome boyfriend that you would have done anything for in 1985? Who is a murderer. And it turns out wasn't all that cool.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

He actually wasn't with me that night.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It turned out. He also loved to give me the back of his hand across the face often.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

So I came home that night covered in blood.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He was just. He looked like a tomato. So anyhow, that's gonna be on Dr. Phil. I can't find the Date.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

But no, it doesn't matter.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's exciting. The link is on our Twitter feed. Also, the other thing, I just wanted to give a shout out because we had been talking last week about how we hate carving pumpkins.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, no. What happened?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, Caroline sent us a picture of the most perfect Halloween Jack O Lantern goals for us. And this is it. It's the tiniest face carved into a pumpkin. And it made. When I saw it, it made me laugh so hard.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's like an emoji. It's like the size of an emoji and the face of an emoji. Like the happy face emoji. That's all I want in life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But then on the hugest pumpkin. So it's basically like this person took a pen and stuck it into a pumpkin. It's so fun.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And then they were like, where's my wine? And where are my Ritz crackers?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm done. You can laugh out loud, Stephen. That's good stuff.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's beautiful.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thank you so much, Caroline. Cause I really loved that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Can I have a quick, quick pun corner? Please do Squad gourds instead of goals.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Squad gourds.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Because pumpkin is a gourd. Let me explain this. My comedy is, like, kind of, you know, like, it's intellectual. Squad gourds.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's written comedy. It's reader comedy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You gotta squad gourds.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's really good.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, give me a hot minute. Mimi loves it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, my God. Mimi's crying, laughing right now. You can't see it, but trash.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

She looks so bored. That's amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's good.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Thank you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, and then the. We got that. Super awesome for somebody. I'll find her name right now. Her name is Jessica Hullinger, and she wrote an article for the week called why I am a Murderino.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That was. And I love when people write article. It's been. You know, there hasn't been a lot, but when they write them and they post photos that other people of, like, Murderinos fan art.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Because that makes. It's so great to get other people's art out there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's very cool. It's like, it's one huge communal effort, kind of.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So the name of the article is I am a Murderito. I added the why? Because I can't not do that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

What did you say?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Why I am a Murderito.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, that's weird. Well, you know what? So I want to go ahead and give someone that we need to find on the Facebook group credit for making up the word Murderino.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. Who is that person?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's a dude. And he's like, hey, I came up with that, so we need to find him. People are like, not people. Some people are like, let's get that fucking word in Webster's dictionary. Okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, if too much for you, I hate stuff like that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

But I don't mean for us. I mean that. I mean that. The word. That. That word means people who are really into true crime. I don't mean, like, from the. My Favorite Murder podcast. I mean, like, the people who are into true crime. Like, who are. Who are you? What do you do? I'm a murderino. I like that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I just feel like whenever we say the words, like, let's get this going, then there's gonna be like, you know, a bunch of people are like, they want us to do it, so let's do it. Which I could. That kind of stuff is of all the things we should be putting our effort behind. Let's get Trump in the White House. That's the thing that I want everybody to really get feet on the sidewalks about Karen.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

People are gonna think you're. I posted something today of, like, hitler is Trump. And, like, look at all these photos. And someone was like, oh, thank God that. I thought I heard you last week say that you were voting for Trump. And I'm. And I got scared.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You know what? If you're scared, goodbye. Because that means you don't have a sense of humor.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, please. Fair.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I would say 75% of the things I'm saying are either sarcastic or lying. That's the kind of the jungle of a personality that I have.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's why I love you, man.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Squad Gourds, Fucking Squad Gourds girl.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Okay, I have something to talk about.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

From Instagram, you had Twitter corner. I have Instagram corner.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's right.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

All right. I'm sitting at a bar, as I do on Saturday night, the Roost, which is one of my favorite bars in la. Very cool place, divey as fuck. Hanging out with my friends. And then I, like, scroll to Instagram and someone tagged me in something, and I open it and almost started crying and just turned it to my friend and showed her, and she looked at me like, you know, like one of those dude looks.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Have you seen this?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, yeah. You sent that to me.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, right. Okay, well, so Pill worm on Instagram, motherfucking got a gorgeous tattoo that says, stay sexy. Don't get murdered.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And am I wrong to say that it looks like. I'm assuming that's a Woman. Yeah. Just. Cause that's the usual.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I think it's on her, like, back shoulder.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. But it's like, across her back shoulder. Big, old big.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I just wonder, like, what if it turns out, oh, yeah, no, we were serious about Trump. And she's like, oh, fuck, I have this tattoo.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And his truth.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

These awful people are like, oh, no, we're racist as fuck.

[Karen Kilgariff]

She's like, wait a second. I just write as the tattoo machine is like, ding. There you go. $75.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's a beautiful tattoo, and it's by a girl named Her Under Jaw Tattoos. J A W Tattoos made it. It's, like, really well done and gorgeous tattoo, and I'm, like, in awe of it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's beautiful. And I have to say, you sent me that picture. My sister sent it to me, Adrian sent it to me, and April sent it to me. Like, I got. It was like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

There's another one, too, that I just. We can't. I have. I feel like we have to give credit to, because it's like this tattoo that Pilworm got is me in my 20s. This tattoo that this other girl is me in my, like, teens.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And it's a poke. It's a pokey tattoo that you do when you just. Underneath this beautiful tattoo on my leg are the initials of my best friend from when I was 14. With Indian ink.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And so this girl did that. I'm just gonna keep talking until I find it. It says, fuck politeness, and she said, it's a stick and poke. Yeah, I guess it's called.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And she wrote fuck politeness and stick and poke. And her name is Paulina, with three A's and an underscore at the end. And you can see her tattoo. It's on our. It's on Twitter up there on Instagram.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Yeah, man. It's very cool.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I fucking dig it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, it's nice that it's. There are things that people really. That's resonating and making people feel good and things that they like and that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Are enhancing their lives, considering just the amount of shit that comes out of our mouth that we just don't think twice about. And then, like, you know what I'm saying?

[Karen Kilgariff]

My Trump material. Is that what you're talking about again.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That comes out of Karen's mouth? No. I was at the bar, and I almost started crying, and I'm so fucking honored. And it's amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's awesome. Okay, this is like. Like, we'll call this Laura Corner. Because my sister, the lurker, we'll call it the Other Kilgara, the Other White Kilgarra, she loves the Facebook page and goes on there all the time. She's so touched by the fact that there's all these rad people talking to each other, supporting each other.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You know about her sister.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What's that?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

About her sister, right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, she's my sister.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. But. Yes, but also talking. She's like, they're all so nice.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They're so fucking nice.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, everyone's just cool. So. But she found this, and it's her favorite. It's a guy named Dylan who's in the army, and he wrote and said, I'm in the army, and I always give a short, semi serious statement to the service personnel I supervise on Friday before we leave for the weekend. Usually I end with something like, be safe, don't die. But today I said, stay sexy. Don't get murdered, and then just walked away. To a bunch of guys in the military, the funny looks I got made it totally worth it. Just wanted to share that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Love you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God. Thank you for your service.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thank you for all the people you freaked out for their service, but also the idea that we crossed over into a military.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Military. Oh, who. What do you know me?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hi.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Hi.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That is the coolest.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's so crazy. And, oh, I also want to give a shout out. Speaking of everyone being cool and awesome on the Facebook group. The moderators are fucking. They're, you know, amazing, and they bust their asses. Gang school of everyone. And it's the best. Thank you, guys.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. What else? Let me look at my list. I made a list in a font that looks like it's. If there is a four or two font, that's what I did because it's tiny and I can't see.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You can't see anything.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, here it is. And we got lots of people reached out to tell us about this because it happened in Sacramento. The woman who was walking up the street with a head on a stick. Did you hear about this story? You didn't? Am I the one telling you first.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

A head on a stick? Girl, what the fuck, Sacramento? You guys have some fucking ether in here.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a floodplain, and no one has anything to do.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Everyone's just huffing shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're just hot. You know what I mean? It's like there's fumes coming up from melting asphalt.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Do you know what else everyone has fucking lime there. I Promise you. Because you run full. You run through a field, a cornfield, lime, lime, lime, lime, lime. And then your brain goes crazy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

True. I mean, I can't argue this, but.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Then you put a fucking head on a.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So apparently this woman had found a dead body in an abandoned homeless encampment. What? That Somewhere. And I actually looked it up on a map because I was like, where. Where did this happen? Like, I. All I could picture was myself in the late 80s, early 90s, driving all hot and bummed out in Sacramento and then looking over on the sidewalk and a woman with a head on it Now.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Or would you. Here's what my problem is. I would be the person who would come upon that abandoned homeless encampment and want to search through it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, yeah. I mean, yeah, you would. If you're like out in the woods or something and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, people lived here, but they're not here anymore. Why?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's like detectiving. You're like, well, there's gotta be a note.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Seats that show when they were, you know, the story.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The article I read was limited information. I feel like more to come. But it seem like this woman herself is homeless. And the first article I read said head on a stick. But then when I looked into it, it was a skull on a stick. So it's not gonna be as totally nightmare town as it seemed like, as they were kind of selling it.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, but still, the media was making something seem more. That's crazy. I don't even.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But they. In the picture, it was pixelated, so there's a chance that there was some bad action on that skull. So anyway, I'm very interested to see what the next phase of like. So obviously they took her. Everybody saw her walking down the street.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Why did she do that?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, here's my theory is either maybe she was mute, or she knew that there would be a communication problem. If she said, I found a dead body, she wouldn't be able to express herself correctly.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Do you think she was mentally disabled?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, I don't know. I mean, she's a homeless person and her choice was to put a head on a stick and walk up the street with it.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Leave it there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But also she decided to put a head on a stick and walk up the street with it. So I think she probably was like, this is going to be the quickest way to get help.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And I don't want to touch it. And I'm gonna put it on a stick.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm not gonna put it on the top of my head.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm not gonna put it on my fist and, like, use it as a puppet. Oh, no, I'm being disrespectful. No.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's all so bad. Anyway, so we will. I'm gonna keep my eye out for that story and what. Even what all of that is.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You know what's so bananas to me, like, of these stories that you hear and then you'll never hear about it. It's these, like, this person got killed in the hit and run accident, and then you just never hear about it again.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, the bummer, too, is, like, if this was an abandoned homeless encampment and somebody died there, and who knows what the circumstances were, but they said the body was. Had been there for a while, so they probably won't be able to get a lot of information. And then it's just gonna be like, yeah, and that's what happened.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And like, someone hasn't heard from their brother in fucking 15 years. Oh, my God, I'm making myself wanna cry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know. So anyway, there's CR around us, but.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Especially in Sacramento, everything's the worst. Just look for the best things in life. Get cats. Be happy. Stay positive.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Get a dog. Dogs are good too. Should we do our podcast? And we are back.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Okay, can I explain squad gourds? Because I've been thinking about it since this episode.

[Karen Kilgariff]

For eight years.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

For eight or nine years.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, absolutely.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I was thinking of squad goals, which was a big, like, hashtag saying at the time. Y. I should and could have said squash goals, which would have been.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I still am.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, why didn't she say why? I made it harder for myself by saying squat instead of squash goals. I said squad gourds.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep, squad gourds.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Which is just like how my. Like, I think. To me, that's a great example of how my brain works.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because your brain doesn't work like the hashtag gals.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's very different.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's a little harder. It's gonna take a longer route and it's gonna get there. And then the people who are there when it gets there, those are my people.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, Right. Also, it's the thing. You always say a thing. As a standup comedian, you get trained to guess the joke.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Right, Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So when someone is in a setup, you're like, I know what you're gonna say. And that is basically what you do. And that's why comics are so insufferable, is cause they always have that kind of attitude.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, Emma, you can't make me laugh because I already get the joke.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, exactly. I just knew you were gonna say that. And I never know what the fuck you're gonna say in the biggest compliment way. And same with my friend Kevin. Christie one time texted me. Cause he was, like, binging our show. And he goes, I swear to God, I just never know what she's gonna say. And I was like, I know. That's the thing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God, I might cry. You know the thing. Oh, my God, that's really touching because as a kid, I was like that. And it made my life really fucking difficult and hard and, like, made me get teased a lot and bullied because I was exactly like that. And I couldn't fucking control it. And I still can't. But now it works.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Exactly.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm so happy. That makes me so happy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You found your people.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You found your calling. If I may.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And also, that is like, a creative brain never works in fifth grade. A creative brain is despised in fifth grade. Wow. Because that's ultimately, like, when you're supposed to start really fitting in.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And my brain always was like, karen, stand over there and say this really loud. And it's like, no, quiet. We're trying to be shy. It's like, nope, you're not going to be.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Be like, be cute and timid. Now. Just be fucking weird.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Not an option.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I love it. I love it. I'm so happy about that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Okay. What else did we talk about? I still have Steven's book that he gave me. Do you have yours?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, yes. And prominently displayed. I mean, that was, first of all, Steven. It's been so long. We miss him. But that was that kind of thing where I was like, this is the loveliest gift.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was like a gift where someone, like, went into my mind and went, what do you want? You don't even know what you want.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's so thoughtful. Totally. Like, you wouldn't know that you want this. And I found it. I put effort and time into it. And you're like, what are you doing?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Also. Cause when Steven. And maybe even when you were growing up, did you see those infomercials for mysteries of the unknown? Yeah. Oh, okay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Obsessed. Oh, I thought we were gonna get abducted by aliens. I was so obsessed with that stuff.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A woman. A woman in Ohio cuts her hand.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And across the country, her twin sister starts to bleed or whatever.

[Karen Kilgariff]

This truly was the monoculture back then. It was like, we all saw one commercial, freaked out.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Shit. Oh, the alien in the barn, man. It's Fucking happening.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's happening right all over.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

All right, well let's get into Karen's story, which is one I had never heard. This is so fascinating. One I think about a lot. This is the My Way killings.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

There are probably a billion furniture options out there. We didn't count, but that number feels right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So how do you find the perfect piece?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Easy.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You go to Article.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Article believes in delightful design for every home. And thanks to their online only model, they have some really delightful prices too.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Article makes furniture shopping a breeze with its carefully selected styles from mid century Moder to Boho and everything in between.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Check out their near dresser. It's beautiful and practical, which is a deadly combination.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You know we're hard stands of article on this podcast.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Everyone knows that we're like BFFs.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean we couldn't rave more.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And it's because everything is so classy, so beautifully made, affordable and so user friendly. Like you don't have to have style to like get stylish stuff from article. They do it for you. So like there's no worry there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Look at that near a dresser on their website. Just go and take a look at that one piece and you will see what we are talking about. It is as mid century as you could get.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Seriously. Article is offering our listeners 50 off your first purchase of a hundred dollars or more.

[Karen Kilgariff]

To claim, visit article.com murder and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's a R-T-I C L E.com murder to get 50 off your first purchase of a hundred dollars or more.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Goodbye. As the weather starts to get warmer and we can finally go places again, it's time to face a hard truth. Your travel wardrobe is not ready.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You can't bring bad fashion on your vacation. They won't let you out of the airport.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Fortunately, we all have quints. They have high quality travel essentials at fair prices.

[Georgia Hardstark]

With quints you can get quality luxury essentials without a hefty price tag. Like lightweight European linen styles from $30, washable silk tops and comfy lounge sets.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And Quince also has premium luggage options and stylish tote bags to car.

[Georgia Hardstark]

At all everything is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Because Quint works directly with top factories, they cut out the middleman and pass the savings onto you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

George, I don't want to brag or anything but I just got a box of three brand new quint sweaters because I wear my $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters that I got years ago. So much That I was finally like, I need to freshen this up a little bit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

For your next trip, treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from Quint quince.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Go to quince.commfm for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's Q U I N C E dot com mfm to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Quince.commfm Goodbye.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You love your cat, but you don't love the smell of their litter box.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The solution, get a dog.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Karen. I tried that and it actually doesn't work. The real solution is Pretty Litter.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Pretty Litter is the high performance cat litter that controls odors, absorbs moisture and changes color to help detect affect potential health issues in your cat.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And Pretty Litter is ultra absorbent, lightweight, low dust and one six pound bag lasts up to a month. And the best part, Pretty Litter ships free right to your door so you'll never run out. So this is the kind of cat family I live in. And the cat ladies, my sister and I are. I was at our house over the weekend and she showed me her brand new beautiful like robotic litter box and we were both like oohing and ahhing over it. And she uses Pretty Litter in it. And so there wasn't dust everywhere. Even though this robot like mixes it up on its own.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's magic.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a true test.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And Pretty Litter made it so that the whole room wasn't covered in disgusting kitty litter dust. So I was impressed.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Pretty Litter helps keep your house smelling fresh and clean. Try it. You will love it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Go to prettylitter.com mfm to save 20% on your first order and get a free cat toy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's Prettylitter.com MFM to save 20% on your first order and get a free cat toy.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Prettylitter.com MFM terms and conditions apply.

[Karen Kilgariff]

See site for details. Goodbye. All right, it's my turn to go first this week.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's absolutely not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It is.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, it isn't. But I don't care.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, no, no. You went first last week.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, I didn't. I went first. I had the eyeball killer and you went. You're right. Oh, no.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right up to the second you were positive.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm telling you, man, I can argue anything. Even though I don't know or believe it. I can just.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I was totally blessed. I was like, shit. Okay, me too. This is this one.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Let's go.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, yeah. Everybody calm down. The reason that I this is my murder this week is Because Guy Branham, a friend of the show, hilarious comedian, asked me if I'd heard of these killings. And he's good. He's so good. And when he said what they were, I was like, my brain wrote an entire thing of what it meant.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Ooh, it's one of those names.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. And then so it takes place in the Philippines, and they're called the My Way killings. Okay, so let me paint the picture for you a little bit. It will be a little bit confusing at the beginning, but I'm just gonna run down a little information for you, and then it'll all become clear.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Get at it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Get out. Get up into that attic. Okay, So I don't know if you guys know this. I didn't until I started looking into this. That Filipinos love karaoke. They fucking love it as a nation. It's basically their national pastime. Okay? Almost every Philippine home has a karaoke machine.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Whoa. They would hate me.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's. Why? Because why?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Because I can't sing for shit. And I'm scared of karaoke.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's. I. I'm scared of karaoke. Well, we'll talk about that, but it's. So let's make this about us. Meanie, me, me. So they. Every birthday party, every holiday party, and they have so many karaoke and videokee, which is a different version of karaoke where you get scored against other people that are doing karaoke that night.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Who scores you?

[Karen Kilgariff]

The machine.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Holy shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So it's how many. There's another thing that's like that. Maybe it's banned. Jesus Christ. Sorry. Just hit my man.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Machines are fucking taking over and judging us now and scoring us. They are.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, Guitar Hero. It's a little bit like Guitar Hero where it knows if you're hitting the right notes, right? And so you get a score for video key. So it actually gets very competitive in the bar. So if you're singing like it's whoever's getting the best score on their song.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Can we all just chill, please?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, so in the Philippines, there's ktvs, which stands for karaoke television. And that bar is wholesome. It's like your whole family can go there. People have parties there or whatever. They cater to all ages. They serve food. There's private rooms. Then there's regular karaoke bars that are laid back. You have a drink, you embarrass yourself publicly. That's the whole idea of it. Good times.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Don't go there if you want to just chill. It's like there's people singing. It's fine.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, exactly. It's funny. And you're gonna get drunk and whatever. Sometimes there's even a live band to do vocals with.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That is awesome.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But then there's nightclub. And their nightclub, the thing that are called nightclubs in the Philippines are basically strip clubs with karaoke and there's exotic dancing. There's back rooms that feature more than just singing. That's directly from an article.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

What is more than just singing?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, so basically they have women who work there that they're called guest service officers, I think. Guest service officers. And they're basically like strippers that are paid to sit with the guys at the tables.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They have those in Japan. They're not strippers for sure. They're, you know. But they are sit and have a conversation. Like hosts.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They're hostesses.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We're gonna do it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So I feel like the. Basically they're trying to get a bunch of things done at once at their nightclub. So they kind of offer all these.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Different things to get people in.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Exactly.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Even in remote villages, families living in bamboo huts will have a karaoke machine in their house. Yeah. Which is because it's amazing. And so the world's first karaoke machine was invented. It was called the Juke 8 and it was built by Japanese inventor and musician named Daisuke Inui in 1971. But the current patent holder is the Filipino inventor Roberto Del Rosario. And he developed the karaoke sing along system in 1971. So it's basically like it's their hometown invention.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's awesome.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So I was looking into like it's. Why is singing this popular in the Philippines? And just a little background. Nearly 50% of the people who live in the Philippines and that's estimated 87 million people live on less than $2 a day. And many are forced to eke out a living selling scrap bric, a brac or begging a lot of impoverished neighborhoods. The karaoke machine is the one luxury that the whole community gets to enjoy and doesn't do without. So basically that's their only entertainment. And it's the closest a lot of them get to come to escape besides drinking and whatever. It's like you have a little moment where you can kind of be good. And also I looked it up. Researcher is. There's a Time magazine article that was written in 2013 about the positive effects of singing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No way.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And they researchers. I'm just reading from this article thing. But researchers discovered singing is like an infusion of the perfect tranquilizer. The kind that both soothes your nerves and elevates your spirits. You feel elated when you sing, which comes from endorphins, a hormone released by singing, which is associated with feelings of pleasure. And you also release oxytocin, which is a chemical that's found to alleviate anxiety and stress. And it enhances feelings of trust and bonding, which explains why more studies have found that singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness. A very recent study even attempts to make the case that music evolved as a tool of social living. And the pleasure that comes from singing together is our evolutionary reward for coming together cooperatively instead of hiding alone in a cave by yourself.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That is fucking heavy and intense and crazy and, like, makes me want to sing a lot more to myself. Myself.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's also make me. When I read that, I was like, oh, that's why I immediately start crying when I hear, like, gospel music. When, like, amazing or amazing choral music or, like, musicals.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Well, when I go to, like, temple. The rare times I go to temple and we sing these songs in a language I don't understand, but I know what it means. And we all know the words in Hebrew, which is fucking crazy because I don't speak Hebrew. It's this beautiful, like, it feels. Yeah. It feels like community.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. Yeah. And that feeling, it's like it's doing the work for you, where being there and being submerged in that sound connection is bonding you to those people that you're doing it with.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Fuck.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's very cool.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm gonna not. I'm gonna not hide my voice next time. Vince and I are driving and he puts a song on that I know. Cause I'm like, sing really quietly.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, go for it.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Who cares? I mean. Cause that's the other thing is I've always been, like, a big loud. I came up on, like, the cast album.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So, like, just big loud nose. Singing has always been my thing. But it's very. It's also, I think, part of. For me, singing is so embarrassing because it's so personal that once you do it, I think people respond to it because they know how hard it is. It's like public speaking or anything else.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm amazed. And I've seen you sing, and I'm amazed. I can't. I'm so in awe of people who can draw things that don't look like. Like nothing close to what it's supposed to be and people who can sing. It's just. It's amazing to me.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. When I first started singing, though, doing, like, doing songs on stage. I would say the first 15 times I did it it was very quiet, like I couldn't breathe very well and it was just so. But I just kept doing it anyway somehow. I don't know why.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Anyway.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Sorry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, off of me. Unfortunately, I'm gonna change the subject. Off of myself. And so anyway, all these factors are part of that cultural phenomenon. It's basically these people are figuring out how to self soothe and it's like life is really hard. There's you know, a lot of people like have it hard and you know, live. It's also a very violent place. There's a ton of illegal guns there. There's a lot of machismo culturally, a lot of fighting and it's so there's the need for that kind of. Of release valve and that's where they find it. Which is actually really beautiful.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So all of these factors contribute to a disturbing phenomenon that's taken place in the past decade. There have been over a dozen murders of people singing the song My Way.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Stop your fucking face. Are you fucking kidding me?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I swear to God.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

To that song. Oh my God. To that song Losing my Mind. Like you said that everything leading up to this was beautiful.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I really led you down the stoney path. Really.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I thought it was like. And the inventor got killed. I did not expect the craziest thing I've ever heard in my life. I'm so excited.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Isn't it so good?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's so good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

When Guy said that to me, he was like, have you heard of the My Way murders in the Philippines? I was just like immediately like please let there be a serial killer that goes around to karaoke bars and only kills people in their car after the thing. Whatever.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Well, you know what I was gonna say? I was gonna say say I didn't know what it was going to be. And I was like, oh, My Way must be a place in fucking the Philippines. My Way, Phil. You know, it's like that's how you say it. My Way. And it's going to be that this is so much more intriguing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's so good because. So it sucks.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm so sorry for everyone who typed tell me everything.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's rough. So on May 29, 2007, a 29 year old karaoke singer of the song My Way. And if you haven't heard it, it's the Frank sinatra hit from 1969. It was written by Paul Lanka and it's basically a biographical song. It was written for Frank Sinatra. It's just Basically like my career's been like this because I fucking did it my way. Yes, it's been hard, but also I kicked ass. And it's super braggy braggadocio.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's basically a ga fuck yourself.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a ga fuck yourself. I did it my way. Right. It's a bit self explanatory, but also fuck you.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Frank Dellotri's a dick. I hate that. That guy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Do you hate Frank?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Fucking hate. I think he's a dick.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, I love him. And so now we're in a fight.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Read what he did to fucking Mia Farrow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, no. I know. Yeah, that's rough stuff. Okay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Sorry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, no, it's okay. So a 29 year old karaoke singer of the song My Way at a bar in San Mateo Rizal was shot dead as he sang the tune by the bar security guard who was arrested after the incident. According to reports, the guard complained that the young man's rendition was off key. And when the victim refused to stop singing, the guard pulled out a.38 caliber pistol and shot him dead. So this, this is the other thing about the song My Way. It's pretty hard to sing because it's in this weird key where it's low, it goes up high. But there's. When you're in the low part, especially if you're drunk, it's like.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

But there is a casual drum to it too. The way Frank Sinatra sings it that it's just like an. I actually don't care that much about the. You know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. It's almost talk singing in certain parts.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And it's. It's very. It's like a long song.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's draggy and it's sad. It could be like depressing if you're in a bar drinking and you just want to fucking hang out.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right, Exactly. So it's actually become such a problem that that song has been taken off of most karaoke bar song lists because people don't want the problem.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They don't want want already I'm freaked. I thought it was one guy who's going around doing this. It's just like a.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, it's a. It's basically. It's a thing that causes people to fight and murder. Dude.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Dude, I'm gonna lose.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So fucking crazy. Okay, so there was actually an article in the New York Times about it. And the writer asked, are the killings the natural byproduct of the country's culture? Violence, violence, drinking and machismo. Or is there something. Or is there something inherently sinister? About the song, which is kind of funny, like it's a cursed song that you will die at the end. Or, you know, it was one.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The first person who was mentally unstable who brought his.38 to work and killed a guy. And then everyone else is copying him.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

So next. So anyways, moving. Sorry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well. But no, that's a. It's a good theory. Most of those karaoke bars that I was describing to you earlier are really violent places anyway. It's like people are going there to blow off steam. They're going there to get shit faced. There's a lot of steam to be blown off. And so there's lots of fights anyway.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

So there's nefarious people who are there anyways.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. But they often fight over bad singing and the singing of boring songs.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I could see that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And so they're saying it could just reflect the popularity of the song combined with the popularity of karaoke combined with.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The violent and the competitive nature too, of it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's exactly right, because that one video key or whatever, it literally scores you. So you're in a bar, you're trying to have a good time on a Friday night. You've got the hired gals here and the real gals over here. And you're going up there and you're trying to be cool. You don't want to suck. And in your drunk mind, I mean, how many times you been to karaoke where someone's like, I'm gonna sing. Like, what if God was one of us? Or something? Where you're like, please don't do that to us.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Fuck you. I know you're showing off. Sing something with your fucking friends.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Don't sing Norah Jones at a karaoke bar. Oh, my God, you're making me sing like Norah Jones. Yeah, just get some. Should I stay or should I go? Let people have a good time.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The cars. Always good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Cars. Blondie is probably always good.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Blondie. Cars. Just shut the up. Don't do Fiona Apple. All right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, yeah. Don't bring that. Don't bring that sadness to your own door.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No. Don't bring me down.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No. Another great song. All right, so I lost my spot.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I can keep talking and naming songs people should sing if you want.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Now, this is all repetitive.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

What was the second murder? Tell me the second murder. I'm gonna first tell. I'm gonna tell everyone in the meantime. Yeah, about.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I did the thing where I click and it flicks me back to the top and then I lose my spot.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The only time I've Done karaoke where I was like, that was the fucking coolest is I did it at a bowling alley in Eagle Rock, and they happen to fucking have Dead Kennedys on there. They happen. It was Kill the Poor, which is like, not. It wasn't like.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like that sarcasm, just in case.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, it was. No, no, no. It was a song called Kill the Poor.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, I know.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Okay. I'm sorry. I fucking killed it. Like, I already knew those songs because I was 14 and obsessed with Dead Kennedys, and I. I just fucking.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I had a couple beers already, but people went crazy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

My three friends that were there and the rest of the empty bar were like.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, they were like a high five.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's the opposite of the. One of the few times I've done karaoke is my friend put my name in without telling me. Oh, fuck you. And you know what song she picked for me? Oh, no, nothing compares to you.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's kind of cute, though.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, it isn't. Cause talk about my way. It's a dirge. It's just like.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You're right. Yeah, but listen to how good you sound.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, it doesn't matter.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You can be. I'm sorry. Everyone's gonna tweet at us right now and be like, yeah, but, Karen, that was better than I've ever sounded in my life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stop. Here's the thing. You can.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, I agree.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You can have the. The best singing voice in the world. Don't do it to us. It's that. That was basically like a prank song.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I am.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You have.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You should be able to murder people. If they put your name down without you knowing it. That is unacceptable.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, that's. Yeah. Actually, I just shouldn't have gone. But it was one of those things where there were so few people.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. They're like, karen, Karen, Karen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And then they're like, get up there. You're a comedian. You're supposed to have a sense of humor.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They trade gin. No, you can't. Trust us.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Here's the thing. There's such a problem with violence in karaoke bars that they actually hire gay men or transsexual men. They call them baklas. And they are there to diffuse the undercurrent of tension with the male patrons of karaoke bars because they're not seen as rivals for the women, and they're not seen as rivals for the singing. So they're beautiful and they're there, and it's basically like drag queen comedy. Like, they come in and make jokes and, like, it basically keeps the tension down.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's beautiful.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It really is nice. But it also is kind of funny that that's. The amount of competition and tension in those bars is so extreme that that happens.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You know, in the very beginning of the story, they sounded so chill and it sounded like families were there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, yeah, but.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, but there are places in this world, there's gotta be Chuck E. Cheeses that are fucking dangerous, man. That fucking. In somewhere in.

[Karen Kilgariff]

In the Inland Empire.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

New Jersey or the Inland Empire. That's where mobsters meet.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. You don't want to. You one bad drunk dad near the pizza station and you're like, oh, this is a ruined Saturday.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And then he gets fucking cement shoes and gets thrown to the ball pit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, the mafia guy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm sorry, here's a really good quote and I will wrap it up here.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, I love.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like this guy is this guy that got interviewed for that New York Times article said, in the Philippines, life is difficult. And he is a man who repairs watches at a street kiosk. There's government corruption. It's a weak economy that's driven a lot of Filipinos to work overseas. His own wife is a maid in Lebanon. And so he says, but, you know, we have a saying, don't worry about your problems. Let your problems worry about you. Mm, yeah, that's right. So that's. They're just trying to deal. I also, there's just a couple on the Wikipedia page, they had other karaoke rage incidents in other countries, which is kind of funny. Just saying it's not. Some people get really competitive about karaoke. There have been several reported cases of singers being assaulted, shot or stabbed mid performance, usually over how the songs are sung. In Malaysia, a man in 2008 in a coffee shop was performing and he hugged the karaoke microphone so long that he was stabbed to death by other patrons. Plural.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, and everyone had a knife on them.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

What if it was like butter knives?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Butter knives. So it took forever to stab him. And this is rough. In Thailand, a man was arrested because he showed shot eight of his neighbors to death, one of whom was his own brother in law because they were singing Take Me Home, Country Roads repeatedly and terribly.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We've talked about my ex roommate who just sang moonshadows, played the bass and sang moonshadows just into the night.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm being followed by a moonshadow. That song.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Wait, what's the other one? Yeah, that one over. And she was a bass player, so she was playing it on bass like it wasn't even guitar. Oh my God. So I get it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I murdered her.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A man hacked two other men to death with a meat cleaver over a fight over a karaoke microphone in China one time.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Who the fuck knew?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, it's pretty intense.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I mean, I get it. I get angry at karaoke when I get an Evite to a friend. A friend's birthday party at a karaoke, like, private room.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, I don't want to. I want to go sit at the bar and talk to you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. I don't want to watch you sing ABBA bad.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And, like, drink so much sake that I have a headache and pay $18 for chicken wings.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, be grateful that you live in a country where you basically don't have to sing karaoke all the time, because it sounds like that's kind of just what people do.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, that's true. It's like, you can't be like, no, I'd rather go bowling.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And everyone's like, bowling.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's not a thing here.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Are you crazy? We don't do that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I mean, can we start skeeballing instead of karaoke? Do you know how happy that would make me?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Do you know how shot you would get? Yeah, that's my murder. I'm done.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That. I love that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's pretty good, right?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I would have never known about that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know, me either. But I really. I have to admit, I really did want it to be just one guy in, like, a trench coat who would watch you sing My Way and then kill you in the parking lot.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Well, we're gonna write this Nicolas Cage. Are you available?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I feel like you might be.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I have a sinking sensation.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're going to be a gritty cop. A gritty ex cop hired as a security guard.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Where's Willem Dafoe? Bar, where's Willem Dafoe? Come in.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Where is he? He's doing a lot of Snickers commercials right now, but I think we could get him on this project.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Okay, we're back. Wow. Karen, any updates?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, not specifically just the of me being reminded by going back to this story that when I first heard about the My Way killings, I truly thought there was a singular serial killer killing anyone at a karaoke bar that was singing that song.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We still need to write it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, we absolutely should.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It still needs to be writ.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But also the amount of work that would take.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like, it's so specific.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, but we could get. We have our own media company now. We could fund it. We could film it. Remember, we have a green screen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God, we could shoot it right in there.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I thought you meant we could fund a person that would do that. I was like, I don't really want to invest in that. I think that's wrong. Here's the updates I can give you. Since 2016, there have been no widely reported incidents specifically linked to the singing of Frank Sinatra's My Way in karaoke settings. However, karaoke related violence, of course, continues to occur globally, usually stemming from disputes over performances. And then parenthetically, I would add. And too much liquor.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. Cause they're one and the same.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You get there, you think you have it. The pride, the beer. Maybe a couple whiskey shots. Someone sings way better than you. You get up and your dream dies.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

What was the last karaoke song you sang?

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was the one my friend made me sing. Nothing compares to you.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, that's good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's just like, I'm never doing this again.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, I won't do it again. I might. I won't. I should. I should.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, I feel like it would be really freeing. Depends on who's here.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. I won't ever do it in front of strangers again. Like at a bar night. But I'll do it with friends if it struck me. You know what I mean?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Yes. Because actually, the last time I really did karaoke, I just didn't think of it. Cause it wasn't a karaoke bar. It was those individual booths. And I was in New York City.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Those are the best.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And this was my favorite because my friend Hailey was kind of drunk and she kept. She wanted to do an entrance for her song. So she took the mic and the mic chord and walked out into the hallway. And then kept missing the intro because she couldn't hear the beginning of the song.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, that's such a drunk thing to do.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like four times where I was crying. I was like, please stop. I'm laughing so hard. Like, it was the best bit. And she was not doing it on purpose at all.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's like, it reminds me of a cat. Like something a cat would do.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You know what I mean?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Where they're just like, no, I've got this.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're like, start it over. I'll do it this time. And it's like, if you can't hear it out there, you'll miss it every time, always.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You can't knock to start.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Da na na na na na. Whatever ABBA song she was trying to sing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So there have been Alison Agassi, our writer went through and found us some karaoke violence stories. Oh, they're notable. For example, in Parkes, Australia, Elvis Presley impersonator Bernie Perry was found dead in his home after a karaoke night at the Royal Hotel. And a fellow musician was charged with his murder.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Wow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. So, you know, I think the. The drama around karaoke continues.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Always will. Tell us your karaoke story as far for hometown people.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Good one.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We want to hear your fucking horrible, wonderful, worst, best karaoke stories.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Send them to my favorite murdermail, please.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Have you been discovered at karaoke?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Did you get broken up with because of your karaoke performance? That would be amazing. Please let us know. God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

My fantasy is that I'm with friends. A karaoke night starts, I don't want to do it. Everyone makes me do it. And then I sing some awesome, like, Rihanna song, like, something genuinely cool. And that's why it'll never happen, right? It's. Cause that's not how karaoke works.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Last time I thought about this when I was drunk, and I'm like, what is gonna be my karaoke song? I think it needs to be Doja cats paint the town red, but I can't sing like her. So I thought of that not even at karaoke. So that's, like, a terrible idea, right? But one time, Vince and his friend Jesse did I Put yout Picture Away.

[Georgia Hardstark]

By Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, which.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I just think is the fun. I don't think I could fucking. I think I would just piss myself laughing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Also, those two dudes are the most dude dudes of all time.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Middle Western dudes, through and through, Just.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like beer in hand. How's it going, types of dudes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock.

[Karen Kilgariff]

God, that's funny.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

All right, well, now it's time for Georgia's story. This is the murder of Scott Ameejor. Look, we all fantasize about going off the grid, unplugging, maybe spending some time as a trad wife. But let's be honest. We all need reliable wireless, and that's.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Where Visible comes in.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Visible is the ultimate wireless hack. It's unlimited wireless that puts you in control. You get unlimited data and hotspots so you can stay connected on the go.

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

We're talking about access to 4K streaming.

[Georgia Hardstark]

The Visible Plus Pro plan is premium wireless without the premium cost.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Plus, it's all digital. You manage your plan in the app, and you can even switch your service from your phone. It only takes about 15 minutes ready for wireless that lets you live in the know. Make the switch at visible.com plan starting at 25amonth for their best features.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Get the new Visible Plus Pro plan for $45 a month. Terms apply.

[Karen Kilgariff]

See visible.com for plan features and network management details. Goodbye.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Spring is in the air. And that means open windows, outdoor plans, and more time away from home.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Home.

[Georgia Hardstark]

All the things that burglars love.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, bad news, burglars. Now you can protect your home with SimpliSafe.

[Georgia Hardstark]

With SimpliSafe, millions of Americans enjoy greater security and peace of mind every time they arm their system.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Traditional security systems only take action after somebody has already broken in. That's too late.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But with Active guard outdoor protection, SimpliSafe's monitoring agents closely watch your property and stop crimes before they happen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The cameras use advanced AI to distinguish between friendly faces like family and neighbors and potential threats. Alerting agents to society suspicious individuals before they get close to your home.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So I get that ping on my phone, on my app that tells me when there's someone like on my lawn, I'm such an old lady or like, you know, walking up my driveway because I live up off the street and you shouldn't be there if you're not meant to be there. So like, if I get the ping that someone's on my lawn and I'm like, I know something's up and I can check it before they even get to the door or break in in the window, it's great.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Visit simplisafe.com fave to claim 50% off a new system with a professional monitoring plan and get your first month free.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's simplisafe.com fav there's no safe like simply safe.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Goodbye. Days are getting longer and nights are getting shorter and that means there's less time for all your night stuff like.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Doom scrolling re watching your favorite comfort show for the hundredth time and of course, making dinner.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But hungryroot is here so you have more time for your night stuff.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hungryroot is like having your own personal shopper and nutritionist all wrapped into one. They take care of the weekly grocery shopping and recommend groceries and meals tailored to you. I love that they take even the decision making out of your hand because if you're not great at cooking, if you're not experienced at like making yourself dinner and food and feeling good about it, you're not going to be able to like pick out your groceries. So you're like, I like this, I like that. I hate lamb, I hate Broccoli. I love Brussels. And they're like, okay, great. This is what you want to eat. And you're like, yes, this is what I want to eat. Then they send you perfect meals like zesty bison, avocado, lettuce wraps, Crunchy veggie chorizo tacos.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Tacos. You are going to love Hungry Root.

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

Hungryroot.com MFM Code MFM. Goodbye.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We are just hard workers.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's your time to shine.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

All right. Mine's. I think this episode is a pop culture episode.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And we actually touched on this. And I didn't go as deep into this earlier as I wanted to because I was like, we're getting into my murder territory. All right, Karen.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

1995.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I remember.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Do you remember what you used to do when you come home from school or when you'd wake up at 3pm and you. You'd sit down with a bowl of cereal? Karen, would you watch daytime talk shows like Maury Povich?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And like Jenny Jones. Thank you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And for example, Jenny Jones.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

All right, so this, this was. I want to. I feel like we have a lot of young listeners who don't know what it was like back then for reality TV shows. We had daytime talk shows that were introducing us to interesting characters and fucked up things. And it was all salacious and shitty and tawdry, but it was fascinating and amazing and sometimes great, some of the things.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And then sometimes there'd just be makeovers.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I was gonna say. So there would be. I wrote like a couple things. Lie detector, cheating. So, like, a guy would come out and they'd be like, are you cheating on me? Lie detector. Out of control. Teens just love that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Send them that boot camp.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Send them a boot camp.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right in their face.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yes. Scream in their face. And then I wrote fucked up makeovers because I was like, you don't dress like a mom because you're wrong. And they always rhyme.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They always rhyme. And then there would be a weird entrance where they would walk down like a fake catwalk at the end.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But to me, I was always like, I liked you better when you had that weird leopard print tank top.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You look so boring now. Yeah, yeah. That and then the audience would just scream. Shit. It was just like a free for all.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And it was fun.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Good times.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And we watched the shit out of that. Yeah. So one of those people that had a show because everyone was getting them at the time, but I actually liked the show a lot was the Jenny Jones Show. And Jenny Jones had been, I don't know, an actress.

[Karen Kilgariff]

She was a stand up comedic.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Was she really?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Jenny Jones was a stand up comic. I will just slide this one in, please. Who was on. And she always wore a tiny blue sequin dress for her sets. She had really big blonde hair. She was basically kind of like the cheesecake stand up comic girl that was like, I look like this, but now I'm gonna. Now I'm gonna get real and tell you stuff like this. So it was like she would be, quote unquote, playing against her own type.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Sure.

[Karen Kilgariff]

In her stand up comedy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Well, thank you for doing my research because I totally meant to do that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No problem.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Also. All right, a lot of fucked up. Up. A lot of fucked up episodes. Let's get to March 6, 1995, when an episode was taped. That was the premise, was people revealing their crushes. All right, so one guy named Jonathan Schmitz, who's 26, he's brought in under the guise of someone has a big secret crush on you. And the crush will be revealed on stage.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. I just have to say in a setup like, like this, I feel like this is everyone's dream come true.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, isn't that we all wanted to be on these.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's the stuff of like. But even aside from being on tv, the idea of someone going, someone likes you.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I've been obsessed with you and I'm. I'm crazy about you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like, when your friend goes, oh my God, you know who likes you, isn't that like basically a high point of life? That's kind of like totally what we all live for.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

When you find out. And it's like. And I don't know, I feel like this is so nice and such a. Like, we passed notes. We didn't have writing on people's message boards and free social media. Yeah, we passed notes and we passed rumors and gossip through our friends and there was no other way of fucking handling it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Exactly. You couldn't find out what anybody was doing or where anyone was going. It was all gossip.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

All gossip. What the producers didn't tell Jonathan was that the actual name of the show was Same Sex Crushes Referring Revealed. They didn't tell him that Jonathan was Straight. So he goes on the show, as he says, out of curiosity. He later claims that the producers implied that, that the admirer was a woman. So they didn't, they didn't keep him in the dark. They told him as a woman, although they claim they didn't tell him that. And they told him that he would meet the girl of his dreams.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

So he's on stage and they're like building it up as they do. I mean, these shows were great at doing this kind of thing. And the secret admirer comes out and it's Scott Bernard. Oh, God, I meant to look this up. Am Jure. And he was an acquaintance of Schmidt's. They had lived near each other in Lake Orion, Michigan. And when Scott comes out, he reveals his crush to Jonathan. Jonathan is visibly shaken and embarrassed apparently, and states that he's heterosexual. But he laughs it off and he's amiable. And then Scott goes on to tell the audience about a fantasy that involved Jonathan and whipped cream and strawberries and champagne. And then that's when Jonathan becomes enraged on camera, I think in his heart.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. Okay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, on camera. So this. And so another thing for like 1995 for people to understand is that homophobia was fucking. I know it seems like we're in a different place now, but homophobia was hard fucking core also.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was, was completely okay culturally for people to be homophobic. It was crazy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Even if you weren't homophobic, making gay jokes was okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It happened, happened constantly. And there was no, there were no voices to say, hey, go fuck yourself or you're in the wrong or anything like that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Is that okay?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

This is. You don't understand.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The prevailing attitude was like, that's funny or that's something to mock or that's something disgusting or it's, you know, it's, it's a very different time.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And that's not that long ago, which is so troubling and so that, you know, in 1990, Paul Broussard, who was a 27 year old Houston area banker, died after a gay bashing incident outside a Houston nightclub where nine high schoolers beat and stabbed him to death. And this was what life was like back then. You can't not mention Matthew Shepard in 98, 1998. That was 98, 98. He was beaten, tortured, and left to ultimately die in Laramie, Wyoming. So this wasn't like, you know, we'll make fun of gay people time. This was a. If you're in certain parts of the country and certain people want to fuck with you and you're gay. I mean, not to say that it doesn't happen now as well, but there's such.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's just a totally different. There are people who will speak up against it everywhere you go.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. There's a shift of understanding that and.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A shift of identity of people that are saying all, all the prevailing attitudes of like this is a deviance as opposed to no, I am your relative, I'm your brother, your friend. It's people that, you know, this isn't some aberration that it's like, it's not.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

An affliction, it's who. It's a, it's an identity.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And also it's the majority of the population. Not the majority of the population, but it's an even amount. There used to be a, like there was a government, an old, old government projected that said 10% of the population was gay when it's way, way higher. So it's just that thing of like, you know, it's an educational process that's taken us forever and it's great.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I mean, as much as I fucking hate the Internet, it's like there's. You would never have known what a huge population of people who are way fucking different than you in every way are out there. Unless, you know, you had that the Internet, right?

[Karen Kilgariff]

And people have a voice now.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, yeah. Fuck yeah. So let's cut back to three days after the taping and Scott leaves a suggestive note on Jonathan's at Jonathan's house. Jonathan finds the note and withdraws money from the bank, purchases a shotgun and then went over to Scott's mobile home. He questions Scott about the note and then Jonathan goes back to his car, gets his gun and goes back to the trailer. He shoots Scott twice in the chest with a 12 gauge buckshot at such close range that paper wadding from the shotgun shell ended up on Scott's heart while a fragment of the other shell's casing entered his left lung. So like this is a look at me while I'm fucking killing you situation. After killing Scott, Jonathan leaves the residence and he calls 911 and confesses.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wow.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. Okay, so let's see. Okay. During the trial he is arrested. During the trial, it states stated that Scott's friend says that after the taping of the Jenny Jones Show, Scott and Jonathan actually went out drinking together and had an alleged sexual encounter. So it's possible this whole thing, I mean, that's a weird element to it. They don't talk about a lot in a lot of these articles. It's Alleged.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because it's hearsay.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, yeah, it's total hearsay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But hearsay that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, it kind of. It puts the level of anger into it. Makes a little more sense to me, you know?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Or it could be a lie. It could be a lie to justify.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, no, no. But this is Scott's friend. This is the guy who gets killed's friend said that. That they went out together that night. But you're right. Okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, no, I'm just saying alleged is a big word.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. So he's found guilty of secondary murder in 1980. 1996. Sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison. Convictions overturned upon retrial. Found guilty of the same charge once again. Sentence reinstated. In 1999, Scott's family sues the Jenny Jones show telepictures and Warner Brothers for the ambush tactics and their negligent role that led to the death of Scott. The jury found that the Jenny Jones show was irresponsible and negligent and that the show intentionally created an explosive situation without due concern for the possible consequences, which is like fucking every reality show right now, too. The Michigan jury found the Jenny Jones show negligent and responsible for the events they gave Scott's family. Over 25 million, 6.5 in funeral costs and burial, 5 million for the pain and suffering, and 10 million each for loss of companionship and compensation. But the judgment was later overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a two to one judgment and the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So then they never had to pay that money?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, it wasn't Jenny Jones's and it wasn't their fault, you know, Although there was apparently a letter saying that was. I don't know, it seems like they didn't fucking tell him what he was expecting. And, you know, so it's. So they're at fault. And the producers decided not to air the show. But you can see it on Court TV's coverage of the trial and it's also featured in an HBO documentary called Talked to Death. Ooh, but man, wow. So fucking sad, isn't it?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, also, it makes me think because you said like, that I could happen again. But I bet you after that a shit ton of rules were put into place by production companies that were like, and if you do this, you have to do this. Say something like on Maury Povich or whatever. I'm sure all those other really exploited Sally Jesse cheaters were cheaters recently. Yeah, yeah, Cheaters was crazy. I used to watch that all the time. But I Mean, that's that kind of.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Stabbed.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, yeah, the host got stabbed, remember? Yes, that's right.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You know what I've always had a problem with is so when you're on a TV show or you're gonna be in an area where there's taping, you have to sign a waiver saying you're okay with your image. But I bet they had him sign that before this happened.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, here's the thing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Tell me everything you know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Here's what I know is it's only in certain states that you have to do that. And because there's certain states where, like in New York City, you can film. You can walk down the street and film and you're. And you're fine. In California, you can't do that. So in California, like when we would. Like on jobs I've had, you have to stick signs up. Now in New York, you have to do the same thing. You have to put up a sign that says you're about to walk past a rolling camera.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Do the process, basically.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Exactly, exactly. But in California, you have to have waivers. So if you. If we would do man on the street stuff and there'd be a lady that would walk behind the interview and then go, blah, blah, blah, it was something great that you wanted to use, you'd have to have PAs run down to get that lady to make sure she signed. Or you could not use the footage because basically the footage then becomes the proof. You know what I mean? Like, they have an open and shut case that like, yeah, you filmed me and I didn't say you. And you don't have the paper that says, I said you could, so you can't use it.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

So what about when you worked on, like talk shows and you had guests that would come in, like, they signed shit beforehand like that. Anything you say can be aired. You can't go back and be like, I didn't expect this question to be asked of me and I don't want this on tv.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, no, they do do that. Like ask questions that they weren't either prepped for or whatever. But that's more. That goes into like a. More of a celebrity thing. I don't think they do that to human interest guests that much. But in the celebrity world, where they're like, okay, this is the person that just had the affair and it's in the news and everyone knows this person just had the affair. And so the publicist is like, you will not be talking about the affair.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And ask the question, we're fucking leaving.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Exactly. And Then the producer goes, of course we won't. Of course we won't. And then when they're sitting there, everybody makes that call. They literally make that call where they're just like, ask the question. The question gets. The celebrity answers the question because they're in that situation where what are they gonna do?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And they don't wanna be rude.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And the publicist goes batshit bananas backstage. I've seen this. I mean, like, that I haven't. It's not like I've been in those gotcha situations. I've never worked on gotcha shows like that. But that is a thing that's done where then it becomes a political thing. But usually between the publicist and the show where it's like, I will never come back. None of my clients will come here. I will pull this.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

But they're like, is this worth losing all those clients? Because Angelina Jolie said, whatever the fuck about her marriage, it's worth it. Let's just.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's worth it. It's worth the ratings. We will be the first people to have had the word on this.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And then the publicity is that the movie that they're making gets way more fucking people watching because they saw this thing at the end, which I can't deal with it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's crazy because that. It really is that thing where that whole world of, like, bad publicity is. There's no such thing as bad publicity. Because it really is true with the way social media is and the way the digital world has changing entertainment, that kind of stu. There are people that plant their own gotcha stuff because they know it's the same thing of, like, how the Kardashians call the paparazzi on themselves.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We're gonna be here.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's that thing where people. When you people have learned over time that being in that victim stance actually can be good for your career. And so they'll do it, or they'll set it up.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like, if they feel that this is a question they weren't expecting and they're being suddenly open and honest when really they fucking was gonna happen. And then they get played as the.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Victim, but they magically handle it so well that suddenly the public who. You know, it's kind of that thing in the moment. I know it wasn't. I don't think I shouldn't say. I know. I do not know for a fact, but I'm pretty sure when Hugh Grant went on Leno to talk about when he got caught with Divine Brown and he was married and all that stuff, the way he handled that.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Let's go back to 95, right?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Was it around then?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

He handled that so beautifully because it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Was like he basically went, oh, I needed blushing.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And like, yeah, I'm sorry, and bad.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Whatever. And it's the thing that up until that point, any publicist would tell an actor in that position, you can't go on a talk show. Or if you do, they will not talk about this. Whatever. And instead, suddenly we see how this situation can be handled in a different way and you can turn an entire culture back onto yourself. And so basically this is just one more Karen ruining TV for everybody. But it's that thing where it's like these things are strategized and planned out so much more than anybody thinks.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It makes me ill. And it's the reason why I yell at the TV all the time. I cannot watch late night talk shows. I can't watch those interviews. It makes me want to scream, hey, Karen, I heard you went to the fucking beach lately.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God, that's so funny you bring that up. Because it's weird. Yeah. And the weirdest, creepiest part, I'm not acting anymore.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, now we're not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The weirdest, creepiest part is there are people that are so good. Like, you can watch people who have done the same story on more than.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

One, and they look like they're just like, oh, my God. I'm just. I'm just remembering this.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, that's right. That birthday was so crazy, where you're just like, oh, this is just what? This is a completely orchestrated conversation.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Nothing is real.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Nothing is real.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Speak for yourself.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Speak for yourself.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Question authority. Timothy, Larry, goodbye. No, I'm on acid right now. No, I just can't. I just can't. It's not reality. It's not real, and it scares me.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And like, it's not TV. It's HBO. What?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

95.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Why did they get a plug?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We've been plugging so much that, like, Time. Time magazine books.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hey, check out Time magazine.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Everybody boards. They don't fucking. They haven't paid us to plug them fucking pumpkins. Oh, man.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Guys, that was. You know what? I like that because it was like, kind of different, still on theme. But then we. We both took it in a little bit of a different direction.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No children got killed this episode.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's right.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's rare.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Could we just aim for that once a month? Sorry.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, just once a month. Can a fucking chat.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Did you see somebody made an. I'm sorry, where they made the. I'm really small. It was basically like the visual.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And it was perfect because that's exactly what. Sorry. Yeah, it's good stuff.

[Karen Kilgariff]

All right, We've done it again.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We've done it again.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wait, this is episode 40. Shut the fuck up. Is it? Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Episode 40.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, my God. Look at us go.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's crazy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Karen, I'm proud of us.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm proud of us, too.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We've been friends for 40 weeks.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Here's to 20 more.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

No, no, no. There was the one week I got married and your mom died.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, that's right.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I got married.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We've been friends for 39 weeks. That was the realest week of all, though.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And we were so casual about it. Sorry, you guys. We're not. Cuz we didn't have any. There was nobody. March, man. Nobody here in March. I was like, this is a thing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. No one cared.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You're like, I like that girl from that thing and that girl from that thing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, listen, we have to tell each other one good thing from this week.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, good idea. You go first because I can't think of anything.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We'll always forget that part. My thing is that I really reconnected with Mimi, my cat, Mimi. What? I know, it's so stupid, but, like, suddenly I, like. I'm obsessed with Elvis. He's my. Why are you laughing at me? It's true.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because you're t. You're. As. You're telling me you're petting Mimi like an ex, but you're. It's a little Dr. Evilly. Or you're like, I reconnected.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We got eye to eye and brain to brain. Can I plug my. Their Instagram? It's Elvis and Mimi.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Sure.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

On Instagram. And she's just. I. I've always been scared to love her because I thought Elvis wouldn't love me anymore for it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wow.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I know. I'm fucking insane. I have a. What's it called that when your cats. I have worms in my head. Toxoplasmosis. Thank you, Steven.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Feline aids.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And then suddenly I realized what a sweet angel she is. And Elvis gives zero shits about anything but cookies.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's very true.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We're good. So it was nice to, like. It's been nice to. I love cats. Go on.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're pretty great.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

These ones are sweet.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

They like you guys, which is rare for them. Not. Not for people to like you, but.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, that's pretty. I'm sorry. Okay. This whole time, I've been scrambling in my Head. Okay. This. Fine. I'll just do it anyway. This is honest. This is. At least I'm being honest. The shirt I'm wearing right now is my favorite shirt I've ever owned in my life.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It looks amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thanks. It's just a salmon and navy striped shirt that I got at Crossroads. Steven, you look like a hot pirate.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Hey, with a pocket.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I. There's something about it. It, like, reminds me of high school. It reminds me of all these things. It's really weird.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

But then I like, I appreciate the thinness of it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And yet it's super comfortable.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Substantial.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. And it's a little tiny bit blousy. But then it also. It's just. It's working for me in every way. To the point.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I noticed your boobs earlier. It's a thing I do as an a cupper.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Drapey.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's like, you know, it's like, oh, she's womanly, but she's not trying to throw it in my face.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's right. I actually cover it up to make you want it more. It's a very Victorian of me.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The more layers you put on, the more I'm like, what could be under there?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm gonna start wrapping a scarf around my neck. And then you're going to be so into me.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And then I'll be like, does her neck fall off when I unwrap that scarf?

[Karen Kilgariff]

You mean that Halloween story?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Scary stories to tell. Steven, what is it?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Scary stories to tell in the dark. Sarah's having a nervous breakdown. You know what? What Steven's saying right now to us with this laughing. This is just Eric Loving is end. This fucking podcast.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You guys are out of your mind.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stop talking about everything.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Scary stories to tell in the dark. Don't even look it up. Stephen. I got you. You take off the necklace and never take my scarf.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Never take my neck.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

And then her head falls off and she says, I told you not to take it. And then he puts it on a.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stick and he walks down the street of Sacramento with it.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

You guys, thank you so much for listening.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We love you. We're totally insane. Stay sexy, please.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Oh, don't get murdered. Rate Review subscribe on On Instagram. I mean, where.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God. Elvis. Elvis, save us.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Do you want a cookie? You want a cookie? Want a cookie?

[Karen Kilgariff]

No.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. Bye. Bye. We both get shot.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God. So we're back. Do you have any updates on this story?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

I actually do. So in August 2017, Jonathan Schmitz was granted parole and released from prison after serving 22 years of his, his sentence. Scott Ameder's brother Frank Ameer said to the Associated Press at the time, quote, I'd like to know that he learned something, that he's a changed man, is no longer homophobic and has gotten psychological care. End quote. A Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman told people he was released because of good behavior. Credit Schmitz has kept a low profile since his release and is still in Michigan. So that's that. I mean, yeah, such a sad story.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a terrible story and I know a ton about it because my old boss was there when it happened.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

So wild.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And they used to talk about how horrible it was all the time. Just like that thing of you go from. That was very like 80s 90s television that they used to try to produce and like, you know, daytime wars and trying to get numbers and so shows like that. It was Ricki Lake and Jenny Jones and all the Sally Jesse Raphael.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Like for some reason they came on at like 3:30 so you'd get home from school. Why did they come on when children got home from school?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I was traumatized.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We binged that shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was like there was an episode of Donahue where basically the KKK comes to like speak on their own behalf.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And it is the most upsetting. I was just sitting there as a 12 year old bawling and then this amazing black woman stood up and was like, y'all need to sit down. You're in New York City now and the whole audience is like, I'm Donahue.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

That's amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was great.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah. Those, I mean, that transformed our childhoods somehow. And somehow still successful people.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean it's really.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Or maybe we're maybe it's because of.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I don't know, it opened the door to reality. I mean that was like the beginning of true reality television. Even though it was very produced and often fake, but some of it started and was very real.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So crazy.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

The characters.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, just really quick. I forgot about that navy and salmon striped shirt that I was talking about was my favorite shirt. I would kill for that shirt these days. Oh, it's long gone. I can't keep. Anything that I like is gone in like three months. Why?

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Because you wear it so much it falls apart?

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, it's like I bring it places and then oh no, I've left it somewhere or I don't know, it's so irritating. But like that shirt, when I was reading this, I was just like, oh, like bring it back. So stupid.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Someone find that shirt, please. On what's it called? One of those sites.

[Karen Kilgariff]

All right, so we would hate to change Squad Gourds as this moment of Georgia's, you know, organic and natural brain. Genius.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Thank you so much. But maybe we would call this episode if we were to change the title today. We would call it let's Start with a Prayer.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep. Oh, Georgia's always going religious at the beginning of the show.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

It's just me. It's who I am. I'm weird like that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And the beginning of my prayer was Dear Oprah. So we could name it Dear Oprah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

We should. We always should. Oh, wow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Good one. Episode 40.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Episode 40. We're really. We're really getting into our podcasting chops.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Just 900 more to go.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Fuck.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Thank you guys for listening. And we'll keep doing it if you keep listening on Wednesdays. We got Mondays, we got Wednesdays, We've got Thursdays. We have so many options for you and we appreciate whichever you listen to.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, that's right. We appreciate everything you do. And we'd also appreciate it if you'd.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Stay sexy and don't get merged murdered. Goodbye, Elvis. Do you Want a cookie?

[Karen Kilgariff]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals like your graduation gifters. Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the beanbag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Glad we agree on something.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Easily. Pool split and Send Money with PayPal. Get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.

[Unknown]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

You know those commercials where a single, impossibly shiny car glides down a beautiful winding country road with a horse running along a fence?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, yeah, that's not real life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, But Hyundai's available Class Exclusive Advanced Safety features are designed for the roads we actually drive on, helping to keep you and your family protected.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Hyundai vehicles are equipped with a standard.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Driver Attention Warning System, which constantly monitors your attention levels.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Learn more about [e-mail] or call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's h y u n d a I USA.com or call 562-324-4603.

[Stephen Ray Morris]

Goodbye.