Episode Overview

Podcast: Pablo Torre Finds Out
Episode Title: Share & Bang & Tell with Dan Soder and Katie Nolan
Release Date: July 11, 2025
Host: Pablo Torre
Guests: Dan Soder (comedian), Katie Nolan (sports personality)

This lively, freewheeling episode blends the “Share & Tell” game with hilarious, real-life stories and rapid-fire cultural commentary, featuring comedian Dan Soder and media personality Katie Nolan. The trio dives well beyond surface sports and pop culture takes, meandering through topics spanning skin care and self-tanning mishaps, the “tab hoarding” impulse, Madonna doing standup, billionaires’ ethics and eccentricities, AI’s comedic and artistic limits, Enhanced Games (“steroid Olympics”), memorable internet fights, and the delusions sown by 90s ninja movies.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Embracing the Sun, Self-Tanning Fails & ESP(N) Memories

Timestamps: 00:34–04:24

• Katie Nolan recalls attempting "gradual" self-tanner, ending up with orange elbows:
  • “I put this on one time. Look at my elbows. What the hell’s that?” (K. Nolan, 01:46)
• Pablo admits his dermatologist mother is disappointed in his sunblock aversion.
• They reminisce about the now-closed ESPN Seaport studio and Pablo's “High Noon” show, including:
  • “It was the building where I found out that Pablo was having a baby. He ran out of work and was like, I need you to do High Noon. Goodbye.” (K. Nolan, 03:29)
• Ben Affleck once smoked cigarettes in the ESPN office; Nolan and Soder riff on Boston celebrities’ instant association—"second thought is either Matt Damon or Ben Affleck." (D. Soder, 03:57)

2. Madonna Tries Stand-Up & Celebrity Privilege in Comedy

Timestamps: 04:44–08:23

• Dan Soder shares how Madonna performed unannounced standup sets at the Comedy Cellar:
  • “...she bombed for 30 [minutes]...She was doing the thing, ‘You guys hate me,’ and then she just bomb again.” (D. Soder, 06:47)
• The group jokes about Madonna’s "observational" comedy, referencing her “Sex” book and poking fun at pop icons overreaching.
• Pablo reads excerpts from a 1992 NYT review of Madonna’s book; Katie and Dan joke about its notoriety during their puberty years.

3. Tab Hoarding, Sky Palace, and Mental Clutter

Timestamps: 11:44–14:19

• Katie confesses keeping 500+ tabs open on her phone, framing it as “showing my mental illness to you.” (K. Nolan, 13:17)
• Discussions about "Sky Palace," their home, and its customized neon sign.
• Nolan describes saving articles on topics like Pixar’s “talking blobs” and feeling compelled to investigate AI’s impact on animation in the future.

4. AI Slop, Impressions & Humor’s Human Limits

Timestamps: 14:43–20:34

• AI Impressions and “Slop” Culture: Soder is amazed by AI-generated content; Pablo and Katie joke about the weirdness of “Hank Hill Trap rapping.”
  • “They’re doing, like, full songs...with Hank Hill, and I’m like, alright, well, this is too much.” (D. Soder, 16:04)
• “Glass fruit cutting” ASMR videos: Katie admits brain-melting enjoyment of oddly satisfying AI videos.
• Will AI Replace Comedy?
  • Katie: “The last thing AI is going to be good at is humor. I don’t think AI is funny.” (K. Nolan, 19:45)
  • Pablo: “Humor is fundamentally social. Implicit context clues.” (P. Torre, 19:54)
  • Soder: “I don’t think AI will be able to replicate [the human soul]...” (D. Soder, 20:15)
• Jokes about Grok, Elon Musk’s AI, being shut down and its potential for a “Netflix tragic AI doc.”

5. Billionaires, Enhanced Games, and Eternal Life

Timestamps: 21:06–34:56

• Katie proposes that billionaires (like Peter Thiel) should be fined when making anti-human statements:
  • “We should be able to fine you the way that the NBA would fine a player. When they disparage the refs.” (K. Nolan, 22:27)
• They riff on Thiel’s weird, “alien” vibes and the moral anxiety of transhumanist billionaire culture—equating Thiel to a “Men in Black” cockroach and suggesting he needs to be “mommaged” (have a strong-willed partner like Jordan Hudson for Sean “Diddy” Combs).
• Enhanced Games (“steroid Olympics”):
  • Pablo explains Thiel-backed Enhanced Games: “The idea is...the brainchild of Dr. Aaron D'Souza, the Australian lawyer who helped mastermind Thiel’s proxy war against Gawker...” (P. Torre, 30:36)
  • Soder and Nolan are aghast at the “eternal life” sales pitch:
    • “I can’t relate to the desire to want to live forever.” (K. Nolan, 31:19)
  • Discussing the event’s risks, possible deaths, and its 2026 Las Vegas debut.

6. The Art, Chaos, and Comedy of Tab Browsing

Timestamps: 34:56–41:15

• Nolan shares random tabs: reheating chicken parm, New Yorker’s “The Case Against Travel,” Jeopardy study tips, injury lookups, Sonic burgers, Chekhov’s Gun, and more.
• Soder compares this to “cleaning out your locker at the end of the school year.” (D. Soder, 33:14)
• Pablo delights in how Chekhov's Gun appears thematically—“Bang, bang, there it is. That’s podcasting.” (D. Soder, 46:22)

7. “Bang, Bang, Bang”—Golf Course Internet Fight

Timestamps: 35:03–39:45

• Pablo reveals viral golf course fight footage; the internet ID’ed one fighter as ex-NHL enforcer Nick Tarnasky.
• They break down the “bang, bang, bang!” brawl:
  • “I have acquired a certain amount of CTE in the NHL I’m about to unleash.” (D. Soder, 38:50)
  • “If I could fight, I would absolutely be saying bang as I rang a dude’s bell.” (D. Soder, 39:08)

8. 90's Ninja Movies & Childhood Delusions

Timestamps: 40:46–44:11

• The mythos of Three Ninjas and the false confidence it gave children in their fighting skills:
  • “Three Ninjas really had a generation of little boys believing with a small amount of mini mall taekwondo we could beat up grown men...” (D. Soder, 41:30)
• Discussion about karate class dropouts, 90s ninja mania (“You could put ninja on anything and everyone’s like, I love it.” – D. Soder, 43:35).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Madonna doing comedy:
  • “She's done stand up at the Comedy Cellar...and the Thing that I heard was that when she was like, wasn’t doing well, she was doing the thing where she was going, 'you guys hate me.'” (D. Soder, 06:27)
• Why AI comedy fails:
  • “I think the last thing AI is going to be good at is humor. I don’t think AI is funny.” (K. Nolan, 19:45)
• Peter Thiel’s anti-human vibes:
  • “We should be able to fine you the way that the NBA would fine a player.” (K. Nolan, 22:27)
• On tab hoarding:
  • “Katie has kept that tab...I'm keeping it, choosing again right now to keep it.” (K. Nolan, 13:46)
• The viral “Bang, bang, bang!” moment:
  • “Smashing someone’s face and saying bang...If I could fight, I would absolutely be saying bang as I rang a dude’s bell.” (D. Soder, 39:08)
• Three Ninjas & Childhood:
  • “They just walked into boardrooms and they went, kid ninjas...here’s $3 million!” (D. Soder, 43:48)
• Closing the loop:
  • “Honestly, you keeping the tab for Chekhov's gun and only opening it now feels like...the ultimate fulfillment of the Chekhov’s gun.” (P. Torre, 45:51)
  • “Bang, bang. There it is. That’s podcasting.” (D. Soder, 46:22)

Essential Timestamps for Key Segments

• Self-tanning, skin care, & ESPN nostalgia: 00:34–04:24
• Madonna doing standup & celebrity comedy privilege: 04:44–08:23
• AI “slop”, voices, and humor limits: 14:43–20:34
• Enhanced Games and the ethics of life extension: 30:36–34:56
• Golf course “Bang, bang, bang” viral fight recap: 35:03–39:45
• 90s Ninja movies & the myth of kid martial arts: 40:46–44:11
• Chekhov’s Gun, meta podcasting moment: 45:51–46:22

Tone and Style

The episode is spontaneous, irreverent, and full of wry in-jokes and quick-witted asides, driven by the rapport between Pablo Torre, Dan Soder, and Katie Nolan. Their conversational style jumps between the deeply silly and the meaningfully philosophical, framed by sharp pop culture references and a healthy skepticism toward tech utopians and nostalgia alike.

Takeaways for New Listeners

• Expect tangents: This isn’t a tight interview but a warm, chaotic, and insightful hangout.
• Cultural commentary with depth and humor: The trio balances absurd topics (like AI-generated rap songs and self-tanning) with sly critiques of billionaire behavior and the human need for real connection.
• The “Share & Tell” approach: Real-world artifacts (browser tabs, weird news, viral videos) spark stories, confessions, and running jokes—making the episode both highly personal and universally relatable.

Recommended for:
Fans of sports and pop culture, internet/AI skeptics, anyone who’s ever left too many browser tabs open, and listeners who love smart, breezy comedy with an undercurrent of genuine insight.