Smosh Mouth Podcast #110 – “Asking the Vulnerable Questions”

Date: September 15, 2025
Hosts: Shane Topp, Amanda Lehan-Canto, Angela
Guest: Keith Le Jr.

Episode Overview

This episode centers on vulnerability, curiosity, and admitting what you don’t know—without shame. Shane, Amanda, and Angela, joined by fan-favorite Keith Le Jr., create a “safe space” to discuss all the random, odd, and sometimes embarrassing things they don’t understand, ranging from animal facts to microchips, the rules of soccer, the nature of friendship, and more. The conversation is peppered with humor, personal anecdotes, and genuine gratitude for community support, making for an open and highly relatable episode.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Keith's Health Journey and Gratitude

• Keith opens up about his recent struggles with cancer, sharing how their summer was “taken from him” but expressing deep gratitude for the outpouring of support from the Smosh community.
  • “I’m just extremely grateful for the amount of people too that like showed up and showed out… You’re helping me live a little longer.” — Keith (05:00)
• The group jokes about church donation culture and how even small acts of giving can have a huge impact.
  • “Straight up church. That is church. I feel so bad. Are we supposed to talk about oh my God. Who knows?” — Keith (03:42)

2. Safe Spaces for Admitting Ignorance

• The main conceit: creating a non-judgmental environment for admitting what you don’t know, especially about topics others might consider basic.
• “It's something I never thought about. Like, that's gotta be cool if, like, a Dalmatian has identical twin puppies...But today we thought we'd go even further with that and make this a place for talking about what we don't understand and don't know.” — Shane (09:37)

Notable theme: The internet often rewards expertise or the appearance of knowledge, but real learning comes from asking questions.

• “Everybody right now on the Internet is...They all want to be experts. And I rarely see people going, like, I don't know. I don't know stuff.” — Shane (10:35)

3. Ridiculous but Relatable Questions

Scrambled Eggs vs. Fried Chicken (12:18)

• Keith asks: “Isn't scrambled eggs really fried chicken?” launching a humorous and mind-boggling debate.
• Amanda: “It’s breaking my brain even more.” (13:07)
• The hosts riff on the breakfast/dessert versions of foods and international donut-eating habits.

Microchips (24:01)

• Shane and Amanda both confess ignorance about what microchips are and how they work, especially in dogs.
  • “I don't understand how microchips work, how they are made. Like… I understand they store so much information, but I'm like, where. How. How did we. How did we create this?” — Shane (24:36)
• The group mistakenly assumes dog microchips have GPS, correcting themselves as they piece together their understanding:
  • Amanda: “The microchip in dogs just has their name and info. It doesn’t have a GPS.” (27:01)

Animal Confusion & Knowledge Gaps (31:00 – 40:00)

• Angela confesses a recurring struggle to identify animals (moose, mammoths, manatees, emus, meerkats). The group quizzes Angela, who hilariously guesses “emu” is a bear or a fish.
  • “You could literally show me pictures of four things, and I won't be able to find which one's an emu.” — Angela (38:15)
• Shane points out knowledge comes from personal obsession/experience—not inherent intelligence.

Offsides in Soccer (17:52–22:33)

• Angela admits: “I don’t know what offsides is at all.” (18:14)
• Shane and Amanda attempt (badly) to explain, then agree to let experts in the comments clarify.
  • “If I hear that, I go, okay. And I go, yeah, it's off sites.” — Angela (21:11)

Other Baffling Topics

• Why do cities have underground tunnels?
• How do sewers work and who checks on them?
• Where do city raccoons, skunks, possums, and coyotes actually hide all day?
• Did NFL passing exist to reduce deaths in football?
• “What’s the deal with balls (testicles)?” — Amanda and Angela joke about what, biologically, they “do” (43:04)

4. Meta-reflection on Not Knowing

• Shane advocates for embracing ignorance and curiosity.
  • “I'm not going to shame anyone for not having checked out something, because there's infinite, infinite stuff.” (30:30)
• Amanda and Angela relate tales of people being shamed for not having seen movies or knowing things.
  • Angela: “I have a character that I love playing…You've never seen Back to the Future? Wait, how old are you?” (29:39)

5. Friendship: What Is It?

• Keith reflects on not understanding how friendships work, only to realize it’s because every friendship has unique needs and “currencies.”
  • “I don't know how friends work, how friendship works…But like, I just figured it out. It's different for each person.” (52:53)
• Amanda and Shane discuss love languages and how adult friendships change, especially around expectations for time spent together.
  • “When you're an adult and you don't have friends, it's like, how the...How do you make friends? And it's like, there's just not a good answer.” — Shane (54:09)

6. Dance, Physicality & Vulnerability

• Shane opens up about feeling self-conscious dancing, marveling at others’ “flow state.”
  • “I'm fascinated by like music's playing and people just start like dancing. And I'm just like, how. What's going on in your guys heads?” (59:49)
• Keith and Amanda remind him that dancing is about freedom and fun, not performance.
  • “Even if you're not good at it...just go for it. Because I see some people that...they have no rhythm, but they're having so much fun, it makes you move, too.” — Keith (61:54)
• Amanda recounts Shane’s unexpectedly great pole dancing during a Smosh shoot, everyone laughs about embarrassing dance moments (63:22).

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On gratitude:
  “You’re helping me live a little longer.” – Keith (05:00)

• On the “scrambled eggs/fried chicken” revelation:
  Keith: “Isn't scrambled eggs really fried chicken? All right, think about it. Think about it.” (12:18)

• On not pretending to know:
  Shane: “I’m not gonna shame anyone for not having checked out something, because there's infinite, infinite stuff.” (30:30)

• On knowledge and shame:
  Amanda: “I have a character that I love playing...‘You've never seen Back to the Future?’” (29:39)

• Emu confusion:
  Angela: “You could literally show me pictures of four things, and I won't be able to find which one's an emu.” (38:15)

• On friendship:
  Keith: “I don't know how friends work, how friendship works. Because I feel like when it comes to—well, I guess I do...It's different for each person.” (52:53)

• On dancing and self-consciousness:
  Shane: “I'm fascinated by like music's playing and people just start like dancing. And I'm just like, how. What's going on in your guys heads?” (59:49)

• On balls/testicles:
  Amanda: “What are the balls doing? Because you can say every body part does something.” (44:44)

Notable Segment Timestamps

• Keith discusses gratitude and support: 03:00–06:00
• Safe Space for Dumb Questions Introduced: 09:12–12:00
• Scrambled Eggs vs. Fried Chicken Debate: 12:18–14:18
• International Donut Habits: 14:24–15:08
• Offsides in Soccer Explained (badly): 17:52–22:33
• Microchip Mystery (Tech & Pets): 24:00–28:00
• Animal Confusion Game (Emu, Manatee, etc.): 31:00–40:00
• Unanswerable Life Questions—Space, Sewers, Friendship: 42:00, 53:00
• Dance Vulnerability & Encouragement: 59:31–64:15
• Keith Receives a Gift (Teletubby Figure): 68:00–70:30

Conclusion

This episode is a candid, comedic meditation on the freedom and connection found in “not knowing”—and the relief of safe spaces for asking so-called “dumb” or vulnerable questions. The wide-ranging conversation—jumping from animal species to soccer rules, sewers, friendships, and dance moves—showcases the Smosh cast at their most human and relatable, demonstrating that curiosity (and laughter) are far more valuable than always being right.

Final Invitation:
“Scientists, get in the chat, answer our questions. Internet, do your thing. We're stupid. Fix that.” (70:57)

For listeners:
If you’ve ever pretended to know what an emu is, or felt silly sweating a “simple” question, this episode is for you. And if you actually do know how microchips, balls, or sewers work, the hosts would love to see your input in the comments!