#4425 Balding Gray

Summary

TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live - Episode #4425: Balding Gray

Release Date: March 18, 2025

In episode #4425 of "TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live," hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh navigate a blend of humor, personal anecdotes, and insightful discussions, showcasing their enduring friendship and unique perspectives on contemporary topics. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the essence of their conversation, complete with notable quotes and timestamps.

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1. Early Beginnings and Stand-Up Comedy

The episode opens with Luke and Andrew reminiscing about their initial ventures into acting and stand-up comedy. They discuss performing at renowned venues like Jerry Seltzer's Laugh Emporium and Chortle's, reflecting on the challenges and humorous moments they encountered early in their careers.

• Luke Burbank [00:00]: "Well, tell me how you both got started in acting as art. I started doing stand up."
• Andrew Walsh [00:15]: "No one really got it. I got it. I thought it was hysterical."

They also delve into Irene’s one-woman show titled "No Penis Intended," exploring critical receptions and the comedic dynamics involved.

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2. Duplass Brothers Encounter

Irene shares her recent experience interacting with the Duplass brothers, highlighting their professionalism and storytelling prowess. She praises their ability to engage seamlessly, making the interview both enjoyable and insightful.

• Irene [09:34]: "They were extremely kind. They were really good talkers... which makes me think she's not gonna listen to this one."

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3. TV Show Analysis: The White Lotus and Severance

The conversation shifts to their thoughts on popular TV series like "The White Lotus" and "Severance." They dissect plot developments, character arcs, and production nuances, offering critiques and commendations.

• Irene [04:10]: "Mike White has failed us as a show producer and a scary monster."
• Andrew Walsh [04:22]: "I have been enjoying The White Lotus. I am mostly caught up."

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4. Donor Messages and Listener Voicemails

A heartfelt segment features messages from listeners Karen McManus and Chris O'Leary. Karen expresses gratitude for the show's support during her battle with cancer, while Chris shares his appreciation for the podcast’s ability to provide an escape from reality.

• Karen McManus [23:54]: "I relied on you fellas to help me get through my bout with cancer... thank you, Karen."
• Chris O'Leary [26:09]: "Thanks again for bringing so much joy to my life."

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5. Andrew’s AI and Fantasy Baseball Incident

A standout moment of the episode is Andrew’s detailed recounting of his frustrating yet fascinating interaction with ChatGPT while managing his fantasy baseball team. He navigates through the AI’s inaccuracies regarding player injuries, particularly focusing on Shane McClanahan's status.

• Andrew Walsh [43:37]: "Actually, Shane Mcclanahan is all bold out for the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2023."
• Luke Burbank [43:44]: "What?"

This segment underscores the current limitations of AI in providing accurate, up-to-date information and highlights the challenges users may face when relying on such technology for critical decisions.

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6. Critique of AI Commercials Featuring Matthew McConaughey

Luke and Andrew critique recent AI-themed commercials starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. They express skepticism about the necessity and portrayal of AI in everyday business scenarios, questioning the commercial’s messaging and effectiveness.

• Andrew Walsh [54:15]: "It's like they're really trying to make it seem like you can't run a business without AI... It's exhausting."

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7. Listener Voicemails Montage

Towards the episode’s end, Irene introduces an innovative idea to play a series of listener voicemails in a montage format. This segment features a diverse array of messages, ranging from humorous anecdotes to heartfelt stories, showcasing the show's broad listener base.

• Irene [60:08]: "At the end of the show today... I thought, I've been stealing this idea from our friend Bean of Cup of Tea and a Chat fame."

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8. Closing Reflections and Therapeutic Nature of the Show

In their closing remarks, Luke and Andrew reflect on the therapeutic benefits of hosting the show. They emphasize how the conversations and shared humor serve as a form of escape and relief from the chaos of the outside world.

• Irene [25:15]: "Sometimes you and I will come into the show just kind of drag on for whatever reason... Like, it's also therapeutic for us."
• Andrew Walsh [25:37]: "It's like, literally, you just wake up and you scroll through... and then you talk for, you know, an hour and a half or whatever it is. ... I laughed a little bit. I got distracted."

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Notable Quotes

• Irene on AI’s Conversational Skills [48:14]: "It’s both. It’s astounding how it does work like a conversation. And it does feel in a certain way, sort of human. ... I don’t care."

• Andrew on AI's Limitations [43:37]: "Actually, Shane Mcclanahan is all bold out for the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2023."

• Irene on Donor Karen McManus [23:54]: "I relied on you fellas to help me get through my bout with cancer... thank you, Karen."

• Andrew on Fantasy Baseball and AI [42:43]: "Therefore, he won't actually be getting any innings."

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Conclusion

Episode #4425 of "TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live" masterfully combines humor, personal stories, and critical analysis, offering listeners a multifaceted experience. Through engaging dialogues, insightful critiques, and heartfelt listener interactions, Luke and Andrew continue to solidify the show's reputation as a beloved daily companion for their audience.

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Note: The timestamps in the quotes correspond to their appearance in the provided transcript. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the episode for the full experience.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Well, tell me how you both got started in acting as art. I started doing stand up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Jerry Seltzer's Laugh Emporium.

[Luke Burbank]

I was at Chortle's, the comedy place.

[Andrew Walsh]

And no one really.

[Luke Burbank]

No one really got it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I got it. I thought it was hysterical.

[Luke Burbank]

What did she do?

[Andrew Walsh]

She has a one woman show.

[Irene]

Tell her the title.

[Luke Burbank]

You want no penis intended.

[Andrew Walsh]

No penis intended.

[Luke Burbank]

She did here. Yes. And what was that about? One critic described it as a humorless.

[Andrew Walsh]

Romp into Ms. Webb's dysfunctional psyche. It's a humorless critic. That doesn't make sense.

[Luke Burbank]

No.

[Andrew Walsh]

TBTL.

[Luke Burbank]

Hi, Luke and Andrew. It's Irene and I have a funny joke for you. Okay. What is the radish's favorite food? Beats me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Mmm. Ah.

[Irene]

Gazpacho soup just burned my lips.

[Luke Burbank]

The gazpacho?

[Irene]

Yeah, it's been sitting out. It warmed up.

[Luke Burbank]

It warmed up so much that it burned your lip.

[Irene]

Let me explain something to you. If you're expecting something ice cold and you bring it up to your lips and it's room temp, it's going to feel like your mouth's on fire. It's gonna feel like your body's on fire. Is there and I'm just guessing here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Some kind of medication that you maybe need a lot of and have taken none of or maybe too much of today? Yalapeno.

[Irene]

I don't even know what that means.

[Andrew Walsh]

No one know what it means, but it's provocative. All right.

[Irene]

Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Tuesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's your lucky day. You just found a USB flash drive in the parking lot.

[Irene]

My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host, Scatman's World, coming to you once again from actual Burbank, California, where we have arrived at episode 4425 in a collector series.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let the fun begin.

[Irene]

Had my little conversation with the Duplass brothers yesterday. They're like the coolest person I've ever met. Have a full download on that also. Speaking of downloading, Andrew had an AI incident that.

[Luke Burbank]

Does this sound like our musical robot.

[Irene]

That we're gonna talk about? Speaking of, Mr. Andrew Walsh. This guy knows from humorless romps. He's been the co bro of this show for many, many years. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships.

[Andrew Walsh]

I cannot believe he just told that joke.

[Irene]

He's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend. Did I hear you murmur I gave you a little.

[Andrew Walsh]

I gave you a little Marge Simpson there in the background.

[Irene]

I caught that.

[Andrew Walsh]

This guy knows from humorous romps. I'll take it. I think he can burn me.

[Irene]

It's not that you were being humorless in the romps. It's that you've been dragged along a few humorless romps that I've subjected the listeners to.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can spot one. In other words, I can spot one a mile away.

[Irene]

You sat next to it and you studied it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I did.

[Irene]

Hey, what is that from? By the way, the episode six of.

[Andrew Walsh]

The White Lotus, the dry intro tape that we just heard.

[Irene]

I would love it if Parker Posey's character has also been trying her hand at stand up.

[Andrew Walsh]

She also is pulling Piper in between pulling shifts at the Dairy Queen. She's doing standup and looking for her.

[Irene]

Lorazepan and looking for.

[Andrew Walsh]

Where is it all going, by the way?

[Irene]

God damn it. That's so stressful. That play. It is Jason Isaac, AKA Somebody Malfoy. He's a bad guy on Potter. And he's also. He played Cary Grant in the Archie biopic.

[Andrew Walsh]

In the Archie bio.

[Irene]

So there was a biopic of Cary Grant. Cary Grant's real name was Archie, and there was a biopic about him on like Hulu or one of the streamers. And they spent the entire advertising budget in Times Square. And it was a three second clip of that guy, the guy that's stealing Parker Posey's lorazepam. Her husband playing Cary Grant as Archie falling into a swimming pool.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, you were looking outside your window.

[Irene]

Yeah. So if he doesn't fall into a swimming pool at one point in this White Lotus, Mike White has failed us as a show producer and a scary monster.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just my one nitpick with that particular thing and I guess we're kind of in spoiler territory. I've been enjoying the White Lotus. I am mostly caught up. I'm like literally half an episode behind because I.

[Irene]

You're actually ahead of me now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Yes. I'm only a half an episode. How do I watch half an episode and then get tired? I don't know, man. I probably something that's undiagnosed, but I was just like, I got to go. I got. I got to go do something else. Got to go put it.

[Irene]

So you were not watching with Genevieve, obviously.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I was. I just said, okay, I'm going to allow this on the rest of this later. Well, yeah, you know, she tolerated this.

[Irene]

You getting up in the middle of the White Lotus and just leaving.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I took a shower. Whoa. I Think I just. Well, we had sat down.

[Irene]

We'd already watched Lorazepan upstairs.

[Andrew Walsh]

We had already watched all of Severance, so that's a full hour. And by the way, she doesn't know this, and she listened to yesterday's TBTL apparently, which makes me think she's not gonna listen to this one. Cause, you know, she doesn't dip in.

[Irene]

It's not an everyday kind of thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

I told her. I'm like, you gotta tell me when you listen. She's like, no, you gotta assume I'm always listening this conversation.

[Irene]

You know, Becca's still not dipped into the episode that we intentionally made the. The show description like catnip for her. No mention of it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did she still hasn't even seen the description. She's not even reading the descriptions anymore.

[Irene]

Not even. My boy, the bloom is off the rose.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I can't remember what I was saying. Oh, we had already watched an entire Severance. We sat down watching entire Severance. I was a good boy. Oh, and I was gonna tell you I'd actually pre watched that one when she was out.

[Irene]

Oh, wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Saturday.

[Irene]

So you would look smarter.

[Andrew Walsh]

I pulled it off. I was just like, watch what? Watch what happens here.

[Irene]

You pulled a late Titicaca.

[Andrew Walsh]

I said, it's gonna be. I'll bet you this is gonna be a double. It's gonna be sure as hit. Sure as shit. Parker Posey hit a double. No, actually, wrong show. Do you know why I said pull a Lake titty kaka? No.

[Irene]

Because Bill Murray in Groundhog Day has watched the same episode of Jeopardy. So many times that he's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Irene]

And at one point, he gives the clue, the question Lake Titicaca.

[Andrew Walsh]

Ah, I see, I see.

[Irene]

Did you give into the temptation to act a little bit smarter about that episode of Severance having previewed?

[Andrew Walsh]

I did. I would just say, well, clearly what they're going for here is an exploration of mankind's duality is what I said. And she was like, please be quiet. I'm trying to watch the show. So that's how that whole thing went down. Did I ever answer the question? That tape is from, for your consideration, one of those Christopher Guest movies.

[Irene]

So you and I were talking off air about those films and how we both kind of got to, like, probably best in show. And you did a mighty wind.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm getting a mighty wind.

[Irene]

I mean, did you pass gas?

[Andrew Walsh]

I did get a mighty wind, and that was one of the reasons I had to leave the room. When Genevieve was watching TV the other day, she Said, you know what, you can watch this in your office. I can't remember where I left things off because I did at one point realize these movies are getting too serious. These mockumentaries are just making me cry. And I think for your consideration might have been the breaking point for me. Or it might have been a mighty wind. I got to be honest with you, if you had, if you had asked me, have you seen for your consideration? I would have said, no, I haven't seen that one yet. I have this piece of tape that I pulled, I think last summer.

[Irene]

So I thought maybe our conversation off air had spurred you to go watch them.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I forgot that I have started for your consideration several times, but I don't know if I've ever made it to the end. If I'm being honest. I honestly, I just can't remember. I get, I get that era of Christopher Guest a little bit confused.

[Irene]

Here's what I'm wondering. Do you think that Parker Posey had the name of her one person show or her comedy show in mind when her scene partner said tell him the name?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I don't think, because that is.

[Irene]

I mean, talk about, talk about pushing somebody off the cliff. Tell them the name is if you have not already run through the scene once. And if you don't, if you're not, if you're Parker posed and you don't have whatever it was, no penis required.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what it is. No penis required.

[Irene]

Like, if she doesn't have that in mind, I feel like that's actually not being a great scene partner because a great improv partner because you're putting somebody in a position where they have to think of something as opposed to whatever. The answer is always yes, et cetera. Don't you think that that's kind of. It ended up creating some comedy gold, but please never do that to me is what I'm asking.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Although I don't even think in a scene like that, if there's a lot of improv, there's probably also a lot of takes, you know, so maybe they've. I mean, you know, I mean, that's what I'm wondering.

[Irene]

She might have already. She may have already thrown out no penis required in a previous take or maybe.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, like, you know, again, I just. I'm the last person you should ask because I've never been in a situation like that. I haven't.

[Irene]

Have you ever been in a humorless romp? That's how my making has been.

[Andrew Walsh]

Go back 30 seconds. Go back 45 seconds on your podcaster. But you know what I mean, like, she could have also answered that question six different times in six different takes. Who knows? I don't know.

[Irene]

Right. Well, I mean, if she's got six different funny names for her one person show, that's impressive.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't even have one for your. For the Luke Burbank.

[Irene]

I mean, if you were to say, what was the name of the show?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I'm trying to think. Like, please don't for use.

[Irene]

Please do not say. Tell them the name, honey.

[Andrew Walsh]

Balding Gray presents. No, that was rude. Sorry.

[Irene]

Where's my bell? I love it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was trying to think of laser helmets. That was a.

[Irene]

Literally, we're forgetting the work of Spalding Gray and I love you at the front of our mind.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was a little bit. That was a little bit sharper elbow than I was intending. My apologies.

[Irene]

Speaking of television entertainment, I did go hang out with the Duplass brothers yesterday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, How'd that go?

[Irene]

It was great. They were extremely kind. They were really good talkers. I felt like everybody, including the camera guy and the sound guy later, were saying, that was an incredible interview, great job. And they don't usually say that. And it was not because of me. It was because they are the Duplass brothers. Jay and Mark are professional storytellers and are very game. And so they, you know, took my little questions and I did keep my script with me, which I then actually never looked at. So it was kind of the worst of both worlds. I told you that normally I don't have any script in front of me. And that's kind of my flex. That's my way of being like, we're just having a conversation. But I was nervous and I wanted it to go well. So I brought my script with me with all my questions, and then I never looked at it. So I was holding it like a little security blanket, but then not actually using it, which was kind of fun.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm sure that was fine.

[Irene]

Yeah, it was fine.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was like a professional.

[Irene]

Let's not get carried away. I don't want to start creating that standard of professionalism in my work for CBS Television. They were. Yeah, they were. They were really game. They answered all the questions. And this is the thing. When I started out working on this TV show, I had very kind of highfalutin ideas about the kind of content we were going to be creating. I wanted to be rolling all the time, you know, which is to say on Molly. No, which is to say, like, I wanted the camera Guys just constantly filming and the sound guys constant. And I wanted it to be a real kind of radio lab of television, where it's like it's the person sitting down and, you know, fixing a, you know, a spot on their forehead with a little corn silk, etc. Like, I wanted it to all be the kind of stuff around the stuff in the way that Radiolab and other shows like that will use the person sound checking and stuff as part of the content. And I learned very quickly that the union camera guys and sound guys are not having that shit like it's on or it's off. And it's not like we're not, you know, making a student film here. So I've kind of disabused myself of that notion, and I'm really sad that I did, because yesterday, right after we called Cut, Jay Duplass, and part of the kind of the sort of arc of their brother collaboration is that Mark Duplass was always in the movies that they made. And so he was kind of the quote, unquote, famous one. And Jay Duplass has been very open about the fact that that did make him a little jealous at times, you know, just kind of being the director of things. But not that when they went to a party, nobody was looking for Jay Duplass. Then he became an actor in his own right. He was in transport Parent. He's in this actually really good show called Dying for Sex, which is like one of these many programs that's created from a wondery podcast, which for me is usually like a bad start content wise. But it's actually. It's got Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate in it. And Jay Duplass, it is really good, actually. It's about a woman who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and decides to leave her husband and just have a ton of good sex. She's like, what do I got? What do I got to lose here? But anyway, so that's kind of the thing about J. Duplass is that he's. And they write about it in their book and they talk about it. He was a little kind of underappreciated. Okay? So he made a movie called the Baltimore Ons that just played at south by Southwest. And he was very proud of this film. He kind of mentioned it in the interview we call Cut. And he stands up and one of the producers from their company comes over and tells him that his movie won the audience award at south by Southwest. And he is totally verklemphed. And his brother Mark comes over and gives Him a huge hug, and they're both tearing up. And I am looking at our camera guy furiously going, can we roll on this? And we were not rolling on it. And it would have been a great ending to the story.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did you storm off the set?

[Irene]

I saved that for my Metallica shoots, by the way. Another one coming up in Marin county in about three weeks.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's where you actually sit down with the band.

[Irene]

They're rolling out a black carpet for me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. Good.

[Irene]

No, but I was like. I was so bummed. And then it was like. And again, everybody that works with me on that show, like, the tech guys are just amazing, and they have a very, very thankless job. Like, they get there before everybody else. They're setting up for hours. They gotta lug it all out. Like, you know, they do great work. But this was the one time I was like, could we just not hit stop on everything all the time? Could we just let it go for 30 more seconds?

[Andrew Walsh]

Because it was.

[Irene]

It really kind of. It sort of represented the entire premise of this TV story, which is that these two brothers really love each other and they really root for each other. And we had the incredibly rare unscripted moment of that happening now. I was trying to shoot it on my iPhone. So if you. If you're watching CBS Sunday Morning this Sunday, and you see the end of this piece is shaky iPhone footage, know that I argued successfully to get it into the story.

[Andrew Walsh]

How is that. How is that footage?

[Irene]

It's fine. It's okay. Ish. But the problem is there's no audio. I mean, there's the audio on the iPhone, but we also had cut the. So it would be them hugging with no sound. And also kind of a weird angle. So that's one of those.

[Andrew Walsh]

What you should have done. And I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job, but just in this one case, I'm gonna tell you how to do your job. I mean, you need to make him recreate it right there, Luke. And, you know Jay Offer do that.

[Irene]

And I didn't. I was. I was trying to be.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are you serious?

[Irene]

He. He kind of, like, looked at me. I was like, that's amazing. I can't believe it just happened. He goes, oh, you weren't rolling? And I was. No, we cut. And he goes. I mean, I can try to redo it.

[Andrew Walsh]

He literally said that was so game of him, because obviously I was joking. Like, that is like, just you. I mean, then I literally told him.

[Irene]

I said, have your moment, dude.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, like, you know What?

[Irene]

I mean, like, he was in like filmmaker mode and was like, oh, I can try to redo. But I was like, I. I felt so bad that he at any in that moment would be thinking about our television needs instead of just like enjoying this thing that he worked so hard for. So I was like, do not under any circumstances try to recreate that.

[Andrew Walsh]

And also, like, I mean, there are people in our, let's say, industries, whether you're talking about radio or TV or whatever, who would be much more willing to say, well, just ask them to do it again. Just do it again. You know what I mean? Like the kind of gung ho person. But that is like the. I can't think of something that you would want to do less other than maybe a one man show called Balding Gray presents.

[Irene]

Balding Gray. Fully Balding Gray hyphen, Fully hyphen. Syffili.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're either getting closer or further away. I can't exactly tell.

[Irene]

Yeah, it's hard in these moments to know if we're making this better or worse.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Irene]

Anyway, it was a really good day. They were really nice. I'm going from here to meet them at this movie theater that they own in Eagle Rock. And also they have a video store there called Vidiots. That's. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's them. They acquired that, I believe.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay. Yeah. Because I'd heard of Vidio.

[Irene]

I think they saved it or something, you know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Oh, that's really cool. I like it when LA people do that. I'm not.

[Irene]

I'm looking very forward to the smell of VHS tapes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. You know, people are talking about the smell of a Blockbuster video enough. It was like, it was just like plastic. I don't know, it was vinyl thick. Yeah, but it was such a good plastic smell.

[Irene]

It really was. And I feel like they didn't do popcorn in Blockbuster, did they? I feel like maybe when they started, I think they were trying to be real Hollywoo. They might have in the early days, but I feel like at some point the employees were like, we're not going to maintain the popcorn machine.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I don't know about that. I can't remember because I was going to say when I saw maybe that was Hollywood video, that there was a little bit of popcorn in the air, but maybe not. And I was not. I did not roll with the Hollywood video crowd. By the way, were you a Blockbuster kid? I was. That was all we had access to. And I remember at one point the excitement of renting my first any s Cartridge from a Blockbuster. Because my family was pretty much down the line. Like, I think the first videos we rented were from a tiny little, tiny little video store that was in downtown Valley City. And downtown Valley City is literally like two blocks long. And one of the main businesses is a tack shop. I'm not even joking. Literally a place for horses. Yes, exactly. Like I'm talking about, this was like an almost an old Westy, sort of old fashioned sort of downtown. And that's where we rented our videos. But then eventually Blockbuster somehow, you know, finagled its way into our lives. I can't remember if we had moved by this point or what, but like, I don't remember Hollywood videos being around. I remember Blockbusters being around. And, you know, my family's like, you go, you rent two videotapes like anybody else and you come home, you don't need to buy popcorn or candy or soda there. Raisinets, you don't need to buy Raisinets or rent any video games. But at one point, like, I had the NES at home, I wasn't renting the system, but I remember my. I don't know, I just said, well, can I, can I rent Contra or something? And my wood. I loved Contra. I know, like the gun that shoots the fireballs, but they swirl around. In Australia.

[Irene]

Wasn't there a thing where the guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Would do like a flip? I don't.

[Irene]

Did somebody do a flip in Contra? I feel like somebody do like a standing front flip.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe. I don't remember. But all of that is to say there was something very special about renting video games. Like, being like it was an exciting new world that, like. But it was difficult too, because, you know, you knew that your time with this game was limited. Sort of like, which was a strange experience. Usually it's like, okay, I have this game for better or for worse. I only have like five games, so I'm gonna play the hell out of them. Whether or not I really like them a lot. Whether or not it's the fan.

[Irene]

You generally win every game eventually.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, never. No. I've never completed a video game except I think two summers ago I completed that, except Minecraft Cowboy game. There was a cowboy game that I played on, on the, on the Xbox. I talked about it all the time when I was playing it, like two years ago. Anyway, I finished that one. That was like, I was 46 years old. First time I finished a video game all the way to the end. Did it get.

[Irene]

Does the cowboy game get harder in the way that, like Mike Tyson Punch out was, you know, or Super Mario Brothers. The last, you know, level or whatever was. Yeah, extra faster.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's really hard to compare modern video games to those types of video games aren't, like levels and stuff. It's a story. But yes, you have to complete a story. And the challeng definitely get harder as they go along. Yes.

[Irene]

Yeah. I've also never. I've never beaten a game, but I have been sitting next to people that have beaten the game. Which is the most fun thing you can do at age 14 is watch James DeMuth win Mike Tyson punch out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Before you throw their controller right in his.

[Irene]

That was Peter.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was Peter.

[Irene]

And that was MLB baseball that he just kept stealing on me, stealing bases until I eventually would commit an error. I remember. I've talked about this before, but I remember James and I, he got Mike Tyson punch out. And we were like, let's win this game today. And by that I meant let's watch James try to win this game because he was better at than I was. And then we got to King Hippo and that was the guy who was kind of quite rotund. And he didn't punch very fast, but he had great defense. You could never punch him. And we could not figure out how to beat this guy. And we had. He had. Luckily, James had a copy of Nintendo Power magazine.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah.

[Irene]

Sort of the Costco connections of Nintendo. Imagine a time when Nintendo was dominating the video game world and also publishing a magazine about its own video games that children were reading.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And published here in Seattle because Nintendo was a Seattle company. Right. I believe Fred Kamira. Kev has some connections in Nintendo.

[Irene]

He was a game tester.

[Andrew Walsh]

He was a game. I know he was a game tester, but not for Nintendo Power. He. I think as a young person.

[Irene]

No, just for Nintendo at large.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. But I think as a young person, he did. He used to write into Nintendo Power something along the way. Okay, I totally see that. Yeah. Yeah.

[Irene]

I remember us reading. So there was like some. There was an article. It was probably like. I don't know. Tom Wolf might have written this article in Nintendo Power. It might have been gay Talise. I can't remember. But it was an article about Mike Tyson's punch out. So it was like. And it had some kind of elliptical kind of thing about King Hippo that was like a clue. It was like, but watch his waist or something. And we. So we had to unpack what Nintendo Power was saying about how to beat King Hippo. It didn't just say, do this and so it was like, okay, it's his waist. His waist. There's something about his waist. And then, like, realizing that if sometimes when you would punch him and he would block you, his boxing shorts would slide down a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I remember. That's classic. I didn't know that game was two.

[Irene]

Band aids on his belly button. And then if you did a straight punch, you could hit him in the belly, and then you could just do that until you ran out of power and then you knocked him down.

[Andrew Walsh]

By the way, I'm not here to sharpshoot. Actually, though, point for you. You are right. It was Gay Talese, but it was not Nintendo Powers. The Paris Review, where he was.

[Irene]

It was Costco connections.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was Costco connections. Hey, speaking of baseball, which is something you said very glancingly a moment ago, and maybe we do this after we thank the donors, but you mentioned at the beginning of the show that I'm excited to tell you a story about a run in with AI that means artificial intelligence that I had yesterday that is related to my fantasy baseball team. I know.

[Irene]

Last night, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. And I know that sounds like two things that people are not interested in. My fantasy baseball team and artificial intelligence. But I'm telling you, I had an experience with artificial intelligence yesterday that I don't. I don't know if it changed my opinion of AI but it certainly has deepened some feelings that I have about AI And I feel like yesterday was sort of a line in the sand between me and this technology.

[Irene]

Well, let's do that, then. Let's thank some donors, and then let's talk about your musical robot. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark.

[Luke Burbank]

On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready, Ready, Go, everybody. Razzle dazzle.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right.

[Irene]

Dazzling donor time. These are the wonderful, generous people supporting the program with a dazzling amount of dough. We're talking, of course, about Karen McManus in Seattle, Washington.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, Karen. Thank you.

[Irene]

Pronounced McMan plus us.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the pronouncer, and it's spot on.

[Irene]

Karen McMahon plus us in Seattle, Washington. Karen says I've been a listener and a fan since the radio days. I'm so grateful for the TBTL team who always seems to be there in times of crisis. I relied on you fellas to help me get through my bout with cancer. Aw, Karen, I'm so sorry. And I'm glad that TBTL was a tiny, you know, bit of distraction. Bit of distraction. There you go. I didn't want to overstate it. I was stumbling there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Irene]

Because anything I said was going to be giving us too much credit other than distraction, I felt like distraction, really kind of even that's being generous to us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Acknowledges the compliment without going too far.

[Irene]

Thank you. I relied on you all through the pandemic to provide comic relief and. And I am relying on you now once again to get us all through the chaos and madness of the new dictator who is ruining our country. Keep up the good work. You really have made such a positive impact on my life. Thank you. Karen, you know, this dazzling donor thing, it involves the people who are giving us money also saying nice stuff to us, but it's like, it's right back at you in the sense that. And we've talked about this off air, Andrew. Sometimes you and I will come into the show just kind of dragon for whatever reason, often the news of the world, and then we do the show. And I think you and I actually feel better, generally speaking, after we get done doing this. Like, it is also therapeutic for us.

[Andrew Walsh]

To do and literally a distraction, honestly, sometimes. I mean, I'm not trying to. Yeah, I'm not trying to downplay it, but it doesn't even have to be like, oh, well, you and I talked about something serious and we work something out. No, it's just like, literally, you just wake up and you scroll through. Just like you go to your safest news source and you still just scroll through. Just like 10 headlines of just like, mind numbingly appalling stuff that is happening.

[Irene]

It's like Minecraft. You're like, well, this is rock bottom. And it's like, no, we can tunnel down further.

[Andrew Walsh]

He just keeps going. And then you talk for, you know, an hour and a half or whatever it is. And it doesn't have to be about that stuff. But at the end, you're like, oh, man. I laughed a little bit. I got distracted. I read some dazzling donor messages, and so it just feels doable.

[Irene]

Karen, it's also a distraction for us. So thank you for paying us to distract ourselves. We really appreciate you. Maestro, on your mark.

[Luke Burbank]

On your mark. Get set, get set now.

[Irene]

Ready, ready, go.

[Andrew Walsh]

Everybody rattle daddle.

[Irene]

Look who it is. It's our friend Chris O'Leary in Brooklyn, New York. Chris says, by the way, I follow Chris on the various social media platforms. That guy is all over the world. Like, you think I travel a lot? You think I put in the miles? That guy is constantly globetrotting.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's right now at a TBTL event that we haven't even announced yet.

[Irene]

Yep. In Singapore.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[Irene]

Chris says. Hey, dummies, thanks for another year of feeding my ears with a much needed escape from reality. While we're on the darkest of timelines right now, having you guys as my imaginary podcast friendos friends is more valuable than ever. And having the support network of fellow tens helps me get through the good times and the bad. For tens listening that have an interest in beer and the beer industry, I'd like to plug my newsletter about beer and travel called Brew York and Beyond. It's at Brew York, that's B R E W y o r k.substack.com but more importantly, I'd like to raise awareness of the Michael James Jackson foundation for Brewing and Distilling, an organization that funds scholarship awards to black, indigenous and people of color within the brewing and distilling trades to make those industries more just equitable and dynamic. I thought he was going to say just equitable and verdant, which is, I believe. What the. One of the. Is it the Catherine Casey? It's one of the sponsors of NPR's Creating a More Just equitable and Verdant society.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I'm not familiar.

[Irene]

And I love that word verdant.

[Andrew Walsh]

I love.

[Irene]

Got it in there. You know, they were like, just equitable and what are we going to do here? And someone was like, how about verdant? How about just green and growing and good and healthy? This, though, is the Michael James Jackson foundation for Brewing, creating an industry that is more just equitable and dynamic. You can learn more about them at T H E M J F dot com. Thanks again for bringing so much joy to my life and so many others for 17 years and counting. Power out. Thank you, Chris, for bringing so much joy to our life. And for one time, flying on that airplane by yourself. A thing I'll never get over.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Irene]

All right, Top Story. Andrew, your run in with artificial intelligence. What happened after this buildup?

[Andrew Walsh]

I hope this stands the test of my expectations, but if not, I'll just.

[Irene]

Run the show through some sort of AI podcast improver and they'll fix it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. If nothing else, put my voice through auto tune. I don't know if that's AI or not, but it could serve. I want to sound what we're doing.

[Irene]

I want to sound like Flo Rida.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. As I tell the story about AI and fantasy baseball.

[Irene]

Wait, is that T pain? No, it's Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. Did we confuse Flow Rite and T. Pain.

[Irene]

I just couldn't think of T. Pain's name, so I went with another guy who seemed like he's probably had. He's dabbled. He's played in that space of auto tuning. Although he's more of a rapper and T.I. was more of a singer. But anyway, let's not get fast.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, if you say his name fast, it almost sounds like a state. Like, you know that.

[Irene]

I didn't realize that that's what his name meant for many, many years into his career.

[Andrew Walsh]

I wonder when I realized I must have heard it a handful of times before I fully realized that Flowrider was. Oh, Florida.

[Irene]

Right. He's riding the flow of Florida. Apple bottom jeans with the boots, with the fur.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, we should go viral with that.

[Irene]

Okay, here is a. I've been considering going viral with something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Genevieve used to work for, like, a kind of a PR firm. And this is back in the mid 2000s. Sort of like the 2000. Well, actually, it's like the early 2010s or something like that. And it is like the. The. The era and the type of industry where people are saying, well, we need to make a viral video. Oh, God.

[Irene]

I know.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can't just, like, you can't sit around this. You can't sit around Bellevue.

[Irene]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

In this conference room and talk about a viral video. And also, you know that it's going to be a bunch of white people rapping in the office.

[Irene]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, remember that era?

[Irene]

We're making shows. That was right about the time they started letting me make shows, like, be the person on the mic. And it was constantly like, well, we should just go viral and. Exact same thing. It's like, it's really hard to go viral unintentionally. It happens because something really bad happened. It happens because you were at a Bank of America corporate event and you reworked the lyrics of one by U2 to be about credit card products within your company. That's how you go viral.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let's do a straight out of Microsoft video.

[Irene]

Oh, God. Dude. I was involved in one of those two. I mean, not the ones I do now, but, like, you know, I've talked about it endlessly on the show, but yeah. Carrie and I were hired to do something that was supposed to go viral, and it did for the worst reasons.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Okay. All right, let's. Let's talk about my story here. I had my fantasy baseball draft last night. But don't worry, this is not. This is not a story about sports. This is A story about the human and artificial intelligence condition. I am not a huge baseball nerd. I like my baseball, I like my Mariners, but I don't have a. I don't have a deep understanding of the rest of the league and the players and stuff. I say that as a setup to be. To say that like pretty early on in a draft I'm going to be kind of googling players or you know, kind of doing like quick read ups on them very quickly to kind of figure out like if they're somebody that I want on my team. I'm kind of doing a lot of this on the fly. I think other people might have a little bit more institutional knowledge when they hear a name. They know about what round to pick that player or something. So I'm relatively okay at it. I think last night went all right and I drafted a pitcher whose name I, I know and I recognize Shane Mcclanahan, I believe Tampa Bay, like that's a name that I've kind of heard. But I don't know. I don't know. I don't know the story about Shane Mcclanahan. I might even be wrong about the Tampa Bay thing. But this is like kind of what we would call a mid round or later round pick. Like all the really good ace players are kind of gone by now. You're filling out your roster and you're kind of taking a flyer on this person, that player, but I think he's like a solid person to pick up. It's fine. But what, you know, like I say, like in, you have maybe five to ten minutes in between your draft picks, depending on where you are in the draft. So you can start like looking ahead like, okay, well this guy's probably going to go before my turn, which is going to leave these guys and I can kind of google them and look ahead and say, well, if this guy isn't taken, I'll take him, blah, blah. And so I do a little bit of diligence in that way. And Shane Mcclanahan was one of those characters that I looked up. I'm like, okay, yeah, I see he will supposedly be playing this year. He's missed a lot of time last year because shoulder surgery, I think Tommy John surgery, which is shoulder, that's elbow, right?

[Irene]

It's where they take a ligament from one part of your arm and put it in a different part of your arm.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, Yeah.

[Irene]

I believe Tommy John was the first one who survived it. Hundreds of people died from the surgery until Tommy John. The anti rejection drugs worked and he was able to pitch four more seasons.

[Andrew Walsh]

So anyway, so I pick up this guy, and then I go on with the rest of my draft, and I'm like, okay, I think this is fine. When you do a fantasy football draft, I do it through Yahoo, and Yahoo will give you a grade. Like, hey, like, actually, last year on my football draft, I got a really good grade. I got an A plus, which turns out is a cursed grade to get because I then lost a whole bunch of games right up front. But anyway, with baseball, we're using this different platform, espn, and it doesn't give you a grade. And I just don't know enough about it. I'm like, how should I feel? How should I feel about, you know, spending 90 minutes behind my computer doing this draft? Did I. Did I do good, Mommy? Is all I want. I just want some. Somebody to tell me if I did good or not, right? And so while I'm kind of in between rounds, I'm thinking, you know what? This is an example of where AI, as I'm hearing it described to me, could really help me out. I don't use any of the AI programs. Sometimes I hang out with people and they'll be like, oh, yeah, I just have chatgpt on my phone and I use that more than Google now. Or, I was hanging out with a friend a couple of weeks ago and he was waiting for me to get to meet up with him, and he was sending me, like, AI short stories that he was writing at the. That the computer was writing for him while he was waiting for me at the bar or something. Like, it's interesting. People are just sort of like, integrating this into their lives in kind of a goofy way, but also just in a. Like, hey, we're just using this for research. And I hear about that stuff and I avoid it for various reasons. First of all, I don't want any of those AI tools to help me write. I like, not. This isn't me saying I'm a better writer than the computers or I'm a better writer than people that do use AI to help them write. But to me, writing is even when I kind of have to do it. And, you know, I might not be in the mood to write a newsletter or a fundraising letter or whatever it is. The writing process is kind of an ends to the means. Like writing. I can't explain it, but, like, just having a computer tell me what to write just makes it seem like it's not writing. I'm just. I'm averse to that. I'm old I like writing too much.

[Irene]

Like, one of the main issues in our friendship is that I can't edit my texts to you because we're not on the same platform. And it kills me because that means that a good number of my texts have a typo in them. And I'm such a micromanager of the things that I send to people that, like, I couldn't trust AI to do it.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what I mean?

[Irene]

Like, I'd just be like, if it uses the wrong word or does something that I don't like, that doesn't feel like it represents me, it's too stressful for me. It's easier for me just to write the stuff I want to write.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And I know some people say, hey, listen, I just like it to set out some bullet points for me. I was just reading some example the other day of somebody saying, I inputted a bunch of history of the organization that I work for and then asked it to sort of build some ideas around it for a speech or something. It sounds like I'm describing Genevieve's job. I promise you, I'm not describing Gen. I don't think she really used it.

[Irene]

The president of the University of Washington is not reading an AI generated script.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I promise you not. Although I do think that Genevieve might even be slightly more comfortable with those tools than I am. I think she has. Has run some things through a processor before. He. Clearly, I'm up on my AI terminology and had it maybe spit out some ideas that she could work with. But even me, I'm just like, I don't know. I just don't play in that space. I also know that there are, you know, some. Some people who are concerned about the technology, about its impact on the environment, its impact on culture, whatever. I, generally speaking, I just haven't played in that space and don't feel a need to or even a want to. Yesterday was literally the first time that that had changed, other than me playing around with some of those, like, you know, input tools. A few years ago, it's like if. What if you said, what if you put Garfield in a baseball uniform on top of a mountain, and then it would create these really weird AI images? I played around with that just as a lark to see what it was like, but then I stopped. Well, yesterday I'm, like, done with my draft, and I'm like, let's just go. ChatGPT is something that a lot of people talk about. Maybe that's the one that I should use. So I go to chat GPT And I realize, oh, this is. I tried it once or twice before, years ago, but it was like on a website. And now it's like, no, download me, download me. Andrew, to your laptop. Don't you want CHAT GPT to be a program on your laptop? I'm like, yeah, actually I should probably at least be somewhat plugged into this technology. In 2025, I'll download ChatGPT. Luke, I am not exaggerating when I say I had the weirdest feeling in the 15 seconds it took that program to install.

[Irene]

Because you felt like you're crossing a bridge, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

It did. It felt weird. And I don't know if I'm like being. If I'm being extra here with this, but like, I, I'm pretty. I should admit this. I'm pretty ballsy with the stuff that I'll download on my computer. I mean, going back a long time, like from, I would say gray market is a very generous, generous way of describing some of the software I used to get back in the day. Like, I played around and let's be.

[Irene]

Honest, most of your songs had a weird glitch in them because you got them from limewire.

[Andrew Walsh]

There were, there were some of those things. But yeah, like, there are places, There are places I remember on the Internet and some have changed and some have given me viruses. No, luckily I've always been like, kind of smart enough and careful enough not to like, I've never had a run in with a virus that I can remember maybe once or twice, but I was able to like, sort of panic and scrub it away pretty quickly. But my point of all of this is not to say what a bad boy of the Internet I am, but just saying that, like, I'm not somebody who's super nervous about downloading official software. You know, I mean, chatgpt is not something to be nervous about downloading, but this actually made. It just felt weird to me. I'm like, I guess I'm doing it. Like, I guess I'm in. I guess I'm an AI boy now. So I'm downloading ChatGPT and I actually, when the app installs, I see that I actually did have two previous conversations. I had to log in. It's like, are you. Do you have a login? I'm like, oh, I think I've tried this before. So I just tried a standard login for me and sure as hell, it's like it remembers me. But then I started a new conversation with it and this is too much buildup for this, but I Want you to follow along this conversation. I wrote, can you rate my fantasy baseball draft like, like how I did? And the computer said, sure, drop your roster here. Let us know if there's any kind of specific rules about your league and we'll tell you what are some strengths and weaknesses. So I copy and paste my entire roster of, I don't know what it is, 25 players or whatever. And I say, you know, we're playing a 10 team head to head tournament type of style. And the computer says, this nice draft. Here's a breakdown of your team based on its strengths and weaknesses and areas to improve in. And I'm like, this is great. This is exactly what I want here. I'm actually pretty excited about this. It lists a bunch of strengths. Good run and power production, good multi position flexibility, which is something I was really going for there. Not to get into too much detail, but because I have Ohtani and he's kind of locked in that DH position, you want another bunch of players who can like kind of are utility players for my specific team. Like, anyway, the AI spits out a bunch of positive reinforcement that I wanted to hear. I'm like, okay, okay, good. That's kind of what I was going for there. That's awesome. Then it says, what are your weaknesses and concerns? And the number one weakness of my team, it says is my starting pitching depth. And it says Burns. That's Corbin Burns. My ace. Says Burns is elite and so, and so has an upside. But McClanahan, remember McClanahan I was talking about. But McClanahan is injured. Tommy John surgery and likely out all year, leaving a big hole in your lineup. You're going to need to work the wire. And I'm like, what the hell? And I get panicky in this way that I was like. Because I've come close to doing something stupid before, like drafting somebody late in the game who actually isn't. Is a free, literally a free agent in the real world and doesn't have a team attached to them and I don't know how much, therefore won't actually.

[Irene]

Be getting any innings. Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean usually they find a home before the, before you know, the season starts, but it's just kind of embarrassing and I don't know, I've literally never met any of the guys on this league that I'm a part of. And so I always feel a little bit of like kind of performance anxiety. I don't want to look like an idiot if I, if I make some ridiculously stupid draft pick. I'll Feel stupid. I'm like, wait a second, this is a mid round pick. This is one of my main rotation starters. Did I just pick somebody who's out all year? Like, how would I have missed all of the signs of that? First of all, there should be a big red O.

[Irene]

What will Joe Gurlitz out?

[Andrew Walsh]

What will Joe Gurlitz think? Is a big question that I have at most times. Wwe jgt not even joking. What would Joe think of me? And so I'm like, did I embarrass myself? And like, I'm almost get panicky. I'm like, mcclanahan is out all year. Like, how did I not see a big red O next to the name? Okay, maybe Fantasy missed a beat there, but I would have at least read a blurb. I didn't draft anybody without reading a blurb. And so I google his name quickly and I'm like, wait, yes, I already saw this. He is scheduled to be the starter for Tampa Bay, like on Open day one, Day one. He's the day one starter. And like, I read all these headlines.

[Irene]

Get it together, AI.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right, exactly. Okay, so I'm extending this too much. So point is, right now AI is telling me, hey, you're kind of in trouble here, buddy. You drafted somebody who is not supposed to play all year long.

[Irene]

It seems like the easiest thing for AI to know.

[Andrew Walsh]

This gets so much worse, Luke.

[Irene]

The up to date information on this player. Like, I mean, what's so uncanny about it? And, and in a way upsetting is the way that it can perfectly, in a lot of ways mimic human writing and speech and all these things. This should be a slam dunk for it is to know the current status of this guy's arm.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait till you hear where this is going. So I Google him again. I'm like, no, no, Mcclanahan is in. So the computer gives me all of this. It gives me an overall draft grade of a B plus, which is actually the feedback I was looking for. Like, tough, but do you love me now, mommy? But it's still based on the fact that it's saying one of my players is going to be out all season.

[Irene]

Right? That would be an A if it knew that the guy doesn't have Tommy John surgery.

[Andrew Walsh]

So I write, why do you think Shane Mcclanahan is injured? He's scheduled to start on opening day. And the computer responds this.

[Irene]

And again, you can't do that, Dave.

[Andrew Walsh]

It starts with the word actually. And I could not.

[Luke Burbank]

What?

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm going to swear. I could not fucking believe that this Can. Well, actually, by ChatGPT, mansplain me. Here's the response. I said, do you. Why do you think Shane Mcclanahan is injured? He's scheduled to start an opening day. Actually, Shane Mcclanahan is all bold out for the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2023. So it's like, bolded, like, actually, you're wrong, human. And then it goes on to say, here are some other pitchers that you could slot in instead.

[Irene]

Does it not know that it's 2025?

[Andrew Walsh]

So I wrote.

[Irene]

You wrote, what's his name? Shane Mcclanahan. You said, shane Mcclanahan is clearly in the driver's seat for 2025.

[Andrew Walsh]

I wrote, actually in all caps, because it wrote to me, actually, Shane Mcclanahan. So I wrote, actually in all caps, it's 2025. Do you really not know what year it is? The computer writes back, you're right. It's 2025. My mistake there. But unfortunately, my point still stands. Shane Mcclanahan is out for the entire 2025 season as well. In all bold. It's yelling at me, actually, Shane Mcclanahan is still out for the 2025 season since he had Tommy John surgery in 2023. He's out for 2024 and most of 2025. It's, like, now starting to walk back. It says, actually, I'm looking at this now. It says, shane Mcclanahan is out for the entire 2025 season as well. Then the next sentence is, he's gonna be out for all of 2024 and possibly part of 2025. So it's like two sentences that are contradictory. And the computer just showed its ass. It's giving me a grade on a fantasy baseball draft. It doesn't know what fucking year it is. I'm just putting explicit on the show today. I don't care. So I write back, then why do all the headlines say that Shane Mcclanahan is starting on opening day? Like this article from the MLB. And I put a link in there. ChatGPT says, Apologies for the confusion earlier.

[Irene]

What? No, you were wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

Confusion? Yeah, the confusion, actually. You're a dumbass. So sorry for apologies for the confusion earlier. Shane Mcclanahan underwent time apologies that we.

[Irene]

All got a little carried away earlier.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think they think the printers got everybody a little bit too excited. Of course it did. So anyway, then it just goes on and, like, kind of barrels forward with a whole bunch of information that is, like, about Shane Mcclanahan. I'm like, yeah, oh yeah, here's what I wrote back. I wrote, yes, I know I told you that I'm. So now I'm fighting with a machine and I'm not doing this ironically, like I'm furious. And then the machine says, haha, fair enough, you got me there. My bad for the mix up earlier. It looks like McClanahan is indeed back and ready to roll. Blah blah, blah, blah blah. So then I write again. So if I reentered my entire lineup, will you remember that Shane is not injured, or will you still give me the wrong information and then insist that I am wrong? And the computer says, next time you mention Shane Mcclanahan, I'll remember that he's healthy and ready to pitch. No more mix ups on that. And I'm like. And I literally wrote, great, let's test that. Here's my lineup. And I put my lineup back in there, expecting this just to be like to make the same mistakes again.

[Irene]

And I'll give it credit here, deceased.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. The goldenest of girls. Everything checks out. This time. Shane McClanahan is healthy and set to. So like, the bot remembers that I am in an argument with it. I sort of thought like inputting the same information would just send it back to square one and I'd get it in a loop. But it is like learning and it didn't know why I put it there. And it kind of remembers where we are in our conversation. And then here's how the conversation ended. The computer tells me I'd still suggest keeping an eye and starting pitcher depth since McClanahan is coming off of surgery. That is actually a good point. But this is a well rounded squad with strong hitting, good relief pitching, and plenty of power. If you want any lineup tweaks or waiver wire advice, let me know. And then a muscle emoji and a baseball emoji, to which I wrote, yeah, of you. I wrote, yeah, of course, you seem super reliable, real polite bot. And then the bot said, ha ha, I deserve that. But hey, now that we've got Mcclanahan status straight, I promise I won't mess that up again. If you ever need trade advice, waiver pickups or match strategies, I've got your back. Baseball emoji fire.

[Irene]

Like, it got sarcasm.

[Andrew Walsh]

It got sarcasm. Like this is what like is. It's both. It's astounding how it does work like a conversation. And it does feel in a certain way, sort of human. And when I tried to like confuse it by just putting in the same information again, it remember, oh, we're in a conversation. We're in a fight now about McClanahan. Like, it realizes that shit, which is amazing, but it also is spitting out advice because it doesn't know that it's 2025. The machine thought it was the wrong year. Like, it was both amazing and so infuriating that people are going to be relying on this technology for things that they think are answers to things like, it could not have been more wrong.

[Irene]

I think that's exactly the issue with where it's at right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Irene]

I mean, you stated it very clearly that like. Like, my mind is blown that it got. That you were being sarcastic when you were like, you're really great at this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Yeah, of course I'm going to turn to you again.

[Irene]

That's insane that it gets something as nuanced as that. But then it doesn't know what year it is. It thinks it's Y2K and it actuallys.

[Andrew Walsh]

Me twice in a row.

[Irene]

That's the number one thing that they should write into the code or the prompts or however this large language model is trained actually, as the start of a sentence should be banned from the software.

[Andrew Walsh]

But who writes this shit? It's a bunch of guys who are telling people. Oh, actually all the time.

[Irene]

It's a bunch of people who are drinking Soylent and retweeting Elon Musk.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, exactly. And, well, actuallying their few female colleagues. I'm sure it's just like the tone of this thing and being so. Just blatantly wrong and being pompous and telling me I was wrong twice in a row and then just sort of being like, hey, sorry, bro, I got your back. Now I want to burn the whole thing to the ground. I don't even know if I'm talking about computers anymore.

[Irene]

Yeah. There must have been a moment where you considered just throwing the laptop. What, into the street?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Irene]

Just like.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't. I really do. It's sort of. Did you mention I'm not afraid of technology? But this did sort of make me want to crawl into the woods a little bit.

[Irene]

Did it regrade your team now that it knew that McClanahan was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Didn't give me a new letter grade, but it just said, you're right.

[Irene]

See, that's dumb. Also. So if it was a B plus when they thought that he. You're a pitcher who's the number one starter for a team when they thought he was out for the whole season and now they know he's actually going to pitch opening day. That doesn't improve your grade.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, well, I'm sure if I had in the moment said, okay, now give me a new grade based on this. I'll bet. I mean, do you want me to do that right now? Because it saved my conversation. I don't know if it's going to say good morning. Did you sleep on this? Okay, can you give me a new letter grade now that you know what's.

[Irene]

Up now that you know the year?

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. Now that I know McClanahan is healthy and ready to go. Here's your updated draft guide. A minus or draft grade? Rather a minus. Okay, I did get it.

[Irene]

Improvement.

[Andrew Walsh]

I did get it. Final verdict. A minus. Strong contender. Still watch the wire for starting pitchings in the SP4 and SP5 option, which I agree with, anyway grade, and it's probably a minus. So anyway, there it is. That's my story. I could just keep on repeating myself, but, like, you could hear how galled and fascinated I was at the same time.

[Irene]

I think that's the exact way to describe what's going on with this. It's galling and fascinating.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Irene]

And I totally get how you felt like you were crossing a Rubicon by downloading it because it just feels like once this thing sort of once it really starts. And I know, like you said, there's a lot of people that are already using it, but there's a lot of people like you and I who aren't already using it. And when it sort of, once it's on all of our computers and phones and we are actually like just, it's, it's sort of second nature. It's like everything's gonna change, you know, and so I can see why it felt to you like, okay, this is the beginning of everything being different.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm hesitating here because I can't remember if I've gone on this rant a lot off air and a lot on after these messages. But I don't know if you and I have vented about those AI commercials for the Matthew McConaughey commercials with Woody Harrelson in them as well. And it's for some sort of business to business software, but they're trying to integrate something new called. It's called Agent Force is the new thing. Oh, that's funny. They were huge commercials during football season and then they released one new one on Super Bowl Sunday that was like the third in the series. But the first one, maybe when I describe it, you might remember it. It is Matthew McConaughey and they're well Shot like, expensive commercials. I mean, they have Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, so that's a lot of money right there. And I think it's for Salesforce. But they're advertising something specific called their Agent Force, which is some sort of AI plug. If you're like a business and you need the software business of business software, I don't know anything about that shit. But either way, the commercial shows Matthew McConaughey sitting outside at a table at a fancy restaurant. But the problem is, it's nighttime. It's pouring rain, and everybody else is inside eating at tables, but he's outside in the pouring rain eating, and a waiter comes out while he's talking to us and serves him a big plate of shrimp. And McConaughey is saying to us, the viewers, like. Like, this restaurant didn't use Agent Force with AI which is why I'm sitting outside in the rain, because I booked a table outside, and they. An AI didn't tell them to move me inside, and they're serving me food I don't even want. And he kind of pushes the shrimp away. And there's several of these commercials. But, like, that's basically the premise. Like, this company doesn't know how to treat me because they're not using AI and seeing companies like that in society as a whole trying so desperately to make us think we need AI for things we don't need AI for, I feel.

[Irene]

So if you don't have AI, Matthew McConaughey will sit in the rain.

[Andrew Walsh]

It doesn't make any. I mean, I guess. I guess the only explanation is maybe in Simpson's voice, that's the joke. Like, maybe they're trying to be.

[Irene]

I don't give them that much credit.

[Andrew Walsh]

But, no, I don't either. It's like they're really trying to make it seem like you. You can't run a business without AI and it's like, yes, you can. Because when you show up to get your table that you reserved and somebody says, sir, it's raining outside. We've moved you indoors. You don't need AI for that. And you don't need what? Did he order his food? How did AI cause him to get food that he didn't want?

[Irene]

Or lack of A.I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, like, how did a lack of A.I. end up giving him shrimp? Like, who? Where did the shrimp come from?

[Irene]

Has everybody been getting the wrong thing brought to them while sitting in the rain for years and years, since time immemorial?

[Andrew Walsh]

And it's just so bananas because it's like, I'm not saying that there isn't some use for these tools, and I'm sure that they've been being used for a long time on the back end of things that I don't even realize AI is playing a part in. And so it's making things smoother, maybe in my life and in the lives of the services that I use or something. But this really trying to jam it, trying to rub it in our face, you know, this idea that, like, everybody must use AI and if you're not using AI, you're behind the curve. And it's like, oh, well, how so? It's like, well, restaurants are serving shrimp to people who don't like shrimp. That's not a problem. Like, I'm just. I'm exhausted.

[Irene]

Well, I look forward to hearing how your team does.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm serious, listeners.

[Irene]

I'm glad. No, I'm glad you're still doing it because you were almost. No, no, I'm being serious. You were, you were toying with not doing this, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Sort of. Basically, I started playing fantasy baseball for the first time. Was it. Is this fourth season, you and I.

[Irene]

Were supposed to be co. Bros on it and I treated you like bubbles.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, that's right. Well, I clawed at the couch.

[Irene]

I went out for a pack of cigarettes, I clawed at the couch and.

[Andrew Walsh]

You were like, no more. So you know, at least some of the people in this 10 member, you know, squad.

[Irene]

Yeah, my friend Joe, my friend Grant.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so they invited you to play fantasy baseball. You're like, that's a big commitment. How about me and you, Andrew and Luke, team up and we manage a team together. That was about four years ago. I think very quickly you kind of bowed out, which was fine because I was getting a little control freaky about it anyway. And I was kind of learning, but I knew nothing. I know. Especially, you know, I'm always learning a little bit more about baseball, but I'm certainly no baseball expert and I knew nothing about fantasy baseball. And I was nervous and I was overwhelmed and we didn't do very well that year. Year. But each year since then I got a little bit better. And last year, like, you know, I went through some embarrassing discoveries of. Not of going through like a whole season of not realizing some very basic tools were there to help me and stuff like that. But, like, I just didn't know. And I'm also not patient enough to be, like, listening to a lot of, like, tutorials about how to play fantasy baseball. I just don't care that much. Like, I'm. I think I mentioned this to you on the show the other day. Like, there were certain, like, digital card games I used to play, and it was like, you're supposed to collect all the cards, and that's where the fun is. I'm like, I don't care about collecting the cards. I just want to play. Like, just give me a bunch of cards. Can we just play the game? I've been like that my whole life. I'm not a very good strategy guy, so fantasy baseball is probably not a good fit for me. But last year was my third year doing it, and, like, I learned a lot of lessons, and I ended, I believe, in second place in the league. I was very. What's the. It's not pride, but I would just say less shame. And I was feeling less shame. And then the playoffs came. I told you all this off. Off air. And then there are, like, you know, various moves you can make on your team, like, throughout the week. But during the playoffs, I'm like, I don't know. I just have the best roster. I don't see anything good on the wires. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing here. And then I just lost all my playoff games, and I was just, like, done. And then there was some chat afterwards amongst these fellas, I don't know, but I'm on the chat chain or whatever, and there's kind of like, yeah, what happened to Walsh? Was he trapped beneath the refrigerator during the playoffs? And, like, that will echo in my head for the rest of my life. I was like, no, I don't.

[Irene]

That's like, that's your worst coming true.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was, because it wasn't that I. And I literally wrote back to them, kind of humorlessly, actually, going back to that. I wrote back because after, like, two or three people said, yeah, where is Walsh? Is he still caught under a rock somewhere? Like, what's going on? I wrote back. I'm like, guys, I wasn't caught under a rock. I literally still don't know how to play this game. I didn't see any moves I was supposed to make. I don't know what I did wrong. And somebody's like, well, just keep Ohtani. I'm like, all right, fine. Because I inherited Ohtani. So it felt like my entire season was chalked up to the fact that I had Ohtani. I was like, no, I was making moves. I was actively inherited. Remember, it's a key.

[Irene]

We have him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. So when we inherited this, we took.

[Irene]

The person, somebody who had Ohtani.

[Andrew Walsh]

We took it over. And that's with prime real estate. Exactly. And it's a keeper league, so at the beginning of every season, you get to choose your five best players to hold over for the next year. So obviously, I'm never giving up Ohtani, but I. And again, this is all. All of these guys, none of them were trying to hurt my feelings or be even all that ball busty. I'm a super sensitive person, but it just bummed me. I'm not mad at anybody on this text chain that nobody did or said anything inappropriate. I was just feeling really sensitive because I was like, no, I was working at this time, baby. I was really trying to work it. And that's how I ended up in second place. But clearly there's some strategy for the playoffs that I don't understand. And I don't know where I was supposed to get better players for that week, but I didn't have them. And so I was trapped under a rock. So, anyway, at the beginning of this season, I was like, do I want to do that again? Do I want to spend all season, like, streaming pictures and like, looking, like, spending, like, literally standing in the shower, like, looking at the waiver wire, because it's like. Because I have a few more. That sounds like the commercial that I would see during the day. Actually, I do a lot of fantasy.

[Irene]

Andrew just getting rained on while looking at his phone.

[Andrew Walsh]

I thought, joking. I'll bet you if you look at the pie chart of where I do most of my fantasy baseball wire searches, probably a lot of it is in the shower. But anyway, I wasn't feeling. Yeah, you know, they're pretty waterproof these days.

[Irene]

I know they are, but I'm afraid.

[Andrew Walsh]

I bring it in there because I listen to podcasts and it's too quiet if it's outside the shower. So I set on a little shelf.

[Irene]

There, I have a blue speaker for that exact thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, I used to have one of those.

[Irene]

But, like, just because it's too loud when I shower and if I'm listening to, like, Chris's show or. Yeah, you know, whatever. The Ezra Klein show. Oh, I meant to tell you. I was coming out of a restaurant last night after getting a little bit of dinner. First of all, I Forgot it was St. Patrick's Day. Holy smokes. Yes, it was an S show.

[Andrew Walsh]

At least you're in la, though. Not like Boston or New York.

[Irene]

You'd think I was in Boston. I couldn't believe it. I went to this place, the Smokehouse in Burbank, which is kind of a legendary industry joint, and they had it so St. Patrick's up. And I was like, oh, God, I didn't want any part of it. But as I was walking out, there was a table of guys, and a guy literally said to his friends, you don't get the show. And I stopped and I said, levitar. And he said, yep.

[Andrew Walsh]

That'S great. And you kept moving as well. I love that. I told you there's a street food vendor right in the U District that Genevieve was like, I think that guy listens to Levitard because I keep on hearing the, like, the fanfare sound or something coming from his booth. Hey, Luke, I know you got to get out of here because we're running a little bit tight on time, but I told you before the show that I'm excited to do something here at the end of the show today, which is I have been listening to a lot of voicemails, as I always do on the TBTL voicemail listener line. 2064-1482-8520-6414. TBTL is the voicemail number. You can call and leave us a voicemail, and we play them occasionally on the show, but it's kind of hard to pick the voicemails that work at the end of the show where you and I are going to say something about them and they stand on their own and everything. We play maybe one out of every 10 voicemails. We get maybe one out of every 20. And it's hard to find a home for a lot of these things. And it bums me out because I love listening to the listeners leave these messages. I just don't know what to do with them in the show. So I thought, I've been kind of stealing this idea from our friend Bean of cup of tea and a chat fame, because I heard him put together a long, long montage of listener voicemails one time, and it was just so good, and it was so random, but it didn't need you and I setting them all up and explaining them. So at the end of the show today, after we play the music and get out of here and say good luck to all, I'm just gonna sort of open up the voicemail line and just play a hella ton of voicemails one after another after another, and it'll sort of give the listeners a sense of just what it's like to listen to the voicemail line and just hear people delighting in things we said or asking things or telling their own little stories related to stories we've told.

[Irene]

That is awesome. I may even stick around and listen. I may miss my Duplass shoot.

[Andrew Walsh]

Probably worth it.

[Irene]

Nice. I'm excited. All right, thank you everybody for listening. We are going to be right back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio. I'll be back home at the Madrona Hill studio. So we will see you then. In the meantime, have a great Tuesday. Take care of yourselves and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey guys. I was just listening to, I think Tuesday's show. Maybe I'm a little bit behind. And Andrew started talking about his thermos and immediately they start singing in the shower. I'm picking out a thermos for you. Not an ordinary thermos will do. Best thermos you can find with vinyl and stripes and a cup built right in. And I just wanted to say I feel super served by thermos talk. I always appreciate any thermos or jerk related talk because that is one of the best movies that there is. Well, mainly the first half, but we don't need to get into details. So anyways, have a good Thermist Dummies. What you do is so important. Hi guys, this is Stephen in Lawrence.

[Andrew Walsh]

Kansas with a question about Seattle geography. I've been listening to TBTL on and off for about 15 years, since around 2010.

[Irene]

At what point do I get like.

[Luke Burbank]

An honorary Seattle residency? How many years does it take to.

[Irene]

Be like a 5 Seattle residency? Thanks.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey friendos, thank you so much for playing the Chipmunks on doing the Val Dylan song. Oh my God, you brought me so much joy. I. When I first heard that, I doubled over and had to grab the counter. I was laughing so hard. And to hear you guys just your complete glee. I've played it about 15 times since then. You brought me so much joy. Thank you so much. You guys are the best. And I'm walking into work right now and I am going to play it for all my co workers and I'm going to bring them joy today. So anyway, love you guys. Not in a creepy way. Power up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hi, it's listener Dave from New York.

[Luke Burbank]

City with a quick update about the.

[Irene]

Baseball thing and the bathroom thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was not the caller from the.

[Irene]

Beautifully cleaned mall bathroom, but I wish I was. And after consultation with the tens on.

[Andrew Walsh]

The Facebook group, I made my choice for my team. I am going with the Baltimore Orioles.

[Irene]

Partially because I used to live fairly close to Baltimore, so I have a connection.

[Andrew Walsh]

But mostly it's about the bird logo. So, yeah, I'm an Oriole fan.

[Luke Burbank]

Go O's.

[Andrew Walsh]

And John Sluroff did come in and try to convert me to the. To the evil empire of the Yankees, but I resisted.

[Luke Burbank]

Thanks.

[Andrew Walsh]

Power out.

[Luke Burbank]

Love you guys. This is so random, but I just wanted you to know that I have a gynecologist appointment coming up, and now I have to always refer to that as going to the lady doctor. It's for ladies, so power out. I just had the funniest experience. I dialed up my podcatcher, I hit play, and I hear this background noise and it sounds like rain. And then Luke is kind of through his intro, and he hasn't addressed it. He said, it's a beautiful day outside. And I'm thinking to myself, is this something that's going on in the back? Like, is this like a joke that Andrew's playing? Like, why is it. It just sounds like rain. It's just a straight. I had my white noise app still hook still online. I didn't close out the app, so it was raining while Luke was doing his intro and throw out the intro tape. And I was very, very confused. But I found that pretty funny then. So great way to start a Tuesday. Thanks.

[Irene]

Bye.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, guys, it's Cheryl with Corvallis. I am listening to Friday's show on a Monday morning on my way to.

[Andrew Walsh]

Work that I don't want to be going to.

[Luke Burbank]

And I just wanted to thank you, Andrew, specifically, who said, I can't quiz myself. I'll go blind. And I was taking a sip of my coffee and I nearly spit it out all over my lap as I'm driving down Highway 20 from Corvallis to Albany here. So thank you so much for the chuckle. Thankfully, I did not spill coffee all over myself before I have to go interpret. But I just appreciate you guys so much. I really needed a chuckle today, especially the way the world has been. So love you guys. Take it easy. Bye. Help. I've been watching college basketball on Fox for the last few hours and they keep playing round ball rock before they go to commercial. And I can't stop seeing buh, buh, buh, buh, buh. Basketball. This is Kristen in Kansas City. Bye. Hi, Luke and Andrew. This is listener Annette from Livonia, Michigan. I was calling in regards to Andrew's adventure at Coldies and that the waitress that recognized him and said good night to him. Last week I was at the dentist with my son and something funny must have been said because I laughed. And then the next day, I was at work, and a co worker said, I heard you at the dentist yesterday. And I was like, oh. And he said, well, he was being worked on, so he couldn't actually talk to me, but. But he heard my laugh and knew that he recognized me. And so you just never know who knows you, who recognizes you, who sees you. It was pretty weird because I didn't think my laugh was that recognizable or remarkable, but just thought I'd share that. You guys are great. Power out. This is John Smith from Tacoma.

[Andrew Walsh]

I bought a new Meat Girl larvae.

[Irene]

Today, and I just had to tell somebody, power out.

[Luke Burbank]

Hi, my name is Brian Shade. I live in Barrington, Illinois. And my joke is I couldn't understand why the ball was getting bigger, and then it hit me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Say, power out.

[Luke Burbank]

Power out.