TBTL Episode #4565 Summary: "One Abbey After Another" (Fixed & Re-Uploaded)
Date: October 1, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Length: ~1hr 47min
Theme: From Paul Thomas Anderson movie misadventures, to a small-town bar confrontation, to confusing airline baggage experiences, Luke and Andrew dive into personal stories, pop culture observations, and relatable anxieties.
Main Theme & Purpose
This episode weaves personal storytelling with cultural commentary, focusing on everyday misadventures: Andrew's run-in at a local bar, confusion at the movie theater, Luke's surreal baggage claim mix-up, and both hosts' ongoing quest to understand life through organization, film, and the etiquette of public spaces. The episode is a classic TBTL blend of humor, introspection, and camaraderie.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Group Self-Deprecation & Social Media Rituals
- Time: 00:00–01:22
- Opening banter with Genevieve about posting group photos and the culture of playful, self-deprecating captions:
- Genevieve: "When you post a pic of yourself where you look really cute, then you have to say a little self deprecating [thing] so it doesn't look like you're just bragging."
- Sets a tone for the rest of the episode about vulnerability and social codes.
2. Weather & Seasonal Shifts as a TBTL Hallmark
- Time: 01:34–02:47
- Luke describes transitioning into 'cozy season' only to wake to bright blue skies.
- Running joke about recording seasonal change via TBTL catchphrases.
- Luke: "Soon the Oma pa It's just beautiful. Will turn to Denzel Washington saying, 'Didn't know you like to get wet though.' Like the swallows returning to Capistrano." (02:47)
3. Movie Mishaps: The Paul Thomas Anderson Film Mixup
- Time: 03:50–20:30
a) Movie Selection Expectations & PT Anderson Fandom
- Andrew reflects on revisiting Paul Thomas Anderson's films, especially the new release One Battle After Another.
- Andrew: "I think I have a new favorite one...it's a three hour film and you feel like you ran a race by the time you leave the theater." (04:26)
- Mutual uncertainty about the often cryptic nature of PT Anderson films.
b) Accidentally Watching the Wrong Movie
- Andrew recounts purchasing a ticket at the AMC, accidentally sitting through Downton Abbey (starring Paul Giamatti), and realizing the mix-up only when seeing unfamiliar names in the opening credits.
- Luke: "You were in one Giamatti after another." (16:04)
- Navigating modern cinemas’ confusing signage and automated ticketing, leading to self-doubt and paranoia.
c) Learning to Trust Your Instincts
- The story pivots into a conversation about trusting one’s anxieties, especially in ambiguous situations:
- Luke: "Trust your fears. That's the big takeaway from TBTL." (20:30)
4. Movie Critique & DiCaprio's Choice of Projects
- Time: 22:29–27:57
- Andrew and Luke discuss One Battle After Another's trailer versus the film’s actual tone, the challenge of capturing "vibe" in marketing, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s interesting adult career trajectory.
- Luke: "I can't think of a movie where you see it and you go, oh, [DiCaprio] just did that to make a bunch of money." (26:57)
5. Barroom Showdown: "One Abbey After Another"
- Time: 27:59–67:45
- Signature Segment: Andrew’s Bleachers Bar Story
a) The Set-up
- Andrew, Genevieve, and friends are at Bleachers in Greenwood during a Mariners game.
- Bar has cozy, regulars' vibe; Andrew emphasizes social rituals and etiquette of returning glasses to the bar.
b) The Confrontation
- Andrew innocently places his empty pint on the bar near a temporarily empty stool. A returning patron is incensed, slams the glass back at Andrew’s table, and calls him an asshole.
- Andrew: "He slams it down in front of me. He's like, I don't want your glass...Now, keep in mind, he wasn't there."
- Andrew (sarcastic): "'You seem like a really nice guy. Everything going okay for you today?'" (40:09)
c) The Escalation & Passive Aggression
- Andrew, agitated, later places a disposable water cup near the instigator and walks away ("I just didn't want him to have the last word.").
- The man physically confronts Andrew in the hallway, throws the cup at him (which lands feebly), then follows him into the bathroom for a final, blustery but unproductive harangue.
- Andrew: "It was so impotent...It is so impotent. And that's why it's so much better than being like, oh, that's assault. It's like, no, that's not assault. It doesn't go assault on his dignity." (51:44)
- Luke: "Nobody expects a headbutt as your come out roll." (73:45)
d) Reflection: Adrenaline and Anxiety Aftermath
- Andrew reveals the agitation lingered but, in the end, neither man escalated further. Andrew gets a last passive dig ("Just don't put any glasses by this guy. He hates glasses.").
e) TBTL Tone: Affirming Each Other's Experiences
- Luke reflects on sticking up for friends, the adrenaline of confrontation, and the “two wolves” approach: violence vs. narc-ing.
6. Organization, Uniformity, and Stages of Adulthood
- Time: 28:34–30:57
- A detour on home/wardrobe organization: the appeal of matched coffee mugs and moving away from eclectic personal relics towards uniformity and order.
- Andrew: "I'm slowly phasing them out and just buying plain colored T shirts..."
7. Travel Oddities: Luke’s Bizarre Baggage Claim
- Time: 77:49–93:18
a) The Mystery of the Disappearing Flight Crew
- Luke shares a "mind-freak" story: after being first off his flight in Portland, he visits the restroom briefly only to find no one from his plane, and his bag already "pulled" and set aside as if it's been abandoned for hours.
- Luke: "This is some David Copperfield shit...I got off the airplane. I walked to the baggage carousel, where that was not in motion. I went into the restroom for 25 seconds and relieved myself..." (87:29–88:43)
b) Gaslighting via Good Service
- Asks for help from airline staff, who kindly assume the bag must be there—he feels like a lost soul, half convinced reality has warped.
- Both hosts riff on travel confusion, the sense that bureaucracy can sometimes leave you questioning your own grip on reality.
8. Listener Engagement: Donor Thanks & Musical Pet Videos
- Time: 74:16–79:09 and 96:18–99:09
- A traditional donor thank-you segment, rich with quips about each location and recurring themes (e.g., "Should we do a live podcast from Folsom Prison?").
- Andrew plays an audio clip from a listener, Annie, whose harmonica—received as a thank-you gift—inspires spontaneous dog howling.
- Andrew: "That dog is singing!"
- Annie shares that she was surprised by her dog's musical response.
9. Cultural Detritus: The Problem With Old Songs & Memory
- Time: 99:18–102:31
- Luke and Andrew riff on the problematic origins of old American folk songs:
- Luke: "That feels racist to me, Camptown Races...Turkey in the Straw is definitely racist."
- Andrew tells a bittersweet story about karaoke at his mother's care facility and the deep-seated connection to music as memory.
10. Civic Anxiety: “Wild” and “Scary” in Portland
- Time: 103:32–106:02
- Luke closes with candid observations about media narratives vs. the mundane reality of living near a supposedly “lawless” ICE facility in Portland.
- Luke: "I was at the place yesterday...Not just—I knew it was all. I knew it was in LA...but it's for me, it's never been the case that I could just say, oh, yeah, I was at the place...it is. I like, whatever. I'm just preaching to the choir on this one because everybody else is enraptured. But it is, right? It's wild out there, people."
Memorable Quotes
- Andrew (on Paul Thomas Anderson’s films): "Most P.T. Anderson movies for me, I watch them and I’m entertained and deeply confused. And then upon rewatching...then I become a bigger fan, in retrospect, of the film." (04:46)
- Luke (on moviegoing mishap): "You were in one Giamatti after another." (16:04)
- Andrew (returning glass etiquette): "That's what you do at a bar when you're done with your drink. You try to get it as close to the bartender as possible so they can bus it." (35:45)
- Andrew (about adversary): "You seem like a really nice guy. Everything going okay for you today?" (40:05)
- Andrew (on male bar behavior): "It was so impotent...It is so impotent. And that's why it's so much better than being like, oh, that's assault. It's like, no, that's not assault. It doesn't go assault on his dignity." (51:44)
- Luke (about headbutts): "Nobody expects a headbutt as your come out roll." (73:45)
- Luke (on being gaslit by good service): "I was sort of getting...well, you just don't understand...then I moved, like, this much so that I had a different vantage point. And then I saw my suitcase...and then I went, oh, well, there it is." (90:13)
- Andrew (on karaoke in care facilities): "...people were kind of doing karaoke for the very first time and doing songs that were like, almost nursery rhymes..." (102:11)
- Luke (on Portland): "The families bringing their grandparents to ye olde spaghetti factory on Sundays have had absolutely zero interruption in their experience." (105:47)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:00–01:22 – Opening banter on Instagram caption etiquette
- 03:50–20:30 – Moviegoing misadventure story
- 27:59–67:45 – The Bleachers Bar controversy (full arc)
- 77:49–93:18 – Baffling baggage claim at PDX
- 96:18–99:09 – Listener Annie’s harmonica and her singing dog
- 99:18–102:31 – Thoughts on karaoke, music memory, and problematic songs
Conclusion
A quintessential TBTL episode: at once meandering and tightly wound, full of inside jokes, public humiliations, personal growth, and the joy (and nervousness) of human interaction. If you’ve ever overthought an everyday decision, found yourself in an accidental showdown, or wondered whether your bag exists in this dimension, this episode is for you.
Please note, ad breaks, show intros/outros, and credits are omitted in this summary.