TBTL #4570 “Deuces With Dignity” — October 7, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively Tuesday edition of TBTL, hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh revel in their signature blend of sports anxiety, gentle self-mockery, and stream-of-consciousness banter. With high stakes for the Seattle Mariners in the postseason, the episode dives deep into baseball superstitions, the emotional rollercoaster of fandom, and the intrusion of AI into music. There’s also time for podcast AI quirks, neighborhood rants, and a loving roast of local personalities. As always, the hosts wander through personal routines, cultural tangents, and listener interactions, providing comfort, humor, and sometimes a little existential dread.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mariners Playoff Anxiety and Viewing Rituals

• Mariners playoff game dominates the hosts’ emotional states.
  • Andrew prepares his whole day to accommodate the game: “I just got done listening to about, I think, 90 minutes of Seattle Sports radio pre-game broadcast… I’m getting a little bit anxious about it.” (03:01)
  • Both hosts recognize the mental toll of playoff fandom: “Yesterday you raised, I think, the very fair question, is this fun? Is this enjoyable? And as of right now, I, I can’t give you a yes on that, Andrew.” (13:02)
• Superstitions and watching routines are debated.
  • Luke questions the best setting for watching: alone in the studio, or with family? "Will I watch it here in the Madrona Hill studio or will I watch it in the house? ...I fear that [my dad] will accidentally...not be willing to change into the sackcloth and ashes that I’ve set aside for him." (11:26)
  • Andrew carefully selects his “lucky” shirt and even attempts to match his boxer shorts to previous game-day wins (38:14).
• Reflection on sports pain & memory.
  • "It’s hard for me to think about this moment without imagining myself looking back on this moment..." (13:22)
  • Both accept the outsized emotional role of sports, yet recognize its absurdity.

2. Rain Delays, Playoff History, and Baseball Trivia

• Disputing sports radio commentary: Andrew is skeptical of radio host Mike Salk’s claim that rain delays never affect postseason games, citing the legendary 2016 Cubs–Indians World Series. Luke identifies more with the “Bartman incident” but is convinced by Andrew’s research. (05:42–08:17)
• Stats confusion: The conversation meanders through Mariners playoff records and the vagaries of wild card rounds, highlighting how national media can sometimes misstate local facts. (16:08–17:44)

3. Media Personalities & Mariners Fandom

• Viral Mariners fan identified: Luke discusses the now-famous emotional Mariners fan on TV, who turns out to be Saul Spady, a known conservative commentator and Dick's Drive-In heir.
  • Luke: “All I could think about with this guy...was, what are you doing wearing a Savannah Bananas hat to the Mariner game?...It is a deeply unserious move.” (18:18–19:16)
• Andrew's reaction to local media: “I was so bummed...that was Saul Spady. That guy’s a total POS...when I saw him on TV, I didn’t know that he was Saul Spady…I was pretty bummed by that storyline.” (19:16)
• Joking about “the homeless industrial complex”: The hosts riff on local politics and Andrew's own volunteer work. “It’s paying dividends, Luke. It’s paying dividends.” (21:42)

4. AI Music, Creativity, and Existential Dread

• AI intrusion at Dozer Day: Luke describes being fooled by AI-generated music at a local festival for kids: “When I tell you, this sounded exactly like the current state of country music, except it was about heavy equipment. It was remarkable.” (24:49)
• Reflections on AI in creative work:
  • Luke: “It completely...passed my personal Turing test...I didn’t hear it and go, ‘Well, this was made in two seconds by a large language model.’” (25:19)
  • Andrew: “Why is that a problem? For me it is. I can…twist myself in circles. I think there’s something more fundamental about your story…that I can’t put into words. Why it seems pernicious.” (25:51)
• Copyright and future-proofing creative jobs: Discussion of rules around AI-generated content and nervousness about job security in a creative/AI future.
  • Luke: “I guess it makes me feel sad because it feels like in my lifetime, I just don’t know if...this kind of thing that I’m doing right now with you will be a job that certainly I can have as a human because there’s going to be so much competition.” (31:56)

Notable Quote:
Luke: “This whole podcast is a zigzag pattern. You couldn’t...We are, I guess, a little AI-proof because it’s just so…it’s such a zigzag pattern of absolute inanity...” (33:41)

5. Tech Annoyances and Podcast AI Chapters

• Spotify implements AI-generated chapter markers for TBTL episodes.
  Andrew reads off the algorithmically-supplied titles:
  • “Luke’s October intro and Mariners playoff anxiety”
  • “Genevieve’s cat toilet training and Andrew’s grumpiness”
  • “Deuces with Dignity debate” (38:11)
• The hosts find the quirk amusing rather than threatening.
• Contrast: AI-generated country songs vs. a grocery app that can’t sort frozen peas correctly. Andrew: "We have a full song that sounds exactly like modern...country...but we can’t figure out that when I...put frozen peas on the grocery list, you should put that in the frozen food section, not baking needs." (41:23)

6. Listener Donations & TBTL Community Banter

• Donor thanks: Regular gratitude is expressed for listener support, complete with minor bits about names and brewing puns (47:19–48:16).
• Meta-conversation: Brief confusion over imaginary scenarios between the hosts, inspired by “scenarios” TikToks.

7. Rants and Raves Segment (Seattle Times)

• Review of this week’s rants & raves column:
  • Rave: Mariners and the Root Sports crew, “especially Brad Adams’ sassy” delivery.
  • Rant to self: For getting angry at poor sidewalk etiquette: "Walking on a sidewalk is like driving a car. Keep to the right. Don’t walk four abreast..." (54:09)
  • The hosts speculate whether longtime listener Mary wrote the rant, given its distinctive tone.

Memorable Exchange:
Andrew: “This is so angry and so passive aggressive that, again, I’m just shocked that I didn’t do this myself.” (54:32)

• Rave: To Hot Tuna ticket leaver; warm fuzzies abound. (57:12)
• Rant/Rave: Cautionary tale about nearly being scammed out of retirement savings; the importance of banking vigilance. (58:10)

8. Closing Bits

• Grandkids vs. Siblings power balance in the Burbank family: Addie’s group-chat power move: “To my fellow grandchildren...never forget the power you are holding in your hands.” (63:05)
• Emails/V-mails: Bill writes in to clarify 1995 Mariners trivia; Andrew plugs the “yeas and nays” newsletter section. (65:20)
• Mariners superstitions: The show wraps up with both hosts preparing for the playoff game, rooting for a Mariners victory, and joking about ritual clothing.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Luke on sports pain: “I don’t like shaking up the snow globe on the game by adding in a two-hour break in the middle of it.” (08:17)
• Andrew on AI: “There are things I can say like, obviously that you are taking money out of the hands of performers...But...I could twist myself in circles. I think there’s something more fundamental about your story...that I can’t put into words.” (25:51)
• Luke, existential career dread: “I feel like...in my lifetime, I just don’t know if...this kind of thing that I’m doing right now with you will be a job...” (31:56)
• Andrew on AI podcast chapters: “This is just funny...like, it doesn’t. This doesn’t feel icky to me necessarily...” (39:59)
• Luke on Mariners rituals: “I’ve got to go and start doing some various strange rituals so as to ensure a Mariners victory.” (35:09)
• Rant & Rave meta: "Every time I read a rant or a rave, I’m more angry that they didn’t publish your self-rant/rave.” (58:10)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:45 – Trader Joe’s banter, opening jokes
• 03:01 – Mariners playoff anxiety, sports radio recap
• 05:23 – Baseball history, rain delays, post-season memories
• 11:24 – Viewing rituals: house or studio?
• 13:02 – Is this fun? The agony of being a fan
• 18:18 – Mariners fan identity, Saul Spady, and the Savannah Bananas hat discourse
• 24:49 – Luke gets fooled by AI-generated Dozer Day music; existential AI fears
• 38:11 – Spotify’s AI-generated podcast chapter titles
• 47:19 – Donor thanks; brewing/beer puns
• 52:12 – Rants and Raves summary; sidewalk etiquette outrage
• 58:10 – Cautionary anti-scam tale
• 63:05 – Burbank family power re-alignment
• 65:20 – Mariners trivia correction, “Yeas and Nays” segment

Listener Value & Final Thoughts

Even for those who haven’t listened, episode #4570 encapsulates the TBTL ethos: neighborhood-level whimsy, sports-tinged agony, irrepressible goofiness, and an undercurrent of skeptical reflection about the future (especially tech’s role in everyday life and culture). The conversation leaps from emotional to absurd, from local to existential, driven by the friendship and neurotic humor of its hosts. Whether you want catharsis for sports anxiety, laughter at local media foibles, or a relatable shudder at unstoppable AI, this episode delivers.

Power out.