TBTL Episode #4585: "I'm An Ideas Festival, Michael"
Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Episode Overview
In this classic Tuesday episode, Luke and Andrew juggle topics ranging from podcast award controversies and awkward advertising campaigns to personal food experiments and peculiar smells. As always, the duo blend tangents into reflections on culture, their own habits, and the general absurdities of life—this time with a heavy dose of sleepiness, food-talk, and meta-media commentary.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Podcast Golden Globes and the ’Pay-to-Play’ Awards Game
- Main Topic: Luke introduces the news that the Golden Globes now have a podcast category—however, TBTL is not among the 25 nominees.
- Behind the Curtain: The award is run by Penske Media, who also owns a company named Luminate, responsible for picking nominees. Penske also offers a festival where, for tens of thousands of dollars, you can be interviewed and potentially written about in their own publications.
- Luke: “There might be a way to pay to play. We will get into that.” (01:10)
- Andrew: “It’s such an evil genius move, honestly.” (75:57)
- Transparency: To be considered, podcasts must pay a $500 submission fee—even TBTL could nominate itself, though they agree it’d be a waste of money.
- Meta Issues: Noted lack of diversity and the selection of only major commercial podcasts (e.g., Conan O’Brien, Dateline, Joe Rogan).
- Favorite Quote:
“The company picking the podcasts... is also owned by the people that own the Golden Globe. So that's seen as a little bit of a—I don't even know if conflict of interest. I don't think anyone cares about this enough for it to be a conflict of interest.”
(Luke, 67:22) - Tangents: They riff on the “For Your Consideration” Hollywood award machine (“If TBTL wanted to spend $50,000 that we don't have…”).
- Notable Bit: Marc Maron’s legacy is dissected, concluding that podcasting probably does not deserve reverence usually given it—“I just don't think that this is a medium that should be talked about with reverence when the intro to the show is ‘What's up, what the…’” (Luke, 90:32)
2. Sleep Inertia, Wordle Woes, and Gamified Morning Routines
- Andrew’s Wordle Streak: Andrew laments that his 160-day Wordle streak ended because he guessed the wrong word, and the emotional impact is surprisingly strong.
- (03:35) “I stopped counting. I was so close… And then last night, same deal.”
- Becca’s Solution: Luke narrates a private exchange where Becca, his partner, shares her Wordle success—with some clues that she may have had an advantage due to the nature of the day’s word.
- (19:00-21:43) “There is something about today's word that would make it more top of mind for a Becca-type person...”
- Games & Life: Connections and Wordle are contrasted for fairness and satisfaction.
- (04:02) Andrew: “There’s been some controversy. It was just a wor and I chose the wrong one.”
- Community Poll: They invite listeners to submit “top five” lists of quirky little joys or routines (e.g., beers at certain places, smells, wordle experiences).
- Contact: voicemail at 206-414-8285 or email andrew@tbtl.net (10:18)
3. Top Five Underrated Smells & The Power of Nostalgia
- Offbeat Ratings: Andrew wants to know people’s “Top 5 Underrated Smells.”
- Example: The smell of a two-stroke engine, motorboats, gasoline mixed with water, and, distantly, cigarettes.
- (06:42) “I would suggest the smell of like two-cycle engine starting up is an underrated smell...”
- Luke on Childhood Scents: “Wouldn't you agree that gasoline and cigarettes in. In moderation were two really great smells?” (07:59)
- Both share aversion to cigarette smoke in enclosed spaces as kids, but can enjoy a nostalgic whiff outdoors.
4. Food & Cooking Tangent: Tofu, Curry, & Kitchen Improvisation
Timestamp: 22:34–45:26 (Tofu adventure) & 37:56–45:26 (Cooking enthusiasms)
- Luke’s Early Morning: The Tofu Factory Visit
- Woke up at 3 a.m., filmed at Ota Tofu in Portland (“the longest continuously operated tofu production place in America”).
- Process: Step-by-step narration of turning soybeans into tofu—with traditional coagulants and labor-intensive hand methods.
- Taste Test: “I will tell you Andrew, it was actually really tasty and didn't taste like any other kind of tofu I've had before. It was very, very light, very clean. But then at the end, there was just this nuttiness to it…” (29:49)
- Family Story: The new owners are a former baseball player and his optometrist mother, who bought it from the Ota family to keep the tradition alive.
- Andrew’s Cooking Mood: The Autumnal Urge
- After bar night, makes surprise matzo ball soup at 1 a.m., then embarks on Sunday and Monday food projects.
- First attempt at chicken curry from a recipe is “just okay”—reminds himself you refine a dish over time.
- (39:40) “I just got to remember, like, don't throw in the towel on the recipe—just build on it.”
- Luke’s Pantry Creativity:
- Proud of making dinner entirely from pantry/freezer odds and ends: fondant potatoes, tuna pasta with roasted Costco frozen broccoli.
- (41:52) “Every single thing that I ate last night came from something that was existing in my kitchen that had not been gone out and purchased… I’m still like a first grade level with this, but I’m at a first grade level now.”
5. Pop Culture, Ads & Media Critique
Advertising Campaigns & SNL
- AT&T Commercial Rant: Luke expresses outrage at the new “can of whoop up” Luke Wilson/Billy Bob Thornton campaign for AT&T.
- (49:45) “Who are the ad wizards who came up with that line? How did that line survive the arena of all the different ideas and revisions for this script?”
- They play the ad, lampooning its muddled attempt to evoke rural masculinity and the nonsensical line, “I keep my boots clean by rolling with AT&T.”
- Scoreboard Bit: The absurdity of Luke Wilson checking a fake weathered scoreboard with binoculars for “fastest, most reliable network.”
- (54:36) “He wants to look at it from a certain distance, a certain remove, so he can just check in for himself who has the fastest, most reliable network…”
Comedy, SNL & Writer Jim Downey
- ‘Financier Epstein’ Bit: They play and celebrate the infamous Jim Downey “Jeff Epstein, the financier” moment from Conan O’Brien’s podcast (15:55–17:25), connecting it to Downey’s SNL writing career and his cameo in “The Chair Company.”
- (14:37) “The rehabilitation of Jim Downey’s reputation with me and me alone is afoot.”
- Tangential SNL Critique: Discussion of the limited comedic merit of most SNL cold opens, and Downey’s big reputation among insiders vs. audience.
6. Listener Engagement: Top Five Lists Call-In
- Ongoing call for listeners to submit “top five” lists about beer, popcorn, or anything fun and specific—not limited to food.
- (10:18) “If you have any kind of goofy ideas like that... email andrew@tbtl.net or call... 206-414-8285 that spells TBTL.”
7. Smaller Moments & Memorable Quotes
-
Favorite Quotes, Banter & Humor:
- Andrew: “I like you, Dottie. See, that's the thing.” (00:00, in-character riff opening)
- Luke: “I'm hooked... My tongue was shaking.” (01:29, riffing on tea/coffee addiction)
- Andrew: “A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips, a lifetime on the toughet.” (26:34, laughing about tofu texture)
- Luke: “Saturday nights at midnight, I would love nothing more than to come stumbling in from the Madrona Hill studio and smell matzo ball soup.” (37:53)
- “We love taking the name of somewhere from somewhere else in the world and then mispronouncing it.” (60:40, on U.S. town names)
-
Listener Donor Thank-Yous: (58:02–65:27)
- Usual playful debates about how to pronounce donor cities, delight in little regional mispronunciations, and affectionate ribbing of regular supporters.
-
Meta-Show:
- Luke, repeatedly referencing his sleep deprivation and admitting the day's “energy is a facade” after a 3 am tofu shoot, weaving that exhaustion into the day's tone.
8. Lightning Round: Neighborhood News, Sports, and Perfect Neighbor Documentary
- Neighborhood/Smells: The legendary "Uncle Sam" conservative billboard near Vader, WA, is now owned by a local Native American tribe, displaying “Native Land #Chehalis” next to Uncle Sam—“subtle, inoffensive, and that means it’s going to drive the right crazy.” (57:27)
- Sports Producer Rants: Luke rails on pre-produced network sports bits—animation, cringe writing—“anything outside just telling us about the game... is going to get into ‘just because Jonathan Abrams doesn't have the reins anymore, doesn’t mean the bit’s not firmly between his teeth.’” (110:44)
- Netflix Recommendation: He lauds “The Perfect Neighbor,” a documentary told solely through police bodycam, for being immersive and affecting.
- (104:55–107:45) “…absolutely literally like the audio and everything, it's audio from—there’s no narration, there are no talking heads being interviewed. It is purely through the body cam.”
- Miscellaneous Tangents: Gummy candy cravings, movie-showtime confusion, late-night Safeway cookie dilemmas.
Notable Quotes & Moments (With Timestamps)
-
On Golden Globes’ Podcast Category:
“The independent company is also owned by the people that own the Golden Globe. So that's seen as a little bit of a... I don't even know if conflict of interest. I don't think anyone cares about this enough for it to be a conflict of interest.”
(Luke, 67:22) -
On Wordle Streak Loss:
“I was 20 days away, Luke. I was 20 days away from matching, maybe even less. I stopped counting. I was so close. My top streak is 182 days and I was in the 160s...”
(Andrew, 03:35) -
On AT&T Ads:
“Who are the ad wizards who came up with that line? How did that line survive the arena of all the different ideas and revisions for this script?”
(Luke, 53:30) -
On Making Tofu:
“Making tofu is so much harder than being a professional baseball player was physically.”
(32:32) -
On Cooking With What’s Available:
“Every single thing that I ate last night came from something that was existing in my kitchen that had not been gone out and purchased...”
(Luke, 41:52) -
On Podcast Reverence:
“I just don't think that this is a medium that should be talked about with reverence when the intro to the show is ‘What's up, what the…’”
(Luke, 90:32) -
On Sports Production Cheese:
“Anything where they're trying to be filmmakers, where they're trying to do something funny about like, I don't know, just like a graphic about a guy who is on a team... anything like that it's going to get into ‘just because Jonathan Abrams doesn't have the reins anymore, it doesn't mean the bit's not firmly between his teeth.’ It's the worst kind of writing ever and it's getting on national television.”
(Luke, 110:44)
Segment Timestamps
- 00:00 – 01:51: Opening banter, character riffing.
- 01:51 – 06:31: Sleepiness, heater chat, wordle woes.
- 06:31 – 13:27: Top five experiences appeal, underrated smells.
- 13:27 – 18:49: “Chair Company” discussion, Jim Downey/SNL, and financier Epstein clip.
- 22:34 – 35:06: Tofu adventure, food production.
- 37:10 – 45:26: Food moods, curry failures, kitchen improvisation.
- 49:16 – 55:19: AT&T ad rants, Luke Wilson campaign.
- 58:02 – 65:27: Donor thanks, place-name debates.
- 65:46 – 86:31: Podcast Golden Globes saga, awards machine, Penske Media, Marc Maron.
- 86:31 – 97:29: Who should get podcast reverence?
- 104:55 – 107:45: “Perfect Neighbor” Netflix doc rec.
- 110:14 – End: Rant on network sports cringe pre-production; outro.
Tone & Style
- Humorous, slightly loopy, and meandering.
- Self-aware, meta, and prone to digressions.
- Equal parts genuine curiosity, skepticism, and routine self-deprecation.
Summary for First-Time Listeners
This episode is textbook TBTL—a freewheeling blend of pop culture critique, quirky personal stories, community engagement, and media industry skepticism. If you want hosts who can spiral from an AT&T ad to tofu coagulants, and from there to the nature of podcast awards, all while riffing honestly about their own flaws, sleeping habits, and Wordle streaks—this is your jam.
Skippable: Ads, intros, outros, most of the donor thank-yous (except for in-joke value).
Do Not Miss: The AT&T ad-takedown (49:16ff), Pod Golden Globes exposé (65:46ff), and the bodycam doc rec (104:55ff).