TBTL #4586 - “It's The Donkey For Me!”
October 29, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Podcast Theme: Two longtime friends goofing their way through daily life, pop culture, personal foibles, and the wonderful weirdness of the world.
Overview
This episode delivers classic TBTL banter, drifting from absurd debates about what counts as a mall, through a surprisingly detailed exploration of cell phone advertising “clapbacks,” to a digression on Mike Rowe’s ambiguous media presence and politics, and an examination of the utility and existential threat of AI—specifically ChatGPT. Throw in a discussion of ancient McDonald's burgers and the introduction of a new “Badlands” theme song (featuring a braying donkey), and this is quintessential TBTL: warm, weird, occasionally thoughtful, always very, very silly.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. What Makes a Mall, a Mall? (00:00–02:00)
- Luke and Andrew debate if the place they're in is a mall or not.
- “They've changed a lot in the last few years…They’re just naturalistic now.” —Luke
- Andrew insists: "I haven't been to a mall since I was like 14."
- Digression leads to broader life complaints: "When I hear an undeserved compliment, it makes my ears want to throw up." (Andrew, 01:29)
2. Oldest McDonald's Hamburger: Soggy Science or Urban Legend? (02:41–03:09 / 57:08–64:20)
- Luke introduces the concept: Are there really McDonald's burgers that are nearly 30 years old and still intact?
- Details:
- One burger is in Australia, another in Texas.
- Neither has decomposed after decades, despite being unrefrigerated ("just shrunk in size a little bit").
- Memorable quote: “The burger and I are almost the exact same age; it’s arguably in much better condition.” —Senior Burger's caretaker, as quoted by Luke (59:01)
- McDonald’s clapback: Their official statement is simultaneously panicked and clinical: “In the right environment, our burgers, like most other foods, could decompose…” (62:20)
- Both hosts mock this: “Could. That is so parsed. Like you’re not even saying, ‘Hey, our food rots like normal.’” —Luke (63:35)
3. The Saga of Cell Phone Ad Campaigns (“Clapbacks,” Visual Concepts, and General Confusion) (04:41–13:01)
- Listener Larry Asher writes in to clarify: Billy Bob Thornton’s T-Mobile and Luke Wilson’s AT&T ads are direct parodies of each other.
- Andrew: “Are they trying to pass this off to the high-minded folks…as a parody…while also targeting the original ad’s audience?” (07:32)
- Luke: “It’s all a visual muddle—no one really knows or cares which company is doing what.”
- Digression: The challenge of ad campaigns that blur brands together, with examples from insurance mascots.
4. Mike Rowe: Ad Voice, TV Host, or Political Figure? (13:01–23:17)
- Andrew notices Mike Rowe is now everywhere in radio ads, especially for conservative-coded products. He wonders about Rowe's political drift and if he hosts any Seattle radio shows.
- Luke provides background: “He’s a folksy, affable kind of guy… but he might have drifted right… it wouldn’t shock me if he’s done a stint on Fox News.” (14:00)
- Both look up Rowe’s career: primarily blue-collar reality TV, but with a recent voice cameo in a “Libertas Institute” libertarian cartoon.
- Analysis of his publicly neutral, but subtly conservative, self-presentation.
- Andrew, after reading Rowe’s long non-political defense: “People who say that for a while then just totally show themselves and jump off the cliff of insane conservatism…” (23:11)
5. The Power (and Powerlessness) of AI – Particularly ChatGPT (25:44–43:27)
- Luke praises the new ChatGPT TV ads for their compelling synth-heavy aesthetic and aspirational vibe (“This is another sign of the coming AI apocalypse, but I like the commercial” —28:00).
- Andrew’s counterpoint: The ads are beautiful, but ChatGPT’s advice is useless (“You just don’t need ChatGPT to tell you to bring snacks on a road trip.” —29:40)
- They try using ChatGPT for podcast content; it can’t even suggest a basic “dad joke bombs with family” commercial trope.
- Andrew’s frustrated prompt: “You don’t offer anything better than a basic Google search. What's all the fuss about AI?” (34:23)
- AI’s own meta-answer: “The real advantage…is synthesizing…context into something a search engine doesn’t know how to articulate.” (34:25)
- On practical AI uses: Luke's daughter used it to prep for job interviews. Andrew grudgingly admits it helped his family write a proper obituary.
- “I guess I don’t like writing obituaries—and there is a boilerplate you can follow…” —Andrew (39:36)
- Luke: “It's like an AI-generated photo—if you look close, there's half a shark in the background.” (43:27)
6. The Great Snack Debate and Regional Trivia (44:00–55:10)
- Donor thank you segment wanders into regional snack food history.
- Frito-Lay in Plano, TX, original Fritos nostalgia (“You open up a new bag of Fritos and take a sniff—it smells like the ocean.” —Andrew, 48:42)
- “It smells like unwashed feet.” —Luke’s retort (48:58)
- Semi-factual meandering about US presidents, Van Buren, Civil War timelines.
- Listener donors thanked with elaborate, affectionate riffing.
7. Big Tech Layoffs & The Amazon Paradox (50:21–54:01)
- Recent Amazon and Microsoft layoffs.
- “The jobs are terrible, the portions are too small.” —Luke paraphrasing a classic joke (52:53)
- On automation eliminating bad jobs but badly impacting communities—even if it only saves “30 cents per delivery.”
8. The TBTL “Badlands” Theme: It’s the Donkey for Me! (76:07–79:58)
- Luke and Andrew introduce their new “Badlands” segment marker music, featuring a warbling donkey—a deep-cut reference to past TBTL bits, El Ropo, and MIDI versions of Ennio Morricone’s “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”
- “I’ll never get over that donkey. It’s the donkey for me.”—Luke (79:46)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Luke (on historical phone call): “The very first call was basically as pointless as almost every other. It was basically, ‘Watson, you up?’” (05:49)
- On Mike Rowe’s conservative dog-whistles: “It just sounds like a buzzer is going to go off if you don’t mention ‘but her emails’ at least once every conversation.” —Luke (16:30)
- On old McDonald's burgers: “Even though the burger and I are almost the exact same age, it’s arguably in much better condition.” (59:01)
- On ChatGPT’s practical limits: “You don’t offer anything better than a basic Google search. What’s all the fuss about AI?” —Andrew (34:23)
- On Fritos: “It smells like unwashed feet.” —Luke
“No, it smells like the ocean!” —Andrew - On corporate layoffs: “The soup is terrible and the portions are too small… these jobs are not great, but they’re the only job that can be had.” —Luke (52:53)
- On the TBTL Badlands theme: “It’s the donkey for me!” —Luke (78:25, 79:46)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- Mall debate: 00:00–02:00
- Oldest McDonald's burger intro: 02:41–03:09
- Cellular ad campaign “clapback” discussion: 04:41–13:01
- Mike Rowe analysis: 13:01–23:17
- AI in daily life, ChatGPT, writing obituaries: 25:44–43:27
- Donor thanks and snack food digression: 44:00–50:01
- Big Tech layoffs & Amazon jobs: 50:21–54:01
- McDonald's burger feature segment: 57:08–64:20
- Badlands/Donkey theme intro: 76:07–79:58
Closing Vibe
As always, TBTL swings from trivial to thoughtful in absurd loops. This episode embodies why so many “10s” (listeners) love the show: Where else can a conversation about a 30-year-old hamburger, low-key cell phone ad feuds, AI hallucinations, and Frito nostalgia naturally lead to a braying donkey and a new benchmark for podcast inside jokes?
“That’s the fun part of doing the show—it can be 45 minutes of just cell phone commercials and Mike Rowe discourse and ChatGPT. And…the amazing thing is, we have folks who are donating money to keep this going…!”
—Luke (44:22)