#4612 Nora McInerny's Southwestern Hospitality

Summary

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TBTL #4612: "Nora McInerny's Southwestern Hospitality"

Date: December 4, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Guest: Nora McInerney

Overview

This episode is a lively, offbeat installment of TBTL featuring returning favorite Nora McInerney, writer, podcaster, and all-around comedic force. Broadcasting from the distinctly uninspiring “new build gray” conference room of a Hyatt Place Hotel in Tucson, Arizona, the crew revels in the awkwardness of hotel conference room ambiance while delving into themes of friendship, hospitality, travel quirks, and the small joys and weirdnesses of modern life. It’s a quintessential TBTL blend: running gags about “daddy” terminology, deep-dive digressions on airport pickups, emotional connections in a disconnected world, and, as always, some off-the-cuff, self-deprecating humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Southwestern Hospitality & Airport Pickup Etiquette

• Luke’s Arrival: Luke recounts how, for the first time in years, a friend (Nora) picked him up at the airport—an act of true friendship, usually reserved (in his book) for only the closest of loved ones or paid drivers.
  • “Maybe the first person who I am not paying money to who's picked me up at the airport in about a decade—it's our friend, the one, the only, Nora McInerney.” (03:38)
• Nora’s Joy: Nora professes genuine love for airport pickups, noting the delight in making someone feel welcome and her fondness for Sky Harbor Airport logistics.
  • “It’s my favorite errand. I love picking people up from the airport. I love bringing people to the airport.” (12:07)
• Hospitality Rituals: Nora highlights how her parents always picked her up, reflecting on the comfort of being greeted with care and an ice-cold Diet Coke. She even details using an “empty candle vessel” filled with ice to keep the drink chilled—her own hospitality “innovation.” (16:49)

2. Conference Room Angst & Lighting Gags

• The team marvels/laments the “millennial gray” color palette of the conference room, with Nora delivering biting commentary on how the setting makes attractive people look “horrible” and “dead.”
  • Nora: “I look like somebody found me, like, in a barrel. Like, I really look very ill and dead.” (05:46)
• Luke and Andrew commiserate, with playful banter about “hostage video” vibes and the psychological toll of uninspired corporate interiors.
  • Luke: “It's like a hostage video, but with lower stakes. It's not like the Taliban has us. It's like Marty from Business Development has us.” (07:26)

3. Behind-the-Scenes: Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me! Lineup & Backstage Stories

• Tig Notaro's Last-Minute Cancelation: Luke breaks the news that the big-name comic is a “scratch” from the Wait Wait show that night, disappointing Nora but spurring talk of who should/will replace her.
• Nora as Potential Panelist: The hosts advocate for Nora as a Wait Wait natural, urging her to “be your funniest in front of the producers.” (10:24)
• Showbiz Serendipity: The peculiar way Nora learned about Luke’s Arizona gig (algorithm-delivered targeted ad) sparks jokes about 21st-century friendship.
  • Nora: “I have to find out about this from a targeted Instagram ad? It was effective. I screenshot it, I sent it to you, and I said, I’m picking you up from the airport with a dagger emoji.” (11:22)

4. Friendship, Loneliness, and the Road Life

• Luke reflects on how his on-the-go professional life often leads to feelings of disconnection and missed opportunities for meaningful connection.
  • “When I'm not doing the CBS thing or TBTL, I want to just be able to go and lie on my bed... But when I actually do spend time with people, I really enjoy it. That was so much better than me getting into an Uber... It would be good for my mental and emotional health if I wasn't such a lone wolf.” (34:22)
• The trio riffs on the universal, sometimes unfulfilled longing to be greeted at the airport with “balloons and signs”—and how, sometimes, you just pretend they’re for you. (15:32)

5. Fashion, Personas, & Diane Keaton December

• Nora is on day four of “Diane Keaton December,” explaining her Annie Hall–esque wardrobe, and relating a recent compliment she received—on her car, not herself.
  • “I move through the world believing that everybody is in love with me. Like, if you've seen me, you're gonna pine for me for the rest of your life. But he was looking at the car, and that's okay.” (14:25)
• The hosts are charmed and amused by Nora’s look, “button down, cashmere sweater, blazer, scarf, and glasses,” affirming the fit as “so working.” (15:14)

6. The ‘Daddy’ Discourse & Family Lore

• The “daddy” joke is alive; Andrew pushes back on the term as familial language, while Luke relates tales of stealing his dad’s 70s flannel for peak grunge looks (but firmly denies ever pilfering his dad’s underwear).
  • “That's not how you be a daddy.” (03:38)

7. Travel, Security, and the Minor Perils of Airport Life

• The group trades stories about security lines, real IDs, and travel rituals, including Andrew’s upcoming Christmas Eve at the DMV (“expecting the worst customer service possible, and rightfully so”).
  • “You bring in a stand friendly tumbler of spiked eggnog and you give everyone just a little. Not you, not anyone taking the driving test, but the people on the other side of the glass.” (21:39)

8. Driver’s Test Anxiety & Distance Dyslexia

• Nora and Luke recount their written driver’s test woes, inability to judge distances, and mutual confusion over navigation directions, sparking a sequence of directions-based commiseration and jokes.
  • Nora: “If you asked me to identify what is 500ft, I'd say, pull the trigger, baby.” (23:18)
  • Luke: “Anything under a mile... when the mapping software is telling me do this in 4/10 of a mile, I am assuming that it's in the next 20ft.” (24:06)

9. The Debate Over Work Spaces in a Post-Pandemic World

• Nora reflects on the joys (and necessity) of finally escaping the home office for a real office:
  • “It’s been 10 years [self-employed at home]. 2020 to 2023, doing that at home during a pandemic with children... I was such a horrible bitch. I was like, stop talking. That on-air Light is on! I'm recording an ad for Brooklinen!” (26:09)
  • “I gotta get out. It's gonna be better for everyone.” (26:40)

10. Nora’s Career Update & Show Rebranding

• Nora confirms she's renamed her flagship podcast from Terrible, Thanks for Asking to Thanks for Asking in an effort to move beyond the “purely grief” branding. (27:13)
  • “You can’t be terrible forever.” – Nora (27:13)
• The TBTL crew briefly contemplates what it would be like to rebrand their own show—a “risk,” but an interesting creative evolution. (37:01)

11. Potato Tangent: Culinary Insecurities and Food Safety

• A digression about potatoes:
  • Nora warns: “If a potato's green, that's poisonous.” (28:32)
  • Luke: “How to bake a potato—which is kind of a low point. It's applying heat to a fig. For a long time it just… seems like that's the lowest level of cooking.” (29:25)
  • The trio affirms collective cooking amnesia—constantly Googling safe temps for everyday foods.

12. Listener Connections, Community & Blursday Greetings

• As always, the second half delivers on TBTL listener Blursday messages: birthday, anniversary, and shout-out dedications, laced with affection and humor.
  • “Happy Blurs day to Angela, a great friend, wife, and mother.—Chris” (64:34)
  • Particularly touching: “All I’ve heard from the age of 30 onward is that it’s nigh on impossible to make friends the closer you get to 40. I’m so happy to be the exception and not the rule.” —Jesse to Nathaniel (68:32)

13. Costco Rankings, Coyote Hazing, and Regional Shopping Gripes

• Luke previews his upcoming Seattle Now appearance with fresh reporting on:
  • Urban Coyote Hazing: Apparently, shaking cans filled with rocks and yelling at coyotes is essential for urban wildlife management. (38:02)
    • “Make sure to haze them. Like, if you have a spray them with a hose, like, yell at them, throw stuff at them. You're supposed to be so mean.” (39:31)
  • Costco Rankings: Debate about which Seattle-area Costco truly rules, and an anecdote about a local manager’s reaction to a negative review. (41:07)
• Andrew’s sociological observation: “The ability of people to have situational awareness evaporates [in Costco]. I literally watched a woman start walking backwards and bump into people… Is that a Midwest thing?” (43:30)

14. Spontaneous Comedy & Group Dynamic

• The group effortlessly weaves jokes and in-jokes, exemplified by the recurring “perfect daddy”/”favorite hot dog” riff, faux math conundrums around show anniversaries, and musings on how to “haze” coyotes with bad podcasts.
  • Andrew: “Instead of rattling a can with rocks at them, can we haze them by just blasting TBTL? Like, psyops?” (66:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On conference rooms:
  Nora: “Promise you the Taliban has better style... their sense of interior space design, even hospitality, frankly, is better than this Hyatt Place conference room.” (07:44)
• On hospitality:
  Nora: “You get to bring someone a Diet Coke. That's fun for me. I can't explain it.” (16:38)
• On working from home with family:
  Nora: “I need everyone to shut up because I'm gonna snap. I've been in this house alone with all of you for several years now. And when you breathe, it bothers me.” (26:11)
• On podcast rebranding:
  Nora: “You can't be terrible forever.” (27:13)
• On potatoes:
  Nora: “If a potato's green, that's poisonous. I mean, I grew up saying, like, you just lop off the eye. Like, you just dig it out.” (28:32)
• On “daddy” terminology:
  Andrew: “We don't say daddy in my family.” (02:11)
  Luke: “That's not how you be a daddy.” (03:38)
• On urban coyote hazing:
  Luke: “If you see a coyote, make sure to haze them. Spray them with a hose, yell at them, throw stuff at them. You're supposed to be so mean. Sell them coyotes.” (39:31)
• On modern friendship:
  Nora: “I spend a lot of time alone. Like, I don't have an Andrew, so I'm mostly alone... I want everyone in the audience to go, oh. I never thought of it that way.” (12:24)
• On listener connections:
  Jesse (listener): “All I’ve heard from the age of 30 onward is that it’s nigh on impossible to make friends... I’m so happy to be the exception and not the rule.” (68:32)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment / Quote | |--------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:38 | Luke introduces Nora; first true friend airport pickup | | 05:46 | Nora’s “I look dead”—rant on “millennial gray” lighting | | 07:26 | Conference room as “hostage video — but with lower stakes” | | 10:00–12:07 | Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!—Tig Notaro scratch / Nora’s airport pickup philosophy | | 15:32 | Luke’s Portland airport balloon fantasy | | 16:49 | Nora’s ingenuity with the candle vessel & Diet Coke | | 23:18 | Nora’s driver’s test & distance guesstimation struggles | | 26:09 | Nora: Working from home with kids during pandemic | | 27:13 | Nora describes renaming her show “Thanks for Asking” | | 28:32 | On “poisonous” green potatoes | | 34:22 | Luke’s reflections on friendship while traveling | | 38:02–39:31 | Coyote hazing explainer | | 41:07 | Costco rankings and competitive feedback anecdote | | 68:32 | Listener Jesse’s heartfelt message about adult friendship |

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Additional Gems

• Diane Keaton December (14:25): Nora’s fashion devotion as an existential pick-me-up.
• Math Gags (especially 63:33–65:09): Andrew’s comedic struggle to parse a listener message about having listened to TBTL “for half their lives.”
• Podcast as War Crime (66:54): “I think at this point...that would be a war crime.”
• AirPod Gross-out (31:03): Nora discovers “a massive glob of earwax” on her shared AirPod.

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Tone & Style

The conversation is playful, self-effacing, and deeply conversational. The hosts’ rapport with guest Nora is warm and chaotic—humor and heart in equal measure, with just enough vulnerability and sincerity to make the silly moments land extra hard. The episode is a tribute to the comfort (and absurdity) of long friendships, the idiosyncrasy of modern American life, and the glory of showing up for each other, even (especially) when it’s inconvenient.

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For New Listeners

You’ll feel right at home if you love:

• Affectionate, meandering banter with smart, self-aware comic timing
• Honest talk about loneliness, connection, and the small pleasures of showing up for your friends
• Deep dives into very ordinary things (lighting, airport trips, potato prep) that turn unexpectedly poignant or hilarious
• Absurd running jokes, both high and lowbrow (“daddy,” “hostage video chic,” “coyote hazing”)
• A behind-the-scenes peek at the lives of everyday radio storytellers

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In sum:
A delightfully meandering, sneakily moving episode about travel, togetherness, and the beauty in being welcomed—whether at the airport, in a conference room, or through the crackling radio waves of TBTL.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Let's meet the smith family. Hi. What's your name? My name is bill. G', day, bill. And what's your name? My name is ben. G', day, ben. What's your name? I'm daniel. G', day, daniel. So, janiel. What? Janiel. You mean daniel janiel. Janiel. Janiel.

[Nora McInerney]

Jan. What do you mean, janiel?

[Luke Burbank]

Think, daniel, think. January. Smoosh em together. It's janiel. Janiel. My name is janiel. All right, and what's your name?

[Andrew Walsh]

My name is danuary tbtl.

[Luke Burbank]

And I stand in and lean back and then just bam. And it sails away out through the universe like a radio wave that goes past Saturn and Jupiter, Pluto, through the black hole and into many other galaxies yet named. Call Kenny Loggins because you're in the danger zone from topcon.

[Nora McInerney]

Just be careful.

[Luke Burbank]

No.

[Nora McInerney]

And.

Right on you Midnight Cowboys. That's not a thing.

[Luke Burbank]

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

[Nora McInerney]

You know you gotta eat that microphone.

[Luke Burbank]

My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host.

[Nora McInerney]

I don't know who that is, and.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't care to find out.

[Luke Burbank]

Coming to you from the Phoenix, Arizona.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is the way we talk in.

[Luke Burbank]

Tucson, Arizona, and the Hyatt Place Hotel. I believe it's the Palace Conference Room at the Hyatt Place Hotel. Where else would I be? Bringing you episode 4612 in a collector series.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let the fun begin.

[Luke Burbank]

I am already having an incredible Thursday. I got something very kind was done for me, something that hasn't happened in years and years today from a dear friend of mine, a dear friend of the show. We'll talk about that coming up in a moment. Also, it's a Thursday a a blursday my birthday today. We'll do the blurs day messages as we like to on Thursdays and we'll of course talk to this guy, longest running co bro of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He's wearing a very handsome shirt that his daddy gave him. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

We don't say daddy. We don't say daddy in my family.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, there was a lot of pressure on me to embrace that term on the show. People would like to say that they were the perfect daddy or someone was their TBTL daddy. And I felt like I was being kind of a prude and Now I finally embrace it and you tell me it's an HR violation.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's a figurative daddy. You're falling into the classic trap of mixing up a figurative daddy with a literal daddy. But, yeah, my father did give me the shirt I like. Seems to fit me well.

[Luke Burbank]

It looks really nice on you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thank you. He did not let me leave Cleveland without at least trying it on. Try it on, Try it on. Alright, I'll try it on. And now it's my favorite shirt.

[Luke Burbank]

Walt and I had a whole thing going for years. This is when I was a teenager and I lived at home. But my dad had a lot of, like, flannel shirts and things from the 70s, which then by the early 90s, had cycled back into being in style, particularly in the grunge movement. And so, like, I would constantly steal, like his flannel shirts and things like that that were again, back in fashion. But he somehow got in his mind that I was also stealing his underwear.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which is grunge underwear that you wanted.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I mean, you want to talk about grunge in the most literal sense. And he would just say this sometimes be like, like, I'm talking about nowadays. If we. If we're talking about the olden times, we'd be like, oh, yeah, when Luke used to borrow my underwear. And I'm like, sir, that really never happened.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's defamation. That is defamation.

[Luke Burbank]

That is not how you be a daddy. No, that's not how you are. No, it is a good daddy. Hey, we can't go on any longer without introducing our special guest today and our special friend. And by the way, the, as I said a couple times now, maybe the first person who I am not paying money to who's picked me up at the airport in about a decade, it's our friend, the one, the only, Nora McIner. They're like the coolest person I've ever met.

[Nora McInerney]

Thank you for having me. I've been laughing out loud but silently this whole time.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you for not spoiling the reveal.

[Nora McInerney]

I really tried. I really tried, but I was head back, full laugh, but no sound.

[Luke Burbank]

It's kind of fun to do the show, or at least my half of the show here with an audience. Also, one of the things, Nora, that's so great about you, you're a good laugh. Like, you're very supportive. But it made me feel like the intro was going okay. Cause there's a lot going on here. We're in a very antiseptic conference room at a Hyatt talking, and we both got One earbud in the way I talked you into it was telling you the last person who used that earbud was television's Chris Hayes. So it's kind of got celebrity earwax on it.

[Nora McInerney]

I said, put it in my ear right now. Like, I said, chris Hayes. Get that. Get that AirPod in my ear.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So it's a lot. And then I'm like, well, you know, is this going to be a good show or not from a technical standpoint, but your silent laughing gave me the confidence I needed to get the show started today. So thank you for that.

[Nora McInerney]

Well, I hope you also know that when I listen at home alone or at my office alone with my headphones on, when I'm not listening to just white noise or nothing, I'm listening to this. And that's how I laugh. I laugh like that. I think you two are the funniest people in the world. You're the brothers I never had. I have two brothers. And what people don't know is that you're doing. You guys work so hard. You pushed 40 to 50 buttons before we even started. Like, that's a lot. And what people also don't understand is that we are in a room that is. I've never seen so much gray.

[Luke Burbank]

It is, you know, that. That particular color that all of the apartments and the homes that were being flipped went with. What's it. What's the. Andrew, you told me a term for it once. It's like a combination of gray and sadness.

[Nora McInerney]

Yeah. New build gray. It's new build gray. It's millennial gray. It's just gray to the point where I think we're both. I think we're attractive people. We look horrible right now on screen. This is the worst we'll ever look. I look dead. I look like somebody found me, like, in a barrel. Like, I really look very ill and dead.

[Andrew Walsh]

I will.

[Luke Burbank]

Here's what it doesn't look like.

[Andrew Walsh]

My screen is a little. The connection we have is not perfect. So you're kind. You both kind of look like blobs to me, but very attractive blobs. Very attractive blobs. So please don't be too hard on yourself.

[Luke Burbank]

Here's what it's not, Nora. And again, I appre. We won't use any of the visuals from this out of respect.

[Nora McInerney]

Use a clip where, like, show a side by side of us right now with what we look like in just normal light. People will be shocked. Like, the lighting, the color scheme in here. I can't imagine a person thriving In a professional environment, if you had to sit for eight, even two hours in a presentation in here, there's something psychologically damaging to it. And I think Hyatt should be aware of that, and maybe they are.

[Luke Burbank]

You would have entered the Chair Company, the TV show, this, the obsession of mine and Andrew's for the last couple of weeks. And, like, this is Andrew. This is right out of a scene from the Chair company. And the reason we're in the shows.

[Andrew Walsh]

Pick that I used actually about, I don't know, two weeks ago of Tim Robinson standing in a room exactly like that by himself in an empty office, that color, just looking at his phone. I'm gonna ask two favors here really quickly. Sorry to cut you off. Luke, could you kill that knob that has the drops on it? I'm getting a lot of buzz on that. And, Nora, could you hold up a newspaper with today's date on it just to like, really kind of complete the scene?

[Luke Burbank]

It is. It's. It's. This is like a. Where we are right now, the backdrop. It is like a hostage video, but with lower stakes. It's not like the Taliban has us. It's like. It's like Marty from Business Development has us. And there is a lunch later. We will get out of this room.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, but.

[Luke Burbank]

You know what I mean.

[Nora McInerney]

But, like, promise you the Taliban has better style. I promise you their interior. Their sense of interior space design, even hospitality, frankly, is better than this Hyatt Place conference room. And I hope that the team at Hyatt hears this. I hope they take it to heart like this. Something is energetically, very wrong with this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Room, sucking the life of it.

[Nora McInerney]

But we're going to survive.

[Luke Burbank]

The reason that we're in this room is because I flew here this morning from Miami, and I was going to ask Nora, basically, when I had you kind of, like, nearby, where I could make the case, I was going to ask you if you would want to come on the show for a few minutes so we could just catch up and everything. We love you. You're a big hit guest on the program. But I also didn't want us to go into my hotel room, which we know each other for a long time. We know there's no weirdness. But it, you know, still, like, I don't know what the room layout is. I don't know if we're going to be sitting on the bed together. That might be a. So they. They were.

[Nora McInerney]

I'm sorry, that's so Mike Pence of you. You can't go to a Hotel room.

[Luke Burbank]

Mother won't let me with a woman you've known.

[Nora McInerney]

You can't say, come to my hotel room and record in a possibly queen size bed.

[Luke Burbank]

I just, you know, wanted to err on the side of. Of. Of not making anything feel a little off, a little weird, so I asked.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, your original idea was to do it in a Jacuzzi, Luke. That's what. That's what you pitched me on the.

[Luke Burbank]

Jacob, by the way, being cleaned.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, right, because of.

[Luke Burbank]

Because Mike Pence was here last week and it's. They have to absolutely power wash that thing. It is. Some unspeakable things happened in there with him and mother. Yeah, that does seem like Mike Pence's idea of a jacuzzi would be fill it up with milk. Room temperature milk sitting there. But. So they were nice enough to. To offer me the use of this conference room. This was actually brokered by. By Colin Miller, who is the. The CFO of. Wait, wait, don't tell me. He set this up for me because I asked him if he could. If he could intervene, and he did. So. Thank you, Colin. Oh, wow. I do have some news, Nora, about tonight's. Wait, wait, don't tell me that. I also wanted to wait till we were together because I feel it may cause you to no longer come to the show tonight.

[Nora McInerney]

What is it?

[Luke Burbank]

Tig Notaro is a scratch.

[Nora McInerney]

Oh, that's okay. That's okay. I'm sad, but I'm really just there to see you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Aw.

[Luke Burbank]

Wait, hold. Where's my sound effect? Where's my. Aw. Sound effect? Yeah, that's. Oh, I turned down the knob. No one's gonna do they need me. I mean, that would have been an amazing.

[Nora McInerney]

Tig Notaro can't make it. What if there's a taller, straighter woman who no one's heard of?

[Luke Burbank]

That's not true at all. A lot of people have heard of. And actually, you know, it's funny. This is a conversation we should be having off air, so why not do it here? But I was like, well, I only found out this morning that Tig is not on the show because they sent around this little thing about the, you know, the made up story versus the real one. And I didn't see Tig Notaro on the email chain. And so I emailed one of the producers. I go, oh, she not doing it. And they were like, yeah, last minute scratch. But if I would have even had three days, I would have said, you gotta have Nora on. You would be such a natch for this. Show. So it starts tonight, backstage. I want you to be your absolute funniest in front of the producers. No pressure. And I know you should totally be on the show. It's so up your alley. But no, in fact, they did book. They did. I guess, I don't know if it was. It's gonna be a Shantira Jackson, who's very funny, and Alonzo Boden, who's really funny. I don't know which one of them was the Tig, the replacement. I know it wasn't me. Only because you saw some kind of Internet posting about this and that's how you reached out.

[Nora McInerney]

I got an ad. I got an ad and I said, I have to find out about this from a targeted Instagram ad. It was effective. I screenshot it, I sent it to you, and I said, I'm picking you up from the airport with a dagger emoji. I said, that's a threat. I'll see you there.

[Luke Burbank]

And this is. She's not doing this for effect, folks. This is really how this whole thing went down. And I was obviously very flattered or I felt very cared for. Not afraid, cared for. But I also, I feel like for most people in normal life, I would say picking up people at the airport or taking the airport is right below moving, helping them move as far as the things that people typically kind of like try to get out of. And so I didn't want you to feel like you had to do that. And then you said something to me amazing. You said, it's my favorite errand.

[Nora McInerney]

I have 100% my favorite errand. I love picking people up from the airport. I love bringing people to the airport. I think also sky harbor plug for Sky Harbor. It's just a lovely airport. It's a nice pickup, drop off, experience, short term parking. Like, it was. What is $3?

[Luke Burbank]

That's for CBS to iron out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Nora McInerney]

It was $3. $300. I think it was $300. We paid cash. And I don't know, I just love it. It's my. I loved being picked up from the airport when I was younger. That was something my parents always did for me. And I also just, you know, I spend a lot of time alone. Like, I don't have an Andrew, so I'm mostly alone. Yeah, I don't have an Andrew. And I want everyone in the audience to go, oh, I never thought of it that way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just, oh, can I, I, can I be your Andrew? I. I'd be happy to be your Andrew.

[Nora McInerney]

Look, okay, it's like. But you're so busy doing this, and, like, you're so attentive to Luke and his needs. Like, realistically, like, you can't handle two Luke's. No one can.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

But inside all of us, there are two Lukes.

[Andrew Walsh]

That relationship, and they both have bad credit a little bit.

[Luke Burbank]

Honestly.

[Nora McInerney]

They'll be there in five minutes. Okay. You don't understand. Like, we're on the way.

[Luke Burbank]

And also, I will say, though, you. You were, like, early to pick me up from the airport today, which I didn't realize you were going to come into the airport. So we're. We're texting with each other, and I'm guessing that you're doing that move where you're just circling the pickup area and just hoping that you sort of catch me at a moment and then getting yelled at by someone. I mean, there is. I don't think that there's an angrier group of people than whoever is assigned to tell you to keep it moving at the airport. That is a. That's like. That's. That's a strong reproach from those folks. But no, I'm texting with you about athleisure, and I turn around, and there you are.

[Nora McInerney]

I was at your. I was at your baggage claim, but also because I pulled up and I said, this looks busy. It's a Wednesday in December. I don't know why everyone's coming here. It's weird to me. There was. I've just. It's never that busy unless it's spring break or, like, a holiday and. Or. No, it's too late for the snowbirds to be coming down. Right. When the weather turns up north, then it starts getting crowded at the airport. But to circle there is actually. Actually more annoying than just doing short term parking. Right. We took the elevator up. Where was my car? Right there.

[Luke Burbank]

Piece of cake. And by the way, without doxing, Nora, a very easy car to identify because it is a very unique color. I believe it is Miami blue. It is.

[Nora McInerney]

It's Miami blue. It's the most obnoxious car you've ever seen. And a man at the Gar Wash today said it was sexy. And I am in day four of Diane Keaton December. So I know he meant it. I know he meant it about the car. I know he wasn't speaking about me. And I do move through the world believing that everybody is in love with me. Like, if you've seen me, you're gonna pine for me for the rest of your life. But he was looking at the car, and that's okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Diane Keaton, I think. What is this?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I wish. Again, I don't want to get into, like, objectifying or anything, but Nora, first of all, Nora looks phenomenal and amazing, but is wearing an outfit that Diane Keaton would definitely have been wearing in Annie hall to. Great.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now I can see you guys a little bit better. Yes.

[Nora McInerney]

I have a body. Okay. You don't even know if I've got trouser jeans on. I'm wearing. It's gonna be 70 degrees today. Okay. Button down, cashmere sweater. What is this blazer Dimension.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it houndstooth.

Maybe? Not quite. Checkers of some kind? A cravat?

[Nora McInerney]

Yeah, a little. A little scarf. Because she never. No, can't even see that. Do I have a neck? You'll never know. And then glasses. So, yeah, I'm.

[Luke Burbank]

It is so working. It's a great look. Good look.

[Nora McInerney]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Luke Burbank]

I will also say that, like, for all of the pushback I gave you on saying, no, no, no, no, you don't have to come pick me up. It really made me super happy. And because. And what it's reminding me of is, like, because I do so much work, travel, and I've moved past ever, like, asking anyone or expecting anyone in my life to ever pick me up from the airport, I always just, like, get in a Lyft or an Uber or whatever. And there are some times, because Portland airport has been totally remodeled now, and they have the. One of the cool things they did was they have this, like, very beautiful, like, blonde wood bleachers. They're like stadium style bleachers, right? Where you come through security, like after you've landed. So now you're outside of security. And there's something about having dedicated seating. People love it. People come pick their loved ones up at the airport. They have balloons. And sometimes I'll be walking out from this and, you know, maybe it's even sort of late at night. It's long week of traveling and there'll just be people with signs and balloons, and I'll kind of pretend it's for me.

[Nora McInerney]

It's also. It's faster. And also, you do travel a lot for work, and I get to bring you a Diet Coke.

[Luke Burbank]

That was another thing that she did. Said, what's your beverage of choice? How about an ice cold Diet Coke? And gosh darn it, if there was a nice cold Diet Coke waiting for me in the Miami blue vehicle, and I had to.

[Nora McInerney]

I had to problem solve it a little. I said, how will I keep this war or Cold if it's. If it's delayed at all. And so I had an empty candle vessel, and I filled it with ice and I put the coke in it so as the ice melted, it could keep the coke cold. Jam that in the cup holder. It's fun for me. I can't explain it. It's fun for me. When do you leave? Tomorrow?

[Luke Burbank]

Very early.

My flight is at 7:00am oh, that's.

[Nora McInerney]

I can do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm gonna do that.

[Nora McInerney]

I'm gonna come get you tomorrow. I'm gonna come get you tomorrow. Look outside. The car's gonna be there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait, hold on. What time do you get to the airport for a 7am flight? Luke, I get there at 5am but you gu.

[Luke Burbank]

Minutes. No, I mean, to me, it's. No, no, not. Yeah, yeah, no, no. A 7:00am Or. Let me just. Let me. I do have an alert from Alaska that says it is time to check in for the flight, which is, you know, the move. I fly a lot. There's a lot. Nora is. Now, Nora has seen two very, very private sides of me, Andrew, just since we've been here. One was the desktop on my computer, which has hundreds of files and documents and photos. Anything that I don't know, like, know where I want to actually put it for the time being, I just drag it to the desktop, and I figure I'll go back and deal with it later. But it is very, very. It's. It's. It's disorganized and pretty unhinged looking. And then I'm in the Alaska app, trying to see what's going on, just get the exact time on my flight tomorrow. And. And. And Nora was observing my. Yeah, 7am is when my flight is. I can now check in for it. Let's. Let's play this fun game. Am I going to be first on the wait list for the upgrade? Because that's a. You know, that's. I would think, 7am Right. Like flying from Phoenix to Seattle. This is a chance for me to also mention tomorrow night, live wire in Seattle. Please come out. It's gonna be fun. Rick Steves will be there at Benaroya Hall. Yes. Would love to see some of the tens there. Still some tickets available, if you know what I mean. But anyway, do you mean that there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are still tickets available? Is that what that means?

[Luke Burbank]

That's exactly what I mean, Andrew. Okay, look here. Let's go to wait list. We want to see. Drum roll, please.

[Nora McInerney]

You're number one. Bur.

[Luke Burbank]

L. Number one on the wait list for the Upgrade. So that's. That's sweet. But all that is to say, Andrew, to answer your question, I will be there tomorrow. I ideally I would show up. Exactly. So I did in Miami today. I try to be walking into the airport exactly one hour before the flight is leaving. That is. And. And you know that that's like with Alaska Airlines for instance, they will not let you check your bags in anymore within 45 minutes of the flight. And that to me is the only hard deadline. If I can just as long as I can get my. So if I get there an hour before that gives me 15 minutes to get my bags on their way to the underside of the plane and then the getting through, you know, I have clear and all of that business. And so it's pretty quick. It's pretty easy.

[Nora McInerney]

On the busiest day at sky harbor, it's never taken me more than 10 minutes to get through security.

[Luke Burbank]

Really. I do. I am shocked at how few people. Because I was flying on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I flew from Portland out to Miami and I was really surprised. The line was insane for the non TSA PreCheck folks. And again, I guess this is just because I travel so much. I'm a little surprised that more people have not availed themselves of the pre check because it is. You've got it now, right, Andrew?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I do not.

[Luke Burbank]

Yet you still don't have it?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I just. I finally am on the calendar to get my, you know, enhanced driver's license. That'll give me like the real, real id.

[Luke Burbank]

What are you talk.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I don't have my real id.

[Nora McInerney]

Did you not get radio ads saying get a real id?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I've been hearing it for like a decade or more. I just used my passport for the past like six months or a year since it kicked in. That stresses me out, literally. I don't know if I told you this, Luke. I have an appointment on Christmas Eve at 4pm to go get my enhanced driver's license for real ID. It was the.

[Luke Burbank]

Is Bob Cratchit gonna be the guy helping you with the dmv?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, imagine so. That was the first time available, so I took it. And this was about a month ago. How excited do you think those employees are going to be to see me walk in the door at 4pm on Christmas Eve to screen me and give me a new id? I am expecting the worst customer service possible and rightfully so.

[Luke Burbank]

I want you to go full go, full scrooge. I want you to go in and you go. I expect you'll Be wanting all of.

[Nora McInerney]

Tomorrow off, I think based on your Persona too and like your in person warmth. They're going to be so relieved to see you because everybody else who's come in for the past 21, 23 days has been so vile, like, so you are going to be a breath of fresh air. You're going to bring a ham, you're going to bring one bean and slice.

[Andrew Walsh]

It up.

[Nora McInerney]

Pass it out to everybody and everybody's going to feel better having gotten you there. And honestly, I bet you get your real ID so fast because you're so lovely, you know?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I think you bring in, you bring in a stand friendly tumbler of spiked eggnog and you give everyone just a little. Not you, not anyone taking the driving test, but the people on the other side of the glass.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't think I have to take a driving test, do I?

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, well then you can have some.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, then I could have a little.

[Nora McInerney]

To take a written driver's test right now. And I, by the way, I think they should make us take written driver's test more. This, I got so many complaints. But like, people just like, they'll just like, they'll just block an intersection. Like, you're not supposed to do that. Like, don't go if you don't think you can get through. And like, even if you're on a road, like, don't block like the turn to the other. Like, what are you doing? People have to take written driver's tests. I want to bring those back. Spontaneous written driver's test.

[Luke Burbank]

I see. Maybe even the cops can do it if they get pulled over. I, you know, I took the driving test like maybe four or five years ago because I changed my driver's license from Washington state to Oregon because I was living in Portland and I was kind of stressed because you get to miss like five of them or something. And you know, there's the gimmes, but then there's, I think it was like I got like four wrong and it was like. And it was, the time was during the pandemic, so you couldn't. There were no appointments. I had to drive to Coos Bay, Oregon, which is really far from. Was like three hours away for the only appointment. And, and it was like, if I fail this test, I can't just retake it. I have to like get a new appointment or I have to like go home and then come back to Coos Bay. It was like when my, when that mouse or whatever I was using was hovering over the final question, which Was like, basically, do I have to come back here and do this again? And I clicked it and, like, went green or I passed. I don't know if it gave me confetti. I was seriously relieved.

[Nora McInerney]

I would be, too. And I had to take it. I can't remember under what circumstances, but I do remember the tricky questions were about distances. 5,000ft, 500ft. I. If. Gun to my head if you said, which one? If you asked me to identify what is 500ft, I'd say, pull the trigger, baby. You and I. I don't know.

[Luke Burbank]

As we established. As we established today, you and I, as we took a. Let's just say a circuitous route to.

[Nora McInerney]

This Hyatt, I said, what is 0.3 miles? What do you even mean? Like, what do you. When would I take the right.

[Luke Burbank]

Just say, like, three, two, one, go. Yeah, we.

[Nora McInerney]

I need. I need a navigator who's like, see that blue car? Okay, now go there. Okay. And then there's that tree. Okay, stop. Like, that's what I need. Not like 0.3 miles. What are you even talking about?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, as we were talking today, as we did, I believe, maybe miss the turnoff and then maybe go down and get off of the freeway and do a U turn and come back on the freeway going in the other direction. A move I've pulled so many times. If. If it's anything under a mile. My assumption. In other words, when the mapping software is telling me do this in 4/10 of a mile, I am assuming that it's in the next 20ft. It feels like an immediate, urgent, you know, admonishment to me to start and, like. But I've been using this software for years and years and years, and no part of my brain has. Has, like, sort of evolved to understand that, like, four tenths of a mile is still pretty far away. I still have some time. Like, If I see 4/10 of a mile, I'm just fully swinging the wheel and crossing four lanes of traffic to get in the right turn lane.

[Nora McInerney]

We had to do that when there was 0.2 miles. I thought that was. I thought we had time. And I was like, no, nope, nope. That was the only time on the freeway in Phoenix when someone has been driving less than 85 and it was Prius who would not let me switch lanes. I was like, brother, I need you. I need you to go. I need you to go. Because I think I'm taking a vital turn. What I'm really doing is taking a turn for the worse, because we've already missed several turns and we got to go the opposite direction. And then as we got here, I said, oh, my office is over here.

[Luke Burbank]

What?

[Nora McInerney]

I was driving the opposite direction and I had.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know where. And if you want to know, Andrew, how well it's going for our friend Nora McInerney. Nora McInerney. And I'll be vague here because I don't want to again give away too much info, but has a place of work that she goes to that is not inside her own home. That is the ultimate.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Content creating flex. Because the rest of us are just mostly in our homes or possibly a very depressing Hyatt place conference room.

[Nora McInerney]

I had to, because, I mean, I was working at home for. It's been 10 years since I've been self employed. Always working at home. 2020 to 2023. Doing that at home during a pandemic with children. I've apologized to my kids numerous times. It'll never be enough. I was such a horrible bitch. I was like, stop talking. That on air Light is on. Okay. I'm recording an ad for Brooklinen.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Nora McInerney]

So I know you're.

[Luke Burbank]

So.

[Nora McInerney]

I know you're playing, but I need everyone to shut up because I'm gonna snap. I've been in this house alone with all of you for several years now. And when you breathe, it bothers me. And you pass a note under the door to say, can I have Roblox? I'm gonna snap. I'm gonna jump out the window. We have a one story house. Okay, well, then I'll.

[Luke Burbank]

I'll.

[Nora McInerney]

I'll be rolling an ankle.

[Andrew Walsh]

It.

[Nora McInerney]

Yeah. So I was like, I gotta get out. It's gonna be better for everyone. 10 minute drive there, 10 minute drive back. It's like, that's kinda.

[Luke Burbank]

It's.

[Nora McInerney]

It's very good for me. It's very good. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, speaking of the Nora McInerney Experience, how do people find you? What's the latest with your shows and your writing and your. By the way, your phenomenal Instagram feed, which is a great follow, which I love.

[Nora McInerney]

Thank you. I'm nothing. I don't know. I'm so boring. I'm so boring. I just. I don't know. Who cares? Who cares? I love your show. Oh, I renamed my show, I think, since we. Yeah. So it was terrible. Thanks for asking. And then I was like, I really just. Now it's just called thanks for asking. I should have a tighter speech about that. But it's just like, you can't be terrible Forever.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, I think that. No, honestly, I think about this a lot. Like, the change of the name of your show, and it's actually so, like, it's beautifully efficient and it, like. I mean, I guess you just sort of got fortunate in that way that, I mean, thanks for asking. Is a great name for a show and that you were able to sort of like, reframe it a little bit so it's not purely grief.

[Nora McInerney]

Yeah, it's not. And you can call in. We can talk about anything. Pretty much. 612-568-4441.

And. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know, guys. I'm on Instagram. It's okay.

[Luke Burbank]

What you have figured out, though, see, this is why you find this room so particularly punishing to be in. And it is from just a lighting standpoint, because you have. When I see you on Instagram in your studio and your backdrop, it is like, it looks great. You have it dialed in content wise.

[Nora McInerney]

I do need you to send me a clip from this that's like. That shows you. When I said I look like a dead person versus my lighting. I am a. I look like. I look. You know what I look like? When you leave a potato out for too long and starts to get, like, a little green, a little gray, and you're like, that's not a potato.

[Luke Burbank]

That's how you look here. Not how you look at McInerney Industries.

[Nora McInerney]

At McInerney Industries. I look like a healthy, russet potato here. I look like. I look like a potato that's been sat on the counter too long and that.

[Luke Burbank]

You know what?

[Nora McInerney]

I recently heard you might have to double check this. But it's like, if a potato's green, that's poisonous.

[Andrew Walsh]

No way.

[Nora McInerney]

Yeah. Verify that. But it's like, that's a sign. Like, no good.

[Luke Burbank]

So in other words, if it's. If it's unripe to the degree, like, it's green, it still hasn't even. Not when it's green.

[Nora McInerney]

It's like, that's showing. It's rotted. It's like, it's bad. It's giving off. I don't know, something. Name something that's bad that happens naturally. Not right.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh. Oh, you mean like as a chemical?

[Nora McInerney]

Maybe there's something in it that's like. That's. It's a. It's a dangerous sign. You'd have to eat, I think, a thousand of them to, like, really. But it's like. Like, don't eat those potatoes. Like, those are potatoes that can Go.

[Luke Burbank]

I thought you were looking for the. Like, we call it what. We call it an eye. Or is it an ear? What is the thing that's. It's an eye that's growing off of the potato. That's when I was like, this is sprouted. This is bad. But. But. But the green is also dangerous.

[Nora McInerney]

The green is dangerous. I mean, I grew up saying, like, you just lop off the eye. Like, you just dig it out. Like, my mom was like, okay, so it's. Okay, so it's growing roots. Grow up and slice this potato up. That's all there is for dinner. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I got into a phase this year where I'm trying to not eat as much processed foods. I used to be, like, all low carbing and stuff, which would mean potatoes were off the list. But then I said, I'm just going to eat whatever I want to eat as long as it's minimally processed, which includes potatoes. So then I got a potato kick. But it did involve me having to Google how to bake a potato, which is a pretty. Which is kind of a low point because it is applying heat to a fig. It's. For a long time. It just. It seems like that's the lowest level of cooking. And I did have. And I did print the recipe out.

[Nora McInerney]

But also, I can't remember numbers. So it's like, is it 400? Is it 425? Is it 375? Is it 350? Do you know off the top of your head? No. Print it. I don't know how you cook chicken. Every single time I say cooking, cooking, chicken, temperature, question mark.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what you Google. You mean you Google that all the time? I do that all the time, too. I'm always like. Because I roast broccoli all the time, but I can never remember. And I'm always typing in roast broccoli. Time, temperature, temperature, time, temperature, question mark. How.

[Nora McInerney]

How much? How soon? Now that was you trying to get me to go and say. Say goodbye. Goodbye. I love you guys. Friend of the show forever. Like, call me anytime. I'll pick you up tomorrow. I have to give you your AirPod back and. And I have to go to work.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Nora McInerney]

I have work to do. Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

And conveniently, you work right by here, if you're able to find it.

[Nora McInerney]

And you know what I realized? I never paid for parking. But you know what? I'm blessed. A big deal. Like, what are they gonna do, give me a ticket? Probably not.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't think that this Hyatt Place is overly sort of, like, patrolled by security. I think that they. They put all their money into these handsome gray tables that we're sitting by. Yeah. Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, bye.

[Luke Burbank]

Thanks, Nora. We love you. Bye. Thank you so much. That's. That's Norm. Nora just noticed a massive glob of earwax on the airpod that she was using. So it's. It's either mine, Chris Hayes's, or hers.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that real? Are you serious?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. Nora's saying it wasn't hers. She's a woman. They don't have earwax, which does not fully check out with my understanding of biology.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is not science. That is not science. It was great to hear from Nora. It's been way too long for me. I think you guys have been a little bit more touched. I was surprised. Well, not surprised, but it was enlightening to hear that she found out you were in town through a social media ad. Because I'm being serious. I hope you take this in the right way, and certainly your friends in various states, I think, will take this in the right way. I don't think of you as somebody, like, when you're passing through some places, you're like, I'm gonna take. I'm gonna look up my friends there, because you're usually traveling for work. It's gonna be in and out. It's gonna add another thing to your sort of, like, you know, busy schedule or whatever. And so when I heard that you were getting together with Nora, I was like, oh, wow. Okay. So you. So you reached out to Nora for your brief stay there, but no, she had a targeted ad saying that her friend was in town.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I want to actually get better about that, though, because, like, for instance, last night in Miami, I had dinner with a 10 named Dan and his lovely 11. We had a little Neapolitan style pizza. It was wonderful there in south beach, and I really enjoyed getting to hang out. And, like, typically the mode that I'm in when I'm traveling for this work stuff is like, I don't want any, like, appointments. I don't want any schedule that I have to keep outside of what's related to my work stuff and my TBTL stuff. And then when I'm not doing the CBS thing or tbt, I want to just be able to go and lie on my bed in the hotel room and, like, look at TikTok or something. And yet, when I. When I actually do spend time with people, I really enjoy it. Like, that was. It was so much fun. Like, Seeing Nora at the airport and then. And then, like, hearing the whole story of what she's been up to lately and this truly wild car that she has, which she was. And just, you know, she's such a fun, great person to hang out with. So I, like, that was so much better than me getting into an Uber and putting my headphones in and, you know, like, I don't know, listening to Pod Save America or something. My point is, I think it would be good for my mental and emotional health if I. If I rethought that a little bit, if I wasn't such a lone wolf. Because part of all this travel, it is. It's. It is very lonely making. And I was. I think I was thinking about that a lot in Miami because so many of the people that were there were, like, with their significant others, you know, and, like, I was, like, having dinner a couple of different nights. I'm having dinner just by myself, either at a table or sitting at the bar, and people are on dates or people are celebrating things. And it's like so much of my life, because of the travel schedule is me being in places where I'm very dislocated. I. I either don't know anyone or I don't want to bother anyone who's in that area. And I just think of myself as being like a man on a mission. And then I wonder, like, oh, why do I feel lonely all the time? Well, that could be kind of part of it. You know, there's that. That. That saying that you can be alone in a crowd of people. And I think I spend a lot of time in crowds of people, but I'm not interacting with them a lot or whatever, so. So, yeah, I think. I think I need to try to update that. That being said. Yeah. No, I didn't reach out to Nora and say, hey, I'm going to be in your town. Come pick me up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I just. She literally got an ad saying, Luke is going to be in town, but I do feel like you.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, and worse. But. And worse. An ad for Tig Notaro being on the show, which then fell apart. That's like, I'm legit nervous about this tonight. This is a big. We're in a very, very big venue. I think it's 5,000 people. And I don't know how many of those tickets were moved because of the. Of the Tig Notaro factor, but Tig is a very popular performer.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so a lot of these folks don't even know yet. Folks are going to show up. And they're not going to know unless they're really following the website closely or something.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. Well, I think. I mean, the wait Wait staff, the second that the schedule changed and they changed the lineup up a little bit, I know that the wait wait staff immediately, you know, pulled all the advertising and redid it and, like, they're being nothing but above board. But the way people's minds work is you see an ad, you're like, oh, wait, wait's coming to town. Tig's on. And you buy the tickets, and then you just kind of don't think about it again until you're sitting in the theater tonight, and they're like, no, Tig Notaro. But guess what? We do have a Luke Burbank.

That's not. That's not what anyone wants as a replacement. So we'll see how it goes tonight.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what I just realized, and this is very relevant and a very mature thing for me to point out. If you had a bunch of people serving food to the people who work on Wait Wait, don't tell me. It would be the Wait wait wait staff.

[Luke Burbank]

I had another similarly mature thought, which I meant to ask Nora about, which is, I wonder if people call Nora sometimes. Nor, just kind of for short.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, Nor.

[Luke Burbank]

And like, if. Yeah, Nor just like a shortened version of her name. The problem is, though, with the rise of all the Australian ness and the Australian accent, if you were excited to see Nora in the airport, you might go, oh, Nor.

Which would sound like you weren't happy to see her, but you would be very happy to see her. But because we now all say r nar as a, you know, a funny joke, it could be confusing. Andrew. That's what I'm saying. It is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Also, while we just can, we should move on, because I know that you have things to do and places to.

[Luke Burbank]

Be as well to be on Seattle tomorrow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's right. That's coming up in a little bit. You're doing multiple podcasts today.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you want to talk about coyotes in urban environments? I've got some topics.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that one of the topics? Actually, can you. Can you tell me what the topics are? I was going to say, I think it's interesting that Nora did evolve the name of her show, and I think evolve is the right word there. It's sort of tempting. It's sort of tempting. It's sort of tempting.

[Luke Burbank]

Should we consider it over here?

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, it's a risk, you know, like, we have established a brand, but, like, hers was such a clean Transition, sort of. You know what I mean? It would have to really make a lot of sense. But anyway, don't worry, listeners. We're not doing anything. Just a thought I had, and it's just a refreshing way to look at what Nora does and how these things evolve over time, especially what she does on multiple platforms and stuff. What other topics are on the list? So you're going to be taping this afternoon an episode of Seattle now podcast for KOW that'll come out tomorrow. Are you allowed to tell us what else is coming up other than urban coyotes?

[Luke Burbank]

I do not know and I do not care what the rules are. I will tell you right now. So we're doing urban coyotes, which really.

[Andrew Walsh]

That'S something that we talked about on TBTL just last week because I have all those coyotes in my neighborhood.

[Luke Burbank]

And I've now learned something because I take my appearances on Seattle now very seriously, unlike my TBTL appearances. So I did read the materials, and it turns out coyote or coyote hazing is a big thing. Are you familiar with coyote hazing?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I did make one of the coyotes smoke a full pack of cigarettes in front of me.

[Luke Burbank]

Never smoke again.

[Andrew Walsh]

I kind of regret that, but it was funny.

[Luke Burbank]

So one of the things this was from, like, actually, oddly enough, I think it might be the Department of Agriculture, the usda, which, which is surprising. I wouldn't know that they were in charge of. Of coyote stuff, but they were basically saying, like, they did a study where they basically had coyotes in captivity, and they exposed the coyotes to multiple different kinds of stimuli. And one of them was like an adult walking a dog, one was like a child walking a dog, one was like an adult walking a child. Like, all these different things. And to basically the question was like, what does it take to, like, habituate coyotes or make them less scared around people? We want them to be scared around people. And one of the things they found that could reverse if they were getting too comfortable around people. What would reverse it was hazing them. I think that the term hazing is very funny. And it was having those same people shake, like, a can full of, like, loud rocks or something, like just making kind of unpleasant noises and yelling at the coyote. And over time, if they hazed them enough, then they became a little bit less comfortable around humans. And one of the things in this press release that I was reading was saying if you see a coyote, make sure to haze them. Like, if you have a spray them with a hose, like, yell at them, throw stuff at them. Like, you're supposed to Be so mean. Sell them coyotes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sell them a pool pass when there is no pool on the school grounds. Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Order a bunch of stuff for the dinner that they're not gonna eat, but then say, are we splitting this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Order? Have peaches delivered to their house unbeknownst to them and stick them with the bill. Yeah, I guess you can't do that anymore. I guess that's one thing that. I guess that's a. A prank that really dates me, huh? Like you can't order food and then pay upon delivery anymore. You're paying up front.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, you're right. That's one way that the. The sort of Uber eats and the doordashification of life has really changed. But. Yeah, so you're supposed to do. I just didn't even know before this morning on my airplane flight, I didn't know that coyote hazing was something that I should be doing possibly every day.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

If given the opportunity.

[Andrew Walsh]

Get out there.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. So coyote hazing and then also ranking the top 10 Costco's in the Seattle area, which is going to be tough for me being that I've been to zero of them. But luckily the other guest, a writer named Naomi Tomke, who. I'm not sure if you've been on the show with Naomi.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't think so.

[Luke Burbank]

Naomi Tomke literally wrote the article for Seattle Met, where she did an incredible amount of research. It's a great piece, by the way. She appears to be a really good writer and it like really breaks down the different Costcos in the Northwest. And what are the. The. The strengths and the weaknesses? I did not know there was any difference. I thought a Costco was a Costco was a Costco, but I guess they have different like inventory based on, you know, the maybe where it's located and what the local community is. Like the parking is different. And she really gets into like what makes a good Costco parking lot or a bad Costco parking lot.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is Shoreline on the list? You don't have to tell me where on the list, but is. Is my. Is the one that I would go to very low on the list. List. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

It's not. It's not if I remember right. Actually, you know what, Andrew?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's why I hate Costco's. Maybe that's because I go to.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't want to do that from. I don't want to do that from memory because they. Here's. I'll give you a little behind the behind the scenes because I'm on this email thread. Right. Naomi mentioned in our email thread. I think this is okay for me to share that. One of. And I don't remember which one it was, but one of the locations that she basically kind of put it more towards the bottom of the list. And she loves Costco, by the way. So she's like, any Costco will do. But you know, if you're ranking them, one has to be first and one has to be tenth. And one of the ones that was lower on the list, she said somehow before she even had finished the article or posting the article, like maybe, or maybe the article had been posted at Seattle Met, but it was up for only a few minutes, she gets a call from the general manager of that location apologizing for the fact that she did not have an ideal experience. And this person said to her something like, we got four or five hundred employees here who feel really bad that you had a less than great experience. And by the way, her experience wasn't even bad. It was just like you have to.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rain, you know, somewhere amongst you got.

[Luke Burbank]

To rank them and like they're not in charge of the parking lot. Yeah, it wasn't even like, it wasn't even like the customer service was bad. It was just like the layout could be more ideal. A bunch of stuff that has no connection to the people who work there. And in her mind she was like, this only sort of like, you know, this only verifies and sort of like proves that Costco is a very, very well run organization that really cares about the customer experience.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. I will say that as much as Costco is not for me, I don't like that kind of shopping experience. I don't want to get it twisted. It sounds like they're a pretty good company and it sounds like they treat their employees well. And also the employees really treat the customers well. Every time I've had any kind of experience there, the customer service really is top notch. I should give them a sh. Shout out. One thing, and I hesitate to even bring this up because this goes a little bit negative town, especially in a region that I love to death here in Seattle. But one of the only other I'm trying to think. I've only been to Juan Costco and it's the one, you know, closest to me, which is in Shoreline. And you said that that doesn't even rank super high on this particular list.

[Luke Burbank]

So maybe I could be misremembering though. So I really, really want to not be quoted on that.

[Andrew Walsh]

The other Costco I went to. And by the way, when I go To a Costco, it's usually like middle of the day, middle of the week. So I'm not even getting the worst crowds. I just get real anxious in there right away, and people are. I just feel like the. The. The ability of people to have situational awareness is just, like, evaporates there and people are bumping. Like, I literally watched a woman, like, just start walking backwards and bump into people. I'm just like, how would you just. In a crowd like this, how do you just decide you're gonna start walking backwards for a moment? Anyway, the only other one I've now been to two, and it was in the suburbs of Cleveland. I don't know exactly where, but somewhere on the west side, my dad had to run in just pie. And he ran in middle of the day on a Saturday. Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

The parking lot came back covered in blood.

[Andrew Walsh]

The parking lot was a zoo, but he found a spot, and he doesn't like to park super close anyway, which is fine. And so. But I'll say this, and this is where it gets a little bit controversial. The layout of the Costco was exactly like the one that are very, very similar to the one that I would go to here in my neck of the woods. But the situational awareness of the customers stood out to me. It was, like, probably twice as busy as any Costco I've ever been in before. But I didn't see this sort of like. This sort of like I'm just walking at a decent pace with my cart, and then I just stop short. And, you know, I mean, and I do think, and this is a little bit rude of the city that I have adopted and love so much. I literally live in my favorite place on earth, which is Seattle Walk, Washington. But I do think that there is a situational. I see it on the highways, I see it on the byways, and I see it in the Costcos. I think it has to do with situational awareness writ large in this region.

[Luke Burbank]

That also would kind of explain how you are. Maybe that's a Midwest thing, the way that you're, like, very, very. You're hyper aware of yourself in space, and you really don't like to be blocking people accidentally or stuff like that. You're super polite about that. I wonder if that's a Midwest thing. I wonder, you know, where they really don't have it. Let's not just. Let's not just besmirch the northwest. Let's also besmirch Miami, Florida. Oh, yeah, man. That is, as my aunt Mary Lou once wrote, On a term paper in college. It's doggy dog down there, Andrew.

People are not. So I told you that the hotel I was staying at, the Good Time Hotel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

That like they were always having like the front desk line was always insanely long for some reason. And I do think it was a lot of like influencers that were having problems with their or hotel bill or something. But also what was happening is people were constantly coming out of the elevator and then just ignoring the line. And I want to be careful about this because it's, you know, this can get very dicey. But I was pretty certain that most of the people that were doing that were folks that were not from the United States based on either the language that I would overhear them speaking with their partner or just a vibe. And you know, I've been to various places that are not the United States. I can kind of sense these things. And what it reminded me was certain moments in Europe where you're sometimes in a place where it's like, it's just you gotta fend for yourself more than maybe we do in the United States. And so it's like people just. And also I could see it associated with like if you live in a part of the world where there's just, it's always kind of a hassle, like the line is gonna be long, the, the bureaucracy is gonna be tough. The whatever of it is gonna be you. Then as an evolution, like you, from an evolutionary standpoint, you then develop just kind of like I'm just gonna walk up to the front and I'm gonna show em this tag and I'm gonna just like get my suitcase. I'm not going to wait in this line of people dealing with reservation problems when all I need is my suitcase from the back room. And, and you could really see like it was, I was just noticing it as I was even last night I was walking home from the, from the pizza party. Oh, by the way, just so you know and I, I, we love this. I, you know, not to brag, but the business boys we did, we picked up the tab for the pizza, felt that it was appropriate getting to meet with, with a 10 and his 11 and somebody who supported the show financially over the years and just seemed like, you know, the right thing to do.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it was just you. Right. Just to be very clear. So you were having dinner, but you're saying that we as a company picked up the check as well we should.

[Luke Burbank]

Correct?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Tb the business boys and I actually had the. One of the business Boys credit cards with me, which is rare. And it actually worked, which is even more rare, which means I activated it successfully. And I swear to God, sign the bill, say say goodbye to everyone. And I start walking down Washington Avenue in South beach towards my hotel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Bing.

[Luke Burbank]

My phone goes off. John Sklaroff, this is a suspicious charge for pizza in South Beach. Was this you? Lest anyone worry that the TBTB Dollarinis are not being carefully watched by the number one business boy, they absolutely are. And we love that by the way, because it means that no one's going to get away with any shenanigans.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's funny because I've done that to John before too. John and I both have notifications on our phone.

[Luke Burbank]

So you also saw this.

[Andrew Walsh]

I never, I didn't notice yours because it gets a little bit complicated. I'm getting every time somebody buys something from our merch store. I guess I'm just gonna explain it. I told you I didn't even want to explain this, but I will. So first of all, anytime one of us uses one of our credit cards, I do get a notification on my phone. I didn't turn it on. I didn't ask for this. But it's, it's what I've been given and it's fine. It's a good way of like I, I guess generally keeping track of things. It gets a little bit confusing though because we have this merch store and so when people buy something off of our merch store, that essentially means we have to buy another shirt from the company that makes the shirts. So basically every time I get an email that says somebody bought something from the merch store, I also get a pop up notification on my phone saying your account has been charged. Because we're basically buying the materials that we're then passing along to the tens of course. So that gets a little bit complicated. So all of that is to say I didn't notice your pizza charge yesterday because it probably just was along in a wash of these other charges. But I will say that yesterday I bought some replacement parts for a microphone stand. And I was writing the email to you and John saying, hey, just so you know, here's a receipt. I bought these things. John was already hitting me up in the text message like did you buy this thing? But also he is really good today. He said, hey, you're gonna see a big charge that just came through. I just had to buy a bunch of boxes. Cause we're gonna be sending out those greatest hits records pretty soon. So yeah, we do have it.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, no, that's good. I'd much rather that than the alternative where there's anything lax going on or we're not, you know, keeping up on that stuff, because again, we're a. We're a small, independent little business that exists only because of our donations, and we want to make sure that we're being good stewards with those donations. So, yeah, no, I'd much rather, John be very on the spot and you be very on the spot with it. I honestly was slightly surprised last night that my TBTB credit card works, because I don't know if I'm authorized to use it or have it, but it worked last night.

[Andrew Walsh]

And as I've told you many times, it does not pay for alcoholic beverages. You're going to need to itemize those out of the bill, Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

Dan had over 30 drinks, and they.

[Andrew Walsh]

Were all beers and very tall boots.

[Luke Burbank]

It was weird. Dan had over 30 shots of tequila. He did not like tequila at the beginning of the night, but then he insisted.

[Andrew Walsh]

Man, Dan.

[Nora McInerney]

Thank you, baby.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, let's thank some of those donors. These folks are making TBTL possible. Again. We're being very careful, extremely careful with the donations that are coming in from folks like Nicholas Jeffries of Lake Stevens, Washington. Thank you, Nicholas. This is 100% listener supported podcasting going on right here without the Nicholas Jeffries of the world and the Becky Crandall's of the world. Who's in West Jordan, Utah?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I've never heard of West Jordan, but I guess there's a lot of towns in Utah I haven't heard of.

[Luke Burbank]

I have heard of West Jordan, Utah, for some reason.

But we appreciate you, Becca. We also appreciate Brad, Brett and Elizabeth Strouch of Marietta, Georgia. They've been donating for years and years.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thanks, guys.

[Luke Burbank]

Also, Donna Jarling is in Janesville, Wisconsin. Didn't we just have another Wisconsin person earlier this week from another. I think it was maybe Waukegan. Is Waukegan in Minnesota? Did I just. Did I just.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have a Waukesha. Is it Waukesha, Wisconsin? Was yesterday a Waukesha? Waukesha. I knew I was saying that wrong. Sorry, everybody. Oof. That one's gonna hurt.

[Luke Burbank]

You know what I said wrong yesterday, Andrew? Loudly wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my God.

[Luke Burbank]

Rutgers is a private university, and it is not of all the universities for me to pick as an example of how you name a private university so we know it's private, I picked one that was, in fact, public, as was pointed out by our friend P. Fletcher. Very Quickly, upon hearing the show, and I'm sure many hundreds and thousands of other scarlet Nights.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, I did not catch that either. It's just the irony for people who haven't heard it. You were talking about how the University of Miami is, to us, surprisingly, a private school. University of Miami sounds like a public institution. You were saying, why don't these public institutions, or if they're private, they should have a name that indicates it's private. You know, know, like Rutgers. Of all of the example, like, you could have said Harvard, you could have said Dartmouth. And I'm not piling on you, Luke. I didn't know either. But it's just the irony. Of all of the options of private schools, you pick the one public school that sounds like a private school.

[Luke Burbank]

Which, by the way, supports my theory that my University of Miami is very misleading, as is Rutgers.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rutgers, exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Rutgers. You should not. If you're a public, public institution, you should not be allowed to be named Rutgers. And if you're a private institution, you should not be allowed to be named the University of Miami.

[Andrew Walsh]

And there's one other I'm going to add to the list. There is an Ivy League school that sounds like a public school. You know what I'm talking about here. Do you know what the IVs are? I think I'm thinking of University of Pennsylvania. Yeah. University of Pennsylvania. That's another very confusion. Change thy name. Nora did it. You can, too. University of Navy.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm looking at you.

[Luke Burbank]

That's. I mean, easy peasy. Just change the name to University.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just change it to the University of Rutgers.

[Luke Burbank]

There you go. At Miami of Ohio.

[Andrew Walsh]

Miami of Ohio.

[Luke Burbank]

Thanks also to Ruthie Benton, who's in Los Angeles, California.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey. Hey. We're both familiar.

[Luke Burbank]

And then we've got Catherine, I am the City. And Ruthie. Catherine Harvey is in Seattle, Washington.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[Luke Burbank]

One of my very favorite places to be flying to early, early tomorrow morning. By the way, Andrew, we haven't even talked about this. I may actually need to come up to your house and do the show with you tomorrow in person. It depends on when they'll let me into the hotel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Oh, yeah, that's.

[Luke Burbank]

This is. What's happening is I'm doing this crazy dawn patrol everywhere where I'm getting to places before maybe they're ready to let me into the hotel room.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm glad you let me know. I will vacuum.

[Luke Burbank]

And thank you to all of our donors for making TBTL happen. We really could not do this without you. There's A right way to rock and a wrong way to roll.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can't just listen to your song. Just remember that life is number one.

[Luke Burbank]

You can be having so much fun.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just remember the life is much fun.

[Luke Burbank]

You can be nothing but one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Before we get into the Blurs days, quick reminder that we do have a TBTL virtual holiday party. Oh, yes, virtual parties. Like we did during the pandemic.

[Luke Burbank]

That's such a great question because, like, yeah, I think at this point we can just call it a party party.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's virtually a party. Yeah, we're having a party over Zoom Holiday party.

[Luke Burbank]

And I thought it's not a virtual party till Andrew virtually shows up.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what they say. But I was gonna say, I don't want to confuse things here, but I was a little confused in my own mind. I thought this was coming up sooner than I thought. We actually have about two weeks before the TBT holiday party. It's on Friday the 19th. And if you want to sign up for this in the evening, by the way, it's at a 5pm Pacific time and you can do the math on the other time zones. And if you want to join us, just go to tbtl.net, there's a button right at the top of the page. It says TBTL Holiday Party sign up and that's how you'll get your Zoom link. And we're just going to chill. We're going to have some eggnog. We're going to share stories about holiday traditions, our favorite holiday traditions. So if you want to join the conversation, you can think about what special holiday traditions you want to share with us and the rest of the group. Or if you don't want to be called on, no big deal, you can just hang out and enjoy the, the warm glow of the holiday season and the love of the tens. So that's on the 19.

[Luke Burbank]

We've also, we've already had to basically spring for the larger capacity Zoom meeting because we've had that much interest, which is great. So now, like, help us, you know, amortize that. The more people that sign up, the more that will have been worth it to pay for, the more capacity. But again, that's a good problem to have.

[Andrew Walsh]

Definitely. Yes. And again, this, these are the things, you know, we've brought up several times on the show in the past couple of days. Things that we've had to spend money on as a, as a business boy organization. And that's what we are. And this is where people's dollar hard earned dollars are going when they donate to tbtl. So thanks for making it all possible.

Nate says listener Brian from Portland recently celebrated his blurs day. I don't get to see him very often these years, but when we do get together, it's like no time for has passed. And congratulations to Brian and his lovely wife Sarah on their recent nuptials. Of course, they tied.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, my gosh.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tied the knot on Halloween. Luke. Halloween. Spooky. Spooky. Happy nuptials. Much love from Nate, Carm, Katie, and Alyssa.

[Luke Burbank]

I wonder if that's our friend Brian, the pedal steel guitar player.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe it is. It's a belated one.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, we used him and Brian. Hope this is all right. When we announced the TBTL holiday party, we used a little bit of Brian's fine, fine holiday music because it didn't have any lyrics. It wasn't competing, and it's just wonderful stuff. So everybody look Brian up and get his stuff. He's amazing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Happy blurs day. Rachel says, I want to wish a happy birthday to my 11 Willie. Willie, that's my elf.

[Luke Burbank]

I knew you were gonna do that, Willie.

[Andrew Walsh]

Does it sound like elf? It doesn't sound like elf. You just know that it does my elf. You think so?

[Luke Burbank]

No, no, no, I. Hold on. Do it one more time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Every time I do it, it gets a little bit further away.

[Luke Burbank]

Really?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I don't know. I lost it.

[Luke Burbank]

I thought definitely the first two ones were pretty elfish. Mm.

[Andrew Walsh]

Anyway, Rachel says, I want to wish a happy birthday to my 11 Willie, a kind man who is good at many things. Thanks for being great, my dude, and for not eating cats. I just threw that last part in there. That was an elf joke, and really, it's a bad one. Willie doesn't eat cats on that show.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't even know the original. The very first part of that message. Could you read that again?

[Andrew Walsh]

I want to wish a happy birthday to my 11 Willie. Was that it? You want to.

[Luke Burbank]

Not that part, No.

[Andrew Walsh]

A kind man who is good at many things.

[Luke Burbank]

That sounds like the way that what's her name, Julianne Moore's character is talking about, I think her doctor in the Big Lebowski, the person she's trying to send Jeff Bridges to to make sure that his.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's a good man. Very thorough.

[Luke Burbank]

He's a good man and very thorough.

[Andrew Walsh]

Very thorough. I love that. By the way, did you see that? It's not here in Seattle. It might be Portland. It might be LA places you frequent that they're doing a re screening of the Julianne Moore movie. Is it safe? Is that the kind of clothy one? The. Really?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. The Todd Haynes one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. They're doing a. They're. They're re screening that. I don't know if it's coming to our neck of the woods.

[Luke Burbank]

I think about that movie all the time.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a rough one.

[Luke Burbank]

Like. Well, and I think about it when I'm in rooms like this because this room. Everything in this room, Andrew, at this Hyatt place is off gassing. It's. Everything is made out of the most synthetic because, you know, that's a person in the. In the movie she does. A person who develops an environmental illness, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Been exposed to something that means that she's now having all these health consequences. And one of the things that they say sometimes. I mean, a lot of this stuff is really, really hard to pin down, but one of the things would be like newly installed super synthetic carpet that's just made out of God knows what.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And it's just like, you know, that. That, like, in a certain way, the smell of new carpet is kind of nice. It kind of smells good to me. But I'm in a room that looks like they just formed this out of all of the worst chemicals you can make stuff out of in the last 24 hours.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let me ask you a question about that movie, though, because I'm now realizing I saw this movie when I was in college and I was just like watching all of these movies that had, you know, maybe were, you know, not huge blockbusters, but were interesting. Maybe a little bit more arty, a little bit more thoughtful, flying under the radar. But the thing is, I. I was a young man. I was just out of high school probably when I saw that movie. And I think a lot of it probably confused me. In my memory. I thought that she was having more kind of mental and emotional problems that she was blaming on environmental issues. Is the movie an exploration of her mindset about this or is it a fact that she's actually getting sick from the environment?

[Luke Burbank]

I have not watched the movie in so long, Andrew, that I don't feel qualified to weigh in on that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I should rewatch it. God, I hope it's coming to town.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, I guess what I would say is knowing that Tom Haydns is a very, very talented filmmaker, I wonder if what he was also looking to recreate was that feeling of disorientation that people might have when they're going through something like this. I have a friend who has Lyme's disease. And has talked about how it's very, very, very hard to be suffering physically and to be going to the doctor and being told it's all in your head, basically. So I wonder if that's. That's the concept that he's sort of exploring. Whether or not it's. It's in the head of the Julianne Moore character or not. I couldn't tell you because it was a long time ago.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And I just. I'm asking that because I feel like, oh, you know what? I was very young when I saw that, and I think it confused me, and I don't even have the answer to it. And all these years, it may have been sort of living incorrectly in my head. But anyway, all that is to say happy birthday to Tom Haines. Todd.

[Luke Burbank]

That's what we're trying to say. Tom Hanks.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tom Hanks.

Oh, look at this. Look at this. Look how things come full circle. Jake, the perfect daddy, says happy birthday to my perfect son.

[Luke Burbank]

Now you're allowed to say it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm just reading. I'm just reading what's in front of me, my friend. Happy blurs date to my perfect son, Nick. This year's Blurs days will be our last before we can officially say we've been listening to TBTL for half of our lives.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, my goodness.

[Andrew Walsh]

So let's see here. This will be our last before we can officially say we've been listening to tbt. So the more birthdays that. I'm trying to do the math here. Yes, they're getting.

[Luke Burbank]

We were always taught try to do math on the radio.

[Andrew Walsh]

I see. Because they're getting too old and too many years. But we're still making new TBTLS though, right?

[Luke Burbank]

Like. Well, no, I think the thing is, is that. That they. My guess would be that they're both turning 33.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know.

[Luke Burbank]

Because if we've been doing this for 17 years. Okay, so read the message again, will you?

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. This year's Blurs days will be our last before we can officially say we've been listening to TBTLS for half of our lives. Before we can officially say. I see. So they will. They're growing up into half life, I guess.

[Nora McInerney]

Although.

[Luke Burbank]

Here's my question. Isn't it all constant and relative? As they're getting older, we're doing more shows. I mean, can anything be. I don't know.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think. You know, I think there's something about the construction of this particular sentence that has me kind of spinning out of control here.

[Luke Burbank]

The point is I guess we'll say.

Well, wait, Jake is the perfect daddy, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Jake is in Chicago. Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Yep. Yeah, I would say almost perfect daddy on that math. Or at least on the description of that math.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nick, you're my favorite hot dog.

Chris says, happy Blurs day to Angela, a great friend, wife, and mother.

[Luke Burbank]

Happy birthday, Angela, and thorough.

[Andrew Walsh]

You notice that no math. No math in Chris's blurs. Angela, I love that.

[Luke Burbank]

That a perfect daddy leaves Chicago on a train going at 60 miles an hour towards his friend Nick.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that what got me there, and I don't want to return to it, but I think it has to do with, like, negatives or double negatives. And I know there are no double negatives in that sentence, but it's sort of feels like this is the last time we can't.

[Luke Burbank]

That we can't any longer not say exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know that's not exactly it. I know it's on me, but that's what was happening to my brain there. Steven says, happy Blurs day to my wonderful wife, Jay. You did it. You started a free robotics team in our community. And you've already made a big impact with kids on the team. I'm so proud of you for sticking with your values. It's not easy, especially now, but it's the right thing to do. Happy Blurs day to our friends. Very cool. Jay's been listening to TBTL for more than half of her life now, by the way. Way.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, we know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

A very memorable story about the last radio broadcast of TBT and our friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Jay and the young, impressionable J. Andrew says, and I want to be very clear here, this isn't me Andrew. This is a different Andrew. If I want to add anything to this Blurs day, I will make it clear which Andrew is speaking right now. This is listener Andrew, who is saying, wishing a happy Blurs day to my incredible partner of over 20 years. Anna, you are such an amazing person, and I'm so lucky to have you in my life. I love all the jokes and stories you share from our friends in Seattle. Hope you have an awesome birthday and I can't wait for when you next serenade me with your TBTL melodica. Happy Blurs Day from your 11, Andrew.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow. What a lovely message from somebody who is, you know, let's be honest, subjected to the show, probably, and to. For this Andrew, not you, other Andrew, to handle it with such equanimity, to be like our buddies from Seattle. That's a very, very generous way to talk about this thing that Is tbtl.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you. I'm thinking about the coyotes again. Instead of rattling a can with rocks at them, can we haze them by just blasting tbtl? Like, kind of psyops?

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, I feel like. I think at this point. Point that would be a war crime.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Although we're not. We don't seem big on respecting the Geneva Conventions anymore in this country.

[Andrew Walsh]

No.

[Luke Burbank]

I just know that when Manuel Noriega was in his stronghold in Panama, I believe they played heavy metal music to try to get him out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Oh, my gosh. We're out of music.

[Luke Burbank]

I think TBTL might be the new heavy metal music.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Might be the new thing they play to get people out of their strongholds.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can't believe we ran out of music. It didn't seem like we were going that long. You're probably like, I got to get out of here. I have another podcast to do. So here, let me bring the music back. And I'm gonna zip through these. Luke, for you. For you, Luke. I'm zipping through. Amy says I want to wish a happy birthday to my amazing wife, Heidi. Today is her golden Blurs day. She's my best friend, my partner in all things, and the person who makes even the ordinary moments extraordinary. She's the best part of my life.

[Luke Burbank]

Just so sweet. I know.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is. It just gets better and better. She's the best part of my life. And there's no mountain too tall for us. Happy Blurs day, Heidi, from Amy and us. You guys are the best.

[Luke Burbank]

Absolutely adorable. We love it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Ken swinging in here. This is our friend Ken in Michigan, right, Luke? Is that where Ken. I hope Cinder had a very good Blurs day Monday, says Ken. This is for Cinder. I also hope Michigan. Oh, yeah, here you go. Ask and answered. I also Hope, Michigan and MSU both have great years in basketball and. And play each other in March. Keep posting pictures of Traverse City and your corgi, Edward. Happy birthday, Cinder.

[Luke Burbank]

A couple of Michiganders there checking in. Absolutely.

[Andrew Walsh]

Traverse City.

And finally, Jesse in New Mexico says, I want to give a very merry Blurs Day shout out to Nathaniel of Salt Lake City. You're my bff, my ride or cry. All I've heard from the age of 30 onward is that that it's nigh on impossible to make friends closer the closer you get to 40. I'm so happy to be the exception and not the rule. I can't adequately put into words how important you are to me. I wish you all the happiness in the world, you tiny, beautiful human being. Happy Thursday to Nathaniel of Salt Lake City from Jesse in New Mexico.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow, those are some very, like, poetic moving messages this week. Week, honestly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I agree. I agree.

[Luke Burbank]

Incredible stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, you're near New Mexico, by the way. I don't know if you. Can you swing by and say hey to.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I've got to fly to New Mexico at 5 tomorrow and then do one other podcast. I have to do Isotopes Weekly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, good.

[Luke Burbank]

And then I'm going to get on a flight in New Mexico and I'm going to fly to probably, I don't know, maybe like, Medford, Oregon.

[Andrew Walsh]

Perfect.

[Luke Burbank]

Where I'm going to be doing another local appearance, talking about the new baseball stadium they're trying to build. And then, then, and only then will I come up to Seattle and do TBTL with you, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. I. I'm looking. Oh, by the way. Yeah, we'll have to sort out what's going on tomorrow, by the way. I'm gonna get. Get. Get clean start.

[Luke Burbank]

It'll depend on if the Arctic Room Hotel will let me in early or not. That's where we're, I guess, staying this time around.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're welcome. I'll make some good broadcast coffee for you. It'll be fun. Make it this way. All right, Luke, we got to get out of here. I'm sorry. I feel like I was lollygagging near the end and keeping you.

[Luke Burbank]

This is good. I want to stay in the flow. I. I don't want there be to here. To be honest with you, if I'd had like 45 minutes between the end of our show and the beginning of this next recording, I would have been tempted to close my eyes, like on the bed in the hotel room, and that would have been a bad thing. So this is good. I'm just keeping the content train rolling, my friends.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[Luke Burbank]

We'll see some of you maybe tonight at the Wait Wait show in Arizona. Andy Richter is not my job guest. That'll be kind of fun.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that is fun. That's very.

[Luke Burbank]

He's having a whole. He's having a whole Richter song months. He's having, like. He's on Dancing with the Stars, and he's becoming. He's becoming kind of the cult hero of Dancing with the Stars now. So he's got a whole new. Whole new career going. Anyway, we'll be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. That much I can assure you of. So we'll see you then. In the meantime, have a great Thursday. Take care of yourselves and please Remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all.

[Nora McInerney]

Power out.