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.

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)

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)

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 |

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.

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.

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

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.