Hour 3 - Corporate Wokeness vs. Brand Loyalty

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode: Hour 3 - Corporate Wokeness vs. Brand Loyalty
Date: August 29, 2025
Host: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Notable Guest: Mary Katharine Ham, Fox News Contributor and podcaster

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Overview

This episode zeros in on the backlash against “corporate wokeness” and its impact on brand loyalty in America. Using the recent Cracker Barrel rebrand controversy as a centerpiece, Clay and Buck dig into why legacy consumer brands like Cracker Barrel and Bud Light have lost touch with their customer bases after reshaping their marketing to appease woke trends. The hour also features commentary on broader culture war topics (authenticity in public figures, code-switching, and fan etiquette), closes with calls from listeners about sports fandom, and brings in Mary Katharine Ham for takes on parenting and social responsibility.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cracker Barrel Rebrand and Corporate Wokeness

[03:12–13:32]

• Cracker Barrel’s Failed Rebrand:
  Clay and Buck highlight the failed $700 million rebranding attempt by Cracker Barrel, centering on co-founder Tommy Lowe’s critique. They see this as symptomatic of corporations hiring marketing executives who are disconnected from their core consumer base.

• Root Cause:
  Brands with deep American roots (e.g., Cracker Barrel, Bud Light, Disney) hand decision-making power to “marketing mavens in New York and LA” who don’t understand – or even dislike – the typical customer.

• Authenticity Over Image:
  Founders often “understand the brand...more so than all of the people they eventually bring in,” says Clay [05:52]. Instead of focusing on the product, companies get caught up in image-driven and performative rebranding (“wokeness”) that alienates loyal customers.

• Comparison to Domino’s:
  Domino’s improved their brand by honestly admitting product issues and improving pizza quality, rather than attempting to “rebrand” [13:06–13:32].

  “If you ever hire someone to try to work on your brand that doesn't love the brand already, you are basically lighting your brand on fire.”
  — Clay Travis [05:52]

  “Simple common sense. What did [the founder] say? Make the product better.”
  — Buck Sexton [09:26]

  “Honesty with your customer base...is really the lifeblood of the entire transaction and the entire relationship.”
  — Clay Travis [13:10]

2. Brand Loyalty and Mainstream America

[07:24–11:54]

• Who the Real Customers Are:
  Clay and Buck argue that the “heartbeat of America”—middle America, college football fans, “salt of the earth” people—are often ignored by these corporations.
• The Risks of Corporate Wokeness:
  Wokeness-driven marketing holds real financial risk: when companies prioritize progressive social messaging over customer needs, they lose market share and loyalty.

  “It's the libs, it's the left who decided that everything had to be...an extended version of Wokeness, Pride Month, this, that and the other thing. And there is real now, I think, awareness that that at least comes with some risks if you upset the people who are the ones buying your product.”
  — Buck Sexton [11:21]

3. Authenticity, Code-Switching, and Pandering in Public Life

[19:34–23:03]

• Charlamagne Tha God Calls Out Jaime Harrison:
  A cut plays in which Charlamagne accuses the ex-DNC chair of lying for Biden and then trying to “switch up.” Clay and Buck discuss code-switching, criticizing politicians for “talking down” and being inauthentic to pander to audiences.

  “Why would you want to sound less educated and expect that that's going to have great appeal with people?...The lack of authenticity makes people respect you less.”
  — Buck Sexton [21:49]

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4. Parenting, Gun Safety, and Mental Health Responsibility

[32:23–34:30]

• Mary Katharine Ham’s Take:
  As a parent, she discusses the importance of parental vigilance around mental health and firearms:

  “If that young man...is in your home, you have to have an inkling this is going very much off the rails, and you need to keep such things away from him.”
  — Mary Katharine Ham [33:19]

5. Parenting & Gender Ideology in Media Reporting

[34:15–35:15]

• M.K. Ham and Clay object to major media and Democrats “doubling down” on gender ideology in mass shooting coverage, arguing for clarity and honesty in reporting.

6. Fan Etiquette, Sports Jerseys, and Autographs

[26:55–31:42; 41:44–44:33]

• Fan Etiquette Debate:
  Clay espouses, “you shouldn't wear, if you're a man, a jersey of a player younger than you.” There’s a viral US Open video of an adult boxing out a child for a hat, which guests and callers widely condemn.
  • Mary Katharine Ham:

    “As for this viral video, that man's behavior is trash. He. He gets in there so quick and grabs this hat from this kid...it is just a sad, sad look for you.” [29:30]

• Call-in Reactions:
  Listeners chime in (Steve from Florida, CJ from Raleigh) to challenge and support Clay's jersey rule, sharing nostalgic sports stories.

7. Light Takes & Show Banter

• Mary Katharine Ham on College Football & Podcasting:
  M.K. calls college football a “normie meter” for cultural commonality and discusses her family and audience (“normies”) for the Normally podcast [24:58–25:14].

• Show Ends with Personal Stories:
  Clay jokes about his Goldendoodle’s birthday [45:11] and the hosts wish everyone a happy Labor Day.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Tommy Lowe (Cracker Barrel Co-founder) on the Rebrand:

  “If they don't get back to the keeping the country, then it ain't gonna work.” [05:03, replayed at 09:05]

• Clay Travis on Brand Destruction:

  “They let...morons who would never consume these products...try to decide what the heartbeat of America wants. And I think they just light all these brands on fire.” [07:24]

• Mary Katharine Ham on Fan Etiquette:

  “You are using your advanced wits and motor skills to best [a child] to this hat. And it is just a sad, sad look for you.” [29:30]

• Charlamagne Tha God on politicians lying:

  “You sat up there and lied for him all of this time, and now you want to be honest?...All of y’all did that for the last four years.” [20:06]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------| | 03:12 | Cracker Barrel Rebranding Begins | | 05:03 | Tommy Lowe Critiques the Rebrand | | 07:24 | Culture War: Brand Loyalty & Wokeness | | 09:05 | Tommy Lowe Clip Replayed | | 13:06 | Domino’s, Honesty, Capitalism | | 19:34 | Charlamagne Tha God Clip on DNC/Authenticity | | 24:58 | Mary Katharine Ham Joins | | 26:55 | Fan Etiquette/Jersey Debate | | 29:30 | Mary Katharine Ham Reacts to Viral Video | | 32:23 | Parenting, Gun Safety Responsibility | | 34:15 | Gender Ideology in Media | | 41:44 | Callers Respond on Jerseys | | 45:11 | Personal Banter & Sign-Off |

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains its trademark mix of cultural critique, humor, and accessible political commentary. The hosts use a conversational, relatable tone, blending serious social commentary with sports and pop culture references. Frequent lighthearted teasing and anecdotes ground the political analysis in everyday American experiences, aiming to resonate with their core “mainstream” audience.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a lively, clear example of how Clay Travis and Buck Sexton blend cultural and political commentary with humor and accessible anecdotes. Key recurring themes: the pitfalls of corporate wokeness, the importance of authenticity in public and corporate life, and the value of understanding and serving “mainstream” America, all discussed in a frank and engaging manner. Frequent contributions from callers and guests like Mary Katharine Ham add diverse perspectives—including on parenting, media responsibility, and sports fandom.

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If you’re interested in:

• The intersection of business, marketing, and culture wars,
• The debate around “woke capitalism” vs. authentic brand loyalty,
• Light sports and culture takes,
• Nuanced, right-leaning commentary on contemporary events,

…this episode offers a compelling and entertaining listen.

Transcript

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[Buck Sexton]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the FOX voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Clay Travis]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox One we live for live streaming now. Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off now. It is a Friday before the holiday weekend. And you know what, the Labor Day weekend. And so I want to take a lot of your calls, bring in your thoughts. Some of the people out there fired up in the aftermath of the discussion with our friend Alex Berenson. These I will say this and I, I give, I think giving credit where it's due is so important.

[Buck Sexton]

Whatever it may be.

[Clay Travis]

Why I gave a shout out to our friend Mr. Levin for his point on the executive order earlier and I think giving Alex his due credit for being particularly full of courage when it really counted on Covid is one of the reasons why I just have a tremendous respect for that because I remember and Clay remembers it was lonely. Even on the right for a while. There are a lot of people that were kind of, I think masks are actually really good. I was like wait a second, hold on a second. So I appreciate that. That's all a way of saying I know some of you disagree very much with some of the weeds talk in terms of the and we'll get. We'll get to some of that. You will have your say. 800-282-2882. And I think that we can dive into some of this. But one thing I wanted to mention, Clay, because we're going to the weekend and I want people to have some good vibes. The Reach killed every.

[Buck Sexton]

Every pot smokers weekend. They were all looking forward to kicking back, rolling into Labor Day, smoking a joint, and now they're all afraid they're going to shoot up. Shoot up their. Their local wheat establishment. The. The.

[Clay Travis]

Let's talk Cracker Barrel. Let's talk about something we can all agree on for a moment here, which is Cracker Barrel. And the woke rebranding of it is.

[Buck Sexton]

Let me just say this for one minute and then we'll go into the Cracker Barrel. There is uncertainty about what the impact is of new highly, highly potent THC on so many different people out there. To me, the real question is, and I think we should have real debates about this. I'm not saying any one person is right or wrong. To your point. Alex was right about COVID Doesn't mean he's 100% right about weed or anything else. I do think the idea that parents should in some way say, hey, don't drink alcohol, instead use weed, which has been, I think, a talking point out there that it's better to use weed than alcohol is not good advice to be giving children. I think what unfortunately it shows is if you start. The earlier you start weed, the more likely you are to move to advanced drugs beyond weed. And so that is my concern as a dad. Now. Everybody hates Cracker Barrel. Ut us up. I do.

[Clay Travis]

They hate the Cracker Barrel rebrand.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

A lot of people who love Cracker Barrel who are listening right now. Look, Cracker Barrel, if you want to get fancy where they can, you know, they can.

[Buck Sexton]

The French Cracker Barrel unlikely to have a strong market in rural America. I would just say, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Clay Travis]

Is. Is there a Cracker Barrel in France? Because that would be like. But for them, it would almost be a like an amusement park experience of like, you know, Le America. They'd be like, what is this? Le Cracker Barrel? Anyway?

[Buck Sexton]

The.

[Clay Travis]

The situation is as follows. It is a disaster for the rebrand and co founder of Cracker Barrel. Tommy Lowe has said this. This is 23. Play it.

[Tommy Lowe (Cracker Barrel Co-founder)]

That's not. It's the bland nothing. It's pitiful. Food is something that you need to work on spending $700 million to do. That is all doing that, just throwing money out the street. If they don't get back to the keeping the country, then it ain't going to work.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, he's totally right. If you want to work on your food and improve your food, everyone's always on everyone. Everyone loves good food. Everyone loves food that tastes good, right? And high quality ingredients, all that stuff. There was no reason for the rebrand. But beyond that, the rebrand was horrible and everybody knows it. And it's because they. And this is why it's become political. Everyone. It's because it's viewed as white and Southern and that rubs Madison Avenue executives the wrong way.

[Buck Sexton]

My take in general here is that guy, founder, who I bet is 80 plus years old, founded this company in Lebanon, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. I guarantee you he still understands the brand of Cracker Barrel better than the people they gave $700 million to define the brand of Cracker Barrel. Almost always the founder of a company understands why the brand worked and why the company was successful, more so than all of the people they eventually bring in to try to be the marketing experts on the company because he or she innately built the company and understands how to connect with the consumer. And then they bring in a bunch of people in New York and la and I feel like I could just create a business designed to destroy all of the businesses that are destroying brands in America. If you ever hire someone to try to work on your brand that doesn't love the brand already, you are basically lighting your brand on fire. I think this happened with Bud Light. I think this happened with Cracker Barrel. I think this happened with the NBA. I think this happened with Disney. People who built great American brands with incredible customer loyalty. They eventually handed over to these marketing mavens on in New York and LA who have no idea what mainstream America is like and they destroy everything. This is buck, you, you got me on this, but I think it's, it's important. I really think every weekend when I go to a college football game, I am basically with the heartbeat of America. Doesn't matter who you root for. If you're going to the Ohio State Texas game this weekend, you are a good, in my opinion, salt of the earth, normal American. If you are going to be at the game that I'm going to be at, Alabama, Florida State, good, normal, salt of the earth American. And I'm not getting into what you think the tax rate should be or what your perspective is on any number, but just are you a normal, rational person? The answer, I think almost Always is. Yes. And you are very often the heartbeat of all these brands. You make Disney movies successful, you make Cracker Barrel restaurants full. You drink Bud Light at your tailgates. And they've let all of these morons who would never consume these products, who were going to Brooklyn hipster bars and are going to fancy Santa Monica, you know, dive restaurants, they let them try to decide what the heartbeat of America wants. And I think they just light all these brands on fire. And it infuriates me because I. Can we play that guy again? This guy, I guarantee you, put his heart and soul and every fiber of his being put every dollar, I guarantee you, that he ever made on the table and said, by God, I think there's a market for this company, Cracker Barrel all over the country now. There's 600 plus restaurants. Listen to him and he's saying they just gave $700 million to people probably that never talked to him at all that don't understand anything about the business and they are destroying what he built. Let's play him again. Just listen to him and think about how much difference there is between him and the stakes he had involved and the people out there at a cash and paychecks to work at the company he built.

[Tommy Lowe (Cracker Barrel Co-founder)]

That's not bland nothing. It's beautiful. Food is something that need to work on spending $700 million to do that is all. Doing that is throwing money out the street. If they don't get back to the keeping the country, then it ain't going to work.

[Buck Sexton]

Simple common sense. What did he say? Make the product better. If you want to spend money to make people feel like they're getting a better return on the money they pay for a meal. Good for you. He gets it. He wants. People want good value for the dollars they put out there. And, and I just. Every company needs this guy still on the payroll.

[Clay Travis]

Know your customer is the foundation or should be. The foundation should be the foundation of every business, right?

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

How. This is also how Clay said this about SEC football. When people come up and I had the lovely experience in the Highlands in North Carolina of basically the entire town listens to this show. I did not know that before I got there, but that part of North Carolina, everywhere I go, they're like, I love, I love you guys. You guys do a great show and it was wonderful and I appreciate it. It was great. But also I know that if I talk to them, I know we see the world the same way. Right. The same thing you're saying about, about SEC football On the basics, right?

[Buck Sexton]

And big ten, like I'm just saying big college football in general, these are normal, rational people who are a little bit irrational about their favorite team, but they get ignored.

[Clay Travis]

There's a lot of common ground that.

[Buck Sexton]

You already have because you, you know.

[Clay Travis]

Where you're coming from. And if you're running a restaurant, you, if you're running a media company for any number of things, you got to know your audience, you got to know your customer, you have to know who you're dealing with. And whether it was Bud Light or it was now the situation with Cracker Barrel, and we've seen this with some other companies, clearly there are people who manage to get in charge of the whole entity, sometimes who have no idea who their customers and clearly don't care and sometimes even maybe have a little disdain for their core customer. And that is where the wokeness really causes share losses. And, and all of a sudden things start to spiral because they lose sight of what is most core in the business and what they're really trying to do day in, day in and day out. And you know, conservatives I think always have taken this point of view, Clay of if you're thinking if your business is business, that's great. No one's asking to be political. Just sell the best products you can to the best services you can to people who walk in the door and want to pay for it. It's the libs, it's the left who decided that everything had to be, you know, an extended version of Wokeness, Pride Month, this, that and the other thing. And there is real now, I think awareness that that at least comes with some risks if you upset the people who are the ones buying your product. And that's it, that's a marketplace based change. That is a good thing.

[Buck Sexton]

And I just think imagine how much money they could have saved if somebody in Marketing had spent 10 minutes talking to the founder of Cracker Barrel. You think he might have a little bit of insight. I understand he may not have the latest Excel spreadsheet downloaded on his computer and he might not have the latest AI technique to apply to try to glean how you take a 20% profit margin to 21.5% like all the brilliant people out there. But you know what? He knows how to build a business and how to make customers love the business, which is more than almost anybody who works in marketing ever does. They come to places that are already built and then they take huge sums of money from inside of the business, often giving you absolutely no value in Return and sometimes actually lighting your existing business on fire. And so I think they could have talked to this guy for 10 minutes and they could have said, yeah, maybe we should just invest. Maybe the country fried steak should be better. You know, I guarantee you he could tell you maybe the pancake batter could. We could spend 20 more cents per, I don't know, gallon of pancake batter, and we're going to get a way better product. I guarantee you he'd have a way better solutions.

[Clay Travis]

Was it. What was the pizza. It was one of the big ones. I forget, though.

[Buck Sexton]

Domino's. Great example.

[Clay Travis]

Domino's, right? That just said our pizza is trash. We're making it good now. Sorry. It worked because it was honest and everybody was like, okay, thanks, Domino's. You want to feed us better pizza? Honesty with your customer base, honesty with your followers. That is really the lifeblood of the entire transaction and the entire relationship.

[Buck Sexton]

That was the. Domino's is a great example. That is, people would say, oh, you're going to destroy the brand. No, they were just super honest. They said, look, we cut costs too much. The quality of our pizza product has declined, and it's not. It doesn't taste as good as it used to. And we're going to fix that and we're actually going to have a really good pizza forward. And guess what? They made the product better and they reaped the results. That's how capitalism works. If you make a better product, you should get a better result. Now, the price still has to be right. There are all these different factors, but I just listened to that old guy who founded Cracker Barrel, and I'm like, he's got more sense in 20 seconds than the people they paid $700 million do in their entire brains.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Now you can stream Fox News live on the Fox one app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen. All from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you you won't find anywhere else.

[Clay Travis]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one we live for live streaming now.

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started Normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay. Travis Buck Sexton Show. Tons of reaction rolling in from so many different story angles out there. I did want to play this for you though. Charlemagne Tha God. Very popular iHeart host on many stations out there. Had on ex DNC chair Jamie Harrison and just basically called him out for blatantly lying about Biden for four years. This is a conversation that is not going away for Democrats. Listen to cut 28.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's just hard to believe y' all Jamie, now, simply because we know what y' all watched the last four years. Even when I see somebody like Corinne Jean Pierre come out with her book, and I'm like, you, you sat up there and lied for him all of this time, and now you want to be honest? You were an independent, and it's the same. All of y' all did that for the last four years.

[Buck Sexton]

Man, Charlamagne.

[Clay Travis]

I ain't lie about. I ain't lying about a damn thing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, you ain't tell the truth.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Well, what?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You just kept quiet.

[Clay Travis]

That is accurate. That is well stated. You definitely didn't tell the truth and kept quiet. That is true.

[Buck Sexton]

Also, Jaime Harrison. I think it speaks poorly to Democrats when they code switch and try to sound less intelligent than they actually are. This happens with Jasmine Crockett all the time. And Jasmine Crockett went to a $35,000 a year private school. And now, because she thinks it has appeal for her, she talks like she hasn't been highly educated. I think people see through this. Like, Jamie Harrison there is a highly educated guy, and he says, I ain't lie. I mean, come on. It reminds me, the worst of all of this is I still think Hillary Clinton, when she tried to do a poor black accent, and it's just, it's so fake. And like, I've talked about this for a long time. I be, I may notice it more because I'm a Southerner, and, and I talk about this, and no one else does fake accents. Whenever people come to the south, they try to act like they're Southern and their accent is so fake. And I look at it and I just say, who are you? And I, I make fun of myself. If I went to Maine and suddenly I started talking like Ted Kennedy, you guys would be like, what happened to Clay? Like, why, why is he talking like this? This happened with the football coach, Brian Kelly. Guy spends his whole life in the. Remember, I think we played that cut on Here Comes down to Louisiana, spends his whole life outside of the south, and suddenly he sounds like he's a Gone with the Wind character. I mean, I, I, I just, I, I don't get it. And that is code shifting, obviously, but why would you want to sound less educated and expect that that's going to have great appeal with people? He's a liar. I give Charlemagne credit for calling him out, but even the way he tried to respond to that was profoundly inauthentic.

[Clay Travis]

Pandering is something that a lot of people in politics do, a lot of people in media do. As well. And if you're somebody who is inauthentic in the approach you have to, to the public, I think some people don't even notice it. Like, I think Hillary Clinton, for example, when she would do her version of, you know, oh, all of a sudden I'm Southern Hillary when she's in some places. I mean, I know a lot of southerners roll their eyes and they hear this, but I think Hillary just does it. She's like, isn't that what everybody does? It's like pretending you like the baseball team of whatever city you're in at the time. There's, there's, there's a soullessness that becomes so comfortable for some people in public life that I'm not even sure Clay they recognize it anymore. I think it's just, you know, does the fish know that it's in water?

[Buck Sexton]

It's weird to be so desperate to be liked that you have no soul, which actually makes you less likable, right? I mean, because even if that's your goal, the lack of authenticity makes people respect you less. So you're just shooting yourself in the foot even by attempting that. Look, if every steak burger piece of chicken you ate for the rest of your life came from good ranchers, you and your family would be very happy and fortunate people because they get their protein only from American ranchers and farmers. No antibiotics, no hormones, no seed oil. It's the kind of food you want to serve to your family. Founders of Good Ranchers, husband and wife started the business on the premise they wanted to feed their four kids only this kind of American raised beef, chicken, pork. They made the same quality meats and chicken available to all of you. And you can get it sent straight to your home as I do and as Buck does for both ourselves and our families. Right now, when you sign up, you get $25 off each month. And when you use a first time coupon here of clay, you get $40 off as well. So you save $65, you can design your own product. Goodranchers.com code clay. Go check them out today. Could good ranchers.com code clay for 65 bucks off.

[Clay Travis]

All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. Mary Kathryn Ham joins us now. She is a Fox News contributor and she also has a podcast on the Play and Buck network normally with Carol Markowitz. Our dear friend Carol Markowitz, Ms. Katherine Ham. Great to have you on the program. I think we could maybe jump into this. Are you with Clay that if somebody likes. I grew up in Manhattan where college Football wasn't really a thing. Are you with Clay, that if someone likes college football, you inherently trust and probably just like them a little bit more. Like from go, they're in a good place with you.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah. Like, you reference normally and that's like my normie meter. If you. If you enjoy and engage with college football, you get like a free pass to the normie lane in my mind. And you have to prove otherwise with your weirdness at some point.

[Buck Sexton]

It's totally true. We just speak a common language. Even though Mary Kathryn Ham is a Georgia Bulldog fan and is now getting to celebrate the fact that her team is incredibly good. And my team hopefully is on the comeback trail a little bit with the University of Tennessee. But I do think it's important. We were talking about this with Cracker Barrel, and I know you've had takes and we'll get to some serious things, but does it continue to astound you how many companies hire people who would never consume their product ever to try and convince people why they should consume a product? I just. I fundamentally don't understand it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I don't either. The Cracker Barrel thing was such a weird hangover move. It's like, what year is this? What's happening? And to the extent that it was woke and it was just that these people in the C suite are so disconnected from normal people who might stop at a Cracker Barrel that they have no idea what's animating that decision. Like, I would stop at a Cracker Barrel more often if the food just came out a little faster. Like, just adjust that for me, and I'm good. My kids love to go. I love to go. I like the vibe. We like to shop a little bit. I'm here for it. But the woman who is running the place in the marketing team have no idea what it's like to take a family with three kids or four kids to a Cracker Barrel. I just. I don't think they've ever done it.

[Clay Travis]

I've actually never been to a Cracker Barrel, so I'm excited to now go try try the cuisine that is now at the center of this national rebranding firestorm. So I've got that going for me. Mary Catherine. Which is nice. Something else that came up because we're kind of, you know, last. Last hour for a few folks here in the office before the holiday weekend starts. So we're doing a bit of a grab bag. And one of the. One of them is Clay shared out just now.

[Buck Sexton]

A.

[Clay Travis]

You know what, Clay? I'll Let you describe it. This goes to though, the rules around when is it appropriate for an adult to ask for an autograph? Let me first put in though, autographing someone's book signed by the author, totally legit. I hope all of you buy my book and Clay's book and we'll sign as many of them as we can. But signing like paraphernalia, if you're an athlete, what are the rules about this? Because Clay, what just happened that got.

[Buck Sexton]

All this firestorm, it's, it's blown up at the US Open. They've got the tennis tournament going on out in New York now. And my general proposition, and this gets people really fired up, is you shouldn't wear, if you're a man, you shouldn't wear a jersey of a player younger than you. I think it's a weird look, you know, old school, like I was a Bo Jackson fan or a Michael Jordan fan. I'm not saying that I look good in a jersey, but I'm okay with people that you grew up a fan of. But when you're like, I'm 46, if I'm wearing a 19 year old's jersey, I think it's a really weird look. So wear a polo, wear a T shirt, whatever you want. Jersey at a grown man, that's way like a generation younger than you. It's very strange. Also, Buck pointed out autographing books which are written for adults is the design process. I am very, very anti grown adults boxing out kids at sporting events, getting autographs. And there is a viral video that is now circulating that I just shared of a tennis player signing autographs for kids. He actually takes his ball cap off and tries to hand it to a kid. An adult autograph seeker comes in and grabs this. This happens with foul balls. Every now and then it happens with autographs. If you're an adult trying to get an autograph. I think you should reconsider your life's decisions. At an athletic event. Step back and let little kids in front of you because the adults box out the little kids. Everybody has seen this. You're weird. If you're 40 and you're desperate to get a 24 year old's autograph, that 8 year old that you're boxing out, it will be one of the coolest moments of his life. Maybe reconsider your life options. Is that normal or am I the outlier here?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

No, I think you're right on that. I'm going to beg an exception on the jersey front because there's a Georgia Kicker named Jack Ham. And I just like, I have to go with it. But on the.

[Buck Sexton]

You're also, by the way, hold on. Females can get away with wearing any jerseys that they want. This is specifically designed for men. Grown men wearing kids jerseys. Unless it's your own son and you have the same name and he's on the team is, I think, weird.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah. As for this viral video, that man's behavior is trash. It is trash. He. He gets in there so quick and grab this hat from this kid and he does it very on purpose and he hands it off and hides it from the kid very quickly. There. He has an accomplice. I think there's a lady next to him. And that is trash behavior. And you are putting yourself above children and you are using your advanced wits and and motor skills to best them to this hat. And it is just a sad, sad look for you. The hat was clearly meant for the child. And get out of there. Wait your turn. Let every child that is in the front row go before you. At the very least before you step in there.

[Clay Travis]

Now, your podcast, Mary Katherine and Carol's podcast. Carol Markowitz and Mary Kathryn Ham do a podcast together normally on the Clay and Buck network. You're hitting your 100th episode coming up on September 2nd. How's it been doing the show so far? What's the feedback been like from your listeners? And when are Clay and I going to come on and mansplain feminism to feminist? Not you. But as a general thing, we've been talking about how this would be helpful.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Oh, my gosh, we have so much fun. And would you believe that between us with the seven children, we have still produced 100 episodes on time. For all of those episodes, we're very proud. We feel like we have a very normie audience, many of whom are moms and parents who write in to tell us, thank you for just assessing the news without losing your mind. Now, granted, sometimes it's hard to do that. It was harder during the Biden administration when I was losing my mind on the regular. But I think people are looking for news without their blood pressure necessarily going up. If my blood pressure is going up, I want it to be for the dog or I want it to be over that guy with the hat at the US Open who's a jerk. I don't want it necessarily to be driven up while I'm trying to get educated every day. And so we try to keep it between the lanes. But, you know, we also got some weird takes every now and then. That's who we are. And by the way, can I ask.

[Clay Travis]

You a question, actually, about that? What is this? What is the take so far on the normally podcast that has been the most controversial, that maybe you didn't think was gonna be controversial at all?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Ooh. Ooh. Gosh. I have to think about this. I think anytime, look, we do some critical of the Trump administration takes. Right. And I think sometimes when we do that, we surprise people. But I think that would be the area where we get feedback. But we often get feedback that's, like, very thoughtful and nice because we cultivate that kind of audience. By the way, I don't believe in mansplaining anyway. I think, like, I'm one of those people who believes when men defend mansplaining, they're. They're basically like, that's how we have a conversation. I'm like, I know. I get it. I get that that's what's happening there, because I grew up with two other brothers.

[Buck Sexton]

You've got, like, you just said seven between you and Carol kids.

[Caller Steve]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Seriously, here, when you see some of the situ. The situation happened in Nashville situation that happened in Minneapolis. We talked about parents and one conversation, obviously, I think we should have armed security in schools. We've talked a lot about that, but I don't think we talk enough about parents. And if you know your kid has depression issues, which hopefully you would know, or you know your kid has mental health issues, you can strongly believe in Second Amendment rights and also understand that that doesn't mean that every single person in your household should have access to firearms. I wish we talked more about, like, I look at that kid's picture, and I'm like, this is not a person who is in mental health, you know, good position. I don't see how mom and dad could not know that. Right. We should talk, I think, more about parenting aspects here and what we should expect parents to do.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah. If that young man. Young man specifically, is in your home, you have to have an inkling that this is going very much off the rails, and you need to keep such things away from him. We also have an issue, I think, where we used to have a way of dealing with adults with very, very severe mental illness and psychosis, and they would have places that you could go for that. As a parent of an adult child, trying to get that kid to take medication or to go to see whatever therapist he needs to see becomes very difficult, particularly if you're a woman with a son who can overpower you. Like, this is a tricky situation. But I do think parents have to take responsibility for the fact that they need to know what's going on with those kids if, especially if they're in their same house. I mean, which is, which was the situation here. And it would also help if the press would just refer to the guy as a guy and stop pretending that a woman committed this crime. It's crazy what they're doing.

[Clay Travis]

It's amazing. I just saw this actually, Mary Catherine, NBC News headline, and it just goes the whole story. She, she, she, she. The Democrats have not learned their lesson on this at all. In fact, they're doubling and tripling and quadrupling down.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

No, they really haven't. And by the way, they really haven't. And by the way, I don't appreciate them messing up women's mass shooting stats. Okay, like, we are not blamed for this one, but it's just the media is supposed to make it easier to understand what happened. And I know that we lost that ability a long time ago. That value was lost some time ago. But in situations like this, and particularly on trans stuff, the way that they word stuff is so dependent on an ideology and has nothing to do with helping you understand the facts on the ground. And it's just disgraceful. It's anti journalism. It is the exact opposite of what you are taught to do if you are in some way trained to be a journalist. But now they're taught to do this and it's just poison.

[Buck Sexton]

What is Georgia's record going to be this year?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Oh, it's gonna be perfect. See, I'm such a homer. You can't even ask me that stuff. You can't even ask me. It's. It's pathetic.

[Buck Sexton]

Do you have games on the schedule like that you're going to try to go to? Cause I'm going to be at FSU Alabama this weekend. I've never been to Tallahassee. Can't wait to check it out. You've got an absolute brood. So it becomes difficult, I know, for a lot of people to move the whole apparatus with seasons and everything else. Will you try to get your whole family to games or no?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So what usually happens is that once every four years or so I'll get all the kids to a game and in the interim, either I will go or my husband and I will go together. I did take on one occasion. You'll be proud. On one occasion, right after I gave birth to my third child, she was a month old, and I was like, I got to go to a Dogs game because this is the year we're going to win the Natty. And we indeed, we indeed did. So I was like I got to get them all there so I can say they saw the dogs play. That year I took three children on a 12 hour road trip to watch the dogs with a one month old. And yes, that was crazy. And yes, it was worth it.

[Buck Sexton]

That's awesome. I'm taking my boys. I know all of them. At least that's the plan to the Tennessee Georgia game in Knoxville on September 13th where Tennessee is going to finally end the losing streak to your Georgia Bulldogs, ensuring that they are not in fact undefeated. Mary Katherine Ham where can people find your content? You do great stuff in the podcast. You're on Fox News regularly. You write on occasion for Outkick. Where would you tell people if they're enjoying this to find you?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just look at me @NK Hammer on Twitter @NK Hammer time on Instagram if you want and you can find me on normally podcast and you should.

[Buck Sexton]

Awesome. Appreciate you. Have a good weekend.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Thank you very much guys. Have a good football weekend.

[Buck Sexton]

Amen. I can't wait. That is Mary Kathryn Ham. I want to tell you, look, if you're out there right now and you are worried, so far, knock on wood, we have not had significant issues with hurricanes so far this year. We're about to be into September, into October. The danger can continue to be out there. Maybe you're in a place where you don't even think like western North Carolina, that you need to be concerned about hurricanes and then boom, it happens. Maybe you want to have something that can be charged for up to five days that will be able to take advantage of any cell phone network anywhere that is able to work. That is what Rapid Radios does. It is their business. And right now you can get 60% off plus free UPS shipping from Michigan. Use code radio for an extra 5% off. That is rapid radios.com code radio. You know, we use these last fall. Gonna give my wife credit. We took the boys to a college football game. If you sometimes go to these big events, could be a state fair, could be a college football game where tons of people are in a relatively small area. You probably have seen sometimes cell phone networks get overloaded and then maybe one person happens to have a network that's working. Rapid Radios will work around to find that network that works. So you could use these on a trip to a college football game, for instance, this fall. Check them out. Rapidradios.com 60% off free UPS shipping from Michigan. That's rapid radios.com code radio keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast Clay and Buck highlight Trump replays from the week Sundays at noon Eastern. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts this Labor Day.

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[Buck Sexton]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox one app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Clay Travis]

Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one we live for live streaming now.

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[Buck Sexton]

Ooh, Just and will.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. We got a bunch. I didn't expect to get these angle. Call Steven. Florida, you disagree? You got a strong take. What you got?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Hey guys.

[Caller Steve]

I finally get through.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Awesome.

[Caller Steve]

Hey. I. I have to disagree with you there, Clay, about the jerseys. Own one about for a guy that's younger than you. I happen to be from Indiana and I moved down here in Florida about 16 years ago. I'm a huge Peyton Manning fan and I have his is jersey and don't think for one second.

[Buck Sexton]

Hold on. How old are you, Steve?

[Caller Steve]

I am 53 and okay, 46.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

45.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I'm 46. I think Manning is like 48. That's like same range, right? I'm talking about if you're 53 and you were in Florida and you went to a game and you're wearing a 19 year old's jersey. I think it's a weird look. So you're in the ballpark of a guy that's around the same age. So I'm not really calling you out. I'm calling out somebody my age, 46. Who I go. I'm going to go to the Florida State game. Right. Alabama, if you're wearing a Ty Simpson jersey and you are 60 and it's not your son, I think you look like a weirdo.

[Clay Travis]

Candidly, Clay is making friends today.

[Buck Sexton]

If you want to wear a Joe Namath Jersey and you're 60, it's like, okay, that guy's older than you. This is an important rule. I think C.J. and Raleigh, N.C. do you own any jerseys, Buck?

[Clay Travis]

Me? Yeah, I think, Clay, answer your own question. Does Buck own any sports jerseys?

[Buck Sexton]

I thought maybe you had an old school like John Stark Sir Patrick jersey.

[Clay Travis]

Not only do I not own a sports jersey, Clay, I have never owned. I Had jerseys for teams I played on, but I've never owned.

[Buck Sexton]

Your brothers own a jersey?

[Clay Travis]

I don't think so, no.

[Buck Sexton]

C.J. in Raleigh, North Carolina, what you got for us?

[Caller Steve]

Yes, sir. I wanted to tell you I heard you say you're going to go to the UT Georgia game coming up in September. I went to Peyton Manning's last football game at UT. I was staying at the Marriott in 10, you know, in Knoxville. And when I went to get in the elevator, the coach of the Bulldogs got in with four big players. And I looked at him, I said, dude, I feel sorry for you guys today because we're going to kick your butt. And he looked at me, said, we're going to a pep rally. Will you come with us? And I went, you going to kill me? And he said, no. Will you walk into the pep rally in the big ballroom of this hotel with me just for a minute? And I said, yeah. And I walked in and he got everybody be quiet. And he said, now, what did you.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just tell our boy?

[Caller Steve]

And I told him and I used the other A word. I said, we're going to kick your A.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And.

[Caller Steve]

And he said, I think it's time for you to leave. And I sat in that game and enjoyed that game so much. And I've always been a Peyton Manning fan.

[Buck Sexton]

Anyway, thank you for the call. I give credit to the coaches there. That is fun, right? Like bring in an opposing fan, get everybody riled up. What did you tell me in the elevator? We're going to kick your ass. That is fun. Been an awesome week. Tons of reaction pouring in. We want all of you to stay safe, have fabulous weekends all on Labor Day. We will be back with you guys on Tuesday. Labor Day we're gonna spend with our families and I hope all of you do the same and hope you have fabulous weekends. Buck, you're hanging out with the family. Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

I'm be with Baby Speed and Ginger Spice. Happy birthday, Ginger Spice. It is our Goldendoodle's birthday clay, which I don't know if dogs have birthdays, but Ginger does. Have a great holiday weekend, everybody.

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[Buck Sexton]

This is an iHeart podcast.