The Commercial Break – Episode Summary

Episode Overview

Episode Title: StarSeed Butt Cheeks
Date: October 10, 2025
Hosts: Bryan Green & guest co-host Tina Bestie (Krissy Hoadley out sick)
Podcast: The Commercial Break

This improv-comedy episode covers an eclectic range of bizarre, dark, and pop culture topics through twisted humor and unscripted banter. Bryan and Tina riff on modern spiritualism, shamanic drug trips, alien conspiracies, true crime on TV, controversial therapy trends, social media attention-seeking, recent tragic amusement park deaths, and more. The tone is irreverent, self-aware, and occasionally macabre with characteristic "TCB" chaotic comedy.

Main Topics & Discussion Highlights

1. StarSeeds, "Light Language," and Social Media Attention-Seeking

• Bryan and Tina parody the popular "star child" influencers on social media — mostly attractive young women sharing spiritual or psychedelic practices in often revealing outfits, blending supposed cosmic wisdom with thirst traps for views.
• Discussion highlights the commodification and "fast-casual consumption" of spiritual and psychedelic experiences (e.g., ayahuasca ceremonies). Bryan, who’s had his own past ayahuasca journey, contrasts the depth and seriousness of such experiences then versus now’s Instagram-fueled culture.
• Notable Quote [20:19] (Bryan): "If you really didn’t need the attention, if you really were comfortable in yourself, you wouldn’t be pining for every view out there."

2. True Crime TV Obsession & Pop Culture

• The hosts rave about Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters: The Ed Gein Story” and other true crime shows, praising their contextualization of notorious cases (Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, etc.) in broader social/historical terms.
• They unpack how real-life horror inspires fiction from “Psycho” to “Silence of the Lambs” and reflect on society’s endless appetite for macabre stories.
• Notable Quote [06:15] (Bryan): "Alfred Hitchcock created a masterpiece out of… the underbelly of humanity. His whole point was to bring it out into the light, to say, we want to pretend that this doesn’t happen, but it does."

3. The Telepathy Tapes, Facilitated Communication, and CIA "Mind" Experiments

• Tina introduces “The Telepathy Tapes,” a controversial podcast/documentary about non-verbal autistic people allegedly communicating telepathically.
• Bryan unpacks the history and skepticism around “facilitated communication,” paralleling it with government psychic experiments—specifically the CIA’s "Project Stargate" on remote viewing and telepathy.
• The duo is skeptical but acknowledge the allure of hope for families and the fine line between intuition, psychic claims, and scientific reality.
• Notable Quote [15:59] (Bryan): "To go to a course for a weekend and then come out and think that you can communicate verbally—telepathically—with your autistic child... it weirds me out."

4. The Absurdity of Modern “Ceremonial” Drug Use

• Illustrated by mocking viral “healing” influencers and their butt cheek-heavy content, the co-hosts lament the online “meme-ification” and casualization of previously sacred, introspective rituals (e.g., ayahuasca, mushroom ceremonies).
• Discusses the proliferation of “sound bath and mushroom tea parties” and how the seriousness of these practices has been lost.
• Notable Quote [27:06] (Bryan): "It seems like there’s a very flip... all this stuff is very flip now... ‘Retreat this weekend, drink ayahuasca, listen to Maroon 5.’"

5. The “Rage Bait” Viral Parenting Reel

• The duo listens to and deconstructs a viral reel supposedly from a mom gleefully giving up her 7-year-old for adoption, suspecting it’s rage-bait acting.
• Conversation extends to parental responsibility, whether licenses for parenthood should exist, and society’s conflicting feelings about family, duty, and outrage culture.
• Notable Quotes:
  • [34:19] (Bryan): "You need a license to pull a fish out of the river... but anyone can be a parent."
  • [37:55] (Bryan): "Probably echoes a sentiment that is very real."

6. Theme Park Tragedies and Responsibility

• The show takes a darker turn dissecting multiple recent/famous amusement park deaths: the “Stardust Races” roller coaster fatality at Universal, the infamous Six Flags “Batman” decapitation accident, and even Disney’s Haunted Mansion incident.
• Discusses guest responsibility vs. park liability, staff (often teens) operating complex machinery, and the inherent dangers despite safety protocols.
• Notable Quotes:
  • [42:19] (Bryan): "He was awake. He was alert. When he came back, he was bloody. There was blood all over the ride. There was blood all over people. Apparently this is a very gory scene, and he died from blunt force trauma to the head."
  • [46:45] (Tina): "I had a friend...thrown from one of those teacup rides at the carnival...I don’t get on any of those...I had the seatbelt bar come up on the Scream Machine on me..."

Timestamps for Significant Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Event | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Opening mock-rap about shamanic/psychedelic awakening & pyramids | | 02:54 | Start of true crime TV discussion (Ryan Murphy, Ed Gein, pop culture) | | 09:00 | Bryan and Tina debate the new “Aliens” series & its unsatisfying ending | | 10:07 | Deep dive into "The Telepathy Tapes," facilitated communication, and remote viewing experiments| | 20:19 | Mocking star child/Instagram spiritualist influencer Shannon Blake | | 27:06 | Ayahuasca party stories; discussion of drug ritual “appropriation” and Instagramification | | 31:47 | (Viral Reel) Gleeful mom gives up daughter for adoption, skepticism, and wider implications | | 40:38 | Dark amusement park deaths segment begins: Universal Studios and Six Flags stories | | 46:45 | Tina’s aversion to carnival rides after seeing friends injured; discussion of personnel/training| | 55:36 | Closing thoughts: tragedy, personal/park responsibility, risk inherent in life |

Tone & Notable Moments

• Banter remains comical, irreverent, and at times darkly humorous.
• There's an ongoing self-mockery about doing a podcast for “views.”
• Tipsy, critical sincerity runs through even the darkest segments.
• Frequent callbacks to personal experiences with ayahuasca and theme parks.
• Bryan pokes at the shortcomings of outrage media, online spectacle, and “rage bait” content.

Memorable Quotes by Segment

“Fast-Casual” Spirituality & Social Media

• Bryan [20:19]: "If you really didn’t need the attention, if you really were comfortable in yourself, you wouldn’t be pining for every view that is out there."

True Crime TV

• Bryan [06:15]: "Alfred Hitchcock created a masterpiece out of...the underbelly of humanity. His whole point was to bring it out into the light..."

Telepathy & Human Connection

• Bryan [15:59]: "To go to a course for a weekend and then come out and think you can communicate...telepathically with your autistic child? ... it weirds me out."
• Bryan [18:16]: "Our mind abhors a vacuum...so we pour a bunch of stuff in the middle, believing it because we want to believe it."

Parenting, Rage-Bait & Responsibility

• Bryan [34:19]: "You need a license to go pull a fish out of the river to eat... but any can be a parent."
• Tina [37:55]: (on child drop-off stories) "Probably echoes a sentiment that is very real."

Theme Park Tragedy & Human Error

• Bryan [42:19]: "He was awake. He was alert. When he came back, he was bloody. There was blood all over the ride."
• Tina [46:45]: "I don’t get on any of those...I had the seatbelt bar come up on the Scream Machine on me when I was a teenager at Six Flags...it is terrifying."
• Bryan [55:36]: "I want to say that I’m heartbroken for his own family...to go to a fun day at Universal and end up with this happening is literally the worst of the worst."

Concluding Notes

The episode captures The Commercial Break’s appeal: raw, freewheeling, darkly funny, and unfiltered. It moves seamlessly through the meme-ification of the spiritual, American obsessions with true crime and the morbid, risky thrills of amusement parks, and the omnipresence of click-chasing social media content. Through all, Bryan and Tina maintain a consistent comic tone, occasional seriousness, and a self-aware critique of the absurdities of modern life.

Best for:
Listeners who enjoy conversational, irreverent explorations of bizarre pop culture, spiritual trends, dark comedy, and unsettling news—with plenty of laughs and side-eye.