The Dollop - The Past Times with Jenny Tian (Episode 151)

Date: November 14, 2025
Hosts: Dave Anthony, Gareth Reynolds
Guest: Jenny Tian

Main Theme and Overview

In this episode of The Dollop’s spin-off The Past Times, comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds are joined by stand-up Jenny Tian. Together, they explore quirky, bizarre, and sometimes disturbing stories from an 1891 edition of the Kootenai Herald, letting the oddities and attitudes of the past spark freewheeling banter. With Jenny having just moved from Australia to New York, the trio riff on cultural differences and indulge in the surreal humor that naturally bubbles up when reading old headlines involving "Fat Men's Associations," cheese obsessions, live animal mishaps, dangerous cocaine science, and even, disturbingly, a hair-filled coffin.

Episode Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Jenny Tian’s Comedy Tour and Life Changes

• Jenny discusses her move to New York and upcoming Australian festival tour (Sydney Opera House, various comedy festivals) ([01:19]).
• Banter on the contrast between performing at world-renowned venues and then in makeshift tents at festivals like Adelaide Fringe.
  • "I'm doing Opera House in the most regal, beautiful theater… and then I'm going straight into a tent for two weeks." – Jenny ([02:17])
• Hosts joke about Adelaide’s giant bats and festival chaos, poking fun at Australian stereotypes ([03:00 – 05:00]).

2. Guess the Year & Newspaper Reveal

• Jenny and Gareth guess the year of the newspaper; Dave reveals it’s October 24, 1891 ([05:44]).
• The paper’s name, Kootenai Herald, is met with confusion and jokes about American regional pronunciations ([06:31]).

3. Fat Man’s Association ([07:00])

• Headline prompts discussion of historic Fat Men’s clubs:
  • “Fat guys would get together... all over the country.” – Dave ([07:05])
  • Membership required weighing at least 225 lbs and initiation fee was a cent per pound.
• Gareth recounts the "pay what you weigh" restaurant The Ground Round, reminiscing about childhood and American food culture ([07:48 – 09:45]).

4. Everything Into Cheese ([10:20])

• Wisconsin's cheese obsession is compared to Italian dairy habits.
• Cheese Curds Explained: Gareth and Dave extol the virtues of fresh, squishy cheese. Jenny is quietly horrified.
  • “They sell it in a bag... and the bag's wet.” – Dave ([11:22])
• Cheesehead Anecdote: Gareth shares the urban legend of a plane crash survivor credited his foam cheesehead hat for protection ([12:09]).

5. Cheese in Coffee—A New Frontier ([16:39])

• The group riff on "cheese coffee", an American oddity, with comparisons to bubble tea’s "cheese foam".
  • “If people are liking it, I got to try it before I completely shame them.” – Jenny ([17:18])
• Jenny agrees to possibly try cheese in coffee, sparking spirited cross-cultural exchanges about American and Australian food snobbery ([17:18 – 19:00]).

6. Breakfast All Day: The American Diner Experience ([20:01])

• Jenny marvels at American diners' extensive, all-day menus, contrasted with Australia's minimalist late-night options. Gareth and Dave bemoan and celebrate the U.S. food excess and air-conditioning supremacy ([20:03 – 21:00]).

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7. Dakota Editor vs. Office Pigs ([28:50])

• The group reads a piece in which a Dakota newspaper editor pleads for locals to keep pigs out from under the office.
  • “Sometimes you gotta put it in the papers.” – Dave ([29:31])
• Humorous riffs follow on building standards, pig sidekicks, and potential superhero names for animal abusers ([31:04 – 33:16]).

8. Cocaine Science Gone Awry ([33:46])

• The episode’s standout: Dr. Charles Bradley’s confessional about cocaine and morphine addiction in late-19th-century medicine.
  • “He was the first man to discover that it could be otherwise used.” – Dave ([38:03])
  • Key Quote: “So, Mayor, I wanted to show you. I've been really working hard ... I opened the cat up, and ... just to get a look at the bones...” – Dave, paraphrasing the doctor ([44:16])
• Details include self-experimentation, animal cruelty (“I dissected a leg of the cat”), and tragically comic rationalizations for increasingly bizarre behavior ([43:51]).
• Dave, Gareth, and Jenny interject with dark humor and moral outrage, questioning historical medical ethics ([45:02 – 46:09]).

9. Foot Race for a Bride ([51:33])

• An old piece about two men racing 10 miles for the “hand of a mountain maid” leads to jokes about dating, gender roles, and modern dating apps.
  • “I reckon it's still better than Hinge right now.” – Jenny ([53:58])
• The story is parodied as both a romantic feat and a problematic, patriarchal custom.

10. Postmortem Hair Growth: Grave Disturbances ([57:11])

• A chilling tale of a woman’s body exhumed 20 years after death, revealing her coffin filled with 10-foot-long hair.
  • “So visual. The whole thing. Oh, the wonderful skull, the voluptuous body, the 72 pounds ... so descriptive. It’s a horror movie.” – Jenny ([62:40])
• The hosts react with disgust and incredulity, joking about the bizarre reporting priorities of 19th-century newspapers ([58:59 – 63:00]).

11. Thumb Ring Fashion Fad ([63:06])

• Hosts riff on the social panic over men wearing rings on their thumbs, mocking the lack of newsworthiness.
  • “Actors always have a certain following among young men whose brains are not of dangerous weight.” – Dave reading ([65:03])

12. Ladies Riding "Man Fashion"—The Side Saddle Debate ([66:32])

• Article debates the controversial push for women to abandon sidesaddle for astride horseback riding (deemed “safer and more graceful”).
• Jenny relates sidesaddle to "Princess Diaries 2."
• Discussion mocks the absurd levels of Victorian propriety: “If you have your... you're not riding side saddle, you're ruined.” – Dave ([68:15])
• The group notes early women’s rights activism and the deeply entrenched societal double standards ([69:02 – 72:48]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cheeseheads:
  “Everybody in Australia right now is like, what the—? And everybody in America’s like, yeah, cheesehead.” – Dave ([14:07])

• On old-fashioned fat measuring:
  “You could pay what you weigh... that's the most American thing you've heard yet?” – Dave ([08:27])

• On cocaine experimentation:
  “So I cut my own leg open. And then I put the cat's leg inside of my leg... and very little changed.” – Gareth, paraphrasing the doctor’s madness ([45:28])

• On postmortem beauty reporting:
  “We got in there to look at the ass...” – Dave, sarcastically recapping the creepy reporting on female corpses ([61:35])

• On dating via footrace:
  “How great would it be if you got to the top of the mountain and it's just like a nerdy teenager is like, 'I made up that I was a mountain babe.'” – Gareth ([54:46])

Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:19] – Jenny describes her comedy tour and experiences in Australia and NYC
• [06:31] – Reveal and discussion of the 1891 newspaper (Kootenai Herald)
• [07:00] – Fat Man's Association headline and “pay what you weigh” story
• [10:20] – "Everything into Cheese" and the cheese coffee debate
• [28:50] – Dakota editor's plea about office pigs
• [33:46] – The cocaine doctor’s tale of addiction and animal experiments
• [51:33] – The footrace for a bride
• [57:11] – The hair-growing-from-a-coffin horror
• [63:06] – Thumb ring fashion and American fad hysteria
• [66:32] – Debate over women’s side-saddle vs. astride riding

Tone and Style

The conversation is comedic, irreverent, and at times darkly absurd—a hallmark of The Dollop. Jenny’s dry wit and Australian perspective blend well with Dave and Gareth’s satirical humor. The group navigates the line between historical outrage and mockery, using history’s strangeness to highlight both the progress and ridiculousness of modern life.

Summary

This episode is a rollercoaster through the peculiarities of late-19th-century America, with the trio laughing at (and aghast over) everything from cheese obsessions and exclusive fat men’s clubs to cat experiments in cocaine “research,” grizzly exhumations, and laughable Victorian fashion panics. Jenny Tian’s outsider insights set up perfect comedic volleys with the hosts, making history both hilarious and horrifying in equal measure. If you missed the episode and love The Dollop’s blend of comedy and gonzo history, this one’s a must-listen.