The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds

Episode 158 - The Past Times with Rosalie (January 23, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this lively and hilarious installment of "The Past Times," comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds welcome stand-up comic Rosalie as their guest. The trio riff on a 1927 edition of the Fort Collins Express Courier, diving into oddball historical news stories, riffing on small-town quirks, sharing personal anecdotes, and delivering their signature absurd banter. They explore themes of family, the strangeness of old-timey Americana, silly local politics, and the eternal quest for fun—showing, with irreverent wit, that “everything has always been stupid and racist.” Expect a mix of real history, wild tangents, and laugh-out-loud moments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introductions & Icebreakers

00:43 – 03:37

• Dave and Gareth set up the show's premise: reading random old newspapers, with neither Gareth nor guest Rosalie knowing what’s in the paper.
• Quick banter about temperatures in green rooms, TikTok dances, and Rosalie's social media handle (“omg.hi.rosalie”).
• The group guesses the newspaper’s year—the 1927 paper is announced, and Rosalie jokingly asserts her historic win in picking the year.

C: "You're gonna take a win from a trans woman in 2025, are you?" (03:53)

2. The Saga of the Car-Stealing Snell Brothers

04:46 – 16:32

• The headline story: 9-year-old Milton Snell, third of three brothers, arrested for stealing automobiles with a buddy, Walter Schmidge.
• The trio riffs on how easy it was to steal cars in the 1920s, speculates about why only Milton gets named, and discusses family dynamics and step-siblings.
• Quick digression into Rosalie’s experience picking her name as a trans woman, and what it means to choose a moniker that fits your identity.

B: "Nine years old, ready to be 81 and talking about the heat of soup." (05:21)
B: "38 is a high number for a nine year old, even in 1927." (15:34)

3. Joyriding and Kid Crimes

16:44 – 18:23

• Gareth describes learning stick shift as a teen and stealing his mom’s car ("It's a ride. Why is everyone looking at me weird?").
• Rosalie admits she can't drive stick, drawing admiration and commiseration on car skills.

4. Political Silliness: Sunday Baseball Ban

28:10 – 36:00

• Ministers in Fort Collins protest Sunday baseball, warning this will lead to movies and the end of the Christian Sabbath. The trio mocks the slippery slope logic.
• They joke about God’s work schedule, the origins of the seven-day week, and small-town pettiness.

A: "Well, like why would you do. Is there anything you made in six days that you like just hang around with forever? You don't care anymore." (29:51) C: "God doesn't care what I'm doing with your Sunday." (32:45) B: "If our show had really a thesis statement, it would be like, it's always been really, really, really, really stupid. Everything, everything has been racist and stupid. That's basically it." (59:56)

5. Lightning Strikes, Parrot Panic, and Window Skepticism

19:08 – 24:12

• Story of a teenage girl supposedly struck by lightning while closing a window, narrowly escaping death.
• Rosalie and Gareth mock the validity of 'almost died' stories and question whether the lightning hit the window at all.
• The family’s parrot, loose during the incident, screeches "This is no place for me!", prompting discussion on parrots with problematic catchphrases.

C: "I don't care about hearing about how someone almost died. That's not news, people. Die every day, constantly." (19:42)
B: "It really makes you realize how great the things you could train the parrot to say are—oh my God, this is no place for me. I'm here against my will." (22:32)

6. Polygamy and the Unclaimed Convict

36:00 – 46:53

• A convict with 21 wives dies; none claim his body. The crew riffs on what a failure that is, speculating about logistics of corpse retrieval and the social status of bigamists.
• Laurels for being a "Steely Mary" type ("Steals and marries"), and imagined logistics: “tie the body to the roof of the car.”

C: "You can't get one out of 21 people to come claim your body? ... You suck as a person." (37:10)

7. Pole Sitting: America’s Baffling Pastimes

58:53 – 63:16

• The trend of competitive flagpole sitting is described—men sitting on poles for days or weeks to break records.
• Rosalie is shocked at the time involved (“18 hours? … Oh, Rosalie, I don’t think you know how dumb America is”), and the group draws parallels to modern viral challenges and the cyclical stupidity of fame.

B: "You have to do so much now to just be even like kind of locally famous or have any credibility. You used to just sit on a pole. Yeah, that was it for talent." (62:55)

8. Chicken Thieves and Chicken Fishing

47:53 – 57:52

• Absurd tale from the paper: 12-year-old boys, described as 'Mexican' in the parlance of the day, use fish hooks and worms to “fish” for chickens by the dozens.
• The group dissects the inherent racism of the period, debates best practices for bizarre chicken theft, and spirals into an extended riff about “were-chickens” and “night eggs.”

C: "Why was it important that they're Mexican? Why was that a detail that we needed?" (57:46) B: "When you're chicken fishing—yeah, whatever bites." (57:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Picking a New Name (Trans Perspective)
  C: "Every trans woman is like, we can't just be a Katie or an Ashley. We always have to have something kind of extravagant." (12:48)

• On Historical Boredom Turned Spectacle
  B: "There was a time when a guy walked across America backwards. And he would walk through a town and the whole town would come out." (61:55)

• On the Enduring Stupidity of Entertainment
  B: "If our show had really a thesis statement, it would be like, it's always been really, really, really, really stupid. Everything, everything has been racist and stupid. That's basically it." (59:56)

Selected Timestamps for Key Segments

• Guessing the Year / Banter: 00:43–03:51
• Milton Snell, the 9-Year-Old Car Thief: 04:46–15:34
• Joyriding, Stick-Shift Chat: 16:44–17:12
• Lightning + Parrot Story: 19:08–24:44
• Sunday Baseball Ban / Sabbath Talk: 28:10–34:47, 36:00–36:49
• Convict with 21 Wives: 36:49–46:53
• Chicken Fishing Story: 47:53–57:52
• Pole Sitting Record: 58:53–63:16

Tone and Language

The episode is bawdy, self-aware, and gleefully irreverent. The group’s banter is peppered with sarcastic historical takes, meta-commentary on podcasting and fame, and gallows humor about the cyclical stupidity and racism of American culture—balanced with moments of real personal disclosure, especially around identity and history’s impact on the present.

Additional Highlights

• Ongoing riffs on egg-eating, were-chickens, and “night eggs” as the most Gareth-congruent local food trend.
• Extended sidebar on flagpole sitting, emphasizing America’s bizarre penchant for absurd challenges as proto-virality.
• Candid and hilarious segment on the challenges of picking up a convict’s corpse (“could you FedEx a body?”).

Conclusion

This episode of The Past Times is a showcase for The Dollop’s unique blend of genuine curiosity, subversive historical analysis, and relentless, infectious goofing around. Rosalie is a standout guest—quick-witted, open about trans experience, and game for every nonsense historical tangent the hosts serve up. By turns, the newspaper stories look absurd, but the trio always circles back to the present, proving history never stops repeating its peculiar brand of nonsense.

Guest:
Rosalie – Find her at @omg.hi.rosalie

Hosts:
Dave Anthony & Gareth Reynolds

Podcast:
The Dollop / All Things Comedy

Episode:
158 – The Past Times with Rosalie (Aired January 23, 2026)