The Dollop - Episode 163: The Past Times with Lisa Curry

Podcast: The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
Guest: Lisa Curry
Date: February 27, 2026
Main Theme: Comedians Dave Anthony, Gareth Reynolds, and guest Lisa Curry riff through real historical newspaper articles from March 4, 1936 (Washington Daily News), blending hilarious commentary and pointed social observations.

Episode Overview

This episode of "The Past Times" (a Dollop spin-off) welcomes comedian Lisa Curry as Dave and Gareth dig into a 1936 Washington, D.C. newspaper. Expect trademark irreverence as they unearth odd headlines, dissect gendered advice columns, discuss early culture wars, and lampoon the era’s social mores. The episode reaffirms The Dollop’s comedic approach to history: blending sharp wit, historical insight, and contemporary parallels.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lisa Curry’s Name Double and the Value of Promoting Comedy

Lisa's Crossed Identity: Lisa talks about sharing her name with the Australian Olympian Lisa Curry, recounting a tongue-in-cheek email exchange with the swimmer’s PR (02:04).
- Quote (Lisa): “I wrote the email, like, purposefully stupid. I was like, what's up? It's Lisa Curry. Would love to have Lisa Curry on my show...” (02:06)
Running Joke: Dave is a “famous swimmer” in Australia—a riff on the rivalry and the absurdity of name confusion (03:12).

2. Guessing the Paper’s Year and the Setup

The Guessing Game: Each guest tries to guess the year for the picked newspaper. Lisa wins, being closest to 1936 (04:09–04:24).
Vibes Check: The team banters about the state of the world in 1936, drawing loose parallels to modern anxieties and rising extremism (05:12).

3. Feature Stories from 1936

a. The “Laughing Girl” Medical Mystery

Headline: “Laughing Girl Baffles Doctors”
Discussion: The trio jokes about an 18-year-old woman plagued by unstoppable laughter, riffing on vaudeville, medical cluelessness, and the assumption that jokes must come with a “hotness” factor (06:12–09:03).
- Quote (Dave): “Pretty 18-year-old Teresa Hawkins, who has been laughing for the past week…” (06:11)
- Lisa (deadpan): “Interesting, because they've lobotomized her.” (06:39)
Meta Commentary: They highlight how stories from the era fixate on a woman’s looks and gloss over details like the actual show that triggered her fit (09:39).

b. “Dancing, Not Diet, Reduces Fat”

Headline: All-women-should-dance-for-reduction advice
Absurdity Noted: The gang roasts the column’s blend of sexism and moralizing (“No woman need fear the tyranny of fat...if she dances the pounds away” - 12:01).
- Gareth: “That's such a 1930s problem and solve. You don't need to be fat. Women just dance.” (12:08)
Historical Gender Critique: They lampoon prescriptive “woman’s place” guidance and point out that the paper can mention anything—except details of women’s bodies (13:16).
- Lisa: “Was this before or after women reading became legalized?” (13:21)

c. Dance “Crises” and Outlawing Dancing

Historical Parallels: They discuss real and fictional attempts to ban dancing, referencing “Footloose” as a shorthand for culture-wars resistance (16:07).
- Lisa: “You know what? You wouldn't notice a lot from inside the camps, so.” (16:55)
Running Gag: “Dance crisis”—the absurdity of policing how young people have fun (15:52–16:09).

d. Guns and the Call to ‘Revive Sidearms’

Letter to the Editor: Advocates for broader gun carrying in self-defense.
Modern Parallels: Gareth and Dave satirize the perennial (and failed) “good guy with a gun” argument, drawing lines to U.S. gun culture today (17:37–18:33).
- Lisa: “It's taken us a couple hundred years to figure that out, but we got it.” (18:04)
Irony: “We thought just we were buying [guns]. But turns out you guys also bought some.” (Dave, 18:27)

e. “Red Doctrine” in the Schools

Culture Wars Continuity: Anxieties about communism in schools are shown to mirror current panics (trans, CRT, etc.), revealing the cyclical nature of moral outrage (20:12–26:28).
- Dave: “It’s the same thing. It’s the trans stuff today...It’s the exact same thing.” (26:07)
Skepticism of Evidence: The team skewers the vagueness of the charges—“no need for examples!” (26:59–27:11).
- Lisa: “We need examples. What, what were they teaching?” (26:28)

f. “King George Escapes Harm in Second Crash”

Royal Mishaps: Riffing on the king’s cartoonish car accidents, the crew lampoons the idea of royals driving themselves or being “of the people” (28:04–29:17).

g. “Two Brothers on Trial for Complex Crime”

True Crime—1930s Edition: The disturbing case of a mother coaxing her sons to murder and kidnapping to blackmail lovers. The gang links the mother’s scheme to modern “girlboss” satire.
- Lisa Curry (deadpan): “And so originated the word girlboss.” (30:47)
Pointed Jokes: Gareth draws ridiculous parallels to Kardashians and reality TV notoriety (31:46–32:04).

h. "Girls Play Parts of Men at Gay Leap Year Affair"

Gender Hijinks: Discussion of women playing male roles at a party, which devolves into a roast of 1930s gender norms, leap year parties, and aprons as symbolic “humiliation” (34:03–42:26).
- Lisa Curry: “This does sound like the ritual humiliation of men. Which I'm fully on board with...” (35:12)
- Gareth: “Men wearing aprons is a slippery slope into men cooking and then cleaning…” (40:22)

i. Icy Misadventures: Teenage ‘Polar Explorers’

Depression-Era Poverty: Three Georgia teens hitching rides in refrigerator train cars to find work up north, and nearly freezing in the process. The comedians highlight their naiveté and the desperate logic of the unemployed (44:05–46:07).
- Gareth: “So they were like, we'll go to the freezing car.” (48:30)
Roasting the Plan: “We were cold in the rain, so we got in the igloo.” (Gareth, 50:06)

j. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Column—‘Ban Road Signs’

First Lady’s Pet Peeve: Roosevelt’s mild complaint about advertising clutter becomes a window into political priorities past and present (52:44–54:16).
- Lisa: “It's like this woman would have a aneurysm now.” (54:22)

k. LaGuardia's Plea for Public Welfare

Classic Progressive Stance: LaGuardia calls lack of care for the jobless hypocrisy—greeted with applause, but also treated as naive by the present-day comedians (55:10–57:25).
- Dave (reading): “Preservation of life is government’s most important function.” (57:15)
- Gareth (mocking): “Wrong. This guy’s a dummy.” (57:19)

l. Summary Deportations & Nativism

Deja Vu: Patriotic societies and lawmakers seek mass deportations, further compared to today's anti-immigrant politics (58:15–60:42).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On 1930s News Style:
“No woman need fear the tyranny of fat. Not if she dances the pounds away.” (Dave, quoting the paper, 12:01)
On Gendered Expectations:
“Men wearing aprons is a slippery slope into men cooking and then cleaning and doing other housework.” (Lisa, 40:22)
On Political Parallels:
“It’s the same thing. It’s the trans stuff today...It's the exact same thing.” (Dave, 26:07)
On Historic Red Scares:
“You want receipts?” (Gareth, 26:59)
On America’s Consistency:
“And cut to today. And everything’s not totally different.” (Gareth, 60:39)
On Irony of Progress:
“There's fewer dance related crimes and scandals. So...can't help but think that the dancing's been on the decline and things have never been worse.” (Lisa, Gareth, 61:00–61:04)

Timestamps for Important Segments

[02:04] Lisa talks about her name twin/PR encounter
[04:09] Guessing the newspaper’s year
[06:11–09:03] The Laughing Girl story
[12:01–14:18] ‘Dance for Reduction’ advice and sexism
[17:28–18:33] Guns as self-defense: old debates, new context
[20:12–27:11] “Red Doctrine”/Communist panic in schools
[28:04] King George’s car accidents
[30:44–33:03] Matricide and blackmail: the dark side of ‘family values’
[34:03–42:26] Drag, aprons, and the Leap Year affair
[44:05–51:10] Georgia boys’ harsh train-hopping
[52:44–54:27] Eleanor Roosevelt wants fewer road signs
[55:10–57:25] LaGuardia, unemployment, and political integrity
[58:15–60:42] Anti-immigrant policies: then and now
[61:00–61:10] Reflection: dance scandals then, social decline now

Tone and Style

The conversation is loose, quick-witted, and biting—skewering both the absurdity of the past and its resonance in the present. Banter is punctuated with straight-faced one-liners (often from Lisa), faux outrage, and escalating jokes that shade into social commentary. While mocking 1930s social mores and “dumb guy” logic, the hosts cleverly expose the roots of many issues still debated today.

Conclusion

This episode offers classic Dollop mayhem: bizarre history, social critique, and relentless laughter. Lisa Curry shines as a guest, matching Dave and Gareth's rhythm. If you enjoy history, comedy, and the joy of skewering both past and present stupidity, you’ll get a lot from this tour through 1936’s news—where dance, gender, fear-mongering, and guns shape a world not so different from ours.

The Dollop - Episode 163: The Past Times with Lisa Curry

Episode Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lisa Curry’s Name Double and the Value of Promoting Comedy

Lisa's Crossed Identity: Lisa talks about sharing her name with the Australian Olympian Lisa Curry, recounting a tongue-in-cheek email exchange with the swimmer’s PR (02:04).
- Quote (Lisa): “I wrote the email, like, purposefully stupid. I was like, what's up? It's Lisa Curry. Would love to have Lisa Curry on my show...” (02:06)
Running Joke: Dave is a “famous swimmer” in Australia—a riff on the rivalry and the absurdity of name confusion (03:12).

2. Guessing the Paper’s Year and the Setup

The Guessing Game: Each guest tries to guess the year for the picked newspaper. Lisa wins, being closest to 1936 (04:09–04:24).
Vibes Check: The team banters about the state of the world in 1936, drawing loose parallels to modern anxieties and rising extremism (05:12).

3. Feature Stories from 1936

a. The “Laughing Girl” Medical Mystery

Headline: “Laughing Girl Baffles Doctors”
Discussion: The trio jokes about an 18-year-old woman plagued by unstoppable laughter, riffing on vaudeville, medical cluelessness, and the assumption that jokes must come with a “hotness” factor (06:12–09:03).
- Quote (Dave): “Pretty 18-year-old Teresa Hawkins, who has been laughing for the past week…” (06:11)
- Lisa (deadpan): “Interesting, because they've lobotomized her.” (06:39)
Meta Commentary: They highlight how stories from the era fixate on a woman’s looks and gloss over details like the actual show that triggered her fit (09:39).

b. “Dancing, Not Diet, Reduces Fat”

Headline: All-women-should-dance-for-reduction advice
Absurdity Noted: The gang roasts the column’s blend of sexism and moralizing (“No woman need fear the tyranny of fat...if she dances the pounds away” - 12:01).
- Gareth: “That's such a 1930s problem and solve. You don't need to be fat. Women just dance.” (12:08)
Historical Gender Critique: They lampoon prescriptive “woman’s place” guidance and point out that the paper can mention anything—except details of women’s bodies (13:16).
- Lisa: “Was this before or after women reading became legalized?” (13:21)

c. Dance “Crises” and Outlawing Dancing

Historical Parallels: They discuss real and fictional attempts to ban dancing, referencing “Footloose” as a shorthand for culture-wars resistance (16:07).
- Lisa: “You know what? You wouldn't notice a lot from inside the camps, so.” (16:55)
Running Gag: “Dance crisis”—the absurdity of policing how young people have fun (15:52–16:09).

d. Guns and the Call to ‘Revive Sidearms’

Letter to the Editor: Advocates for broader gun carrying in self-defense.
Modern Parallels: Gareth and Dave satirize the perennial (and failed) “good guy with a gun” argument, drawing lines to U.S. gun culture today (17:37–18:33).
- Lisa: “It's taken us a couple hundred years to figure that out, but we got it.” (18:04)
Irony: “We thought just we were buying [guns]. But turns out you guys also bought some.” (Dave, 18:27)

e. “Red Doctrine” in the Schools

Culture Wars Continuity: Anxieties about communism in schools are shown to mirror current panics (trans, CRT, etc.), revealing the cyclical nature of moral outrage (20:12–26:28).
- Dave: “It’s the same thing. It’s the trans stuff today...It’s the exact same thing.” (26:07)
Skepticism of Evidence: The team skewers the vagueness of the charges—“no need for examples!” (26:59–27:11).
- Lisa: “We need examples. What, what were they teaching?” (26:28)

f. “King George Escapes Harm in Second Crash”

Royal Mishaps: Riffing on the king’s cartoonish car accidents, the crew lampoons the idea of royals driving themselves or being “of the people” (28:04–29:17).

g. “Two Brothers on Trial for Complex Crime”

True Crime—1930s Edition: The disturbing case of a mother coaxing her sons to murder and kidnapping to blackmail lovers. The gang links the mother’s scheme to modern “girlboss” satire.
- Lisa Curry (deadpan): “And so originated the word girlboss.” (30:47)
Pointed Jokes: Gareth draws ridiculous parallels to Kardashians and reality TV notoriety (31:46–32:04).

h. "Girls Play Parts of Men at Gay Leap Year Affair"

Gender Hijinks: Discussion of women playing male roles at a party, which devolves into a roast of 1930s gender norms, leap year parties, and aprons as symbolic “humiliation” (34:03–42:26).
- Lisa Curry: “This does sound like the ritual humiliation of men. Which I'm fully on board with...” (35:12)
- Gareth: “Men wearing aprons is a slippery slope into men cooking and then cleaning…” (40:22)

i. Icy Misadventures: Teenage ‘Polar Explorers’

Depression-Era Poverty: Three Georgia teens hitching rides in refrigerator train cars to find work up north, and nearly freezing in the process. The comedians highlight their naiveté and the desperate logic of the unemployed (44:05–46:07).
- Gareth: “So they were like, we'll go to the freezing car.” (48:30)
Roasting the Plan: “We were cold in the rain, so we got in the igloo.” (Gareth, 50:06)

j. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Column—‘Ban Road Signs’

First Lady’s Pet Peeve: Roosevelt’s mild complaint about advertising clutter becomes a window into political priorities past and present (52:44–54:16).
- Lisa: “It's like this woman would have a aneurysm now.” (54:22)

k. LaGuardia's Plea for Public Welfare

Classic Progressive Stance: LaGuardia calls lack of care for the jobless hypocrisy—greeted with applause, but also treated as naive by the present-day comedians (55:10–57:25).
- Dave (reading): “Preservation of life is government’s most important function.” (57:15)
- Gareth (mocking): “Wrong. This guy’s a dummy.” (57:19)

l. Summary Deportations & Nativism

Deja Vu: Patriotic societies and lawmakers seek mass deportations, further compared to today's anti-immigrant politics (58:15–60:42).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On 1930s News Style:
“No woman need fear the tyranny of fat. Not if she dances the pounds away.” (Dave, quoting the paper, 12:01)
On Gendered Expectations:
“Men wearing aprons is a slippery slope into men cooking and then cleaning and doing other housework.” (Lisa, 40:22)
On Political Parallels:
“It’s the same thing. It’s the trans stuff today...It's the exact same thing.” (Dave, 26:07)
On Historic Red Scares:
“You want receipts?” (Gareth, 26:59)
On America’s Consistency:
“And cut to today. And everything’s not totally different.” (Gareth, 60:39)
On Irony of Progress:
“There's fewer dance related crimes and scandals. So...can't help but think that the dancing's been on the decline and things have never been worse.” (Lisa, Gareth, 61:00–61:04)

Timestamps for Important Segments

[02:04] Lisa talks about her name twin/PR encounter
[04:09] Guessing the newspaper’s year
[06:11–09:03] The Laughing Girl story
[12:01–14:18] ‘Dance for Reduction’ advice and sexism
[17:28–18:33] Guns as self-defense: old debates, new context
[20:12–27:11] “Red Doctrine”/Communist panic in schools
[28:04] King George’s car accidents
[30:44–33:03] Matricide and blackmail: the dark side of ‘family values’
[34:03–42:26] Drag, aprons, and the Leap Year affair
[44:05–51:10] Georgia boys’ harsh train-hopping
[52:44–54:27] Eleanor Roosevelt wants fewer road signs
[55:10–57:25] LaGuardia, unemployment, and political integrity
[58:15–60:42] Anti-immigrant policies: then and now
[61:00–61:10] Reflection: dance scandals then, social decline now

163 - The Past Times with Lisa Curry

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Summary

The Dollop - Episode 163: The Past Times with Lisa Curry

Episode Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lisa Curry’s Name Double and the Value of Promoting Comedy

2. Guessing the Paper’s Year and the Setup

3. Feature Stories from 1936

a. The “Laughing Girl” Medical Mystery

b. “Dancing, Not Diet, Reduces Fat”

c. Dance “Crises” and Outlawing Dancing

d. Guns and the Call to ‘Revive Sidearms’

e. “Red Doctrine” in the Schools

f. “King George Escapes Harm in Second Crash”

g. “Two Brothers on Trial for Complex Crime”

h. "Girls Play Parts of Men at Gay Leap Year Affair"

i. Icy Misadventures: Teenage ‘Polar Explorers’

j. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Column—‘Ban Road Signs’

k. LaGuardia's Plea for Public Welfare

l. Summary Deportations & Nativism

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Timestamps for Important Segments

Tone and Style

Conclusion

Summary

The Dollop - Episode 163: The Past Times with Lisa Curry

Episode Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lisa Curry’s Name Double and the Value of Promoting Comedy

2. Guessing the Paper’s Year and the Setup

3. Feature Stories from 1936

a. The “Laughing Girl” Medical Mystery

b. “Dancing, Not Diet, Reduces Fat”

c. Dance “Crises” and Outlawing Dancing

d. Guns and the Call to ‘Revive Sidearms’

e. “Red Doctrine” in the Schools

f. “King George Escapes Harm in Second Crash”

g. “Two Brothers on Trial for Complex Crime”

h. "Girls Play Parts of Men at Gay Leap Year Affair"

i. Icy Misadventures: Teenage ‘Polar Explorers’

j. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Column—‘Ban Road Signs’

k. LaGuardia's Plea for Public Welfare

l. Summary Deportations & Nativism

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Timestamps for Important Segments

Tone and Style

Conclusion