The Dollop Episode 706: Mike Lindell – Part One

Podcast: The Dollop with Dave Anthony & Gareth Reynolds
Release Date: October 21, 2025
Episode: 706 – Mike Lindell, Part 1
Research: Josh Androsky
Main Source: Mike Lindell’s autobiography, "What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO"

Overview

In this episode, comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds embark on a hilarious and incredulous exploration of the early life of Mike Lindell—the controversial “MyPillow Guy." The focus is on Mike’s wild backstory: a chaotic upbringing, formative brushes with addiction and gambling, repeated (and often fanciful) brushes with death, and the ongoing spiral of self-destruction that precedes his ultimate "redemption arc." The hosts delight in Lindell’s over-the-top autobiography, poking holes in his self-mythologizing and providing comedic commentary on the absurdity of his tales—all while maintaining their signature banter and riffing.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dollop’s Approach & Banter

• Opening Dynamics: Dave and Gareth emphasize their antagonistic banter, with Dave jokingly introducing Gareth as his “enemy” due to a missed lunch.
• Tour & Recording Logistics: Discussion of being on tour, recording remotely, and some lighthearted tour anecdotes (03:11).

2. Mike Lindell’s Early Life

Timestamp: 04:22 – 08:38

• Dramatic Childhood upheaval:
  • At age 7, Lindell’s mother abruptly moves the family from a lakeside Minnesota home to a trailer park beside a pickle factory, prompting a lifelong sense of social discomfort.
  • "In those days, there was smoking and there was sugar and nobody cared." – Mike Lindell (04:42)
• Attempting to Fit In:
  • Lindell copes with his new environment by “showing off”—organizing carnivals, performing daring stunts.
  • Notable quote: “When my little sister Cindy drank water, then jumped up and down, the sloshing sound in her belly was loud, freakishly loud. None of the kids could believe it.” (07:38)
  • Gareth wryly points out this is a sign of child hunger, not a carnival trick.

3. Adolescent Antics & Addiction

Timestamp: 09:36 – 18:53

• Gambling Runs in the Family:
  • Mike grows up idolizing stories of his grandfather, a saloon gambler, and begins betting on sports and cards as a teenager.
  • “He keeps doing crazy things. We just don’t know what to do with him.” – School Principal (09:15)
• Early Alcoholism:
  • Discovers the self-medicating powers of peppermint schnapps as a teen: “It’s like sucking Santa’s dick. It’s a delicious alcohol helping me with the...” – Gareth (11:52)
• Brushes with Death:
  • Series of outlandish near-death stories, including car and motorcycle crashes, almost drowning under ice, and an implausible skydiving accident where the parachute didn’t open but left him unharmed.
    • “Yes, I crashed my motorcycle and survived a skydiving accident on the same day.” – Mike Lindell (18:53)
• Hosts’ Take:
  • Dave and Gareth question the veracity of these stories, pointing to Lindell’s penchant for hyperbole and tall tales.

4. College Dropout & Crossing into Addiction

Timestamp: 19:43 – 28:39

• Dropping Out:
  • Lindell leaves college at the cusp of the Iran hostage crisis, convinced the world is ending.
• Initiatory Gambling Trip:
  • Drives to Vegas with a friend, loses all their money, and miraculously (or so he claims) wins thousands at craps with his last $5 chip, launching him into the addictive highs and lows of gambling.
    • “That was the first time I’d been all the way down. And then one big win.” – Mike Lindell (23:13)
• Compulsive Gambling Escalates:
  • Mike sets up a casino in his trailer, bets thousands on credit, and ends up in debt to mob-style bookies.
  • Classic Dollop humor as Dave and Gareth riff on mobsters leaving threatening notes in Hardee’s bags: “Because here’s the thing about the mob. They always use terms like ‘physical force.’” (27:25)
• Daring (and Dubious) Escapes:
  • Mike flees town and concocts schemes to avoid or pay off debts, reinforcing the episode’s theme of credibility-stretching anecdotes.

5. Criminal Hi-jinks and Rock Bottom

Timestamp: 32:00 – 47:52

• Failed Robbery for Protection:
  • Mike tries to get arrested (to hide from the mob) by faking a gas station break-in, leading to a high-speed police chase and a bizarre string of events.
• Public Embarrassment:
  • After jail time and local infamy, he’s told: “You need to leave town. You’re never, ever going to live in this town.” – Local bar owner (33:59)
• Debt, Court, and Family Estrangement:
  • Debt mounts ($25,000+), relationships fray, and all attempts to secure further bank loans fail due to a clear lack of “moral character.”
  • “Part of our decision on giving a loan is based on moral character.” – Bank response (37:13)
• Gamblers’ Self-Justification:
  • Transition from “criminal” to “pathetic gambling addict” as a form of self-excuse.

6. From “Normal” Addict to Crackhead

Timestamp: 51:54 – 68:15

• Introduction to Cocaine:
  • Friends get into cocaine, and Lindell is immediately hooked:
    • “That day, cocaine became my new best friend. Not only did it match my pain, it made me feel like I could conquer the world.” – Mike Lindell (52:44)
  • Gareth and Dave mockingly extol the "virtues" of cocaine-fueled productivity, then quickly caution, "Don’t do it. But... yeah, there’s nothing better," lampooning drug culture.
• Decline into Crack:
  • Eventually, Lindell violates his own “just say no to crack” pact and becomes a full-blown crack addict.
    • “Let’s promise each other we will never, ever smoke crack.” (66:49)
    • "A few months later, Mike smoked crack..." (66:53)
  • “Even Mike’s coke dealer told him, ‘I told you, never ever smoke crack. You’re done now.’” (66:53)
• Life Unravels:
  • Marriage collapses, Mike becomes a “social crack smoker,” avoiding home and responsibilities while bar life and addiction spiral.

7. Wild Stories & Escalation of Lies

Timestamp: 68:15 – 77:29

• Implausible Street Encounter:
  • The infamous ‘help me fix my truck/sharing cocaine with muggers’ story is dissected and dismissed by the hosts as pure fantasy (69:57).
• Imprisonment and Prison Antics:
  • Multiple DUIs, stint in jail, comical (and false-sounding) claim that he started an “It’s a Small World” singalong that took over the prison (75:59).
  • Gareth: “This didn’t also did not happen. This is just not what happened in prison.” (75:59)
• Financial Ruin:
  • Debt balloons to hundreds of thousands; desperate attempts to card-count in Vegas fail; loss of his beloved bar "Schmitty’s" (77:24).
  • “Made it snow by throwing a thousand dollars into the ceiling fans and watching it blow everywhere.” – Mike Lindell on the closing party (77:24)

8. Self-Mythologizing and Christian Redemption Arc

Timestamp: 77:29 – End

• Dave points out that only the “Christian redemption” narrative lets Lindell’s parade of lies slide:
  • “The only reason people believe this absolute just endless stream of bullshit is because he became a Christian. Because they always want to hear how bad you were before you became a Christian. The redemption.” (78:05)
• Lindell’s stories snowball in extravagance, painting an ever-grander "before and after" for his eventual transformation.

9. The Birth of MyPillow

Timestamp: 80:00 – 81:12

• Epiphany Moment:
  • After losing everything, Lindell supposedly wakes at 2am, consumed by the phrase "my pillow."
    • “I grabbed a notepad and started writing My Pillow, My Pillow, My Pillow over and over again. I wrote it a hundred times.”—Mike Lindell (80:57)
    • Proclaims to his daughter: "I’m going to invent a pillow and it’s going to change the world."

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Lindell’s Fantastical Claims:
  • “There’s a shade of reality... but some of this might have happened to someone else or whatever.” – Gareth (56:00)
  • “He’s just like, what if Fonzie did coke?” – Gareth (56:09)
• On Crack Use:
  • “Even Mike’s coke dealer told him, ‘You just ruined your life.’” – Dave (66:53)
• On the Unbelievability of Lindell's Tales:
  • “Rolling into a fire and then rolling his car. And that one hurts.” – Gareth (71:17)
  • “The only part of this that happened was that he took his son to a bar and smoked crack and got caught.” – Dave (76:35)
• On the Structure of the Story:
  • “Let me just say, if you watch Mike Lindell, he is very clearly, on normal, back on drugs now and he’s fine. He’s, yeah, he's a fucking disaster.” – Dave (82:06)
• Closing:
  • “End of part one.” – Dave (81:11)
  • “Wow. Wowie wowie wowie wowie. I’m gonna make a pillow." – Gareth (81:12)

Timeline of Notable Moments

• 04:22 – Mike Lindell’s family suddenly moves to a trailer by a pickle factory.
• 09:15 – School principal complains to Lindell’s mother about his attention-seeking behavior.
• 18:53 – Lindell claims to survive a motorcycle accident and a failed skydive on the same day.
• 23:13 – Mike’s first big craps win in Vegas: “That was the first time I’ve been all the way down. And then one big win.”
• 27:25 – Threatening note from “the mob” left in a Hardee’s bag.
• 32:00 – High-speed police chase after foiled gas station robbery.
• 37:13 – Bank refuses to loan due to “moral character.”
• 52:44 – Lindell tries cocaine for the first time; “That day, cocaine became my new best friend...”
• 66:49 – “Let’s promise each other we will never, ever smoke crack.”
• 69:57 – Fanciful tale of almost getting mugged, offering to split $6 and share cocaine.
• 75:59 – Prison-wide “It’s a Small World” singalong.
• 77:24 – Bar closing: “Made it snow by throwing a thousand dollars into the ceiling fans...”
• 80:57 – The “My Pillow” epiphany.

Tone and Comedic Style

Throughout the episode, Dave and Gareth maintain their irreverent, sarcastic style—relentlessly poking fun at Lindell’s self-aggrandizing stories, pushing each other into more ridiculous riffs, and highlighting the sheer absurdity of the tales. The episode underscores the ambiguity between truth and Lindell’s brand-building myth, all while riffing on addiction culture, the American Dream, and the power of storytelling—true or otherwise.

Conclusion

Part One of The Dollop’s Mike Lindell saga is a whirlwind tour through claimed debauchery and madcap invention—a primer on the mythos that Mike Lindell crafted in his own words, as dissected by two of America’s wittiest historical commentators. It ends just as the “MyPillow Moment” dawns, promising more chaos, lies, and lampooning in Part Two.