The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
Episode 707 - Mike Lindell, Part 2
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Podcast Theme: American history tales told through comedic storytelling, this time focusing on the rise, fall, and further bizarre saga of Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder, notorious for his drug addiction, wild business practices, and political controversies.
Episode Overview
This episode is the second half of the Dollop’s deep-dive into the chaotic life of Mike Lindell. Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds recount Lindell’s journey from a small-town pillow entrepreneur and full-blown crack addict, through a ludicrous series of business misadventures, personal spirals, supposed divine interventions, and his eventual rise (and fall) as a right-wing celebrity and election conspiracy mogul. The story, primarily derived from Lindell’s own improbable autobiography ("What are the Odds: From Crack Addict to CEO"), is told with unrelenting skepticism, incredulity, and heavy comedic riffing.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Lindell's Pillow Obsession and Early "Innovation"
- (04:08) Mike Lindell, amid heavy meth use, becomes obsessed with inventing the “perfect pillow”. His family quickly tires of his pillow talk.
- (05:39) He goes on “pillow research” expeditions to Bed Bath & Beyond, squishing pillows to the point of suspicious behavior.
Dave Anthony: “That's a lot of drug behavior there."
Gareth Reynolds (05:02): “‘Nope, just doing some pillow research.’” - (05:52) Mike enlists his son to hand-tear foam into hundreds of combinations searching for the perfect filler, months of trial-and-error under drug-fueled intensity.
Funding Dreams with Gambling
- (07:22) To produce his first real run of pillows, Mike and Karen (his wife) head to Biloxi, counting cards to finance their dream—and win $14,000.
- (08:12) Mike builds 250 pillows, debuts them at a mall show (Eden Prairie), gets little traction… until meeting a Home & Garden show organizer, launching his demo-based sales success.
Addiction Pervades All
- (10:07) Mike cycles between his new “addiction” to selling pillows and continued reliance on cocaine and crack.
Dave Anthony: "He just found a new one… still totally coke—like, of course. And also crack. He’s doing crack.”
Gareth Reynolds (10:07): “Oh my god, he replaced crack with pillows.” - (13:07) Paranoid, Mike snorts his entire cocaine stash when he believes a helicopter is following him; it was only pillows in his truck.
Rocketing Sales, Mounting Failures
- (13:45) Mike’s booth at the Minnesota State Fair becomes a huge hit—tens of thousands earned daily—but his gambling spirals. He gets suckered by “mob hotlines” and promptly loses $50,000.
- (18:23) After a “bookie intervention,” Mike claims he stops sports gambling—a claim the hosts doubt as pure Lindell myth-making.
The “Walking Coma” and Popcorn Miracle
- (35:07) Crack addiction destroys both marriage and business. Mike recounts falling into a “walking coma” (doctor-diagnosed) until a friend brings him chocolate-covered popcorn—miraculously snapping him out.
Dave Anthony: “The popcorn snack snapped him out of his walking coma!” (36:26)
Divine Intervention… by Phone
- (37:05–40:05) Multiple callers claim “God told me to pray for you,” including a robot voice. Mike writes that these calls encouraged his mission—while he continued to do cocaine on mute.
- (39:03) Gareth Reynolds (mocking): “Now he wasn’t visited by Christ…”
Hitting “Rock Bottom”
- (45:02) MyPillow finances collapse in 2009; by his account, Lindell abruptly quits crack and booze overnight, “no struggle, no traumatic episode.” The hosts call this out as false addict narrative.
Rebirth, Self-Branding, and the Infomercial Era
- (49:31) Facing public accusations of addiction and criminal business practices, Mike leans into his “redemption” story, making former crack addiction a centerpiece of his pillow brand for Christian America.
- (56:38) Two events supercharge the business: Don Imus lauds MyPillow on air, and a blockbuster infomercial explodes sales from 20 employees to 500 in months.
Entering the Political Circus
- (67:41) MyPillow nearly collapses again but is saved by targeted Fox News ads as the audience rallies behind him during the 2014 midterms.
- (69:01) Mike’s increasing right-wing activism begins: honored with a “Patriot Award” at a Homeland Security gala for supporting ICE agents; hobnobbing with Stephen Baldwin and other conservative figures.
- (72:32) Through Fox, meets Trump, who is apparently a MyPillow fan. Mike feels divinely chosen, has religious “visions,” and is feted at Republican events.
Dave Anthony: “Now, Mike has a religious vision that he would one day meet with Trump, and that was reinforced when he found out that Trump knew about him.” (72:32) Trump: "Watch. It's going to be that pillow guy." (72:53)
The Election Fraud Crusade and Infinite Downfall
- (81:02–84:51) Lindell becomes synonymous with 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories, producing an amateurish documentary ("Absolute Proof") and hosting a "cyber symposium" debunked in real time.
Dave Anthony: “He was so sure of himself that he announced a $5 million prove-me-wrong challenge… and was immediately proven wrong.” (85:13)
- (86:10) He bullies the state of Idaho into a recount, which only confirms the original tally, and gets billed for the effort.
- (86:43–89:24) Major retailers drop MyPillow, costing him hundreds of millions. Lindell launches (and quickly tanks) his alternative social platforms (Frank Social, VOCL), hires Rudy Giuliani for help, and burns through tens of millions more.
Legal Catastrophe and Public Ridicule
- (91:03) Lawsuits pile up: in June 2025, Lindell is found guilty of defaming a Dominion executive, must pay $2.3 million personally, and faces impending billion-dollar suits. He opens a crowdfunding campaign—raising a paltry sum versus what’s needed.
- (92:06–93:19) Since embarking on his crusade, Lindell and MyPillow have lost around $200 million—“a walking example of self-destruction."
- (93:19–96:52) Despite ruin, Lindell’s LindellTV is accepted as one of 60 new “news” organizations allowed into the Pentagon; meanwhile, right-wing ownership of voting infrastructure solidifies.
- (97:12–100:15) Dave and Gareth reflect—this is an archetypal story of modern America: outsider success from disaster, white male privilege, Christian redemption commodified, gullibility, and ultimate, dramatic self-destruction.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On Pillow Research and Drug Use:
- Dave Anthony (04:52): “That's a lot of drug behavior there.”
- Gareth Reynolds (05:02): "Nope, just doing some pillow research."
- Dave Anthony (06:58): “They’re awful. It’s chunky. It’s chunky foam.”
On Lindell’s Myth-Making:
- Gareth Reynolds (19:13): “Oh my god. It's so clearly fake... the whole Christian circuit of redemption is always just this amazing amount of... this is like… this is crack.”
- Dave Anthony (26:58): “This is so fake that it’s just bewildering.”
On Addictive Personality:
- Gareth Reynolds (17:13): “He’s got such an addictive personality.”
- Dave Anthony (18:23): “Mike, we need you in the pillow game, not the sports game.”
On Lindell’s Divine Phone Calls:
- Gareth Reynolds (37:35): “No, he wasn't visited by Christ. That's not even what this said.”
On Business Catastrophe:
- Gareth Reynolds (65:23): "You got to make money."
- Dave Anthony (67:14): “Gareth… 8.19 million.”
- Gareth Reynolds (67:17): “Shut up. But that’s basically 8.2…”
On the Trump Turn:
- Dave Anthony (72:32): “Now, Mike has a religious vision that he would one day meet with Trump…”
- Trump (via Lindell): "Watch. It's going to be that pillow guy." (72:53)
- Gareth Reynolds (78:29): "What do you think of the Access Hollywood tape? I smoked crack."
On Election Fraud and Implosion:
- Dave Anthony (85:13): “He was so sure of himself that he announced a $5 million prove me wrong challenge… and he was immediately proved wrong.”
- Gareth Reynolds (87:47): “It really feels like this business is going to be crashing out.”
- Dave Anthony (89:24): “Guess how much he spent fighting election fraud? $40 million. Wow.”
- Gareth Reynolds (89:24): “What an idiot.”
On Final Ruin and Legacy:
- Dave Anthony (92:06): "All in all, since he began his crusade... MyPillow have lost around 200 million and counting. ...He’s in ruins living on $1,000 a week."
- Gareth Reynolds (100:11): "His comeback story is a story of a man who never came down."
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Time | Segment | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:08 | Mike’s pillow obsession and drug-fueled invention | | 07:22 | Gambling trips to fund pillow production | | 10:01 | Crack replaces (but doesn’t supplant) pillows | | 13:07 | Cocaine paranoia, “Goodfellas” moment | | 18:23 | “Bookie intervention” for gambling losses | | 35:07 | “Walking coma” and popcorn “miracle cure” | | 37:05 | Series of prophetic “God told me to pray for you” phone calls | | 45:02 | Company collapse, “quitting” hard drugs overnight (dubious) | | 49:31 | Self-branding as a redeemed addict, MyPillow soars | | 56:38 | Don Imus & infomercial supercharge MyPillow | | 67:41 | Fox News boost and financial rescue in midterms | | 72:32 | Meeting Trump, the rise of religious vision and right-wing fame | | 81:02 | 2020 election fraud, endless lawsuits, cyber symposium farce | | 92:06 | Financial devastation, LindellTV in the Pentagon, right-wing media landscape | | 97:12 | Closing reflections on failure, American gullibility, no redemption arc |
Comedic Tone & Running Themes
- The hosts maintain their trademark incredulity and relentless sarcasm, never letting up on the absurdity of Lindell’s self-mythology and the utter fictionality of his “redemption” narrative.
- Gareth continually mocks the hackneyed “divine intervention” stories (“God talking in numbers,” 67:23), while Dave tracks the cyclical addiction narrative and blurs between crack, pillows, Trump, and mass delusion.
- The cautionary tale of American self-destruction is forefront: white male second (and third, and fifth) chances, precious “anti-woke” identity, gullible conservative media, and the disastrous effects of believing in obvious charlatans.
Summary Takeaway
"Mike Lindell is the living embodiment of American self-sabotage, credulity, and self-mythologizing. Every up is followed by exponential self-destruction; every claim of redemption is undercut by obvious fiction or immediate backsliding; every quest for meaning or success finds him at a casino, on a crack bender, or dialing further into conspiracy."
— The Dollop, Episode 707
A fitting subject for the Dollop: a story so wild, so infuriating, and so farcical that it could only be real. And could only, at every turn, be made even funnier by two comics who know exactly how to dig beneath the myth, through the crack dust, to the hollow core of America’s would-be pillow king.
Sources Referenced:
- "What Are the Odds: From Crack Addict to CEO" by Mike Lindell
- The Guardian, Business Insider, ABC News
[This summary omits all ad reads and extraneous podcast business. It captures only the discussion and story content up to the official close.]