The Musers The Podcast: The Sampler - End of Year Bonus Episode

Date: December 31, 2025
Hosts: George Dunham, Craig “Junior” Miller, Gordon Keith
Podcast Network: Cumulus Podcast Network

Episode Overview

This end-of-year “sampler” episode is designed as a highlight reel and audio primer, both for new listeners curious about The Musers phenomenon and longtime fans who've missed some of their 25 podcast episodes. It traverses the origins of the show, their unique podcast approach separate from their legendary Dallas “Ticket” morning show, and a curated collection of the trio’s most memorable, hilarious, and touching stories and moments from the past year.

Key Themes & Discussions

1. Why Do a Podcast?

• Difference from the radio show: The Musers discuss how podcasting allows for longer, more relaxed, and intimate conversations compared to the constraints and structure of their radio show.
  • Craig: “…as if the three of us were to do one our 8:15 segments on the radio show. It’s very general interest. It’s kind of life stuff.” (01:25)
  • Gordon: “This is more intimate. And I’m going to start using my NPR voice…” (01:00)
• Freedom of the medium: The guys reflect on the weird sense of privacy in podcasting, even though "outrageous" things said on-podcast can still become widely known.
  • Gordon: "...there are certain things that I would like to talk about that I would not feel comfortable broadcasting, but would feel comfortable podcasting. And yet I have no idea why that is." (03:20)

2. Behind the Jerry Jones Impression

Origins and Impact

• George and Craig praise Gordon's Jerry Jones parody as cultural shorthand for the Cowboys’ owner among fans.
  • Craig: "That is how they see Jerry is through your impersonation of him." (04:15)
  • Gordon: “It’s a caricature of him. He’s already a caricature… and then started doing that voice. And I can’t even remember exactly how it started…” (04:41)
• Jerry’s reaction: Surprisingly, Jerry Jones finds it flattering, even enjoying the ribbing of his son.
  • Craig: “And they really give it to Jerry Jr. too… Like, Jerry thought that was funny.” (06:12)

The Hollywood Story

• Gordon shares how his parody led to a role voicing animated Jerry Jones on Adult Swim’s ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’.
  • Gordon: “…I get the follow up after that meeting that, yeah, you know, you got the deal. Where do we send the contract to? What’s your agent’s name? I said, what agent? … I have a Hollywood Reporter story here…” (08:38)
  • Read in: “The animated version of Jones… will be a character in the series, though voiced by an actor, not Jones himself.” (09:32)

3. Friendship Origins & College Antics

The Early Years

• Craig and George reminisce about their goof-off college years at North Texas:
  • Pranking each other in classrooms to get laughs, sabotaging each other's study plans in favor of pizza at Mr. Gaddy’s.
    • Craig: “And I'd have to inform him that I was going to the library. And he said, ‘Okay, if I find you, you have to stop studying and we’re going to go to Mr. Gaddy’s and eat buffet pizza.’ And I’m like, okay, that sounds fair.” (12:46)
  • Their GPA “reflected” their priorities.

Early Days at The Ticket

• Feeling unprepared but emboldened by their bond:
  • George: “I felt good about it because I was with Craig. You know, I thought, hey, I’m just hanging out with Craig. I can do that. I have no idea what we’re going to talk about.” (15:11)

4. Stories of Youthful Adventure

Craig’s 180-Mile Teenage Bike Trek

• At 14, Craig rides solo across two states to a cousin’s wedding:
  • Encouraged by his parents, he cycles 180 miles over two days, hitchhiking the final 10 miles when exhausted.
    • Craig: “…I looked back at that and my parents believing in me that I could do something like that. That was one of those benchmark moments again in my life. And it was because of the bicycle that gave me such confidence.” (23:02)

5. The Musers’ Chemistry & Real Relationships

George vs. Gordo: Do They Really Hate Each Other?

• Revelation of a 30-year-old conflict and its healing:
  • George: “My answer… sometimes I really am mad at him… But yeah, no, I don’t hate him. Of course we love each other, but we’ve had our challenges…” (25:56)
  • Craig elicits a story never before aired:
    • Prank call crossing the line:
      • George: “…one of our early pranks… But then he started getting my, like, my family involved… and I found that out from our program… that Gordon went in the production room and erased all of [the prank call tapes]. That was the moment I knew, okay, Gordon’s on my side…” (30:38)
    • Gordon: “…that audio deserves no place in this world.” (32:22)
    • George: “And you’re a good man. Wow, that’s like one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me after something like that.” (32:34)

6. Road Trip Antics & Broke Broadcasters

• Unvarnished tales of broke weekends and failed pick-up attempts:
  • Junior & Gordo’s Port Aransas adventure:
    • Cheap hotels, gross condos, and “joke dancing” for girls at a dive bar; a recurring improv game of making up biography facts for strangers (“extremely gay” phase).
      • Gordon: “You each try to introduce biographical facts about the other one that are untrue that the other guy then has to respond to…” (37:01)
      • No showers for days, confirmed by their college buddy’s disgust when passing through San Antonio:
        • Craig: “Me and that fish down there. About the same.” (35:16)

7. Courage, Rejection, and Resilience

• Hardest Things Ever Done:
  • Craig recounts the anxiety-ridden process of asking out Grace, North Texas’ “prettiest girl” — a meticulous, months-long mission that ended in “lunch, not love,” but changed his confidence.
    • Craig: “I am going to ask her out… But I was so obsessed with asking her out, and I just, I had put it on my bucket list.” (39:40)
    • He persists and scores a date, despite her already having a boyfriend.

8. Parental Lessons & Pubescent Discoveries

• Gordon’s childhood “pornography” scandal:
  • Finds a topless coin in his Baptist minister father’s sock drawer, proudly shows classmates, gets busted, and learns it was “change” left in the collection plate (and a source of endless family embarrassment).
    • Gordon: “This is how hard up we were for seeing a naked woman… even just a stamped coin…” (44:56)

9. Procrastination, Pets, and Pettiness

• A segment on procrastination and household incompetence:
  • Gordon’s leaking faucet left for years; George’s perpetually deflating, high-tech bed they can’t get serviced.
    • Gordon: “So for the past two years, I’ve had a couple leaking faucets… I got to tear out the wall and just replace all the works. It’s been two years now.” (48:04)

10. “Cheating Death” and the Oxygen Mask Lie

• Craig’s terrifying airplane incident, told with dry humor:
  • Sudden cabin depressurization on a Ticket Cowboys trip; forced nosedive so steep and long that all believe they’re about to die.
    • Craig: “And then as we all get our masks on, the plane goes into a nosedive…” (56:05)
  • FAA’s grim after-the-fact visit:
    • Craig: “That’s basically what an oxygen mask is. Over 30,000ft… you have no chance.” (58:47)
    • Gordon: “I think he was just trying to scare you.” (58:49)

11. Gordon’s Collecting Obsessions: Typewriters, Guitars, and Oswald’s Bathtub

• A rundown of Gordon’s many (many) peculiar collecting hobbies:

  • “Around 200” typewriters, “about 100” guitars, and, famously… the bathtub once used by Lee Harvey Oswald.
    • Gordon: “I did end up buying Lee Harvey Oswald’s old bathtub from one of his apartment buildings they were tearing down.” (63:45)
    • Why save it? “If you had not done that, that bathtub would be in some landfill.” (64:01)

• Poignant musing on the places where history happened but life goes on for the unaware:

  • Gordon: “You’re seeing this mixture of life is going on now without a thought of what happened back then…” (62:19)
    • “It’s the tragedy of the person who means the most to you in the world dies. And the insult that the world would go on after that.” (63:19)

12. Heartfelt End: The Blue Ribbon Story

• George shares a childhood swimming story about his first, hard-won ribbon and the lasting message about courage and affirmation:
  • George: “He said, ‘that was really brave what you did tonight. And this is what goes to winners.’ …all my other first place ribbons and trophies, I threw them away. But I kept that because it really taught me a powerful lesson.” (68:27)
  • Craig: “That’s great that coach did that for you.” (69:38)
  • George: “Yeah… Maybe sometimes you should [give ribbons to everyone], because here, 50 some odd years later, I still have that as… you’re going to have to work through this. And I’ve looked down at that ribbon.” (69:41)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Podcasting’s Freedom:
  • “Let me have my delusion, okay? Let me hold on to my delusion.” – Gordon (03:54)
• On Impersonating Jerry Jones:
  • “Jerry Jones has given me a career.” – Gordon (05:26)
• On Stopping a Prank Gone Too Far:
  • “That audio deserves no place in this world.” – Gordon (32:22)
• On Parenting & Belief:
  • “The biggest confidence builder… anything my parents ever did for me to think that much of me… I felt like I grew up 10 years in those two days.” – Craig (23:14)
• On Risk and Survival:
  • “All I could think of… wow, I can’t believe I’m going to die in a plane crash. This is really crazy.” – Craig (56:58)
• On Collecting Oswald’s Bathtub:
  • “ASSASSIN’S BATHTUB.” – Gordon (64:36)
• On Affirmation:
  • “To me, when someone says, ‘You’re a good man.’ That hits me in the heart more than any other phrase ever.” – Gordon (33:23)

Recommended Timestamps

• [00:51] Differences between podcast and radio, motivation for the podcast
• [04:15] Jerry Jones parody and its cultural impact
• [08:38] Gordon's Hollywood story: Adult Swim & the Joneses
• [11:03] College hijinks and the roots of their chemistry
• [16:27] Craig's epic 14-year-old bike ride
• [25:33] "Does George really hate Gordon?": Airing out conflict & healing
• [33:42] Recounting the infamous Port Aransas road trip
• [38:48] The hardest things ever done: asking out Grace
• [43:59] Gordon’s coin and the Baptist minister's son moment
• [47:59] Admitting to procrastination: broken beds & leaking faucets
• [53:05] Cheating death on a Cowboys flyaway
• [59:22] Gordon’s collecting obsessions, including Oswald’s tub
• [64:55] The blue ribbon: heart, effort, and a lesson that lasts

Final Note

This episode is a varied, emotional, and always hilarious tribute — a distillation of The Musers’ enduring on-air magic. Underneath the jokes, the Musers reveal why generations of P1s keep listening: deep friendship, fearless self-examination, and a gift for making every ordinary moment funny, meaningful, or both.