285: #285 Happy Nate Year

Summary

The Nateland Podcast – Episode 285: “Happy Nate Year”

Released: December 31, 2025
Hosts: Nate Bargatze, Brian Bates, Aaron Weber, Dusty Slay

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Overview

“Happy Nate Year” is a celebratory year-end episode, with the Nateland crew reflecting on their personal milestones, the group’s successes, and highlights in comedy and pop culture from 2025. The show blends friendly banter, fan engagement, and comedic commentary on traditions like New Year's resolutions, calendars, comedy club culture, and even fast food mishaps. The hosts discuss the trajectory of stand-up in the era of AI, recap major events for each member, and share both memories and memorable interactions from the past year.

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Key Topics & Discussions

1. Reflecting on the Year – Personal & Professional Highlights

(39:00–54:00)

• Hosts’ Achievements:
  • Nate presented at the Golden Globes and hosted the Emmys.
  • Aaron’s standup special "Signature Dish" premiered; he also made his Tonight Show debut.
  • Dusty’s popularity continues to rise, starring in a Cracker Barrel commercial.
• Nateland Network Growth:
  • New stand-up specials from Graham K, Steve Rogers, Greg Warren, Mike Vecchione.
  • The "Correct Opinions" podcast joins the Nateland Network.
  • The group’s presence in films (“Breadwinner” movie with all three in cameo roles).
• Recognition:
  • Dusty on Cracker Barrel commercial: “My neighbor told me she saw too much...She said it’s the kind of thing where people could get tired of you...I moved away from that neighborhood.” (51:59 – Dusty)
  • Christian Bale recognized Dusty as his favorite stand-up comedian – a surreal moment for the crew (53:28–54:41)

“As a group, it’s very accomplished. Obviously, you’ve lifted it up quite a bit, but as a group, it’s very accomplished.”
– Dusty Slay (63:20)

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2. The State of Stand-Up and Authenticity in a Digital World

(03:50–05:36)

• Nate passionately advocates for live comedy as an increasingly important, authentic experience amid the rise of AI-created content:

“With AI and technology...it’s going to be harder and harder to tell what’s real, what’s not real. Stand-up comedy, as an art form, is in a perfect spot to be one of the last authentic things you will be able to go to.”
– Nate Bargatze (04:02)

• The value of the Nateland Showcase in developing and spotlighting emerging comics is emphasized.

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3. Comedy Club Culture & the Impact of Sports Schedules

(05:36–08:13)

• The crew riffs on how football and pro sports affect the ability of smaller cities to sustain comedy clubs.
• Brian: “A lot of these cities just can’t have a comedy club if college football or whatever takes a Saturday...they just can’t sustain it...” (06:29)

Memorable moment: Dusty recounts a Knoxville club closure that was so sudden an employee cried while making the open mic list (07:23–07:51).

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4. Listener Comments & Community Engagement

(08:59–37:00)

• Teresa Doro thanks the show for making her days brighter; the hosts have a running joke about mispronouncing her name.
• Dusty’s Spotify Wrapped is dominated by cello music and Ninja Turtles, leading to jokes about his “age” being 68 (10:10–10:41).
• The group reflects on music listening quirks, notably Aaron’s claim that no one listens to Elvis, and the crew debates Beatles vs Elvis listenership (11:07–12:10).
• Nateland parody coloring book by Christy Cabe:
  • “I have a coloring page of Brian looking worried as he runs the 40 yard dash in jeans and a polo shirt…” (33:31)

Notable Quote:
“People are so creative, man.” – Nate Bargatze (34:53)

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5. Musings on Identity, Philosophy, and Sports Fandom

(24:33–28:34)

• Listener asks: “If none of your thoughts, ideas, cells in your body are the same as 10 or 40 years ago, what makes up 'you'?”
• Brian explains the “flipbook” theory of the self, then the group equates team fandom (when lineups constantly change) to questions of identity and persistence.

“I guess to analogize it with this body question, I would say in college sports, the soul is the university, and then there’s no soul for a professional team.”
– Brian Bates (27:35)

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6. Dress Codes and Church Culture

(28:35–29:47)

• Debate: “Is it okay to dress down at church?”
• Consensus: No need to wear a suit, but “collar is a good place to start.”
• Dusty: “Everybody has a collared shirt. Goodwill sells collared shirts.” (29:30)

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7. Holiday Traditions, Calendars, and New Year's Musings

(36:24–73:47)

• Dusty explains Sukkot, the week-long “Feast of Tabernacles,” and his plans to celebrate with listeners (36:44–38:07).
• Aaron professes his love for New Year's reflection and “In Memoriam” TV segments.
• Deep-dive into Gregorian vs. Julian calendar and accuracy across centuries (64:45–67:42).
• Fun fact: By the year 4909, the Gregorian calendar will be one day ahead of the solar year.
• The crew explores radical calendar proposals (the 13-month “International Fixed Calendar”).

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8. Pop Culture & Sports of 2025: Lightning Round

(73:47–78:58)

• Recap: 2025’s major sports winners, movies, music, and TV:
  • Super Bowl: Eagles
  • College football: Georgia
  • NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder
  • World Series: Dodgers
  • Masters: Rory McIlroy
  • Most streamed show: “Bluey”
  • Top songs: “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
  • Top movie franchises: Minecraft, Lilo & Stitch, Superman, Jurassic World

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9. Predictions and Announcements for 2026

(86:07–89:14)

• Aaron’s bold predictions:
  • Nate will win a Grammy for “Your Friend.”
  • The “Breadwinner” movie will be a huge box office hit.
  • Dusty will plant 50 oak trees and start playing bigger theaters.
• Big reveal:
  • Brian will tape his own special next year, confirmed live on air.

“Bates is taping his special this year...We weren’t going to say it...But in the moment, you...The plan...We already...We’re going to tape your special.”
– Nate Bargatze (88:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If things go wrong on Date Land, you’ll end up on Date Line.”
  – Aaron Weber, on Nateland dating app ideas (31:34)
• (On church dress codes) “Denzel Washington said in ‘Remember the Titans’ – if you don’t have a suit, borrow one from your old man. If you don’t have an old man, find a bum, trade him for his. But find a suit.”
  – Brian Bates (29:57)
• “People are kids. People are kids.”
  – Dusty Slay on adult coloring books (34:49)
• “We help you with taxes on our game show! You walk with what we tell you you’re going to walk!”
  – Nate on the "Greatest Average American" game show (44:04)
• “[ChatGPT] knocks it out of the park sometimes.”
  – Brian, after an AI-generated answer (68:43)
• “You don’t get lucky like that all the time.”
  – Nate, on getting a burger with no patty at McDonald’s (79:55)
• “Best comedian: you’re for the people, he’s for the media.”
  – Brian & Dusty on Nashville Scene poll results (61:31)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 03:50 – 05:36: State of Stand-Up & Authenticity
• 05:36 – 08:13: Comedy Club Culture & Sports
• 08:59 – 37:00: Listener Comments, Community Engagement, Coloring Book Segment
• 24:33 – 28:34: Philosophy of Self & Team Fandom
• 28:35 – 29:47: Dress at Church Debate
• 36:24 – 73:47: Holiday Traditions, Calendars, New Year’s
• 73:47 – 78:58: 2025 Sports & Pop Culture Recap
• 86:07 – 89:14: Predictions for 2026 & Special Announcement

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Final Thoughts

The “Happy Nate Year” episode is a heartfelt, light-hearted recap of an explosive year for both the Nateland podcast and its hosts. Boasting humility, camaraderie, and a strong connection with fans, this episode is a testament to the show’s blend of small-town sensibility and big-league achievement. With plans for new specials, films, and continued comedy growth, the Nateland crew enters 2026 full of ambition and gratitude:

“We’ve associated ourselves with some people doing big things...As a group, it’s very accomplished.”
– Dusty Slay (63:20)

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Happy New Year from Nateland!

Transcript

[Aaron Weber]

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[Brian Bates]

Yeah, you heard me.

[Aaron Weber]

Marie Callender's classic chicken parmigiana bowl is delicious with scratch made marinara sauce, creamy mozzarella cheese, and no preservatives. It's high in protein with 30 grams per serving. Marie Callender's, what having it all take tastes like.

[Nate Bargatze]

Hello, folks. And hey bear. Welcome to the Nateland podcast. I am Nate Bargetti. Brian Bates. Aaron Weber. Dusty Slay.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right. New Year's Eve, you're watching this. We are at the Vandy game.

[Aaron Weber]

That's right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Versus Iowa. Very exciting. I think it's warmer than. Hopefully it's warmer than what it is in here.

[Dusty Slay]

It's unusually cold in Nashville.

[Nate Bargatze]

It is.

[Aaron Weber]

Are we. Are we on the sidelines?

[Nate Bargatze]

I think we got some options because.

[Aaron Weber]

I was going to wear short shorts.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay. So people can see you.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So they find you. I got you with the Pavia family figured Brian gets arrested.

[Dusty Slay]

Get your chains.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, that's what. That's what they wanted. They go, we need a cooler over in that section. And I go, I got one for you.

[Aaron Weber]

You know, I think I've told this story before the podcast. I took an acting class here in Nashville one time, and they had my scene. Like, the teacher, you know, assigns us all a scene you think we'd be good in. And mine was the cooler. William H. Macy did a movie called the Cooler, where if the casino would hire him, if somebody's on a hot streak just to basically bring bad luck and cool things off.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah, that was the scene. Oh, that's funny.

[Aaron Weber]

That they assigned to me.

[Nate Bargatze]

Is that a good movie? Yeah, I feel like I watched it.

[Dusty Slay]

I want to watch it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, it sounds like such a good. Like, he would be fun.

[Aaron Weber]

I nailed my scene. I will say that.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, that is a fun boy. We. Yeah, I've seen some coolers. So, yeah, we're gonna start off. So Happy New Year's to everybody. How was your year starting off? We have a couple stuff for us. Nateland presents Graham K. January 21st at Gotham Comedy Club in New York. Tickets are on sale for that. We're gonna be recording that. Graham's very, very funny. We've been friends, I mean, the whole time we started. So, yeah, he's the best. You've seen him out on the road with me. He's from Canada. January 21st, Gotham Comedy Club. Great club. So go buy some tickets to that. And Also Nateland presents the showcase season four, February 22, 23 and 24 at the lab. Come to Nashville, check the showcase out. Yeah. When you guys are able to come and support this stuff, truly it's I, you know, I think I, I, I'm a big believer that stand up comedy is on the, we are on the rise and with AI and technology and all this movies and it's going to get harder and harder to tell what's real, what's not real. And so like stand up comedy, I think as an art, as an art form is in a perfect spot to be one of the last authentic things you will be able to go to. And actually not last authentic things. There's going to be things. It's not like I'm the world's exploding but as an art form I just think it's going to really excel in endearing this time because it's, you're going to want to hear from a regular person.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And you're like with music and with all this there's just too much entertainment that can be kind of messed with. So that's why real life experiences are going to be important like a theme park. But and you still want to go to movies and you still want to go to the stuff. But as stuff, you know, it's, it's going out and seeing stuff and doing stuff and I think stand up comedy is going to be a big thing of that. And we, and you guys have been watching the showcase and helping us grow this. You're helping a lot of comics that are, some have been around for a long time and some are newer and we got to find the next wave of comics to keep it going and we're trying to get them placed some kind of system so they can build up in and you guys are a part of that when you watch, you know, if you watch the showcase and we can tell and we notice that you really lean to one person or you like the person or we can kind of see and we can try to, you know, we want to build a system. They can do a half hour an hour and hopefully you guys start seeing them on the road. So when you go to all this kind of stuff. So. January 21, Gotham Comedy Club, Graham K. And then February 22, 23, 24 here at the lab. All right, so it's New Year's Eve, just had Christmas. We don't really have, you know, we're having to pre record this.

[Aaron Weber]

So it's, I did Skyline Comedy Club in Appleton.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, you did that Standing up every show. Oh, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

How did Green Bay do?

[Aaron Weber]

I just got a. I literally. Because we just pre recorded a previous episode. I just checked my email. Adam with. With Skyler with Bark Entertainment emailed me and said, we'll just cancel that packers. The one I'm going up against. The Packers.

[Brian Bates]

That's great.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

But he said, I'll pay you the same. Isn't that nice? He's so nice.

[Nate Bargatze]

Adam's great.

[Aaron Weber]

He runs such great clubs.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And that was clearly the right decision.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. That's. It's. I've had that happen too, where it's like.

[Aaron Weber]

It's.

[Nate Bargatze]

You're just like.

[Aaron Weber]

It's. It's.

[Nate Bargatze]

You can't. That's. And that's going to be a game that really matters.

[Aaron Weber]

He said it's. I mean, packers are doing it two straight Saturdays.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

They're playing Saturday night. So it's just kind of ruining.

[Brian Bates]

Really interferes with the club.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

There are a lot of fun cities all across America, and you might be wondering if you live in one of the cities, why. Why is there not a comedy club here? A lot of these cities just can't have a comedy club if college football or whatever takes a Saturday. Every. Every Saturday's gone. So they just can't sustain it. You know about Knoxville, I think it's a big reason Knoxville doesn't have a club.

[Nate Bargatze]

They did for a while, but it.

[Brian Bates]

Didn'T do that well.

[Nate Bargatze]

Right. Yeah, but they can. I mean, so like a lot of other. Columbus. Funny Bone is one of the best clubs in the.

[Brian Bates]

But Columbus is a huge city. It's the biggest city in Ohio.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

I just don't know if, like. What. How many home games they have a year. Six.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

That would be enough to keep a.

[Dusty Slay]

People are still, like, watching the game even when it. When they're not home.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. So 12 weeks. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's my theory.

[Dusty Slay]

Anyway. That's what they said about the Knoxville side spot. I. I did. I. I was. I did an open mic there and my. When I first moved to Nashville, I don't even know if I was living in Nashville yet, but I did an open mic in Knoxville at side Splitters the night that they were told that the club was going to close. And the girl making the list, the lineup was crying as she was telling us the lesson.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, I.

[Nate Bargatze]

Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Feel great now.

[Aaron Weber]

Shouldn't have quit.

[Nate Bargatze]

Shouldn't quit.

[Aaron Weber]

So, yeah. Had just got through a Christmas.

[Nate Bargatze]

And.

[Aaron Weber]

You also did Skyline.

[Brian Bates]

I did Skyline while we were gone, too. Yeah, that club. That club is sick of us.

[Aaron Weber]

Yep.

[Brian Bates]

We had a great time. Merry Christmas to everybody. Happy New Year. I don't have much else to say.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You want to get into it or.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, Dusty, I don't.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, I don't have anything to, you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Know, at the airport at Christmas.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. But I'm sure. I'm sure it went so good. I'm sure it went so good.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Choctaw Casino. I've actually do a lot of Choctaw Casinos. I like them. I'm really into the casino gigs.

[Brian Bates]

Really?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, because it used to be I did old casinos where I was in, like, the side room and nobody paid for tickets. We've done a few of those. Those are awful. Yeah. But when you're in the actual show.

[Brian Bates]

It'S just a nice theater, basically.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, it's cool.

[Nate Bargatze]

And, you know, casinos are fun.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, I like it. I'm into the casino thing.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right, we're starting off with your comments. We actually are so under 10 minutes. Teresa Doro Dough, but with r. But with the, like, frustration in the middle.

[Brian Bates]

Is that.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's how I'm tell her how to say it.

[Dusty Slay]

Is that how you say rough?

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, do rough, Teresa.

[Brian Bates]

Do rough.

[Dusty Slay]

Do rough.

[Nate Bargatze]

I like that. Do rough, Doro. Like she Doro. Huh? What does that mean?

[Aaron Weber]

That's her name. Teresa Doro.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, Doro. All right. Just got my Spotify rap for the year, and I've listened over 27,000 minutes in this year, and I'm in the top 5% list. 0.5%. That's all going to end now after y' all made fun of my name. Listening to all of you makes my days a brighter and full of laughter. Thank you for everything you do. Thank you, Teresa do rough.

[Brian Bates]

What was your Spotify rapt all about, Dusty? I saw you talk about it.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, my Spotify, I have kids, but I also, you know, spent, like, in the hotels, driving in the airport. I listen to a lot of classical music, so my. Of my top five, I had five cello songs, and then number four was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[Brian Bates]

It was all Bach, right? Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, it was. I actually disappointed myself with my Spotify wrapped. I had no idea I'd listen listen to that much classical.

[Nate Bargatze]

But did it say. What did it say your age was?

[Dusty Slay]

So my age was six off the grid. Well, it said 68, but I think it was offset by the Ninja Turtle song Way Down.

[Nate Bargatze]

I didn't really ever look into it, but mine said I was 70.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, 79.

[Nate Bargatze]

Really? Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Which I feel like 79. You don't even listen.

[Dusty Slay]

But you were listening to Books on Tape.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. I don't know how.

[Dusty Slay]

Civil War Letters.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I do listen to that.

[Aaron Weber]

That reminds me of Spotify.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yours says dead.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

There's no way this guy's alive.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, people. You know, a few months back, Aaron was making fun of Elvis and how no one listens to Elvis and then Spotify proved him wrong, and we said we'd check back in later. Just because you said that was an anomaly, that that wasn't authentic. So I'm just curious where Elvis stands now compared to the Beatles.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, we can't look now because we're back. It's Christmas time again, Brian.

[Aaron Weber]

Oh, God.

[Brian Bates]

So you got to look in the middle of the year. And I did look back at the Beatles average, something like 15, 16 million more monthly listeners than. Than Elvis.

[Aaron Weber]

Wasn't that convenient?

[Brian Bates]

Isn't it convenient to wait till Christmas time again to ask me about it?

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow. You got to ask in the summer.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. You got.

[Brian Bates]

We got to check it's artificially inflated for.

[Nate Bargatze]

I think that should be Yalls. One of the things y' all get to the bottom of in your podcast.

[Brian Bates]

Of course.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, we will, you know, check in every week. But I think unfairly, though, Beatles has a lot of kind of summertime music.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, like what? They got a little bit of everything.

[Dusty Slay]

Here Comes the Sun.

[Brian Bates]

You don't think Elvis has a lot of.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Summertime music. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Like he had movies.

[Brian Bates]

Rockahula Baby or whatever.

[Nate Bargatze]

Hawaii. A lot of Hawaii.

[Brian Bates]

A lot of Hawaiians.

[Dusty Slay]

A lot of Hawaii. I don't think Rockahula Baby. Rockah Rock Rockah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Does better than that.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, I didn't. I don't know that one, Aaron. I've tried a lot of razors over the years. You know, with this rugged, thick skin.

[Brian Bates]

You keep it pretty nice, though.

[Aaron Weber]

Thank you. Thank you. But it's not easy. It's not easy. Most of these razors, same story. Blades that dull way too fast. Left my neck irritated, no matter how careful I was. What's a new year? And that's why I am so excited about Harry's Plus. I was genuinely surprised when I tried Harry's Plus. You can immediately feel that it's a step up in craftsmanship. It's hands down one of the best razors I've ever used. Harry's just launched Harry's plus, their brand new razor, and it's a big one. They spent 10 years developing it. It's the biggest launch in the history of the Company.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow.

[Aaron Weber]

Harry's has had a lot of big, big launches, and this is the biggest. It is an advanced pivot. I sound like Trump just then. Has a advanced pivoted system that makes it easier to reach all the tricky corners of your face. They define blade technology. The defined blade technology gives you a closer, more comfortable shave. Harry's uses German engineered blades.

[Brian Bates]

Wow.

[Aaron Weber]

Each one honed at three different angles so hair is cut cleanly at the root without tugging. You never think about how intricate a a razor.

[Brian Bates]

There's a real science to it.

[Aaron Weber]

That's right. That's right. The results is a true barbershop quality shave at home. And even with all that innovation, Harry's plus still costs less than Gillette Fusion.

[Brian Bates]

Wow.

[Aaron Weber]

How about that? It's premium shave. Without the premium markup, there's also zero risk. You don't. If you don't love your shave, Harry's will make it right, no questions asked. So for a limited time, our listeners can get the Harry's plus trial set for only $10 at Harry's.com Nate this set includes the all new Harry's plus razor, one refined five blade cartridge, a two ounce foam shave gel, and a travel cover to protect your blades on the go. Just head to Harrys.com Nate to claim this offer. And after you purchase, they'll ask where you heard about them. And please support our show and tell them that we sent you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Brooke Dairy. This podcast is one of the best out there, and a key aspect is how you guys all manage to talk but never do. I feel like you're talking over each other. I listen to podcasts with multiple hosts and it just becomes a cluster of people interrupting each other. So. So kudos to you guys for doing it so well.

[Brian Bates]

That's really nice.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's very nice.

[Brian Bates]

There's usually one person.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you.

[Brian Bates]

Not interested in what we're doing.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's. Good job. I thought one of y' all were gonna do it. I was waiting for y' all to do that joke to me. I was like, it's like the joke's there. How do you not. How do you not do it? But not everybody's comedian on the show. So. Kevin McHenry.

[Aaron Weber]

Just a few more weeks, guys. A few more weeks.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I'll be gone. Yeah, I can have at it. Kevin McHenry. First time I've ever. And I do mean ever, just lost. Lost. Just a little respect for Aaron is when I learned he doesn't like Tom Patty's Southern accent. Boo.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, I gotta think that this is a typo.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

There's no way. Yeah. There's no way that the guy who loves Southern accents messed up Tom Petty's. I mean, it's a great song. It's.

[Brian Bates]

You know, it's a slow.3 seconds of it here.

[Dusty Slay]

It's a slow beat. It's just a. You know, it's a slow song. Yeah. It's not a. You know, it's. But it's.

[Brian Bates]

I don't mind about.

[Dusty Slay]

It's. You should give it another try.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Dusty Slay]

You told me that it was bad, and I will never forget it.

[Brian Bates]

I had forgotten all about it. I'm sorry.

[Dusty Slay]

I will never forget it.

[Nate Bargatze]

I. I thought you were talking about his actual. I. I thought it was Tom Patty. There was a Tom Patty, and he.

[Dusty Slay]

Had a thick southern accent. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So this took a different turn, but.

[Dusty Slay]

But Tom Petty's Southern accents. It's a whole album. But that song in particular, I just thought you being from Alabama and then, you know, spend living in Nashville for so long, I thought you would really enjoy it. And I was, you know, I was in the midst of enjoying it when you told me that you didn't like it.

[Brian Bates]

Well, sometimes you gotta be in the right mood for something.

[Dusty Slay]

That's true.

[Brian Bates]

And I think I've matured more even since that happened. That was years ago.

[Dusty Slay]

Years ago.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Now I'm a little older and I can even recognize. I'll put a TV show on or stand up. A lot of times I put on a stand up special and I go, I'm not in the right mood to enjoy this right now. And so I'll need.

[Aaron Weber]

Wet heat.

[Brian Bates]

I'll need.

[Aaron Weber]

I mean, just say it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I go, let me try this again. When I'm in a. A different state of mind. You know, that's probably the case with music, too.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's how I feel. Shoshang, you gotta.

[Brian Bates]

But how would you if you don't.

[Nate Bargatze]

Know what it is? I just. But I kind of know.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, I don't know, but have.

[Brian Bates]

You ever felt like maybe now.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know what? It was funny. This weekend on the road, there was a moment I was like. Because we were watching Ford versus. Or like, we're gonna watch a movie. Ford versus Ferrari was just on, like, the regular channel.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And then we were gonna watch something. I was like, in my head, I thought, boy, I bet I could. It was at Bridgestone. I was like, I bet I could watch Shaw Shank right now. Like, because it was like I could just. It needed, like, something to Golf. But then I was like, I can't watch without.

[Brian Bates]

I appreciate that.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, I don't see this as a pre show movie, Shaw.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was not. It was. This was at night.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

So some nights, like, we're have, like. I stayed on the bus. I did not go home because we had a three o' clock show the next day. So I was kind of like, I just want to stay in, like, kind of the world of that we were in. So we stayed. We watched Final Destination. The five.

[Brian Bates]

The new one. Yeah, it just came out. Yeah. Was it good?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, it was, like, good. Yeah. So I was fine with that.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's got some crazy gross stuff. I close my eyes, dude.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't even care that you don't watch Shawshank. But it really makes me laugh that they want you to watch this real bad. And you go, I'll do Final designation 5.

[Aaron Weber]

The most opposite movie.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, I just think it's funny.

[Dusty Slay]

Like, a lot of times you've been like, I was gonna watch Sean Shank. And then I watched some obscure.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Sat down and watched secondhand Lions last night. You're like, what?

[Aaron Weber]

Why would you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, what is that? That is a good movie, though.

[Dusty Slay]

Robert Duvall.

[Brian Bates]

And now it's with your boy. Haley Joel Osmond.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And then Robert Devon Michael Kent.

[Brian Bates]

That's right. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, that'd be like a fancy movie.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

It's like a fan. It's like a good family. Fun.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Adventure, that kind of thing.

[Aaron Weber]

At this point, I don't want you to watch Shawshank because I don't think the anticipation is going to live up. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't know. I think.

[Brian Bates]

I think it's that good.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's gonna. You're gonna have to catch me. It's because it's just like. There's just so much, like, thinking going on in my head, and then it's like, you know, just want to go watch something that's not. Sam Hickman. I teach at Southern Union State Community College in Opelika. All right. And I also teach classes at our campus in Wadley, Alabama. Wadley.

[Brian Bates]

Wadley.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wadley.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wadley is a tiny rural town just north of where Dusty's dad lives. Specific. It's just funny to say where your dad lives, not where you live, because Dusty's dad lives. Twice a week for the last five years, I've driven past the Pit and Grill in the morning, afternoon. I've been curious to try this place out, but I've literally never seen it. Open. Does Dusty have any ideas what their actual hours are?

[Dusty Slay]

Well, that's the problem. My dad complains about it too. My dad complains about it too. It, he wishes it was open 24 7. Cuz he would go there every meal, I think. But it's owned by a guy, Mike Edge. Not Mike Edge, Bill Edge. Michael's his brother.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And, and Bill is, you know, pretty well off. I think he's pretty set. And he just, you know, opens whenever he wants to open. And. Yeah, I mean these hours are the most.

[Brian Bates]

It might be the craziest hours for a restaurant I've ever seen. Monday closed. Tuesday closed. Wednesday, 5pm to 8:30pm Thursday, drive thru only 5pm to 8pm Friday, 5pm to 8:30pm Saturday, 5pm to 8 30pm Sunday closed. So you got a pretty small window.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, that's interesting. When I hear a diner, I think it's just gonna be a daytime place.

[Dusty Slay]

And also those hours it may not be open.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And so it's, it's really tough. It's, you know, I think it, I think it needs Bill and one other person to run it and he may not have that other person.

[Brian Bates]

And if you go to their Facebook, it's mostly just them saying, hey, we're open right now. We will be open tonight.

[Aaron Weber]

That's hilarious.

[Brian Bates]

We will not be open tonight. Please go out and support the Chambers Rebels in the second round of the playoffs.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

You know what? I love that kind of stuff. Yeah, I love when a town shuts down for the high school team and that kind of. Yeah, it's just fun to me.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, my, my cousin works there, Kelly, she works at the Pen and Grill. Some.

[Aaron Weber]

Not much.

[Nate Bargatze]

Not much.

[Brian Bates]

This is, we're open this weekend. Friday 4 to 8, Saturday 11 to 8. Well, that's not even close to the hours.

[Dusty Slay]

And they have the hours posted on two different things.

[Brian Bates]

The profile picture for the business is the hours. Oh, this place rules. I bet, I bet it's that good the fact that it's still open.

[Dusty Slay]

It is. And you know, there's not a lot in pennant. And my friend Adam, this is his uncle, Adam's my age, we grew up together. And that' his uncle that runs this, his grandfather used to own the store, the, you know, Pen and grocery, or Larry Edge's grocery is what we called it. And yeah, Jordan Cofield, I bet I know his family. I know some Cofields.

[Aaron Weber]

Looks like they followed six people. Were you one of them, Dusty?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, probably. I don't know.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

What, what do you Got there.

[Brian Bates]

They're getting good reviews here on the.

[Dusty Slay]

It's great for. I had a patty melt there one time.

[Brian Bates]

Best patty melt, large portions. Cozy atmosphere.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Good salad.

[Dusty Slay]

Williams Lake Doodles.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Anyway, they have great food, but just a good salad. It's like, let's be honest.

[Nate Bargatze]

Rachel Verzani, Vasani Versani. I was folding laundry and watching Nate's Netflix special, your friend, when my 10 year old daughter walked in and settled into my bed. In the past, she has told me that she doesn't understand why we think Nate is so funny. But on this night, she had tears in her eyes as she giggled at and repeated your jokes. So she has started a habit of coming into my room and asking, can we watch? Nate, I'm proud to have raised a girl that appreciates your commie. Thank you for keeping it clean so she can. Wow. I love that. That's awesome.

[Brian Bates]

Wait till she sees the good stuff.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I always think that sometimes when I see kids at the show. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Sorry, I got nothing.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was good. It was good.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I always think that with kids. Sometimes you're like, like if you know, because you could see them, like they're not always laughing at the show. But then you're like, you try to guess like what. Because I'm, you know, I'm sure there's going to be something. I, I think kids are just even like when you meet a kid that's excited to meet you, there's not a lot that. Because they're just like, hey, you know. But then you just got to hope that. All right. I think it's more when they leave, you know.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Ian Cawley. I. Ian. No, right, Ian. Ian could be either. I wonder what Aaron would think of the question. What are you. None of your thoughts, ideas, physical. Physical attributes, relationships, or even cells in your body are the exact same as you were 10 years ago or 40 years ago. You were not alive. It won't be the same 10 years from now. So what makes up you.

[Brian Bates]

That is a big question in philosophy is what is self like? What does that mean? Some philosophers would basically say you're like. Your life is like a giant flip book. You know, you flip and it looks like the picture's moving and that basically your life is just a string of little moments of perception and there's nothing that persists through all of those. They're not.

[Nate Bargatze]

Be your soul.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, that's.

[Brian Bates]

That's what I think it is. The soul. The animating principle of your body.

[Aaron Weber]

That's what he was about. To say, too.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. And that's what it is. But there's all kinds of schools of thought.

[Nate Bargatze]

This is.

[Brian Bates]

I think it's you. We have a soul, and that's. That's where we derive our sense of self.

[Aaron Weber]

Scientists say a conscious. You can upload.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

But even they say, you know, none of these things are the exact same, but somewhat the same.

[Brian Bates]

But the. The idea is, you know, your cells die and regenerate, right?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

After a certain point, like, every cell in your body will have died and regenerated.

[Dusty Slay]

But what about the thing that generates the cells?

[Brian Bates]

Well, those two are made up of cells which have died and regenerated. So there's not a single thing in your body that is the exact same thing as it was 20 years ago. But it's. Obviously, you're still the same person. The question is, like, what is.

[Aaron Weber]

You are the same person.

[Brian Bates]

This is. Honestly. And I won't harp on it anymore, but very similar to the. The sports question. That's why you wrote it Haunted this podcast for. Okay, all right. Yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

You weren't here for that.

[Brian Bates]

We don't. People will get so mad if I. I'll tell you, people hate me for it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

We had had a dumb argument. About what? Even argument. Not even an argument. Just me being annoying.

[Aaron Weber]

Just about why we support teams when over time, the whole lineup changes, but we still keep supporting that team. Right?

[Brian Bates]

Exactly.

[Dusty Slay]

And not like a college where it's like you went to the college or whatever, but like a pro team that you just like. Right. That you just.

[Aaron Weber]

The roster changes.

[Dusty Slay]

Like, if you went to the college, you're an alumni. So that makes sense.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. I guess to analogize it with this body question, I would say in college sports, the soul is the university, and then there's no soul for a professional team.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, it's just you're at home, except for your city. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. It's just. So I can't root for a team that's in another city.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, they can.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I would think you just. Your value changes like mine. Now, I root for the Titans, but, I mean, I root for a lot of. I root for the story for a lot of things. Like Philip Rivers going to the Colts is like, if they made it to the super bowl, you'd root for that story. Okay. And so you're. You. You just. I think as I get older, it's like I. I'm less and less like, yeah, Vanderbilt's my team, Titans are my team, but they're. I'm watching I want to enjoy all aspects of sports. And so how you do that and make it pure entertainment is you, you need to find a lot of storylines and go like, wow, this is pretty cool.

[Brian Bates]

And I want the best story.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I want the best story. I want the best game. I want the best.

[Aaron Weber]

Right.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know.

[Brian Bates]

Reliaques bowl.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. Mary Lancaster. I attend a pretty laid back, casual church where the clothing covers the whole gamut. I volunteer once a month and lead the preschool classroom. In your opinion, is it acceptable to dress down for these days? I mean, I, I can, I'll wear golf stuff like to church. And so it's like, it's a collar and it's, you know that. So I think it could look like it's something. But I, yeah, I would prefer it to be regular. You know, I think we do need to dress up more and we're not dressed up on this or, you know, I'm not like, I don't have a.

[Aaron Weber]

Hoodie on, but you bring your caddy.

[Nate Bargatze]

With you to the go. Yeah. To church.

[Aaron Weber]

Got tea time.

[Brian Bates]

Collar is a good place to start.

[Dusty Slay]

It's like a good rule of thumb, I think.

[Brian Bates]

So like have a collar on your shirt.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't think you have to wear a suit to church, but I do think everybody can have a collared shirt. Everybody has a collar shirt. Goodwill sells collar shirts. The exception would be to me, if you're very poor and also very. Because now, I don't mean to look at you when I said that, but if it.

[Brian Bates]

I didn't think you were until you said because.

[Dusty Slay]

Because it's hard to find his clothes. Cheap stuff, thrift stuff.

[Brian Bates]

If you're very large, you do it. Denzel Washington said, and remember the Titans, if you don't have a suit, borrow one from your old man. If you don't have an old man, find a bum, trade him for his. But find a suit.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Andrew, as a big baseball fan, Brad Ziegler writing in was crazy.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. This is a few weeks ago, Brad Ziegler was actually commenting on Aaron's whole take on what makes a. A fan of a team. And he talked about how he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and how he got traded and then he came back a few years later. The team was mostly different, but. But yeah, he. He listens to his podcast and he had a pretty good career in the majors. I think a couple years he led the American League in games pitched.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

He was a secret bot. He was a sidearm.

[Brian Bates]

Yes. Submarine.

[Aaron Weber]

Submarine, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Very unique throwing style. Thank you for listening, Brad. That's very cool.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Sometimes you see a name out of context and you don't make the, you know, you don't. You don't think a former mlb.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Pitcher is riding into the podcast.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's awesome.

[Nate Bargatze]

Pretty crazy.

[Brian Bates]

Thank you, Brad.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right, J. J Morrell Merill, A previous comment recommended starting a Nateland dating app that's long overdue. I'd like to propose the obvious name, Date Land.

[Aaron Weber]

That's a good name.

[Nate Bargatze]

What is date or Date Line is what I'm thinking.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. A little bit different.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Same vibe.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. If things go wrong on Dateland, you'll end up on Date Line.

[Aaron Weber]

That's right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

You can do a dating app on Date Land.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That's what the Facebook group should be.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, Date Land.

[Dusty Slay]

Just the Nateland Facebook group.

[Brian Bates]

There are, as we've talked about, Brian, some insane scams out there. Now, I told a story about the guy who got me at the restaurant not long ago. Go check it out on a previous episode if you missed it. But they're out there, man. Be warned. The holidays are all about finding the perfect gift. But this time of year, not every deal is actually what it seems. Scammers are getting more creative to trick people into sharing their payment info through methods like fake shopping sites and giveaways that are too good to be true. Luckily, Cash App's 247 fraud monitoring helps detect and alert you for unusual card activity or should someone gain access to your card so you can act fast if something seems off. You can also lock or unlock your Cash App card instantly right in the app for extra control and peace of mind. Stay one step ahead of scams this season and keep your money secure with Cash App. Gift yourself some peace of mind this holiday season and download Cash App for a limited time only. New Cash App customers can use our exclusive code to earn some additional cash for real. Just download Cash App. Use our exclusive referral code secure 10 in your profile. Send $5 to a friend within 14 days and you will get $10 dropped right into your account. Terms apply. That's money. That's Cash App. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank Partners. Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton bank member FDIC Promotions provided by Cash App a Block Inc. Brand Visit Cash App slash legal podcast for full disclosures.

[Nate Bargatze]

Christy Cabe I created coloring book titled hello folks. It is a parody coloring book of funny moments, mispronunciations and stories from the podcast. For example, I have a coloring page of Brian looking worried as he runs the 40 yard dash in jeans and a polo shirt. Also, horse divorce court, Dusty proclaimed himself a public figure, and Aaron taking his report card with all A's to the donut shop, etc. Etc. It's all in good fun.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I have not. This is very cool.

[Dusty Slay]

I've not seen this either. I need this, though.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I think we gave one to you, though.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't think so.

[Brian Bates]

I've got one.

[Dusty Slay]

You did not give me one. And my. My kids would love to color this.

[Aaron Weber]

My daughter did color in this one.

[Nate Bargatze]

So is this yours? I don't think I got one.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

You guys didn't give me one.

[Aaron Weber]

Dusty got two.

[Dusty Slay]

You didn't get. You didn't give me any.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow.

[Dusty Slay]

I got two kids.

[Brian Bates]

There's all kinds of fun podcast moments in there from years.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, that's so funny.

[Aaron Weber]

So detailed.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Wow.

[Nate Bargatze]

Golly.

[Dusty Slay]

It's unbelievable.

[Brian Bates]

Did you know that adult coloring books are making a real. Well, people hate to call it a comeback.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, people are kids. People are kids.

[Aaron Weber]

They are, aren't they?

[Nate Bargatze]

People are so creative, man.

[Dusty Slay]

I know.

[Aaron Weber]

Where's Dusty? Swimming.

[Nate Bargatze]

I need Dusty swimming. I mean that in his.

[Brian Bates]

Wait, hold on. Yeah, I want to see it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, it's what? Dusty.

[Andy Staples]

Oh, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That is what I look like. Yeah, that is what I look like.

[Aaron Weber]

Christy's very nice.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Now you get it. You get it, Chris.

[Nate Bargatze]

And then there's a donut shop.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow. That's unbelievable.

[Dusty Slay]

Christy K. I'd like one of these.

[Aaron Weber]

I'll.

[Dusty Slay]

I'll pay you for it, But I want one.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, I think you should buy it.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, yeah, I'll pay you for it, but how do I. How do I get it?

[Brian Bates]

I'll give you the one we have.

[Nate Bargatze]

Very cool.

[Dusty Slay]

I'll pay. I'll. I'll buy a stack from you. Let me. And I'll give them out to some people.

[Brian Bates]

You want to take a look at it?

[Aaron Weber]

What'd you do with the one that we gave you?

[Dusty Slay]

You did not give me one. P.O. box 8146, Hermitage, Tennessee, 37076.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Dusty Slay]

And I'll send you money. Yeah, these are great.

[Aaron Weber]

All right.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's very cool.

[Aaron Weber]

That is very cool. Thank you, Christy. This week.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, that's a distinguished looking Brian there, though.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Gosh.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, That's Brian's driver's license photo.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Which is right behind them there on the right.

[Dusty Slay]

Yep. Oh, yeah, look at that.

[Aaron Weber]

All Right, Watermelons. We should have gave Dusty that till the end of the podcast.

[Brian Bates]

Could be coloring this. You're going to take back what you said about adult coloring, but.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, that's true this week.

[Dusty Slay]

This is good.

[Aaron Weber]

All right. It's New Year's Eve.

[Dusty Slay]

Let me enjoy Christy Caves work.

[Aaron Weber]

You know, we all have a holiday that I think we get especially excited for. I would say you. Halloween.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Really love Halloween. Dusty, Sakat and Thanksgiving, obviously, that's is.

[Nate Bargatze]

The cot when those bugs come in.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, Sukkot.

[Nate Bargatze]

You celebrate that when this cicada season.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, Sukkot, it's a biblical holiday, you know, and the Feast of Tabernacles, it's also known as. Okay, it's. It should. I should get more excited about it, but it's hard to celebrate by yourself. But it's supposed to be like a thing where you go out, you spend like a week out in tents and you, you know, you have a group of people and you're just celebrating for a week and it's a week celebrated.

[Brian Bates]

For a week in the Bible.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

What time of year is it?

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. What time of year?

[Brian Bates]

Fall.

[Aaron Weber]

You could do that at your, your land, though.

[Dusty Slay]

I could, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And have fans come out.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Find the ones that want to come spend a week with you in a tent.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Weren't you recruiting people to come help you work on the land?

[Dusty Slay]

Well, no, I, I proposed, you know, a. A kind of. I just was talking about kind of a. I thought it might be fun to have somewhat of a work day, but a hang and where we just do light things. Nothing crazy, but where it's like. I thought it would be fun, I think. And I have a lot of people into the idea, so I think. I don't know if I'm gonna do it.

[Aaron Weber]

I'll come.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay. You'll come.

[Nate Bargatze]

Some weeds.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Like weed pulling and.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. And like some rocks. Yeah. Planting some trees and stuff like that. Yeah. You're in.

[Aaron Weber]

I'm in.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

But I really love New Year's.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah?

[Brian Bates]

Really?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

I'm a New Year's guy. It fits my kind of personality. I like to look back, reflect on the year. I can get into these year end wrap up shows. The. I know y' all make fun of me for killing old people, but I do like the In Memoriam and kind of.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, yeah. I don't say. You like it. Yeah. Just saying.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, I like to reflect on people's, you know, their accomplishments in life and I like to look ahead I like to make goals and things like that. So I. I enjoy New Year's. I enjoy putting this together to.

[Brian Bates]

Well, how was your year to talk about?

[Aaron Weber]

It was a great year out. Maybe I'll start there. Yeah. I'd like to talk about some highlights of Nateland in 2025.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah, it's been a big year.

[Aaron Weber]

It has been big year. I enjoyed putting this together, kind of coming up with these special moments. So bear with me on these. I got quite a few here. January of this year of 2025, Nate presented at the Golden Globes.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

That's when he met the Rock.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's when I met the Rock. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Golden Globes. Fun. What am I supposed to do? You may talk about it or you just going to go through a lit.

[Aaron Weber]

You just kind of do whatever you want to do. Also in January, Aaron's special signature dish. Dish premiered.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

At the end of the month.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

It's almost a full year.

[Aaron Weber]

That. Yep, yep. And then in February, maybe a week or so later, Aaron made his Tonight show debut.

[Dusty Slay]

All right, I'm liking this on a roll.

[Brian Bates]

We're going to move on from me pretty quick, so let's enjoy this.

[Aaron Weber]

Also in February, Nate's super bowl ad ran.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

That was big.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, I'm enjoying these maybe more, y'. All.

[Brian Bates]

But, yeah, it aired and then it aired for six months.

[Aaron Weber]

Too long. Yeah, too long.

[Brian Bates]

Couldn't stop seeing that commercial.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Also in February, Dusty appeared on the Hollywood Squares.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right, that's a big old, old. Yeah. I mean, that's like a old classic.

[Dusty Slay]

Classic. Yeah, classic.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's a famous, like, celebrity.

[Dusty Slay]

I was on there with Drew Barrymore.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Big, big, big celebrity.

[Brian Bates]

Let me ask you, what is a show or a TV program that you would love to have been on, but it's maybe no longer around or something? I think it'd be fun back.

[Dusty Slay]

But I would have liked to have done Conan.

[Brian Bates]

Conan was going to be my answer, too.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Conan, Scrubs. Conan. I was excited to do Conan because it was. It was the old one that I got to do. I didn't ever got to do tonight's show. I mean, I did Tonight Show. A Fallon now, but that, like. But Conan was. I didn't get to do Letterman.

[Brian Bates]

I didn't get to do Leno.

[Nate Bargatze]

Leno, yeah. And so Conan always meant a lot because it was at least it was like the thing I got to do that I remember seeing before and seeing comics on it and so getting to be. And, you know, and even it was different than even doing it when he went to TBS or whatever. It was doing it in that old. So Conan was always one that I was like, man, I'm glad I at least got to do.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

An old school kind of thing. There's been a few that. I mean, I'm blank, you know, like.

[Brian Bates]

Comics unleashed us back.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. So I did that.

[Brian Bates]

Somebody's doing that now.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah, I did that. And I always wanted to. To do that. So I got to do that towards the end. And then, you know, we all just talking about Appleton Comic. That was a comic club that I did right at the end that I always wanted to do. That's separate of this kind of thing. But it's A lot of them are Mac Pressure luck is. Is back. And I always love pressure luck.

[Brian Bates]

I prime who Wants to Be a Millionaire? That would be my dream game show to go on.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And I. I think it. There's still some iteration of it around, but it's so different. And they like changed up the game and Regis is dead. It's like, I want to sit across. We just died.

[Nate Bargatze]

Bates got a hold of that one.

[Aaron Weber]

I think that was maybe pre podcast. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

But I can't take credit for everything.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Watching that when it came out every.

[Brian Bates]

Week, just that music.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, do you think what made it the most famous was that guy going. Calling his dad and just saying, I wanted you letting you know that I won a million dollars.

[Brian Bates]

That's probably the most iconic moment from the show.

[Nate Bargatze]

And do you think that's what even took it up to another, like, the. That took it into, like, legacy status?

[Brian Bates]

Maybe.

[Aaron Weber]

Maybe because it's.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's not that it wouldn't have been a show, but that took. Was such a crazy. I remember watching that live and it was such an insane. Like, what was it?

[Dusty Slay]

The guy used his lifeline to call.

[Nate Bargatze]

He only used one lifeline.

[Brian Bates]

He breezed through the whole thing, didn't use a single lifeline, gets to the end. He goes, I think I want to call my dad. Calls his dad and goes, I don't need help. I just want to tell you I'm about to win a million dollars.

[Dusty Slay]

That's awesome.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was.

[Brian Bates]

It's like. I mean.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, awesome. I run through. Yeah. It's like they should play that. Run into a tunnel.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, it's. It was like the most exciting kind of. It was crazy.

[Dusty Slay]

And then he's like, actually, I won 600. The government surprisingly won 400,000.

[Brian Bates]

That's true.

[Nate Bargatze]

Hey, you can't think about that. But on our new game show, the Greatest Average American, we help. We give you extra money to help cover your taxes for that exact reason.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Dusty Slay]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Brian Bates]

First game show I've heard of. Do with that.

[Nate Bargatze]

Look at that. When the average American salary is $67,000 and six, seven is the kids. But it's. I'm blanking on the what the but. And then it was like I always wanted it to be where you. Because it. Because of that exact reason.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Everything, Everything you ever do. Well, they have to pay tax, tax, tax, tax. So what we do is we can't go pay your taxes, but we give you money over to cover your taxes. That's awes. Come home with what you know, taxes are different in each state and blah, blah, blah, whatever. So we just give you the money that goes over. So you walk with what we tell you. You're going to walk. That's great. Walk with. I love that. Yeah, yeah, we said it. I hope that, Yeah, I hope that, you know, this is. I hope that really plays out. That's great to see that and notice.

[Dusty Slay]

It because I always say every time someone wins a lottery, the government also wins the lottery. And that's pretty good racket for the government. So that's nice that you do that.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Thank you. It's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

[Brian Bates]

That music gets me going.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could see how you. Yeah, that would be. It was. I mean, I loved it too. It was a great one. I'm trying to think if there's any other old, you know, Price is Right. I think in the old days. Yeah. I think even now it'd been great. But. Yeah, I mean, I'm just thinking. But that was like. Yeah. And it came out. That was like serious, like who Wants to Be a Millionaire Was intense. Yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Still in February, nate appeared on SNL's 50th anniversary special.

[Nate Bargatze]

That was a great.

[Aaron Weber]

To me that might have been, as I living in your shoes, the most nerve wracking thing I have. Anything you've done because you had a line to deliver from the audience and you're sitting with all of the biggest celebrities in the world and they can all read what you're reading. So if you flub, they, they say you flub.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

To me that would be very stressful.

[Nate Bargatze]

The thing that's stressful is that you just really are like, I don't think they know who I am.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's the. That's the thing that I think that's the thing I'm trying to move towards.

[Brian Bates]

You had hosted the show already by that point.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. And I. And you. Would you learn more and more. I mean, like, I see it, you know, even as you see people. One time, I don't know if I told her on the story, but, like, I saw Reese Witherspoon. I've only met her in this one brief second, and we just walked by each other and I was like, you know, I was expecting to go, hey, Reese. Nate Burgazian, comedian here, whatever. She goes, what's up, Nate? I go, what's up, Reese? And we both just kind of kept going. And so that was like a. Kind of. Like, that's the stuff that I would. If the interesting. This is the stuff that I kind of think about a lot. Like, the interesting things. That's where you're like, you know, you're just like, okay. You're like, all right, well, that's that. Like, so if I see her again, it's not going to be, you know, your child. You're just going to be talking. Like, I would be talking to you guys, like. And so, like, that kind of stuff is kind of crazy. So when you see. I wish Jack Nicholson was there and I saw him, I couldn't go up, but it was like I wanted to say I'd him. I've still been Stillers, who I've wanted to say hi to, and I didn't. And I've been around him a bunch and I know he knows me, but I just haven't been able to get near. I. I don't know. It just never worked out to be where you're. I was near him. Or am I. I'm in the back there. Yeah. So you just.

[Aaron Weber]

It's.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's the fact that they know you now is not. And I would still say some of them might not all. It doesn't all click or there's not a. You know, some do very well. Some it doesn't click. Some it does. Some it. Whatever. That's why Emma Stone, I talked to her for quite a while and she, you know, the people that are comedy fans that are, you know, they do. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Think of the SNL50. A lot of them would be comedy fans.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. But they're old. Eddie Murphy just knew me from the sketch. He didn't know I did. I don't think he knew I did stand up. He just knew me from the sketch. I talked to him afterwards. Oh, this other private kind of thing.

[Brian Bates]

This was the first time I remember thinking, I. I've lost track of what you're doing because I was watching it with my wife and I. I. We were like, I wonder if Nate's there. And then you just started talking.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You were like. You had a role in it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

All right. He's just. He's. He's out there, man. He's doing all.

[Aaron Weber]

You were. Text him two minutes earlier. Vandy looks pretty good tonight.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah, it's. Yeah, man. It's a wild. It's a wild ride.

[Brian Bates]

We're not even a march.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, we're not even. Yeah, it was. That was an insane thing to get to, but you don't feel like you.

[Brian Bates]

Belong, but that's probably good.

[Nate Bargatze]

I think most people don't. And I think. I mean, you can tell when some people do, but that's a hard part.

[Brian Bates]

He feels that way. It feels like he doesn't belong because he's above it.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know what? I think it's. I think what you got to do because it switches. Because you wait and it switches to where you go, all right, I need to get out of my head. Like, it's like the moment where you want to always be, like, humility, right? I. I don't think everybody can say whatever they want. I can only tell you what I feel. I feel I have humility in my life. I remind myself of it every day, right? So I can't always go vocalize it on every single thing I do because I need to be. I'm entertainment. So if I make everything about, like, I can't. Like, I can't believe any of this is real. Right? So. But if I say that every single time I do something, it gets too much. And to go, like, my job is to entertain you, so I need to. There's a point. You got to accept that you're like, all right, When I walk into these kind of rooms in these kind of settings, it's not that you think I'm better or anything that, you know, a dinner with Steve Arden Martin short, like, you're. It's not that I think I'm in them or whatever. That is what they did in their time, But I'm trying to do what they did in their time. Try. Want to keep entertaining. So you just gotta kind of just like, eventually it's gotta click and it becomes more overwhelming. And you have moments like that. Like with the Reese. When you have a moment like that where you kind of. You start Going like, oh, all right, I need to start acting. Like, you know, I'm here. Like, where it's, you know, not more talented, not better than anybody. Not better than anybody that's not in that room. Not anything. It's just like I'm in a. I'm in working. So I need to start acting. I need to be working and need to be creating the best thing that I think for the audience that goes and sees it.

[Aaron Weber]

When she said, what's up, Nate? You should have said, I'm sorry. I know I should know you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

I can't remember your name. That's what you should have done.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. I go, what's that?

[Aaron Weber]

March? Then you attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with Nick Novicki as your date.

[Nate Bargatze]

That was the best. Oh, yeah, Nick. Nick was the highlight. Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

You guys showed up here in tuxedos.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Wait, the night before, spent the night with Lizas.

[Aaron Weber]

Also in March, Nick Thunes Born Young premiere.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Then in April, Steve Rogers, half of we premiered on the Nateland.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, right.

[Aaron Weber]

Then in May, Greg Warren's the Champ premiered n. Is rolling.

[Nate Bargatze]

We got some specials. We're putting them out. Adrian's doing a great job getting these specials out. Oh, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

Also in May, Correct Opinions podcast. Join the Nateland Network.

[Brian Bates]

Okay. We're growing. We're growing.

[Aaron Weber]

Yep. Also in May, Dusty's Cracker Barrel commercial.

[Nate Bargatze]

That was everywhere.

[Aaron Weber]

I saw that Cracker Barrel stock immediately.

[Dusty Slay]

My neighbor told me she saw too much.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

She said it's the kind of thing where people could get tired of you. She said that to me. Oh, I've moved. I've moved away from that neighborhood.

[Aaron Weber]

But, yeah, Cracker Barrel went downhill right after that.

[Dusty Slay]

They did. They did not. Not because of me.

[Nate Bargatze]

No. You caught a few. I mean, it would have been Nothing would have made me laugh more than if they would have just put that new logo behind you without you knowing.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

That would have been so, so funny.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

To just you. You finally.

[Aaron Weber]

You're the face of the face of the new logo.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, man, that would have been.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

In June, Mike Vacchio's Low Income White premiered on Nateland. I mean, we were.

[Dusty Slay]

You know, he had put my face up on the new logo. It might not attack, it might not.

[Nate Bargatze]

Have tanked, but it just. The backlash would have been. And then they. The Dump Dusty guy would have. Yeah, this would have been his hay day.

[Dusty Slay]

Maybe they need a new cracker is what they need.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I mean, that rules.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. So in June, Mike Vachyon's low Income White premiered.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

Also in June, Brian Aaron and Dusty made their movie acting debut in the Breadwinner.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right. We think.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, well, we did do that part. Yeah, I guess it. Yeah, we'll see if it's actually in there.

[Brian Bates]

No, we were there.

[Nate Bargatze]

We were there. Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Also in June, Christian Bell recognized Dusty as his favorite stand up comedian.

[Nate Bargatze]

That was. That was probably my wildest moment of the.

[Dusty Slay]

Let's not say favorite, though. I don't want to put too much on.

[Aaron Weber]

I'm saying that I was.

[Dusty Slay]

There's a nice moment.

[Nate Bargatze]

I think that's. But I think that was the. Out of all of this. I don't know. It's not that I don't think Christian Bill would not know who you are, but it was just. Well, you just don't know if. Yeah, hey, you don't know if Christian Bill would know anything that's going on, but it even makes sense to me that he did that. It's like just for the way y' all told that story was like, you, you told it very well.

[Dusty Slay]

We're brilliant storytellers. And that was my moment where I'm talking. I go, all right, I. Yeah, this is where I'm. I'm working now, guys.

[Nate Bargatze]

You're working? Yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Dusty's on the way around. Like, I don't want to talk to a bunch of dumb celebrities and idol worship them. Then he meets Christian Bale. Like, oh, man, this is great.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, I. Yeah, but Christian Bale, that's a good one to me, though.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

He feels like a quality actor.

[Nate Bargatze]

He is.

[Brian Bates]

He's one of our best, very best actors.

[Dusty Slay]

But I mean, a quality just feels like a. Just a good dude. Oh, he's a solid guy. You know what I mean?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, dude, great taste. Great. We all love.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

What if you met Neil Armstrong? You were just like, just a great guy. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

You know, depending on how nice he was made sure.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

You could still meet Buzz Alders.

[Brian Bates]

I was talking about it this weekend. The amount of guys I've met who privately I didn't like them. And then I met him and they were like, hey, they were nice to me for two seconds. And I was like, oh, that guy's. That guy's unbelievable.

[Dusty Slay]

You start to learn why some people are famous, like, because they're so charming. You're like, oh, man, I love this guy.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's the. See also how good actors some people are as actors and like how you're like, wow, you really made me not like you. And you're great and you're like, that's. You're unbelievable. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You're a sweet guy.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Like, who is it? Bradley Cooper? Like Bradley Cooper in Wedding Crashers.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Is the most unlikable guy.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And then every other movie that I've seen him in, I'm like, I love this guy.

[Brian Bates]

Exactly.

[Aaron Weber]

Exactly. Yeah. But his first breakout role was that terrible.

[Dusty Slay]

So unlikable.

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't know if it was that terror. He was like. I thought it was, like, funny. Like, I mean, I know what. I know he's playing that role.

[Dusty Slay]

That's what I mean.

[Nate Bargatze]

It wasn't. Played it perfectly, but he played it. But he did it great. But. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't think it was like. I don't think when you watched it, you thought that guy would be. I'm trying. You know what? There's.

[Brian Bates]

He honestly was right to do it.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'm thinking someone.

[Brian Bates]

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are kind of scumbags.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, they totally are.

[Brian Bates]

That movie. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Is Miles Teller or Glenn Po. Which one played that? And Top Gun? The kind of Glenn pal. Maybe?

[Aaron Weber]

They were both.

[Brian Bates]

Both in it. Miles Teller was the main dude.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Was Glenn arrogant?

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And I thought he was someone that's like, you know, like, he played very well that role of, like, an arrogance and then that. You're like, man, this guy's awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, after, you know, you see my other stuff. But he did really good with, like, in that movie. Yeah. That's like Val Kilmore playing Iceman.

[Aaron Weber]

Did you see Glenn Powell's SNL monologue?

[Nate Bargatze]

I did not.

[Aaron Weber]

He was very good. He told a story about how he got picked to host Saturday night live in 2020 and. Or maybe even before that, I guess. And he was so excited when he got the call and he was there with his family and his, like, the mailman. Was there a UPS driver or something in the moment? He's like, what's going on? He's like, I just got selected to do Saturday Night Live. And they did a selfie all together with his family. Then Covid hits, and they have to cancel. Oh, they cancel Top Gun, Maverick. That was the thing. That movie got delayed, so they said, we got to cancel your appearance. So he told everybody he was going to be on snl, and it looked like he was lying.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Because it never happened. And then, however many years later, five years, whatever, later, he got to host snl and he brought that guy, the UPS driver. Yeah. On stage with him.

[Nate Bargatze]

And I think I did see that. Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's cool.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, it was a fun moment.

[Dusty Slay]

Hey, can I just say, objectively speaking, though, we got these pulled up here. That new Cracker Barrel logo is really bad compared to the old one. I mean, right?

[Brian Bates]

What's so bad about it?

[Dusty Slay]

Well, just. It's just nothing.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. I think it's plain.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. Next to this other design here, it's like. I don't know. I just think it's nothing.

[Brian Bates]

What is the shape that crack?

[Nate Bargatze]

It looks more like a gas station.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

What is this shape right here? What is that supposed to be?

[Dusty Slay]

I think a pancreas.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, that's what it looks like.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's what you need me or something?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Maybe a kidney.

[Brian Bates]

Can't tell what it is.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, it's like the bean of Chicago.

[Nate Bargatze]

It does, yeah. Yeah. I don't think anybody was thinking that they needed something different.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. It's just a such a plain nothing logo. That's like something I could design on chat. GPT.

[Nate Bargatze]

What is it?

[Brian Bates]

Why.

[Nate Bargatze]

Why do they call it Cracker Barrel?

[Brian Bates]

That c going into the bees.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, because they. They used to have a barrel of crackers, like soda crackers that people could eat.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, soda crackers.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, just the white crackers.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah. Oh, so they would have that standing around like.

[Dusty Slay]

I think so, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, wow.

[Brian Bates]

So the guy in the logo, his name Uncle Herschel. He's an illustration of a man resembling company founder Dan Evans. Real life Uncle Herschel McCartney. That's a real dude in the thing.

[Dusty Slay]

I got some McCartney's in my married in.

[Aaron Weber]

There's Uncle Herschel on the menu.

[Brian Bates]

Oh. Oh, that makes sense.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

How about that?

[Aaron Weber]

Now we're in July, Wet Heat premieres on Netflix.

[Nate Bargatze]

There it is.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Wet Heat, middle of the year.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. We also recorded the Titans code of conduct video.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

In July.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

First day of training, and man, they had. Not a lot of people have seen that. Probably. It's been a tough year, you know?

[Aaron Weber]

In August, Leanne Morgan sitcom Leanne premiere on Netflix. September, Nate hosted the Emmys.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, Yeah. I don't know what to say. It's like. But yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Three months ago.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's great. Yeah. No, it's moving.

[Aaron Weber]

In October, Nate was the guest picker on College Game Day.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Crazy moment.

[Aaron Weber]

November, this is Nateland premiered. That's been. We ain't talked about that much, but that's.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. The mascot.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those have been funny. Yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

In December, Deadline named Aaron Weber one of the 20 comedians to watch in 2026.

[Nate Bargatze]

How about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

So we also got, you know, a New York Times article written about, you know, Nate Land and Nashville.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know, a little bit.

[Dusty Slay]

I mean, it's a little bit to do. Me and Nate were in it. You guys were, you know, in it a little bit, too. But it was, you know, two others.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, but still.

[Dusty Slay]

But it applies.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, you know, we're in it.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I mean, I was very excited about it. It was a New York Times. You know, it doesn't.

[Brian Bates]

I don't get included in a failing New York Times.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, I don't get included in a New York Times article very often. Yeah, that was pretty.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, it's. It's.

[Brian Bates]

Did you get a hard copy for it?

[Dusty Slay]

No. Hopefully one day.

[Brian Bates]

I'll get you one. I'll give you a hard code.

[Dusty Slay]

Give me one.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, also, you can order them.

[Aaron Weber]

I'll get one.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'll get one for you.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, thank you. Appreciate that.

[Aaron Weber]

Also, I left it off, but Nashville Scene named the fans voted you best comedian in Nashville, and the media picked Dusties.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Did they?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, they did. I tried to make it. I tried to make it a thing on the podcast where me and you both won that year, and they diminished my.

[Aaron Weber]

We jumped.

[Dusty Slay]

Accomplishment.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And made a mockery of me on the podcast.

[Brian Bates]

You're for the people and he's for the media.

[Dusty Slay]

So much. So much so that even fans.

[Nate Bargatze]

Did they separately vote like that?

[Brian Bates]

Well, they do. The magazine has their pick, and then they do a fan vote.

[Dusty Slay]

Fans of the podcast were writing in, talking about how sensitive I am, and just. They couldn't believe it.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's very funny. So you got the media.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I think you were number two in the fan vote.

[Aaron Weber]

The mainstream media.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't know if I was even in the fan vote at all.

[Brian Bates]

I think you were, though.

[Nate Bargatze]

But I like that you got the media vote.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, well, they just, you know, the. Our. Our co host here really, really came down on it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Best comedian.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, that was the scenes pick right there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. All right. Yeah. Look, I think. Hey, what the. The news to come out of this, if you find is. Oh, the reader's poll. That was the writers poll, and. Yeah. No, no, no, you.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, you didn't make the top three. You're right. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

No one.

[Dusty Slay]

The people, you know. Yeah, my people don't vote.

[Aaron Weber]

They're off the grid.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, they don't, but they work in the media.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

But they're. I would say, you know, it's. It's Nice to hear that stuff that, you know, Nate lands. Had a.

[Brian Bates]

Had a.

[Nate Bargatze]

Had a good year.

[Aaron Weber]

A huge year.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, a huge year.

[Brian Bates]

Very big.

[Nate Bargatze]

Not that we're responsible for. I'm saying y', all, you know, your successive. Whatever it is, but just.

[Brian Bates]

It's a huge part. We.

[Nate Bargatze]

We've associated ourselves with, I think, some people doing some real big things.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. As a group, it's. I mean, obviously you've lifted it up quite a bit, but as a group, it's very accomplished.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's very accomplish.

[Brian Bates]

Do you have predictions for next year, Brian?

[Nate Bargatze]

I do, but he's gonna do it.

[Brian Bates]

You do it at the end.

[Aaron Weber]

I'll do it at the end.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

So do you guys set New Year's resolutions?

[Brian Bates]

I think about it every year, and then I don't do it.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'm thinking about trying.

[Brian Bates]

Is it like pagan or something to do it?

[Dusty Slay]

No, I just think I. I'm just.

[Brian Bates]

Looking for an excuse to not do it.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay. Well, I don't know. I mean, you could argue that this is not even the real new year.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's what. That's what I'll do.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's always in much bigger thing than you think. That's what's so great. Is it this one little thing? You're like, well, years don't even count.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And you go, okay, March 1st, right?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, yeah. March or April.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Okay.

[Dusty Slay]

It's hard to say.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, I was going to talk a little bit about that. We talked about this five years ago. The calendars. Episode. But.

[Dusty Slay]

But when Spring. Spring has come, when new life is forming, it's like the new life is beginning a new year.

[Brian Bates]

But you can see that since the last time we celebrated our New Year's, it's been a full year.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

Okay.

[Dusty Slay]

Twelve months.

[Aaron Weber]

Because we've made one trip around the sun.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. So to speak. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Some of you have made one trip around the sun.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Okay, I'll quiz you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Some of you live in reality. Yeah, exactly.

[Dusty Slay]

Exactly.

[Aaron Weber]

Nate, we used to live off the Julian calendar.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Do you know which calendar we currently live off of?

[Brian Bates]

It's a throwback.

[Aaron Weber]

Gregorian calendar.

[Nate Bargatze]

Gregory. Gregorian. Gregorian calendar.

[Brian Bates]

The Jordanian calendar.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Depending on how you want to pronounce the G is, it could be Jojorian. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Yep. So Julius Caesar started a calendar with 12 months.

[Dusty Slay]

Like George Gord.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Curious Gorga.

[Aaron Weber]

They got off a little track because of leap year. It didn't quite work like they should, so.

[Nate Bargatze]

Man, I bet that just sneaks up on you.

[Aaron Weber]

It took A few hundred years, but.

[Nate Bargatze]

I know, but you're just like, I'm sure one person said, what about this? And he's like, dude, if that guy doesn't quit, and then he's like, I swear to you, it's going to blow it all up. And then, you know, he didn't even get to live long enough to even really get the glory.

[Aaron Weber]

He had it set. It was 365 days and six hours.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

But it's actually a year is 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.

[Nate Bargatze]

So it's pretty good for him to figure that out back then.

[Brian Bates]

It's closer than I would.

[Aaron Weber]

They got so close. But by the year 1582, they were off 10 days. So seasons were starting to fall, you know, different times. Easter wasn't the same. So Pope Gregory authorized the Gregorian calendar, where they fixed the leap day. It's still a little bit off, though. We're still getting off a little bit.

[Nate Bargatze]

So some can still come in and go, I'm going to fix it even more.

[Brian Bates]

Could at some point somebody come in and go, let's all, like, take a day off, you know?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Like, today's March 14th. Tomorrow will be March 14th again. Just to get us back.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Because it says.

[Brian Bates]

I mean, somebody should do that at some point.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's a lot. Well, yeah, that's a lot.

[Brian Bates]

I got to get everybody.

[Aaron Weber]

I got the time here for you. Yeah. By the year 4909.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

The Gregorian calendar will be a full day ahead of the solar year. So 4909. Golly.

[Brian Bates]

So it's that accurate that it's going to take that long to get a day off?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's pretty unbelievable.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And then so. And then we'll kind of be back to normal then.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, we'll get back on track.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so what when it goes back to normal, what's it going to be like? So spring is a day earlier.

[Aaron Weber]

I think it'd just be what it should be all the time. What. What kind of like what?

[Brian Bates]

We have it now, 4909, before D909.

[Nate Bargatze]

Just to get back to basically now. So it never really changes.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, by 4909, if we didn't do something, it would. I mean, it's only.

[Brian Bates]

We'd be off by one day.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

So it's not 2,000 years.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. I wouldn't even mess with it.

[Nate Bargatze]

I bet you're not even.

[Brian Bates]

You don't think we're have to worry about it?

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't even know if you're. Are you even going to have days then?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I think there's a lot of things we're not going to have.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

In 2000 years. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Look at typing. Like in 2000 years, will they even have a calendar?

[Brian Bates]

Type that into what?

[Nate Bargatze]

Type it into your computer. Let's see what it says. Will we have a calendar.

[Brian Bates]

In 2000 years? Yes. In 2000 years, humanity will almost certainly still have calendars, but they will likely be evolved more precise, perhaps digital, perhaps, and potentially incorporate new systems like the Holocene calendar. As our current Gregorian calendar, while globally dominant, has slight inaccuracy. Secrecies was Brian just talked about in our need for timekeeping for global coordination, culture and space exploration will persist. That's pretty good answer.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I mean, every now and then AI knocks it out of the park.

[Nate Bargatze]

So this is a good question to ask.

[Dusty Slay]

What is the Holocene calendar?

[Brian Bates]

Oh, I don't know. That's a good song by Bonaver, though.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's the name of the song.

[Brian Bates]

Holocene.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh. What does Holocene mean?

[Brian Bates]

I have no idea. It's a proposed year counting system that adds 10,000 years to the Gregorian calendar, making the start of the Holocene epic around 10,000 BC when agriculture began. Okay, so instead of 2025, it would be 12,025, offering a continuous timeline that places all of human history into it.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

1225. Not 12,000. Right? 1225.

[Brian Bates]

No, that'd be 12,025 right there. If you add 10,000 to everything, it.

[Dusty Slay]

That seems like that would really do that.

[Nate Bargatze]

I thought I really had you.

[Brian Bates]

That would have been embarrassing.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Because it doesn't matter if I'm wrong. You know that's right. Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

All the pressure's on you.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

This is like, yeah, this is on me. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. If you get that wrong, no big deal. Aaron gets it wrong. The comments next week go. Aaron thinks he knows everything.

[Aaron Weber]

It's like that episode of the Office with Michael and.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Are you saying I'm Oscar?

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, it's like when you. When you play a non conference game in football where you're like, yeah, yeah. Like.

[Brian Bates]

Like all our games.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Like, yeah. If you're playing like Tulane, you're like, yeah, doesn't matter if Notre Dame wins against Elaine, but if they lose.

[Brian Bates]

Exactly.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

All you can do is.

[Nate Bargatze]

Is luckily you have a schedule. I still like my joke. I try to get it in somewhere else about. Y' all played Wake Forest twice.

[Aaron Weber]

That's funny.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was a Good. It was a good joke then and it means it the most relevant now.

[Dusty Slay]

Did you play Wake Forest twice in one year?

[Aaron Weber]

No.

[Nate Bargatze]

They might as well.

[Aaron Weber]

Just a funny take.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

They just play the same teams and they go. We don't got a conference.

[Aaron Weber]

Some churches still use the Julian calendar. Many Orthodox Christians annually celebrate Christmas on or near January 7th.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's probably a relief to not just have to do it. Like. There's a lot of pressure when everybody's doing it on the same day. So you just kind of go like, nah, we're doing it later.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

This year, the Chinese New Year is the year of the Horse. So specifically the Fire horse.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, tell Harper that.

[Dusty Slay]

The Fire horse.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

The come of 2026 is.

[Aaron Weber]

Yes. This.

[Dusty Slay]

This is the year of the Dragon we're in right now. Right.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, this is New Year's Eve.

[Nate Bargatze]

Dragon for a while.

[Aaron Weber]

I know, I know.

[Brian Bates]

There is a superstition that a woman born in the year of the Fire Horse has a strong temperament and shorten her husband's life.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, gosh.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. That's like. So every year's the.

[Aaron Weber]

It's like we've been to that for a while.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. Have they ever watched Dateline?

[Dusty Slay]

The year of the Fire Horse.

[Nate Bargatze]

What is it next year Will the fire horse will be 26. The World bank has speculated that the trend will not continue in 2026. What does that mean?

[Aaron Weber]

What does that mean?

[Brian Bates]

I don't know. I think that's referencing something in a previous paragraph. I was talking about births. There's something to do. There's some kind of trend.

[Dusty Slay]

What do they say?

[Brian Bates]

I don't know if the World Bank's.

[Aaron Weber]

Getting in on it. It sounds serious.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That the birth rate's dropping at a certain percentage. Fire horse.

[Aaron Weber]

The international fixed calendar is proposed calendar reform with 13 months each having exactly 28 days, totaling 300. So if we had 13 months, they'd all be the same. 28 days.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

364 days plus an extra year day and a leap day to align with the solar year. It was invented in 1902. And there's a new month called Sol S O L. Yeah. There'd be a single month.

[Dusty Slay]

This is not info I expected you to come in with. I like this.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Independence Day would no longer be July 4th, but Seoul 16. Easter would always be on April 15th. And every Christmas would be Wednesday. Every year would start on a Sunday and every Friday would always be a 13th. I don't know how you could do that.

[Brian Bates]

So why did they not do this.

[Aaron Weber]

It was never officially adopted by any country, mainly because of religious holidays. People just didn't want to change to it. But George Eastman of Eastman Kodak, he instituted in his company from 1928 to 1989, he used this calendar. So if you worked for Eastman, that's the calendar you're using. Wow, that really stinks. When you got a family, you ask off for a certain holiday, but yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Wrong calendar, buddy.

[Aaron Weber]

I'll do a little bit of year in review. 2025. Dusty, I'm going to start with you. It's a little sports quiz. Can you tell me who won the College football national championship in 2025? Yeah. In January.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, who was it? Georgia.

[Brian Bates]

A lot of people are saying this. They shouldn't have won.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. You'll be next. Okay, your answer is Georgia.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I guess Ohio State.

[Brian Bates]

Well, there was a really good team in the. In the championship. Yeah, like a really good program.

[Nate Bargatze]

There's Notre Dame versus Ohio State. Notre Dame got in in week six. Week six. They were promised the championship.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, I've been tuned out all this year of football, but yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Well, that was last year, but technically.

[Dusty Slay]

But yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

You attended Nate's super bowl party. Do you remember who won the Super Bowl?

[Dusty Slay]

Chiefs, I'd say.

[Aaron Weber]

Always a good guess.

[Nate Bargatze]

They were in it. The other team won.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, the Eagles.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You're focused mostly on Nate's commercial.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, that's right.

[Dusty Slay]

And how bad I was at. At hitting a draw. Had a golf ball.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I gained a whole new respect for people that play golf that night.

[Nate Bargatze]

I thought you didn't celebrate the Super Bowl.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, I try not to.

[Brian Bates]

The real Super Bowl's in August.

[Aaron Weber]

Aaron, do you remember who won the Masters?

[Brian Bates]

Who won the Masters this year? Rory McElroy.

[Aaron Weber]

Good job.

[Brian Bates]

One for the first time. Yeah. Grand slam.

[Aaron Weber]

Right? That's good. You remember who won the NBA Championship?

[Brian Bates]

The Oklahoma City Thunder.

[Aaron Weber]

Oh, you're doing good.

[Brian Bates]

SGA was the mvp.

[Aaron Weber]

Nate, do you remember who won the World Series?

[Nate Bargatze]

Dodgers.

[Aaron Weber]

Very good. Both of those were seven games.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. That was one of the best World Series ever this year.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I know The. I hope that's the Stanley Cup. You know the Stanley Cup?

[Brian Bates]

The Tampa Bay Lightning.

[Aaron Weber]

No.

[Brian Bates]

The Canucks. I have no idea.

[Nate Bargatze]

The Florida Panthers.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, I knew it was.

[Nate Bargatze]

I watched. I watched the entire NHL playoffs. They. They. In Edmonton. There's. They lost.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, that's right. We were watching that on the road.

[Aaron Weber]

It's funny, I was going to bring up like something that we picked up in 2025 something maybe new. And I was going to say for you, you really got into the Stanley cup playoffs.

[Nate Bargatze]

Really got a Stanley Cup. I mean, yeah. Connor McDavid. You really want him to win a cup and. And yeah. Well this year they just traded for. I know, I know. A little bit more but I know that there's traded for a new goalie. I mean it's really like I'm keeping a pretty eye on that like the McDavid. It's not like it's an overall but I mean I've every playoff of any sport I am. It's. It's awesome.

[Aaron Weber]

Biggest song of the year, Die with a Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars cited by BBC as the world's biggest song based on combined streams and downloads. Now I think it helped. It's cause it came out in January. So yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

It's had the whole year.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. Most streamed TV show in 2025. Bluey. My daughter watches that top grossing domestic movie. This is neck and neck and I think I sent you a link to this. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Is it a superhero movie?

[Aaron Weber]

No.

[Dusty Slay]

It is.

[Aaron Weber]

I mean look how close that is.

[Brian Bates]

Wow. I mean that's two hundred thousand dollar difference.

[Nate Bargatze]

I didn't know Superman did that.

[Brian Bates]

Well, it's a Minecraft movie. Lilo and Stitch. Superman, Jurassic World.

[Nate Bargatze]

Scroll down a little bit.

[Brian Bates]

Let's see center. I'm waiting for the first movie that's not like a superhero type movie. Weapons right there. Weapons at 15 is the first. That's.

[Dusty Slay]

What about F1?

[Brian Bates]

Not part of a franchise or existing IP or something.

[Dusty Slay]

F1 though. It's not part of something like that.

[Nate Bargatze]

But it was a big movie.

[Brian Bates]

Yes. As I feed though.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, keep going. Like let me. I just want to see.

[Brian Bates]

I don't understand like it wasn't a movie based on a thing that already existed.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, okay.

[Brian Bates]

Like original Freakier Friday coming in at 94 million.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. They're all remakes or sequels, right?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Well, we need to get that.

[Aaron Weber]

That's right.

[Brian Bates]

Get the breadwinner up there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Let's get the breadwinner up there.

[Brian Bates]

Let's get it.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's gonna be rated PG. Very fun. Fun movie.

[Aaron Weber]

Word of the year for 2025. Oxford chose rage bait. Dictionary.com chose six, seven. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

As though.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

I mean that's not even a word.

[Brian Bates]

But the phrase, whatever the six, seven thing.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

We were in Dallas for Thanksgiving when my sister's family lives out there and they went to in n out to get burgers one day and they all. All the kids in the store were waiting for the number 67 receipt to get called. They were, like, going nuts for it. And it gets there. 65, 66. The kids are going crazy. And they go, 68. The kids are like, what? And they're like, yeah, we took 67 out of the six. I read that, like, it was.

[Dusty Slay]

Wow.

[Brian Bates]

It was a problem at the stores where kids would just go crazy for it.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

So it's just gone from the in and outs, I think. Oh, have you been to the in and out here in Nashville?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. No.

[Dusty Slay]

Where is it?

[Brian Bates]

It's in Mount Or. Lebanon.

[Aaron Weber]

Oh, Lebanon, Murfreesboro and Antioch, I think.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Closing Water Burgers.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

They had.

[Dusty Slay]

Goodness.

[Aaron Weber]

Are they really.

[Nate Bargatze]

Burger the other day, and it was great.

[Dusty Slay]

It's. Oh, okay.

[Aaron Weber]

I think it's because they. Gross.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I actually. And I forgot about it. It's open 24 hours.

[Aaron Weber]

The one in Hermitage? No, I was hoping it was the one Dusty. One's closed.

[Brian Bates]

I can't tell you a fast food.

[Nate Bargatze]

My parents went to the one. I heard they're closing that one now.

[Aaron Weber]

Close. The one in Mount Juliet, though.

[Brian Bates]

I was driving to a corporate gig and I got McDonald's for the first time in a long time. And I take a bite of the burger and I realize there's no patty in the burger.

[Nate Bargatze]

Still good.

[Brian Bates]

They forgot to put that. It was just the bun and cheese. And I ate it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, I was sure.

[Brian Bates]

And I. The line.

[Nate Bargatze]

You don't get lucky like that all the time. The line was, that's what we're really getting to.

[Brian Bates]

I could have, you know, if there was no line, I would have got back and go, yeah. But I was like. Like, I guess this is what God gave me today.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Well, that side sandwich probably helped you. What was that?

[Brian Bates]

That was the only burger I got was just the one.

[Nate Bargatze]

Just one cheeseburger.

[Brian Bates]

Just a regular cheeseburger. Fries and a cheeseburger.

[Dusty Slay]

Say you had gotten two.

[Nate Bargatze]

Why don't you get a number?

[Brian Bates]

Just keep going.

[Dusty Slay]

Say you got two and they only didn't put the burger in one. Would you have taken the bread and put it around the one and made.

[Brian Bates]

A Big Mac out of it?

[Dusty Slay]

A bit. But like. Like two buns burger, two buns. Would you have done that?

[Brian Bates]

No, I think I just would have not eaten the one without a patty.

[Aaron Weber]

Okay.

[Brian Bates]

But if it was the only one I got. I got my. I guess I'm just having bread and cheese.

[Aaron Weber]

Time magazine's person of the year was the architects of AI. I mean, this is the year where just the average person starts using AI. For sure. I mean, you mentioned you use it. You use it to write your jokes.

[Nate Bargatze]

Why don't you?

[Aaron Weber]

You said you use chat GPT, Right?

[Dusty Slay]

Not to write my joke.

[Aaron Weber]

Maybe you should.

[Nate Bargatze]

I. I used sounds.

[Aaron Weber]

The Tennessee of the year. You'll love this. Dusty. Butch Wilmore, the astronaut.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, good. That's your friend.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, that's a wish. I wish. He's the guy from Mount Juliet.

[Dusty Slay]

What'd he do?

[Nate Bargatze]

He went to Florida for about a month. I hit out.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, the guy that was in space for so long.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was in Cozumel for two years and came back.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, exactly.

[Aaron Weber]

Real fast. Some stuff that's going to happen this year, in 2026. Winter Olympics. From February 6th to February 22nd, while we're on the cruise, the Winter Olympics will be going on. Where?

[Brian Bates]

What part of the world?

[Aaron Weber]

Milan and Cortina. The Appeaseo, Italy.

[Nate Bargatze]

Good spots.

[Aaron Weber]

World Baseball Classic.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah, that's fun.

[Aaron Weber]

That's in March. The World cup is in North America every year?

[Brian Bates]

No, it's every four years. Every.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

The World cup is this year in North America.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And the finals will be at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. And it's the 250th anniversary of the United States. So there's going to be a lot of big events to honor the U.S. the coins are changing. Quarters, dimes and nickels.

[Dusty Slay]

The what are.

[Aaron Weber]

I can't say that word. Coins.

[Nate Bargatze]

Coins. How do you say it?

[Aaron Weber]

Just like you say it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Coins.

[Aaron Weber]

I have a joke.

[Nate Bargatze]

Are you supposed to say it?

[Brian Bates]

Coins.

[Dusty Slay]

You said coin. You said it, but you.

[Aaron Weber]

Coins. Coins.

[Brian Bates]

Cohen.

[Nate Bargatze]

Coins.

[Aaron Weber]

It's the same vein as the oil. And.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I get your point.

[Aaron Weber]

It can't be quintessence that we both kind of say stuff the same way.

[Brian Bates]

Same neck of the woods.

[Aaron Weber]

That's right. Quarters, dimes and nickels minted in 2026 will have a special design reflecting the nation's 250th birthday.

[Brian Bates]

That's cool.

[Dusty Slay]

Not a penny, though. They're getting rid of those.

[Brian Bates]

That's right.

[Aaron Weber]

They're done making those. It's gonna be a total solar eclipse. Not in the United States, but around in general. Parts of Europe will see it midterm. Elections are on my birthday this year. That'll be fun. November 3rd this year. Some movies coming out. The Breadwinner on March 13th.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow.

[Aaron Weber]

Star wars, the Mandalorian and Grogu.

[Brian Bates]

Going straight to. Was it Tubi or is it theaters? Breadwinner Theaters.

[Nate Bargatze]

Theaters Straight to movie theaters.

[Aaron Weber]

Toy Story 5, Supergirl, Spider Man, Brand new day, Hunger Games, Avengers, Doomsday, some of the other big movies.

[Brian Bates]

I thought they were done with Avengers.

[Dusty Slay]

Avengers. Doomsday is supposed to be a big one. I mean they're. They're pretty bad these days, the ones they're putting out.

[Aaron Weber]

No, you got back into the Avengers this year.

[Dusty Slay]

I watched all the old ones.

[Brian Bates]

I thought there was one called End Game which was the end.

[Aaron Weber]

There was.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, yeah, it was the end of that. Storyline over overall. Storyline.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

But Doomsday could be very cool.

[Brian Bates]

Is it a prequel or is it.

[Aaron Weber]

No, no, no, no.

[Dusty Slay]

They're all these fighting Dr. Doom.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

It's like the event Robert Downey Jr. Oh yeah. That sounds sick. Actually.

[Aaron Weber]

Is Robert Downey Jr. Is Dr. Doom.

[Nate Bargatze]

But was. He is Iron Man.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't know about all that.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Are these none of the same world?

[Aaron Weber]

No, I mean it is. It's just later on. But they're just. I don't know how they're going to.

[Dusty Slay]

The Fantastic Four will be fighting.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Dr. Doom as well.

[Nate Bargatze]

There we go.

[Aaron Weber]

And the Thunderbolts and.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Different people like that. So my predictions for 2025 was that wet Heat would be one of the top specials of the year. I think it was.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, I think it was too, but I don't know.

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't know. No, it was in the top 10.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Brian Bates]

All right.

[Nate Bargatze]

And also said you'd be saying they were in the. And you were in the top 10 of the, you know, up. When you get up.

[Brian Bates]

Trending stuff.

[Dusty Slay]

It's a hot special.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's. That's. I mean it's not like every special gets in the top 10. They put out specials a lot.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so if you're in the top 10 and you.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, that is. Yeah, that is.

[Nate Bargatze]

You're going to be one of the top special.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, that is true. And it is a hot special. You know what I mean? That's what.

[Aaron Weber]

That was an easy prediction.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. Ned Land people are putting out hot specials.

[Nate Bargatze]

Hot.

[Dusty Slay]

Everybody knows that.

[Aaron Weber]

You won't say folks, but I mean.

[Dusty Slay]

Us, the people that listen are folks. We're. We're people.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. Yeah. I predicted Aaron would make his late night TV debut.

[Brian Bates]

He did.

[Aaron Weber]

Wow.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And I said that Nate would host an award show, so.

[Dusty Slay]

And you did too.

[Nate Bargatze]

Did you really?

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, wow.

[Aaron Weber]

That was my prediction.

[Dusty Slay]

So what do you have?

[Brian Bates]

What about for yourself?

[Aaron Weber]

I said the easier to drive tour would become the harder to drive tour. And that was correct.

[Nate Bargatze]

And that was Correct. Definitely. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

2025. My best year yet.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's great.

[Aaron Weber]

So for 2026.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, that's going to be.

[Aaron Weber]

I'm gonna say you'll win an Emmy for. I mean, a Grammy. Excuse me. For your friend Nate Bargazzi. All right.

[Nate Bargatze]

That quick? I don't know.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

You'll find out quick.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, that'll be early. When is the Grammys? February. Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And the Breadwinner will be a huge box office hit.

[Dusty Slay]

I think so. I think it will be.

[Nate Bargatze]

You're right.

[Dusty Slay]

I think it will be.

[Brian Bates]

If you keep Dusty scene. And I think word will get out.

[Nate Bargatze]

Word will get.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's gonna be. I think it'll be very good.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I hope so.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I really do.

[Aaron Weber]

Those are very specific, Aaron. Yours. I don't have it specific, but you're gonna be in. You're gonna have some TV credit. That's gonna be really cool. Something. Something that's gonna.

[Brian Bates]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

We're gonna be talking about.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

I like.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, like in. Yeah, like in a show. Like something. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Something like that.

[Aaron Weber]

Something that's going to be in your bio.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Dusty Slay]

Like, very least a movie credit, though.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. It doesn't count. Well, you're not counting breadwinner.

[Aaron Weber]

Nah. No, no, no, I'm not counting breadwinner.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, Yeah, I agree with that.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And Dusty, you're gonna plant 50 oak trees.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, okay, well, that's. That's true. I got 25 at home right now.

[Aaron Weber]

And give out an acorn to every one of your fans, which is kind of your goal, right?

[Dusty Slay]

Well, yeah, I mean, yeah. I mean, I'm into that.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

And you're gonna start selling out big theaters.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Aaron Weber]

You're gonna go to that next level. Where should we, you know, should we move up this guy? Should he be kind of like Leanne was last year, where she's. Now. Leanne's going into arenas now.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow.

[Aaron Weber]

But that's. You're gonna go that next level.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

That's my prediction.

[Dusty Slay]

All right, I appreciate that. But, yeah, I do have a lot of acorns, and I'm trying to plant a bunch of oak trees. So I am trying.

[Aaron Weber]

Listen to this podcast. That's pretty much what every episode is.

[Dusty Slay]

I saved that for my own.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. What about for you?

[Dusty Slay]

You guys don't want to listen to my tree talk?

[Aaron Weber]

I'm going to be in a movie March 13.

[Nate Bargatze]

Bates is going to take the special.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Next year.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, I Think so too.

[Nate Bargatze]

I think so.

[Aaron Weber]

I'd like that.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

What would you call it?

[Nate Bargatze]

I know so.

[Aaron Weber]

Oh, you do.

[Nate Bargatze]

Tape your special next year.

[Aaron Weber]

Boom.

[Dusty Slay]

No need to predict.

[Nate Bargatze]

Congratulations.

[Brian Bates]

This man moves mountains over here.

[Nate Bargatze]

Bates is tape is special this year. We weren't going to tell. I don't. We were not. We. We're not going to say it. Not now. But then I was, you know. No, no, no, no, no. I didn't know when, like, I mean, well, we were going. It's. No, I just in the moment, you. Are we. The plan. We already. We're going to take your special.

[Aaron Weber]

Awesome.

[Nate Bargatze]

So I'm gonna tell you right now.

[Aaron Weber]

Thank you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you. Taping a special next.

[Aaron Weber]

Thank you.

[Dusty Slay]

All right. I love.

[Aaron Weber]

Like where are the cameras?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, yeah, it's gonna be six minutes special, but it's a special.

[Aaron Weber]

Goes on my YouTube.

[Nate Bargatze]

Bates will have a big Nate and Big Nate and I think it's gonna be a big Nateland special. So. Yeah.

[Aaron Weber]

I love it. I love it. Thank you.

[Nate Bargatze]

There you go.

[Aaron Weber]

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Well, happy New Year's, guys.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Happy New Year.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right. We love you. Gotta. Yeah. A couple weeks left.

[Aaron Weber]

Come see me in Texas this coming week.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. You gotta get ready for a special.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right. We love you. Happy New Year. Bye. Oh, wait, hold on. Sorry. Oh, you got to promote. Yeah, sorry.

[Andy Staples]

That's.

[Aaron Weber]

That's okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

He said go to Texas.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah. Come see me in Texas this week. January 6th, 7th and 8th.

[Nate Bargatze]

He said it.

[Aaron Weber]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I'm going to be in San Francisco, California for the first time next weekend. Then Sacramento, then Toronto, Canada, the next weekend. So come out and see me.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thanks.

[Dusty Slay]

I'll. This weekend I'll be in Naples, Florida at Off the Hook. Next weekend I'll be in. In Brea, California at the Improv.

[Nate Bargatze]

Great club.

[Brian Bates]

All right.

[Aaron Weber]

Big club.

[Nate Bargatze]

Happy New Year. Love you, Bob.

[Andy Staples]

Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane three. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what? It doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm wherever you get your podcasts.

[Brian Bates]

Hey, audiobook lovers. I'm Cal Penn. I'm Ed Helms. Ed and I are inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've.

[Dusty Slay]

Ever heard with our new podcast, Earsick.

[Nate Bargatze]

The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

[Andy Staples]

Each week we sit down with your.

[Aaron Weber]

Favorite iHeart podcast hosts and some very special guests to discuss the latest and.

[Brian Bates]

Greatest audiobooks from Audible. Listen to Hearsay on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow earsay and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today.

[Andy Staples]

Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane 3. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what? It doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm Wherever you get your podcasts.