The Nightly – "Goodnight, Mouth Guard + LeVar Burton Dreams w/ Moshe Kasher"

Podcast: The Nightly by Hatch Podcasts
Air Date: December 15, 2025
Host(s): KP & Kristen
Guest: Moshe Kasher

Episode Overview

This cozy, light-hearted episode of The Nightly features comedian, author, and podcaster Moshe Kasher. As is tradition in the "Hatch Pillow Fort," the hosts and Moshe delve into comforting routines, pop culture obsessions, and sleep-related grievances — offering a warm, humorous, and occasionally wistful meditation on what helps us wind down at night. The episode’s big themes include nostalgic TV as a bedtime balm, the trials (and unexpected perks) of sleeping with a mouth guard, the hazards of bench seating at holiday parties, and the politics of kitchen appliances.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

Moshe’s Bedtime Routine: Star Trek Therapy

Timestamps: 01:10 – 04:51

• Moshe reveals that 90s-era Star Trek (especially The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine) is his nightly go-to for comfort.
  • "What has brought me more comfort over the years than anything else is the television franchise Star Trek, the Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine. And I'm currently really struggling through Star Voyager." — Moshe [01:19]
• A playful debate ensues about whether to watch the original, 90s, or modern series, with Moshe firmly in the "no Kirk, only Picard" camp.
  • "You come at me with some original series, I'm gonna say, 'okay, Boomer.' You come at me with some of that new stuff, I'm gonna say, 'sorry, Gen Alpha.'... I want sweet spot gangsta rap is on the radio, but Utopia is on the screen." — Moshe [02:09]
• The group shares deep appreciation for LeVar Burton, with Moshe jokingly hoping to make him his uncle and imagining a bedtime “goodnight” routine.
  • "LeVar’s whole career has been one of pure synthetic down blanket of a man. Everything he does is comforting. I want him to be my uncle." — Moshe [02:50]

The Power (and Peril) of Night Guards

Timestamps: 05:14 – 09:14

• Moshe discusses his new dental night guard and how it’s changed his relationship to sleep — introducing a clinical edge to his most beloved ritual.
  • “I love sleep ... But now, all of a sudden, this thing, which I cherish, has become clinical ... you slide a thick slab of silicone into your teeth ... you can’t kiss anybody good night, and you’re just this, like, medic.” — Moshe [05:27]
• Kristen and KP share solidarity and coping strategies: reframing the mouth guard as a cute “lip plumper,” and making it part of the bedtime routine.
  • "I like to put my mouth guard in and look at how cute I look with my mouth guard in ... it looks like I got some lip plumper in.” — Kristen [08:00]
• The conversation turns playful around bedtime intimacy and embracing mouth guard-induced changes.
  • “Nothing turns someone on more than a person with a mouth guard leaning in for a smooch.” — Moshe [08:21]

Pillow Talk: Moshe’s Unique Sleep Set-Up

Timestamps: 09:29 – 11:56

• Moshe shares his unorthodox pillow arrangement: no pillow under his head, only under each shoulder — “head raw dogging on the mattress.”
  • “I sleep two pillows. One under one shoulder, one under the other shoulder, head raw dogging on the mattress.” — Moshe [09:32]
• Host Kristen, a fellow stomach sleeper, expresses interest in trying this method.
• Moshe’s quest for the perfect “35-year-old pillow” prompts listeners to send recommendations (thenightly@hatch.co).

Grievance Time: Bench Seats and Social Seating

Timestamps: 12:11 – 17:52

• Kristen vents about bench seats at holiday gatherings: they force awkward shuffling, are uncomfortable, and are especially tough when wearing a mini-skirt.
  • “I've been to a lot of holiday parties lately... and I just gotta say, too many of these holiday parties have one of my biggest pet peeves: bench seats.” — Kristen [12:11]
• The group muses on whether people with bench seats are signaling to guests not to linger, or if it’s just farmhouse-chic gone wrong.
  • “Do people who have bench seats just not want their guests to stay very long?” — Kristen [16:03]
• KP offers a radical (if slightly “evil”) alternative: eliminate seating to force mingling.
  • “I take out all the seats because I think that people stand at parties and that creates a more mingling environment.” — KP [17:14]
• Shout-outs to awkward party logistics, “hot tub clauses” on Airbnb, and standing room only parties in LA.

Kitchen Minimalism and the Appliance Dilemma

Timestamps: 19:01 – 22:15

• KP’s grievance: her small kitchen is overrun by single-use appliances — especially questioning her lack of a microwave and the need for an air fryer.
  • “I've sort of made a stand here, which is: I'm not gonna have a microwave... If I have to reheat my coffee, I'm putting it in a cooking pot.” — KP [19:01]
• Moshe jokes about the “energy” of people without microwaves, likening it to matcha-drinkers who refuse Tylenol.
  • “There's also a kind of messaging that not having a microwave sounds... you know people who have quick coffee, but they're doing matcha. It's that energy." — Moshe [21:04]
• The air fryer comes under fire: “Big air fryer is one of the most effective propaganda campaigns of the modern… era.” — Moshe [21:56]
• They briefly reminisce about the George Foreman Grill era.

Moshe’s Plugs

Timestamps: 22:40 – 23:30

• Moshe plugs his Endless Honeymoon Podcast, his upcoming comedic “world tour” (Cincinnati-to-Tokyo in two stops!), and his books (Kasher in the Rye, Subculture Vulture).
  • “You can listen to my podcast... And I'm gonna be in... Cincinnati... then it ends in Tokyo. And that's the whole world tour, all the important places." — Moshe [22:40]

Dreamy Goodnights: Channeling LeVar Burton

Timestamps: 23:33 – 24:34

• Moshe wraps with a whimsical, heartfelt goodnight for LeVar Burton, imaging him tucking away his Star Trek visor and donning a night guard.
  • “Hey, Unk. I just want to tell you what you've meant to me.... Take that visor off that you probably wear... and put it in your mouth as a night guard. Because I have found empowerment in night guard. And no one is more beautiful than me with a slab of silicone between my teeth. Except you, LeVar. Uncle LeVar. Lieutenant Jordi Laforge. I love you and everybody else find the LeVar within your beautiful. Good night.” — Moshe [23:46]

Notable Quotes

• On Star Trek as a Sleep Aid:
  "I support a utopic, post capitalist meta society comprised of over 4 trillion alien beings. And that's what puts me to sleep." — Moshe [01:45]

• On Mouth Guards:
  "Now, you slide a thick slab of silicone into your teeth... you can't kiss anybody good night, and you're just this, like, medic." — Moshe [05:27]

• On Living With Bench Seats:
  "Is this one of those Chip and Joanna Gaines country living sorts of decorating aesthetic things that started a few years ago? Because it seems like they're everywhere right now." — Kristen [13:26]

• On the Air Fryer Craze:
  "Big air fryer is one of the most effective propaganda campaigns of the modern... era." — Moshe [21:56]

• On LeVar Burton:
  "LeVar, babe, babe. LeVar, we got a really cool offer. You're gonna be playing for the rest of your life the uncle of comedian Moshe Kasher." — Moshe [03:20]

Memorable Moments

• Moshe’s earnest but comedic fantasy of LeVar Burton tucking him in at night [03:12, 23:46]
• The crew’s rebranding of mouth guards as accidental “lip plumpers” [08:00]
• Moshe’s oddball “armpit pillow” sleep technique [09:32]
• The group’s lively, nearly philosophical reflection on the politics of seating at parties [16:01]
• KP’s appliance existentialism and the fall of the microwave [21:04]
• The comic riff on “bench clauses” and “hot tub clauses” in Airbnb listings [15:15]
• Moshe’s mock-epic “world tour” of only two stops [22:56]

Listener Takeaways

• Nostalgia, comfort TV, and quirky rituals are at the heart of warm bedtime routines.
• Mouth guards may be clinical but, with the right attitude, can be a source of pride (and accidental glamour).
• Party seating can become a broader metaphor for comfort, exclusion, and the design quirks that define contemporary social life.
• Appliance minimalism has its perils (don’t sacrifice the microwave for matcha energy!).
• Channel your “LeVar within”—the part of you that wants to tuck in the people you love, every night.

How to Connect

• Email recommendations for “35-year-old pillows” or pillow talk to: thenightly@hatch.co
• Learn more at the Hatch Co website and @hatchpodcasts

(Ad and outro content omitted as requested)