We're Here to Help

Episode 206: We're Here to Chat Vol 4: Light and Love

Host: Jake Johnson & Gareth Reynolds
Guests: Steve Berg & Eric Edelstein
Release Date: September 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This lively, freewheeling episode of We're Here to Help showcases hosts Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds in their element, joined by longtime friends Steve Berg and Eric Edelstein. The group leans into casual storytelling, inside jokes, and playful bickering, with discussions shifting from breakfast routines and baseball fandom to tales of entertainment industry misadventures. The overarching theme, as suggested by the title, surfaces in moments of “light and love”—a jokey reference to a saga involving a Dick Van Dyke show, ticket refunds, and a promoter who signs off all communications with those words. The group also welcomes hot takes, listener engagement, nostalgia, and minor league gripes about modern culture and show business.

Key Discussion Points & Memorable Moments

1. Opening Banter & Breakfast Rituals

Timestamps: 00:52–05:24

• Steve Berg counts down the episode start, prompting nostalgia for band and baseball team rituals.
• Breakfast Guessing Game: Everyone tries (and fails) to guess Steven's breakfast. This leads to a loving roast of Steve’s habits and his supposed Royals baseball fandom:
  • Jake: “Did you have overnight oats, fresh blueberries from a farmer's market...with a hard boiled egg and Himalayan sea salt?” (13:00)
  • Steve reveals he made egg salad with Vegenaise and mustard (14:10).
• Notable Quote:
  • Jake Johnson: “Together, it's the full picture. And I gotta tell you, the full picture is the best breakfast. I would love to eat.” (14:45)

2. Baseball Then & Now – The Savannah Bananas

Timestamps: 05:01–10:56

• The hosts dissect the viral baseball act the Savannah Bananas—a Globetrotter-esque, entertainment-focused exhibition team.
  • Jake: “You can't love Pete Rose and the Savannah Bananas.” (09:11)
  • Eric applauds the Bananas for making baseball “fun” and selling out stadiums.
  • Gareth notes generational divides, likening the team’s viral approach to modern digital culture.
• Notable Exchange:
  • Jake: “Speak for yourselves. I'm still in my thirties.” (10:01)
  • Eric: “The truth is, even when you see video gamers sell out Madison Square Garden for seven shows...If people are going out and doing that, that's good for entertainment.” (10:14)

3. The Dick Van Dyke Ticket Refund Saga (“Light and Love”)

Timestamps: 16:10–28:40

• Eric gives long-awaited updates on his quest to secure a refund for tickets to a Dick Van Dyke event that didn’t happen.
• Discusses eccentric ticket promoter “Chris,” who ends emails with “light and love.”
• Eric reads his polite but urgent email requesting a refund (21:09), then Gareth reads Chris’s conciliatory response:
  • Chris (via Gareth): “I just refunded your tickets, which will be posted to your next credit card statement. Thank you for supporting the shows...” (26:12)
• The group discusses inviting Chris onto the podcast for his side of the story, debating whether Eric’s boundless “energy” should be included.
• Running Joke: Who can broker the next show first—Eric with Chris or getting free comps for Sybil Shepherd’s upcoming one-woman show?
• Notable Quote:
  • Jake: “We're not doing this to humiliate you. We're doing this to humiliate each other.” (28:42)

4. The Great Steve Berg High School Photo Reveal

Timestamps: 29:30–34:50

• Natalie (the producer) shares high school photos of Steve, sent in by a listener.
• Group lovingly roasts Steve's "bad boy" and “pompadour” look, referencing “The Outsiders” and Christian rock bands.
  • Gareth: “He looks like he’s part of the Outsiders, if they were Christian…” (31:20)
• Eric does an impression of “Alpha Steve in Omaha”:
  • Eric: “Look, you little bitches, just listen to here. We're totally skipping homeroom…” (31:42)

5. Tales from the Early Career Trenches

Timestamps: 39:43–46:03

• Steve and Gareth reminisce about almost performing “True West” together; Jake recounts Hollywood hustles with Steve’s encouragement.
• Hilarious stories about “Black Ice” (Jake’s mysterious friend Nick Pool), and pranking people at Sundance by making him out to be an Eastern European star.
  • Jake: “We started calling him Nikki Excitement and putting him in Joe movies with me...” (45:20)

6. “Kenny Rogers Story” & Live Show Mishaps

Timestamps: 46:41–49:58

• Eric and Steve recall attending a Kenny Rogers concert, where Kenny threw $10 bills at a reluctant husband in the crowd:
  • Eric: “Every single song Kenny played, he'd wad up a ten dollar bill and chuck it at this guy with venom…” (48:38)
• Steve recounts drunkenly tumbling down theater stairs and popping up unharmed, to Eric’s awe.
  • Eric: “That’s also the magic of Berg...this man is an oak tree.” (49:49)
• The group riffs on how comics and musicians fixate on the most negative audience member in the room.

7. Parenting, B-Plot Sitcom Moments & Kids’ Fails

Timestamps: 50:22–56:42

• Jake shares his daughter’s “lizard” excuse after a fall (“I just saw a lizard!”), tying childhood mishaps to classic sitcom B-stories.
• Group howls over a story of a child getting a mesh cube stuck to his braces at SkyZone.
  • Jake: “This is what I loved about sitcoms growing up. This was a B story.” (56:13)

8. Hot Takes & Steve’s Life Advice

Timestamps: 57:19–62:53

• Inspired by a listener's suggestion, the guys launch a “hot takes” segment, starring Steve:
  • Berg’s Hot Takes:
    • “Christmas should come every two years, like the Olympics.” (57:50)
    • “Every hotel should have a Ouija board instead of a Bible.” (58:52)
    • “More clear sauce in Chinese restaurants—too much brown gravy.” (60:14)
  • Jake and Gareth needle Steve about the wisdom (or insanity) of these stances.
    • “I will not go near a Ouija board. I think you invite that stuff in.” – Eric (59:21)
  • Steve’s Unorthodox Life Advice:
    • “There should be more gargoyles on buildings.”
    • “Never order a cheeseburger at a Mexican restaurant.”
    • “If you get drunk and get an IV bag the next day...take the pain.”
    • “Set up your tent before you take the mushrooms.” (62:18)

9. Closing Reflections & Listener Favorites

Timestamps: 63:36–end

• Brief check-in to confirm Eric’s email to Chris, celebratory group vibes (“Love y’all!”).
• Listener voicemails highlight favorite episodes and relay thanks to the hosts.
• Jake and Gareth humorously plan to make Steve’s hot takes a recurring segment.

Standout Quotes

• “Speak for yourselves. I'm in my thirties.”
  – Jake Johnson (10:01)
• “Light and love has become a big part of it.”
  – Jake Johnson (19:32)
• “I just refunded your tickets, which will be posted to your next credit card statement.”
  – (Gareth as Chris, 26:12)
• “If you get drunk and you go get an IV bag the next day because you can’t handle your hangover, you’re a douchebag. Take the pain.”
  – Steve Berg (61:17)
• “Set up your tent before you take the mushrooms.”
  – Steve Berg (62:18)
• “We’re not doing this to humiliate you. We’re doing this to humiliate each other.”
  – Jake Johnson (28:42)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Breakfast & Baseball Banter: 00:52–10:56
• Dick Van Dyke Refund / “Light and Love”: 16:10–28:40
• Steve's High School Photo Reveal: 29:30–34:50
• Hollywood & Hustle Stories: 39:43–46:03
• Kenny Rogers Story: 46:41–49:58
• Sitcom B-Stories & Parenting: 50:22–56:42
• Hot Takes & Steve’s Advice: 57:19–62:53
• Listener Favorites & Close: 63:36–end

Tone & Language

The tone is casual, irreverent, and affectionate—friends riffing, needling, storytelling, and endlessly riffing on bits old and new. They mix playful self-deprecation (especially about aging and pop culture shifts) with genuine support and warmth. The language is comedic, rambling, and at times joyfully absurd, with inside jokes and breaking the fourth wall for the listeners.

For New Listeners

This episode exemplifies the spirit of We're Here to Help: a blend of comedic advice, storytelling, gentle chaos, and the camaraderie of close friends catching up in public. The advice may not always be useful, but the entertainment value is always high—and you’ll leave knowing a little more about breakfast, bifurcated baseball fandoms, showbiz heartbreak, and the dark arts of ticket refunds.

Next up: Expect more hot takes from Steve, a possible on-air interview with Chris the promoter, and a steady stream of mishaps, misadventures, and unsolicited advice—always delivered with as much “light and love” as the group can muster.