291: Coffee with Mom—America's Grandmoth...

Mike chats with Dr. Sheree Utash, Ed.D., president of WSU Tech and a national leader in workforce education. They talk about how she reinvented a community college into a national model for workforce development, her role in taking Mike’s S.W.E.A.T. Pledge and shaping it into the ... Show More

Tommy Mello founded A1 Garage Door Service—a 100 million-plus-dollar business. Tommy shares how he went from reselling Bowflex, cleaning pools, and painting garage doors to building one of the largest home service companies in the country. He talks about the hustle, the screw-ups ... Show More

Actor, director, and pseudo-troublemaker Nick Searcy is back! Nick recounts what he saw at the Capitol on January 6 and why he made Capital Punishment and its sequel, The War on Truth. Also discussed is Nick’s unfiltered memoir, Justify This: A Career Without Compromise, where he ... Show More

Mike tells Sarah about the complicated legacy of Anita Hill and the not-particularly-complicated facts of her case. Digressions include “Tootsie," Garrison Keillor and the Donner party. Mike, for reasons unknown, seems to believe that one flies “down” from Charlotte, North Caroli ... Show More

Mike tells Sarah what makes older Americans more vulnerable to misinformation — and who is delivering it to them. Digressions include "Supernatural," the Rachel and a fake university in Pennsylvania. We recorded this episode before the election but tried not to make it too obviou ... Show More

Special guest Rachel Monroe tells Mike and Sarah what's really behind the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid.” Digressions include David Koresh, East Germany and how flower children were the first millennials. Mike inadvertently reveals his prejudice against extroverts. Continue ... Show More

Special guest Candace Opper tells Mike and Sarah how a grunge star became the protagonist in one of America's most persistent conspiracy theories. Digressions include Neil Young, protest songs and the coolest baby of the 1990s. Mike continues to mine his public school educat ... Show More

Sarah and Mike talk about what America forgot — and never learned — about history’s most famous intern. Digressions include generational resentments, 1990s fashion and off-brand colleges. Also, Mike’s microphone breaks about 25 minutes in, so he sounds like he’s recording in a su ... Show More

“The story that did the most damage to the people in it was the one that made the most money.” Sarah tells Mike about the low-rent conspiracy that sparked a ratings bonanza.  Digressions include "Out of Sight," Robert De Niro and the ancient sexting technology known as landlines. ... Show More

Sarah and Mike continue into the depths. With Dr. Pazder home from Mexico, he and Michelle continue their journey into her subconscious, and the stories continue to get weirder. This episode contains kitten sacrifice, and the first—but not the last—dead baby of the Satanic panic. ... Show More

When Mike Rucker and his partner, John, moved in together, they purchased a sofa they affectionately named Miss Bee. “I didn’t just feel grown up buying this sofa, I felt sophisticated,” Mike wrote in his Modern Love essay. Miss Bee had low arms, wooden legs with brass wheels and ... Show More

Mike tells Sarah how a false rape allegation became a right-wing rallying cry and a left-wing conspiracy theory. Digressions include JonBenet Ramsay, “24” and “The Vagina Monologues." Mike regrets not commenting on the metaphorical significance of being trapped in the closet thro ... Show More