Episode 25

full
Published on:

17th Nov 2025

The Red(neck) Wedding

Beck and Dash catch up on their weekend activities and their coordinated outfits. Dash revels in submitting a dissertation early, and they both delve into the peculiar realm of side effects from medications, including songs stuck in their heads. They also discuss 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' for an upcoming queer book club. The episode explores various Appalachian traditions such as garbage picking, rusty four-by-fours, and the almost heaven swings in West Virginia. Listener questions about Mountain Dew flavors and young adventures were also addressed. There's a humorous and heartwarming discussion of their coming-out stories and memorable moments with their families. The hosts reminisce about 90s music, hilarious wedding tales, favorite comedians, and consider engaging in movie reviews based on listener suggestions.

00:00 Welcome to Queernecks

00:22 Weekend Catch-Up

00:31 Dissertation Deadline

01:05 Cat Companions

01:35 Audiobook and Medications

02:16 Songs Stuck in My Head

05:15 Mountain Dew and Pop Culture

06:22 Dumpster Diving and Recycling

08:30 Musical Memories

22:14 Coming Out Stories

25:49 Redneck Weddings

31:09 Memories of First Drinks

34:13 Nostalgic Card Games

38:00 Rusted Out 4x4 Trucks - Sponsor Segment

48:02 Appalachian Adventures: Almost Heaven Swing

54:14 Comedy and Favorite Comedians

59:29 Podcast Wrap-Up and Listener Engagement

Transcript
Speaker:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Welcome

to Queernecks, the podcast that

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puts the yehaw in y'all means all.

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I'm your host, Beck,

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

and I'm your host.

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Dash.

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Welcome to today's episode.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: We're

twins again, wearing a rusty red.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I know.

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Twinning.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: It's like

we have a psychic connection, man.

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your weekend going?

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Um,

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you.

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know, uh, it's not bad.

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I mean, you know, we just started,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Well, Friday's the weekend too.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: so the, um,

upload, the final upload was due yesterday

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for the dissertation document to the

Pro ProQuest and Ohio Link and all that.

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and I turned it in early.

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A symptom of my mental illness is

that I am like a, a hot deadline.

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Like I'm submitting it at

3 59 if it's due at four.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

never loved that about myself.

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Has not treated me well, but so

I turned it in 24 hours early,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

That's freaking awesome.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: isn't it?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: That's amazing.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

Is that, uh, PETA?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yes.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Hi Peta.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

She just wandered up.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: got Ziggy's

probably about to jump up here.

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The cats are like really happy about

me being confined to this recliner.

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They're unabashedly enjoying

this whole experience.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Well,

you would too if you were a cat.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Honestly.

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It looks, they're

probably like finally you.

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Why, why do you never sit down?

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I get on our level with

this sleeping all day stuff.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I slept

in this a little bit this morning,

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but then I listened to my audio book

for an hour before I got outta bed.

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that felt very luxurious.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

What are you listening to?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Um, I'm for that book club

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that I'm going to next week.

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The Queer Book Club.

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We're reading, uh, the

Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

Oh, I haven't read that one.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

it's, it's okay.

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It's all right.

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Um,

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah,

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I

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: could,

it, it could have been half the book

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and had the same story, I think.

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Um, but it's, it's Hello Kitten?

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

You wanna sit down?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: No.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Okay.

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we're playing around with,

um, some my medications,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: fun.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

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Isn't it?

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Apparently this new one I'm on

can have a side effect of you

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get songs stuck in your head.

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I think it's probably more than songs.

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It can be other things,

but I'm experiencing it as

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songs and it's wild shit.

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It's not shit I listen to.

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It's songs like, I'm, I'm making

a list because it's so weird.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Like

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Chagas Jukebox every year.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: it,

so the first one was, goodbye

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Earl by The Chicks, which I love.

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It's a, an, perfect song.

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Honestly, they can do no wrong in

my opinion, but I haven't listened

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to that song probably in decades.

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It, I noticed, I was like going

up the stairs and I was just.

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In the breakdown too, part like there

where they really feel it, like Mary,

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and now I can't remember

the lyrics because I don't

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actually listen to this song,

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well, there's a, there's

the bridge, right?

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There's the breakdown where

they're like right away, Maryann.

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And that's what was in my head.

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It was like just that pre chorus.

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another one was Goodbye

Eileen, oh, sorry.

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Come on Eileen.

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I was mixing them up by Dexy Midnight

something or other, not, also, not a

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song I'm very familiar with, but it

was just on a loop in my head for days.

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and now then I got up

to really silly shit.

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So, you know, the pizza, the Hut song.

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Did you sing this in school?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Maybe, I don't know.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Oh.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: it?

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: so

it's, I'm gonna cut this shit out.

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Uh, pizza Hut.

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Oh, pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried

Chicken and a Pizza Hut.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: We, I

know that song in a different tune.

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Hut.

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Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried

Chicken and Pizza Hut.

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Pizza

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Hut.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Kentucky

Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: McDonald Olds,

McDonald Olds, Kentucky Fried Chicken

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Kentucky

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Pizza.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: and Pizza Hut.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: But

there, but there's a, a whole other

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two verses that we sang, which was,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Oh

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

um, jab the Hut, jab The Hut,

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Luke Sky Walker and Java Hut.

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And then Darth Va or Darth Va,

or, but then, okay, this is

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where we get really creative.

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This is where the real

like lyricism comes in.

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Pizza the Hut.

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Pizza the Hut.

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Luke's got chicken in a Pizza Hut.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: well, pizza

The Hut is from, uh, space Balls.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

maybe that's where they got it.

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I don't know.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

Mick V or Mick Vade.

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It's bad enough that, I still

remember that, you know, from school.

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But I'm walking around as a 44-year-old

man singing this song under my breath.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I got one

that's been in my head that I don't know

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if you know it, but it's chicken wing.

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Chicken wing, hot dog and blo edge chi

with macaroni chi with my home mess.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

My niece sings that song.

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That's the only reason I know it.

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it wasn't that long ago.

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She was singing it at

a holiday or something.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Yeah, it's a TikTok song.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: our buddy, uh,

techno Pop-Tart on, the YouTubes, Has, one

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question I don't understand, but you may.

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It's about, it's about Mountain Dew.

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That sounds really shady.

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You're, you're the Mountain Dew expert,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Okay.

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A title I earned, I guess

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I just

don't know what this question means.

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Uh, the rainbow collection of

Mountain Dew, do you know about this?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: it is probably

'cause like there's Baja Blast Mountain

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Dew, there's Orange Mountain Dew.

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it's probably, 'cause there's a, there's

Red Mountain Dew, there's probably, you

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

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Okay.

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Well, so the question is how many,

colors are they flavored differently?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: yeah,

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

How many have we tried?

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Is the question

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I

don't drink pop anymore, so I've

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only tried regular Mountain Dew.

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I'm a diabetic, so I drink a lot of water.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I knew about

a red one that I think I have tried.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I

think it's called Code red.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

yeah, yeah, yeah.

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And that may 'cause that

one's from a long time ago.

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I,

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don't know if I've tried it or I know

that I've seen it and it was also a lot

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of pop culture references at the time.

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Like it was a lot of like,

um, gamers drank it, I think.

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and then so the other question is, did

we ever go, uh, dump or bottle digging?

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So dump digging

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Not that

I can, I have a friend that does

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that for fun because she's into

old timey artifacts and glassware

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: uh.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

and railroad stuff.

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Um, but no, I've never done,

I'm, I don't like getting dirty.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I

remember from like the late eighties,

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early nineties, um, you could

get, you could make decent money.

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And this may still be a thing because I I

see people doing it still, uh, collecting,

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pop cans or the tabs, collecting the tabs.

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And, um, you could return glass

bottles for a nickel, I think,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

that's state dependent.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Probably, Yeah.

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So I do remember that, um, we didn't

do it like, you know, that wasn't

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something our family really, we, we

weren't like going out to the dump and

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digging, but we did collect the, I think

it was Pepsi that had the tab thing.

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And uh, when we were growing up,

we did drink like, besides water

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and Vanessa was obsessed with milk.

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We would have to, we would, we had

to buy three gallons of milk at time.

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That's an estimation because obviously

I don't remember clearly, but it was,

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well more than one gallon of milk

every time we went grocery shopping.

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'cause she just loved the stuff.

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But mom drank a lot of mo uh, Pepsi

and Mountain Dew So we did do the

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collecting, but honestly, I, as an

adult, I did a lot of dumpster diving.

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Just was homeless a few times.

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But I wouldn't call that part of

the Appalachian experience for me.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

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No, I'm not, I, I've never

gone dumpster diving before.

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That's one thing.

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That's an experience, but I

can't climb very well either, so

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it's like everything's stacked

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against me.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I

don't even remember recycling

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being available where I lived.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

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I, me neither.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: That

felt like a, a big city thing to me.

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I knew about it, but I'd never, we,

it wasn't a thing where we lived.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: We were,

we didn't even have garbage cans.

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We had a dumpster and before

the dumpster we burned garbage.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: We

carried it off to the dump.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

we had a, a dumpster down at

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the bottom of the driveway.

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I have picked up things off the side

of the road before, like the coffee

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table that we had for like five years.

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We got off the side of the road.

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That's kind of garbage picking.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: What

would you say is the most interesting

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random find you've ever had?

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Like, something you just

totally weren't expecting, but

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you loved it when you saw it?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Probably the

first thing that comes to my mind is

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the belt buckle that my dad had at the

house, um, with the gun that comes out

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was the pop gun that comes out and snaps.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: just

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the cutest little thing I've ever seen.

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And I didn't know I needed a pop gun belt

for little boys from:

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I had no idea I needed that, but I did.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah, mine

was probably of some kind of media.

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So, you know, curse of the Queer

Wolf is up there for like, finding

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that VHS at Goodwill for a quarter.

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But there were several others,

that I really loved I got a VHS

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called, uh, dancing Grannies.

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It's a calisthenics aerobic workout video

of a, it's like a dozen women and at the

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beginning of the video they all sit down

and tell us how many grandkids they have.

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and then they do this

workout and it's pretty fun.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Um, a friend

of mine found a box of cassette tapes

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one time, and she just let who, whoever

take whatever, and I took the, um,

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news of the world, the Queen Tape,

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Oh

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

in love with Queen.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: yeah,

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: that's

probably my favorite queen album

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that there is, to this day.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I had a little,

um, Walkman and it was like an off-brand,

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And I would put in, I had a, a bunch

of tapes I would put in and walk around

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the mountainside with listening to it.

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And I think my two favorites

were definitely, Bon Jovi.

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I forget the name of the album.

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I didn't really know album names.

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a lot of times I didn't

have the cover of the tape.

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so it was, a lot of 'em were

just mysteries, what was on them.

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And then Aerosmith, oh shoot, I don't

remember the name of that album either

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Get a grip, I think was, was it?

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And I would just, I would be feeling

it walking around the streams and

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mountains or the rocks and stuff on

the mountain jamming to my Bon Jovi.

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And it was all stuff that had been

out for years that I was listening to.

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And so when they put out, I,

I think I was in the eighth

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grade, no, it was seventh grade.

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'cause I was still at in Jellico when

Bonjovi came out with a new song.

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It was like an a, a, uh, what's

it called when it's a slow song?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: A ballad.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah, yeah.

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Something about I Love You Always.

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And I hated it.

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I was like, they sold out.

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This isn't rock.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: That's funny.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I was like, 12.

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This isn't hardcore.

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Did your parents listen to music?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Country music.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: in there.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mm-hmm.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Well,

my dad was a country singer.

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he had his own band.

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Mark Jenkins had the small town

band was the name of his band.

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they had a CD and everything.

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They went and recorded a song.

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My dad wrote some songs for my mom.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: awesome.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I'm probably

the only person left on the planet

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that remembers those songs, but,

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I'm

gonna look it up right now.

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Mark Jacobs and Jenkins.

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And what?

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: The small town

band, I guarantee you it's not out there.

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The guy that was the producer had

been a producer for Reba McIntyre.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

Oh, unfortunately there's

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another Mark Jenkins.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Oh.

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There's a lot of

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Well, yeah.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: There

were three in my town alone.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

That makes sense.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah, it's

a very common name, so is my name.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

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beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: that's

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that's one of the

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perks of having a common

name is I'm anonymous on the

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internet for the most part.

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You put my name in and nothing comes up.

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dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Uh, there's a

hockey player with my name, but there's

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also, when I, so I, when I went to, EKU,

there's a corner, you know how they'll

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have dedication, plaques and stuff.

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There's a corner there that has, you know,

collection in it and it says, uh, such

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and such is memorial, corner or something.

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And it, it was my name and

my name is not super common.

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It spelled a little different,

so I just always kind of

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thought like, huh, interesting.

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And we would joke about it or whatever and

thought, well, that'll never happen again.

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And in a way it hasn't.

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But I did in my territory

when I was a recruiter.

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I had this county that that guy was

from, and the, as soon as I showed

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up at the first school I went to,

everyone was being kind of weird.

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Not bad, but just kind of

like, Hey, so you're ha ha.

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And I was like, you know, and

the first guy when he introduced

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me to the kids, he was like, you

won't believe what his name is.

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And I was like, what is going on?

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And so as I was, you know, over

the year I had that territory, I

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learned more and more about this guy.

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And he was like a big deal.

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And he was, he did a lot for the region.

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He was like a big, like donor

to, like economic projects.

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And he, you know, there's quite a

few buildings and, uh, even a school

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that only exists because of him.

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that kind of came full circle there.

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' So if you try to find me, you'll find him.

326

:

, Music was like the medium we had

like radio and, TV wasn't yet a

327

:

very big deal when I was born.

328

:

I don't know if cable existed yet.

329

:

It may,

330

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Oh,

we had Cinemax and all that

331

:

when I was like second grade,

332

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: so

it, that stuff did exist, but

333

:

I just didn't know about it.

334

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: had, it

was for the, for the wealthy and the

335

:

the poor that wanted to be wealthy.

336

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Uh,

people that made bad decisions,

337

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yes,

338

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: those

temporarily embarrassed millionaires,

339

:

I, I remember, most of my childhood,

maybe even my entire, the entire time

340

:

that I lived with them, going to bed,

to the sound of my mom putting in some.

341

:

CD and cranking it up.

342

:

She would blast that shit

and we'd be sleeping.

343

:

And it, she loved, like Pink Floyd, she

played a lot of Phil Collins and like

344

:

Genesis, she played, um, there was some, a

bluegrass band she liked called the Seldom

345

:

Scene that she played a lot of, I don't

know, just constant, like that was our,

346

:

our soundtrack And mom's not musically

inclined, but she's an appreciator.

347

:

her taste was very specific.

348

:

So it's, I don't, and I think she

doesn't think of herself as a influence

349

:

on like our musicality because she,

uh, tone deaf is kind of a mean

350

:

word, but like she doesn't, she can't

identify pitches, she doesn't play

351

:

anything, but she's an appreciator.

352

:

And when it comes to art, the

appreciator is invaluable.

353

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I got taken to

a lot of country concerts when I was a kid

354

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Oh, cool.

355

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: um, I was,

instead of giving me a babysitter,

356

:

they just took me with them.

357

:

So I got to see Alabama and I got to

see Travis Trit and Marty Stewart, and

358

:

I got to see George Jones and, uh, Alan

Jackson and Vince Gill, maybe seven times.

359

:

I saw Vince Gill lots of times.

360

:

He was my mom and sister's favorite.

361

:

the Sawyer Brown Band.

362

:

All kinds of stuff.

363

:

And then with my friends, I got to

see, uh, Janet Jackson and Tina Turner.

364

:

That was really cool.

365

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I, uh,

went to my first like concert in high

366

:

school, but when we were kids we did

go, Lexington has a bluegrass festival

367

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: mm-hmm.

368

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

that is a lot of fun.

369

:

They get some really good acts.

370

:

And we did go.

371

:

I got, I'm pretty sure all three

of us, but I know for sure I

372

:

got taken to it a few times.

373

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: The first

concert I went to on my own was Bus.

374

:

No, no doubt.

375

:

And Goo Dolls.

376

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: He told me.

377

:

That's awesome.

378

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Yeah, that was pretty good.

379

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mine was

Alanis Morissette and, Tori Amos.

380

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Did

you get to go to Lili Fair?

381

:

I went twice.

382

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: jealous.

383

:

I wanted to go so bad.

384

:

You know what I did do though?

385

:

I bought the official Lilith fair

songbook with, all the guitar

386

:

arrangements and I learned all the

songs from the Lilith Fair Album.

387

:

Every single one of them.

388

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: awesome.

389

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: there must have

been a retrospective recently or maybe

390

:

they're doing another one, I don't know.

391

:

But there's a lot of, um, discourse now

on like TikTok and social media about

392

:

how everywhere they went, they booked

local acts and some of them got, were

393

:

basically launched by Lilith Fair.

394

:

And I swear to God, one

of them was Erica Badu.

395

:

I don't think Badu is

how you say her name.

396

:

That's my accent y'all.

397

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

I am a big fan of hers.

398

:

Yeah.

399

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I put some

more shit on the wheel or what have you.

400

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Woo-hoo.

401

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: So

let's spin and see what we get.

402

:

Uh, playing it straight slash normiey.

403

:

So, uh, basically,

404

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

once married to a gay man.

405

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: oh,

who was your first beard though?

406

:

Was it, was that it?

407

:

Did you like pretend with anybody else?

408

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I had, uh,

two, well, no, nobody thought Jonas was

409

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I.

410

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: so that

411

:

never worked.

412

:

He was like, my prom date

and, and stuff like that.

413

:

but Mike, uh, my brother was so

surprised when he asked me if we'd

414

:

ever slept together and I was like, no.

415

:

And he was like, I, with all that

time, you guys spent alone and stuff.

416

:

And I was like, you just don't

understand how gay works apparently.

417

:

no, never.

418

:

Not once.

419

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: uh, no I don't.

420

:

Yeah, they, uh, because straight

men anyway, I don't know about,

421

:

how women feel like cis straight

men, sex or, or just intimacy.

422

:

Like romantic intimacy

is a foregone conclusion.

423

:

Like they assume it's at the end of

every interaction with the opposite sex.

424

:

So like on a long enough timeline,

they've slept with every woman they know.

425

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

426

:

Well, Mike, Mike and I got our,

uh, first apartment together, when

427

:

I left school, and he did too.

428

:

and then we got married when we

lived in that first apartment.

429

:

And then we were married

for three and a half years.

430

:

and then I moved to Lexington

with him for a while.

431

:

We're still friends to this day.

432

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Well,

I mean, you would be, because

433

:

that's no matter what goes down,

that's a bonding experience.

434

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

435

:

And like his mom was my

mother-in-law for a while.

436

:

Right.

437

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mm-hmm.

438

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: like,

439

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I mean,

you participated in a, a social,

440

:

an American social institution in a

queer way, social institutions have

441

:

a lot of tributaries that go off.

442

:

They, it branches off into, other

things like whether you see marriage

443

:

as a sacrament in, in a religious

sense or, or whatever it is.

444

:

Certainly, a, you know,

sociopolitical binding institution.

445

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah, the

first girl that I really dated, um,

446

:

and not seriously or anything, just

the first girl that I went out with,

447

:

she was in a similar arrangement, but

she was with a bye guy and he took it

448

:

way more seriously than she did because

she was a hundred percent a lesbian.

449

:

And that

450

:

caused a lot of drama in their relat.

451

:

He loved her

452

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Oh yeah.

453

:

That's tough.

454

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: then she

invited me over and it was awkward, so,

455

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: That sucks.

456

:

That was kind of my experience.

457

:

I not being out or anything.

458

:

Uh, for the longest time, like when

I started dating, I had, I remember

459

:

having two boyfriends in middle school.

460

:

one was your typical relationship by,

proximity was just hung out all the time.

461

:

We were, we were babysat by this

family and the o uh, the oldest

462

:

son of this family, all the parents

were shipping us really hard.

463

:

They were like talking all the

time about how cute we were

464

:

together and stuff like that.

465

:

And I knew, I absolutely knew by that

time I was not interested in dating

466

:

men, uh, not interested in dating boys.

467

:

but we just kind of had to,

and I felt bad for him because.

468

:

I really think he absolutely adored me.

469

:

And he, he did things that like in a time

like sixth grade, a, a, a boy is risking

470

:

his peer status by being authentic and

earnest in regard to dating a girl, right?

471

:

they're just, you're just coming out of

that oo cooties stage of the other one.

472

:

And your peers are still kind of

looking at you for it's incredibly

473

:

uncool to take things seriously.

474

:

And he would do the occasional, not

constant, but the occasional like

475

:

romantic gesture I don't know if it

was my birthday or Valentine's Day, but

476

:

he like saved up his money to buy me a

rose, and I think I dumped him that day.

477

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Oh

478

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: He

borrowed money from his sister.

479

:

I found out all about this later and I

was like, I am the worst person ever.

480

:

But I couldn't tell the truth like I,

'cause there was no good reason not to.

481

:

That's the way relationships

work for straight people.

482

:

And our listeners who are our

age will know that if they're

483

:

straight, like it's proximity you.

484

:

Your choices, your Pickens are from the

people that aren't your closest relative

485

:

from down the holler.

486

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yep.

487

:

Every boyfriend I had to save one.

488

:

I have one that, that isn't, but

the rest of them are all gay.

489

:

I had a lot of boyfriends, but there

were boys that I talked to and stuff,

490

:

you know, I only had, I could really

only say one official boyfriend

491

:

and he's the one that's not gay.

492

:

there was a kid that I was

really good friends with and he

493

:

had like a super crush on me.

494

:

Like he would write me love

letters and um, he would call

495

:

me and sing everything I do.

496

:

I do it for you and Eddie anymore by

497

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

Oh, that was my jam for years.

498

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

499

:

And so like, he was really sweet.

500

:

Turns out he's gay.

501

:

Right.

502

:

Um, and I, I think that has something

to do with me being the most

503

:

masculine woman they could find.

504

:

And they being the most

feminine man I could find.

505

:

because they were all

flaming, like all of 'em.

506

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I

see this, trend of people who

507

:

are, to me clearly, lesbians.

508

:

Like remember we talked

about the four H lesbian?

509

:

I Choose men who are essentially.

510

:

Also lesbians, like big, fluffy,

chubby, furry, um, soft-hearted men

511

:

that they feel safe around and they have

a lot in common with that, see those

512

:

as tantamount to lavender marriages.

513

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I get that.

514

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I

was not very good at acting

515

:

straight, um, the whole time.

516

:

Um, I was in Jellico, but I've mentioned

before, you know, my mom coaching

517

:

me on how to act like a girl and

how to act like, you know, basically

518

:

fly under the radar at Williamsburg.

519

:

And I dated one person.

520

:

No, that's not true.

521

:

I dated two people, but one

of them was a horror show.

522

:

I dated one person, when I was, the

whole time I was at Williamsburg.

523

:

And he was sweet and we're still friends.

524

:

Um, and we stayed friends even

after my friend group was all guys.

525

:

And I think I just, uh, assumed let

everybody else who saw that assume

526

:

I was sleeping with all of them.

527

:

and I just, um, when we were, you know,

actually it was on the way to that

528

:

Atlantis Morissette, Tory Amos concert.

529

:

I told my best friend Ben that I was gay.

530

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I

had a best friend, Dame Ben.

531

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

532

:

That was the first time I told

anybody and I was like, and

533

:

it happened very similarly.

534

:

If you've heard Trixie Mattel's coming

out story, it, it's, it was so eerie to

535

:

me that it happened so similarly, but,

uh, he was driving and, um, we were just

536

:

talking and I don't know how it came up

and I just said, yeah, I don't really.

537

:

Like guys.

538

:

And he was like, none of them, like,

you just haven't met any, or, and I

539

:

was like, I don't think that I'm ever

gonna meet one that I like that way.

540

:

And he was like, is it?

541

:

So It's like, is it girls for you?

542

:

And I was like, yeah, I think so.

543

:

And he was like, really quiet.

544

:

And I was like, oh my God, I

just lost my closest friend.

545

:

And he was like, well, do

you like anybody at school?

546

:

And we, like, he immediately switched

to treating me like just, just his bro.

547

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: awesome,

548

:

My, my coming out story to friends,

um, basically I got them drunk and told

549

:

them and they were both like, me too.

550

:

Um,

551

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: mad dog 2020.

552

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: yeah, and then

my parents, I came out in the porn shop.

553

:

, My mom was really upset when I

554

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mm-hmm.

555

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I guess

all of her religious training

556

:

came out and she was really upset.

557

:

And I remember I was living

in the dorms when it happened.

558

:

And she would call me and that's

when long distance was still a

559

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mm-hmm.

560

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: And she would

call me and we would fight and fight and

561

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Lord.

562

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: and I'd finally

get off the phone and I'd go down to

563

:

the bathroom and wash my face and come

back to my room and the phone would

564

:

be ringing again and it would be mom.

565

:

And eventually she was

like, are you happy?

566

:

And I was like, yes, I am happier

than I've been in a long time.

567

:

And she was like, well,

that's all I want for you.

568

:

And that was kind of the end

of her fighting me about it.

569

:

She didn't throw religion at me

again after that or, or anything.

570

:

She just decided that I was happy and

that that was good enough for her.

571

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mm-hmm.

572

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

she didn't come to my wedding.

573

:

So I mean, she still had.

574

:

Misgivings about it, my mom and

dad, because my, my, my grandmother,

575

:

my adopted father's mom died the

day before, my wedding, which you

576

:

couldn't plan for or whatever.

577

:

I'm still kind of bitter about it though

because my mama was the kind of person

578

:

her and my papa had, had their funerals

paid for since like:

579

:

So all they had to do was call the,

the county and let her know, let 'em

580

:

know, come get her, and everything was

paid for, everything was taken care of.

581

:

They just had to show up to

the funeral three days later.

582

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Hmm,

583

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: really

no reason why they couldn't

584

:

have come, but they, that's

why they said they didn't come.

585

:

And then my sister said she

could get off work, even though

586

:

I gave her six months to do it.

587

:

Um, so, so it was my one niece, my

best friend, and my dad, my biological

588

:

father, and then Shana's family.

589

:

And that was everybody at my wedding.

590

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Hmm.

591

:

I'm sorry,

592

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: It's okay.

593

:

We, we, we spent a total of $600

on our wedding, and that was the

594

:

venue, the dresses, the rings,

the photographer, everything.

595

:

We had a friend do the photography

and we rented out this, it's

596

:

an old post office that they've

597

:

renovated into a, like banquet hall.

598

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I remember

the pictures you posted online.

599

:

They were so cool.

600

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Uh, my friend

Mike did those, they rented it to us

601

:

for an hour and gave us 12 chairs.

602

:

So we, we knew it was gonna be small,

you know, we got our clothes on Amazon.

603

:

Shanna got wooden, she got bamboo

flowers and hand dyed them ourselves

604

:

and, and made a really beautiful

605

:

bouquet.

606

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I love,

like just redneck out weddings,

607

:

you know, like people we're like,

we have a hundred dollars a piece.

608

:

What can we get done with this?

609

:

And the, the,

610

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: some

stories about redneck weddings.

611

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: well, I

mean, because the other version of

612

:

playing it straight is, being, redneck

or it's kind of code switching, right?

613

:

It's being out in the world when

you share next to nothing with

614

:

people, the people you're hanging,

you're with, you're working with

615

:

or whatever, representing yourself.

616

:

I, I always feel like I represent

all of Appalachia or all of Kentucky

617

:

every time I open my mouth out here.

618

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: when I was

a wedding photographer, I worked for

619

:

a studio that was right on the line of

Greenup County and Lewis County, Kentucky.

620

:

and it was on the Lewis County side and

a little tiny town called Fire brick.

621

:

And so, um, we shot a

lot of weddings, right?

622

:

Every weekend during wedding

season that we had weddings.

623

:

And so, this one wedding, it was a

July 4th wedding and they had it in the

624

:

backyard and it was a double wedding,

And so it was a backyard wedding.

625

:

So they had bales of hay

for everybody to sit on.

626

:

There were rows of bales of hay.

627

:

And so it was one girl's wedding, and

then she got forced to let her cousin

628

:

also get married on the same day.

629

:

the forced, the, the second

wedding, she was pregnant, like

630

:

very, very visibly pregnant,

like eight, nine months pregnant.

631

:

Yeah.

632

:

So we get through the, we get

through the pictures or whatever.

633

:

And so when you're doing a, a wedding, um,

you do the ceremony and then immediately

634

:

after the ceremony, everybody stands

around and you do the group photos, right?

635

:

Like the, the whole, the whole cast

of, of characters that are there.

636

:

Then you get to bride and groom with mom

and dad and then with brother and sister.

637

:

And you go through all those pictures

in the, in the five minutes it

638

:

took to, to set the equipment that

you get a light up or get your

639

:

camera ready or whatever it is.

640

:

And in the five minutes it took us

to, to flip from ceremony over to

641

:

doing those photos, um, the mother

of the bride had gone in the trailer,

642

:

'cause again, it was in the backyard.

643

:

She had gone in the trailer and

put on a nightgown with a giant

644

:

teddy bear on it and a hole.

645

:

And half of, when we were doing

the, the wedding party, half

646

:

of 'em were smoking cigarettes.

647

:

And they wouldn't let, they wouldn't

put 'em out to take the photos.

648

:

So their wedding pictures,

I'll have all kinds of people

649

:

with, with cigarettes in 'em.

650

:

Like that was the most redneck

wedding I've ever been to in my life,

651

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

What was the deal with the

652

:

nightgown and the teddy bear?

653

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: she

just wanted out of the itchy formal

654

:

clothes, so everybody else was still

in their tuxes and, and white dress,

655

:

and she's there in a nightgown.

656

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Oh, I, I guess,

657

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah,

that's, that's what we said too.

658

:

had interesting folks.

659

:

I don't know if you've

ever been through Lewis

660

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I haven't, and,

661

:

is that northern, on the northern

side of, uh, Eastern Kentucky.

662

:

Okay.

663

:

I, but I was, uh, at one wedding that

was, these folks were party animals, these

664

:

two, and I mean like hard drug party party

types, like it was, it was interesting.

665

:

But the night before.

666

:

They did the bachelor party, I guess, and

one of the groomsmen, he may have been

667

:

like, what's the head groomsman called?

668

:

Man of honor.

669

:

Best man.

670

:

he got reeled lit up and put on

his tux and jumped in the pool.

671

:

it ruined it, right?

672

:

It like, I don't know what happens.

673

:

I don't know what it was made out of,

but it had changed it colors from the

674

:

chlorine and, so the next day was the

wedding and he couldn't get the tux.

675

:

you know, he couldn't wear it at all.

676

:

The only other thing he had to

wear was a pair of pajama pants

677

:

with Budweiser printed on them.

678

:

And, and all of these

like strung out people.

679

:

The whole wedding party looked

like they had just been, they, they

680

:

really lived it up the night before.

681

:

and it was like at, at a venue.

682

:

Um, and I'm putting that in quotation

marks because it was just a public park

683

:

and we just went and got one of the

bench, one of the bench areas there.

684

:

And they like strung some Christmas

lights along a ridge line like tree line.

685

:

And then the, the bride, she had

also done like a, an Amazon dress.

686

:

She walked up it and there was this

motley looking groom, party with this

687

:

dude in his Budweiser pajama pants.

688

:

And uh, then we all just

ate a bunch of potato salad.

689

:

'cause that was the, I guess

everybody wanted to show off that.

690

:

I don't know if there was some war about

whose potato salad was better, but I

691

:

swear there was like one main thing.

692

:

And then five potato salad dishes.

693

:

I will never forget that one.

694

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I

went to a weed wedding once.

695

:

A weed themed wedding.

696

:

'cause I shot probably 200 5300 weddings

across my time as a photographer.

697

:

I've seen a lot.

698

:

but the weed themed wedding, like

they just had joints going 24 7

699

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: my God.

700

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: 'em around.

701

:

Yeah.

702

:

Like the great, the great parents or

the grandparents and the parents and,

703

:

um, the, the wedding party, the guests,

they had bowls going around all kinds.

704

:

It was wild,

705

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: get, I mean,

that tracks because especially in the,

706

:

in the nineties and, and, uh, early two

thousands people were, who were into

707

:

weed, like that was their personality.

708

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: yeah, for sure.

709

:

Okay.

710

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: if, if I were

to, if I were to tell any one of, not

711

:

even the worst or, or most outlandish

stories to any of my normie friends.

712

:

I become, it's like I'm, I am in that

soft white underbelly show, right?

713

:

Where everyone's like very

seriously listening to me as

714

:

though I'm unloading trauma.

715

:

And I'm like, that's not

what's happening here.

716

:

This is funny because it's,

it's just what, it's us.

717

:

This is what we do.

718

:

I think people still can't really

get their head around the fact

719

:

that our lives are just, like that.

720

:

I'm not sure what one of my friends from

like here would do if I just plopped

721

:

them to any, into any random gathering

722

:

back home.

723

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Right.

724

:

Throw 'em into a pig roast and see

725

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

726

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: The first time

I ever tried beer was at a pig roast.

727

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Um.

728

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

brother got drunk 'cause that

729

:

was his job at 14 or whatever.

730

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Right.

731

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: but he gave

732

:

me a drink of his beer.

733

:

He gave me his a drink of it

and ugh, it was disgusting.

734

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I hated it.

735

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

been a beer fan.

736

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I mean,

of course it's an acquired taste.

737

:

It's one of those things that

like, I don't believe anybody

738

:

actually likes until they try it.

739

:

But I do miss the taste of it,

like since giving up drinking and

740

:

partying and stuff, like, there are

times when I'm like, God, uh, like

741

:

I'll, I'll crave a specific flavor.

742

:

But yeah, the first one I had, I, it,

743

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

That's how I am with cigarettes.

744

:

You never get over it.

745

:

So like I remember one day I was sitting

in my car and it was hot and I had the

746

:

window down and I looked over and the

guy was in a big truck next to me and he

747

:

flipped a cigarette up in his mouth and

he lit it and took a big, deep breath.

748

:

And I was like.

749

:

Ah,

750

:

I could just feel the smoke in my lungs

and the, the release of tension that you

751

:

get with that first puff, and it's been

10, 12 years now since I quit smoking,

752

:

so I don't think you ever get over that.

753

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: it's a flavor.

754

:

It's, it's delicious.

755

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah,

756

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I was 16 and,

uh, delivering pizzas the first time

757

:

I was offered beer and, and took it.

758

:

Um, 'cause I went to a, a party with some

coworkers there and they gave me Achilles,

759

:

Irish red, which is maybe kind of jumping

in the deep end when you first try beer.

760

:

And I about gagged.

761

:

I was like, this is disgusting.

762

:

I was trying to play it cool.

763

:

Like I wasn't just

hanging on for dear life.

764

:

but yeah, I did not finish that thing.

765

:

And then, you know, 10 years later

I would've, that would've been

766

:

like a delicious drink for me.

767

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: right.

768

:

I always drank wine coolers

'cause I was that kind of girl.

769

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

I that, yeah, I did.

770

:

Drank those, in high school.

771

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

I, I always drank Zema too.

772

:

Zema was my favorite.

773

:

And then the Bartles and James

Strawberry, they were really good.

774

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: because,

yeah, there was a strawberry daiquiri

775

:

something or other, uh, wine cooler

that I really liked at this one.

776

:

I went to a, a cabin party one time.

777

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: did

you ever drink Strawberry Hill?

778

:

Uh, farm.

779

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yes.

780

:

Um, yeah.

781

:

Uh, in college, the, like, the,

um, the $2, um, is, is a litre,

782

:

I think it's, uh, wine is a litre

of Boone's Farm was a, big seller.

783

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: One time my

parents came to Cincinnati to Oxford to

784

:

pick me up for like Christmas or whatever.

785

:

I didn't have my car for whatever reason.

786

:

um, my sister came with them and they,

'cause my sister's six years older than

787

:

me and they had gone Christmas shopping

at the mall on their way to pick me up.

788

:

And when they picked me up,

my sister had two bottles of

789

:

Strawberry Farm in the backseat.

790

:

And, um, challenged me

to a chugging contest,

791

:

which she beat me at so bad.

792

:

Like so bad.

793

:

And we sat there in the back of the car

and got drunk and then we drove home.

794

:

Like that's one of the only, I

think that's the only time I ever

795

:

got drunk with my sister, like ever

796

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

you know, I was thinking about

797

:

okay.

798

:

I can't remember who I was talking to.

799

:

Oh, I, I was hanging out with some,

some writer friends from Kentucky,

800

:

virtually a few weeks ago, and one

of them brought up card games like.

801

:

uh, our, our family loved

games we would have game night.

802

:

I remember this going back to

like when I was a very small kid.

803

:

As soon as the others were

big enough to, to do anything,

804

:

we start playing board games.

805

:

And I don't even remember it being

a set, like on Thursdays, we, as

806

:

a family play, you know, sorry,

we just did it all the time.

807

:

We would go, Hey, let's play some games.

808

:

And it would be everybody.

809

:

Like it was a fair suggestion at any

given evening and we would all pretty

810

:

much be like, hell yeah, let's do it.

811

:

And as we got older, we got to more

complex games, and a lot of card

812

:

games, but we played Rook a lot.

813

:

Have you ever played Rook?

814

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: No,

our games were euchre and oh shit.

815

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Rook is,

it's played with a proprietary deck,

816

:

so it's not a standard deck of cards.

817

:

There's a, a version called Setback.

818

:

You can play with a standard deck.

819

:

So when, when I went off to college,

we would come back home on weekends

820

:

or something and bring our friends and

party at mom and dad's house and we

821

:

would play games while we were drinking

at mom and dad's house with them.

822

:

And I absolutely, those are some

of my favorite memories, especially

823

:

of like drinking with my family

around because my mom never drank.

824

:

And my dad, he would have like one or two.

825

:

but David would like stay for,

I guess like hanging out with

826

:

us was like pre-gaming for him.

827

:

Like he was a hard, he was

really into pills by that time.

828

:

So he would have drinks with us and play

games and then go out and do whatever he

829

:

got up to and we wouldn't see him until.

830

:

The next afternoon.

831

:

But those are some of my favorite

memories of just playing, playing

832

:

Rook with my parents and friends and

I'm, you know, Vanessa was there.

833

:

She just wasn't partying with us.

834

:

She never was into that

stuff like we were.

835

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Yeah, grandparents

836

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I

837

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: over like

several nights a week and they would have

838

:

massive euchre tournaments, um, to the

point they bought a trophy to pass around.

839

:

yeah, it, it was my

grandparents versus my parents.

840

:

And we had more fun

with them playing cards.

841

:

And then, oh, shit was

a precursor to phase 10.

842

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Hmm.

843

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: There

were seven rounds and you had to get

844

:

different hand, a different kind of

hand every time you went through.

845

:

It played with two decks.

846

:

we, we played epic games of cards.

847

:

Um, and then after, after we moved to

Lucasville, um, that kind of changed.

848

:

I don't remember them ever coming over

to play after we moved to Lucasville,

849

:

which is sad.

850

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Well, and

David, uh, joined the Army in:

851

:

and I had dropped out, I

think again, probably by then.

852

:

I was off, I was, didn't,

wasn't coming home as much.

853

:

So it, it really, um, it was our,

our whole childhood of games.

854

:

And then up until like our

early twenties we did that.

855

:

and me and David were so, um, good at We

weren't allowed to play on the same team.

856

:

They, they banned us from playing

on the same team because we could

857

:

communicate without saying anything.

858

:

And so we were just unbeatable.

859

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Shanna and I

860

:

play a lot of uh yi.

861

:

We play a lot of Yi.

862

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Y

863

:

I've been playing solitaire lately.

864

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Do you play Wordle still?

865

:

Have you ever been a Wordle player?

866

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

yeah, I was actually a really,

867

:

uh, intense wordle player.

868

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

Now you can play the archive.

869

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: the archive.

870

:

Lemme see.

871

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yes.

872

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I'll find it

873

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

all the games, they?

874

:

have a new

875

:

game called Pips.

876

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I

thought they pay walled it.

877

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Oh, they did.

878

:

I pay $4 a month to play.

879

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Okay.

880

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: But

that's, I mean, it's a dollar a week

881

:

and it's totally worth it to me.

882

:

'cause I like the puzzles so much.

883

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

884

:

I was playing that a lot

when I was a recruiter.

885

:

just spent a lot of time on my phone in

the, in the hotels and Airbnbs and stuff.

886

:

I was also very intense words with

friends player, super competitive.

887

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: yeah,

888

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Well,

let's hear from this week's sponsor

889

:

so we can, we can pay the bills.

890

:

this week's, uh, episode is sponsored

by Rusted Out four by four trucks.

891

:

I.

892

:

The official vehicles of anyone

who's ever said, I can fix that

893

:

while holding a wrench, saying a

prayer, and having absolutely no

894

:

business getting under that hood.

895

:

These trucks are autobiographies

on oversized wheels.

896

:

They've got stories written in every dent.

897

:

Every patch of Bondo love letters from

gravel roads, creek crossings, and the

898

:

time somebody misjudged the distance

between the barn and the propane tank.

899

:

A modified Rusty four by four is equal

parts engineering and imagination.

900

:

A lift kit installed by a cousin

who failed English and can't get a

901

:

license but speaks Chevy fluently.

902

:

Headlights that only come on

if you tap the dash twice.

903

:

Crisscross buns and whisper please.

904

:

Tailgate held shut with a bungee cord

from a:

905

:

it comes up from the mud puddle for

air, the rusty patina sparkles like

906

:

a fine autumn ombre of varnish.

907

:

Decades of JB weld and rustoleum

paint a picture of tenacity

908

:

and queer coated swagger.

909

:

The occasional roar of defiance

is audible among the mechanical

910

:

smoker's cough pulsing under the hood.

911

:

These rigs are freedom machines.

912

:

They'll get you to work to the dollar

store to the top of a ridge where

913

:

no one judges your outfit choices.

914

:

And if you're lucky to the house

party down the holler where

915

:

someone strung up Christmas lights

and declared it a nightclub.

916

:

Every queer kid in the mountains knows

the power of a rusty four by four.

917

:

It's camouflage and defiance all at once.

918

:

You can roll into town unnoticed,

but you can also roll right back

919

:

out when the vibes get weird.

920

:

It's a getaway car, a pride

parade float, and most of all,

921

:

ornamentation and signification

of your toughness and ingenuity.

922

:

So here's to them.

923

:

Trucks that shake when they

idle, rattle when they accelerate

924

:

and seemingly exercise.

925

:

Some old but not forgotten astral

entity when you turn on the ac.

926

:

Here's to the rigs that shouldn't

pass inspection, but do anyway because

927

:

the inspector is that friend your

aunts that comes around every family

928

:

function for the past 30 years.

929

:

Here's to the four by fours

that keep going year after

930

:

questionable year, powered by fresh

oil and raw, high octane spite

931

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I've

932

:

known and loved many,

a four by four truck.

933

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I noticed that.

934

:

I'm on this medicine for like many

of these pain medicines and, I

935

:

have become a talkative hoe lately.

936

:

Anytime somebody lets me talk, I

just go, I, I was writing that one.

937

:

I was like, this is like three

times longer than some of

938

:

the other sponsors I've done.

939

:

Oh, well suck it.

940

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734:

That's just my natural state.

941

:

My cousin tells a story, um,

'cause I was like the next to

942

:

last youngest cousin in my family.

943

:

So the other cousins often got

put in charge of my care at family

944

:

functions and stuff like that.

945

:

And I have a cousin who was a big

bad marine and like, I was like

946

:

three and he was like 20, right?

947

:

So he's that much older than me.

948

:

uh, he told me a story cause we

always kept a pool in the backyard

949

:

and he said that I jump in the

pool and he comes in after me.

950

:

He said I was running my mouth when

I jumped in the pool and when he

951

:

pulled me up, I was still running my

mouth when I came out of the pool.

952

:

He said I never stopped.

953

:

So I've been like this since birth,

954

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734:

well, I mean, you know, rednecks

955

:

in general can spin a yarn.

956

:

Not everybody is super talkative, but

there is always one topic you can get

957

:

somebody going on and they'll go for days.

958

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: How good are

you at making friends with random people?

959

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: if, if I

decide to do it, I can easily, I interact

960

:

with strangers so easily and can,

can do a lot of, I can build a lot of

961

:

rapport in a very short amount of time.

962

:

, It takes less, um, emotional effort

for me to pay very close attention

963

:

to other people than it, it might

if I had grown up differently.

964

:

I don't know if that makes any sense.

965

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

966

:

You're vigilant.

967

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah, kind of.

968

:

And I just like people, I

don't trust all of them.

969

:

I don't love all of them, but I'm

very interested in how people work and

970

:

just like learning things about 'em.

971

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: I think

you have to have a little bit of

972

:

that in you to be a good teacher.

973

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Mm-hmm.

974

:

I saw a TikTok of, a guy.

975

:

There's a, there's a couple, a

couple black guys talking, and one

976

:

of 'em said, why don't I ever hear.

977

:

Of, uh, white people go into their

cousins houses or hanging out with their

978

:

cousins or talking about their cousins.

979

:

And so la lately my thing has been more

about reading comments on tiktoks and

980

:

stuff, and a lot of people are like,

yeah, I never, uh, you know, I'm lying.

981

:

I never really hang out with my cousin.

982

:

All these people are like, I have

all these white friends and they

983

:

never talk about their cousin.

984

:

And so I was like, you don't

know any rednecks then.

985

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Right.

986

:

That's exactly right.

987

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: you're

not hanging out with rednecks.

988

:

The kind of, the kind of white

people you know are the kind that

989

:

don't need their cousins for,

they don't need close family ties.

990

:

But my cousins were basically siblings.

991

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: Yeah.

992

:

my mom watched a lot of 'em.

993

:

my mom was a, not a babysitter, but she

was a common place for kids to end up,

994

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: Yeah.

995

:

beck_12_11-15-2025_111734: especially

when they lived in Cleveland and stuff.

996

:

My, my, my cousins that live up there,

um, she was integral in their childhood.

997

:

I.

998

:

dash_12_11-15-2025_101734: I noticed that

when I started working in higher ed and,

999

:

really engaging, with more people of color

So all of my education about development

:

00:42:58,532 --> 00:43:03,182

was from my own development, which was

a very, it was a fairly white lens.

:

00:43:03,752 --> 00:43:08,312

And as I got older, I got a more diverse

friend group and that developmental

:

00:43:08,312 --> 00:43:10,472

stage had already been left behind.

:

00:43:11,102 --> 00:43:17,402

So when I started working with young

people, I was really astonished by

:

00:43:17,402 --> 00:43:21,872

the similarities between what the

students of color at this particular

:

00:43:21,872 --> 00:43:26,039

university I worked at had in

common with, Appalachia, right?

:

00:43:26,039 --> 00:43:28,409

With like white trash,

like those commonalities.

:

00:43:28,469 --> 00:43:31,919

And I was like, I didn't wanna

tell, I did not tell them that.

:

00:43:31,919 --> 00:43:34,109

'cause that sounds really

weird and invalidating.

:

00:43:34,109 --> 00:43:38,279

But, The more I interact and learn about

it and, and talk to people about it.

:

00:43:38,279 --> 00:43:42,389

Like when, when I meet peers and stuff,

I'll say like, that is an experience that

:

00:43:42,389 --> 00:43:44,099

sounds very similar to this one I had.

:

00:43:44,099 --> 00:43:47,009

And you know, a lot of black folks

have told me that they found the

:

00:43:47,009 --> 00:43:50,699

same thing, like that white trash

have had very similar experiences

:

00:43:51,119 --> 00:43:53,429

in, in their youth that they had.

:

00:43:54,117 --> 00:43:57,387

Of course, southern culture and black

culture are similar, have a lot of

:

00:43:57,387 --> 00:44:02,697

similarities for that very glaring,

obvious reason of the fact that, southern

:

00:44:02,697 --> 00:44:05,247

culture comes from enslaved people

:

00:44:05,649 --> 00:44:05,999

-:

:

00:44:06,546 --> 00:44:08,556

-:

there's no getting around that shit.

:

00:44:09,145 --> 00:44:10,105

The banjo

:

00:44:10,231 --> 00:44:10,451

-:

:

00:44:10,451 --> 00:44:12,011

you think white people

came up with fried chicken

:

00:44:12,393 --> 00:44:14,678

-:

:

00:44:14,816 --> 00:44:15,506

-:

:

00:44:15,926 --> 00:44:16,616

Nope.

:

00:44:16,916 --> 00:44:18,746

We didn't even come up

with ranch dressing.

:

00:44:20,003 --> 00:44:20,633

-:

:

00:44:20,771 --> 00:44:22,211

-:

was invented by a black man.

:

00:44:22,619 --> 00:44:23,849

-:

you see that movie Sinners?

:

00:44:23,849 --> 00:44:23,969

-:

:

00:44:24,273 --> 00:44:26,318

-:

know you're not a scary movie fan.

:

00:44:26,378 --> 00:44:26,918

Fan.

:

00:44:27,008 --> 00:44:28,118

Um, and it is scary.

:

00:44:28,118 --> 00:44:31,358

It's a vampire movie, but, I did

this reading of it, for another

:

00:44:31,358 --> 00:44:37,358

podcast about, uh, basically a

post-colonial reading of that film.

:

00:44:37,478 --> 00:44:42,971

And there's so much cool stuff in

there about like, the whitewashing

:

00:44:42,971 --> 00:44:44,651

of the Irish, for instance.

:

00:44:44,831 --> 00:44:50,321

Um, the, the banjo and like music, it's

music is a big theme in that, but also

:

00:44:50,321 --> 00:44:52,451

the, just the colo coloniality of music.

:

00:44:52,451 --> 00:44:56,111

and I just thought, I don't know, I

think it's a, it is an amazing film.

:

00:44:56,111 --> 00:44:59,231

I think it, like it, I don't, I

think we left it alone too quickly.

:

00:44:59,231 --> 00:45:01,451

There was way more to be

said about that movie.

:

00:45:02,169 --> 00:45:04,629

I think it needs to be

like fucking studied.

:

00:45:04,629 --> 00:45:05,619

It needs to be in syllabi.

:

00:45:05,829 --> 00:45:06,969

It's genius.

:

00:45:06,969 --> 00:45:07,999

-:

Maybe I'll check it out.

:

00:45:08,564 --> 00:45:11,389

not the first person to bring up

a, a, horror movie or whatever.

:

00:45:11,389 --> 00:45:13,759

recently, so maybe I need

to give it another shot.

:

00:45:13,999 --> 00:45:15,709

I just can't do the blood and the gore.

:

00:45:15,709 --> 00:45:17,989

Like, I like psychological thrillers.

:

00:45:17,989 --> 00:45:21,289

I just don't like, you know,

except for the Baba Duke, I'm

:

00:45:21,289 --> 00:45:22,669

not a big fan of monsters.

:

00:45:23,045 --> 00:45:25,450

-:

and it's very difficult because a

:

00:45:25,450 --> 00:45:31,175

lot of the most like, disruptive

and transgressive interesting and

:

00:45:31,175 --> 00:45:36,865

difficult questions are being asked in

the horror genre and if someone finds

:

00:45:36,865 --> 00:45:39,895

that difficult, it kind of, they're

kind of excluded from it, you know?

:

00:45:39,895 --> 00:45:44,095

But that genre just can hold

those things more easily.

:

00:45:44,095 --> 00:45:48,235

We just not doing that in other

genres and sinners is a bloodbath.

:

00:45:49,015 --> 00:45:52,165

It's, I mean, if you have problems

with blood, you're gonna struggle.

:

00:45:52,165 --> 00:45:52,455

-:

:

00:45:54,149 --> 00:45:57,839

Is, desperately trying to get me this

to watch a, uh, John Wick Wick film.

:

00:45:58,229 --> 00:46:01,049

Um, I forget which one, but one

of the John Wick films and I

:

00:46:01,049 --> 00:46:02,399

was like, it's just so violent.

:

00:46:02,609 --> 00:46:04,139

Football is too violent for me.

:

00:46:04,139 --> 00:46:04,349

Like

:

00:46:04,511 --> 00:46:04,781

-:

:

00:46:04,799 --> 00:46:05,339

-:

:

00:46:06,059 --> 00:46:06,689

So,

:

00:46:07,001 --> 00:46:07,181

-:

:

00:46:07,181 --> 00:46:08,891

John Wick, I really liked those.

:

00:46:09,545 --> 00:46:13,475

There so much fighting

in it, A lot of action.

:

00:46:13,685 --> 00:46:15,185

It's very choreographed though.

:

00:46:15,185 --> 00:46:16,775

It's also very artistic.

:

00:46:17,525 --> 00:46:19,955

So yeah, there's, there's some

blood and stuff when they get

:

00:46:19,955 --> 00:46:23,255

stabbed and things, and a lot of

like painful looking injuries.

:

00:46:23,615 --> 00:46:27,335

But the fun of those, I think one of the

reasons that stands out in the action

:

00:46:27,365 --> 00:46:31,595

or those movies stand out in the action

genre is because of how beautifully

:

00:46:31,595 --> 00:46:33,815

choreographed the fight sequences are.

:

00:46:34,175 --> 00:46:37,019

Their art, we could

talk about movies a lot.

:

00:46:37,049 --> 00:46:38,044

We should review a movie.

:

00:46:38,479 --> 00:46:38,769

-:

:

00:46:39,061 --> 00:46:39,841

-:

you know what I'm talking about?

:

00:46:39,841 --> 00:46:44,311

Like review, like, um, it's like where we

just, we watch it and take notes on it and

:

00:46:44,311 --> 00:46:46,501

then we film ourselves talking about it.

:

00:46:46,694 --> 00:46:47,744

-:

:

00:46:48,566 --> 00:46:49,346

-:

We can give it a try.

:

00:46:49,346 --> 00:46:50,726

If it sucks, we don't have to release it.

:

00:46:51,809 --> 00:46:52,159

-:

:

00:46:52,509 --> 00:46:52,999

Exactly.

:

00:46:53,516 --> 00:46:54,416

-:

What should we review?

:

00:46:54,416 --> 00:46:55,046

Listeners?

:

00:46:55,046 --> 00:46:59,366

Give us some notes, comment on the, the

YouTube or wherever you're listening.

:

00:46:59,366 --> 00:47:03,056

Spotify, tell us a movie that,

um, you would be interested

:

00:47:03,056 --> 00:47:05,756

in hearing o cultural studies.

:

00:47:05,756 --> 00:47:07,106

Scholars review.

:

00:47:07,169 --> 00:47:09,959

May, maybe we will find a hidden

talent we didn't know we had.

:

00:47:10,901 --> 00:47:12,371

-:

crossing one eye at a time.

:

00:47:12,524 --> 00:47:13,334

-:

:

00:47:13,856 --> 00:47:15,041

-:

can do lots of crazy stuff.

:

00:47:17,903 --> 00:47:19,823

-:

at, to start filming in video.

:

00:47:23,771 --> 00:47:25,151

-:

don't know how I could walk

:

00:47:25,151 --> 00:47:26,171

around like this all day if I

:

00:47:26,213 --> 00:47:26,753

-:

:

00:47:26,831 --> 00:47:27,281

-:

:

00:47:27,293 --> 00:47:27,773

-:

:

00:47:27,773 --> 00:47:28,398

You could do that.

:

00:47:30,221 --> 00:47:31,001

-:

:

00:47:32,658 --> 00:47:32,878

-:

:

00:47:32,891 --> 00:47:33,251

-:

:

00:47:33,251 --> 00:47:34,241

been able to do it.

:

00:47:34,253 --> 00:47:38,243

-:

me a video of you doing that so I can post

:

00:47:38,243 --> 00:47:40,253

it with, like, post the audio with it?

:

00:47:40,253 --> 00:47:41,303

-:

:

00:47:41,759 --> 00:47:43,739

-:

can't talk about it and them not see it.

:

00:47:43,739 --> 00:47:45,004

They're gonna have to see it now.

:

00:47:46,157 --> 00:47:47,867

-:

either think it's really funny

:

00:47:47,867 --> 00:47:50,207

or they think it's the most

disgusting thing they've ever seen.

:

00:47:50,344 --> 00:47:50,634

-:

:

00:47:50,717 --> 00:47:52,217

-:

no middle ground there.

:

00:47:52,464 --> 00:47:53,699

-:

we'll give a trigger morning

:

00:47:53,699 --> 00:47:55,589

now that it's, it's eyeball.

:

00:47:55,769 --> 00:47:57,419

And I think, actually, I think I

know what you're talking about.

:

00:47:57,419 --> 00:47:59,009

Some people find eyeballs upsetting.

:

00:47:59,009 --> 00:47:59,299

-:

:

00:47:59,864 --> 00:48:01,454

-:

I, I think that's incredible.

:

00:48:02,291 --> 00:48:04,601

Do you wanna give us a noun

of Appalachian interest?

:

00:48:05,009 --> 00:48:07,589

-:

love to, I've got a, a place and a

:

00:48:07,589 --> 00:48:09,989

thing this week and at the same time,

:

00:48:10,031 --> 00:48:11,561

-:

lesser known nouns.

:

00:48:12,054 --> 00:48:13,674

-:

also dedicated to Shanna because

:

00:48:13,674 --> 00:48:15,054

she's the one that showed me these.

:

00:48:15,414 --> 00:48:18,654

Um, I had not heard of them, but after

researching them, they're very cool.

:

00:48:19,464 --> 00:48:19,944

All right.

:

00:48:20,274 --> 00:48:23,274

Um, if you've never been to West

Virginia, let me introduce you to one

:

00:48:23,274 --> 00:48:25,074

of the state's most dramatic hobbies.

:

00:48:25,314 --> 00:48:26,844

The almost heaven swing.

:

00:48:27,174 --> 00:48:31,014

Picture this your hike out onto a cliff,

expecting a nice overlook, maybe a

:

00:48:31,014 --> 00:48:33,204

bench, maybe a sign about local birds.

:

00:48:33,474 --> 00:48:36,714

Instead, you find a wooden swing

hanging from giant chains, inviting

:

00:48:36,714 --> 00:48:40,404

you to sit your whole queer body down

and glide over a drop that absolutely

:

00:48:40,404 --> 00:48:42,084

does not come with a warning label.

:

00:48:42,564 --> 00:48:45,684

Designed, built, and installed by

high school students in the state.

:

00:48:45,684 --> 00:48:49,224

There were around 50 of these swings

scattered across the state, now tucked

:

00:48:49,224 --> 00:48:52,854

into parks, perched on, overlooks,

and randomly appearing in places where

:

00:48:52,854 --> 00:48:56,364

you swear someone with a whimsical

streak and zero fear of height.

:

00:48:56,394 --> 00:48:57,444

Said, you know what?

:

00:48:57,444 --> 00:48:59,034

This cliff needs a vibe.

:

00:48:59,304 --> 00:48:59,419

-:

:

00:48:59,468 --> 00:49:01,478

-:

Instagram famous TikTok, loved and

:

00:49:01,478 --> 00:49:05,618

dangerously close to turning mild

risk taking into a state sport.

:

00:49:06,068 --> 00:49:09,788

In short, West Virginia built an Instagram

ready tourism experience that's half

:

00:49:09,788 --> 00:49:12,578

nature, half chaos, and fully Appalachian.

:

00:49:12,744 --> 00:49:16,584

The almost heaven swing is basically

West Virginia saying, , look, we've

:

00:49:16,584 --> 00:49:20,004

got mountains, rivers, and valleys,

but how about we strap a wooden plank

:

00:49:20,004 --> 00:49:23,204

to some chains to your ass so that

you can dangle off your body on the

:

00:49:23,204 --> 00:49:25,304

side of a cliff and call it relaxing.

:

00:49:26,084 --> 00:49:28,304

You can find these swings

scattered across the state.

:

00:49:28,304 --> 00:49:31,334

The view, oh, it's gorgeous,

rolling Appalachian hills, misty

:

00:49:31,334 --> 00:49:34,454

valleys and sunsets that make

you consider writing bad poetry.

:

00:49:34,814 --> 00:49:37,184

But you'll probably be too busy

clenching the chains and hoping

:

00:49:37,184 --> 00:49:38,414

your insurance is paid up.

:

00:49:38,864 --> 00:49:42,764

The thing about Albu heaven swing is

that it's pure Appalachian charm, equal

:

00:49:42,764 --> 00:49:46,844

parts beauty, danger, and a little bit,

hold my sweet tea while I try this.

:

00:49:47,679 --> 00:49:49,479

need a ticket, you don't

need a safety harness.

:

00:49:49,479 --> 00:49:52,659

And you definitely don't need an

explanation for why you're taking 42

:

00:49:52,659 --> 00:49:54,759

selfies from exactly the same angle.

:

00:49:55,149 --> 00:49:57,939

And let's be honest, the name almost

heaven is perfect, not because of

:

00:49:57,939 --> 00:50:00,879

the view, but because if you lean

on it too far back, you might just

:

00:50:00,879 --> 00:50:02,319

get there faster than you'd planned.

:

00:50:02,739 --> 00:50:05,589

So if you come across one of

these swings, go on and try it.

:

00:50:05,769 --> 00:50:09,189

Let the wind hit you, take in the view

and enjoy that strange mix of peace.

:

00:50:09,399 --> 00:50:13,809

And am I supposed to be doing this that

only a giant cliffside swing can give you?

:

00:50:14,299 --> 00:50:17,519

Because that's the thing about West,

by God, Virginia, it doesn't just

:

00:50:17,519 --> 00:50:21,389

give you a landscape, it hands you an

adventure and trust you to figure it out.

:

00:50:21,839 --> 00:50:25,169

Take the ride, snap the picture for

your Insta and enjoy the kind of moment,

:

00:50:25,169 --> 00:50:28,229

uh, you'll be talking about long after

your feet are back on solid ground.

:

00:50:28,572 --> 00:50:28,792

-:

:

00:50:29,332 --> 00:50:31,792

I'm looking at these

pictures on the Google.

:

00:50:32,912 --> 00:50:33,632

I had no idea.

:

00:50:33,989 --> 00:50:35,309

-:

Shanna told me about these.

:

00:50:35,579 --> 00:50:38,219

she said she started following when

they only had like 25 of them up,

:

00:50:38,219 --> 00:50:39,389

and they've got over 50 of them up

:

00:50:39,561 --> 00:50:40,891

-:

Well, there's one over a bridge.

:

00:50:42,518 --> 00:50:44,408

-:

the research, they some, like the

:

00:50:44,408 --> 00:50:47,738

marketing, like the tourism board came

up with the idea, but then they gave it

:

00:50:47,738 --> 00:50:50,618

to the high school students, like the

technical students that are in carpentry

:

00:50:50,618 --> 00:50:52,808

and graphic design and all of that.

:

00:50:52,808 --> 00:50:56,018

They used like technical students

in high school to design it, to

:

00:50:56,018 --> 00:50:57,608

build it and to install them,

:

00:50:59,209 --> 00:50:59,429

-:

:

00:50:59,429 --> 00:51:01,409

I mean, and they're all

interesting looking too.

:

00:51:01,409 --> 00:51:03,119

They're not just plain old swings.

:

00:51:03,119 --> 00:51:09,627

They're, uh, carved wood, or, and they've

got, uh, some of them are on perches.

:

00:51:09,649 --> 00:51:11,899

This is a, I've never heard of it.

:

00:51:12,129 --> 00:51:15,783

Uh, somebody tell us if you've done, I

wanna know like, which one did you do?

:

00:51:15,783 --> 00:51:16,443

Where'd you go?

:

00:51:16,443 --> 00:51:19,713

And, um, how, how did

you find the experience?

:

00:51:20,090 --> 00:51:21,590

-:

there's at least one in Huntington.

:

00:51:21,590 --> 00:51:23,330

I think it's at Rotary Park up there.

:

00:51:24,029 --> 00:51:25,979

-:

has done one, she's swung on one.

:

00:51:26,310 --> 00:51:26,670

-:

:

00:51:26,670 --> 00:51:29,070

But she follows a lot of

West Virginia tourism stuff,

:

00:51:29,262 --> 00:51:29,652

-:

:

00:51:29,790 --> 00:51:30,840

-:

that's where she's from.

:

00:51:31,200 --> 00:51:33,210

so she follows a lot

of West Virginia pages

:

00:51:33,559 --> 00:51:34,489

-:

:

00:51:34,489 --> 00:51:37,129

He's like a soft, fluffy cloud.

:

00:51:37,577 --> 00:51:42,736

Do you know, um, apparently he, became

kind of famous when he first went

:

00:51:42,736 --> 00:51:47,737

to the vet, who said that he has the

biggest testicles she's ever seen.

:

00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:48,780

-:

:

00:51:51,900 --> 00:51:52,140

a boy.

:

00:51:52,705 --> 00:51:56,425

That reminds me of the line in the Snoop

Dogg song where he says, girls, basically,

:

00:51:56,425 --> 00:51:58,225

he says that women want the biggest balls.

:

00:51:58,375 --> 00:52:00,505

And Shannon and I was

like, no, no, no, they

:

00:52:00,892 --> 00:52:01,312

-:

:

00:52:01,315 --> 00:52:01,945

-:

:

00:52:01,945 --> 00:52:02,785

That's incorrect.

:

00:52:03,265 --> 00:52:04,345

That's incorrect.

:

00:52:11,527 --> 00:52:15,637

I've only got two hours and 35 minutes

left in my, my audio book and I'm

:

00:52:15,637 --> 00:52:17,017

looking forward to being done with it.

:

00:52:17,047 --> 00:52:18,637

'cause it's taken forever.

:

00:52:18,679 --> 00:52:19,069

-:

:

00:52:19,388 --> 00:52:20,468

-:

I, I like it enough.

:

00:52:20,468 --> 00:52:21,008

It's just.

:

00:52:21,908 --> 00:52:22,448

Know, we'll see.

:

00:52:22,868 --> 00:52:25,208

I'll be really interested to hear what

other people have to say about it.

:

00:52:25,448 --> 00:52:27,098

It's not queer enough for me either.

:

00:52:27,098 --> 00:52:28,238

That's my biggest complaint.

:

00:52:28,508 --> 00:52:31,778

Like the two main characters

are somewhat bisexual.

:

00:52:32,048 --> 00:52:35,888

Um, they tell you about their bisexual

past, says that they had a boyfriend once.

:

00:52:36,170 --> 00:52:36,500

-:

:

00:52:36,638 --> 00:52:38,108

-:

much all the queerness that's in it,

:

00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:38,780

-:

:

00:52:38,828 --> 00:52:40,598

-:

see why it's a book is a queer book

:

00:52:40,598 --> 00:52:42,098

club selection when there's that.

:

00:52:42,248 --> 00:52:45,518

It's a, the story of a heterosexual

romance for the most part.

:

00:52:45,650 --> 00:52:46,280

-:

:

00:52:48,008 --> 00:52:48,728

-:

it's just a lot.

:

00:52:49,204 --> 00:52:50,164

-:

Sometimes that's fun though.

:

00:52:50,164 --> 00:52:53,524

I mean, I don't know if people do books

this way, but I mean, a, a bad movie can

:

00:52:53,524 --> 00:52:55,474

be as fun as a good one, if not more.

:

00:52:55,474 --> 00:52:55,924

So

:

00:52:55,942 --> 00:52:57,262

-:

:

00:52:57,262 --> 00:52:59,062

-:

still be a lot to get out of it.

:

00:52:59,459 --> 00:53:01,589

-:

spent like three pages talking about

:

00:53:01,589 --> 00:53:03,179

this guy's coffee cup collection.

:

00:53:03,761 --> 00:53:04,241

-:

:

00:53:04,259 --> 00:53:05,519

-:

trimmed that down.

:

00:53:06,281 --> 00:53:08,171

-:

some, some I don't know.

:

00:53:09,251 --> 00:53:12,731

Uh, writers are obviously in

love with words and I get it.

:

00:53:12,731 --> 00:53:14,381

Like the whole kill your darlings thing.

:

00:53:14,381 --> 00:53:15,521

It's difficult.

:

00:53:15,564 --> 00:53:15,854

-:

:

00:53:16,421 --> 00:53:19,931

-:

sponsor, dad, I just read for this week.

:

00:53:19,931 --> 00:53:24,731

I mean, sometimes we just think we love

the sound of our own voice too much.

:

00:53:25,031 --> 00:53:27,371

I tell you what, editing

these has cured me of that

:

00:53:28,794 --> 00:53:29,084

-:

:

00:53:31,421 --> 00:53:33,491

-:

I'm like, I hope I never talk again.

:

00:53:36,479 --> 00:53:37,709

-:

That's how I feel about my laugh.

:

00:53:37,739 --> 00:53:39,129

Every time I hear it, I'm like, eh, ah,

:

00:53:39,646 --> 00:53:40,991

-:

Aw, I love your laugh.

:

00:53:41,148 --> 00:53:42,738

That's why I try to make

you do it all the time.

:

00:53:43,103 --> 00:53:43,643

-:

:

00:53:43,865 --> 00:53:43,895

-:

:

00:53:44,003 --> 00:53:44,453

-:

:

00:53:44,453 --> 00:53:45,473

know what I hear.

:

00:53:45,593 --> 00:53:46,643

I'm self-conscious about it.

:

00:53:47,045 --> 00:53:50,315

-:

time said that I laugh like a dolphin.

:

00:53:51,904 --> 00:53:54,454

I thought, I mean, I've also

been told chipmunk that I sound

:

00:53:54,454 --> 00:53:55,714

like a chipmunk when I laugh.

:

00:53:56,356 --> 00:53:57,526

-:

papa always said he could pick

:

00:53:57,526 --> 00:53:58,966

me out of a crowd by my laugh.

:

00:53:59,394 --> 00:54:01,794

-:

that funny people often have what

:

00:54:01,794 --> 00:54:04,524

Trixie Mattel calls challenging laughs.

:

00:54:05,113 --> 00:54:05,593

I don't know.

:

00:54:05,593 --> 00:54:08,323

I think there's something, there's,

there's some, uh, connective

:

00:54:08,323 --> 00:54:11,803

tissue there that science hasn't

yet discovered about why funny

:

00:54:11,803 --> 00:54:14,143

people also have very weird laughs.

:

00:54:14,483 --> 00:54:15,238

Who's your favorite comedian?

:

00:54:15,898 --> 00:54:17,003

Do you have one?

:

00:54:17,681 --> 00:54:19,856

-:

Oh, that's a tough decision.

:

00:54:20,216 --> 00:54:22,226

Um, what kind of comedy

are we talking about?

:

00:54:22,616 --> 00:54:25,376

cause there's a lot of 'em, if we're

talking about like clean comedy,

:

00:54:25,376 --> 00:54:29,651

I really like people like, Uh,

John Pennett and Mitch Hedberg and

:

00:54:29,651 --> 00:54:31,571

Brian Regan, those kinds of people.

:

00:54:31,738 --> 00:54:32,028

-:

:

00:54:32,141 --> 00:54:32,351

-:

:

00:54:32,351 --> 00:54:33,551

big fan of like Blue

:

00:54:33,838 --> 00:54:34,128

-:

:

00:54:34,181 --> 00:54:36,331

-:

you have to go straight to a dick joke,

:

00:54:36,331 --> 00:54:37,951

you're not very funny, in my opinion.

:

00:54:38,371 --> 00:54:41,371

Um, so I'm not a big like Sam

Kinison fan or anything like that.

:

00:54:41,371 --> 00:54:42,871

Andrew Dece Clay, I don't like him.

:

00:54:43,291 --> 00:54:43,591

Um, I

:

00:54:43,591 --> 00:54:44,671

like Captain Mc Madigan.

:

00:54:45,183 --> 00:54:46,533

-:

Oh, I was, I just saw her.

:

00:54:46,533 --> 00:54:48,513

She's, she's back on the circuit.

:

00:54:48,513 --> 00:54:49,443

Kathleen Madigan.

:

00:54:49,716 --> 00:54:50,316

-:

:

00:54:50,466 --> 00:54:51,306

Yeah.

:

00:54:51,513 --> 00:54:54,063

-:

did a spot on some, some show.

:

00:54:54,063 --> 00:54:59,533

I don't know, there's a joke she made

in her:

:

00:54:59,533 --> 00:55:01,513

I'm not gonna remember the name of.

:

00:55:02,233 --> 00:55:06,253

But, you know,:

like, that was the saturation

:

00:55:06,253 --> 00:55:07,693

point for our smartphones.

:

00:55:07,693 --> 00:55:11,263

And she was, she made a joke about

the nightly news and it was her

:

00:55:11,263 --> 00:55:12,733

delivery that made me laugh so much.

:

00:55:12,733 --> 00:55:15,493

She was like, there are people out

there still watching the nightly news

:

00:55:15,493 --> 00:55:17,413

and, and why do we still have that?

:

00:55:17,413 --> 00:55:19,753

Like, it's, at a certain point

at the evening, we're all gonna

:

00:55:19,753 --> 00:55:22,363

sit down and somebody's gonna go,

do you know what happened today?

:

00:55:23,428 --> 00:55:28,183

And she, and she goes, yeah,

I've, I've got the internet.

:

00:55:28,183 --> 00:55:29,353

I know what happened today.

:

00:55:29,353 --> 00:55:29,413

The.

:

00:55:30,103 --> 00:55:32,443

And for some reason that

joke has stuck with me.

:

00:55:32,473 --> 00:55:37,633

it's not the most sophisticated, it's not

a knee slapper, but it's like, I like,

:

00:55:37,693 --> 00:55:40,843

kind of like pithy observational comedy.

:

00:55:40,843 --> 00:55:46,123

Like that, like that can really pinpoint

the, the ridiculous in, in the quotidian.

:

00:55:46,153 --> 00:55:47,323

I love that kind of thing.

:

00:55:47,581 --> 00:55:49,291

-:

would like Mitch Hedberg then

:

00:55:49,303 --> 00:55:50,353

-:

I love Mitch Hedwick.

:

00:55:50,371 --> 00:55:50,641

-:

:

00:55:50,863 --> 00:55:51,703

-:

:

00:55:52,543 --> 00:55:56,293

Uh, the, the frog thing is

one of my favorite, bits.

:

00:55:56,323 --> 00:56:02,053

Like, I wish a little frog would come

and sit by me and have it say, Hey, frog.

:

00:56:02,086 --> 00:56:04,636

-:

about how, how we have Smokey the Bear

:

00:56:04,636 --> 00:56:06,796

and in England they have Smacky the Frog.

:

00:56:07,036 --> 00:56:07,306

He has

:

00:56:07,333 --> 00:56:07,903

-:

:

00:56:08,116 --> 00:56:09,076

-:

He says Smacky the frog.

:

00:56:09,883 --> 00:56:10,568

-:

Smacking the throat.

:

00:56:10,861 --> 00:56:11,161

-:

:

00:56:11,161 --> 00:56:13,021

Stairs, temporarily broken or

:

00:56:13,318 --> 00:56:15,178

-:

Escalator temporarily broken.

:

00:56:16,251 --> 00:56:17,391

-:

talked about having a cavity

:

00:56:17,391 --> 00:56:18,621

and it's where he kept his peas.

:

00:56:21,303 --> 00:56:23,373

When I had xm I kept it on the comedy

:

00:56:23,610 --> 00:56:24,030

-:

:

00:56:24,153 --> 00:56:25,983

-:

like my, my, my, I loved it.

:

00:56:25,983 --> 00:56:28,023

I love, I love standup comedy.

:

00:56:28,335 --> 00:56:31,185

-:

for a while there, uh, had just a, a

:

00:56:31,185 --> 00:56:34,005

direct link to whatever makes me laugh.

:

00:56:34,160 --> 00:56:37,395

I, I don't find her, uh, I

think she's going by Susie now.

:

00:56:37,830 --> 00:56:40,290

don't find her particularly

funny these days.

:

00:56:40,290 --> 00:56:45,210

Uh, and, and I'm getting a little tired of

her, like defending Transphobes and shit.

:

00:56:45,810 --> 00:56:50,922

But still, I will always

defend like, first of all,

:

00:56:50,922 --> 00:56:51,942

she's been through it, right?

:

00:56:51,942 --> 00:56:59,382

Like she was visibly pr transgress queer

in a very hyper masculine, field, right?

:

00:56:59,382 --> 00:57:00,762

As standup comedy.

:

00:57:00,942 --> 00:57:05,442

She, like, she dressed in

what she called at the time.

:

00:57:05,502 --> 00:57:09,552

She cross-dressed, and I, I

don't know, I just found her

:

00:57:09,642 --> 00:57:11,412

absolutely fearless and hysterical.

:

00:57:11,917 --> 00:57:14,977

and her, the dress to Kill

special, have you seen that one?

:

00:57:15,535 --> 00:57:15,755

-:

:

00:57:15,782 --> 00:57:18,242

-:

to see somebody who can, um, integrate

:

00:57:18,242 --> 00:57:21,092

pantomime into standup so effectively.

:

00:57:21,885 --> 00:57:25,245

one of the jokes, she made that I replay

in my head was about the Big Bang.

:

00:57:25,245 --> 00:57:28,496

And she said, she just said, the beginning

of the universe, there was a big bang.

:

00:57:28,796 --> 00:57:30,386

we all stood well back.

:

00:57:30,386 --> 00:57:35,456

And then she stood there and

then she, she mimed someone

:

00:57:35,726 --> 00:57:37,616

telling her to back up further.

:

00:57:37,616 --> 00:57:39,669

And she just said, and

backed up some more.

:

00:57:39,669 --> 00:57:42,331

And I was like, that is, you're

making me laugh hysterically

:

00:57:42,331 --> 00:57:43,411

without saying anything.

:

00:57:43,411 --> 00:57:44,221

And I love it.

:

00:57:44,221 --> 00:57:45,061

-:

:

00:57:45,061 --> 00:57:46,081

I also like Fluffy.

:

00:57:46,141 --> 00:57:48,301

Um, when he came to bg,

that was really cool.

:

00:57:48,474 --> 00:57:49,524

Gabriela Igl.

:

00:57:49,671 --> 00:57:49,971

-:

:

00:57:50,421 --> 00:57:52,251

I liked him in those Magic Mic movies.

:

00:57:52,444 --> 00:57:56,194

-:

talks about that in one of his specials.

:

00:57:56,194 --> 00:57:57,574

How we got that part.

:

00:57:58,168 --> 00:58:01,708

yeah, I'm, like I said, I'm just more

of a fan of not just clean comedy,

:

00:58:01,708 --> 00:58:03,418

but you don't have to go blue.

:

00:58:03,418 --> 00:58:06,358

Like you could talk about a lot of, you

could talk about sex, you could talk about

:

00:58:06,358 --> 00:58:10,168

a lot of things without going straight

to, you know, dick jokes or whatever.

:

00:58:10,558 --> 00:58:11,578

there's ways to do it,

:

00:58:11,578 --> 00:58:11,868

-:

:

00:58:12,166 --> 00:58:14,866

-:

that and there's so much more to

:

00:58:14,866 --> 00:58:16,456

talk about in this world than sex.

:

00:58:16,456 --> 00:58:19,276

You know, it's a good topic, but

there's so much more to talk about.

:

00:58:19,576 --> 00:58:23,476

Um, I used to like Ellen before we

found out what a horrible human she is.

:

00:58:23,893 --> 00:58:29,533

-:

couple of really good specials and she

:

00:58:29,533 --> 00:58:34,843

also, she was doing hard work at a time

when it wasn't very easy or safe to do so.

:

00:58:35,623 --> 00:58:38,743

so I, I will, I will always give

people their, flowers, their

:

00:58:38,743 --> 00:58:40,123

props for that kind of shit.

:

00:58:40,513 --> 00:58:41,733

and, unless you're.

:

00:58:42,258 --> 00:58:44,898

Someone that pisses me off to the

point, I can't stand the thought of you

:

00:58:44,898 --> 00:58:49,608

anymore, like JK Rowling, I will revisit

someone's work that I, I enjoyed from

:

00:58:49,608 --> 00:58:52,368

them before I lost interest in them.

:

00:58:52,368 --> 00:58:57,937

Or, I think the arts can stay the

art if you still like it and you

:

00:58:57,937 --> 00:59:00,787

don't have to support whatever

that person's doing currently.

:

00:59:01,112 --> 00:59:02,912

You know, you don't, you don't

have to give 'em dollars.

:

00:59:02,912 --> 00:59:04,292

You don't have to give them press.

:

00:59:04,762 --> 00:59:07,282

I was watching, a YouTube video about Dr.

:

00:59:07,282 --> 00:59:10,852

Phil and how he's just

literally a, an ice agent now.

:

00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:12,310

-:

:

00:59:12,562 --> 00:59:13,552

-:

:

00:59:14,248 --> 00:59:15,448

-:

I used to watch a lot of Dr.

:

00:59:15,448 --> 00:59:15,928

Phil.

:

00:59:15,958 --> 00:59:19,558

I liked the, the crazy stories that like,

'cause I'm a people, I'm a people watcher

:

00:59:19,678 --> 00:59:22,768

and I always found it so interesting to

people to give their stories and stuff.

:

00:59:22,898 --> 00:59:25,508

but yeah, he's gone full crazy.

:

00:59:25,775 --> 00:59:26,105

-:

:

00:59:26,168 --> 00:59:26,798

-:

:

00:59:26,855 --> 00:59:27,965

he's jumped the shark for

:

00:59:28,277 --> 00:59:28,627

-:

:

00:59:29,012 --> 00:59:29,907

That's the word for it.

:

00:59:30,408 --> 00:59:32,868

Well, maybe we ought to cut this off.

:

00:59:33,168 --> 00:59:35,688

Let me let you go so you

can finish your book.

:

00:59:35,781 --> 00:59:36,496

-:

:

00:59:36,798 --> 00:59:37,278

-:

:

00:59:37,848 --> 00:59:41,941

Well better try, try to

beat the traffic listeners.

:

00:59:41,941 --> 00:59:44,101

Thanks for listening again.

:

00:59:44,541 --> 00:59:48,621

do all the things subscribe if you

haven't, if you just keep catching us

:

00:59:48,621 --> 00:59:52,341

and you haven't liked or subscribed

wherever you listen, do that.

:

00:59:52,514 --> 00:59:53,954

-:

were the featured podcast on

:

00:59:53,954 --> 00:59:55,874

Apple Podcasts the other day

:

00:59:55,961 --> 00:59:58,001

-:

that even That's so weird to me.

:

00:59:58,001 --> 00:59:58,121

And

:

00:59:58,274 --> 00:59:58,994

-:

:

00:59:59,291 --> 01:00:00,911

-:

it was, it was Amazon.

:

01:00:00,911 --> 01:00:02,016

It was Amazon music.

:

01:00:02,204 --> 01:00:02,834

-:

:

01:00:03,356 --> 01:00:03,536

-:

:

01:00:03,536 --> 01:00:07,316

I don't, somebody gave, uh, put

a screenshot of it and I went and

:

01:00:07,316 --> 01:00:08,936

looked and I was like, well, good God.

:

01:00:09,173 --> 01:00:11,213

Don't know what caused that,

but that's pretty cool.

:

01:00:11,390 --> 01:00:15,170

It's because of somebody listening

to us is how y'all listening to us

:

01:00:15,170 --> 01:00:16,310

and doing the things helped out.

:

01:00:16,820 --> 01:00:20,120

And, um, I know I asked y'all to

comment something earlier and I don't

:

01:00:20,120 --> 01:00:21,350

remember what it was now because I'm

:

01:00:21,758 --> 01:00:22,928

-:

On what movie we should,

:

01:00:23,330 --> 01:00:23,630

-:

:

01:00:23,768 --> 01:00:24,218

-:

:

01:00:24,218 --> 01:00:24,848

dissect,

:

01:00:25,040 --> 01:00:25,400

-:

:

01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:25,880

Yeah.

:

01:00:26,150 --> 01:00:26,900

Please tell us that.

:

01:00:26,930 --> 01:00:29,210

'cause that just sounds fun to me anyway.

:

01:00:29,464 --> 01:00:30,934

-:

at me remembering shit.

:

01:00:31,668 --> 01:00:32,238

-:

:

01:00:32,298 --> 01:00:35,303

Well, y'all have a, have a good week.

:

01:00:35,453 --> 01:00:38,543

Happy Monday morning to you if you're

listening on the day it releases

:

01:00:38,543 --> 01:00:40,913

and we'll, we'll see you next time.

:

01:00:40,913 --> 01:00:41,863

Say hi to ye mom an them.

:

01:00:42,189 --> 01:00:42,409

-:

:

01:00:43,129 --> 01:00:43,249

I.

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About the Podcast

QUEERNECKS
Queer Appalachian Stories & Culture.
Join the lively hosts of QUEERNECKS for a unique podcast experience exploring the intersection of Appalachian culture and the LGBTQ+ experience. Dive into engaging stories, humorous anecdotes, and thoughtful discussions on everything from Appalachian traditions and local life to current events, LGBTQ+ issues, and building an inclusive community. If you're looking for a podcast that blends authentic Appalachian voices with insightful queer perspectives, offering both laughter and meaningful connection, then welcome to the QUEERNECKS family. Subscribe now and be part of our growing community!
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