Mike & Steve (Don't Know What They're Doing)

Have you ever been so sure that you remembered something, only to find out that's not how it actually went down? Sometimes lots of people mis-remember exactly the same things. This week, we explore the strange phenomenon of "The Mandela Effect."

We've been having a lot of feelings about some... questionable content on old TV shows. Kicking off a mini-series about how to resolve old shows we like with themes that aren't appropriate, we're focusing this week on queer culture in TV and how we've felt about it over the years.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of Americans into going to school online this year. As many teachers, students and families struggle to adapt, we talk to Nicolette VanDelinder, a fully virtual teacher based in Colorado, to see how virtual classrooms differ from the physical and what parents and students can do to make the best … Continue reading "We Don’t Know Virtual Learning"

Phobias are more than just "not liking" something - they're an overwhelming (and sometimes debilitating) fear. Are they psychological or engrained into us by evolution? And why does the iPhone 11 Pro freak some people out? Find out on this episode!

Arcades are quickly becoming relics of our past and along with them, one of the earliest forms of arcade gaming - pinball. This week, special guest Chad Concelmo joins us to visit the Pacific Pinball Museum and learn about this history and art form that is creating pinball tables.

National Night Out is an annual event designed to bring communities together with law enforcement to reduce crime. But why haven’t we attended before? And why is it held on a different day in Texas?! This week, we discuss the history of National Night Out and how we feel about its impact (or potential impact) … Continue reading "We Don’t Know National Night Out"

This Tuesday is election day in the U.S. and citizens sure seem more fired up about it than usual. We're avoiding the politics to focus on why getting the vote out is important and why some people still don't do it. Mike's Dad is our special guest to give us context from the perspective of a precinct election judge to understand how polling places are run and how they can be vital to a community.

Americans will spend over $9B on Halloween this year - and about a third of that will be on costumes! This week, we talk about the good, the bad and the INSANE costumes that we've found online. We also revisit some of our favorite costumes of the past and we discover that glitter pumpkin butts are a thing. 

It's that time of year again to stock up on goodies to hand out to dressed up kids all over your neighborhood. But why are these candies so weird now?! Join us as we taste some Halloween candy, discuss our favorites from childhood and talk through the weird flavors and names of today's treats. 

We finally bought a house... and it was a tedious process full of so many twists we didn't see coming. This week, we talk about some of the ins, outs and gotchas of buying a home with some quick tips for future buyers. We also talk about Oculus Connect and CA Great America's Haunt!

The first in our mini-series about buying a house... cuz we just did! Looking for the right house was fun, but surprisingly challenging! Join us on our trip through some "catfish" houses, homes with no floors and the BBQ Ranch that we will soon call home!

We're back after a long hiatus! We took a bit of a summer break to focus on work and house hunting. We've been traveling, hanging out and debating the song of the summer!

It's Memorial Day weekend and while most are out enjoying sunshine, pools and barbecue, it's a good time to reflect on our history and what this day is actually about. This week, we look at the history of Memorial Day and some of the lesser known stories of those who have died serving our country.

We moved to Silicon Valley in 2013 to try something new and make progress toward the goal of owning a home. 5 years later, home ownership doesn't seem much closer, so we're not quite sure why we're here anymore. Should that even be a goal? It's time to talk it out!

The chaos happening in on the Big Island of Hawaii got us thinking about just how many volcanoes are around the globe. This week, we take a quick look at volcanoes near us and the risks they pose. Plus Steve gets amped up about overly dramatic volcanoes in pop culture.

Virtual reality (VR) has been going through a resurgence over the past few years with some really cool ideas, but... nobody seems to know exactly what to do with it yet. This week, Mike explored VRLA to see some of the new ways developers are using VR, from art and education to PTSD therapy for veterans. We also tried out The VOID Star Wars Experience in Los Angeles!

We finally saw Black Panther and loved it! Super hero movies have come so far in 10 years, and there's so much going on that they can be intimidating! How did this master plan of films come to fruition and how have they played out? We look back at the 19 films leading up to Avengers: Infinity War — with no spoilers!

This week, Mike joined the group of most Americans who, at some point in their lives, get their 3rd molars removed. Why is this weird procedure such common practice? Why are they called "wisdom" teeth? And why do we have 'em anyway?! Also... some funny clips of Mike on pain killers.

Did you have a spell of bad luck last Friday? Ever notice a lot of tall buildings skip floor 13? Have you been chased by a guy in a hockey mask? We get into all of these topics and more this week as we discuss the superstition of the number 13 and pop culture around Friday the 13th!

The reality show that started the DIY television craze is rebooting this weekend, nearly 20 years after the first episode. This week we spend some time talking about why Trading Spaces became such a breakout hit and we re-visit some of the disasters of design that came out of it.

It's Easter... and April Fool's Day. This week, we taste some of the random candy that only comes at Easter, chat about family Easter traditions and Mike shares some WTF facts about Peeps!

This week, we look inside ourselves to find more about who we are... literally! We've taken the home DNA tests from Ancestry.com and 23andme to find out more about our possible genealogy and ethnic makeup. We'll discuss how the services compare and what we found!

Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa is the largest free-standing mountain in the world - a place few ever get to see in person. Last year, however, our friend Chad took an amazing journey to climb it! In this special episode, Chad and his partner, Matt, join us to tell his story about how he came to make the climb and the incredible physical and mental feats that it takes to get to the summit!

Have you ever uh... had one of those days when uh... your brain isn't working as fast as like... your brain? Turns out that's normal! However, it can be a distracting habit. This week, we examine why we use these "filler words" and how we can train ourselves to use them less often. 

This week, we take a ride into the world of American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) for their 6th annual off-season tour at California's Great America. We talk about this tight-knit community, get the inside scoop on Great America's 2018 updates and get a behind-the-scenes look into off-season operations. Steve quizzes mike on random Bay Area theme park trivia and Mike challenges us to start taking time to do what we love.

Well, the Winter Olympics are wrapped up for another 4 years, so this week we take a look at some of the crazy sports. We talk about our favorites, learn how they started, and Mike shares some WTF facts that... well you should just hear for yourself.

It's President's Day, so let's talk about some amazing ones... from the past and from fiction! Time travel to save JFK, false teeth made of ivory and screws, a murderous Abraham Lincoln and Obama's colorful new portrait round out this week's theme of commander-in-chief. Also, Mike tries to create a game of presidential quiz wiz and fails. 

Drama, laughs and lessons for the family... all in under 30 minutes! What is it about sitcoms that draws us in year after year? We talk about our favorites, the importance of cultural representation and learn about canned laughter. 

Today was the big game! We didn't watch it, but we're gonna talk about it. Rivalry on the gridiron! Big ad money! And... owls, apparently. What do owls have to do with football? Listen to find out!

Can you imagine swimming a mile, biking 24 miles, then finishing up with a 6 mile run all in the same day? We can't either, but this week our friend Jeremy joins us as our first in-studio guest to talk about what it takes to compete in the Lavaman Triathlon. We also talk about his incredible fundraising efforts with Team In Training, AIDS Lifecycle and Cancer's A Drag.

Before eating Tide Pods was a thing, people were acting like mannequins, dumping buckets of ice water over their heads to raise money for charity and seeing who could eat the most marshmallows. Why do these online challenges go viral and why do we find them so compelling (at least for a while)?

Meeting the parents of your significant other can be nerve-wracking and awkward... but it can also become a funny story. We share the stories of how we met each other's parents, our friend Jeremy tells a funny about meeting his partner's parents and we share some tips for not messing it up!

Gold, frankincense, myrrh and... baby Jesus baked inside a cake?! We explore the history, traditions and food of Día de Los Reyes or 3 Kings Day - the official end to the holiday season in Latin countries and other parts of the world!

We don't know how to wrap up the year, so we're re-capping some our favorite movies, TV shows and podcasts from 2017. This special end of year double episode has death in Monterey, return of America's favorite white trash family and math is hard for Mike!  

We're picking up our chat about old family holiday traditions - and who better to talk to about it than our Moms?! Our Moms take over the storytelling this week as they give us a rundown on what we were like as kids, what we wanted for Christmas and the lengths they went to to make our holidays special. A warning for parents: while there's nothing explicit in this episode, it's not one you'll want to listen to with your kids (if you know what we mean)!

The season of festive cheer is upon us, but it's not always easy (for us anyway) to break the ice at the many holiday parties. This week we explore some advice to have better conversations at parties with friends or co-workers. TL;DR don't drink too much like Susan in accounting and wind up drunk on the balcony with your puppy.

We've spent all weekend trying to revive our screen printing skills, but as it turns out we don't have any of those. We explore the science and a bit of history around the technique of serigraphy (and why we're so terrible at it). Find out why we are covered in metallic gold ink, listener reactions to The Tree Whisperer and why Mike doesn't know what a rhododendron is. 

We take a quick trip down memory lane as we talk about some of the traditions our families had during the holiday season and the history behind some of the places we visited. True stories of planes crashing into churches, fires destroying buildings where you now shop and Mike teases us about "The Tree Whisperer."

We talk the ins and outs of Black Friday - the good, the bad and the deceptive deals. We learn a bit about the ways retailers target us with sales, how we fall for them and if they're actually worth it. We also learn about the top shopping day of the year that blows Black Friday out of the water.

This week, we take a look at some of the lesser-known inventions from here in Silicon Valley from frozen breakfast and food in a cup to big hunks of steel and animatronic rats.

Veteran's Day is this weekend, but what does it really mean? We hear some stories about those who serve to better understand the significance of honoring our service men and women. 

In this surprise episode for Halloween we share your submitted scary stories and some of our own! A Hollywood radio personality possibly haunts our old apartment, Mike gets taken to a Curandera to return his soul, and a tales of a ghosts in bars and castles. 

Continuing our Halloween fun, we talk about urban legends from the cities where we've lived! Hollywood starlets roaming through rooms, murdered teens on remote roads and... flying monkeys?! Listen to hear about some creepy and fun legends (some with surprisingly interesting histories!).

What is Dia de los Muertos? We talk about we learned from the history and origin to some of the stories and traditions of this long-time Mexican celebration of life and death (and life after death). Also, its influence in art and increasing popularity in today's culture.

We discuss Halloween history and traditions. Where did Halloween and jack-o-lanterns come from? Family costumes and Halloween memories from growing up. And, of course, our favorite scary movies.

We don’t know where to take our friends in LA even though we lived there for years. Also: Bob’s Big Boy, Knott’s Scary Farm, Elvira, Gay Days at Disneyland. Mentioned in this episode: Bob’s Big Boy Knott’s Scary Farm Gay Days Anaheim Cahuenga General Store