When Reality TV Goes Too Far for 4/8/26

We break down a wild week in celebrity news, from a shocking Bravo relationship twist to a feel-good donation that almost got reversed by bureaucracy. Along the way, we question internet outrage, fairness in who gets blamed, and what “consequences” should actually look like.

• Summer House relationship bombshell and why fans feel betrayed 
• How online backlash spills into real jobs and brand deals 
• The “can your friend date your ex” rule and where we draw lines 
• Tyler Perry’s $1,000 gift cards for TSA workers and federal restrictions 
• Why government shutdowns hit working people the hardest 
• Billie Eilish’s stalker’s death and the morality of relief versus grief 
• Kid Rock helicopter flyover and the optics of wasted resources 
• Gas prices near $10 per gallon in Big Sur and why it happens 
• Electric car infrastructure concerns and range anxiety on road trips 
• Justin Bieber’s Coachella preview and what we hope comes next 

If you're in the Burbank California area, make sure you come out and support Meryl at Flappers on Thursday 4/9/26. 

Everyone, thank you so much for watching and listening to us, we always love hearing from you, and please continue to support us by subscribing to Thirsty Topics podcast. The place for topics relating to reality, celebrities, pop culture and social media. 

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. Hey, Meryl.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Hey, hey, hey, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

I am doing fantastic. How about you?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

I'm good. I'm really good. I had a good weekend and there was juicy news.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

There was a lot of crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Which is my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Over this weekend.

Summer House Betrayal And Canceling

SPEAKER_00 1:40

I know. There really is. Um, I'm not glitching for you. Am I? I'm gonna I'm gonna close some windows so I'm hopefully not glitching. Actually, you have a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of the window. Okay, I'm gonna close some stuff down. I was helping my boyfriend with his taxes, and so of course I'm blaming him for making me glitch. Okay, well, I'll start us off with the first uh story, which is kind of a glitch in of itself. And if I if I get too glitchy, let me know and I can start over. But um, so everyone's gonna have to stay with me here if you're not part of this. If you don't know this already, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna teach everyone like a third grader, basically. So there's a a show called Summer House on Bravo. Have you ever heard of that show? I have heard of it, yes. Okay, okay, so uh, you know, it it details a lot of people that uh obviously they summer in like the Hamptons, and um it's a Bravo show, and usually it it hasn't had a ton of like huge news. You know, there's been news here and there, um, but there was a really big shocking thing that happened this past week when uh from the cast, uh West, there's a guy named West and a girl named Amanda, and previously Amanda, we need like a whole org chart here, but previously Amanda was married to a cast member on it called uh named Kyle. So there was Amanda and Kyle that were married. Uh Kyle's like this kind of DJ, you know, young party boy, and Amanda was just kind of more of a serious like stoner girl from from what I I uh ascertain. But Amanda and Kyle got divorced, and now Amanda is linking up with another cast member named West, who happens to be the like boy, uh boyfriend slash, you know, crush forever of Amanda's best friend, Sierra. So basically, all people want to know, or you if you don't understand the situation, you just have to know that Amanda and West are like a very shocking couple because it kind of betrays like girl, you know, girlhood and like her best friend. Um, and like the guy that her best friend liked forever and was kind of like they weren't really boyfriend, girlfriend, but they were more like hookups. Um, and it's just a weird thing because it's definitely very sneaky. And like all this time, Amanda and Kyle have been married, and people people are thinking that this other situationship has been going on like way longer. So some sleuths have thought that this is maybe going on for about like a year or two. Um, but this was huge news. And kind of what I wanted to talk about today is that like people are really coming down on Amanda to the point where she just launched a bathing suit line and people are just like commenting on the actual business itself and really going for her in like a personal way. Um she even had a brand deal that dropped her and just this kind of thing where like when something happens, you know, I don't think she probab she pro it sounds like she's not a very good friend or just person in general, but like once again, I don't think this deserves death threats and like canceling of business and just like it gets such a serious nature when someone is canceled. Um, that I'm sure she's getting so many messages just full of hate. And it seems like the guy is just at at fault too, but like it always seems like women kind of have it a little bit tougher and like people are mad more at the women than they are at the men, or it's just kind of like men get a pass because this guy is kind of like a dirty dog anyway, and people just expect it from him. Um, but the amount of vitriol that's going Amanda's way is crazy.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Yeah, I mean that's one of the issues to me with reality type TV is you know, people have their opinion based on what they see. Um again, this is reality TV, and unfortunately, sometimes things are exaggerated quite a bit, and sometimes people get on those reality shows for the wrong reason. So I agree with you, they shouldn't be vilified for what they do, but it's really sad to say, not shocking. I'm not really surprised either. Um, because this does happen quite a bit, especially when you have the quote unquote bad guy or the bad girl in the um in the the the in the scene or the storyline. Um a lot of times people kind of forget they are human.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah, definitely. And like this girl doesn't really seem that great. Like from she's not really jumping off the page at me. However, Sierra Miller, the one that the friend that she hurt her, you know, hurt the feelings. Sierra is like everyone loves her, and now uh Rihanna is a big Bravo fan, and Rihanna is trying to hook her up with Michael B. Jordan. So it's so funny that uh, you know, like remember this happened with in Vanderpump Rules where there was a huge like scandaval, it was called, and it it made like it made its way to the White House basically, where it was like there's a cheating scandal, and uh Ariana or Ariana uh Maddox got like a huge treatment where basically now she got to be on Dancing with the Stars and like she got to be the host of Love Island or some show or you know, whatever show she was on. Um, and so now people are seeing that Sierra is going to be given the Ariana treatment. So pretty much like, and this woman is already like gorgeous and she seems really nice and she has a lot of friends. So I think she was already on the up and up, but like this seemed to just catapult her. But what I worry about is sometimes, you know, the pendulum swings. So it's like right now Sierra is the darling, but I don't want one thing to come out where then everyone like swings back around against her because I also think that she she may have known about this, and I like I don't want anything to look bad, like if she knows if she knows about this or if anything comes out kind of against what the internet is like projecting upon her.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

That's true, that's true. But you know, just like in other storylines, this is probably not gonna be the last we hear of this.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Exactly, and it brings up my final thing I was gonna say about it is it definitely brings up like um everyone has had a friend that's betrayed them, maybe not with another person or not, but it definitely brings up such situations as like friends that get together, situationships, you know, like can you date someone after your friend likes them for a while? And um I'm interested to see what the producers of Summerhouse will be because this seems bigger than any like storyline that they could have cooked up.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

I agree with you, and you know, that's that's been a debate for such a long time. Obviously, if they're still dating, that's an absolute no-no. But you know, if someone breaks up, you know, is that person off limits or is it okay? You know, yeah, that conversation's been going on for I don't know how long. It'll be interesting to see what people think because exactly, you know. I don't know, Mary, what do you think? Do you think if someone broke up, let's say hypothetical situation, let's say you got two people and the girl breaks up with this guy, it's been a few months, and now her friend is interested in this guy. They've dated for several years, but they're no longer together. What do you think, Merle? Are they off ladies?

SPEAKER_00 9:12

It it depends on what side of the coin I'm on. Whatever works out in my favor. No, no, no. I mean, I think I think you can't help who's going to like who, unfortunately. And like sometimes guys or girls just aren't into the person that likes them back, and unfortunately they then they'll like your friend, and you know, like that sucks. But um, to me, if it's someone's like full-on boyfriend, then they're off limits, boyfriend or husband, like they're off limits forever for me. But if it's someone's crushed at like maybe didn't like them back, or they had one date or one hookup and it was months go by, like it's it's worth at least the conversation. Like, I don't think it's the worst crime in the world. Um, if time goes by. Like, if someone dates someone once, that doesn't mean that they're completely off limits to me, like for the rest of the world. But if they're an obvious like relationship, boyfriend, especially husband, like then they are they're dead to me.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Very well point taken.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yeah, you know what this whole situation reminds me of too. You know, the saying, stop making stupid people famous.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yes, yes. I definitely heard that saying exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Because I'm sure a lot of us too. Like, I'm not a fan of Summer House, but when this news broke, I couldn't stop like looking at all of their social medias, and then I'm glad that I'm glad today happened because I'm like, okay, let me get back to reality.

Tyler Perry Gifts To TSA Workers

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Yes, definitely, definitely. Well, my first story is a feel-good moment. Um, now I'm quite sure everyone knows who Ty who uh Tyler Perry is. But um TS workers were told to give back a thousand dollars that they received from Tyler Perry. Then they were told they can keep it. So to lay a little clarification on this confusing subject here, TSA workers at Atlantis Hartsfield Jackson Airport who received a$1,000 gift card from Tyler Perry during a uh the government shutdown were initially told to return them due to federal gift restrictions. But they are now allowed to keep the donations after officials reversed the decision. So to summarize, Tyler Perry donated$250,000 and$1,000 gift cards to approximately 250 TSA workers struggling during a partial government shutdown. TSA management initially requested that the cards uh be given back because of federal rules generally prohibiting employees from accepting personal cash gifts. So the resolution is um going back and forth between Tyler Perry people and the government, uh, the Department of Homeland Security, uh, their legal team cleared the donation, allowing the employees to keep the funds. So the gesture is widely seen as a significant moral boost, with workers describing Perry as a modern-day Robin Hood for supporting employees facing food and gas insecurities, according to YouTube and other sources. Personally, I think this is so great for him to do this because I mean, you know, we're gonna talk about a little bit later, uh, you know, one of your stories here, but you know, with the rising gas prices, food prices, everything going up. I mean, rent is through the roof now, no matter where you live. And then to go to work and not be paid. Yes. That's a hell of a rule, but I'm really glad that they relax that rule because you know, it's hard to be motivated going to work and not getting paid. I don't care how much you love your job, that's that's not very motivating at all.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

I know, and it's been a really long, it's been years at this point of like the workers um being on and off of work and being off of strike and on. And so it's like if you're trying to provide for your family, I know most of us, a lot of us can't just be like, well, I didn't get paid this month. I can easily afford rent and groceries, and you know what I mean? Like everyone is not everyone, but a lot of people are like one working month by month with their life, and if they don't get a paycheck for the month, then that really sets them behind.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Oh, absolutely, and sadly enough, that's most Americans. So that's not an isolated thing, that's most Americans, which is sad. And it's it's even it's even much more of a sad subject because we shouldn't even be talking about this, you know. I mean, TSA workers, this is probably their what second or third time going through this nonsense within the last year or so. I mean, that gets old after a while, and then plus, you know, to date, I want to say over 500 TSA agents quit their job and moved on to something else.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

So, you know, somehow or another we need to fix this because this is kind of getting out of control to me.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah, absolutely. I agree. It's so funny too, because if I was Tyler Perry's publicist, he has such good news and then sometimes controversial news surrounding him. Like I never hear just hear neutral things. It's always like he's doing amazing things for the community and then he's being accused of this, that, and the other thing, you know. So I feel like he keeps his publicist very busy in a good way.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Yeah, that's true. I mean, you know, when you're when you're a celebrity, you're gonna always have stuff around you. Um, unfortunately, the bigger you get, the more of a target you become because let's face it, people don't like to see you succeed. So there's always people that are gonna be trying to bring you down. But uh I I I commend them for this to to be able to now for him, that$250,000 is nothing because you know he's rich, he's a billionaire. Oh, yeah. Someone who's struggling paycheck to paycheck and going to work and not getting paid, that's like the world to them, you know. Absolutely. That could be their rent, that could be food on the table, it could be a car note and some other bills. Um, you know, there's a lot of things that a person can do when they're struggling with a thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yep, I agree. And I think that's so good that they got to keep it too, because that would be so a lot of people too. I'm sure if you get a thousand dollars, you're going to like pay bills with it quickly. Like if you have to give it back a few days later, I feel like 90% of people may not even still have that, you know, they might pay it off a credit card or something.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Personally, I think that was probably the reason that they decided to do that because if you're struggling, like you said, you get that money, you're gonna spend it right away on bills or whatever you need to. So um, I'm glad they came up to the right decision.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Exactly. There's a lot of times I'll have money in my account, I'm like, I'm rich, and then like then I pay my bills, but like I'm poor. And it's it's all within it's from like 10 a.m. to like noon.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

So don't build bad boat.

Billie Eilish Stalker And Morality

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Exactly. Okay, mine it's going to be controversial, so just everyone could bear with me, and I would love everyone's um thoughts on it as well. But uh this is crazy. So Billy Eilish had this stalker for a really long time, um uh Prunel Rousseau, 30 years old. I don't know if you've heard about this. She's she's written some songs about like it too, but basically this person would come to her house and like um at the height of the pandemic, this person appeared at her property seven separate times over a two-day period. Um, and this guy would just like go in through the windows and like really, really terrifying stuff. He would write notes to Billie Eilish, like, you know, with like really nonsense. And so clearly this person was not only like out of their minds, but uh absolutely dangerous to her, you know, so like very much a threat. Now this person, now this guy um just died. He was being he was struck by a Long Island railroad train, and uh it was just he was reportedly jogging near the tracks when the collision occurred. Um, they the law investigators told the media that they thought the incident was accidental. Now, of course, like, and I don't I don't think this is the case. I don't think this is the case, but people were like, if Billy was to like put a hit on him or something, then like we can't blame her. Like if I was rich and famous and I had this person that was repeatedly coming to my house, threatening me, leaving weird notes, like I don't want to say definitely, but I also don't want to say that like if I had all the resources in the world, like this is horrible, but maybe I would use some of those resources to like make some decisions, you know, which is crazy. But I don't think this is the case in this thing. I think this was a freak accident, but it's just like sometimes I'm like, how much do we mourn someone that was causing like other people really, really big issues and kind of like obviously this is a human and this was someone's son and someone's this was like a human being on earth, but when they're acting in such an evil way, it kind of brings up to me like, do I care? Is this a good thing? Is this you know, how much do we actually feel for this? Um, and yeah, that that was it.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

I mean, I'm quite sure she's probably not really mourning.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Yeah, not at all. I mean, but is it okay to celebrate? Like, that's what I mean, is like this per if this was you and you had a person that was like actively stalking you and really, really scaring you. And we know from history how many times stalkers actually do end up killing their victims, you know. So, like it's not just like, oh, it's an empty threat. It's like there's many, many stars that have died at the hands of their stalkers. So sometimes I just think you gotta be like a person is like a rotten apple and you just gotta fling them off the earth. But I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

I mean, you're you're human, you know. I mean, you don't you don't wish bad on no one, even people that harm you, but you know, you are human, and I'm quite sure that there are people that have caused you harm. Some people may have caused a little bit of harm, maybe major harm. And you know, you hear things are happening to them, and the human sides of you, you know, feels bad. On the inside, maybe you're celebrating, jumping up and down, but you maybe you might not want to do that so everybody can see it, but but yeah, to be like, hey, you know what? Karma came and got you, you know.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

I know it's a very like philosophical thought, and I I would love to hear maybe there's like people that are way, way above more enlightened than me that they can feel that. But to me, it's like if you're on earth producing so much drama and trauma, then like what you know, but obviously, if this was a loved one and if they had mental issues, of course, you're gonna be sad if you like you know them directly and you love them. Um, and also like why was he jogging on the railroad tracks? I don't really know, but it just seems a little ridiculous.

Kid Rock Helicopters And Government Waste

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Yeah, I mean, the other thing too is there are consequences in life for everything we do, good and bad. When you put good good out in the world, it comes I'm a firm believer comes back. When you um intentionally try to hurt or harm someone, I think that also comes back too. So yeah, yeah, you're right that happened to you because if you're a horrible person and all of a sudden nobody wants to deal with you, things aren't going right. I don't think that's random. I really don't. No, and sometimes people don't put that two and two together to figure out two and two equals four and not six, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

So exactly. If I'm just this is like, I mean, don't be mad at me, people, but I feel like if I was her, I would have no trouble going to my local best Italian restaurant and finding some Sopranos type creatures and using my money and resources. But but it's okay. And and also this person was like literally at her home. The article said that he was like touching her doorknob and doorbell, um, especially during the pandemic when people were home a lot. And so it's just like it seemed like it only a matter of time before something bad was gonna happen. So, you know, it seems like the universe kind of took care of it.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

That is true. That is true. Well, speaking of the universe, um I'm quite sure people know who Kid Rock is. Yes. So um a black Apache uh Apache helicopter hovered for several minutes in front of Kid Rock home. So the US Army launched an investigation um and administrative review after two AH 64 Apache attack helicopters hovered near musician Kid Rock's Nashville area home over the weekend of March 28th through the 29th. So the reason why people found out is uh the videos were posted by Kid Rock himself, showing him clapping, saluting, and fist pumping on his pool deck as a black Apache helicopter hovered close by, followed by a second uh chopper doing a flyby. Nice use of resources there, but what makes this even interesting is that the Army 101st Airborne Division, based out of Forth Campbell, Kentucky, initiated a review to determine if the crews violated regulations. Or airspace requirements. Initial reports indicated the aircrew involved were suspended. But Defense Secretary Pete Hexit announced on April 1st that the suspensions were lifted and no punishment would be issued, stating carry on, Patriots.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Whew. Like you said, my first thought is we with all the resources we need in so many directions, this just seems like a crazy display of resource using.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Oh yeah. And then to have um didn't have Pete uh Hexith uh go in there and be like, hey, everything's fine. You know, that's probably another subject altogether. But to me, this whole incident is probably a small picture into why people are really getting fed up with the government and getting really pissed off. I agree. And and the crazy thing about Emerald is we're in a war right now. A war that is not going away. That's yeah, it's been more than a few days or a couple of weeks. So this is not a good look at all. And um, I don't know. I I just think that it just pisses people off. I think a lot of people are pretty angry about it.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

I do too. I I think every administration has like gaslit us to a certain extent. Of course, like they don't tell the American people everything, but I feel like lately the amount of gas, you know, not to use the term, the therapy term, like gaslighting all the time, but the amount of kind of wool that's trying to be covered over our eyes that we can blatantly see differently is like I think I think more people because of like social media and the internet and how much we can all just find out now of ourselves. I think more and more people are feeling that that way. That like it's like hello, we can see what else is going on and stop trying to lie to us.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

That is true, that is true, and you know, it's it's amazing when you hear politicians talk about government spending, about waste, and then you turn around and see a story like this. So yeah, it's kind of like a major contradiction.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Yes, nope, nope, I I agree, and it's it's funny thinking of the really young people that don't know what like a kid rock is and just hearing about kid rock through like the past year. That is so true. That is so true. Because we've we've we were we knew about we've been new, as the kids say, about kid rock for a while, but like if you're just like 21 and 22 and hearing about this for the first time, I imagine it's pretty silly. Well, I can see it right now, Merle.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

They're like, what the hell is a kid rock?

Ten Dollar Gas And EV Reality

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Yeah, because also isn't he like in his 40s or 50s? Or I mean he's like at least my so I don't know, that's so silly to me.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Uh Kid Rock is up there. I want to say, and I could be wrong. I want to say Kid Rock has got to be in his 50s.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

It may be the low 50s, but I want to say I believe he's in the 50s. And I couldn't mind, you know, I could be wrong, but that's what I think he is. But yeah, that's uh that's a crazy thing, bro.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Exactly. My positive, my my silver lining, my positive thing to say is like good for him for having a lot of energy. That's it. Something tells me that kid, I feel like he should make an energy drink or something. Doesn't he if he doesn't have one already? Like he seems like he totally would have like a version of Celsius or Red Bull.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

That is true.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

That is so yeah, and then like people would go to the hospital and stuff. Like this already seems like it should be a business. But um, well, talking about resources, uh, as we mentioned before, the price of gas is crazy. Um, do you know that now how much is gas at your local pump?

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Well, at my pumps in in Chicago itself, it's uh like around five dollars. Uh out in the burbs, it's like four something. And uh, I want to say diesel is about$5.50, maybe even more than that right now.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Oh my gosh. Okay, yeah. Like by uh by me and Burbank, I think it was like$6.08 or something. Like a my, you know, I I filled up, but it was like$88 the other day. But um, you know, there's a lot of talk that uh as a whole, now we're past four dollars for almost everywhere in the United States, which is a record. I think in the last four years it hasn't been this high. And um uh a gas station in California went viral after being caught charging nearly$10 a gallon, leaving drivers stunned and social media in disbelief. Um now this is by Big Sur, which if people it's like up the coast, you know, kind of almost uh right by like San Francisco and Monterey. It's like up north and it's gorgeous. It's absolutely like you drive up the one and it's like a really, really, really beautiful coastal town. Um, but this is the kind of place that like if you're low on gas, you you need to fill up at this one place because otherwise you're gonna be out of luck and you know, you don't have many options basically, and you're gonna be stranded on like this road, uh, an ocean road. So it's like really important that people have gas when you're driving in Big Sur. And um the owner said this isn't price gouging, it's survival because this station sits in an isolated coastal area with no direct power access, it has to run entirely on generators and transport fuel from from over a hundred miles away. Um that uh so I mean this makes sense to me, not in a good way, but just in a way where like if it's six dollars a gallon for me in Burbank, like knowing that area in Big Sur, ten dollars does unfortunately make sense. But that's just so crazy that if you're driving, it's gonna cost you like three hundred dollars, you know, just to fill up.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Yeah, I feel sorry for the big SUVs. You remember the big gigantic SUVs that everybody wanted?

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Oh, yeah, exactly. So I wonder if people are going to be switching to more electric at this point. It's interesting to note. Like, I would love to know if any of our listeners if this would be enough to make you um like switch over from gas to electric at this point. I for me, like I'm not really ready to make the full electric commitment. Like, I would love to drive a hybrid, but right now I'm still fully on gas.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Yeah, and and you know, the other thing too is I'm not totally sold on the infrastructure yet because it's okay if you're driving local with an electric vehicle, but if you're driving across the country, you know, you don't know what areas are gonna have support or not.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

A great example is let's say you have a vehicle and the vehicle has a range of 500. I mean, it has excellent, which is for an electric car, is a great range. It's really not 500 miles because you have to get back to a charging station. So really safely, you're about 250.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Because if you happen to do that 500 and there's no charging station, you're kind of screwed. And from what I hear, if if your car dies on you, it could cause other expensive issues. You should never run out of it.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

And that's the thing that's probably keeping me away from it right now is there's a lot of nuances with it where you know you don't want to fill it all the way up, you want to get it up to so so many charges, and you don't want to run all the way out. It's like a lot to remember that. You know, you run out of gas, you just fill it up, you know, put some gas in there, get to a gas station, and you're on your way. So exactly. I'm not gonna get there, but I'm like you. Um I don't think I'm there yet.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Me too. Knowing knowing me and how much I'm at 1% of my battery on my phone, I can't I can't be trusted to can't have my car and my phone at 1% all the time.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Yeah, that would be a good thing, especially when you drive and be like, uh oh. You run out and then you look on your phone to see the nearest charging station 20 miles away. Uh-oh.

Justin Bieber Coachella Preview Hype

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Exactly. And like this for people in California, they'll know too, but this big sur road that they're talking about, it's like there's one way up, there's one way down, and it's like you don't want to have the empty tank on and have like eight miles left because that would be a nail bite, or you know, so so so you really don't have any choices, but um, yeah, ten dollars a gallon is cray cray.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

I gotta ask you, Merle, is really always that much of a gap between that area and where you're at, or do you think they're kind of taking advantage of the situation?

SPEAKER_00 32:29

No, knowing where this is, it's like you really are in such a remote area that um everything is like so much more expensive there, you know, like even food, whatever, because I think it's the kind of places where like in order to get oranges or like you know, supplies, it's it's like you have to do so much. It really does feel like you're in a different part of like a different country when you're in there.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Oh, okay. Okay. Well, I guess it makes sense, Dan. It makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Well, talk about making sense. Our good old buddy, Justin Bieber, he has shared a preview of his uh Cochetta set. So this will be the first time that Justin Bieber is actually in the lineup to play there. Now he's been there before, I think as a you know, as a guest or whatever. He may he popped up, I think, one or two times, but he from last year he never actually had a performance there, you know, a scheduled performance. So um Justin Bieber shared a video preview of his upcoming 2026 Coachella set on X, formerly Twitter, on March 31st, 2026. The clip was from an intimate no phones warm-up show at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, which he described as a little sneak preview of his upcoming performance featuring songs from his 2025 albums, Swag and Swag 2. What do you think, Merle? Are you excited about this?

Merrill’s Flappers Show Plug

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Oh my gosh, I really I don't have Coachella tickets, but I'm not kidding that if if one lands in my lap last minute, I will drive to the desert so fast. I'll I'll pay$80 a gallon. Um, I think this is awesome. And like I'm not really I don't have Bieber fever, but I definitely am excited to see what happens. Um, it also just so happens that he's playing the same night that like my favorite girl, Addison Ray, the girl that the influencer, the girl that I like, is playing too. So and like I think this is the best coachella in a long time. But like Sabrina Carpenter is on the lineup. I I'm excited about this lineup. Like I'm really excited, um, even though I'm not going, but like I'm excited for couch cella, as they call it, to watch on my couch. But I I just think Justin is so talented, and I think he's fought a lot of demons along the way. And I just think I'm always rooting for his success, and I just think he's a real talent in the industry. Um, I think people forget what an actual good voice he has, and you know, like what a good performer he was. So I'm rooting for him to like be really happy musically and make a lot of people happy too.

Thanks For Listening And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_02 35:18

Me too. Me too. It's a good thing. Talk about talent, Meryl. What do you have to know?

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Oh, you're so sweet. So sweet. Thank you. Well, it's it's always so funny because while people are at Coachella, I'll be performing to like four people in the audience, but it's okay. Um, one job very my version of Coachella that I'm very excited about is this Thursday, April 9th, um, at Flappers in Burbank. I am uh performing with my good friend Chris Elves, another wonderful comedian that I love so much. And it should be a really good show. It's it's like a local showcase, so super fun.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Nice, nice. Well, if you're in the area, make sure you come out and support Merle. Say hi to her. I know she would love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

Yep, if you can't afford Coachella, I can get tickets for 0.0 for people.

SPEAKER_02 36:14

Nice, nice. Well, everyone, thank you so much for watching and listening to us. We always have fun, we always love hearing from you, and please continue to support us. I'm Lawrence Elrad.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

I'm Merrill Climo.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Bye, everyone.