The Jocular Pugilists

Venice, Italy. A breathtaking city built on water, a republic once ruled by powerful merchants, and apparently a place where you can enjoy incredible pasta while your waiter openly despises you. In this episode of The Jocular Pugilists , Phil and Tomas take a hilarious, history-filled journey through one of the world's most extraordinary cities. Fresh from his Italian adventure, Phil recounts...

Tomas and Phil welcome Lars from Best in Tesla back to The Jocular Pugilists for a wide-ranging conversation about Tesla, electric vehicles, and the future of energy. After years of researching and test-driving EVs, Tomas and his wife, Tracey, have finally purchased a new Model Y. Tomas explains why Tesla’s software, supervised self-driving, integrated ecosystem, and improved refinement ultimately...

What really determines the relationship you have with your brothers and sisters? Birth order? Parenting? Favoritism? Personality? Or simply surviving childhood together? This week on The Jocular Pugilists , Phil welcomes a very special guest—his younger brother Lou—for a funny, personal and surprisingly revealing conversation about siblings, sibling rivalry, birth order and family dynamics . With...

There was a time when nobody wore seatbelts, teachers could hit you, smoking was everywhere, and apparently handing kids handling explosives was considered perfectly reasonable parenting. Tomas and Phil look back at the things that seemed completely normal growing up—and seem completely insane now. Tennis-ball cannons, Catholic school, corporal punishment, bucket seats, smoking in restaurants, dan...

While Phil and Stacey celebrate their honeymoon in Italy, we’re raising a glass to the newlyweds with an encore of another adventure they shared: a trip to Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle. Join Phil and Tomas for a ramble through the castle’s Gothic chapels and historic halls, swapping travel stories and exploring the fascinating—and sometimes creepy—history of one of Edinburgh’s most iconic landmarks...

Healthy eating shouldn’t mean filling your cart with foods you don’t enjoy and hoping willpower gets you through the week. In this episode, the Jocular Pugilists explore how to shop for a way of eating that is both healthy and genuinely delicious. We compare fresh and frozen foods, affordable and premium proteins, conventional and organic produce, convenient ingredients, satisfying snacks, and the...

Are we truly better together? Inspired by a celebration of his parents’ 65th wedding anniversary, Tomas and Phil explore why human beings form lasting partnerships—and what having somebody beside us can add to our lives. They discuss companionship, pair bonding, intimacy, shared identity, and the difference between facing a problem alone and saying, “We’ll figure it out together.” They also examin...

Going out to dinner used to be simple: sit down, order food, eat, pay, leave. Apparently, we’ve made it much more complicated. What happens when your friend shows up 25 minutes late? Do you wait to order—or are the appetizers already coming? Should the person who ordered four martinis really expect everyone else to split the check evenly? Can you send back a steak that’s overcooked? What about a d...

Groceries. Housing. Insurance. Taxes. It seems like everything costs more—and everyone has an explanation for why. But what if we’re diagnosing the problem with the wrong data? In this episode, we dig into some of the most popular claims about CEO pay, worker wages, productivity, corporate profits, and stock buybacks. We look at how perfectly real statistics can be cherry-picked or framed to tell...

We love a good comeback story. Rocky gets knocked down? We’re cheering for him to get back up. But when someone hurts us ? Suddenly, redemption gets a whole lot more complicated. This week on The Jocular Pugilists , Phil and Tomas tackle the messy, uncomfortable question: Does everyone deserve a second chance? From friendships and family to bosses, employees, celebrities—and even ourselves—the Pug...

From The Jocular Pugilists Archives Phil ran into some technical issues this week, so we’re reaching back into the archives to bring you one of our favorite conversations. Whether you’re hearing it again or discovering it for the first time, we hope you enjoy it. When is honesty helpfuly, and when does it do more harm than good? If you have a friend who’s become arrogant—or maybe you’ve wondered i...

We're constantly told that technology is making us lonelier, more distracted, and less connected. But is that the whole story? In this episode of The Jocular Pugilists , Tomas and Phil explore the other side of the conversation. From sharing life's everyday moments with family across town or across the world to reconnecting with old friends, discovering new communities, and staying close...

Nearly 50 years later, Rocky still inspires audiences around the world—not because Rocky Balboa wins, but because he refuses to quit. In this episode of The Jocular Pugilists , Phil and Tomas dive deep into the film that changed Sylvester Stallone's life and became one of Hollywood's greatest underdog stories. From Stallone refusing to sell his script unless he starred in it, to the guer...

The Next Chapter A trip to Savannah turned into something neither of us expected. Watching Gabriel begin his journey at SCAD and prepare for his solo trip to Japan made us realize that one of life’s greatest challenges isn’t change itself—it’s learning to embrace it. As parents, we spend years teaching our children to become independent, but no one tells you how bittersweet it feels when that day...

Journey, Styx, Hall & Oates, ABBA, Toto, Billy Idol, Foreigner, Steely Dan, John Williams, Bugs Bunny classical music—nothing is safe when The Jocular Pugilists take on the hilarious shame and secret joy of guilty pleasure music. In this episode, Phil and Tomas confess the songs, bands, riffs, ballads, and movie scores they once hid from friends but still can’t bring themselves to turn off. Fr...

Every year, millions of people ask the same question: Where should I live? Whether it’s rising housing costs, changing tax laws, remote work, natural disasters, healthcare, or simply the feeling that there might be a better life somewhere else, more people than ever are rethinking where they call home. But we think most people are asking the wrong question. Instead of searching for the “best” stat...

The Jocular Pugilists take an international field trip to Budapest, where the water comes in shot glasses and the showers require an instruction manual. Fresh off a work trip to the Hungarian capital, the crew gets into Budapest’s Buda-versus-Pest personality split, Danube views, towering history, weirdly efficient yellow-cab Ubers, and the terrifying math of paying 5,000 forints for a salad. Ther...

Everyone seems to have an opinion on SpaceX. Some see the company becoming the backbone of global communications, space transportation, and even future off-world industries. Others see a company valued on dreams rather than profits. Tomas and Phil step into the ring to debate the biggest IPO ever, discussing Starlink, Elon Musk, reusable rockets, lock-up periods, valuation, and whether SpaceX coul...

Intermittent fasting has been praised as a breakthrough for weight loss, better health, sharper focus, and even longevity—but does it really live up to the hype? In this episode of The Jocular Pugilists , the guys dig into the promises, pitfalls, and practical realities of fasting windows, skipped breakfasts, late-night cravings, and the science behind it all. Is intermittent fasting a sustainable...

Making friends as an adult can be surprisingly difficult. Between work, family responsibilities, busy schedules, and the routines of everyday life, many people find that building new friendships after 30 takes far more effort than it did in their younger years. In this episode of The Jocular Pugilists , Tomas and Phil explore the challenges of making and maintaining friendships in adulthood, share...

Join us as we re-visit the very first episode of the Jocular Pugilists. “Ouch that hurt. Sure, I asked what you thought, but I didn’t want to know the truth.”  How honest can you really be with someone and how do certain relationships dictate your level of truthfulness? Join our intrepid reporters as they try to uncover the truth behind Honesty while lying to each other the whole time.  For more f...

Los Angeles may be at a crossroads. This week, the Jocular Pugilists dive into the 2026 LA mayoral race through the eyes of Phil, who recently spent time canvassing door-to-door for a little-known candidate and got a firsthand look at what Angelenos are actually talking about beyond headlines and social media. Along the way, the conversation takes its usual strange detours: Tomas losing weight and...

Why do we text before calling , face forward in elevators like NPCs, and panic when someone sees the “typing dots”… but never replies? In this episode of The Jocular Pugilists , we dive into the weird, unwritten social rules that somehow run our lives—and question who made them in the first place. From old-school etiquette to modern-day nonsense, we break down:  Why calling someone without texting...

What do you get when you mix a chewing gum billionaire, roaming buffalo, overpriced Bloody Marys, and a suspiciously fast “time-warp” hike? Welcome to Catalina Island —and another slightly unhinged episode of The Jocular Pugilists . Phil thought he was getting a normal birthday weekend. Instead, Stacy secretly put together a surprise trip to Catalina Island — complete with ferries, golf carts, oce...

Do you ever feel guilty about your food cravings? From Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to Belgian chocolates, join the Jocular Pugilists as they dive into the delicious world of guilty pleasures. Discover why we crave what we do and how to enjoy it without the guilt. Tune in for a fun, flavorful journey! Let us know what you think. Email Phil or Tomas at:  thejocularpugilists@gmail.com And check out ou...