From the Middle

#158. Designer, letter specialist, and creative director, Dylan Menges is a seasoned creative who has never stopped his pursuit of who he is and what he does. His dedication and honest approach to his work has served him and others. This week, it serves us as we have an opportunity to discuss his career, his life, and his perspectives. From his childhood of “independent creativity” to his current...

#157. Ope! Is it too early to talk college football? Not when Sam Sprunger is around! Sam, fellow midwesterner and OddPods podcaster (of 500 Section Lounge and Big 10+4), hops into Kory’s chair for this episode. And while Kory is on a well deserved vacation, we take the moment to discuss sports in the back half of this episode. But before we get into the way-too-early rankings, we spend the first...

#156. Happy belated Memorial Day! We hope you enjoyed kicking off a Summer season in fun ways. For Kory and Dillon, they had some family events while Kendall and his family dove into the deep end of the public pool life for the first time with kids. This leads us well into an important topic concerning party etiquette. If you bring a bunch of drinks to a party, are you free to take any leftovers h...

#155. We just turned three! Or as our little ones would say, “This many!” We’re growing up and finding that life is perhaps more difficult than we had imagined when we were young. Kory has had to learn how to sleep outside on a hammock. We brainstorm the etiquette of picking through people’s trash for anything useful. For shelter, we sit in auditoriums for hours on end pretending to watch free rec...

#154. Andy Woodhull is an established, touring stand-up comic and writer with specials and appearances on major shows and streaming services such as his well acclaimed Amazon Prime Video special. And holy Cheez-Its, he agreed to hang with us for an hour! He warmly answers our questions about his career path, his process, and his view on the state of stand-up comedy in our current culture. His enco...

#153. We hope all the moms had a terrific Mother’s Day! But more importantly, did you have any leftovers? We did! Speaking of chewing on things a bit longer, we received some new interaction about waving to strangers, but with a new twist! John from Grab ‘em in the Brisket podcast gave us a virtual tour of Buc-ee’s, a mammoth of a gas station popular in Texas! “Answers from the Middle” brings us t...

#152. Ska mosh pits are…funnier. Kory attended an arena rock show featuring Journey and Toto, Kendall attended a well-curated Marvel exhibit featuring classic comic book history and film memorabilia, and Dillon attended a gas station featuring a touch screen. But first, Answers from the Middle continues the saga of the “Never Flusher” as responses from involved parties chime in. We digest the poin...

#151. Do you trust your mechanic? On this episode, Kory and Dillon delve into the dynamic of believing what an auto shop is selling. Kory shares a fun story about meeting a fake Brit, and then the brothers continue the “Answers From the Middle” segment. How do you respond to a never-flusher? Should self-guided home tours be appropriate when visiting a friend’s place? Is there a bad time to let ano...

#150. Happy birthday, Dillon! And here’s to 150 episodes of From the Middle! This episode marks the inaugural run of a new segment, “Answers from the Middle.” You provided us with some questions and situations for us to comment on and share our judgement, and we responded. We really enjoyed this segment and we hope you do as well. We have more to get to in the coming weeks, but please keep your qu...

#149. Pikachu went to WrestleMania and WON! That and other random topics aplenty in this hour. Kendall shares some inside details about just how the Senate was able to unanimously pass the Daylight Savings Time bill. Kory’s flight misfortunes continue. And Dillon had a DMV experience that went just fine. He now has a license to save the world, apparently. This will come in handy to combat the evil...

#148. Kory! Kory! Ya playin? Nope. He’s not playin. So we called up a third chair from way back in episode #017: friend and middler, Jim Taylor! Kendall updates us with a positive turn concerning his kids and Star Wars before we move on to discussing the new Marvel series, Moon Knight. We’re one episode in and already have strong feelings about this one. We also ask Jim about the Marvel migration...

#147. “That guy just charms my pants right off.” Hello everyone! We kick this one off by sharing some responses to our question from episode 146 about things you’ve tried to share with loved ones but it didn’t go as hoped. This was a great topic with some fun interaction. Thank you! We also share a couple stories which give us hope for the future of the service industry, including one which begs t...

#146. Have you tried to get a child, partner, or anyone else into something that you love only to have them throw cold water on your hopes of sharing something amazing? Let us know via our socials, VMs, or email! Linktree below. Kendall began sharing Star Wars with his children and was ready for THE moment where Luke Skywalker learns who his father is. Let’s just say Luke’s reaction was far more e...

#145. One of our ambitions for this podcast has been to create a virtual moment of sitting in a barber shop just chatting away about common interests. We had the opportunity to take that experience as literally as we can by inviting Ray, Kendall’s barber, onto the show! Ray is an excellent talent in barber skills. Beyond cutting tight fades, this includes his ability to mold into whatever conversa...

#144. We start off with our call to action. We love the interaction in the Facebook group! We are asking if some of you can also call in or send us a message with a question or story you would like us to react to in a future episode. The Linktree below will show you all the places you can do that. The voicemail number is down there as well! The first meat of our discussion comes from Dillon’s expe...

#143. Never say never! Dillon gives food delivery another try, but this time it’s Gold Belly sending him an ill-packed king cake from Louisiana. Will he give it another try? Probably. Kory has all the reasons in the world to own the shirt he’s wearing. Kendall is too picky about buying fan merch, which is a big and tall order if you are looking for something in his sizes. Continuing with clothing,...

#142. We have always tried to have fun and simple conversations as if we are just sitting around a pub with our favorite drink. This week, we get a little stuck on what a pub actually is, providing the perfect example of the mindless escape we sometimes end up being! Dillon’s daughter does something cute and sneaky, including enabling an addict of a yeti. The Michigan guy in the group wants their...

#141. This year’s Super Bowl was among the most watched in recent history and we account for six of those eyeballs! The game, the commercials, and the halftime show were all hitting our generation well and we are here to talk about it. We also discuss Valentine’s Day as well as Kory’s trip to revisit some sweet tree houses. Mad props to whoever is running the Amish these days. The food was wonderf...

#140. After putting some things in our mouths and telling you if we like them (Liquid Death…call us), we begin our discussion with the etiquette of dogfighting. Not THAT kind of dogfighting. The less click-baity thing to ask is what do you do when your neighbor’s dog sends yours to the vet? We then move on to the more legal sports of the Olympics. Is anyone watching? We bet many of you are not, bu...

#139. Happy Groundhog Day! Joe Burrow saw his shadow overtake the AFC which means two more weeks of football for the Cincinnati Bengals! We also talk about the shadowy areas of our homes where we tend to stash the stuff we just don’t want to see or have nowhere else to put. Do we all have a “Monica’s closet?” Do you ever just throw junk away? Are we all hoarders? We specifically would love some ph...

#138. The twitter poll is in! Apparently about half of us don’t want our grammar corrected at all. Even for the half that do, we still don’t like it. Keep that in mind while on your grammar patrols. Dillon shares what Danny did to turn him off of food delivery apps. Kendall takes his family to see the leftovers of the sports season. Then we get into some real talk about parenting and how, if, and...

#137. This is our most daring episode yet! Good looks are not always a prerequisite for Hollywood fame. Some have built a career on their less appealing attributes. You know; interesting body shapes, creepy grins, thick glasses, puffy eyes. Speaking of puffy eyes, Dillon is allergic to something which led him to take too much medication. He’s fine, but sadly didn’t get it on camera. Speaking of be...

#136. Threading a needle has become a challenge for us, but man, we did it. We begin talking about what probably should be the new direction for the podcast as we discuss our most popular piece of content yet! And then we get gross about a giant hairball. Made of human hair. You read that right. And it’s right here in Ohio where some made it the center piece of New Year’s Eve celebrations! Speakin...

#135. Happy New Year everyone! Join us as we take a quick look back into 2021 and what it had to offer the middlers. From feature and streaming films to music, books, YouTube, and sports, we share are top everything. We even include a couple new tech categories suggested by a listener. Just imagine Ricky Gervais roasting celebrities in between awards and you have yourself a fun listen. On to the n...

#134. We talk more about cocktail shrimp than any podcast has ever. The stats are in. We didn't read them, but it's probably true. Speaking of Christmas, we recap the festivities and share our celebrations with you. We would love to hear your stories! Kendall shares a possible social dilemma that came up among his family as his daughter shouted "Happy Kwanzaa" to passersby. Is it a sign of social...