Shift Happened

Today’s Shift Happened gets a little chaotic… in the best way. The crew dives into the return of fireworks over Mount Rushmore and whether lighting explosives over a dry Black Hills summer is bold celebration or a terrible idea. Then the Leprechaun pub crawl gets a reality check when the South Dakota forecast threatens snow and tights become part of the official costume strategy. And somehow the s...

Houston took the day off, which meant Leslie and Stitch were left unsupervised… and immediately started questioning daylight saving time and why we still mess with the clocks every year. Turns out one in seven Americans still gets caught off guard by it. They also recap a huge weekend for the crew, including the Mountain West Whiskey Festival and a full-blown redneck wedding inside a monster truck...

Rapid City gets some big grocery news as Natural Grocers prepares to move in, which of course sends everyone online straight back to the eternal question… where’s Trader Joe’s? The crew breaks down why stores actually choose cities and why Rapid City might still be waiting. Then science enters the studio with a bold claim that Thin Mints taste better frozen, sparking a surprisingly intense cookie...

With Stitch out, Leslie and Houston take the wheel and immediately get distracted by the weather… again. It’s another suspiciously warm day in Rapid City, which somehow turns into debates about Chick-fil-A fries, where the city should build a Vegas-style Sphere, and why some classic rock lyrics make absolutely no sense. The conversation drifts from lottery winners losing their minds in bars to the...

On this episode, the crew looks outside at perfect Rapid City weather and realizes they absolutely should be doing the show outdoors… so naturally they stay inside and complain about it. The conversation bounces from the record-shattering Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime numbers to the weird excuses people use to ditch work, including blaming a judgmental mirror and a dog that locked a kid outside. T...

Houston’s voice is back… mostly. But that doesn’t stop the crew from spiraling into some truly strange territory. The show starts with a cancelled doctor appointment that turns into a deep dive on whether doctors can legally write prescriptions for themselves. Then things get weird fast. The team debates the suspicious McDonald’s CEO burger bite that might secretly be brilliant marketing, breaks d...

Monday came in loud… and slightly hoarse. The crew kicks off the week with Houston's voice sounding like she chain-smoked menthols with Miley Cyrus, which somehow turns into a debate about anesthesia, organs on operating tables, and whether doctors are secretly having a good time during surgery. Meanwhile, the team celebrates Addy Awards, debates the right way to eat oysters without gagging, and t...

Well… it finally happened. Maggie and Caleb are officially getting married in the back of a monster truck. After fourteen years together, they survived the Newlywed Game, beat out the competition, and now they’ve got about a week to mentally prepare for vows delivered by Redneck Bob. In public. On a monster truck. Romance isn’t dead. It’s just loud. This episode has everything. Leslie’s interview...

Stitch is back from Denver, Houston is still slightly jazz-radio after surgery, and somehow we ended up debating whether Mariah Carey belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We break down the latest Hall of Fame nominations and spiral into the age-old argument… is it rock and roll, or is it just music? Iron Maiden makes sense. Shakira? We have thoughts. We also talk about the terrifying Omaha s...

Houston is back… kind of. Fresh out of surgery, slightly medicated, and sounding like late-night jazz radio, Houston returns to the mic and immediately thanks anesthesia for whatever it did to his vocal cords. We get a behind-the-scenes look at hospital recovery, lidocaine patches, and the weird mental state that comes with talking to yourself in a room for hours. Of course, we had to revisit Punc...

No Stitch. No Houston. Just Leslie… and her thoughts. Today’s Shift Happened feels like when your emotional support coworkers call in sick and you’re left wandering the hallways alone. So naturally, we spiral into ancient Roman flatbread, a lifelong vegetarian who caved for a $120 steak, and whether any of us truly have a moral price. We also unpack the wild story of a mom who vanished for 24 year...

No Houston. No problem. Mostly. On today’s Shift Happened, Stitch and Leslie recap a monster weekend in the Black Hills, including a jam band with a horn section that had people driving in from Nebraska just to catch the vibe. Not saying it was legendary… but it was close. We also gear up for The Newlywed Game this Thursday, where four brave couples will battle it out for the chance to get married...

Houston is out getting scoped… and yes, we talked about it way too much. On today’s Shift Happened, Stitch and Leslie hold down the fort while Houston undergoes his procedure, and the show somehow turns into a mix of medical oversharing, metal music, and Burger King corporate chaos. We call the actual president of Burger King on-air to test his new “call me directly” hotline. Did he answer? Not ex...

Houston’s out preparing for surgery, and apparently that means the show immediately goes off the rails. Today’s Shift Happened features Stitch and Leslie fully unsupervised, which leads to a deep dive into the correct way to shower. Yes, there is a wrong order. Yes, conditioner might be betraying your skin. And yes, we spent an alarming amount of time on this. We also tackle the Reese’s conspiracy...

Snow might be coming. Or maybe not. Nobody believes the forecast anyway. On today’s Shift Happened, the crew debates the one sound that means you’re in immediate danger, and yes, it includes that terrifying moment when the Black Hills woods go completely silent. Mountain lion? Ghosts? Either way… we’re running. We also dive into bedtime gaps in relationships and why going to sleep at the same time...

It was Mardi Gras… and apparently some of you are decorating your entire house for it. Beads on the fence. Fleur-de-lis in the window. We respect the commitment. We also learned King Cake babies weren’t some ancient mystical tradition. They were basically a bakery accident that stuck. Now you find the baby, you buy the next cake. That’s how legends are born. Then we spiraled into “food porn” cultu...

No Stitch. No Leslie. Just Houston and a federal holiday. For President’s Day, we flipped The Second Shift into The Executive Shift , and Houston went full solo mode. First up… the truth bomb. It’s technically still Washington’s Birthday. Congress never renamed it. Even better? The holiday can never actually land on February 22nd. We mathematically celebrate his birthday without ever hitting his b...

Friday the 13th rolled in right before Valentine’s Day… and somehow we made it romantic. We dug into the very not-sweet origin story of Valentine’s Day, which includes secret weddings, an angry emperor, and a literal beheading. So next time you sign a card “from your Valentine,” just know… it has a backstory. Then things got strange in the best way. A mystery dog that keeps saving lost kids and th...

We tried to understand the Winter Olympics and somehow ended up deep in ice dancing controversy. From banned backflips to TikTok debates about a French skating couple’s off-ice drama, it turns out the chaos isn’t only happening on the ice. Then there was the El Paso “foreign threat” that shut down air traffic near Fort Bliss… which turned out to be a party balloon. Yes. A balloon triggered counter...

Cupid hit the streets for Curbside Cupid… with five winners, broken wings, and at least one very public wardrobe change in the lobby. It was love in action across Rapid City, even if the halo was slightly crooked. Meanwhile, a Norwegian Olympic medalist tried to win back his ex during a bronze medal interview. She responded. It did not go how he hoped. Plus, DoorDash revealed the most romantic and...

It’s Red Tuesday… statistically the day you’re most likely to get dumped. So naturally, the crew decides to relive their most awkward breakups. From getting dumped over Facebook Messenger to a phone call made from another guy’s bed, nothing was off limits. Then things get even weirder. An Olympic medalist confesses to cheating during his post-race interview, scurvy makes a comeback thanks to moder...

National Pizza Day kicked things off with a shoutout to a Rapid City favorite, then the crew dove straight into the Super Bowl chaos… from streakers that nobody saw on TV to a halftime wedding that was actually real. Yes, real. They break down the defensive showdown, roast the commercials that leaned way too hard into AI, and debate whether the Bad Bunny halftime show was a cultural moment or a co...

It’s the final ride from the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo, and the Second Shift goes out exactly how you’d expect… with Stitch eating loudly, Houston trying to keep microphones clean, and Leslie questioning every life choice that led to frybread covered in cheese. The crew takes one last lap through the ice arena, talks mullets with a live barber shop, attempts to break into the Rapid City Rus...

Things get weird before the microphones are even warm. Houston is sent to spy on a mysterious meeting in the fishbowl, only to realize the strangers might be from jury duty and not some secret plot to dissolve the company. Then there’s the listener who proudly admits she listens to The Second Shift twice a day, which immediately raises concern, gratitude, and a light mental health check. Plus, Jan...

The Second Shift goes full emotional whiplash in this episode. Houston shares a quietly powerful story about using AI to preserve a late father’s voice and why it mattered more than anyone expected. From there, the crew zooms out to bigger questions about memory, technology, and what AI should actually be used for. Then it’s back to classic Second Shift chaos with Rapid City traffic therapy, Dooms...