The Still Spinning Podcast

Nicole and Dan are finally back after a month away, and they pick up like they never left. They start with Dan's new Facebook ad, where AI turned the two of them into Hallmark Christmas movie stars, then get into whether Airbnb is right to stop hosts from making guests strip the bed, start the laundry, and run the dishwasher. Dan shares his Fort Wayne stay, which included a motion light, an alley...

Episode 154 of the Still Spinning Podcast begins with fall weather, torrential rain, and Riot Fest turning a Chicago park into several inches of mud. Dan and Nicole wonder how many shoes were sacrificed, what might be found with a metal detector, and who gets stuck with the world’s worst post-festival job: emptying the portable toilets. Then Dan explains how Ed Sheeran’s concert tour became a logi...

Episode 153 of the Still Spinning Podcast starts with fall weather, pumpkin spice, and an important household debate: exactly how cold is too cold to leave the windows open? From there, things go downhill quickly. Dan and Nicole discuss the HYROX competitor who experienced a very unfortunate bodily malfunction during a race... and just kept going. She won, but everyone behind her may have lost. Th...

Dan loses his audio ten seconds before going live (again), so Nicole flies solo for the intro while he wrestles his own computer into submission. Once he's back, the two dive into a genuinely rough week for celebrity deaths and somehow land on Tim Curry trivia neither of them saw coming (we won't spoil it, but "It" will never be the same). From there it's straight into the AI spiral: a deeply unse...

Episode 151: Twelve Dispensaries, One Cage, Zero Regrets Nicole and Dan are back from an unannounced summer sabbatical, and they have receipts. Nicole hit Aspen, Wisconsin, and San Diego. Dan drove to Michigan. Repeatedly. Buckle up. This week: Google Maps quietly reroutes Dan onto a pitch-black back road in the middle of nowhere, where he discovers twelve pot dispensaries in a row with nothing el...

Dan and Nicole are back and choking on Canadian wildfire smoke. This week they dig into the air quality mess blanketing the Midwest (PM 2.5 readings over 600 in Chicago and a jaw-dropping 1,200 in Duluth), why nobody can get a straight answer about who's to blame, and Dan's ongoing need for a "Facebook monitor" to stop him from correcting strangers' grammar in the comments. From there it's a full...

Dan and Nicole are back! After a longer-than-planned hiatus (life happens), the dynamic duo returns for Episode 148 with plenty to catch up on and a loaded lineup of stories to dig into. First, Nicole comes in hot off a week-long stay at a charming little hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey (right down the street from the Stone Pony, for the Springsteen fans out there), and that trip sparks a full-bl...

Episode 147 -- Keep Spinning (Just Maybe Not Scrolling) Dan was "sunburned". Nicole was ready. And somehow we ended up covering deep fakes, boner pill ads, and the future of flying -- all in one episode. We kicked things off with breaking news: the British Prime Minister announced plans to ban social media for anyone under 16, going further than any country has gone before. TikTok, Instagram, YouT...

Dan and Nicole are back after a few weeks away, and they're jumping right in. After a quick catch-up on birthdays, anniversaries, and Nicole's notable failure to remember either of Dan's, the conversation takes off in all directions. First up, Dan's been reading "Unreasonable Hospitality" -- the fascinating (and slightly creepy) story of one of the world's most celebrated restaurants and the lengt...

Episode 145: We Miss Spirit Airlines Now That It's Dead Spirit Airlines vanished overnight (and a TikToker wants you to chip in $1.75 billion to bring it back). Survivor hits 50 seasons with MrBeast and Billie Eilish making cameos. AI chatbots are now inventing diseases that don't exist. And the guy who invented the Roomba wants to sell you a robot pet with bear-cub ears that drags you off the cou...

Dan and Nicole are back for EP144 and the wallet is taking hits. Gas prices have hit a four-year high (Dan's now coasting home in neutral), Minnesota became the first state to ban "nudification" apps (and yes, it's as dystopian as it sounds), McDonald's is quietly killing the self-serve soda fountain (RIP, suicide drink), and an 82-year-old Minnesotan named Anita just got the "Grandparents Happy H...

Episode 143 of The Still Spinning Podcast is back after a week off, and Dan and Nicole are catching up on a packed lineup. Nicole returns from a New York City vacation where she actually disconnected (gasp!), saw Rocky Horror on Broadway from spit-zone seats, caught Oh, Mary! with John Cameron Mitchell and Simu Liu, and toured the Severance filming location in Red Bank. Dan, meanwhile, did "absolu...

The Still Spinning Podcast - Episode 142 Dan and Nicole are back with a chaotic, tech-heavy episode that somehow turned into a meditation on how much the world has changed in a very short time. Despite a rough start with Facebook going sideways and a frozen video stream (blame Dan), they powered through with four solid topics. First up, Dan dives into the story of Claude Mythos, a new AI model fro...

What do a bankrupt airline, a DNA test that can't pick a dad, a broken space toilet, and one very lucky guy at a gas station in Ohio all have in common? They're all on this week's episode of The Still Spinning Podcast, and none of them will disappoint. Dan's got the story of an airline so desperate to turn things around that they handed their flight attendants yellow cards -- yes, like a soccer re...

Nicole survived the Hot Ones Challenge. Dan did not participate, and based on the aftermath, made the right call. That's just the warmup for Episode 140, which covers delivery robots crashing through Chicago bus shelters, an AI school with no teachers opening this fall for $55,000 a year, a New York bank robber whose six-crime spree netted him $605, a pro cornhole player whose story takes a sharp...

Episode 139 opens with a special introduction to Hector -- the eye sty Dan has been ignoring for weeks that only becomes visible under studio lights. Classic Dan. From there, Nicole and Dan dive into four stories that somehow all feel deeply personal. United Airlines has made it official: blast your phone audio without headphones and they can kick you off the flight and ban you permanently. Dan an...

Episode 138: Graves, Chores, and a Robot With a Fence Problem 138 episodes in and we still haven't run out of things to talk about. Which is either impressive or concerning, depending on your perspective. This week, Dan and Nicole cover the man who accidentally became a gravedigger in 1952 and just... never stopped. 73 years, 5,600 graves, and a retirement so quiet he didn't bother telling his own...

Welcome to episode 137 of the Still Spinning Podcast! It finally happened, Dan got a 3D printer so we get an update on how long it has been running AND how often he left his house since it was unboxed.  There is a new app out there that tells you if there are Smart Glasses nearby and Nicole and Dan talk about the pros and cons of those glasses AND this app. In case you are unfamiliar, these are gl...

Welcome to episode 136 of the Still Spinning Podcast! Next week we will return to our “normal” love recording of the podcast on Mondays at 7 PM CT on all the socials with the regular drop still on Wednesday mornings. Things have been busy for the team so we apologize for the lack of LIVE we have had. Speaking of busy, Dan was traveling this past week and came across something in the Kansas City ai...

Welcome to episode 135 of the Still Spinning Podcast, the last one of February! Dan has a lot of travel coming up for his job and so the topic of hotel stays is high on his list. There are a few things that both he and experts have noticed. First off, the days of the cheap hotel room are gone. No longer are you likely to find a $125 room in a nice hotel. Second, say goodbye to the free breakfast!...

Welcome to episode 134 of the Still Spinning Podcast. This week is all about the Olympics! The winter olympics are in full swing and with it, lots of news. Close to home, Dan has some outdoor lighting that he has set to red, white and blue to honor the athletes competing in Italy. Well, his neighbors have started to copy him so he fills us in on the neighborhood lighting. Dan gives a wonderful rec...

Hello and welcome to episode 133 of the Still Spinning Podcast. We kick off today with a story from Dan about a discussion he had with folks of varying ages and his shock that none of them knew we were planning another trip to the moon. Did you know? Be honest… The SuperBowl happened on Sunday so we talk about some highlights! Specifically commercial highlights because honestly, who watches for th...

Hello and welcome to episode 132 of the Still Spinning Podcast. While we did not record live THIS week, you can watch the live taping next Monday at 7 PM on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram OR wait until the official podcast release on Wednesday morning. Visit your usual podcast subscription service to add us to your list. Visit our website for more details on becoming a sponsor and buying merch. Al...

Hello and welcome to episode 131 of the Still Spinning Podcast. We did not record live this week because Dan got trapped in Ohio. We hear all about his adventure in the snow! Did you know, in Ohio, you can actually get arrested for driving during a “level 3” snow emergency? It is true! Apparently it is also true that both Ohio and Indiana have trouble clearing their snow. Trees can EXPLODE?! The s...

Hello and welcome to episode 130 of the Still Spinning Podcast. You can watch the live taping next Monday at 7 PM on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram OR wait until the official podcast release on Wednesday morning. Visit your usual podcast subscription service to add us to your list. Visit our website for more details on becoming a sponsor and buying merch. All of this at stillspinningpodcast.com. D...