Under The Influencer

This week: We're stuck in the house with Hurricane Debby outside. Max's falling palm tree incident. Directing water. Finding artistic inspiration while school is closed for weather. Port wine cheese. A thrilling post-storm bike ride in Old Northeast. Recapping the annual family reunion. Taking the family pressure away from the holidays. Cooking chicken marsala for 25 in a hotel room. Canno...

This week: A look at the events of 2024 so far. The unstoppable force of BRAT summer. A proper election fight. A Cup Noodle crisis. When making a salad causes a meltdown. The Paris Olympics are GAY gay. Happy horses. Pumpkins in July. Being triggered by back-to-school shopping. Jansport backpacks as a fashion accessory. Trapper Keeper art. Sam’s jelly bracelet incident. The year of pop girlies. Ke...

This week: A look back at a few highlight conversations with early guests of the show. Danielle’s piccolo. Little Debbies and sasquatch with John Senning. Alexia Gonzalez’s latin pop girlie beginnings. The horse girl fantasies of St. Pete Mood Board’s Bryant Nardozzi. Being on the front lines of the St. Pete Rising comment section. Chad Mize’s early inspirations. Pirating music with Jayda Abello....

This week: Cleaning out our google drive of hot takes. Reading through Sam's angry hate comments. Tasting Cup Noodles new s'mores flavor. A bubble gum conundrum. A mysterious donut factory in Queens. Max's sauce intuitions. Flats or flaps? Backstreet Boys deep lore. The open book boy hair part. Bad breath at Pollo Tropical. Pick-me behavior in the comments. The Zaneissance. Sam's s...

This week: Tampa Bay Food bloggers Darren and Danessa join us to chat about the local food scene. A proper South Tampa Gasparilla. Florida kids in a snowstorm. Becoming an elite Yelper. the impact of positive reviews. Max's white square aesthetic. A viral rat video. Sam's tiktok haters. The blurry line between influencing and advertising. The need for more diverse food options in town. Ask...

This week: Exploring Busch Gardens with J.P. Taylor, the park’s manger of promotions and partnerships. Max's middle school girlfriend dragging him on Montu. Phoenix Rising. The Busch Gardens R&D labs. Riding the Serengeti Flier after fooding and wining. Lorikeet Landing. TikTok influencers ruining the alligator experience. Selling fun for a living. The original dueling Gwazi. Hidden park e...

This week: Conceptualizing an emo cabaret. Mashing 90's emo music with the roaring 20's. Getting Scarlet Fever. Don't touch the dancers. Thewine list at the strip club. The art of the tease. Convincing our mom to take us to a Vegas burlesque show. Being a Coyote Ugly girl. Wagon wheel watusi. Behind the scenes of Miss America. Working the auto show circuit. Talking trash in the DnD dis...

This week: A look back at growing up as Universal kids in the 90's. sleep aids. Pre-ride line lore. Riding Back to the Future pregnant. Risking it all to ride Kong-frontation. The meta-movie making experience of Earthquake. The pure camp of the Jaws boat guides. Watching the Twister "ride". Solving mysteries with Jessica Fletcher. The pageantry of Poseidon's Fury. Being the wet k...

This week: We welcome Dr. Kanika Tomalin, CEO and founder of the Foundation for a Heathy St. Pete and former deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. Shaping the story rather than just writing about it. Making the leap into political life. Overseeing a rapidly growing city. Building the Pier. Looking to St. Pete as a beacon of health. Growing up before St. Pete was the “it girl.” Eradicating the disparitie...

This week: Airline Travel. The world's most beautiful McDonald's. Wanting to move everywhere we travel. The de-glamorizing of airline travel. The buddy pass dress code. Reclining your seat is pick-me behavior. Having to pee in a window seat. It's ok to say dam as kid as long as it's about Hoover. The c*nty Southwest staff. Airport safety snacks. Max's medicine for motion sickne...

This week: A look back at Enterprise Village, Finance Park and school field trips past. A kiki at Kissin Cuzzins. Learning how to write checks. Excel spreadsheet wizards. Being assigned a personality at Finance Park. The Sims cheat codes. Waiting 2 hours for a song to download on Napster. The Arch Deluxe. A visit to the farm. Getting lost in St Augustine. Participation ribbons on field day. Troubl...

This week: We sit down and chat with St. Pete bar owner and city council candidate, Pete Boland. A corn nut crisis. Max’s 2002 yearbook omission. School nightmares. The cursed block. Reimagining Williams Park. Growing up in a flood zone neighborhood and running to represent it. The Shore Acres Facebook group. Hoping for better turnout for local elections. Finding political common ground. Working t...

This week: How to act at work. The liminal space of restaurant offices. Gay trivia! Calendar invites used in marriage. The art of dovetailing. Is low hanging fruit good or bad? Keeping the Zoom camera on. Small talk on Teams. Self check-out. The shared microwave. The flavor of Diet Coke. Managing your own notifications. Breaking down silos. Post vacation small talk.

This week: We sit down and tidy up with professional organizer Diane Crespo. Mandatory dance recitals in our family. Sam’s Julia Styles era. American Stage in the Park. Goldfever at St. Pete High. Learning people’s stories through their clutter. The perils of fast fashion. Vacation alter-egos. Auntie Anne’s staffing issues. Working in retail. Getting stuck in the back rooms of International Mall....

This week: A look back at some of the "once-in-a-generation" we've lived through. Eclipse mania. The Beyhive. The Tortured Podcast Department review of Taylor's album. The double brood awakens. Searching tiktok for explanations. Dunkin's spiked iced coffees. Our secret Ovaltine addictions. Apple's peer pressure marketing. The Y2K apocalypse gave us the best year in pop mu...

This week: Radio Legend Drew Garabo of 102.5 The Bone on coming up on the shock-jock circuit. The origins of Max’s Oreo eating habits. Gifted programs. Roasting the recruiter. The fear of going on vacation in radio. The 9am management meeting invite. Bubba the Love Sponge. Radio DJ’s nicknames. Being replaced by a computer. Finding a talk radio niche. Fighting with callers. Finding levity in a dee...

This week: Sarah Weaver of Bandit Coffee stops in to talk all things coffee and gives a peak of Bandit’s next moves. Becoming a cornerstone of the neighborhood. Max’s memories of Cafe Bohemia. 3D-Printed sandwiches. The record for most broken glass. The bonds of Pinellas County Catholic schools. Taking Improv classes. The scene at the Baywalk Starbucks in 2003. The strange lawless times of Covid....

This week: It’s wedding season in Florida. Max’s Ina Garten era. Passion fruit cocktails. A Golden Globes wedding. Heavy snacks. A big fat greek wedding. Max’s cost cutting tips. Doing big arms. Closing down the afterparty. Making mercury glass. Delta variant deviations. Blessings from bubby. Wedding ettiquette circa 1925 from Emily Post. The awkwardness of garter fishing. Escape from New York...w...

This week: An XXL sized episode with Drag performer and entertainment director Adriana Sparkle. The Smush Room. Daddy Sparkle. The most round lake in the country. corporate workplace discrimination. The evolution of Rupaul’s Drag Race. Seeking “permission” to start drag. Being read for filth. Call it Christmas! Trying on heels in the mall. Reigniting a passion for design. Max’s drag mother era. Sa...

This week: Drummer TL Jentgens on redefining the one-man-band. Twins days in Twinsville. Show Choir. Mapping out an escape from Ohio. Letting fate decide where to move. Rocking out at Mars Music. The no-armed man selling a drum set. The struggle with describing a one-of-a-kind music act. The punk scene of Ohio. Playing the bowling alley circuit. Treating every venue like it’s the biggest venue. Ri...

This week: It’s Spring Break in Florida. Mother nature woke up ready to fight. General itchiness. Those weird caterpillars from childhood. Max’s arch nemesis is back. Anarchist children running amok. Miami’s break up with Spring break. Destroying a St Pete Beach hotel for Hollywood. The Clearwater roundabout. A trip to the Jersey Shore for happy hour. Sam’s Florida road trip. Weeble mania. The cra...

This week: Chef Jason Lutzk of Grace restaurant and event planner and PR specialist Brooke Palmer join us to discuss bringing fine(er) dining to the beaches and what it takes to survive in the modern hospitality landscape. Revitalizing Pass-a-Grille. The ostrich farms of 1902. Finding the hidden gems outside of the downtown scene. The grand dutchess of Christmas. Max's reputation for ordering...

This week: Nicole and Brian from Car-Free St. Pete. No, they're not coming for your cars. Exploring alternative ways of getting around town. The Garden restaurant. Halloween on Central. The Strazza. NYC's High Line Park. A riverwalk day with mom. Rebranding bus travel with the Sunrunner. First Friday. The new Whole Foods. Living without a driver’s license. Using the comments to complain.

This week: We're 50! To celebrate committing ourselves to 50 episodes (so far) we take a look back at some of our less successful side hustles. Max's first podcast venture. Bartending from home in pandemic times. Sam's calligraphy plans. A lost career in Egyptology. The Lisa Frankification of our childhoods. Trauma-bonding though the hospitality industry. Starting an ice cream business...

This week: In honor of the return of the Florida State Fair, we reminisce on fairs past and memories of Catholic school festivals. The social allegiances made at the fair. Sam's villain era. The wine toss. Bargaining with parents for an armband. The reason Max blames Van Halen for his motion sickness. A hero moment for Max on the Orbiter. Something else is going on inside the Gravitron. What d...