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It’s a Week Zero College Football Spectacular! CIB is here to get you ready for the weekend of (mostly terrible) games as we ramp up for what’s sure to be another exciting and chaotic season of the best sport. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe Live-Bets the Games! 5:53 — WGAS NewsBag, Sports Edition! 38:12 — The Sports-Adjacent Question of the Week! 42:27 — The Best Game in Every Time Slot! 57:38 — 2026 CI
This week we’re lamenting the TikTok’ing public’s evident solidarity with a child-murderer, Abe reads self-help but only ironically he swears, and we harrumph our way through the news and culture of the week, as usual. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Lindsay Clancy, American EveryMom 13:40 — Abe, Book Club Infiltrator, Self-Help Enthusiast 30:08 — Supreme Court decides not to preempt Trump administration fro
This week we take a look at a few different reactions to the Jason Arday story and try to sort out the reasons why fabulism is treated differently by different cultural tribes, and what that might have to do with shame and belonging. That and our usual assortment of other nonsense and complaining, of course. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Sometimes you start the show talking to the robit about theoretical b
Cast Iron Brains returns from a week at the beach and having survived an attempted electrocution by a household appliance to discuss the news and our lives and whatever else we feel like complaining about, in keeping with our idiom. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Barack Hussein Obama infringing on BrainIron Multinational Media Empire turf 12:28 — Abe [fails to be] In the World, goes to Asheville instead; Bo
Is there actually more of a “crisis of meaning” in the smartphone AI age? Is it more likely the case that the vast majority of humans always been perfectly happy to accept whatever meager meaning happens to come their way, with a small, hand-wringing set of elites always freaking out that the latest thing is bad? If everyone is content to watch individualized content on their solipsism machines, is it just kinda rude of Rowdy Roddy Piper to come barging in trying to wake everybody up? Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all abo
We’re here with a rundown of the various things our insane clown president is getting up to this summer, checking in on Mark Strassmann after a few weeks away, and Abe endorses polytheism. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — World Cup wrap-up, fixing global sport with Fuck Island 19:18 — The Last Trump Summer Vacation 1:10:50 — Did CBS News’ Senior National Correspondent Mark Strassmann Get Off a Good One? And t
It’s state tournament recap time! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe vs. The Peachtree Road Race 9:17 — Youth Beisbol Tournament Extravaganza 1:31:15 — Lindsey Graham is dead 1:42:42 — The Iran war is back, baby! 1:47:52 — AccuWeather Push Notifications of the Week 1:51:28 — Wrap-up! The Invite; King Sorrow Relevant Linkage can be found by visiting https://brainiron.substack.com/, where, if you would like t
We’re finally popping back into your podcast feeds after nearly a month with a special(?) America at 250 episode of Cast Iron Brains. We’ve got patriotism, patriotic complaining about soccer, patriotic complaining about youth sport, and other patriotisms! Listen patriotically, as you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — What Makes America Great, 250 Years On 9:15 — Abe in America 20:50 — How to Watch Soccer 41:32 — On what’s wr
Youth beisbol obligations have kept us from our podcasting responsibilities the last couple of weeks, but we’re finally back with our usual assortment of news, culture, and interpersonal complaints. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe Live Bets the Games, NBA Finals Edition 20:09 — Trump walks out on Meet the Press 37:32 — Dismantling of 60 Minutes 42:42 — Why we love youth sport 1:37:01 — Wrap-up! Backrooms
CIB returns, soggy and spent, to your podcast feeds with a look at the news of the week and a bit of rambling about the discomfort and anxiety of sharing the real world with a bunch of people who spend the vast majority of their time in a bespoke false creation that is not in conversation with reality. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Connectivity issues, the weather, and stabbings 8:20 — Iran deal imminent,
On the eve of Abe’s Big Detroit Adventure we’re here to discuss a bad New York Times opinion piece, bad food products for children being marketed to adults, bad movies, and other bad things, probably. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — The Biffler refuses to release the files 11:49 — The New York Times tells the world that the Jews are eating the cats, doing other things with the dogs 46:08 — Uncrustables being
Maybe it used to be the case that everyone believed a bunch of wild and crazy and reality-denying stuff, but at least we mostly shared those reality-challenged beliefs. Now it feels like everybody has their own bespoke insane reality-denying belief system, largely defined by the rejection of any institutional authority or shared truth. It’s great, and we talk about it! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Packed
We are back after a beisbol-mandated week off to yap about Iran, a Virginia referendum to redraw the congressional maps, and plenty else. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — What we’ve been up to. 16:02 — Trump threatens to blow up all the bridges and power plants 37:16 — Virginia redistricting vote is today 57:22 — Family Annihilators Run Amok! 1:04:19 — Wrap-up! Relevant Linkage can be found by visiting https:
This week we’re yapping about an old favorite topic—how the religious fanatics convinced that they know the mind of God barely seem to have a grasp on the very basics of the religion they claim to adhere to, and how that’s probably bad for the world. Plus thoughts on Project Hail Mary and whatever else is going on in the world this week. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe survives not-Freaknik2026, Bob and
Something the Trump administration did was good, we must reluctantly admit. It’s another week of travel stories and meandering through the headlines looking for something interesting to say. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — ICE at the airport 17:53 — Abe, crime victim 26:56 — Is the phone call making a comeback? 31:25 — WGAS NewsBag; Air Canada CEO forced out; Tiger Woods car crash; Birthright citizenship bef
Lori has made her glorious return from Finland and Estonia and has a lot to say about why flying is bullshit. We also barely contain our glee while discussing a murder, chat about Iran, and play America’s Favorite Game Show, Chuck Norris Edition. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Being insensitive about airport chaos 8:42 — Lori in the World 49:10 — Handi-capable quadruple amputee succeeds at cornhole, murder
With Lori on a whole-ass other continent, we’re left sad and lonely and drifting through the news of the week, with much talk of American decline, our lack of faith on one another, and whether or not we are a people capable of building the sort of world we hope to live in. It’s quite a hoot! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Some talk of Geno Smith, inexplicably 5:10 — Dudes in the Wild, Betting on Senate Race
A little less than a week ago, the United States and Israel began a war with Iran. Today, we talk about it. See that?! A masterful sales job! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe runs, huffs, puffs 4:27 — United States at war in Iran 1:01:27 — Did CBS News’ Senior National Correspondent Mark Strassmann Get Off A Good One? 1:09:37 — Wrap-up! Train Dreams; Blue Ruin; A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Relevant Link
The State of the Union might as well have been a month ago, but we’re here to talk about it as the glorious, hilarious, highly watchable, weird, shameful, exploitative circus gameshow that it undeniably was. That and the latest goings on over on the CBS Evening News, Abe’s movie reviews, and plenty of YOUTH SPORT DRAMA. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — USA Men’s Hockey Triumphs! 8:29 — State of the Union Expl
Today we’re mostly ignoring the news of the week to instead express wonder and dismay at how short form video is probably breaking our brains in really bad ways. It’s a hoot! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — The Biffler goes full blood-determinism 21:33 — Regressing to an oral culture 36:03 — Maybe weight does in fact correlate with health a bit 58:37 — Did CBS News’ Chief Correspondent Matt Gutman Get Off A
It’s an almost-all Super Bowl 60 reaction spectacular! We watched, we complained, we talked about it. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe girds himself for SURVIVOR 50 3:11 — Trump stumbles over non-existent bar for his own speech, posts Obamas depicted as apes 12:28 — Super Bowl 60! And the Olympics! 48:07 — Super Bowl 60 commercials! 1:04:38 — Super Bowl 60 halftime shows! 1:41:16 — Canada to lose all hock
Rather than another lengthy run through the unpleasant headlines of the week, we are here with a more ruminative discussion about whether the relationships that have been strained by The Trumppening have a chance of being mended when it finally comes to an end. We also talk about a social network for AIs, and what it means to engage with purely arbitrary content created with no intention beyond pattern matching. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an em
CIB has tunneled through enough ice and snow to record another spectacular episode of the only podcast, and within you will find our discussion of the killing of Alex Pretti by CBP officers and also a couple of football games, because America! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Lots of weather happened! 22:36 — Alex Pretti killed by CBP in Minnesota 1:29:35 — Cast Iron Balls: Conference championship games recap
College football and NATO are basically the same, and Donald Trump and Fernando Mendoza are basically the same. That’s your summary! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — Abe in the World, podcasting finally getting the recognition it deserves 7:32 — Trump in Davos 1:09:10 — Cast Iron Balls! NFL games recap 1:20:19 — Indiana beats Miami 1:54:41 — Wrap-up! Relevant Linkage can be found by visiting https://brainiron
This week we’re here to discuss the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer last week, because you can never have too much of that, apparently. And on the way out, reviews of Greenland 2 and a quick game of FMK, HP6 Edition. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy! Show Rundown Open — …as it all falls apart. 8:45 — Minnesota ICE shooting 54:43 — Trump’s NYT interview 1:15:10 — Ever so briefly on Iran 1:20:47 — Wrap-up! Greenland 2; Har
