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-blown conversation about hotel room hygiene. A Southern Living article confirms what many frequent travelers already suspect: decorative pillows almost never get washed, the drinking glasses are a gamble, and the ice bucket... well, there's a reason you use the liner. Dan and Nicole compare notes on their Clorox wipe routines, debate whether pricier hotels are actually cleaner (spoiler: not necessarily), and remind you to look at the air vents if you want to ruin every future hotel stay.

From there, the conversation takes a detour into the best kinds of videos on the internet, including human statues pranking unsuspecting tourists, dogs crunching their food, and animals giving idiots exactly what they deserve. Which leads naturally into a story about a 65-year-old grandfather at Yellowstone who got launched eight feet into the air by a bison, despite minding his own business. Dan and Nicole weigh in on buffalo body language (tail up means get out), why this guy probably doesn't belong in the "idiot tourist" category, and why that still shot absolutely needs to be his Christmas card.

Then it's time to talk food labels. California has banned "sell by" dates, replacing them with standardized "best if used by" and "use by" labels in an effort to cut food waste. Dan goes on a very reasonable tangent about how California's regulations have a funny way of becoming everyone's regulations, whether you live there or not.

Finally, the episode wraps up with a legitimately baffling airline story. A United Airlines passenger flying from Los Angeles to Managua, Nicaragua somehow ended up six hours into a flight to Tokyo before anyone told him. The debate over who's at fault, what signs he missed, and whether $2,500 in compensation is too much (Dan says yes) rounds out the episode nicely.

New episodes drop Wednesdays. They also record live on Monday evenings around 7pm Central, so come find them there if you just can't wait. Subscribe wherever you listen, and catch old episodes at stillspinningpodcast.com.

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 grab bag: Sebastian Bach canceling his Waukesha County Fair set, the great "where do you think the air in the barn comes from" debate, and vacation planning gone sideways (sorry, Canada, the beef tastes weird and the Starbucks milk is off).

Also on the docket: United's new Economy Plus row that turns the middle seat into a shared table, garbage trucks that finally pull their own weight (now with AI cameras snitching on your overgrown lawn in Cape Coral), the booming gig economy of professional line sitting and the legend of Franklin Barbecue, a surprise love letter to John Cameron Mitchell and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and a deep dive into Flock license plate cameras: fantastic crime-solving tool or creepy government database?

Next week is the big one hundred fifty. The sesquicentennial. Buckle up. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Watch us record live Monday nights on Facebook, and find us on YouTube, Instagram, and X. Hit subscribe.

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, YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, X -- all off limits for kids. Nicole walks through what makes this different from Australia's version and why enforcement is the real question.

Then Dan brings the stats on America quietly breaking up with alcohol. The percentage of Americans drinking dropped from 62% in 2023 to 54% in 2025 -- a massive shift in a very short time. Gen Z is leading the charge, and the beverage industry is scrambling to keep up with non-alcoholic spirits, THC drinks, and whatever a dirty Mountain Dew is. Dan accidentally ordered one. He did not enjoy it.

Nicole drops a topic that had Dan immediately claiming he called it years ago: electric air taxis are officially happening this month under a federal pilot program. Planes that take off like helicopters, land in 150 feet, and could eventually make regional air travel look like an Uber. Dan has opinions.

Dan also has a DJI Mavic and a parachute man, and those things turned into a whole other story.

And yes, Dan accidentally listened to a very different kind of performance anxiety meditation on the Calm app before a post-prom trivia show. A month of interesting ads followed. You'll understand when you hear it.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts -- we drop new episodes every Wednesday. Until next time, Spinners. Keep spinning.