We Start With A News Rant And End Asking Your Go-To Valentine’s Move

The mic gets hot fast as we call out the breathless, error-prone way cable news and celebrity pundits turn a serious abduction case into spectacle. When a slickly written letter is treated like proof of brilliance, we ask the obvious: since when did vibes outrank verification—and did anyone consider a chatbot could write that? Our stance is clear: let investigators work, and let journalism report instead of perform.

From there we shake off the noise and wade into New York’s Valentine’s playground, where heartbreak is now merchandised into oddly charming stunts. Want to name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after your ex? There’s a link and a price. Prefer a rat drafted into a fictional all-star league to honor your worst breakup story? That’s a thing too. We laugh at the pettiness because it’s ridiculous, but also recognize the human itch behind it: turn pain into a punchline and buy back a little power.

Balance arrives with warmth. We explore the rise of curated dinner parties—underground supper clubs that trade crowded clubs and pricey restaurants for candlelight, conversation, and a shared table. The trend speaks to the loneliness many of us feel and the craving for slower, real connection. Then we wander into history and romance with Grand Central’s revived Biltmore “kissing room,” a once-hidden alcove designed for quick goodbyes that now invites a new generation to pause, meet, and move on just a bit lighter.

By the end, we land on a grounded take: love does not need spectacle to count. Maybe it’s flowers, maybe it’s chocolate, maybe it’s the deeply practical gift of a tire rotation and an oil change that keeps life humming. We’d love to hear yours—what’s your go-to Valentine’s Day move or gift?

If this episode made you think, laugh, or plan a sweeter date night, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Your notes help us cut through the noise and keep the good conversations going.

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Transcript

Media Meltdown Over Abduction Coverage

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Every single person on Fox News are idiots. They're all idiots. Every single one of them. And the experts, so-called experts that they have on there regarding this Nancy Guthrie abduction. They're all freaking idiots. Oh my gosh. Especially that Harry Henry Harvey Levin from TMZ. What a gullible clown. These people are so easily tricked. I mean Harvey's sitting there talking about this is an intelligent person because of the letter that he sent and I read it. This just tells me he's very intelligent. Child, do you not think that he used Chat GPT? Hello. What a frickin' clown. These people need to stop, every single one of them. Just stop, go back to the news reporting, let the police do their work. I've been watching a JLR investigates on YouTube. I watched it almost all day yesterday. He did a 12-hour live stream. I didn't watch it 12 hours, but close. I just had it on in the background, you know, as I was doing other things in case something happened. But wow. I just can't believe these idiots. Okay, I'm sorry. But I would and I had a cute little Valentine's Day episode ready for you. So let's go do that. I have three stories over here on X regarding love and relationships, sort of. Two of them are. One of them's not so nice. Alright, so let's start with the not so nice one, shall we? From the New York Post. Roaches, Rats, and Cat Poop. How New York City singles are getting savage revenge on their exes for Valentine's Day. Now I don't know why you would want to do this. If somebody dumps you, just let it go. Do you really want to try to get back with them, back back at them with this stupid little crap I'm about to read to you? It's so dumb. I people are so childish and immature. Love may be in the air this Valentine's Day, but across New York City and beyond, so is revenge. If revenge is not good for you, resentment is not good for you. Fed up with ghosters, cheaters, and situationships that went nowhere fast, scorned singles are swapping roses for roaches, candlelit dinners for spiritual cleanses, and sweet nothings for some seriously savage payback. From naming insects, oh stupid ad pop-up. From naming insects after excess to magically cutting cords. Heartbreak has officially gone feral and oddly charitable. People are taking advantage of all kinds of stuff. At the Bronx Zoo, no less, where New Yorkers can name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after a lover, loather, or emotional trauma for just$15. Yes, take advantage of that heartbreak. This is a Jeffy story. I tell you what, the classic package comes with a digital certificate proofing your choose your chosen name will live on in roach immortality with proceeds helping wildlife and conservation. Feeling extra dramatic, the zoo ups the ante with a$35 Valentine's virtual encounter where donors can meet a roach and surprise animal guest live with zoo experts. Why, why? Who does this? No, thank you. And for those who want revenge wrapped in merch, there's a$770 mystery box featuring roach-themed goodies, a print of certificate commemorating the event, and a virtual meet and greet with the roach on February 13th, 14th, and 15th. Who does this crap? Sweet, sweet, savage, or somewhere in between. Only New York could turn heartbreak into insect-based philanthropy. Yes, only in New York, you're right. Not to be outdone, online gambling site, online gambling site, BetUS, is back for the second year in a row, letting dumped daters name a New York City rat after their toxic ex for$15. These people are dumb as a cucumber. Then drafting it onto a fictional all-star rat basketball league. Lord have mercy. Go take advantage of those heartbreaks. Participants can still I'm sorry. Participants can spill the tea by submitting breakup horror stories with the five juiciest earning their rodents a starting lineup spot. According to BetUS, it's all about turning emotional damage into squeaky legacy players, proving even heartbreak can have highlight reels. Good heavens. The story goes on, they talk about other things you can do, but we're not gonna stick with that story. We're gonna move on to the next two, which might be hopefully a little better. The rise of the dinner party goers. Forget nightclubs. New Yorkers are forking out big bucks to eat with strangers, to eat in with strangers. I think I'm gonna like this story. Let's get to it. Let's see. They're drained by the loneliness epidemic, turned off by insanely high restaurant prices, and extremely over the big Apple's messy dating scene. Meet the group, I'm sorry, meet the growing group of the in-the-known New Yorkers cleverly saying check please to the status quo instead of finding sustenance and community at intimate underground dinner parties. This is I like this idea. I wish Huntsville could do this too. From cozy upper east side penthouse soires where martinis clinks over truffle risotto. Can you just not write the fucking story instead of using all these fancy little long ass stupid sentences with words that don't matter? Let me start over. From cozy Upper East Side Penthouse Soires where Martinis clink over truffle risotto to better weather bed stew backyard hangs buzzing with laughter among ornate tell tablescapes, these ticketed meals where strangers sit down to break bread together have become the new way for fashionable city dwellers to go out on the town. That was one long stupid sentence. I swear. I thought I was gonna like this story. Can we just not get to the point, please? Brooklynite Bernadette King Fitzsimmons is just one of the regulars of the cozy heirloom supper club. Oh, I like it, Supper Club. A monthly dinner soiree hosted by roommates Gillian Tineo and Madison Scott inside their alluring lit Bushwick brownstone. I attended okay. I I can't go on with this story because the way they write, it's too fluffy and it just go read it yourself if you want if you like that kind of stuff. It's too fluffy. They use too many words to describe things. It's dumb. But I like the idea of it. I like and you know, my sister-in-law, she would do that with her girlfriends. They would have a monthly birthday club, and they would rotate houses each month for the birthday person, and they would all get all fancy and they would-I mean, it was nice. She would I would see pictures of it. That was very nicely done. I could not do that because I am not that type of person. I'm sorry, I'm not sorry. I used to be I used to want to be that kind of person, and I tried it once or twice, and I just I can't. I'm just not that type of person. I wish I was. I'm not though. Can I just not be happy with who I am with the way I am? Lazy. I'm sorry. Okay, we're moving on to the last story. I'm not lazy. I just don't like that. I just don't I like to see it in other people, and I wish that I could do it, but then when it comes down to it, I don't want to do it because it's a lot of work and a lot of money, actually, because you have to go out and buy all this stuff, and I just I can't. Alright, moving on to the last story. New York's couple, New York's couples are going wild for Grand Central's hidden kissing room this Valentine's Day. Oh boy, I don't know if this is going to be a good one or not. You know, all kinds of things happen in New York. After it debuted in the public in 1913, Grand Central Terminal had to open a kissing room, technically, the Biltmore room, that allowed travelers to steal a sweet goodbye smooch from a loved one without clogging busy train platforms. Oh, in its heyday, the historic alcove, once tucked beneath the now shuttered New York Biltmore Hotel, even featured a cheeky warning. No kiss longer than five seconds. But after years hidden away, tucked behind construction walls, the kissing room, now located on the commuter hub's main level near the Grand Central Oyster Bar, is back in plain sight and bigger than it was. Rather than canoodling in a dimly lit cocktail bar booth, young Gothamites are flocking to the reopened long-lost corner of Grand Central Terminal to privately lock lips. And New York City historian John Freela Freya, who has spent years digging into Grand Central's hidden past, says once the New Yorkers spot the mysterious Biltmore room sign, the history hunt begins. This looks like a cute little story if you would like to read it. It's also a long story, but at least it's written better than that other one without a lot of non-necessary, stupid, descriptive words. Uh but okay. I like this story because it also has history in it. I love it. Okay. That's all I have for you today. We need to get to the uh question of the day. Let's see. Alright, since I talked about a bunch of Valentine's Day things and articles, what is your do first of all, do you celebrate Valentine's Day? You may not. I know I went through a long phase there where I hated it. And I was married, and I thought this is the stupidest, insane, stupidest holiday in air quotes ever. But now I kind of I'm kind of liking it again. I kind of like it again. Now I don't have to go all out. I just like to recognize it, you know. Some flowers, some candy, whatever. Doesn't have to be extravagant at all. In fact, somebody posted on somebody posted on one of the social media platforms. It was a guy, I think. He said, Hey, is a tire rotation and oil change good enough for a Valentine's Day gift? And I thought to myself, yes, yes, it is. Okay, um, so what if if you celebrate Valentine's Day, what is your go-to thing? Like what is your do you buy roses? Do you buy flowers? Do you make breakfast in bed? Do you chocolates? What do you do you go on a date night? Do you watch a rom com together that you normally would not watch? What is your go to Valentine's Day move or gift? How about that? All right, I gotta go. Thanks for listening. Have a great day. Bye.