Episode 123 · The GaS Digital / Ray Kump Era
Carney Code
Nov 23, 2018 · 1:12:57 · 22 segments, 154 moments indexed
- 1 min
- 4 min
Thanksgiving Family Talk and the Divorce Statistics Argument
#Tim and Ray discuss Thanksgiving traditions, cheese nips, Irish family dynamics, drug and alcohol problems in families, and get sidetracked into a lengthy debate about actual divorce rate statistics.
7moments
- 0:51Tim's dad got his hips replaced and now can't travel for Thanksgiving, plus his brother's cats have fleas.
- 1:32Tim's uncle yelled at him for eating cheese nips before Thanksgiving dinner.
- 2:00Thanksgiving is just a weird dinner with people you kind of know—he doesn't understand why families pretend it matters.
- 2:42Italian and Irish families are different; Irish families start strong when kids are young with potential.
- 3:17As Irish families age, drug addiction, divorce, alcoholism, despair, and poverty take hold.
- 3:35Tim disputes the commonly cited statistic that 60% of marriages end in divorce.
- 4:34He argues the real divorce rate is much lower than the popular 50-60% figure people cite.
Irish familiesThe Sopranos
- 2 min
Marriage, Blame, and Growing Up in a Big Irish Family
#Continuing the marriage discussion, Tim theorizes broke couples blame each other, then describes his grandfather's massive Long Island Thanksgiving parties with 50 guests, turkey, and family drinking culture.
4moments
- 5:03The divorce statistics are unreliable because they pool divorces from all married people, not just those married that year.
- 5:30Tim describes the current moment: two unmarried fat men debating divorce on the radio.
- 5:54Most marriages fall apart because the people in them have no idea how to run a household.
- 6:07When broke couples are scrounging around, they blame their spouse for their lot in life instead of addressing the real problems.
- 4 min
Old Family Parties, Coke in the Yard, and Coming Out
#Tim recounts the drinking, drug use, and chaos at his family's old holiday parties versus his quiet current Thanksgiving, then riffs on his lack of desire for big family involvement and his experience coming out as gay to relatives.
7moments
- 6:30Tim describes his grandfather's massive Thanksgiving gatherings on Long Island with about 50 people in a huge yard.
- 7:11His nanny would start cooking Wednesday morning, preparing two 22-pound turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and later prime rib for Christmas and glazed ham for Easter.
- 7:54The parties featured drinking, music, his dad's guitar, singing, fist fights, pool games, and people doing coke in the yard.
- 8:40Tim clarifies the coke use was his dad's brothers and friends when he was a kid, not him and his siblings at holiday parties.
- 9:04Getting caught drinking or smoking weed at parties depended on who caught you—a cool aunt might say nothing, while someone trying to ruin everything would tell.
- 9:39Now Thanksgiving is just him, his schizophrenic mother, his eccentric Aunt Donna, and Uncle Steve—four people eating turkey that always sucks no matter who makes it.
- 10:04Uncle Steve asked about Tim and his roommate living together in Queens, confusing the relationship.
- 2 min
Cutting Off Family and Hasan Piker's Twitch Stunt
#Tim argues people should feel free to cut toxic or politically incompatible family out of their lives, then mocks streamer Hasan Piker for suggesting people film their MAGA relatives' Thanksgiving meltdowns for content.
8moments
- 10:39Tim argues that at a certain point, family has already given you enough—life itself.
- 10:57Tim explains he would never have been the type to seek parental approval of romantic partners anyway, whether straight or gay.
- 11:12He dismisses needing family approval as foreign to him unless there's money or inheritance at stake.
- 11:34Tim mocks people who complain constantly about their mothers: at some point you're an adult, so cut them out.
- 11:45The idea that adults cut off parents over political disagreements strikes him as absurd—these people overshare their grievances on social media.
- 12:01Hasan Piker, described as a hot Arab guy spouting progressive tropes on the Young Turks, asked followers to film their MAGA relatives' breakdowns at the border for him to review on Twitch.
- 12:22Tim calls the stunt completely un-serious and accuses these people of having zero interest in actual change, only self-promotion and disgust.
- 12:37Tim fantasizes darkly about someone actually getting shot while filming a relative and Piker reviewing it on his stream.
Hassan PikerThe Young Turks
- 4 min
Missouri Road Story: Bass Pro Shop and the Lost Runway
#Tim tells about his trip to Springfield, Missouri, touring the massive Bass Pro Shops flagship with its giant aquarium and Goliath grouper, then a story about his flight being delayed because the incoming pilot couldn't find the runway.
9moments
- 12:43Red states are nicer and kinder than New York, which he describes as a hellscape built on oppression.
- 13:20Suburban residents are just as racist as anyone in red states.
- 13:56Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Missouri is a massive hunting and fishing complex the size of half a mall.
- 14:14The shop features the largest indoor wildlife exhibit in the country, with an amazing aquarium and wildlife refuge.
- 14:44A 400-pound Goliath grouper in the aquarium is one of the biggest fish you can see, so massive it takes two and a half to three hours to walk through.
- 15:37Tim's flight from Springfield airport gets delayed when the incoming pilot can't find the runway and gets diverted to Memphis.
- 16:14He refuses to board a plane with a pilot who couldn't locate the runway despite having navigation aids.
- 16:27Airlines shouldn't announce pilot navigation problems on the loudspeaker to passengers.
- 16:44Tim chooses to skip the delayed flight, book a hotel, and return to Bass Pro Shop the next day rather than fly when visibility is poor.
MissouriBass ProSpringfield, MissouriJohnny MorrisonGoliath grouperJoe ListCabela's
- 2 min
Ray's Wrestling Night and the Question of Grown Men Loving Wrestling
#Ray describes watching Ronda Rousey get beaten with a kendo stick at a wrestling watch party, leading to a debate about why adult men still love scripted wrestling.
5moments
- 17:08Tim attended Survivor Series wrestling event at Dan's apartment last week.
- 17:21He watched Ronda Rousey getting beaten with a kendo stick for the first time and found it fascinating.
- 17:47Tim loved wrestling storylines and big matches as a kid, wrestling with action figures and jumping off bookshelves.
- 18:08He questions what appeal wrestling still holds for adults who grew up with it.
- 18:41He can understand MMA but struggles to see the point of watching fake wrestling as an adult.
Ronda Rouseywrestling
- 4 min
Bill Maher, Stan Lee, and the Steve Bannon Oxford Union Speech
#Tim discusses the backlash to Bill Maher's comments about comic books infantilizing people, then pivots to Steve Bannon speaking at Oxford Union despite a violent mob outside, arguing for the value of hearing out ideological enemies and lamenting the death of civil discourse.
10moments
- 19:06Bill Maher's actual criticism of comic books was timid, but what angered people was him telling them to grow up.
- 19:22Tim on edgy Halloween costumes: if you and your friend need to dress as the Twin Towers, figure something else out.
- 19:39Maher's point was about a country where people treat comic books as important, describing infantilized citizens.
- 20:10Steve Bannon speaks at Oxford Union while a violent mob chants outside, forcing him to be smuggled in by van.
- 20:51Students inside hear the mob and shift uncomfortably, caught between disagreeing with Bannon and rejecting violent censorship.
- 21:23Oxford students facing a choice: align with the violent mob or defend free speech for someone they despise.
- 21:54Tim invokes Buckley debating Chomsky in the 60s or 70s—two deeply opposed but intelligent men arguing without emotional escalation.
- 22:17People have lost the ability or desire to have detached arguments separate from emotion and personal brand-building.
- 22:30The emotional intensity in arguments comes from arguments being the end point, not the beginning of actual change.
- 22:45Jonathan Franzen refused Oprah's book club and rejects social media because people have become products driven by likes and retweets.
Steve BannonJonathan FransBill MooreBuckleyChomskyStan LeeBolsonaroDonald Trump+3 more
- 4 min
Barstool Bros, AOC's Bank Account, and Republican Own-Goals
#Tim mocks 'Saturdays are for the boys' cigar-bro masculinity, then attacks conservative media and CNBC for shaming AOC over having only $7,000 in savings, arguing this plays into her favor and that Republicans keep making themselves look foolish attacking her.
8moments
- 23:37Barstool Sports has become people's personality, with goons posting 'Saturday's for the boys' as if they need a brand hashtag.
- 24:02Modern manhood has devolved into slobs smoking cigars in man caves instead of actually taking care of themselves, their families, or their communities.
- 24:55Republicans are attacking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for having only $7,000 in the bank, despite the average American having $400.
- 25:21Tim argues that AOC's lack of personal wealth actually strengthens her credibility as a politician compared to typical corrupt Congress members.
- 25:56The best Republican argument in ten years was that Democrats are just as corrupt as Republicans—but attacking AOC for being broke undermines that case.
- 26:39The old white banker types attacking AOC look like villains from 1980s movies—Mortimer from Trading Places or Caddyshack—and keep coming across as idiots.
- 27:01Party leadership should tell these attackers to stop; the left will eventually turn on AOC themselves without Republican help.
- 27:14Democrats will eat their own—AOC will one day say hello to George W. Bush and her base will call her a complicit Nazi.
Alexandria Ocasio-CortezBarstool SportsGeorge W. BushBernie Sanders
- 6 min
Reagan's Charisma vs. Modern Politicians, and Obama's Legacy
#Tim praises Reagan's rhetorical warmth despite his policies, argues talented people no longer go into politics, and discusses how the 2008 financial crisis and lack of prosecutions fueled populist rage that helped elect Obama and later Trump.
10moments
- 27:58Tim rewatches Reagan speeches and finds him more inspiring than expected, describing a warmth when watching him speak.
- 28:33Reagan's rhetorical playbook: selling optimism about America's future while dismantling economic protections that hurt factory workers.
- 29:14After Kennedy-Nixon, politicians learned appearance matters; most modern politicians lack the skills Reagan demonstrated.
- 29:39Talented people no longer pursue politics—they start businesses or NGOs instead, viewing Congress as a corrupt swamp.
- 30:09A smartphone has changed the world more than Barney Frank, Chuck Schumer, or Nancy Pelosi.
- 30:54After the 2009 financial crisis, people's hopes in Obama evaporated when no bank executives faced prosecution.
- 31:51Obama ran as anti-Iraq War but expanded military operations to five conflicts during his presidency.
- 32:23Obama's healthcare law passed but was a bastardized version that enriched insurance companies instead of pursuing single-payer.
- 33:06The image problem: marijuana users serve felony time while financial speculators who crashed the economy faced no charges.
- 33:24Disparity between prosecuting small drug offenses and ignoring systemic financial fraud shaped post-2008 political rage.
Ronald ReaganBarack ObamaBill ClintonJohn F. KennedyBernie SandersHillary ClintonSteve BannonHerbert Hoover
- 4 min
Obama's Healthcare Legacy Debate and the Tea Party's Origins
#Tim and Ray debate how much credit Obama deserves for the ACA versus the lack of any Wall Street prosecutions, then Tim riffs on the Tea Party's absurd origins as a scripted astroturf movement.
8moments
- 33:38Tea party anger started when regular people couldn't get satisfaction from the system, boiling over into populist movements.
- 34:01Organizers handed out scripts to tea party protesters, turning grassroots anger into coordinated messaging.
- 34:45The financial side pushed for certain policies, but people also said there should be more for Black people.
- 35:00Obama's Trayvon Martin statement—saying he could have been his son—was benign but people acted like he was endorsing cop killing.
- 35:17Obama decided healthcare was his defining issue, changed the conversation, and Tim considers him a good president overall.
- 35:31Fantasy of liking your national leader reveals you haven't grown up; everyone eventually realizes their leaders are just people making hard choices.
- 36:06People comfortable with lone-gunman narratives don't realize that when you're actually in power facing real threats, your thinking changes.
- 36:58House of Cards season six ends with Doug Stamper stabbing Claire in the oval office, then she stabs him back and says it's okay, fading to black.
House of CardsBarack ObamaTrayvon MartinDoug StamperJackie Kennedy
- 3 min
House of Cards Season 6 Disaster and Robin Wright's Real-Life Underwood Moment
#Tim rips apart the absurd, gratuitous murder-filled ending of House of Cards season 6, then relays a comic's joke about Robin Wright's tone-deaf comment about barely knowing Kevin Spacey.
7moments
- 37:32House of Cards season 6 ends with the First Lady murdering the president.
- 37:57The show kills off multiple characters including Kathy Durrant twice, Jane, and Tom Hammerschmidt.
- 38:46Tim argues the season was justified because having a woman in charge would be a good thing, though he admits it was poorly executed.
- 39:17The final season plays like Lady Ghostbusters—written like a Reddit thread or 4chan post with unrealistic conspiracies where everyone gets killed constantly.
- 39:50Tim points out that real conspiracies don't involve constantly killing people, despite what people believed in the sixties.
- 40:12Comedian Jeffrey Joseph made a joke about Robin Wright claiming she never really knew Kevin Spacey—saying she literally became her character from the show.
- 40:40In season six, Wright's character says she doesn't know if America knew Francis or if she ever did either, mirroring her real-life denial about Spacey.
House of CardsKevin SpaceyJeffrey Joseph
- 6 min
Where Is Kevin Spacey? The Grindr and Jurassic Park Bits
#Tim and Ray speculate wildly and darkly about Kevin Spacey's disappearance post-MeToo, his links to Jeffrey Epstein's jet, and riff into an extended fantasy about Spacey running a 'child fuck theme park' modeled on Jurassic Park, plus a Grindr headshot tangent.
10moments
- 41:37Tim wonders where Kevin Spacey is right now.
- 42:24Tim argues there's no road to redemption or rehabilitation for Spacey, unlike Charlie Rose.
- 42:47Tim claims Spacey is at a kid-focused theme park where he can abuse children.
- 43:22Tim notes Spacey attacked boys and men, not women, so the story dropped from the news cycle.
- 44:02Imagining Spacey's crimes in the 1990s when victims would be silenced with lunch invitations.
- 44:30Tim and guest discuss Grindr profiles and how people present themselves without showing their bodies.
- 45:18Tim suggests Spacey wouldn't be on Grindr because he's wealthy and connected to Epstein.
- 45:59Tim describes a twisted vision of Spacey running a Jurassic Park themed child abuse attraction.
- 46:43Guest expresses surprise at the theatrical staging Tim described for the child rape scenario.
- 47:13Tim questions whether #MeToo is over, saying you need to catch a big fish to keep it alive.
Kevin SpaceyJeffrey EpsteinCharlie RoseGrindrBill ClintonPrince AndrewRobert Maxwell
- 4 min
Ranking the MeToo Men and the Asia Argento/Jimmy Bennett Case
#They try to name the last big MeToo figure to fall, discuss a federal election holiday tangent, then debate the Asia Argento payoff scandal involving Jimmy Bennett and whether gender/sexuality of the accused changes public reaction.
10moments
- 47:38Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose were big, but MeToo momentum seems to have run out of high-profile targets.
- 48:14Tim pivots to federal election holidays, arguing the main issue is that increased voter turnout requires spending more money.
- 48:50Gerard Depardieu was the last major MeToo accusation, though Tim defends him as a gentleman.
- 49:06Asia Argento appears on the MeToo list despite being the one who paid off Jimmy Bennett, a young actor she was involved with.
- 49:32Tim acknowledges teacher-student relationships are never good but notes the ambiguity of certain cases.
- 50:00Argento paid Bennett $300,000—if she were innocent, Tim argues, she wouldn't have paid.
- 50:27Tim recalls another case involving a gay man and an NYU professor that was more clear-cut.
- 50:48Making a gay man sleep with you is funny to Tim, part of a whole comedy genre that's now disappeared.
- 51:09Gay comedians used to build sets around making straight guys uncomfortable, wanting to see them squirm—that was the genre.
- 51:25That comedy can't exist anymore because priorities have shifted and people stopped laughing at it.
Gerard DepardieuAsia ArgentoCharlie RoseMatt Lauer
- 3 min
Gay Comedy's 'Making the Straight Guy Uncomfortable' Genre
#Tim discusses how a whole genre of gay comedy about making straight men uncomfortable (with the Thomas Dale blowjob joke as example) has become harder to tell in the current cultural climate, and improvises a mock SJW-shaming song about Ray.
8moments
- 51:41Thomas Dale's joke about wanting to blow a straight guy, but only if he sees them crying.
- 51:55Tim explains why the reverse—wanting to make a woman cry during sex—would never work as a joke.
- 52:11The asymmetry exists because of historical prejudice against women, not because straight men deserve special protection.
- 52:51With centuries of patriarchy behind you, a joke can't just be funny—context matters.
- 53:39Tim fantasizes about what era they should exist in, settling on depression-era carnivals and vaudeville.
- 54:00He wasn't imagining himself as the violent guy with the axe, just some anonymous slob in the crowd.
- 54:18Tim sees himself and his co-host as naturally suited to carnival culture and the chaos of traveling shows.
- 54:34He's been reading about carnivals and getting into the culture of weird traveling shows, performers, and freak shows.
Thomas DaleBoss Tweed
- 5 min
Carnival Culture, the Hermaphrodite Grip, and the Ice Cream Cone Incident
#Tim describes getting into carnival/freak show history, then tells a long personal story about working on a student film as a kid with a bearded woman crew member who showed him a book of freaks, culminating in a fight over a thrown-out ice cream cone at a truck stop.
9moments
- 55:48Tim shot a movie called Truck Stop as an NYU student in the late nineties, featuring a woman with a mustache who worked as a grip and showed him a book of circus freaks.
- 56:46At a truck stop in Jersey with a make-your-own ice cream machine, Tim made a cone that was too big, threw it out, and made a second one.
- 57:00When confronted by the counter woman about throwing out the first ice cream, Tim denied it, but Stephanie the grip corroborated the woman's story.
- 57:24Tim told Stephanie to stay out of it, she grabbed his wrist demanding he pay, and he threw the ice cream cone at her head and missed.
- 57:40The woman called Tim a slur and kicked him out; Stephanie paid for the ice cream and disappeared for an hour.
- 57:52Stephanie told Tim he'd pulled some real bullshit, then got on her knees and predicted he'd have a horrible life—and he says he did.
- 58:24Tim wants to find the Truck Stop film; he was nominated for an acting award in it and doesn't want his guest shitting on his performance.
- 59:03Guest compares Tim's dramatic indignation to the Sean Penn death-row scene from Dead Man Walking.
- 59:17Tim insists he recognizes talent and is a fair-minded critical poet, not someone who would trash his acting.
truck stopStephanie
- 2 min
Would You Watch an Execution?
#Tim and Ray debate whether they'd want to witness a real execution, with Tim expressing curiosity but discomfort with endorsing it by watching.
5moments
- 59:23Tim expresses curiosity about attending an execution, wondering if he should want to see one.
- 59:34He explains his hesitation: watching someone get killed as entertainment feels like endorsing the act and crossing a line he doesn't want to cross.
- 59:48Tim claims he's seen horrible things in his work and held them in his hands, more than most people could imagine.
- 1:00:05His guest argues that being a witness to an execution is a civic duty, saying they genuinely need witnesses.
- 1:00:19Tim admits that never having seen someone die in front of him bothers him on some level—part of wanting to experience the world.
- 1 min
Tim runs down upcoming tour dates in Virginia, Austin, Hasbrouck Heights, Boston, Madison, and LA, and asks listeners to subscribe and leave reviews.
3moments
- 1:01:07Tim asks listeners to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on iTunes.
- 1:01:22He appeals to listeners not to be selfish and to share the show with friends, noting it's free.
- 1:01:32Tim mentions a promo code but admits he doesn't know what promo codes mean anymore or if they still work.
- 5 min
The Mashed Mateo Painting Contest Winner
#Ray draws the winner of a painting giveaway contest out of a hat, revealed to be an Instagram user called Mashed Mateo, leading to a bit about asking for his ID and investigating his Instagram profile in a mock-suspicious way.
11moments
- 1:02:00Ray reveals the contest prize includes living with the winner for a month to paint the picture.
- 1:02:28Tim questions whether Mashed Mateo is actually a person's real name.
- 1:02:42Ray describes putting names on strips of paper in a hat, then gets increasingly incoherent explaining the randomization process.
- 1:03:38Ray says he's painting something that conveys his vibe and feelings from 2018, though he hasn't painted anything real in a while.
- 1:04:08Ray clarifies the painting will be no bigger than 8 by 10 inches, small enough to put in someone's home.
- 1:04:28Tim expresses curiosity about who Mashed Mateo actually is and wants to have him on the show.
- 1:05:03Ray jokes that the winner's parents will think their kid's weird painting is a problem and send him to therapy.
- 1:05:32Ray asks the winner to send him a photo of their driver's license on Instagram.
- 1:05:43Tim and Bobby object to Ray requesting someone's government ID over Instagram, calling it illegal.
- 1:06:18Ray realizes he may have made a mistake and agrees not to ask for ID, suggesting only a birthday card instead.
- 1:06:42Ray looks up the winner's Instagram, confirms he looks 18, and says he's not doing anything wrong.
Ray KumpMashed Matteo
- 2 min
Digging Through Mashed Mateo's Instagram
#Tim and Ray keep scrolling through the contest winner's Instagram photos, riffing on his pizza with black olives, gym pics, and other odd posts, plus a plug for The Stand comedy club shows.
7moments
- 1:07:25Mashed Mateo's Instagram shows him making kissy lips in photos.
- 1:07:37Tim criticizes Mateo's pizza choice for having too many black olives.
- 1:08:02Tim questions a weird picture in Mateo's posts that looks like evidence in a trial.
- 1:08:27Tim stops defending Mashed Mateo and questions why he's even looking at his Instagram.
- 1:08:37Mateo probably works at Goldman Sachs, where most of their fans are employed.
- 1:08:50Tim explains how fans at Goldman Sachs are currently getting strip-searched for drugs and mentions you can hide Percocet in shoelaces.
- 1:09:06Story about a fat girl in rehab who smuggled a crazy amount of drugs in her gas.
- 2 min
Smuggling Drugs in Jail and Running Into a Childhood Friend as an Inmate
#Tim tells stories from his time working at a jail, including inmates hiding drugs and knives, a girl smuggling drugs in honey packets, and the surreal experience of recognizing his childhood best friend as a fellow inmate.
4moments
- 1:09:47Tim saw his childhood best friend at the jail where he was working, a bowling team buddy from when they were kids.
- 1:10:10The friend didn't seem to recognize Tim or Tim pretended not to know him, despite it definitely being him.
- 1:10:43Guards at the jail, though not all bright, would catch inmates digging things out of their asses from the corner of their eye and rush over.
- 1:11:05Inmates would often have a second item hidden in their ass, like a bag of pills or heroin, that they'd attempt to retrieve.
Stan NYCPD D. Abra Mark Norman Corinne FisherRockwood Music Hall
- 1 min
Tim reads a sponsored plug for cigarclub.com, riffing on the idea of him being the spokesman for a cigar brand, before signing off the episode.
3moments
- 1:11:43Tim clarifies that cigarclub.com gave them cigars for the show and they might smoke them together.
- 1:12:20Tim imagines what cigarclub.com executives thought they were getting when they hired him as their spokesperson versus what they actually got.
- 1:12:43Tim signs off the show.
cigarclub.com