Podcast Episodes

Chris kicks things off with a weirdly wholesome flex: he got a surprise tax overpayment check from the federal government (and the fine print about reporting interest). Then the guys jump into Senator Rand Paul's 2025 "Festivus Report" and react to the jaw-dropping list of alleged government waste—everything from bizarre animal studies to money spent on messaging campaigns and more.

From there, it turns into a full "price-pain" episode: electricity rates in deep-blue vs deep-red states, why some places pay way more, and how policies, grid costs, fuel constraints, and mandates collide. They also dig into California refinery closures and gas-supply ripple effects, the weird world where cattle prices can be low while beef is high, and the constant tug-of-war between farmers, giant suppliers, and the futures market. They wrap on precious metals: gold/silver price talk, "suppression" debates, historical volatility, and the classic "are people rotating out of crypto?" argument—plus a little history lesson on Executive Order 6102.

In this jam-packed episode of Don't Be an Idiot Podcast, Jamie and Chris tackle a wild mix of current events, science breakthroughs, and mind-blowing historical tales that prove reality is stranger than fiction.

We kick off with Trump's latest push on affordability—diving into real data on household staples like eggs, milk, bread, and gas. Comparing prices from November 2024 to December 2025, it's clear: most essentials have dipped by a few percentage points, signaling some economic relief. Is this the start of a turnaround?

Then, we geek out on nuclear fusion's massive leaps forward in 2025, inching us closer to unlimited clean energy. We break down fusion vs. fission, explain the difference between megajoules and gigawatts, and why this tech could change everything.

Shifting gears to true crime: The shocking story of an MIT professor gunned down in Brookline, Mass. by a shooter linked to Brown University—they even went to school together. We dissect Brown's leadership mishaps in handling the fallout and spotlight the unlikely hero: a homeless man who cracked the case for the cops.

Plus, Elon Musk and SpaceX's bold new frontier—building orbital data centers in space. What does this mean for cloud computing, AI, and the future of data?

Finally, a throwback to one of history's wildest survival stories: On January 26, 1972, flight attendant Vesna Vulović plummeted 33,000 feet after a plane explosion and lived to tell the tale. How'd she pull it off?

Jamie and Chris kick off with racing talk and a spicy question: will autonomous cars ever be allowed in races? Then they dive into the real debate—are self-driving cars actually safer than humans? The episode breaks down where AVs win big (rear-end and intersection crashes), where they struggle (dawn/dusk and turns), and why public trust is still lagging even as the tech improves. They also hit the robotaxi race (Waymo updates + new launches) and the massive money moving into autonomous trucking, including who's leading and what corridors are getting automated first.

And to close it out, the guys look at best-selling vehicles vs accident rates—because apparently popularity and "not crashing" aren't always the same thing.

The holidays are coming, and Jamie + Chris are covering the only logical combo: astronaut flexes, SpaceX spy-drama vibes, solar-system math your uncle will argue about, a Pokémon card that basically printed money, and a raccoon that hit the liquor store like it was Black Friday training camp.

In this episode:
Germany's big step toward the Moon (Artemis 4, late 2028… allegedly) and the difference between flying by and actually landing A cosmonaut allegedly snapping pics of SpaceX engines and why that's a very bad idea (hello, ITAR) Elon's solar system "mass lesson" (Sun = 99.8%) and why the Sun is the ultimate gravity bully. Space communication delays that make your Zoom lag look adorable. The PSA 10 Holo Gengar trade-in that set a GameStop record. The drunk raccoon holiday special (yes, it passed out on the bathroom floor)!

A "Don't Be an Idiot" holiday gift guide: Oura Ring 4, AirTags, heated towel warmers, MEATER, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and more .

In this episode of Jamie & Chris: Don't Be an Idiot, the boys take you on a wild ride from dinosaurs to frozen beasts to government disasters.

We kick things off with Jurassic Park—the movies, the dinosaurs, the chaos, the CGI vs. practical effects debate, and how Hawaii secretly doubles as the world's most beautiful death trap. If Spielberg filmed dinosaurs there, imagine what Jamie and Chris would do on those beaches.

From there, we jump 40,000 years into the past, or is it the future? Scientists just extracted actual RNA from a woolly mammoth in Siberia. Yes, RNA. The fragile stuff. The kind that shouldn't survive a freezer, let alone the Ice Age. Which means… someone is definitely trying to clone a mammoth. And they have $200 million behind them.

Finally, we head to Minnesota, where fraud makes the weather look warm. Massive Medicaid and program abuse, $250 million food-program scams, $100M laundered into Al-Shabaab, autism-center fraud, and Minnesota Nice turns into Minnesota "Ope, we lost your tax dollars."

And of course, we close with
"You Know You're From Minnesota When…" because no one says "uff da" as proudly as a Midwesterner.

Dinosaurs. Mammoths. Fraud. Minnesota weather trauma. Perfect mix.

In this episode of Jamie & Chris: Don’t Be an Idiot, we dig into real treasure — and real stupidity. A homeowner in France was digging a swimming pool and accidentally unearthed $800,000 worth of gold bars and coins. Yes, real buried treasure. Yes, he gets to keep all of it.

From treasure hunting to political map-rigging, the guys break down:

• The wild story of the French $800k pool-digging jackpot
• How redistricting (gerrymandering) screws voters in multiple states
• Which states are the worst offenders
• The happiest and least happy countries in the world
• 🇫🇮 Why Finland wins every damn year
• And of course… plenty of jokes, roasting, and “Don’t Be an Idiot” moments

If you’re into buried treasure, politics that makes no sense, or learning why Icelanders dance through life while Americans rage-commute… This episode is for you.

Sit back, relax, and be glad you didn’t bury gold in your backyard and forget about it.

In this episode of Jamie & Chris: Don’t Be an Idiot, we unpack one of the most ridiculous political mistakes of the year: a Congresswoman accusing the wrong Jeffrey Epstein.

Yes. Really.

We also dive into REAL Epstein donation data (verified), Texas culture, Buc-ee’s, spicy ketchup, Texas-shaped waffles, and why tourists in Texas get stared at like aliens.

• Jasmine Crockett’s epic political screw-up
• The actual Epstein donation data
• Texas culture breakdown
• Why fact-checking is harder than tasting brisket
• Lightning-round stupidity
• Lots of inappropriate humor

Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music!

Buckle up for another wild ride on Jamie and Chris' Don't Be an Idiot Podcast! In this episode, Jamie dishes on the adrenaline-fueled chaos of racing at Road America in Wisconsin—think high-speed turns, near-misses, and why track days beat therapy. Chris drops a bombshell: he's ditching his Costco membership for good, breaking down the warehouse wars (Costco in 47 states, Sam's Club in 44, BJ's lagging at 17— who's winning your cart?). We geek out on the future of clean energy with Helium-3, the miracle gas that could power nuclear reactors without the toxic waste nightmare, revolutionizing everything from space travel to everyday power grids. Plus, a list of the 10 states with the absolute worst drivers (spoiler: buckle up if you're road-tripping). And wrapping it up, "You Know You're from Florida When..." Whether you're a speed demon, a bulk-buying skeptic, or just trying not to be an idiot on the road, this one's got the laughs, facts, and facepalms you need. Subscribe, share, and don't forget: life's too short for bad decisions!

Get ready to shake your head and chuckle through the absurdity of real life on Jamie and Chris' Don't Be an Idiot Podcast! This episode kicks off with a time capsule miracle: a heartfelt message in a bottle from two World War I Australian soldiers, penned in 1916, washes ashore on a remote beach 109 years later—proof that some stories are worth the wait. Then, in a purr-fectly bizarre divorce twist, a man in Istanbul agrees to fork over 10,000 Turkish liras (about $240) every three months in "cat alimony" to support his ex's two feline ex-kids—for up to a decade or until they chase their last yarn ball. Things get wilder stateside with a pet monkey breaking free in a Plano, Texas, Spirit Halloween store, swinging from rafters like a furry Tarzan and turning shoppers' spooky night into primate pandemonium—finally coaxed down with a cookie. And in a scandal that hits too close to home, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey's western deputy director, LaMar Cook, gets the boot after a massive cocaine bust—8 kilograms intercepted en route to a state office, proving power trips can go very wrong.

We cap it off with "You Know You're from Massachusetts When..."—from pledging allegiance to Dunkin' over coffee to navigating rotary roundabouts like a pro (or a total idiot). Packed with history, hilarity, and "what were they thinking?" moments, this ep is your antidote to boring news. Hit play, share the chaos, and remember: in a world full of bottled secrets and monkey business, don't be the one making headlines for all the wrong reasons!

Strap in for a no-BS breakdown of money madness on Don't Be an Idiot Podcast with Jamie and Chris! We kick off with Chris's experience short selling a stock. From there, we expose the stock-trading frenzy in Congress: 113 members racked up 9,261 trades in 2024 alone, with Rep. Ro Khanna leading the pack at a jaw-dropping 3,690 moves that year. Is this insider info or just elite gambling? We dig deeper into the millionaire club on Capitol Hill—more than half of Congress's 535 members are worth at least $1 million, turning policymaking into a side hustle for the already loaded.

Spotlighting the top 10 wealthiest: Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) clocks in at over $200 million, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at $267.6 million, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) at $283 million, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) around $257 million, and more. These folks aren't just lawmaking—they're out-trading Wall Street pros. Zooming out, the wealth gap is brutal: The top 10% of richest Americans own 87% of the stock market, hoarding trillions while the rest scrape by. And get this—they drive 49% of all consumer spending, propping up the economy on their yacht budgets alone.

Jamie chimes in with his unfiltered stock faves. If you're tired of the rich getting richer, this episode's your rant therapy. Don't be an idiot—tune in and trade smarter!

Hop on board for a road trip to Oregon! Jamie and Chris torch Oregon's latest fiscal fiasco where politicians are finger-pointing at the feds for a whopping $888 million revenue shortfall in the 2025-27 budget, thanks to Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" slashing federal taxes. We dissect how Oregon's own laws hitch state tax rates to Uncle Sam's, exploring whether Salem's politicians should man up and vote for hikes instead of playing the blame game.

We roast Oregon's crime policies and sky-high regulations choking job growth—unemployment's creeping to 5%, private-sector jobs lag pre-pandemic levels, and domestic outmigration's turning the state into a ghost town. Add in one of the nation's priciest corporate minimum taxes that could hit 56% for big business, and no wonder companies are bolting.

Shifting to sunnier shores, we geek out over the epic $1 million haul of 18th-century Spanish gold and silver coins unearthed from the 1715 shipwreck fleet off Florida's Treasure Coast—over 1,000 shiny "pieces of eight" and rare escudos. But can you keep the loot? Under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act, Florida owns abandoned wrecks in state waters, so salvagers need permits or risk the state seizing your swag.

Strap in for a no-BS breakdown of money madness! We kick off with Chris's experience short-selling a stock, then expose the stock-trading frenzy in Congress: 113 members racked up 9,261 trades in 2024 alone, with Rep. Ro Khanna leading the pack at a jaw-dropping 3,690 moves that year. Is this insider info or just elite gambling?

We dig deeper into the millionaire club on Capitol Hill—more than half of Congress's 535 members are worth at least $1 million, turning policymaking into a side hustle for the already loaded. Spotlighting the top 10 wealthiest: Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) clocks in at over $200 million, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at $267.6 million, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) at $283 million, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) around $257 million, and more.

Zooming out, the wealth gap is brutal: The top 10% of richest Americans own 87% of the stock market, hoarding trillions while the rest scrape by. And get this—they drive 49% of all consumer spending, propping up the economy on their yacht budgets alone. Jamie chimes in with his unfiltered stock favorites.

What happens when Social Security's clock says "2032," the dictionary decides "yeet" is official, and a certain Iowa school superintendent named Roberts allegedly runs a con? Jamie & Chris dig in with brains and belly-laughs.

We kick off with "When are we retiring?" (spoiler: after the paperwork stops multiplying), break down why Social Security keeps flirting with insolvency, and riff on how payroll taxes ballooned over decades while life expectancy made retirement a moving target.

Then we flip to Merriam-Webster's newest slang—because nothing says "aging gracefully" like learning what "delulu," "touch grass," and "GOATED" mean without asking your kids. Finally, we unpack the story of Iowa's superintendent Roberts and what it says about trust, oversight, and red flags you can spot from the cheap seats.

Cameo appearance: Jamie's infamous coffee mug—tastefully described as a "management-level caffeine chalice with assertive energy."

Jamie just shorted a stock, but the only thing shorter might be Markus Schrenker's career as a financial advisor. In this episode, Jamie & Chris juggle the insanity of stock market shenanigans and explain short selling the only way they know how—badly.

We dive deep into why Markus Schrenker thought bailing out of his own plane mid-flight was a good idea (spoiler: it wasn't). Discover how Waffle House secretly doubles as FEMA's unofficial "tragedy barometer"—if the Waffle House is closed, you know it's serious.

We also tackle which colleges are ranked the best public schools and why it doesn't matter if kids still can't do their own taxes. Plus, we discuss the real classes schools should be teaching (spoiler: parenting and coding beat Shakespeare sonnets).

It's a chaotic, hilarious mashup of finance fails, conman crimes, and the greatest late-night breakfast chain in America.

Buckle up for another unfiltered episode! We kick things off with the gruesome nautical nightmare of keelhauling—a savage 17th- and 18th-century punishment where sailors were dragged under a ship's keel, often to their watery doom.

Then, we buzz into science gone wild: a fresh Dutch music festival study reveals mosquitoes are 44% more drawn to beer drinkers, plus extra love for weed smokers—talk about a buggy buzzkill!

Shifting gears to real-world woes, we dissect the looming subprime housing meltdown fueled by FHA loans, where delinquency rates have spiked to 15.3% for 90+ days overdue and Florida's hit a staggering 16.72%. With defaults, loose qualifications, and stalled modifications, we're staring down a potential 2008-style crash.

Finally, we tackle Jimmy Kimmel's lightning-fast return to ABC after his suspension for inflammatory jabs at conservatives, sparking Roseanne Barr's fiery "double standard" rant over her 2018 firing. We also unpack Biden admin pressures on Big Tech to censor COVID talk and right-wing voices.

Join Jamie and Chris on this wild ride where they dive into the soul-soothing sips of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, unpack the seismic shifts in the AI market—from job shake-ups to groundbreaking nuclear-powered data centers—and take to the skies with gripping tales of plane crashes, FAA upgrades, and insider pilot perspectives.

We explore the rich history and craft of bourbon-making in Kentucky, then pivot to the cutting-edge intersection of artificial intelligence and nuclear energy. How are tech giants planning to power their massive AI facilities? What does this mean for jobs, energy policy, and the future of technology?

Finally, buckle up for a no-holds-barred chat on Southwest Airlines' latest shake-ups that could change how you fly forever. Whether you're a whiskey aficionado, tech skeptic, or frequent flier, this episode is your ticket to smarter, funnier conversations.