Tommy Metz III

Tommy found a therapist’s framework that explains exactly why housewarming gifts cause full-scale panic attacks, and it involves childhood, ransoms, and the specific misery of watching someone open what you bought them. Pete spent seventeen years avoiding dentists after a bad one did unnecessary work on his childhood teeth, and the statistics on why dentists do what they do are both infuriating and, ultimately, pretty hopeful.

Pete spent the better part of two decades building his presence on the early social web — and then watched, one algorithm update at a time, as the internet that was supposed to be democratic became something else entirely. Tommy just wants to tell you about his dog.

According to the WHO and the CDC, roughly half of people with chronic conditions don’t take their medication as prescribed — and the reasons are weirder, sadder, and more human than you’d think. Pete and Tommy both decided to talk about pills this week, they both went completely different directions, and somehow it works.

Turns out quitting your job isn’t just a career decision — it’s a psychological eviction notice served on the version of yourself you built at work. Pete and Tommy explore why leaving is harder than it looks, and why one flight attendant’s emergency exit is frankly the most honest thing any of us has ever done.

This week, Pete and Tommy explore the two most emotionally loaded things you can give another person — your money and your gratitude — and discover they’ve both been doing it sorta wrong, for completely understandable reasons.

Home repairs and tipping culture. Nobody walks away with answers. Somebody walks away with five podcast dollars. It’s a good episode.