What The Frock

The new episode of What The Frock opens with a resurrection, figuratively speaking. Rabbi Dave greets the audience with his usual mix of wry humor and philosophical bite, announcing that the rumors of his demise were “slightly exaggerated.” Friar Rod’s reply sets the tone for the next hour, a comfortable, chaotic reunion between two old friends who take on big ideas with small talk, irreverent wit, and the kind of friendship that can survive anything from surgery to the apocalypse.

The show’s first act dives straight into the panic of the week, Matt Walsh’s claim that AI will destroy 25 million jobs. Dave, who doesn’t follow Walsh but can’t avoid his retweets, takes the argument apart with surgical precision and a touch of old sailor’s salt. He’s skeptical, as always, not of the technology but of the hysteria around it. Friar Rod chimes in with his usual mix of reason and tech-savvy pragmatism, pointing out that AI is more likely to change jobs than erase them. Together they march through history’s graveyard of “lost” professions, from Pony Express riders to collator operators, and remind listeners that every supposed end of the world just clears the way for something new.

The conversation veers from thoughtful to hilarious as Dave reminisces about his Navy days, explaining how his once-crucial missile targeting job has been replaced by a laptop. Then the two wander into a mini-lecture on the march of progress, steam engines, printing presses, typewriters, even the invention of Whiteout (which, as Dave gleefully notes, made Michael Nesmith’s mother rich). It’s the kind of segment that What The Frock does best, part barroom banter, part historical masterclass, and entirely unfiltered.

Then the talk turns musical. An AI-generated country song has hit number one on the charts, and the media is losing its collective mind. Dave shrugs. He’s been using AI to make the show’s own music for years. Rod agrees, it’s not the death of creativity, it’s the birth of new tools for creative people. Together they trace the history of musical “cheating,” from electric guitars to auto-tune to hologram performances, and ask the question that everyone’s avoiding: if it sounds good, does it matter how it was made? Their answer, delivered between laughs and digressions about Prince, the Beatles, and Whitney Houston’s lip-syncing, is a resounding no.

Just when you think they’re done, Dave shifts gears completely. He’s been reading The Iliad, The Odyssey, and now The Aeneid, and he’s wrestling with how to make that ancient wisdom resonate with modern audiences. The hosts find a surprising link between classical virtue and today’s political illiteracy, arguing that conservatives and liberals alike have forgotten the ancient roots of their philosophies. It’s sharp, smart, and vintage Rabbi Dave, irreverent yet sincere, history and humor in equal measure.

And just when the show starts to feel lofty, it lands squarely back in the real world with a story about Dave’s recent shoulder surgery, anesthesia-induced hallucinations, and his wife’s driving. The result is the perfect What The Frock cocktail, one part intellectual sparring, one part comic relief, and a generous pour of human truth.

The Rabbi’s alive. The Friar’s flying to Hawaii. And for now, the Frock is firmly happen’n now!.