What The Frock

Somewhere in the vast and occasionally bewildering cosmos of modern conversation, there exists a small but persistent signal. It emerges every so often like a slightly crooked radio transmission bouncing off a passing comet. That signal is the podcast What The Frock?, where Rabbi Dave and Friar Rod gather to examine the week’s events with the calm philosophical restraint of two men who have just realized the universe is powered entirely by caffeine and mild irritation.

This week’s episode, recorded on the Ides of March, begins with the kind of announcement that normally precedes either a Shakespearean assassination or a change-of-address form. Rabbi Dave opens by declaring that he does not know exactly when it will happen, but at some point he will be leaving Washington State. This revelation is triggered by a newly passed “millionaire’s tax,” which immediately prompted several extremely wealthy individuals to pack their metaphorical bags and head for sunnier pastures.

Naturally, this leads to the sort of discussion that can only occur when two people who enjoy both theology and sarcasm are placed in front of microphones.

Howard Schultz, Jeff Bezos, Florida, Miami, and the migratory habits of billionaires all enter the conversation rather quickly. The central question becomes less about economics and more about human nature. When wealthy people leave a state because taxes annoy them, is this a sign of political awakening, or simply the financial equivalent of a cat leaving a room because someone moved its food bowl two inches to the left?

Rabbi Dave argues for the latter.

Meanwhile Friar Rod contributes the sort of commentary that suggests he has quietly been observing humanity for years and has come to the unsettling conclusion that none of this should really surprise us.

But the episode does not stay in the realm of economics and politics for long. Because if there is one thing the universe consistently provides, it is absurdity.

The conversation shifts to a deeper philosophical question: Are people getting dumber? After surveying the evidence from social media, congressional statements, and the general behavior of the internet, the answer turns out to be unexpectedly reassuring. People are not actually getting dumber.

They are simply getting louder.

This realization is accompanied by stories from Navy life, reflections on the suspicious appearance of steak and lobster just before bad news is delivered, and a tale involving green eggs in boot camp that would make Dr. Seuss reconsider several of his culinary assumptions.

And then, as if the universe itself had decided to prove the thesis of the episode, the show concludes with the entirely real story of a Cheyenne exotic dancer, a stolen handgun, an argument over a “regular,” and a getaway attempt involving a motor vehicle and a boyfriend who made the deeply questionable life decision to stand in front of that vehicle.

In short, the cosmos once again confirms that reality is not merely stranger than fiction.

It is stranger than most podcasts can reasonably prepare for.

So if you enjoy conversations that wander from tax law to naval chow halls to Wyoming strip-club crime reports with the casual inevitability of a towel floating through hyperspace, this episode of What The Frock? is exactly the kind of delightful chaos you have been waiting for.

Just remember one thing.

Bring coffee.

Apparently the entire show works better that way.