Six years ago this very day, Rabbi Dave and Friar Rod settled on the name What The Frock? Somewhere along the way, that decision led to two men of the cloth debating whether being eaten by an alligator would be worse than becoming dinner for coconut crabs. There were probably warning signs, but nobody responsible was paying attention.
For this anniversary episode, the Amelia Earhart mystery provides an unexpectedly gruesome starting point. Dave has an argument. Rod has an objection. Neither appears especially interested in surrendering, even when the discussion moves from tropical scavengers to the theological implications of falling church fixtures. Anyone expecting six years of broadcasting to have produced greater restraint should adjust those expectations before pressing play.
When Everyone Has the Right to Be Offended
The argument gets more consequential when the conversation turns to Shane Gillis, Saturday Night Live, and the reaction to a joke about women at the gym. Comedy depends on the freedom to notice things, exaggerate them, and occasionally make an audience uncomfortable. Audiences, of course, have every right to find a comedian obnoxious or unfunny. The trouble begins when disliking the joke becomes a campaign to silence the person telling it.
Dave and Rod approach that question with the benefit of six years spent saying things somebody probably wishes they hadn’t. Their discussion reaches beyond one comedian’s material to a broader concern: how much room remains for irreverence when public conversation rewards taking offense? For a show hosted by a rabbi and a friar, that question has practical implications.
Artificial Companions, Real Arguments
Then there are AI girlfriends, a subject on which Rod’s commitment to research requires some explanation. Artificial intelligence promises extraordinary possibilities, but human beings have a reliable habit of finding uses that the sales presentation might prefer to skip. Add subscription fees and private conversations, and the questions become considerably more interesting than whether a chatbot can flirt.
The same technology is changing how people create images and how businesses try to control their use. Dave brings some personal experience, and very little affection, to the discussion of Getty Images and copyright enforcement. From there, the conversation turns to Senator Elissa Slotkin’s remarks about Trump administration accountability and the hosts’ concerns about where legitimate prosecution ends and political intimidation begins.
Join the Anniversary Argument
What has kept What The Frock? going for six years? It’s the conversation between two friends who can disagree, laugh, and follow an absurd premise into a serious question. This anniversary edition offers plenty of all three, along with enough questionable theological speculation to make checking the wall fixtures seem prudent.
Listen to “Six Years of WTF: Crabs, Gators, and Divine Retribution” wherever you get your podcasts, or on YouTube. Then tell Dave and Rod which side you’re on. Rod still says coconut crabs, and Dave is unlikely to let that stand.
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