From the Best Shows to the Best Jokes: A Look Back at 2024!
Get ready for a stroll down memory lane as we dive into the highlights of 2024 on Saint Louis In Tune! We’re spilling the beans on the most popular shows of the past year and, oh boy, we’ve got some epic jokes that have been sitting in our back pocket just waiting for their moment to shine. As we reminisce, we’ll be chatting about those unforgettable moments that had our listeners laughing, crying, and maybe even scratching their heads in confusion. Plus, we’ll break down what made certain episodes stand out from the crowd—spoiler alert: it’s not just our charming personalities! So grab your favorite snack, kick back, and join us as we celebrate the wild ride that was this past year in podcasting.
In this lively episode of Saint Louis in Tune, Arnold Stricker and Mark Langston take a whimsical look back at their 2024 shows, sharing the most popular highlights that had their listeners buzzing. Imagine a highlight reel that combines the best moments from a podcast with a dash of humor and a sprinkle of friendship—that's what we get here. They dive into the episodes that struck a chord, exploring why certain topics resonated so deeply with their audience while also pointing out the ones that didn’t quite hit the mark. It’s a behind-the-scenes peek at podcasting that feels both personal and relatable.
This episode is a celebration of not just the content we have created, but of the community we have built—one laugh, one story, and one insightful discussion at a time. Whether you’re a long-time listener or tuning in for the first time, this episode is a perfect representation of the spirit of St. Louis in Tune.
This is Season 8! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com
#stlintune #communityradio #freddieleesghettosauce #healingaction
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- St. Louis in Tune
- Apple Podcasts
- Dred Scott Heritage Foundation
- Freddie Lee's Ghetto Sauce
- International Institute of St. Louis
- JCCA
- Healing Action
- Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
- Gateway Grizzlies
Thank you for listening. Please take time to rate us on Apple podcasts,
Podchaser, or your favorite podcast platform.
00:00 - None
00:02 - Introduction to St. Louis in Tune
05:21 - Reflections on the Year of Shows
11:57 - A Discussion on Anti-Semitism and Global Negotiations
23:42 - Welcoming Newcomers: The Welcome Corps Initiative
32:50 - Exploring Bias in High School Debates
44:20 - Control, Alter, Delete: Managing Negativity and Expectations
Mark
What have been the most popular shows of St. Louis in tune in 2024, and the most unbelievable jokes that we've been withholding for all of our listeners? Going to find out now on St.
Louis in Tune. Welcome to St. Louis in Tune and thank you for.
Join us for fresh perspectives on issues and events with experts, community leaders, and everyday people who make a difference in shaping our society and world. I'm Arnold Stricker, along with co host Mark Langston. Mark, we went through our 300th show. We didn't celebrate.
Things were just rapidly going on and we've both been out of town and we finally both get together and we can take a look at some of the highlights of 2024 and tell our listeners which ones they enjoyed the most.
Mark
Oh, the thing that scared me, though, is something you just said. Some of the jokes that you're gonna tell.
Arnold
I've been withholding these jokes.
Mark
Oh, lordy, lordy.
Arnold
Because these are like classic jokes.
Mark
Oh, no.
Arnold
So make sure we have the pistachio gallery lined up and ready to roll. Yeah, there they are.
Mark
Thank you.
Arnold
Okay. I heard that up there.
Mark
Lordy, I know. So these. You've been holding these back.
Arnold
I've been holding these.
Mark
These weren't just really bad jokes that you thought, I better not use those on the show.
Arnold
These are really, really good ones.
Mark
Wait, what you think is good and what I think is good.
Arnold
And that's like our shows, what you and I thought were really good shows. There are a couple that the listeners said, yeah, that's a. That's. Those are really good.
And then the listeners listened to some and thought, wow, I really like this. And we were like, okay, that was a. A good show, but maybe not our best show.
Mark
And I listened to some of the shows. I was out in and out of town, unfortunately, quite a bit towards the end of the year.
And there's some shows that you did solo that I wish I had been part of, but I. And they were very interesting.
Arnold
So, yeah, I wish you had been there too, because they. They were interesting.
Mark
Yeah, there was a couple there that were.
Arnold
The Jewish Book Festival. Yes.
Mark
Yeah, we'll talk about. We always have a good time with authors from the Jewish Book Festival.
Arnold
Yes, they bring in a lot of good stuff.
Mark
Jcca, I think, does that. Yeah. Yeah, that's always fun.
Arnold
So we're glad that you joined us today, folks.
You can listen to previous shows@stlintune.com please help us continue to grow by leaving a review on the website, Apple Podcast, or your preferred podcast platform.
Mark
So I bet you've gotten some reviews. Okay.
Arnold
Yes. We have our return to civility today. And I think people do this without thinking. Ask if it's okay before taking someone's photograph.
Some people feel awkward being photographed, and if you don't know the person, they may worry about what you're going to use the picture for. And especially now with this AI thing, they've been told, hey, don't take pictures of your kids. Don't post them on the Internet.
Social media, don't do that. A lot of these are just publicity things. We do some of those things.
And they're here just to promote the show and to promote the people who come on the show.
Mark
Yep. I know. I was the dad that always went on the field trips with the kids at school.
And I was always reminded, if you're gonna take a picture of the kids, you take a picture of their feet. You get them all when they're facing the other way. We don't want an actual. On a frontal picture.
So a couple of times when we were out in the woods or, you know, at a waterfall or something, I'd say, everybody, please turn around. So they'd all turn around, put your.
Arnold
Hands on your face, and I'd take.
Mark
A picture of them. I know they'd all be looking at the waterfall or something like that.
Arnold
And if you go on Google Earth and you're following Google Earth and where they drive by people, they've blurred their faces.
Mark
Oh.
Arnold
Or blurred their license plates.
Mark
Okay.
Arnold
Yes.
Mark
I appreciate that.
Arnold
Yeah. I don't. That's probably all AI done. I can't see somebody sitting there. I'm gonna blur your face out here. Blur your license.
Mark
Right. AI should. Yeah. One of the AI uses.
Arnold
Yes. Productive uses.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
So ask if it's okay before taking someone's photograph, folks.
Mark
Wow. I can think of manners for other things you need to ask for, too, before you do things, but that's a good one. That's a good one.
Arnold
Yes, it is. We had, gosh, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 times. 2 times. 1, 2, 3, 4th, 5, 6. We had a lot of shows last year.
Mark
Yes, we did. Okay.
Arnold
And some of them ranged from Things related to St. Louis, obviously. St. Louis in tune. St. Louis related kinds of shows. We did several shows on music that weren't necessarily related to St. Louis.
And music's always a fun thing, especially when we have the musicians in studio. Several things about food. And we'll get into some specifics of these cultural things which we. Society and culture.
We are Listed under society and culture in Apple podcasts. There's a lot of things that we deal with the culture and society. Theater, several things related to that.
Let's see, sports, we did several sport kinds of things. Literature, we mentioned the Jewish Book Festival and also film a little. I don't want to call it a potpourri, but we do a variety of things.
And I didn't include actually any history because history would fall under some of those St. Louis things, some of those cultural things.
Mark
And a lot of credit should go to Arnold, folks, because it is really difficult. I don't know if folks understand how difficult it is to book a weekly show and find a guest, an interesting guest, you can certainly grab somebody.
But to find someone that's interesting with a topic that's timely, it's not as easy as it seems.
Arnold
I appreciate that there's a lot of interesting things out there. A lot of. And we've done several. Not for profit groups because it's tough for them to get their message out. And we don't mind doing that in books.
We don't mind talking about books because the authors are very interesting. Sometimes the topics. I've got a couple lined up that I think people will be very interested in next month in February.
Mark
So one thing I like about the shows too is yes, they might be a topical, timely subject, but because it's an hour long show, we always go in, we drill down, I guess we get in the weeds a little bit, if you will. And so the shows are timeless.
So you can go back and listen to some of these shows and learn things about that particular subject, individual, whatever they're doing. It's great because you can go back and still learn about the subject that we're going over in that show.
Arnold
That's true. They do resonate over time. There's not just. And sometimes.
Mark
That's what I was trying to say.
Arnold
Yeah. Sometimes there's something that maybe is timely. The Festival of Nations or the Ice Sculpture Festival, down in the Loop, things like that.
But there are other aspects of the show that people might find interesting, etc. Like that.
Mark
Yeah. Because the Festival of Nations, it's presented by the International Institute of St. Louis.
And not only did we talk about that, but we talked about some of the things that they're doing at the International Institute.
Arnold
Correct.
Mark
And some of the good things that they are doing. Yeah. So.
Arnold
Yeah. So, Mark, and I'm throwing you a curve ball. We all have our favorites, folks, things that we have enjoyed. And I guess as a.
I'm going to say as a conversationalist, because when I talk to people about coming on the show, a lot of people will say, oh, it's going to be an interview. And I say, no, we're just going to have a conversation in the living room.
And Mark alluded to this, and I appreciate him doing that, is that we don't have to pause for station ID or going to weather or going to traffic, and we can go for a solid hour. Matter of fact, the first. I guess the first hundred shows we did were actually two hour shows. And so we're only on show. This is 3:27.
But when you take the first two years of a couple hundred shows divided by two. Yeah. So we're well above 500 shows that we've done. This is our eighth year, by the way.
Mark
Wow.
Arnold
Our eighth year of doing this, Mark.
Mark
Wow. Now, I came in.
Arnold
You came in at Show 100.
Mark
Yeah, I was right around there. Ellie Wharton, the general manager of the station before me was. She was your hostess with the mostest.
Arnold
So you're now the host with the most, right?
Mark
I did, yeah. I lost the mostest.
Arnold
I know a lot of shows, folks. I tell you what, I'm gonna let Mark think on that. This is the show that individuals who were listeners thought was the highlight show.
And it was the show called Echoes of John Denver, Rick Schuller's Tribute Journey.
Mark
Oh, I love that one.
Arnold
Yeah, it was in a real interesting interview with Rick Schuller. He's a singer, songwriter, and he is a John Denver tribute artist. And he was born in Monroe, Louisiana and raised in St. Louis.
And he's been doing this tribute show of John Denver. He looks just like him folk. He's in studio.
Mark
That was spooky.
Arnold
It was creepy. And then he got his guitar out. He sounded just. I was thinking like, wow, this is John Denver sitting right here in studio with us.
Mark
It was alarming. No, but it was. It was really neat, though.
Arnold
And he's a very personable guy. He's actually done some archaeological digs over in the Middle east and had.
And you can go to his website, you can go to that show and find out more about it. But he did some things related to the Dead Sea Scrolls. And I was like, what?
Mark
Oh, my.
Arnold
And.
Mark
Oh, that's correct. Yeah.
Arnold
Yeah. So we have to have come back and talk about just the archaeological kind of side of him.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
But he's been continuing to do these shows and it has a lot of great fun with folks. He and even the family of John Denver and John Denver's old manager said, gosh, dude, you're the deal.
Mark
Yeah. There was an endorsement, I think, of him, of his work. Yeah. Which is really nice. It's neat.
Arnold
And that, by far, was the heads above. Like, in education, you could actually see dividing lines where things need to be drawn.
This one was four times greater than the next show, which ended up there. Several kind of in a. In a ballpark. There was Pretty Boy, which is about a movie that was made here in St.
Louis and the struggles that individual had with identity. There was Elo. Mr. Blue sky, you know, and we always enjoy having having him in studio.
There was engineering marvels, the World's Fair, the 1944 World Series, baseball memories. Then there's a dividing line, also the rock walls to canoes. That was where we're talking about the. Oh, it's the Missouri. Oh, there it is.
Exciting adventures at the Gateway Outdoor Festival. Brad Kovac, he came in and talked.
Mark
Okay.
Arnold
And that was a popular. That was actually the. The fourth popular show.
Mark
Oh, I can't wait to get to that at some point.
Arnold
Yeah. So. And he had talks. They had moved out that show out to St. Charles and we're having.
They had rock climbing and they had a lot of outdoor kinds of things. It's basically a big outdoor adventure. Oh, commercial and convention for people who like the outdoors. So a lot of different things you can do.
This is the place. Place to get the latest equipment. These are some kind of. Some things you can do in the metropolitan St. Louis area and in. In the region. The. The film.
Things that Mark had alluded to at the beginning of. Of the show were things that were done through the St. Louis Jewish book Festival.
And these were of the new American anti Semitism, the left, the right and the Jews, the high stakes of global hostage and prisoner negotiations. And I interviewed. He was in Tel Aviv at the time for that interview. Another one was Irina's. How Love and Kindness Defied the Darkness of War.
There was a family that had a hidden past that involved the Holocaust and then challenging beliefs. Derek Black renounced his family's white nationalism. Oh, yeah, that was an interesting read. Let alone have an interesting conversation with him.
Mark
That was a show that I was not with you on, but I enjoyed, I guess enjoyed as a. Listening to. Yeah, it was a great show. Yeah. Because he was. He was against it.
And it was his family that was a member of his family that was involved in it.
Arnold
Yeah. He even grew up. His dad was head of the White Nationalist Party in the United States.
His godfather was David Duke, head of the KKK at the Grand Wizard. And Derek was. Gosh, he. As a youngster, he was doing these national broadcasts and talking about this stuff.
And in the book, it gets involved with what it actually did to his psyche. And then he goes off to a college that nobody knew who he was. And he kept to himself, kept all this stuff to himself.
And what happened is eventually, when he actually was around blacks and Hispanics and Jewish people, his whole attitude changed. He said, I thought these individuals as I was growing up were my words, the enemy or were less than who I think they.
And he found out that they were actually the people who stood by him when somebody found out exactly who he was. So that was fascinating.
Mark
It's amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Arnold
We did talk about St. Louis sports. We talked a lot about the Cardinals. Ron Jacober and Bob Tieman came in.
Mark
They're kind of 1964. We did one show on the 64 season of the Cardinals, I think team, and Bob did that one. I think he came in for that.
Arnold
So knowledgeable.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
If any of you want to find out about any kind of. And it's just not St. Louis baseball. He's a big one in just baseball, Bob Tieman's books. He's well known around the United States for his writing.
And then Ron Jacoba, who's like the. Yeah, it's good to see my favorite sports broadcaster who's still around. I remember watching him on Channel 5.
Mark
Yeah, it was great to have him in the studio. He was like.
Arnold
He came in and I think Mark and you correct me if I'm wrong. I think a lot of the guests, we both make them feel very comfortable.
It's not like we have lounge chairs here or lazy boys in the studio where we're sitting around and drinking, whatever. But we try to make them feel comfortable because a lot of people get nervous when they have a conversation. I'm going to be on the radio.
This is going to be everywhere now, all these platforms.
Mark
But yeah, we make them feel comfortable. And a lot of folks I think after the interview are like, hey, that was fun. That was really good.
Arnold
I want to do that again. That was 30 minutes. That was 40 minutes. Wow, that went by quickly.
Mark
I know. And that's what they all like is that it's. We don't. You go to other programs and they, we got 20 minutes tops, or we got 15 minutes.
And sometimes I'm even watching television and some of the news reports and I'm like, they just touch on these subjects. And I go, I wish they would just go a little further, a little deeper on these subjects. We have eight minutes. We're out of time. Thanks for coming by.
We'll see you later.
Arnold
Here's my stock questions that I want to ask no matter what. And you and I, we listen to the people.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
And sometimes I don't need these questions because they're going down a road. I really want to hear what that's about.
Mark
Yes.
Arnold
There was a guest we had right near the end of 2024, and I'm looking that up right here. He made a very interesting comment to me. It was. Or actually, no, it was this year.
And it was the show about the Las Vegas trafficking, sex trafficking that's going on out there. And he said, I really appreciate that you didn't ask me stupid questions. He said, and this was off the air, so. So you won't hear this on the show.
But he said off the air, he said, I get questions like, aren't these women and girls? Don't they deserve what they get?
Mark
Unbelievable.
Arnold
And he said, those are just stupid questions. Stupid questions. Because he was revealing how they are actually the victims. And however we see.
Granted, this is a 2025 show, however we see the situation that they're in, and maybe they're making money, but their lives, how did they get to that point? And that's what he was bringing out.
Mark
Yeah, that's. Yeah.
Arnold
So it's always good.
And we talk about topics that I have an interest in or Mark has an interest in, or maybe we find somebody and I'll read something online or hear something or see something and go. And sometimes I'll just email people and say, hey, do you want to come on the radio show and talk about this book or this topic?
And sometimes I never hear back. Sometimes I hear back right away. Sometimes it's, can't do it now, but we'll do it later.
We've got another one coming up where the person's actually going to be in the Netherlands. She actually lives in the States, but she's in the Netherlands right now doing some research that will take place from the Netherlands.
Mark
Can't imagine the time difference.
Arnold
It's seven hours.
Mark
Oh, wow.
Arnold
But she was really excited. Her publisher was really excited about it.
Mark
Yeah. So one show that we did that I really enjoyed was Joe Soderman. He did a book called this day in St. Louis. St. Louis history, I think it was.
And local broadcaster, you know, works at some. I don't know which station it is. I don't know if it's. I Think he's iheart somewhere at iheart. I don't know what he does.
Arnold
I mean, he's a stitch.
Mark
He is a stitch. It was a surprisingly enjoyable interview. We just say that way, sorry, Joe.
And I've known Joe for a long time, just as being in the industry with him, but I had no idea. He did a lot of research on his book that he put out and this wasn't the first book. He likes Route 66.
Arnold
He's the big 66 guy.
Mark
Yeah. Is it root or route? It's root.
Arnold
It depends upon what part of the country you're from or what part of the state.
Mark
I looked it up in broadcasting school when I was at root and it was root. They were really, but they still. We say route around here.
Arnold
That's correct.
Mark
I don't know. It's a root.
Arnold
This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Louis in Tomb. We're talking about the shows from 2024. What were the shows that got a lot of listens.
What were the shows that our listeners enjoyed the most, the least? What were the ones we loved the most? And some other ones. There were some. We did a couple shows on sex trafficking.
There was a show that we had an in depth discussion about EDMR therapy. And this was a show that was part of a secondary show that we had with Healing Action about trafficking and sexual exploitation.
And that is another group within the St. Louis metropolitan area that assists those who have come out of sex trafficking.
And if you think about individuals who are involved in drug, they've abused drugs or alcohol, those you generally don't think about victims who have been in sex trafficking and what it takes to my words, normalize them back to what is what you and I would have as a normal life. And they've normally been used to being abused many times have had abusive relationships physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually.
And they've dealt with a lot of things from their childhood. Maybe they were abandoned, maybe they were abused as a child, maybe they were in foster care. Who knows. A lot of different kinds of things.
And then to help them become part. A productive part of society, there's. There's a big thing to a ramp for them to get them back into society. That was a. Those were really heavy shows.
Yeah, those are shows we never do any humor on or anything like that because it's very serious topics and we don't want to make light of those topics at all there.
Mark
And I hate to even say they're educational. I think these are subjects we need to know about, need to understand more about them.
And this is a great opportunity for folks to just sit back and listen and hear what's going on.
Arnold
Yes.
Mark
Because I don't think a lot of people in the suburbs, they're not privy to some of this tragic stuff that's going on like that.
Arnold
And it's happening as St. Louis is a really.
I don't want to say a gateway, but it is a gateway of sex trafficking just because of the location with the highways and for whatever other reasons.
A show that I thought would have gotten a little more love was one that involved tangled home title issues and bringing vacant properties back to life.
And that was a conversation we had with Peter Hoffman, who is the managing attorney for the Neighborhood Advocacy at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. And they do a great job of helping individuals who maybe the.
There's somebody, a developer who wants to come in and there's gazillion people on the title. And so they have to get everybody figured out or who actually has title, who actually owns his property has passed down.
Mark
Right.
Arnold
And nobody has the paperwork to show that. So they have to do a lot of legal digging. And this is a group that works a lot in north St. Louis to help individuals up there.
And the attorneys, many of the attorneys work pro bono to help folks out up there. So that was a really good show.
Mark
Yeah, that is a real big issue, too. My wife Maria works at a credit union and they have a problem with that all the time. When folks come in trying to get a loan or whatever, they can't.
It's just like mom dies and everybody stays in the house and the house just moves over and nobody knows who owns it anymore.
Arnold
Right.
Mark
It's gone through a generation or two and they. They stay in the home and it's who really owns it.
Arnold
And it's hard because what are you going to do then?
Mark
Who knows how to do that stuff? Who can navigate that?
And if you are not a person of any means at all, if you have no money or very little money and you're just hoping to keep a roof over your head, how do you even. Where do I find a lawyer that's going to help me with that? That's going to cost money.
Arnold
Yeah. Where do you start?
Mark
Yeah, exactly.
Arnold
And this group. Does they help you start that and finish that process?
Mark
Probate court? What is that?
Arnold
Yeah, exactly.
Mark
Who's going to represent me in that?
Arnold
The state taking more of my money?
Mark
Oh, yeah. They like. That's what they like to do.
Arnold
So we're going to take a brief break and we'll be back for our next segment. This is St. Louis in tune with Arnold Stricker and Mark Langston on the US Radio Network.
The United States has a strong tradition of welcoming newcomers and refugees.
The welcome Corps is a new service opportunity for Americans inspired to welcome those seeking freedom and safety and in turn, help strengthen their own communities. Welcome Corps is a public, private partnership that is inspired by what Americans represent to so many around the world. A beacon of hope and refuge.
All it takes is a helping hand. Are you ready? To learn more, contact the International Institute of St. Louis@infoistl.org or call 314-773-9090.
That's infoistl.org or call 314.773-9090. This is Arnold Stricker of St. Louis in Tune on behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation.
In 1857, the Dred Scott decision was a major legal event and catalyst that contributed to the Civil War. The decision declared that Dred Scott could not be free because he was not a citizen.
The 14th Amendment, also called the Dred Scott Amendment, granted citizenship to all born or naturalized here in our country and was intended to overturn the US Supreme Court decision on July 9, 1868.
The Dred Scott Heritage foundation is requesting a commemorative stamp to be issued from the US Postal Service to recognize and remember the heritage of this amendment by issuing a stamp with the likeness of the man, Dred Scott. But we need your support and the support of thousands of people who would like to see this happen.
To achieve this goal, we ask you to download, sign and share the one page petition with others. To find the petition, please go to dredscottlives.org and click on the Dred Scott petition drive on the right side of the page.
On behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage foundation, this has been Arnold Stricker of St. Louis Intune. Welcome back to St. Louis in Tune. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Lancst. And Mark, I'm surprised that Congress has not. And the U.S.
postal Service has not adopted a Dred and Harriet Scott stamp yet.
Mark
It's amazing.
Arnold
Of all of the things that they let go on stamps. You gotta be kidding.
Mark
Yeah, I'm glad you said that because I've watched them release stamps that are like, what? And Dred Scott got nothing.
Arnold
Yeah, and let's put Harriet on there, too. Dred and Harriet Scott, because they were both.
Mark
Oh, we're gonna play that. That commercial until it happens, and I can't. We've Been playing it for a year or so.
Arnold
Long time.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
We recorded that when Lynn was on the show. This is Dred Harriet Scott, great great granddaughter.
Mark
Right. It's just amazing to have her back.
Arnold
On and talk about that.
Mark
And they have. Don't they have statues at the.
Arnold
Yes. Down at the Civic Courts building. Right downtown.
Mark
Downtown St. Louis.
Arnold
Yes. And matter of fact, Preston Jackson did that statue. He did a statue down. Not. He didn't do the dread. Harriet Scott.
That's actually down at the courthouse. Then there's one at the Civic Courts building that. Preston Jackson, who's been on the show several times, he did a sculpture about the.
Those individuals who had tried to get the freedom suits. And we did a show on that, too, several years ago.
Mark
Crazy.
Arnold
Yeah.
Mark
Why? It's a stamp. Yeah, give it up. Come on. All the other stuff you guys do.
Arnold
It'S just plain weird.
Mark
Do something. Never mind.
Arnold
He. One of my. One of my favorite food shows we did, Mark was with Freddie. Freddie Lee and.
Mark
Oh, Freddie Lee.
Arnold
It was on his barbecue sauce when he. As a hobby, he did this. And now he's like the sauce master. And he's the creator of Freddie Lee's Ghetto Sauce.
Mark
But schnooks. Is it schnooks or Deerberg?
Arnold
It's schnooks.
Mark
Won't let him put ghetto sauce in. It's American sauce.
Arnold
American sauce, Right. But you go to Dierburg's, it's ghetto sauce.
Mark
It's ghetto sauce. But they just didn't like the word ghetto sauce.
Arnold
They didn't think that would fly out in certain parts of the area.
Mark
If you've had it, you'll be fine with it.
Arnold
Oh, yeah. It's regular and spicy.
Mark
Oh, it's so good. I know.
Arnold
Yeah, it's really good.
Mark
And he brought free samples.
Arnold
He did.
Mark
And I used mine up and we went out and bought some more.
Arnold
Yeah.
Mark
To support him.
Arnold
Went over to his place one day and he took me on a little tour of the facility. Yeah. It was very nice.
Mark
And his wife. Kudos to his wife. She's the one. She's the brains behind the distribution of the. And I think it's on Amazon now. You can buy it.
Arnold
Yes.
Mark
She had to have plastic. But they had to do plastic containers instead of glass.
Arnold
Yes. And he talked about certain kind of plastic. Because when it goes into the plastic, it's.
The sauce is hot, so it had to sustain the heat and not melt and. Wow. All that kind of stuff.
Mark
Yeah. But, boy, it's hot.
Arnold
It's good.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
It's Very good.
Mark
It's really good. Highly recommend it.
Arnold
Yes, yes, we do.
Mark
Yes, yes. And he hasn't asked us to endorse it, but we are.
Arnold
That's right.
Mark
And I like the ghetto sauce.
Arnold
The can't forget about are what I call St. Louis and tunes. Baseball trivia historian.
Mark
Oh, yeah.
Arnold
Ed Wheatley. Ed Wheatley, yes.
Mark
He knows a lot about the Browns and he doesn't. He. He does that luncheon every year. The Browns luncheon.
Arnold
Yes.
Mark
I've been to that lunch.
Arnold
They have baseball games at the Grizzlies, the Gateway Grizzlies, where they have St. Louis Browns bobblehead.
Mark
Yes.
Arnold
Do a lot for that.
Mark
And they have a big luncheon and they bring in guests. Yes.
Arnold
Oh, yeah.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
Big time guy.
Mark
Yeah, yeah. A lot of people that you probably know.
Arnold
Yeah.
Mark
That you've heard of.
Arnold
Mark, do you have a favorite.
Mark
You know what? I really liked two shows. The ELO guy and the Atlanta Rhythm Section guy. The Ars and the elo. The ELO guy, Jeff Faulkner.
He puts a lot of time and effort and energy into recreating elo.
Arnold
Yes.
Mark
And it's an ELO was on a. I think they were on tour this last year. They were for their final. Maybe hoopla. I don't know if it was a final one, but.
Arnold
Final landing.
Mark
Yeah. But Jeff has put together a lot of musicians that. And can you imagine if you're familiar with ELO's music, just trying to recreate that.
And they do an unbelievable job.
Arnold
Yeah. The harmony parts and do a great job.
Mark
Oh, yeah. If he ever comes back, grab that show, go to the archives and listen to it, because there's some really good.
I was actually looking for some music here. I wanted to play, but I can't find any. But it's remarkable how they recreate ELO's music.
Arnold
Yeah.
And to find these shows, folks, you can go to the website stlintune.com there's a search engine up in the upper right hand corner, and you can plug in any topic and it will list for you those shows that have that particular topic.
Mark
And I think elo's Legacy Lives on is the name.
Arnold
Yeah. We have done two or three shows with Jeff.
Mark
Yeah. Yeah.
Arnold
Last time he brought Jake in, who plays cello.
Mark
That's right. Yeah. See there? What band do you know has a cello in it? There's not many. You could probably count them on one hand.
Arnold
He's got it together.
Mark
Our rock band has a cello.
Arnold
Yeah.
Mark
And to his credit, he went out and found somebody with a cello because.
Arnold
EL E L O has those kinds of that sound.
Mark
And then the. The Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Arnold
Rodney Justo.
Mark
There you go. Thank you. I was trying to figure out and remember what his name was. They did something very similar and their performances, too. Yeah.
Arnold
And they have. Because a lot of those guys have left or passed on. And Rodney's one of the remaining original.
He's one of the original band members and he left the group for a while. But the. That was a fun interview with him, right?
Mark
Yes, it was. Now, there's one other. The Browns versus the Cardinals in the 1944 World Series. We did a show on that. Who was our guest on that?
Arnold
Ed Wheatley.
Mark
Was it Ed? Okay. That was a very fascinating show. He did a book on that, I believe. Yes, that's right. Yeah. I remember looking through that book.
Arnold
A lot of things, folks, we don't plug these things. We just. This is an interest out there.
If you've got some hobby or you got a time to read these things, take a look at these things, listen to these things, check them out, find out more information about the city that you live in.
Mark
Yeah. What a historical time, though, with the Cardinals and the Browns at the same time.
Arnold
Absolutely.
Mark
Making that break and Augie Bush getting in the thick of it. And I guess the owners now, they had something to do with the Browns. Was it? Yeah.
Arnold
Which I didn't know DeWitt, the DeWitt senior was an owner of the Browns. And that was called the Subway Series. Not Subways, the Streetcar Series.
Mark
That's it.
Arnold
That's Streetcar Series.
Mark
Wow.
Arnold
Grand and Dodier was the Sportsman's park back in the day.
Mark
What's there now? Walmart?
Arnold
No, there's a. Probably. No, there's a Boys and Girls Club there. And a.
Mark
That's right. That's right.
Arnold
There's one more show I wanted to mention. It was a show that talked about exploring bias and censorship in high school debates. That's with James Fishback.
And what he found out was that high school debaters, when they went to a debate tournament and found out who judges were, judges would say, I don't want to hear anything about this. Don't tell me anything about this.
And it was more that you had to align what you were saying with their particular political philosophy or you got marked down. And so he formed a group that's called Incubate Debate. And it was a non biased. Because debate is supposed to be non biased.
That's what debate's all about.
Mark
Right.
Arnold
You prepare both sides of an argument. You're given a topic and you're told which side you're going to defend and represent.
And then the judge judges the aspects of the clarity of your debate, how you were able to convince the points that you made. And it wasn't all about, you don't believe what I believe.
So I'm going to mark you down, which is a sad state of affairs because debate and dialogue and having free conversation is important in our country.
And we've gotten to the point where, you know, in families, in businesses, in churches, in just your friendship group, a lot of people like, if you don't believe what I'm believing, I'm not going to have anything to do with it. Yeah, it's ridiculous.
Mark
It is ridiculous.
Arnold
You mean my friendship doesn't mean as much to you as this thing does?
Mark
And that's one thing. It's not like it doesn't define who you are.
Arnold
It's not the end of the world.
Mark
No, it's not. No. And do you like Coke or Pepsi? I might like Coke. And you like Pepsi.
Arnold
Yeah. And if you don't like Pepsi, I'm not going to have anything to do with you.
Mark
Yeah. What the heck is that?
Arnold
Yeah, that's really.
Mark
What is that about? Can I mention one other one? There was. I just saw it here.
The Chronicles of Valor, the musical Journey of the United States Air Force Band of Mid America. We had him in, and that was a fascinating show, believe it or not. What that band does.
Arnold
Yes, they do a lot of stuff. They play a lot of performances around the area here, and they're based over at Scott Air Force Base.
Mark
And. Yeah, and they are talented.
Arnold
They're very talented.
Mark
Boy, I've always enjoyed seeing them at some of these big events, but, boy, they were having some special shows and things that people could come and sit down and enjoy.
Arnold
They do parades and check them out, folks, because they have small groups like ensembles, and the large band group.
Mark
Talk about discipline.
Arnold
Oh, my gosh, they've got discipline. I've been saving some jokes, Mark, and actually this first one relates to some things that we would normally do, like a word of the day. But these.
Did you know these things had names?
Mark
What the. No.
Arnold
The space between your eyebrows is called a glabella.
Mark
A glide.
Arnold
Glabella. A glybella. And the rumbling of a stomach is actually called a womble. And most people know this, that the prongs of a fork are called tines.
Did you know that?
Mark
No.
Arnold
Yeah. Also a pitchfork or tines. Tines of a rake. Those are the things.
Mark
Okay. Did not know that. Okay.
Arnold
The tiny Plastic table placed in the middle of a pizza box is called a box tent.
Mark
Didn't know that.
Arnold
The day after tomorrow is called overmoral. Overmorrow, over morrow.
Mark
Okay.
Arnold
The space between your nostrils.
Mark
Oh yeah, what is that?
Arnold
Is called columella nasi.
Mark
That's why I'm not a doctor.
Arnold
I couldn't. That would have flooded that.
Mark
That would not have worked for me.
Arnold
The dot over an I or an A is called tittle.
Mark
No, I call it a dot. Put a dot over your I if it's A.
Arnold
Okay, so here. A lot of inventions have happened, but before the crowbar was invented, crows had to drink at home.
Mark
Wow.
Arnold
I've had some problems with my teeth. A pastor went to the dentist for a set of false teeth. The first Sunday. After getting his teeth, he preached for only eight minutes.
The second Sunday, he preached only 10 minutes. But the following Sunday, he preached non stop for three hours until the congregation realized he couldn't quit and finally helped him sit down.
Concerned for his health, they ask, are you okay? What's happened? The pastor explained, the first Sunday, with my new teeth, my gums were so sore I couldn't preach longer than eight minutes.
The second Sunday, I felt I could go a little longer to 10 minutes. But today I mistakenly put my wife's teeth in and discovered I couldn't shut up.
Mark
Almost to not laugh at that. Wow.
Arnold
We have people who don't eat meat.
Mark
Yes.
Arnold
And we have people that eat meat. And there's this conversation between two people like that.
And one says, you shouldn't eat meat, and the other person says, don't worry, it's plant based. And they say, that's awesome. Which plant? The person says, the meat processing plant, of course.
Speaking of pastors, a new pastor was visiting in the homes of the parishioner. At one house, it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to the repeated knocks at the door.
Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote Revelation 3:20 on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed at the next worship service, he found that his card had been returned.
Added to this was a cryptic message, Genesis 3:10. Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
Genesis 3:10 reads, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, for I was naked.
Mark
I get it now.
Arnold
This is an actual paper that was submitted by a student at school. And the student was given an F, but was given an A plus for creativity. The question was, in which battle did Napoleon die?
And the student answered his last one. These are really good. And as a former educator, I would have given this kid an A plus for creativity, too. Oh, yeah.
Mark
How could you die?
Arnold
Question 2. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed on the bottom of the page?
Mark
Oh, yeah, it was. What are you going to do?
Arnold
The river Rafi flows in which state? A liquid state.
Mark
Oh, I. Yes.
Arnold
What is the main reason for divorce? Marriage.
Mark
That makes sense to me.
Arnold
I love this one. What is the main reason for exams? Failure. What can you never eat before breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Mark
Thank you very much. Take a bow.
Arnold
This kid was really smart. Yeah. What looks like half an apple, the other half.
Mark
Give that kid an A. I have.
Arnold
A few more in this one if you. I can't even see this. I'm crying so much. If you threw a red stone into the blue sea, what will it become? A whetstone.
Mark
Oh, yeah. Of course it will.
Arnold
How can a man go eight days without sleeping? Easy sleep at night.
Mark
Oh, no.
Arnold
How can you lift an elephant with one hand? You can never lift an elephant that has one hand.
Mark
Oh, my.
Arnold
If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand, and three oranges and four apples in the other hand, what would you have? Very large hands. If you think about.
Mark
This kid's very creative, I'd say so.
Arnold
Listen to this. If you took eight men. If it took eight men 10 hours to build a brick wall, how long will it take four men to build it? No time at all.
The wall was already built.
Mark
Yes.
Arnold
Yeah. And how can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it any way you want? Because a concrete floor is very hard to crack.
Mark
Wow. You've been holding out on us, buddy. You really have, because.
Arnold
Yeah. I wanted to save these for this particular show.
Mark
Wow.
Arnold
So, you know the super bowl is coming up.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
So you should be as excited about church as about the Super Bowl. So when your pastor makes a point this Sunday, pour Gatorade over his head.
Mark
I want to see that.
Arnold
Yeah.
Mark
Come here, Pastor.
Arnold
Nine things to think about, folks.
Mark
Nine.
Arnold
Nine. Number nine, death is the number one killer in the world. Number eight, life is sexually transmitted.
Number seven, good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. Number six. Men have two emotions, hungry and horny, and they can't tell them apart. If you see a gleam in his eyes, make him a sandwich.
Number five, give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks, months, and maybe years.
Number four, health nuts are going to feel stupid someday. Lying in a hospital, dying of nothing. Number three, all of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
Number two, in the 60s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal. And number one, life is like a jar of jalapeno peppers.
What you do today might burn your butt tomorrow.
Mark
No, no, no.
Arnold
I don't know if you saw this. A cheese factory exploded in France.
Mark
No, I didn't see that.
Arnold
Debris is everywhere.
Mark
Wow. That is really bad.
Arnold
Now, if you're a senior out there, here's ten commandments for seniors. Number one, talk to yourself. There are times when you need expert advice.
Mark
That's right.
Arnold
Number two. In style are the clothes that still fit. Number three, you don't need anger management. You need people to stop irritating you.
Mark
True.
Arnold
Number four, your people skills are just fine. It's your tolerance for idiots that needs.
Mark
Work right there with you.
Arnold
Exactly. Number five, the biggest lie you tell yourself is, quote, I don't need to write that down. I'll remember it. Un.
Number six, on time is when you get there.
Mark
Yeah.
Arnold
Yeah. Number seven, you've noticed people your age are much older than you.
Mark
That's so true.
Arnold
Number eight. Aging has slowed you down, but it hasn't shut you up.
Mark
Okay.
Arnold
Number nine, you still haven't learned to act your age, and I hope you never will.
Mark
That's good.
Arnold
And lastly, number 10, one for the road means going to the bathroom before you leave the house.
Mark
Yeah, yeah. And then you have to make a potty stop.
Arnold
That's right. Anyway.
Mark
Okay.
Arnold
Sometimes it's difficult to tell people. You just struggle with them. So how do you tell someone politely that you don't like them?
Mark
I don't know.
Arnold
You say. You're the Monday of my life.
Mark
Whoa. I like that. Yes.
Arnold
Speaking of going to the bathroom, River Dance was invented by an Irish family with seven kids but only one toilet. You know, on. On a computer to reboot things or get back to a screen. Certain kinds of. Several screens. Control, alt, delete.
Mark
Huh.
Arnold
All right. Control yourself. Alter your thinking. Delete negativity. Control yourself. Alter your thinking. Delete negativity. That's a good one.
Mark
That is. That's. That makes sense.
Arnold
And the weather has just been a roller coaster of temperatures. It's flu season this time of year. Everyone should know the symptoms of the Amish flu. First, you get a little Horse, then a little buggy.
Mark
Golly, what a.
Arnold
And now it's January. After the holidays, people, they're going to all the fitness place.
And it's very important to keep fit because my Grandma started walking five miles a day when she was 50. She's 72 now and we don't know where she is. Speaking of grandparents, when my grandpa went bald, he built a machine to weave a wig from yarn.
He gave it to my dad, and one day it will be mine. It's my family heirloom.
Mark
It's really bad. You're starting to slip. You know that, right?
Arnold
And then this is just. It's interesting words of wisdom. Always put a coat on before you answer the door. If you're happy to see them, tell them you've just gotten home.
And if you don't want to see them, say you were just on your way out.
Mark
I love the idea. That's a guy like that. I gotta remember that one. That's good. I like that. That's it.
Arnold
And here's a fun fact about bees.
Mark
Oh.
Arnold
Most of them are actually allergic to pollen.
Mark
Oh. What?
Arnold
When exposed to pollen, they develop hives.
Mark
Who knew?
Arnold
And you and I had some coffee this morning.
Mark
Yes, we did.
Arnold
The average human walks 900 miles per year and drinks 22 gallons of coffee. This means the average human gets 41 miles per gallon.
Speaking of walking, when I was a kid, I had to walk 10 miles both ways through Shag Carpet just to change the TV channel.
Mark
I did too.
Arnold
I know Shag Carpet.
Mark
Yep. I love it.
Arnold
And as you get older, you'll realize that a $300 watch and a $30 watch both tell the same time.
Mark
No kidding here. That's true.
Arnold
A Michael Kors wallet and a Forever 21 wallet hold the same amount of money. A $300,000 house and $100,000 house host the same loneliness. A Ford will also drive you as far as a Bentley.
True happiness is not found in materialistic things. It comes from the love and laughter found with each other. Stay humble. The holes dug for us in the ground are all the same size.
Mark
That's right. That's true. Wow.
Arnold
There was a group that annually does Christmas caroling and they went to. They normally go to, like, old folks homes, retirement centers and hospitals and stuff. Well, they were doing a re eval and said, we'll never.
I'll never be asked to go caroling at the psychiatric hospital again. In hindsight, I guess singing. Do you hear what I hear? Was not a great idea.
Mark
Sorry, I hit the mic. Wow. That's really bad. And we're laughing.
Arnold
I'm trying to get it.
Mark
I don't know what's worse.
Arnold
Oh. So, okay. We all get heavier as we get older because there's a lot more information in our head. So I'm not fat. I'm just really intelligent.
And my head couldn't hold anymore, so it started filling up. The rest of me, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. So I've got one more.
Mark
No. Okay. Really? We gotta do that.
Arnold
An archaeologist working at the ancient city of Pompeii, Italy, uncovered the ruins of the house Keith Richards grew up in.
Mark
Take a bow.
Arnold
Were those worth waiting for?
Mark
Yeah, they really. I have to admit, they were pretty good. They were okay. I was a bit worried when I heard that you were going to do this today. Wow.
Yeah, those were good.
Arnold
I've been saving those.
Mark
You have been. You've been swirling those away. Well, good for you.
Arnold
We try to not only inform and educate and highlight certain things. Laughter is great medicine. I remember the reader's digestion. Laughter is the best medicine, Right? And when you can't cry, folks, you gotta laugh.
And it's a good stress reliever. And we don't laugh enough in our society anymore.
Mark
No, we don't.
Arnold
So that's why we do that at the end of shows. Yeah, that's why you got a special edition today.
Mark
I like it. I do. I like that a lot. That was good.
Arnold
It puts you in a good mood.
Mark
Puts me in a good mood. It's about time. Yeah, I know. Wow. Good show. Good stuff.
Arnold
Yes.
Mark
Yeah. Good stuff.
Arnold
So tune in. Continue to tune in, folks. Check us out@stl and tune.com. we thank you all for listening. If you've enjoyed this episode, you can do a listen.
Listen to additional. You can talk just like me. Yeah, let's go backwards.
If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional shows@stlntune.com consider leaving a review on the website, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue to grow.
We want to thank Bob Berthicel for our wonderful theme music, co host Mark Langston for his extreme humor, and we thank you for being a part of our community of curious minds. St. Louis in tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network.
Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy, and let your light shine. For St. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.
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