Simple Joe

Welcome to Simple Joe. I’m glad you’re here. I’m a little over a month into the return of Simple Joe, and today’s episode is really about one thing: gratitude. I talk about why I brought the podcast back after a seven-month break, including needing the creative outlet, wanting to stay active in podcasting and coaching, and wondering whether anybody would still be there when I turned the microphone back on. The answer has been incredibly encouraging. Longtime listeners have returned, new listeners are showing up in cities around the United States and around the world, and many of you continue to text, email, argue with my Top 10 lists, suggest ideas, and remind me that there are real people behind those podcast analytics. I also talk about what I mean when I call you my friend, why disagreement doesn’t have to get weird, and what I hope Simple Joe can continue to be: something interesting, funny, encouraging, thoughtful, occasionally completely weird, and sometimes just a little company during your day. Most of all, this episode is my thank-you to the people who came back, the people who just found the show, the people who regularly reach out, and the quiet listeners who may never contact me but keep pressing play. I know you’re there, I appreciate you, and I hope we keep doing this together for a long time. Email me at [email protected] or send me a text at 513.399.6468. Just say hi, I would love to hear from you. You can get Simple Joe T-Shirts and other cool stuff at thesimplejoe.com/store Check out what I'm reading at thesimplejoe.com/reading If you share the show on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please use #simplejoeismyfriend; you might get a free t-shirt!

Welcome to Simple Joe. I’m glad you’re here. I’m wrapping up our time in Daytona Beach, Florida, and today’s Simple Joe takes us from groundwater hiding beneath our feet to a Friday Top 10 built around something most of us have probably experienced: being told all our lives that something is illegal, only to find out later that it really isn’t. I talk about the final day of vacation, the possibility of doing a vacation wrap-up, and maybe even joining my pal Connecticut Curt on Geeking on Travel to talk about the trip. We celebrate birthdays for Groucho Marx, Steve Sabol, Don McLean, Avery Brooks, Annie Leibovitz, Sting, Kelly Ripa, Tiffany, and Efren Ramirez, then look back at Jerusalem’s surrender to Saladin, the debut of Peanuts, and Thurgood Marshall becoming the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. We also celebrate National Smarties Day, National Fried Scallops Day, and Guinea Independence Day. Then it’s Friday’s Top 10: Top 10 Things You Think Are Illegal, But Aren’t. Some of these are childhood myths, some are workplace myths, some involve driving, and a few sound so wrong that they almost have to be illegal. I also share a few stories of my own and ask what you grew up believing was against the law, only to discover later that it wasn’t. Email me at [email protected] or send me a text at 513.399.6468. Just say hi, I would love to hear from you. You can get Simple Joe T-Shirts and other cool stuff at thesimplejoe.com/store Check out what I'm reading at thesimplejoe.com/reading If you share the show on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please use #simplejoeismyfriend; you might get a free t-shirt!

Welcome to Simple Joe. I’m glad you’re here. I’m spending October 1 in Daytona Beach, where vacation plans have shifted a little while Karin deals with a bronchial infection, but I still managed to get out for an electric-bike ride along the beach, meet Tony, a retired New York pizza-shop owner now living his dream selling Nathan’s hot dogs and Hershey’s ice cream, and make plans for a Halifax River cruise. Along the way, I’m talking about fishing cats that actually seem built for the water, birthdays including Jimmy Carter, Tom Bosley, Richard Harris, Randy Quaid, Mark McGwire, Zach Galifianakis and Brie Larson, some big October 1 moments involving Yosemite, NASA, Walt Disney World, EPCOT and the first commercial CD player, plus National Black Dog Day, homemade cookies, raccoons and my own five-year experiment with being a vegetarian. Then, for The Story Behind the Headline, I dig into the remarkable Bell-Harlow family, where five consecutive generations spanning 118 years were all born on September 14. I look at the roughly one-in-17.7-billion simplified math, whether the family could have tried to plan for the shared birthday, the fact that fifth-generation Arthur Bell was actually due on September 14 and arrived exactly on that date, and another strange pattern: the five generations alternate boy, girl, boy, girl, boy. It’s a fun story about coincidences, family traditions, birthdays and the little connections that can stretch across generations, and I want to know if your family has a strange repeating date, number or coincidence of its own. Email me at [email protected] or send me a text at 513.399.6468. Just say hi, I would love to hear from you. You can get Simple Joe T-Shirts and other cool stuff at thesimplejoe.com/store Check out what I'm reading at thesimplejoe.com/reading If you share the show on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please use #simplejoeismyfriend; you might get a free t-shirt!

Welcome to Simple Joe. I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been thinking about Batman, Bruce Wayne, and a question I’d never really considered before: how rich would Bruce Wayne actually have to be to make Batman work in the real world? In this Wildcard Wednesday episode of Simple Joe, I dig into what it might really cost to finance the Batmobile, Batwing, specialized equipment, research and development, repairs, computers, medical support, manufacturing, and the hundreds of people who might be needed behind the scenes at Wayne Enterprises. I talk about why my preferred Batman is Christian Bale and why the Christopher Nolan version makes this question especially interesting, whether Bruce Wayne could make it work with $50 billion or might need a personal fortune closer to $75 to $100 billion, and why Lucius Fox and Wayne Enterprises may actually be more important to Batman than Bruce Wayne’s personal wealth. Then there’s the question nobody seems to ask: how do you employ all those engineers, scientists, mechanics, accountants, HR people, and support staff without somebody eventually figuring out that they’re working for Batman? Along the way, I celebrate International Podcast Day, wonder why any kid would choose white milk when chocolate milk was available at school, remember The Flintstones, talk about Truman Capote, Barry Williams, Fran Drescher, Marty Stuart and T-Pain, and share a little of what’s happening during my final days of vacation in Daytona Beach. It all comes back to a fun question that turns out to be a lot bigger than I expected: maybe Bruce Wayne’s greatest superpower isn’t being rich at all. Maybe it’s somehow keeping the most complicated secret organization in Gotham from being discovered by somebody in payroll. Email me at [email protected] or send me a text at 513.399.6468. Just say hi, I would love to hear from you. You can get Simple Joe T-Shirts and other cool stuff at thesimplejoe.com/store Check out what I'm reading at thesimplejoe.com/reading If you share the show on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please use #simplejoeismyfriend; you might get a free t-shirt!

Welcome to Simple Joe. In this episode of Simple Joe, I’m coming to you from Daytona Beach while we check in on Tangier, Morocco, celebrate National Coffee Day, and work our way through another round of Tuesday Random Questions. I share some vacation updates, including our somewhat disappointing dolphin and manatee tour and our plans to explore St. Augustine, where the haunted and paranormal stuff is definitely getting my attention. The Random Questions take us in a few different directions, from the teachers I still remember to how my thinking about being a dad changed as my daughters grew up. I talk about old high school friendships that faded with time, what I’d call the documentary of my life, and two very different kinds of late-night conversations I’ll always remember: meaningful talks with my daughters and those wonderfully ridiculous late-night conversations with friends after closing down a bar. It’s a Tuesday episode about memories, relationships, getting older, coffee, a little nostalgia, and seeing where five random questions take us. Tuesday’s Random Questions What teacher had the biggest impact on you, and why? When was the last time you changed your mind about something important? What would your personal documentary be called? What friendship ended that you still occasionally think about? What is the best conversation you remember having late at night? I’m glad you’re here. Email me at [email protected] or send me a text at 513.399.6468. Just say hi, I would love to hear from you. You can get Simple Joe T-Shirts and other cool stuff at thesimplejoe.com/store Check out what I'm reading at thesimplejoe.com/reading If you share the show on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please use #simplejoeismyfriend; you might get a free t-shirt!