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(17) “Mud Pies, Mumbly Peg, Jarts, and Bikes, Plus The National Sign Museum and Why Nostalgia Still Pulls Us Back."

Published 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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A comedy weekend turns into a time machine. We head to Cincinnati to catch John Mulaney, then stumble into the American Sign Museum and watch a whole century of light flicker back on—hand-painted walls, incandescent bulbs, and neon glass bent by steady hands. Along the way we crack up over Mulaney’s pitch-perfect RFK bit, note how his voice has shifted since his last special, and trade the kind of travel mishaps that leave you sore and oddly grateful.

That detour into signs becomes a story about memory you can touch. Big Boy grins, Mail Pouch barns, Rock City arrows—icons that once anchored road trips and small-town pride—now restored by artists who still know how to coax gas into a steady glow. We talk about how neon got labeled “urban blight,” why it vanished from streets, and what it means to see young craftspeople learning the old ways. Preservation stops being a museum word and starts feeling like a living studio, loud with tools and patient with process.

From there the conversation slides straight into the high-risk playgrounds of our childhoods: outlawed yard darts, mumbly peg, and the knife game “stretch” that should have come with a waiver. We laugh at our luck, wince at the physics, and admit what drew us in wasn’t pain—it was agency. Then it’s bikes with one speed and coaster brakes, scabbed knees that lasted all summer, and a siren installed solely to impress a pair of twins who—plot twist—didn’t live there. Winter adds slapstick of its own: sleds sharpened for speed, snow pans dented beyond mercy, and a failed “snowboard” flight that writes its lesson in bruises.

Under the jokes sits a clear theme: risk and craft give life its edge. We can embrace safer gear and smarter choices without sanding off curiosity. Whether it’s a comic reshaping his story, a glass bender restoring a glow, or two old friends retracing the maps of their youth, paying attention turns moments into markers. If that blend of humor, nostalgia, and hands-on craft hits home, follow the show, share this episode with a friend who needs a laugh, and leave a review to tell us your most dangerous childhood game and the landmark you still miss.

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Joe and Ed

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