Between The States

The garage is back in session, and this week the conversation goes completely off the rails.

Dan, Noel, and Jared catch up on expensive home improvements, squirrel-proof bird feeders, broken cars, Helldivers, and Dan’s dangerously addictive attempt at building his own idle game. From there, the guys dive into Swimply, backyard stock-tank pools, Apple Vision Pro, increasingly ridiculous school pickup lines, abandoned schools tu...

Why do Americans measure everything in football fields, school buses, blue whales, and Olympic-sized swimming pools instead of just using actual units of measurement?

This week on Between the States, we dive into the weirdest ways people describe size, distance, weight, and volume, and attempt to make all of them even more useful by converting them into the internet’s greatest unit of measurement: bananas for scale.

How many ba...

Season 4 of Between the States is here, and the guys are kicking things off from their glamorous new location: a cramped garage that may or may not look suspiciously like a basement.

Dan, Noel, and Jared catch up on everything from Connecticut flooding, broken lawnmowers, lawn envy, school pickup lines, Facebook Marketplace, and the bizarre idea of renting a stranger’s swimming pool through Swimply. Then things take a technolo...

What exactly is the manosphere, and how do people end up falling down the red-pill rabbit hole?

This week on Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared dive into the strange, toxic, and sometimes completely absurd world of manosphere culture. We break down terms like alpha males, beta males, incels, red pill, hypergamy, MGTOW, looksmaxxing, softmaxxing, hardmaxxing, mewing, bone smashing, pheromone maxxing, semen retention, and more, ...

What happens when the world’s most famous cryptids go head-to-head with creatures from fantasy and folklore?

This week on Between the States, we’re settling the matchups nobody asked for but everyone deserves to see. Bigfoot takes on a Forest Troll, the Chupacabra battles a Red Cap Goblin, Dogman faces a Werewolf, Mokele-mbembe goes up against a Swamp Ogre, the Mongolian Death Worm meets a Sand Worm, and the Jersey Devil...

Bigfoot may be famous, but can he survive a cryptid power ranking against the Chupacabra, Dogman, Mokele-mbembe, the Mongolian Death Worm, Mapinguari, and the Jersey Devil?

In this episode of Between the States, Dan, Jared, and Noel dive into cryptozoology, legendary creature sightings, folklore, footprints, physical evidence, and the blurry photos that supposedly prove these monsters exist. Each cryptid is rated on strength, speed,...

What really happens when you win the lottery? From Powerball jackpots and Mega Millions to scratch-off tickets, lottery taxes, and lump sum versus annuity payments, Dan, Jared, and Noel explore the surprising reality behind America’s favorite get-rich-quick fantasy.

The guys break down the record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, how much winner Edwin Castro actually took home after taxes, and why an advertised jackpot...

Are ghosts real, or are paranormal encounters just sleep paralysis, grief, coincidence, and an overactive imagination? Guest Stephanie joins Dan and Noel to share her strangest unexplained experiences, including a shadowy cowboy, a balloon that appeared to follow her through a haunted Victorian home, a mysterious ball of light, and security cameras that stopped recording at exactly the wrong moment.

The conversation becomes a hilari...

Technology keeps getting smarter, but it also keeps getting creepier. In this episode of Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared examine four technologies that could change how we are watched, hired, and charged for everyday purchases.

The conversation begins with Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers, including how law enforcement uses them, the potential benefits of locating missing people, and the serious priv...

Jared is on vacation, so Heidi joins Dan and Noel as they welcome special guest Bryan for a conversation about comic books, creativity, fatherhood, and refusing to give up. Bryan shares how a random idea inspired by the moon eventually became Kid Solar, an independent superhero comic set in Springfield, Massachusetts. He explains what it actually takes to produce a comic, from writing detailed scripts and hiring artists to launchin...

In this special episode of Between the States, Dan and Noel look ahead at the future of the podcast while preparing to leave their current studio and return to where the show began. They brainstorm upcoming episode ideas including scary surveillance technology, cryptids, racist dog whistles, video games, landlords, ghosts, parasites, numerology, tourist traps, strange measurements, comedy movies, flat-pack furniture, the afterlife,...

This week on Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared take a darkly funny look at modern cults, how they operate, and why intelligent people can still get pulled into high-control groups.

The guys break down the warning signs of a cult, including authoritarian leaders, isolation from friends and family, information control, emotional manipulation, financial exploitation, forced labor, and the demand for unquestioning loyalty. They a...

This week on Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared open the door to the strange, chaotic, and occasionally traumatic world of pets. From Tamagotchis, Furbies, Chia Pets, Sea-Monkeys, pet rocks, and ant farms to pigeons, hamsters, rabbits, hermit crabs, talking parrots, rescue dogs, and possibly racist pets, no animal is safe from the conversation.

The guys share childhood pet stories, discuss animals that escaped and somehow surv...

This week on Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared take a brutally funny look at Donald J. Trump the businessman, walking through decades of Trump-branded ventures, lawsuits, bankruptcies, licensing deals, casinos, steaks, vodka, watches, NFTs, phones, and more.

From the Trump Organization and Atlantic City casinos to Trump University, Trump Shuttle, Trump Steaks, Truth Social, Trump sneakers, the God Bless the USA Bible, and the...

Corporate buzzwords promise synergy, innovation, and strategic alignment, but do they communicate anything meaningful? Dan, Noel, and Jared break down the workplace jargon that makes meetings sound important while saying almost nothing.

The guys explore a study on “corporate bullsh*t receptivity,” decode phrases like leverage, paradigm shift, low-hanging fruit, stakeholder engagement, and move the needle, and create pain...

Summer is officially here, and the guys are celebrating by remembering when the season actually felt endless. Dan, Noel, and Jared look back on the freedom of the last day of school, disappearing on bikes until the streetlights came on, digging pointless holes, starting questionable fires, getting bikes stolen, and making the kinds of childhood decisions that somehow did not end in disaster.

Then the debate moves to everything that ...

What happens if the internet suddenly disappears worldwide and never comes back?

In this episode of Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared imagine their first 24 hours, first week, and first year in a completely offline world. Without Google, GPS, streaming, online banking, digital payments, or YouTube tutorials, everyday life quickly starts looking less like a minor inconvenience and more like an accidental apocalypse.

The convers...

Wilbur is back on Between The States, and this time he’s talking about his wild weight loss journey after gastric sleeve bariatric surgery. From hospital stays, dehydration scares, protein shakes, food struggles, “the foamies,” and learning how to eat all over again, Wilbur breaks down the funny, painful, and very real side of life after weight loss surgery.

Of course, this is still Between The States, so things go...

Could the Earth actually be hollow, or is Hollow Earth one of the strangest conspiracy theories ever created?

In this episode of Between the States, Dan, Noel, and Jared dive into the wild world of the Hollow Earth theory, from ancient myths about underground civilizations to Edmund Halley’s early scientific ideas, John Cleves Symmes Jr.’s “holes” at the poles, UFO conspiracies, secret Nazi bases, and the pos...