Cox n' Crendor Show - Episode 493 - Ai Monkeys Around

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

The boys are back and this time Jesse is just fed up with technology. Nothing is working anymore and replacing it all is so expensive. Meanwhile Crendor is considering what kind of Florida Man he'd be. Thankfully he knows exactly, but Jesse needs a bit more thought. Then monkeys run a muck but maybe they aren't even real? All this and more on a brand new Cox n' Crendor! Go to http://heroforge.com and use code CRENDOR to get 5% off. Go to http://shopify.com/Crendor to sign up for your $1 per month trial.

Today's episode is brought to you by Hero Forge. Hero Forge has got awesome minis for your next tabletop adventure. Also today, we're brought to you by Shopify. If 2026 is your year to start a business, Shopify is on your side. Let's jump to this podcast. Hello, everybody. It's time for Cosent Red Dog. In front of all. In the morning.

In the morning. Broadcasting live, live, live, live, live. In four-hour recording studio. Record. Wait your ass up. It's up next, Brendano in the morning. All right,

why excited I'm going to Cags and Crenor in the morning. Yes, it is exciting time. Yes, it is. It is indeed. You sounded like

a He-Man character or something. I don't know what was going on there. You're like, yes, it is. Exciting time, He-Man. Exciting time, He-man. Bring your fourth The victory I don't know what I'm saying

The power of gray skull Yeah Hey man How's your new year going? Dude, falling apart dramatically But only in the tech field Like personally I'm doing great

I'm working out more than ever Like literally I did like Four miles yesterday Felt great life was good I'm putting in work However technology wise Everything's crumbling around me and I don't know what to do.

And it's like, well, the solution that everyone's giving me is you need to buy a new thing. But tech-wise right now, everything's so expensive, I don't want to buy a new thing. I'm like, why would I, I don't want to waste money on that. Like, a great example is we had, not on Cox and Crendor. Thankfully, we filmed early, but for geekenders and Chuluminati and stuff, the other podcast, I was like, well, while I'm gone, I'm gone. I'll just record on this old crappy laptop that I have.

And because it's just audio and I don't care. It'll be fine. Right. I don't know what happened. I tested my microphone. Everything seemed fine on my end. But when those episodes went up, both of them, I'm like, hi, everybody.

It's my deathache. Deathing Cox, and I'm here to talk to you about. I have this crazy lisp. I didn't hear it. when recording to Luminati, none of them heard it, but Dodger heard it for some reason and was like, what's going on with your voice? I was like, I don't know.

And yeah, I tried to fix it, couldn't fix it. I have no idea what was wrong. I was like, all right, best case scenario, it's maybe the microphones busted or maybe a chord, but then I tried it again, and the audio seemed fine. And I couldn't figure out what was wrong. And so something between the audio going from the computer to the internet screwed up. But I went into Discord, for example, and mess with settings, and it still happened.

But Shulamani is not recorded with Discord. Shulimani is recorded on an entirely different platform. Same issue. So maybe the internet was doing it? Dude, I don't know. I don't know. And I was like, all right. Well, at some point, I got to test all this and mess with stuff.

So, all right, I'll do that when I get back. So anyway, I return home. Everything's good. I'm a little swamped with work here in the office trying to get stuff done and caught up on things. And then I think, all right, yesterday we did a movie night. Very excited about that. We watched Last Action Hero. It was very fun.

I wanted to watch it home. I went home. Yes, I streamed a little bit in the office, went home, worked out, ate dinner, made Skeddy. It was great. Loved it. And then I was like, all right, can't wait to watch this thing at home. Sit down to my home computer, which is, you know, it's an old computer. It's the one I had in the office before I have the new one that I have.

So it's like five years old. not old in the grand scheme of the geological time from the universe, but like old for computers. It had like a 2080 in it, if you're curious how old we're talking. Right. And so it's always run fine. I only really goof around with it at home and like play random games like Final Fantasy 14 or whatever when I'm bored. And it just exists in case I need it.

Or, for example, I want to watch a movie with you from home. I go to start that bad boy up and it's like Windows installed an update Would you like to use Windows Explore or whatever the hell they call it now Windows Edge, Microsoft Edge is your default browser? And I clicked no

And it started doing a spin thing And I was like, huh Let's take it an awful lot Maybe it's just doing the setup. All right So I went into the kitchen I started cleaning up all the dishes that I had done when I made the spaghetti. And I'm sitting there, I go back, still spinning.

I'm like, huh. Now at this point, it's like, I don't know, 6.30-ish. So I have plenty of time. Right. But I still haven't showered. I still haven't done anything. But I'm like, we're going to meet at 8. So I got to figure out what's going on.

So I'm trying to troubleshoot this thing. And I'm like, well, crap, nothing's happening. It's been here for like 45 minutes, just spinning. This seems weird. So I restart the computer. Probably the dumbest thing I could have done. When I did that, it immediately restarted to the BIOS and was like, hey, something's wrong. I'm like, yeah, no shit, something's wrong, computer.

What could it be? I clicked the boot drives. Not a single boot drive was listed. It detected my hard drives, but it was like Windows isn't on either of these, dude. I'm like, what do you mean? It was like, sorry, there's no windows here. Like, okay. So I went and tried to find the, like, boot drive that I created.

I usually have like for you know my computer's like a little thing where if I need to restart or reset the computer and so I was like all right cool so I put that drive in I'm ready to go I think I got to figure it out I'm back in the bios and then I pop up to the screen that's like do you want to fix windows or reinstall windows or whatever and I was like yes I would and it's like if you do this you're going to delete every file on this drive I'm like oh god thankfully I don't have too many important things but there definitely were a few files like notes I had written at home that I was like, this is important. I should probably send that to the office or whatever and then just never did because I was lazy.

Once again, reminding myself that being lazy does not pay off. So I went to go reinstall and it's like verifying windows. I'm like, okay. So I let it do its thing and it took like, I don't know, three or four minutes. I was like, you're good. Do you want to reinstall? And I was like, yes. It did its thing.

I pull out the boot drive after it's done. I restart the computer. not only does it not go to the BIOS now it doesn't go to Windows the computer turns on and my screen is black Jesus I have no idea what's wrong with it I think I screwed something up

like the motherboard or the hard something's wrong I don't know I reached out to David my former editor who's like big tech guy and was like question for you haven't heard back he's probably like I don't even I can't help this guy

so I don't know what to do I think right now, the plan I have is if I need a computer at home, I'm just going to bring the little tiny baby computer we play Scary Game Squad stuff on. I'll just carry it back and forth because it's not heavy or big. But at this point, like, yeah, I'm not going to buy a new computer. I went online because I was like, oh, maybe I just have to get a new computer. But at the same time, I have a fully functioning working one at the office and another fully functioning one that we play for Scary Game Squad stuff. That's literally the whole purpose of it. I was like, well, I'm not gonna, I went online to look to computer prices.

Right now you're looking at minimum $4,000 for like a decent computer. Mama Mia. If you want a better, they have the stock graphics cards, like the ones that are like fresh from Nvidia that have no cool fans or lights or whatever. Just like the basic ones. Those come with it. But if you want an upgrade, it's like plus $1,000 plus $2,000. I'm like, no, dude.

No. You want RAM? good luck son that's expensive as hell pre-mades are probably the way to go right now but most pre-made companies are going to throw all that bloatware on it and even then I went and looked and you're looking minimum 4,000 and I was like I don't need a computer that bad at home

again I'll just take the one I have in the office we use once a week if I need it that badly yeah that's and it's all just from shitty AI yeah like I just oh man yes it's all terrifying plus AI equals computer parts are expensive. And then Bezos and all of them had the audacity to be like,

hey man, the future isn't even about computers. It's about you playing games on the cloud and they're acting on the cloud. So you don't need graphics cards. And I'm like, shut up. Shut up. I hate you. Shut up. Yeah, like they even play games or care.

Yeah, I'm like, come on, man. And what's crazy is the reason I know costs for computers. computer prices right now. I didn't even have to look. A few days ago, Davis was like, yeah, my computer's busted, so I need to get a new computer. And he's like, what should I get? And we were looking through websites together. And everything's so expensive right now. Yeah. It's crazy. I bet you could probably go to a Best Buy and get like a crappy pre-made one. It wouldn't be great, but at least it would run stuff. But man, those computers always fall apart. Oh yeah, they definitely do. They're not great. So like, I don't, I don't know. Again, I don't need a supercomputer at home.

So I don't have the desire to get one. But it does suck that you had a perfectly, I had a perfectly good computer. It was working fine. And it just was like, no, we're good. And I couldn't tell you what I did wrong. All I did was say I don't want to have Microsoft Edge by, be my default browser,

which I think almost everyone on planet Earth feels that way. And it was like, oh, bitch. And that was it. Now my computer is brick to hell. Are you on Windows 11 or 10? I'm on 11 for everything.

Oh, okay. I'm still on Windows 10 for everything. But that computer's so old that it had 10 and I had to upgrade to 11. Is that what did it? Or is that right out? I don't know. I mean, I upgraded to 11 years ago on that computer. Oh, okay.

But I just don't know. I wish I could tell you what happened. It just straight up was like, you have an install this new update. I was like, great, let's do it? And then it was like, do you want to do Microsoft Edge? And I said no. And then it froze or something. for like 45 minutes,

which is the longest, that's a freeze. That's not an install. I don't know what the hell that is. For like 45 minutes. And I was like, all right, reset. And it was like,

sorry, there's no windows detected. I genuinely couldn't tell you what happened. I have no clue. I went to go reinstall windows and I thought I did it correctly. And then now I have nothing on my screen. The computer turns on.

My monitor goes black like it's about to load up like the ASUS logo, whatever the hell that computer has. And then just sits there. and nothing happens. And then my monitor's like, nothing's here, so then it just turns off. I'm like, okay, cool. When the computer's running,

the motherboard registers that it's like, fine. I don't, I have no clue. And it sucks because that's one of my, it's like designed to be really quiet. It has these really quiet fans and like noise reduction stuff. It's a really great computer for like, oh, I need to record things

that I don't want computer audio in the back. Or, you know, like the fans or whatever. But, yeah. It absolutely doesn't matter now. So maybe David will come over and like check it out. But dude, I have no, it's above my pay grade when it doesn't even register the motherboard. Yeah, that is pretty bad. That is.

I mean, just tech has been collapsing around me. I'm just crumbling. Today I tried to do a Magic the Gathering pack opening. And I brought a camera from home because I'm not going to, you know, I don't have like 80. camera setup so I brought a camera from home and I used it and everyone was like it's really grainy I'm like it's dark in this room and it's closing it's close

like what do you want from me I don't do this normally they're like you should ask Krendor for tips I'm like I should but I don't do this isn't like I'm not a multi-cam setup guy I brought this for you for this one thing and you complained about it and now I feel terrible and I'm like ah

I don't know what am I doing again to quote I think you should leave I don't want to be around anymore Some days I just think What if I You know like what if I just stuck to YouTube And didn't stream and just made stuff And then I don't give a shit if people watch anymore

I mean that's part of the reason I love varieties Because you can just kind of do a little bit of everything You're not just stuck in one specific though I guess I mean still Honestly YouTube's my favorite If I'd a pick Well then podcasting That's easy

It's just us being like I hate things Yep, that's so far this episode I hate things Man, that's pretty bad I mean, you know it's bad when people are like, you should ask Crenor for advice That's already terrible advice

Yeah, I was like, Crenner can't help me I do understand that you have a great setup For when you paint minis and stuff But I was like, guys, that's not a thing I do often What I'm doing literally was a one time I figured you would want to see me open these cards Rather than what I normally would do Is just open them at home

But I was trying to do a thing for y'all and y'all are like it's not good and I'm like cool all right well I feel like I wasted my time I hate that feeling like I went out of my way and now you're all like yeah you shouldn't have okay why did you do that

yeah all right great um that brings me to my thing I wanted to bring up which I brought up on stream the other day uh it kind of ties into it because you're going crazy right so I was thinking if we were Florida

okay, what would your Florida man like characterization be? Because I thought about mine and I was like, I would be the druid of the swamp but like the Florida man style version. So like I would just go around the swamp. I'd have like a golf club and a golf cart and then I would protect the animals.

So like if someone hit an animal with their car, I would like golf cart chase them down and then just like break their car, like smash their windshields and be like, this is for the animals of the swamp. I first off Yes you're correct I believe that is entirely what you would do

But secondly I was trying to think of who I would be And I feel like I would be a strip club owner But I sleep at the strip club Like I don't own a home I own a strip club Ooh no my strip club Used to be a double wide trailer But now it's a strip club

And I sleep in the strip club and yeah, all the strippers are like definitely meth addicts. And there's got to be like some news article that's like, strip club owner and fight over chicken wings. Like there's got to be something weird. Like naked strip club owner got in a fight with chicken wing entrepreneur, Jim Jenkins. Like there's got to be a thing that's goofy about it.

But yeah, I feel like I would, you know, I'd be the sleazy guy. Like I'd have a track suit on, but it definitely. definitely was ill-fitting. Oh, yeah? Yeah, and I'd be like always licking my fingers for some reason. It's because you're always

eating chicken wings. Right, right, right. Because I love chicken wings. Yeah. It's like, oh, I taste yesterday's barbecue. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I never, there's no shower on the property, so I'm very stinky.

Oh, yeah. Not a lot. Yeah, the only time I shower is when they hose me down. That's part of your, part of your, like, establishment is just like, listen, if you got to get clean, we give you the hose. Yeah, yeah. Like, I, uh, yeah, I host wet t-shirt contests when I want to get a shower.

Yeah. I'm like, all right, ladies, get up there, doing your dance. And I just get up there too and soap up. I'm just in the background where these women are dancing. You're sprayed with water. I'm just like getting, you know, getting clean back there. Yeah, that would be a solid floor to me. Yeah, I like that.

Good guy. Yeah. He's an entrepreneur. He's helping the community. That's true. All right, good. I just wanted to check. I'm glad.

Yeah, you basically hit us with our own dear illustrious sirs question. I really did. Listen, I have unlimited dear illustrious sirs as part of the perks. Speaking of dear illustrious sirs. Right, right. I was looking at people's. various requests and things, right? And someone mentioned, and it wasn't a,

it was like part of the dear Lesterers, but it was like an additional thing. And they said, you should look up C&C, it's really funny. I was like, what do you mean? They're like, you guys keep saying C&C for Cox and Crendor. And I was like, obviously. And I googled and was like, so what does C&C mean? And I thought they were talking about those CAD machines,

like the computer controlled machines that like automated, you know, like the cat machines they use for various stuff. Right. But no, that's not what they were talking about. I realized that C&C is also couples consensual, non-consensual. Oh, yeah. Which basically is choreographed, like, rough play. Yeah.

Basically. It's essentially being like, no, I don't want this, but you've like determined you do want this, which is why it's the consensual. Yes, yeah. Even just like power play scenarios, like kidnapping. I'm like like kidnapping. So apparently when we say C&C,

some people here consent, not consensual, non-consensual sex. So that's a thing. Glad I know that now. Now we got to change our stuff again. Oh, man. Um, yeah,

that's... I found that out while looking through and checking out those things. And I was like, all right, great,

cool. Thanks, thanks for that information. Never wanted to hear that, but here we are. I mean, it is also computer numerical control.

That's what I'm saying, the CAD machines. Yeah. So, you know, it's just whatever, whatever your preferences, I guess,

that's what it is. Cox and Crendor, computer controlled automation, rough sex. Whatever your thing is, we've got you covered. Yeah. Yo, this is unrelated, but I was watching, what's his name?

The PBS guy that goes all around. I've mentioned him before. I think I know what you're talking about because my mom likes this guy. I just don't remember his name. Oh, my God, what's his name? PBS guy that travels around Rick Steves There you go, yes

That's so funny that you can type in PBS guy That travels around and get it Yeah, I mean there's not many of them to be honest Or he's the most popular one But he was in like crackow polling All right because I just like I clicked one of them I was eating lunch and I was like You know what I kind of want to watch one of these for like a little bit

And he was just going around being like, yeah, yeah and that he was like, this is the Polish trumpet thing for St. Mary's trumpet call. Have you ever heard of the St. Mary's trumpet call? No. What? No.

So, pretty much every hour, on the hour, from the St. Mary's Lake Tower, this dude will play a trumpet thing. And he'll just be like, or something like that. And then the... I feel like it's not like that, but I know what you mean.

Right. I don't think a guy get up there and went but then his trumpet tune will end abruptly. He'll be like and then it signals

or it does that because the story goes he got shot with an arrow through the trumpet. And so... What? That's kind of an interesting little tidbit

of lore of like here's the reason why we do this thing. that seems strange because in history this thing happened. Like that's kind of neat. Yeah. So that shit was just

when he did that. I was like, dude, what the hell? That's crazy. And I mean, it might have been just like a story they made up back in the day

that they ran with or something to. Sure. Like, you know, but I mean, there's plenty of things like that. But, uh,

I mean, even if it wasn't, that's just like a wild story. Just like some guy like, like, like, uh, apparently it would be

the Mongol invaders that shot the arrow that I mean that checks out the Mongolians loved their arrows and horses so like yeah okay that's neat that's the only thing I made when I played Siv 7 was Mongolian horse archer and it did work you destroyed

thoroughly they even destroyed the guns Nothing could stop the Mongolian horse archers. Nothing. Yeah, that was pretty cool. That was cool. Did they announce any SIV 7 expansions?

That's like every time a SIV comes out, it sucks until they do like two to three expansions. Man, I'm still bummed about seven. So like, I'll wait and be patient. But my level. of thinking they're going to nail it is so very low. I'm like, nah. I mean, here's the thing.

I still enjoyed it, but it's definitely different, and I still think, I think they can still get it right. The way they cut up the game sucks. That sucks. I do hate the fact, like, I hate the fact that you have to, like, change empires or, like, like, different things like that. Or it's absolutely, it's straight up just,

the flow of the game, immediately dies. Yeah. No, it really does. I feel like they... That's not cool. Yeah, because I remember we like build stuff and then the thing you're building just stops and just disappears.

You're like, oh, okay. There was one, I was at war with this nation. I had their capital surrounded. I was about to invade and then it next erud us. And then it put me back and we were not at war anymore. We were friends and their capital was fine. I'm like, I'd wasted so much time. That sucks.

That's not cool. Yeah. No, it's, it's definitely not very well thought out. That's, you know, I mean, there's plenty of times where expansions do fix a lot of stuff and get things. Yeah, sure. And we'll wait and see.

Like, I, I've been playing a lot of Total War War Warhammer 3 because the expansions that keep releasing have some really cool stuff in it. And yeah, when that first came out, when Total War, Warhammer 3 first came out, people were like, no, I'm going back to two, bro. So I get it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, even, what do you call it, Blood Bowl? Blood Bowl 3 came out. In fact, when Blood Bowl 2 came out, people were like, this sucks.

And then eventually they played it. And then same with Blood Bowl 3. Like, it took years for that game to now be playable and, like, functioning, even though some things are still annoying. But it's, you know, a lot of times it just takes a while. I get it. That's a, you know, I'd rather have that than, you know, like, no man sky. It's fantastic. Oh, yeah.

That's true, dude. When it first came out, that sucked. Cyberpunk, when that first release had tons of problems, now it's one of the best-selling games of all time. Yeah. Like, if a company works at it, I'm fine with that. I'm like, yes, good work. Keep going. But it's like, I hate that first, you know, I want it to be good.

Oh, it's not good. All right, well, I guess I'll wait. Yeah. And that's how I feel about Siv 7, where I'm like, I put in so many hours and, yeah, I'm over it. Like, no, I'm good. But I have been playing Super Fantasy Kingdom. You ever hear of that? No, what is Super Fantasy Kingdom?

So it is a, oh, it's a, where's the buzzwords here? It is a... Where are the buzzwords? Rogue light city builder, auto battler in pixel form. So really an ultimate Krendor game.

What is this called? Super Fantasy Kingdom. So yeah, you look that up. Oh, I'm looking it up. You, all those buzzwords you gave me are buzzwords I enjoy. Yeah.

So it's a hooded horse. Oh, look at this shit. Yeah, okay. What the what? Yeah. No, this was, I saw, I saw this I put it on my wish list

like a while ago, like a few months ago. And then I saw on Twitter, Trixler, the Heroes of the Storm dude. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was like, yo, I played Super Fantasy Kingdom. This game is really fun. I was like, you know what? Maybe I will play it now that I see someone else's played it

and enjoyed it. And I started playing it. I now have 26 hours in this game and I am still loving it. Like, it's just a good game. It's just fun. Yeah, I'm totally it. I literally just bought it.

Yeah, check it out. It's on sale right now. Yeah, this looks, this, you know what? Every so often you give me a little like, A, that's cool. And this is definitely an A, that's cool. Yeah, no, I'm, my favorite types of games are just pixely, rogue light, like city builder auto battler type games.

Like, if there's those, like sign me up. I'm like, I'm all in. So this game is, it's got a ton to unlock. It's, uh, you pretty much have your city area where you're like building stuff, gathering things, whatever, upgrading. And then you have the area above that where it's like auto battling. So you got like your army there and you're like fighting monsters and stuff that attack. And then you have the rest of the map where you kind of go around and you explore it and you like find little things like you'll click and it'll be like, here's some wood. And then it's like, oh, this guy will give you a bonus thing when you start.

Like, oh, here's the witch. if you do this, then the witch will appear. And there's like little things to explore. Like it's honestly really fun and addicting. Dude. All right. So first off, I'm going to send you this link as well since we're doing this.

This is a game that I just started playing. It's Vital Shell. It is a bullet heaven, but it's like a PSX era looking like mech battler. Oh my God. It's fun as hell, dude. It's fun as hell. Yeah, what the heck?

So basically, it looks like you're flying around and like, you know, that sort of Pauli-looking PlayStation 1 style in a cool-looking mech. And then it's the same thing all Bullet Heavens are. There's like, you know, you can collect items and do stuff and it makes you stronger and it's got that rogue-like vibe to it. It's great. I'm a big Bullet Heaven fan. So, like, I've been enjoying that a bunch. That's just because Octo was like, you should play it. And I was like, okay.

Yeah, this actually looks really good. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. There's a lot of these like indie games that have this vibe of, hey man, just relax, turn the brain off. And I would have been playing it at home except by computer died. Yeah, that's, honestly, we're like in a golden age of indie games. that you're just like old school looking but like super fun

yep and honestly here for it it's cool as hell I love that stuff yeah you know what else I love Hero Forge is here to start your 2026 off right for your next D&D sesh

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Chop to cover seven or whatever in the scout with Crendor. There we go. There we go indeed Currently it is cold and snowy In a lot of places It is not looking great out there So watch out Because it's gonna be rough

For the traffic Yep Also you know there's also some The traffic in the Traffic Back to you It is looking mighty cold and snowy Out there

Can I say when I was in DECD? dude. Yo, I don't know if I mentioned this to you, but Magfest rocks. I think you would genuinely enjoy it. It is a ton of fun. The concerts I went to, I saw a bunch of chip tune stuff,

I went to like what could basically be classified as a rave, and I saw Protomen and Mega Ran, all sorts of cool stuff. But, dude, I was so exhausted. That thing runs 72 hours straight. So I stayed an extra day just so I could like go to D.C. See the museums. See the sites.

All that kind of stuff. It was so cold. Like the wind, the cold, all of it was just, I've never. Remember that time when we were in Boston for Pax? Oh, yeah. And I was like, like, like, people are like, Jesse looks like he's dying. And I was like, yeah, I am.

Oh, same vibe. Oh, dude. so cold. I was like no thing. It wasn't, if there was no wind, it would have been fine. But the wind, yeah. When you're on the national mall, it's just all open. There's not a damn tree to protect you. I'm getting blasted. I almost started walking backwards. It was so windy. Oh yeah. I've walked backwards many of times when the wind's going. It's, uh, I was like, no, I'm over it. I was so happy to get back to L.A. I was like, oh, thank God. I got on the plane, immediately took my jacket off, had a t-shirt on, and people were looking at me like I was crazy.

I was like, no, I'm going to L.A. baby. The minute I land, I know it's going to be like 65. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready to get out of here. I love you, D.C., I love you, Maryland. I love you, Virginia. You're very nice places to visit, but I would never want to live there. I'm out. And you're hitting the, this is what happens. Once you hit that point of cold. I'm a soft boy. I became full soft. I was like, I don't care. I'm going back to my 65 degrees. I'm done. I'm out.

That's what I mean. Once you hit, once you live in that for a while, like this week's supposed to be we like for next Friday it's like six degrees here it's five degrees tomorrow with like some snow got some wind

so it's once you hit that then people are like oh it's cold over here at like 55 degrees I'm like dude I'll take that springtime right there

compared to I absolutely recognize it's not cold cold you know what I mean I'm like no I'm all right I understand it's not cold but that's like chilly

mentally No. I'm fine with like chili. You know, it's like, you know, a little brisk at there, right? But it's not, it's not cold. Like when you, when you get the dude, it's like you said, when it's, it can be like 20 degrees, but no wind. And you're kind of like, it's not too bad. But once the wind hits, it just like it slices through you and you're just like, blah. Yeah, same things. It could be a hot, hot day. But if you get good wind, then suddenly it's cool. Well, same thing with the winter. It just gets way cold. And you're like, it's way cold. And you're like, Oh yeah oh I hated that that sucked Yeah and I was happy to leave Or like humidity too Or it'd be like not humid and you're like Yeah it's not bad then when it's humid you're just like Yeah

Oh I went I went to the Smithsonian And they have like a whole little exhibit that's kind of like About American Entertainment I guess is the thing You never realize how close we are to actual real entertainment royalty until you go to that museum and you see things from people you know.

Like what? Literally there's an entire section about internet entertainment and one of them straight up, the first thing I saw was Felicia Day's costume from the guild. And I just texted her like, you're in the Smithsonian?

They have a thing where they're talking about like internet celebrities of like YouTubers and things. And there's just people that we know there. that's insane and I was like this is so goofy

I was like we're this close to almost being in celebrity culture except we're not but like it's so weird because it literally is people I know right next to like Prince's guitar or Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves

or like things you know that probably have real significance to the culture of America but it's just very funny that that's where we're at I was like, oh, okay, cool. But I will say, out of all the museums I went to, hilariously, that part of the museum had the most people in it.

Which I think says a lot about American cultures and museums where the place, where they were like playing scenes from Star Wars and scenes from movies or like the Olympics. It was very media focused in this one particular area. And then, yeah, that's where most people were. Meanwhile, the thing that really freaked me out, because I always need to be reminded this every once in a while, is they have a section that's kind of like about the civil rights era. So it's like 1960s-ish. And they have a counter of like Woolworths or something from, you know,

one of those old countertop things where people would go and sit down and eat. And they have the counter. And then they have a video playing on this mirror. And the video is about, you know, sit-ins and things during the Civil Rights Movement. But the mirror, if you look at it, makes it look like you're sitting at the counter. I was like, oh, that's very clever. But as I was watching the video, I realized that there's like these young kids yelling at the black kids to get up and they're like throwing stuff at them and stuff. And I like mentally did the math. And I was like, that's

1960. And they're probably 16 at that time. So they're still alive. All those people are still alive. I was like, right, right. That explains a lot about the world. I was like, sure, sure. And I just have to remember that every once in a while. I'm like, oh, no. They're like either my parents age or just a little bit older than my parents. Yeah. And I was like, right. So if my parents are still around, they are clearly still around. And I was like, ah, right. That explains why some people are just really mean. Gotcha. There's also young people or also that's really mean. Well, that's because they learned it from those old people. You know, like, most people don't come out an asshole. Most people are made assholes by other assholes. That's true. I mean, some do learn it from the internet. Yeah, but those, they learned it from other assholes on the internet.

You know what I mean? Yeah, that is true. Like being a piece of shit isn't something you're born with for most people. Some people have like a few wires loose and are not ready for prime time. But that's very few. The vast majority of people learn to be a piece of shit because another piece of shit taught them. And that's the traffic. All right, let's go to weather.

Weather. We have a weather request for... Ourqueath... Our quaint little town is called South Pittsburgh, Tennessee. That's so many mixed signals. Okay. Our quaint little town is called South Pittsburgh because it was supposed to be the Pittsburgh of the South. Not sure if that was supposed to be a good thing.

That's really funny. I get what they mean, though, it was probably like a steel town. Yeah. We have a beautiful scenic mountain view in the Smoky Mountains, and our main attractions are the annual Cornbread Festival and the Lodge Cast Iron Factory and Museum. I would love to hear y'all's reaction. I know that sounds goofy as shit,

but I would love to go to a cornbread festival. I bet that would be a ton of fun. I know it sounds goofy. I would go to the cast iron factory, or whatever, I would ask them, I'd be like, yo, I've never owned a cast iron skillet. I would love to. I feel like I would not do it right. Teach me.

I'd be fine with that. Yeah. I watch Alex use his all the time, and I'm like, wow, that's really cool. Everything you make on there tastes delicious. I feel like there's a thing, but also, you know, you can't clean it. You have to, and when you do it, you have to clean it a certain way, and you got to do it. Like, it seems like a lot of work. I'd rather just use my crappy thing I bought it, like, you know.

That store in the mall. Well, currently in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, it is 37 degrees. Feels like 31 degrees with a 9 mile an hour wind chill. Air quality is good. Pressure 30.1, 2 inches. Visibility, 10 miles, sunrise, 6.49 a.m. sunset 4.57 p.m. Humidity 36%. 2.13. UV index 0 and a new moon.

10 day. We've got Monday 43, mostly sunny, Tuesday, 43, sunny. Wednesday, 52, cloudy, Thursday, 56, parley cloudy, Friday 51, mostly cloudy, Saturday, 41 with rain, snow, Sunday, 33 with a wintry mix. Monday, 40, partly cloudy, Tuesday, 44, partly cloudy. Wednesday, 34, parley cloudy. This is fascinating to me. I'm looking through the different restaurants they have here. First off, lovely town, very, like, you know, You know, not quite South, but very middle America vibes. I dig it. They have the haunted old South Pittsburgh hospital. So if you want to go to a haunted hospital, they have that for you.

Oh. Yeah. But interestingly enough, like they, the names of the restaurants they have are, I'm here for it. They have Yum Yum's Takeout Cafe right next to Taste and C takeout cafe right next to Tasty Fries. Honestly, I'm here for it These seem so funny Steve Areno's Italian eatery Yes, dude

And what's so funny is it's all because You know, again, middle America It's all kind of in In those little like corner shopping Center things Oh yeah Like there's one place It's not quite in South Pittsburgh

It's a little north But it's called Oh where did that go Where did I lost it? It was like a Mexican restaurant And it looked like it was in a strip mall But the inside of it looked incredible Like delicious

The food looked great Well there's one called Chenchos Cochina and Cantina Maybe I don't know if that's it I'm trying to get back to it But the damn thing won't let me go back It's right near the spill coffee

And the Steveerinos It was more in Kimball. So it's like a little north near the crackle barrel. Ooh, they have top of the rock restaurant and brewery up in the mountains. Yo, this is the winner. Yeah, this place looks so much fun. I love a good place where you can eat and then stare at nature. I don't know why.

It's always a winner for me. Yeah, that was pretty nice. I like that. They got the Dixie Freeze. Everyone loves a good Dixie Freeze. Yep. You got to get the Dixie Freeze. That's just southern as hell right there.

They have a Sonic drive-in. Four is Jamaican restaurant. Yo! Yo! When the first image is just chicken on a grill, you know that place is going to slap. Oh, yeah, definitely is. And it has a 4.9, so it slaps. 100%.

Oh, yeah. That looks fantastic. Yeah, I love a good Jamaican spot. Man, I'm trying to find the place I saw. Basically, it was a Mexican restaurant up near Kimball, for those who live in the area. and it looked like it was a just kind of like a really good looking Mexican restaurant that had some really cool vibes on the inside and it was really colorful and stuff but then the outside it's like in the corner of a strip mall and it looks so goofy because the inside is so completely beautiful and colorful but it just has that like crappy strip mall vibe there's el toral Mexican restaurant it's right above cracker if the seat have artwork on them then you found it.

I can't find it anymore. I don't know what happened to it. But either way, there's tons of little places, a lot of little spots here. This is kind of cool. Yeah, this is pretty cool. Yum Yum's Takeout Cafe, that place looks good. Again, everything looks good. But it's crazy that it's all like takeout cafe places. Yeah, that's true too.

It is a lot of takeout cafes. I wonder what that's about. Maybe it's because it's near all the different. high schools and it's just easy for kids to buy it? I don't know. Oh, maybe. Maybe. Well, that's the weather. All right. Let's go to sports. Sports.

Currently in sports, the Patriots are beating the Texans at halftime, 21 to 10. As, you know, the Patriots haven't won in a while. so they're obviously looking to get back. Everybody's very excited for the Patriots. Yep. I do like Drake May, though, the quarterback. We also had Denver beat Buffalo in overtime, and then right after the Denver quarterback broke his ankle.

I saw that. Really, everybody lost that game. Yep. Seattle blew out San Francisco, 41 to 6, and then the Rams and the Bears play in a couple of. hours. And you're over under on that is you want the, you're

trying to get the bears to lose? I mean, I expect the bears to lose. They're extremely injured. They've beaten a bunch of garbage teams, Packers included. Packers are a garbage team. And the Rams are good and the Seahawks are good. If the bears make it past both those teams,

I would be genuinely shocked. So I fully expect the Rams to win. We'll find out. maybe the ghost of Ditka will come back and save the world. I mean, they do have the Pope, but I still don't think of the Pope. Yeah. If the Pope can play left tackle, I think they would probably appreciate that more. In the NBA, we got the Pistons still in first place in the east with the Celtics right behind them and the Knicks.

And the Raptors are there. And then in the West, we got the Thunder in first place with the Spurs and the Nuggets right behind. them. In the NHL, we have BAP. Why is it expanding? Oh, wait, there we go. The lightning and the hurricane both in first with the

Red Wings and the Canadians right behind. Yo, don't look now, the Buffalo Sabres are actually in, was that, sixth place in the east? Yep. What the heck? Normally, they're in last for the last, like, 20 years. It's the Sabers, man. Now's the

time. This is it. Crank it into overdrive. Apparently. Wow. I'm surprised. I don't even realize they were doing that well. Maybe fourth place by the time they're done.

That's true. Meanwhile, in the west, we got the avalanche dominating everyone. And then the stars, the wild, the golden nights behind them. And then we have, wait,

Olympics, Olympics, one's the Olympics? Two weeks? February 6. Yeah. So yeah, we're like two weeks away, two and a half, I guess. Speaking of Olympics, here in L.A. If you're in L.A. and you're listening to this and you care at all,

the drawing for Olympics in 2028 is starting. So you have to go to the website and you sign up and you can get into a draft for tickets. They'll ask you what your favorite sport is. I purposely chose the craziest ones. I don't want to see basketball or track and field stuff. I want to see the wacky ones. So I'm really hoping those tickets will be available because no one wants to watch them. That's what I'm hoping for.

That would be great to be honest. Yeah, I want to see the ones. If we had Winter Olympics, curling. I'd be at curling and a heartbeat. But yeah, I want to see what the weird ones are going to be. So I'll show up to those. Yeah. No, that's coming to L.A.

I'm going. I'm going to the Olympics. Yeah, you got to go. You need the report. Yeah, I got to see what it's like actually behind the scenes. Because I imagine possibly overwhelming and or impossible to focus on stuff. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah, probably.

Because there's so many cameras and there's so much weird stuff going. Like, I would, I got to know. Yeah. No, that's, uh, that's great. We'll actually, we'll actually get behind the scenes in person experiences. Yeah, I think they're trying to make it so people who live in the area can actually go to stuff before people traveling there. can buy tickets. Yeah.

That would, I mean, that would make sense. Yeah. Yeah. And that's sports. Okay. What is our fact of the day? Fact of the day. Fact of the day.

Fact. Frankenstein's monster is a vegetarian. Yes. That is a fact. and it is they even did it in the new movie Oh really? Yeah they show a scene in the new movie

where he learns to eat berries It's a jarring scene I don't want to spoil what happens in it But a deer teaches him to eat berries And we'll leave it at that Huh In Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein's monster says

My food is not that of a man I do not destroy the lamb and the kid To glut my appetite Acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment This is one of the interesting facts you should definitely share with your vegetarian friends. Thanks. Readers Digest. Damn, Readers Digest.

What website did you go to, 1996? What the hell? Sometimes I just type in random facts and I just click one. And Reader's Digest gave it to you, man. All right. I didn't know there was a little thing that existed. Yeah, they also said some sloths have more neck bones than giraffes. Look at that.

That's pretty cool. I guess that's how they can hang there and still look around and stuff. Yeah, that would make sense. Sure. Okay, I'd buy it. Yeah. All right. Uh, that's your facts of the day. Who has come to us with tears in their eyes? We've got tears. Uh, dear illustrious sirs, with tears in my eyes, freezing to death and my timber shivering. It's raining in the cold desert. I ask of you lovely gentlemen and woppy, will you ever do another Cox and Crendor live? and also was your favorite cookie to eat. My favorites are peanut butter, snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, plain sugar, keep up good work. Holy shit. Is that one cookie or several cookies?

Yeah, that's several cookies. I feel like saying favorite. You got to pick one favorite out of those favorites. Yeah, you got to pick one favorite. Will we do another show? Yeah, of course. Yeah. That's going to happen.

When will it be? I don't know. Yeah. We, okay, speaking of shows, we need to get Mathis to stop doing. the entire segment of Chaluminati is just which aliens would you bang he needs to do like something else

all he cares about I'm pretty sure that's it he need we need at least like what like half the show can be him banging aliens and then the other half like do some like weird Chicago like ghost lore or something I will say I will say

the dating game that we played if you go listen to that episode you got the biggest laugh man you never It's nailed it. You said some random off-the-cuff joke and it was so funny. I still think about it. It was, I was like wheezing, laughing so hard. And I just can't remember what you said. I just know that you said it.

I don't even remember what I said. That's what I'm saying. It was like such an off-the-cuff. It like wasn't designed to be funny, I don't think. But you just, it was said so deadpaned that it was hilarious. Or I thrive. Improv. Off-the-cuff. It really is. It really is. That's what they tell me. Let's see My favorite cookie

Is probably I mean I I want to say chocolate chip But I feel like this is just like a basic bitch answer You know Sure Sure

Trying to think other cookies I would eat If I So My favorite cookie It isn't like It's so hyper specific There's a Like a gelato place

near me that does coffee and like pastries and stuff too and they have a white chocolate cranberry cookie oh it's delicious it's delicious it's really good that's they only have it like you know during winter months not that it matters in l.A but like it's thematically appropriate and frankly it's it's one of my favorites i think it's so good actually you know what i like the I like those cookies that got the Hershey Kiss in the middle. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are good.

The little like peanut butter, but it has the Hershey Kiss. Yeah. Obviously peanut butter is good. I like macadamia nut cookies. That's good. Those are good cookies. White chocolate macadamia, solid. Yeah, those are solid.

I like the, if we're talking packaged cookies, for some reason, those archway cookies that are really cheap that are like molasses flavor or whatever, delicious. They're so good. I don't know. I'm trying to think of any other cookies. Or those cookies that are iced that are barely cookies. You know the ones I'm talking about?

That have that like weird taste to them. And they're always at the grocery store and the clear packaging. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. It's like the sugar cookies. Yes, those sugar cookies are the icing. Or is it shortbread? I don't know. They're like, yeah, they're like one of it.

It's like every time there's a party, someone. buys those. Yes, yes. And honestly, I love them. They are hardly real food, but they're delicious. Oh, gingerbread cookies. I love good gingerbread cookie. But I feel like if I had to pick a favorite, I would just pick chocolate chip. Sure.

Yeah. I get it. Then we have Dear illustrious sirs with frozen tears stuck to my face. Just kidding, I'm in England. We got one day of light snow. I ask you lovely gentlemen, will you do an interview with the creator of digital circus? Feels very fitting for this podcast due to the love you both have for the show. Keep up the amazing work.

Dude, I would love to do that, but I doubt they'd do it. Yeah, I don't think they would want to do it. But with that said, I also feel like the interview wouldn't be good because we would have questions about plot stuff. And there's no way they could answer it. Oh, yeah, no. Like, we would, I don't want to know, like, behind the scenes. Like, I don't care about that right now. Yeah.

I'm interested in the story and the plot and the characters. And I know every question I'd have is a question they simply couldn't answer. Yeah. If we did an interview, it would have to be after the show's like completed. Yes. Yes. 100%. It'd have to be one of the shows over.

Yeah. But they will not. Otherwise, they'd be like, I can't talk about that. And I'd be like, okay. Yeah. Yeah. That always happens with those. Then that's, that's what always had.

Even like games and stuff, you'll be like, oh, what's this thing? And they're just like, we can't talk about that. Yeah. It's like, all right. well then I got nothing. Yeah. Otherwise, it's just like, oh, what's your feelings

on the current thing? Like, whatever. Speaking of games, dude, I had the coolest. So I did a bunch of panels when I was at Mag Fest. Yeah. But several I was just invited to host.

And one of the panels I had, which I think you'll really appreciate, it was myself, Bill Roper, O.G. Blizzard dude. And for those who don't know, Bill Roper is like, a man of many hats

he was at Blizzard North he did stuff for Diablo he did stuff for Starcraft he was Phoenix and Starcraft for example if you played the original Warcraft games he was the narrator in Warcraft 1 a lot of the like your village or your fall was under attack

that's his voice like he did all that stuff and he was uh you know one of the many he was a writer for them he did all sorts and then also on the panel was Jason Hayes who is the guy who like if you played any Warcraft, I think up to Pandaria, even though they used some of his music in Pandaria,

all the zone music, that's him. Oh, wow. Yeah, so I was on a panel with like two people I highly respected. I've never shown up to anything more prepared with more questions that weren't like, I'm going to ask you about your, like, literal questions of, hey, I love you guys. I grew up on your work.

I would love to know this, this, like hyper-specific things where I learned so much, dude, they told me that StarCraft. In my mind, I always thought StarCraft was going to be a Warhammer 40K thing, right? Right. Originally, Warcraft was Warhammer,

but StarCraft was originally supposed to be a Star Wars game for LucasArts. And then apparently, a game called Yoda's desktop adventures came out and was so bad, Lucas cut all their, contracts with every like third party person. Oh my God.

Yeah. And so they were like, uh, okay, we got to make a thing. So he was talking about how when they took Starcraft to E3 and everyone played it and they were all so excited to show off Starcraft and everyone was like, it's just Warcraft in space. And they're like, oh shit, we need to change everything, which is why it has different vibe. It's cool. We had a great conversation. We talked about the different music and I was like, so when you make the music for different zones, How do you make it so I can sit there for two and a half hours and listen to the same damn song over and over again without it getting annoying?

Yeah. And like hearing them talk about it and like the process, it genuinely was a joy. I was like, oh my God, these are people. I love and respect. And the amount of times they were like, back when it was just a bunch of guys that we didn't know what we were doing and we were just trying to create stuff and what made us happy was what we made. and the vibe I got was like we're not going to say it but it is different now a lot of back in the day we did this and this and this and this

it was so cool and it felt like wow I wish I would have been there but clearly not now you know what I mean that was kind of the vibe but no one just flat out said like no it's a shit show over there now that is that was crazy it was a great I was so excited I was like dude what do you mean Yeah, I got all of them like you guys got to come on our shows I would love to talk to you.

Like here, so now I got emails and I'm like, I'm going to get you on. We're talking. Dude, I would love to play Yoda's desktop adventures or the shit that is. Apparently it's so terrible. I haven't looked it up, but apparently, hold on, I'm going to do that right now. Yoda's desktop adventures. Oh my God. Wow.

Yoda Star Wars Yoda stories Dude this looks like shit Yeah Yikes Oh yeah This does look pretty bad I can understand why they were like

You know No we're done Yeah no this is This is looking pretty rough Yeah Yikes All right yeah I mean that's

That's that's Dear Lesson just sirs, I guess. It is. Now it is time for the big news story of the day. Day, day, day. Day. So this is kind of a crazy one, all right?

We have an initial story and then a follow-up story, okay? I love that. Finally. Yep. Officials still searching for several monkeys loose in North St. Louis. Several monkeys. Okay. Several monkeys are loose in St. Louis, the animal care and control division shared on Friday. Where the monkeys came from remains unknown, but exotic animals are prohibited in the city of St. Louis.

This is the first time we had this situation dealing with monkeys at large in St. Louis, said the police chief, or the Environmental Health Bureau chief. Got to be a first for everything, I guess. Yep. In a press update, they said the initial report suggested four monkeys were on the loose near O'Fallon Park in North St. Louis. They were first spotted by neighbors on Red Bud Avenue on Thursday afternoon. He said the exact number and gender of the monkeys is not known, but the department knows that multiple are on the loose. Neighbors were shocked to learn of monkeys escaping.

I think of danger, because that's a wild animal. We got dogs, cats, mice around here in the area, and now we've got to worry about monkeys. I'm scared because now I have to keep my dog inside because I don't want to get them attacked, said Marvin Young. The voice really sells it, to be honest. Yeah. When I look at these photos, I look at those doggone fingers on them monkeys and they got sharp teeth. They look like orangutan, said Young. However, the health department said St. Louis Zoo helped identify the loose primates as vervet monkeys, known for their grayish green fur, black faces, and white eyebrows. They are often called green monkeys and are native to sub-Saharan Africa. Huh. That's crazy. I know their teeth look like fangs. I like animals and I don't want anything to happen to them or any people. I sure hope they find them.

said Lou Glass, who's working in the neighborhood. Hauser stressed the people should not approach the monkeys. The monkeys can be intelligent, but also unpredictable. Hauser said once the monkeys are found, they will be trapped by animal experts. At this point, we don't know where the animals came from. We've engaged with multiple partners across, so that once the location of the monkeys is confirmed, those agencies are properly trained and equipped and can work to capture the monkeys.

If you have seen the monkeys, contact animal care and control. Now, Okay, I'm about to say I really hope you're about to give me answers to this whole scenario because monkeys just don't show up. That's correct. Monkeys, memes, and mystery.

Love it. Did St. Louis's viral primates ever really exist? What? Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm here for this. Nearly a week after reports of vervet monkeys roaming north St. Louis,

the city is still obsessed with the monkey mystery. What began as a neighborhood sight and quickly exploded into a viral phenomenon, spawning memes, late-night jokes, and even chocolate treats. But one central question remains, were they even real? Okay. Officials said the four monkeys were first spotted by neighbors near O'Fallon Park. The St. Louis Department of Health confirmed earlier in the week had called off a search for the animal,

citing only one verified sighting of one monkey confirmed by a St. Louis police officer. Officials acknowledged that AI-generated monkey images circulating online made the investigation more difficult, muddying the waters between legitimate tips and fabricated posts. As the internet ran wild, five on your side took a closer look at the original four photos shared by a resident, the images that sparked the city-wide frenzy. Before turning to experts, our newsroom ran all four photos through a Google reverse image search. The results showed no matches indicating that photos were not previously posted anywhere or digitally altered. official or offering no clear proof they were fake, but also no confirmation they were real. So we brought the images to an AI researcher.

Oh God. Okay. Abby Stylano, an associate professor of computer science at St. Louis University, who specializes in AI and computer vision, reviewed each of the original images individually. The image obviously isn't fake, Stylano said, while examining one of the photos, a year ago when people were sharing generated images, there were things that were really obvious that we're wrong. Do the shadows match the thing that's in the image? Now, it's a particularly challenging thing because it's a cloudy day, which means there aren't a lot of shadows

here. It does look like a kind of match, or that matches the scene around them, so there aren't really obvious cues that are necessarily a fake image. Style and out explaining the lighting shadows and image consistency are common indicators for spotting AI generated images, but those clues are becoming harder to rely on. Now it's really hard. I hate this. This sucks. It does suck. AIs ruined everything. We could have had hilarious monkey adventures, and it's AI. Trash.

Trash. Yeah. Now it's really hard today is that it's not a year ago. Those tools are so good at generating images, this could absolutely look real, yet still be fake. One image, she noted, raised questions not because of pixels or lighting, but because of how perfectly it was framed. One of the hints that could be AI generated is it fits the narrative so perfectly.

The monkeys sort of perfectly in the middle of the scene, just look. looking at the camera. That kind of perfect composition is something AI models really do. Still, she stopped short of calling any of the photos fake. What I will say about these images is that none of them are so obvious that they're AI generated. If we were asked, I would say, I don't know. That's the bigger issue. I think this really captures what's hard about AI generated imagery because we can't make decisions about whether things are real or not just by looking at the pictures and videos anymore. Now we have to think about where did something come from?

It used to be the case that if you saw nothing, you could believe it. That's not the case anymore. Styling out the viral misinformation doesn't just confuse the public, but it can impact real-world decisions. Our city had to make choices about where to allocate resources, where we were going to send animal control. It's a small version of what I think is a much bigger problem. How do you decide where to allocate resources,

and are you choosing to do it based on factual information? But now we have an exonial. animal vet who says, I think it was real. Oh, okay. While the AI expert couldn't reach a definitive decision, an exotic animal vet with decades of experience working with primates believed the situation likely began

with a real sighting. I think it was probably real from everything I've heard second-handed, said Dr. Doug Perkinoff. Pernikov, a veterinarian trained in exotic animals, primatology, and anthropology. Pernikov said the last. lack of recent sightings may actual support that theory. If the animals haven't been seen recently since Friday, in my mind, there's a good chance.

Whoever owns them has recovered them. They must be harboring them. Health officials previously denied. Harboring them like criminals, like little tiny primate criminals. Yeah, he's harboring. Perganov said they're also known as African green monkeys species native to sub-Saharan Africa, not suited for Missouri winters. They would have a really difficult time surviving these.

evenings. You would expect to see them milling around looking for food unless they've been recaptured. Bernicoff also warned that private ownership of primates can be dangerous for both animals and the public. Primates in captivity are not traditionally a good pet. You start very young and they're cute as can be and then all of a sudden you don't have a tame little pet. You've got a potentially dangerous animal. A viral moment. And a lasting lesson. As the mystery grew. And a lasting lesson. The monkeys became the punt. lunchline of late-night monologues and social media jokes nationwide. Locally, businesses leaned into the fun, including crowned candy kitchen, which is selling

chocolate monkeys during the height of the frenzy. But, experts said the bigger takeaway goes beyond laughs. Everybody just needs to slow down a little bit, Stylenow said, and really check where something comes from instead of believing what you see. So, were the monkeys ever real? One police officer verified at least one sighting. The rest may have been a... May I be a bix?

A truth of technology, viral momentum, and a reminder that in the age of AI, even a monkey on the loose can turn into a citywide mystery with no clear ending. Back to you. I'm fun with that. It's better than having no answers. You know, I'm one of those like, I'd rather have answers kind of people. And I got it. I don't like the answer. It upsets me, but I'm glad we got it.

Yeah. It does seem like it was probably one person had one monkey that they were illegally owning breakout. and then they recovered it or something, and then people just ran with it online. Maybe it wasn't a monkey at all. Maybe someone just saw something weird and then it like set them off. Like, I don't know. Yeah. No, it's, uh, that's still a pretty crazy story though.

And it's, it's apparently blown up all over the, the nation if they're doing late night monkey bits. All over the nation. All over the name. Maybe those will bring back Monkey Mondays. Who knows? Maybe. Maybe.

But I don't think we deserve it. I don't think we've earned it as a nation. Yeah, I don't think we have either. Yeah. And that's your big news story of the day. Okay, well, that's it for us. Thanks so much for listening to watching. I'm going to join this podcast.

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