Public Figures (Nateland) · Episode #32 · Hosts: Brian Bates, Aaron Weber, Dusty Slay · Published Sep 9 2026 · Runtime 2:03:22 · Watch: YouTube Brian, Aaron, and Dusty open on a 94-degree Nashville day and a weekend of Hobbs, New Mexico, Phoenix haboobs, and a ringtone that said “So you had a bad day,” debate a Mount Rushmore of Tennesseans, read comments on 2005’s music, dipping in church, and robot chores, then Aaron leads a tour of philosophy from Zeno’s paradoxes and Plato’s cave to Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, and the simulation question. Chapters Key topics People Products Places Ads Chapters 0:00 Welcome in on a 94-degree Nashville day: Dusty loves the heat, the dead-grass crunch, and the threat of a scorpion. 2:35 Cars with no air conditioning: Dusty’s 1984 Bronco II and the Saturn vent full of baking soda. 4:28 Who likes what heat, plus a plug for Wet Heat and a brand-new joke about people who love eating outside. 4:55 How comics title jokes on a set list, and why a set list can look insane. 5:55 Taped a week early for Labor Day, so the Frank Caliendo episode is already out. 6:35 Opening for Jonnie W.’s special taping at the Bijou in Knoxville and the 75-inch confidence monitor. 8:46 Rik Roberts and Adam Bush on the taping, then Dusty’s outdoor city show in Hobbs, New Mexico. 9:50 Two high school football games, a generator by the stage, and loud trucks behind it. 11:00 Paco the porta-potty man, fried burritos at Casey’s, and porta-potty versus porta-john. 12:15 What to call a bathroom trip, from potty to tinkle. 13:05 Stars, an eclipse joke, and cigars outside the safe bar while young people cry in the parking lot. 14:28 Wayfair read: the bench in Aaron’s guest room. 16:15 Adam Bush’s first outdoor show and his lost backpack, and Dusty’s Denver connection. 17:32 Aaron’s weekend at the Desert Ridge Improv in 114-degree Phoenix, and the plan to paint the roads white. 19:05 A haboob between shows, and Dusty’s old Uber-driver joke. 20:25 A drunk heckler gets thrown out and asks for her Louis Vuitton bag. 22:20 A phone ringtone plays “Bad Day” in a quiet moment, and nobody got the video. 23:05 A Philly comic’s first Walmart, an Italian deli that shares his name, and a Grand Canyon flash flood. 25:10 Phoenix as a favorite comedy city, the Tempe Improv, and a standing ovation at Zanies Chicago that hasn’t happened yet. 26:40 Who is America’s most beloved entertainer now? Dolly Parton, Keanu Reeves, Jelly Roll, and Carol Burnett. 28:45 An IMDb list of universally loved celebrities: Betty White, Conan O’Brien, Tom Hanks, and Robin Williams. 29:30 Who counts for a Mount Rushmore of Tennesseans: Elvis, Peyton Manning, Pat Summitt, Andrew Jackson, and Davy Crockett. 30:40 Favorability polls: Dolly at 77%, Morgan Freeman at 85%, and his dinosaur special on Jimmy Fallon. 31:45 The hosts’ own picks: Nate, Jelly Roll, Dave Ramsey, Al Gore, Tina Turner, Samuel L. Jackson, and Oprah. 33:20 Peyton Manning, Davy Crockett, Taylor Swift, and Leanne Morgan as Tennessee’s next beloved southern lady. 34:40 Paula Deen’s family-style restaurant and Monell’s in Germantown. 36:00 Square read: up to $200 off hardware, and the merch table on Nate’s tour. 38:10 Comments: a listener who says the 2005 episode missed Fall Out Boy, The Killers, and Gorillaz. 38:55 The 2005 Billboard year-end chart: “Hollaback Girl,” “Gold Digger,” “Candy Shop,” and “Mr. Brightside.” 41:20 “Over and Over,” Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, and the favor Brad never did. 43:30 A listener deployed in Iraq for all of 2005 thanks the guys for filling him in. 44:15 Zoe Rose says Brian pronounces “oi” words funny: soil, point, and oil. 46:10 “Ball Boy Bates” and Brian’s White Sox first-pitch offer that turned out to be for kids. 48:38 Sarah Nystad on why country kids didn’t ride bikes: nowhere to go. 49:45 Schwinn, Mongoose, and Murray, the bike company that went bankrupt in 2005. 52:05 The Luke Bryan cornfield song isn’t that bad, and Josh Turner. 52:50 The Ultra Pouch ad-read laugh, and why Brian never dipped: Big League Chew, Levi Garrett, Red Man, and Day’s Work. 53:57 A comment calls Brian too sensitive, and the Nashville Scene funniest-comic award resurfaces. 57:00 Dipping in church, cowboy church, Catholic reverence, and crying rooms. 59:52 A listener praises Aaron’s Brian Regan impression, then the board game Clue. 1:01:50 Comedy Gold launched the same day Aaron Rodgers waited in the green room; darkness retreats. 1:03:50 Sleep paralysis dreams, CPAP masks, and mouth tape. 1:06:55 A comment says two grown men shouldn’t need GPS to drive home. 1:08:10 Warby Parker read: virtual try-on and 20% off additional pairs. 1:09:40 If a robot could do anything for you, where do you draw the line? 1:13:15 Robot massages, haircuts, teeth brushing, yard work, and slip-on shoes. 1:16:30 The philosophy topic: Dusty’s love of the Socratic method and Will Durant’s The Story of Philosophy. 1:20:00 Aaron minored in philosophy and failed Intro to Logic twice. 1:21:00 Ethos read: life insurance. 1:22:20 Zeno and Parmenides: motion is an illusion, and the slap across the table. 1:25:40 The Achilles paradox, told as a swimming race with coffee cups. 1:28:55 Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the Socratic method. 1:30:00 A passage from Plato on democracy, then the allegory of the cave and the theory of forms. 1:34:32 Homer came centuries earlier, and how “homer” became a sports insult. 1:36:15 Aristotle’s metaphysics: what makes a pen a pen, substance versus accidental properties. 1:39:45 The same idea explains rooting for a college team over a pro team. 1:41:00 Change as potential becoming actual, and Aristotle’s first mover. 1:42:10 Thomas Aquinas, the “dumb ox,” and the five proofs for the existence of God. 1:44:15 Augustine, and whether it’s bad to make yourself cry with happy-tears videos. 1:46:50 Searching for Bobby Fischer, chess with a daughter, and an eccentric uncle in Kodak. 1:49:20 Are comedians philosophers? A plug for We’re Having a Good Time. 1:50:18 “I think,
