Marriage with Leanne Morgan | Public Figures – A Nateland Podcast | Ep #36

• 0:00 Recording a week early before Aaron’s Prader Silly benefit, Brian’s two sold-out Cincinnati shows, and everyone’s tour stops.
• 3:21 Brian was almost in the military: the Gulf War draft what-if and “Jarhead Bates” with a high and tight.
• 4:20 Who was the big general in that war? Sgt. Slaughter, Stormin’ Norman Schwarzkopf, and a Mark Normand joke.
• 5:16 Comments open: Nick Fury, the theory that the Avengers are the bad guys, and a Harry Potter briefing.
• 8:42 AI hair-and-beard swaps: the sociology-professor look, a young Big Jay Oakerson, and opening for a medium.
• 12:53 Bruce Lee on negative self-talk, kung fu movies, and the morning Superman pose.
• 14:30 Roethlisberger and Rory Scovel lookalikes, then Aaron amends his Amanda Bynes take.
• 16:03 A couple who watched Wet Heat together are now newlyweds.
• 17:46 Folk remedies: soap in the bed for charley horses, an onion for a cough, and garlic in the ear.
• 20:28 An egg in a sock over the doorway for teething, and Samson the deep sleeper.
• 22:45 The Nutcracker comment: Aaron still doesn’t get watching dance. Steve Ballmer, Michael Jackson, Fred Astaire, and a Scrabble documentary.
• 26:06 Dirty Dancing: Anjelah Johnson’s Fox dance show, a Leanne dance-off teaser, and ballet-trained Nashville comic Judson Beach.
• 27:30 The electric slide, dancing at your own wedding, and Aaron’s old band.
• 28:40 Sports hold the world together, gambling ads are out of control, and watching the Vandy game with Nate.
• 30:54 Six-foot dreadlocks, uncut for over 20 years.
• 32:23 Leanne Morgan joins, and the menopause podcast her daughter Tess named.
• 33:46 Season 2 of Leanne: Billy Gardell’s episode, and her first club set opening for him at Zanies.
• 35:55 Dusty’s makeover-show pitch, The Rearranger, and the comedy condo he rearranged in Lowell, Arkansas.
• 38:15 Lainey Wilson: the camper behind a music studio, early Nashville shows, and Family Feud.
• 40:50 More cameos: Karen Mills, Chuck Morgan as a bartender, all three kids, and Tyne Daly.
• 42:10 Blake Clark and Celia Weston as her parents, and a Season 2 caregiving storyline.
• 43:56 Will there be a Season 3? Netflix top-10 rivals, big in the Bahamas, and The Breadwinner.
• 47:00 Typecast as the older woman who flirts: a movie with Glen Powell and Judd Apatow, and western britches.
• 49:35 The Knoxville charity dance-off she finished days after hernia surgery.
• 54:24 The insurance-commercial actor who judged the dance-off and gave her a four.
• 56:05 Judging a later year: Mayor Glenn Jacobs, a young Morgan Wallen, and a promised casserole.
• 58:32 Don’t squash a dream: what to tell someone who wants to try stand-up.
• 1:00:43 Comedy is a sweet community: open-mic lifers, a carpet-fiber corporate, and Henry Cho material in a pinch.
• 1:05:08 Green-room riders: five Diet Cokes, Fairlife milk, Dr Pepper Zero, Coronas, and Uncrustables.
• 1:09:04 This week’s topic is marriage, after Brian’s Sheetz commercial shirts and a Buc-ee’s diaper rescue.
• 1:10:52 Married 35 years in April: Chuck Morgan the folk hero, and the SmartLess hosts asking about him.
• 1:13:23 Marriage rates at a record low, ten kids per family, and Jim Gaffigan’s fifth-kid bit.
• 1:18:37 Why young people aren’t marrying, and Leanne meets Chuck waiting tables at Grady’s.
• 1:22:51 Marriage do’s: connect daily, a lonely Chuck at home, and the time he played golf with Usher.
• 1:25:12 The comedy cruise, seasickness on the front stage, and Karen Mills’s storm show.
• 1:28:06 Calling home from the road, HBO alone in a hotel room, and don’t compare.
• 1:30:30 The 5 Love Languages: Leanne’s number-one tip, and the Duncan Hines cake that moves Chuck to tears.
• 1:33:20 Everyone guesses their own love language.
• 1:36:12 Leanne’s grandmama orders: weekly date nights, babysitters, and Chuck with the grandkids.
• 1:39:51 How much of each other’s act could Dusty and Leanne do, plus millennial reign theory.
• 1:42:26 THC drinks at the Fresh Market in Hilton Head, and a Delta-9 night of snakes.
• 1:46:08 Forgive, quit having the same fight, and don’t try to change each other.
• 1:48:14 Two celebrities in one marriage: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and Chet Hanks on Running Point.
• 1:50:25 The case for arranged marriages.
• 1:52:46 Divorce rates at a record low, and robot spouses by 2050.
• 1:53:46 Leanne’s marriage advice: love languages, date nights, counseling as a tune-up, and affection in front of the kids.
• 1:56:38 Where to see everyone live, buying Leanne tickets from her own site, and the Knoxville house on her show.

A Harry Potter briefing

Harry Potter turns out to be the biggest pop-culture reference one host doesn’t know, so the others walk him through it: Dumbledore, Salazar Slytherin and his house, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape the double agent, and Tom Riddle rearranging his name into Lord Voldemort. 6:05

The Amanda Bynes debate

A commenter calls Aaron’s “Audrey Hepburn of our generation” take insane, so Aaron amends it to Carol Burnett or Mary Tyler Moore. Bynes gets framed as a Bo Jackson what-if, with a comeback project pitched, dancing lobsters and all. 15:07

Leanne Season 2 and the cameos

Season 2 brings in Billy Gardell, Lainey Wilson, Karen Mills, and Tyne Daly, plus Chuck Morgan as a bartender and all three of Leanne’s adult kids in the background. Blake Clark and Celia Weston return as her parents for a storyline about caring for aging parents while launching grown children. One host’s parents watched it together and say they’re living the same thing. 33:46

Opening for Billy Gardell at Zanies

Leanne’s first comedy-club set was opening for Billy Gardell at Zanies, when Tess was 18 months old. She didn’t know what hosting or drink specials were, the woman who answered the phone told her not to call her darling, and Brian Dorfman let her on anyway. Years later Gardell did shows with her in Pensacola and played a date on her show. 34:07

The charity dance-off and the hernia

Brian pulls up Leanne’s Dancing with the Stars-style fundraiser for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. A CrossFit weak spot and a hard fling during the cha-cha to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” sent her to emergency hernia surgery. She danced anyway with her daughters stepping in, and a rival accused her of playing the sympathy card. An actor from national insurance commercials on the judges’ panel gave her a four for not really dancing. 49:35

Glenn Jacobs, Morgan Wallen, and a casserole

A year or two later, Leanne judged. Glenn Jacobs, the wrestler Kane and Knox County’s mayor, was part of that year, and a long-haired Morgan Wallen danced. She and Wallen once did a small show together for maybe $250 each, back when he’d just left The Voice and still had his mowing equipment; worried about him moving to Nashville, she promised him a casserole. 56:05

Green-room riders

A boilerplate rider once had a corporate client in Alabama stocking five Diet Cokes and a sandwich platter. Leanne’s green room runs on cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and Fairlife milk for Tess’s protein shakes, with Dr Pepper Zero for Tess and caffeine-free Coke Zero for Leanne. Promoters used to stock Coronas from Karen Mills’s rider, Outback sent wine and chocolates on the Big Penny tour, and a nutritionist’s PB&J advice became an Uncrustables habit. 1:05:08

Chuck Morgan, folk hero

Leanne and Chuck hit 35 years in April; Dusty and Hannah are at nine. Fans tell Leanne they’re married to Chuck too: the dad who yells about the open garage door and doesn’t want anybody spending money. The SmartLess hosts asked if Chuck was there, and Chuck Lorre loves him. They met waiting tables at Grady’s while both were at UT, where Chuck won waiter of the year, paid her rent, and worked her shifts when she had a test. 1:10:52

The 5 Love Languages

Leanne’s number-one tip is to take the five love languages test and feed your spouse theirs. Hers is words of affirmation; Chuck’s is acts of service, so a Duncan Hines cake with chocolate icing gets tears in his eyes. She has met author Gary Chapman. The table reads the list, Aaron hasn’t taken it, and Dusty may be quality time. 1:30:30

THC drinks at the Fresh Market

On a health-resort stay in Hilton Head, Leanne snuck out to the Fresh Market for bread, cheese, and a Diet Coke, and noticed a whole row of THC drinks. Someone told the staff. Then the table trades bad Delta-9 and CBD experiences. 1:42:26

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson

Would two celebrities have an easier marriage? Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson come up as the couple that makes it work, with Wilson singing and doing her own thing. Their son Chet Hanks gets credit for Running Point, and Tom Hanks was nice to meet at the Ryman during an Opry show. 1:48:14

Arranged marriages and robot spouses

Aaron makes a case for parents helping choose partners, Dusty’s Canadian wife Hannah gets folded into the joke, and a grandmother who learned to love her second husband becomes the example. The stats close on divorce rates at a record low and a prediction of robot marriages by 2050. 1:50:25

Leanne’s marriage advice

Take the love languages test, carve out a date night while the kids are little (a lunch date counts), learn to resolve conflict, and treat counseling as a tune-up rather than a last resort. Kiss and hug in front of your children, and don’t criticize each other in public. 1:53:46

Nate Bargatze tour Official site · Nateland merch shop Official site

Leanne Season 2 (Netflix) — cameos from Billy Gardell, Lainey Wilson, Tyne Daly, Karen Mills, and Leanne’s own kids. Netflix 33:46

Leanne Morgan tour tickets — she asks fans to buy from her site, not third-party resellers. Official site 1:58:01

Dusty Slay: Wet Heat (Netflix) — the special a listener watched with the man she later married. Netflix 16:08

The Breadwinner (Netflix) — Nate Bargatze’s movie, which Brian says the crew appears in. Netflix 46:46

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman (paperback) — Leanne’s number-one marriage tip: take the test and learn your spouse’s language. Amazon 1:30:40

Scrabble board game (Hasbro Gaming) — Aaron watched a documentary on the best Scrabble player of all time and still wasn’t moved. Amazon 25:54

Duncan Hines cake mix with chocolate frosting — the acts-of-service cake that puts tears in Chuck’s eyes. Amazon 1:31:13

Smucker’s Uncrustables — Leanne’s pre-show snack, and someone told her to toast one. Amazon 1:08:38

Fairlife ultra-filtered milk — Tess keeps half a gallon in the green room for protein shakes. Amazon 1:06:40

Caffeine-free Coke Zero — Leanne’s rider soda, usually saved for the hotel room the next day. Amazon 1:07:43

Dr Pepper Zero Sugar — Tess’s pick for the green room. Amazon 1:07:43

Diet Coke — five of them on a boilerplate rider, and Leanne’s Fresh Market treat. Amazon 1:05:37

JNCO jeans — Leanne needs more of a JNCO than a tight western pant. Amazon 48:39

Ed Hardy jeans — the first guess when Leanne describes Glen Powell’s rhinestone britches. Amazon 47:54

Apple iPad — where Leanne looked up her symptoms the morning after the cha-cha. Amazon 53:55

Cities and regions

Knoxville, Tennessee — Leanne’s home base, site of the charity dance-off, and where the show’s house was filmed. 1:59:04

Adams, Tennessee — Leanne’s hometown and Bell Witch country, as she told every table at Grady’s. 1:20:22

Nashville, Tennessee — where Lainey Wilson started out and Morgan Wallen set out to make it. 38:29

Lowell, Arkansas — home of The Grove and the A-frame comedy condo Dusty rearranged. 37:02

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina — Leanne’s health-resort stay and the Fresh Market run. 1:42:36

Pensacola, Florida — Billy Gardell did shows there with Leanne. 35:19

Cincinnati — Brian’s two sold-out shows the weekend before. 1:14

Raleigh, North Carolina · Charleston, South Carolina — Brian’s stops: Raleigh on Thursday, October 8, then Charleston on Sunday, October 11. 1:44

San Francisco · Sacramento — Aaron’s West Coast run at the Punch Line (Official site) clubs. 1:56

Las Vegas · Glendale, Arizona · Tucson, Arizona — Dusty’s Air Force base shows, Thursday through Saturday; free if you have base access. 2:13

Rutherford, New Jersey — Aaron at Bananas Comedy Club (Official site), Halloween weekend. 1:57:07

Detroit · Milwaukee · St. Louis — Leanne’s next tour stops. 1:57:41

Alabama — the five-Diet-Coke corporate gig, and a Buc-ee’s stop on the drive down. 1:05:21

California — Aaron’s West Coast week, and where Dusty says the THC drinks are the real thing. 1:44:43

Canada — Hannah Slay’s home country, in the arranged-marriage joke. 1:51:42

Bahamas · Slovenia · Tel Aviv — where Leanne rated well, this season and last. 46:20

Caribbean · Alaska — cruises: rough water in the Caribbean, and a glassy Alaska trip with Chuck’s company. 1:25:48

Comedy clubs and venues

Zanies Nashville (Official site) — where Leanne first got on a club stage, opening for Billy Gardell. 34:07

The Grove Comedy Club (Official site) — the Lowell, Arkansas club that has been nice to all of them. 37:02

Goodnights Comedy Club (Official site) — Brian in Raleigh. 1:56:45

Wit’s End Comedy Lounge (Official site) — Brian in Charleston. 1:56:49

Punch Line San Francisco (Official site) · Punch Line Sacramento (Official site) — Aaron’s West Coast week. 1:57:01

Bananas Comedy Club (Official site) — Aaron in Rutherford, New Jersey. 1:57:07

The Comedy Store (Official site) — where Blake Clark worked the door. 42:40

Ryman Auditorium · Grand Ole Opry — the Opry show where Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson came through. 1:50:19

Businesses and schools

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital — the charity behind the Knoxville dance-off. 51:37

University of Tennessee — where Leanne and Chuck were students when they met waiting tables; UT game days were the big money shifts. 1:19:40

Grady’s — the restaurant where they both waited tables and Chuck won waiter of the year. 1:21:10

Roane State Community College — named in Leanne’s Morgan Wallen story. 57:13

Walmart — the parking lot camper in Leanne’s early-Nashville picture of Lainey Wilson. 57:23

Sheetz — Brian did stand-up in the bathroom for its commercial and kept the shirts. 1:09:34

Buc-ee’s — a new shirt for a toddler mid-road-trip, and pajamas and bathing suits. 1:10:33

The Fresh Market — bread, cheese, a Diet Coke, and a row of THC drinks. 1:42:42

Kroger — flowers from Kroger are enough for a gifts love language. 1:32:49

Outback Steakhouse — sent wine and chocolates on the Big Penny tour. 1:08:28

Shoney’s — Leanne doesn’t care if date night is at Shoney’s, if any are still open. 1:36:24

Comfort Suites — where Chuck ran on treadmills while Leanne was home with three kids. 1:29:01

Goodwill — where Dusty bought art to redo the comedy condo. 37:20

• Square (19:07) — Payments and point-of-sale for small businesses; up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com/go/nate, as read.
• Ethos (39:40) — Online life insurance, up to $3 million in coverage with no medical exam, at ethos.com/nateland, as read.
• Helix (59:16) — Custom mattresses; the read mentions the Helix Midnight Lux and 27% off sitewide October 6–11 at helixsleep.com/nate, as read.
• Wayfair (1:17:10) — Home furniture, featuring the Modern Corduroy Modular Sofa in yellow; Wayfair Rewards 5% back at wayfair.com, as read.