The Alphabet | Public Figures – A Nateland Podcast | Ep #40

• 0:00 “Hello common folk”: Brian hosts with Aaron and Dusty, and who really counts as a public figure.
• 1:00 Plugs and tour dates.
• 3:00 Dusty has been sick: mucus versus sputum, quitting cigars and the dry air out west.
• 5:00 West Wendover, Nevada, and a sore throat that started before the dry air.
• 6:00 Aaron’s Halloween weekend at Bananas, set up in a hotel conference room in East Rutherford.
• 7:40 A show at a Muskegon bowling alley, and a misheard “if the show goes well.”
• 10:00 Trick-or-treating in Nate Bargatze’s neighborhood, and a Cy Young chat with a neighbor dressed as Freddy Krueger.
• 12:00 Dusty’s no-costume house, Rosie the Riveter, and “we don’t serve Satan.”
• 14:20 West Wendover Will, the giant waving cowboy, and sightseeing from a moving car.
• 16:00 Back in the studio with a fresh paint job, and Alex Velluto’s new special.
• 17:20 Helix read.
• 19:40 Comments: “don’t tell Dusty,” NASA, and the topics Dusty should skip.
• 22:00 Sleestaks, vampires in sunlight, and whether vampires and werewolves are real.
• 25:00 Which monster they would be, silver bullets and The Monster Squad.
• 27:00 A neighbor who handed out Vienna sausages, and trick-or-treating before dark.
• 28:00 Daylight saving time ends: is it better to drive to work in the dark?
• 29:00 Books instead of candy, popcorn, and treats for kids who can’t have candy.
• 32:20 Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, and Brian turning 55.
• 35:00 A town where trick-or-treaters have to tell a joke, plus Tigger and knock-knock jokes.
• 37:20 Harry Potter comments, house systems at British schools and which house fits each host.
• 40:00 Dusty’s Maine flag hat and the cover of his book, We’re Having a Good Time.
• 41:40 The book is out Nov 10, with an event at Parnassus Books in Nashville, and a key to the city.
• 43:40 Ethos read.
• 45:20 Is E a guy? Silent letters, and the P in pseudonym.
• 47:00 The alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Canada’s zed, and singing it backwards.
• 50:40 The most common letters, and Wheel of Fortune’s RSTLNE.
• 54:00 Vowels: “sometimes Y and W,” Yahweh, and why vowels and consonants exist.
• 57:40 English as witchcraft: homophones, and “aren’t” versus “aunt.”
• 59:40 The letters we lost: wynn, yogh, ash, eth, the long S and the ampersand.
• 1:03:00 Onomatopoeia, the Hey Arnold! spelling bee, and palindromes.
• 1:05:40 Anagrams, acronyms versus initialisms, and what NASA really stands for.
• 1:08:00 Hearts over the I, and what the line across a T is called.
• 1:09:50 Square read.
• 1:12:00 Dusty’s case against X, a TED talk in its defense, Malcolm X and Xmas.
• 1:14:00 How Chinese keyboards work without an alphabet.
• 1:15:00 The NATO phonetic alphabet quiz, and making up your own over the phone.
• 1:17:20 Benjamin Franklin’s alphabet and Dusty’s bit about the letter C.
• 1:22:00 The Deseret alphabet, hangman, and hard words like conscience and rhythm.
• 1:25:00 The alphabet story game.
• 1:29:00 Pangrams, and the U that British spelling keeps.
• 1:31:00 Spelling bees, a cousin who made nationals, and the 1984 winning word, luge.
• 1:34:40 Dusty’s alphabet joke, from the Making That Fudge album.
• 1:36:40 “Sesame Street for adults,” Grover’s data centers, and Aaron’s “stanchion.”
• 1:39:00 The Nolan Ryan Diamond Kings card that looks like Dusty, and judging a book by its cover.
• 1:41:00 Plugs, tour dates and a birthday song for Brian.

• 6:00 A comedy club in conference room B — Aaron’s Halloween weekend at Bananas was in the hotel he stayed at, on a stage set up for the weekend. The shows were great anyway.
• 40:00 Dusty’s book — We’re Having a Good Time comes out Nov 10. Brian and Aaron say the cover alone wouldn’t sell them, and Dusty explains the Maine flag hat.
• 45:20 Silent letters on trial — Is the silent E doing a job? The P in pseudonym isn’t, and W gets three syllables for no reason.
• 59:40 The letters we lost — Wynn, yogh, ash, eth and the long S that looks like an F, plus the ampersand as the old 27th letter.
• 1:17:20 Ben Franklin’s alphabet — Franklin’s 1768 plan dropped C, J, Q, W, X and Y, which suits Dusty’s bit about the letter C doing too much.
• 1:31:00 Spelling bees — Aaron’s cousin made nationals, and the 1984 winning word that took one host by surprise: luge.

The Monster Squad (Blu-ray) — The ’80s movie where kids take on Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Mummy. Amazon 26:00

Vienna sausages (brand not named) — From a listener story: a neighbor dropped a can into her kids’ trick-or-treat bags. 27:20

SkinnyPop popcorn bags — Brian’s non-candy handout idea. Amazon 32:00

Garfield’s Halloween Adventure (DVD) — The special that scarred a listener, and one host, as kids. Amazon 32:20

We’re Having a Good Time (Dusty Slay) — Dusty’s new book, out Nov 10. Amazon 40:00

Hey Arnold!: The Ultimate Collection — Home of Helga’s spelling bee episode. Amazon 1:03:20

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — Where Tom Marvolo Riddle becomes I am Lord Voldemort. Amazon 1:06:00

Making That Fudge (Dusty Slay) — Dusty’s album, with his alphabet joke. Official site 1:35:00

Grover Buys a Farm (Sesame Street book) — Aaron reads it with his daughter. 1:37:11

Rosie the Riveter — A popular costume this year, and Dusty’s take. Wikipedia 13:00

Daylight saving time — The clocks just went back an hour. Wikipedia 28:20

House system — British schools sort students into houses, Hogwarts or not. Wikipedia 38:00

Flag of Maine — The original pine-tree flag on Dusty’s hat. Wikipedia 40:00

The alphabet song — Same melody as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Wikipedia 48:20

Letter frequency — E leads at 11 to 13% of English text, then T and A. Wikipedia 51:20

Wheel of Fortune — Brian: the bonus round used to let everyone pick RSTLNE. Wikipedia 52:40

Goosebumps (R.L. Stine) — The kids’ horror book series behind the RSTLNE memory trick. Wikipedia 53:10

Yogh — The old letter for G and Y sounds. Wikipedia 1:01:00

Long s — The S that looks like an F in old documents. Wikipedia 1:02:00

Ampersand — Once said at the end of the alphabet as “and per se and.” Wikipedia 1:02:20

Palindrome — Race car, Hannah and a man, a plan, a canal, Panama. Wikipedia 1:04:00

Acronym — NASA versus USA, which is an initialism. Wikipedia 1:06:10

Xmas — From the Greek letter chi for Christ. Wikipedia 1:13:40

NATO phonetic alphabet — Quebec, Kilo and Foxtrot, versus F as in Frank; Aaron keeps it on a sticky note on his laptop. Wikipedia 1:15:00

Franklin’s phonetic alphabet — His 1768 reform with one letter per sound. Wikipedia 1:17:20

Deseret alphabet — The 38-character script developed in Utah in the 1800s. Wikipedia 1:22:20

Pangram — The quick brown fox, and why a perfect one needs abbreviations. Wikipedia 1:29:20

Scripps National Spelling Bee — Where 1984 ended on “luge.” Wikipedia 1:31:10

Freddy Krueger — The costume the pitcher neighbor wore. Wikipedia 11:21

Land of the Lost and the Sleestaks — A listener of Brian’s age remembers the scary Sleestaks. Wikipedia 22:26

West Wendover, Nevada — Dry air, a sore throat and West Wendover Will. Wikipedia 5:00

Bananas Comedy Club, New Jersey — Aaron’s Halloween weekend, in a hotel conference room. (Official site) 6:00

Muskegon, Michigan — A show at the bowling alley. Wikipedia 8:00

Opelika, Alabama — Dusty’s hometown. Wikipedia 41:40

Parnassus Books, Nashville — Dusty’s Nashville book event. (Official site) 42:00

Giant Center, Hershey — Dusty on Sat Nov 14 with John Crist, Henry Cho and Dustin Nickerson. (Official site) 1:41:59

Duckworth’s Comedy Club, Charlotte — Aaron, “the following weekend” (Nov 13–15 per the club’s site). (Official site) 1:41:10

• Helix (17:20) — helixsleep.com/nate · Black Friday sale, up to 30% off Oct 30 to Nov 29, 2026 · 365-night sleep trial and free shipping in the US.
• Ethos (43:52) — ethos.com/nateland · life insurance 100% online: a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, same-day coverage, no medical exam.
• Square (1:09:50) — square.com/go/nate · up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up.

• 0:00 More Public Figures — Every episode on the Nateland YouTube channel, plus tour dates and the rest of the network. Nateland on YouTube · nateland.com · All Public Figures notes
• 17:00 Alex Velluto’s special — Out now from Nateland Entertainment. The Comedian List: Alex Velluto · Nateland on YouTube
• 22:00 Last week: Halloween — The Ep #39 episode the comments are still talking about. Ep #39 show notes
• 40:00 Dusty’s book — We’re Having a Good Time, out Nov 10. The Comedian List: Dusty Slay · Official site
• 1:17:20 Franklin’s alphabet — See the letters he invented. Wikipedia
• 1:34:56 Dusty’s alphabet bit, animated — From Making That Fudge, animated by Mike Salva. The Alphabet Story (Animated) on YouTube