Pete Brown Says

Episode 29: Hey! Cut-off Man!

Episode  |  June 19th, 2020  |  44 mins 28 secs

baseball, corona virus, covid, cut-off man, dad, death, father, father's day, hospice, loss of parent, nursing home, parenting, studebaker, traffic

A collection of vignettes written while sitting with my Dad over his last few months. Happy Father's Day, everyone.

A knit cap with a ball on top

Episode  |  January 2nd, 2020  |  23 mins 51 secs

barons, caps, cleveland barons, ebay, hat, hat buddies, hockey, memorabilia, merch, merchandise, nhl, nostalgia, school bus, souvenirs, sports memorabilia, vinyl, vinyl records, winter

A years-long e-bay quest for a specific cap has me wondering why we hang on to negative stories.

Introducing This is Ohio 2020

Episode  |  October 24th, 2019  |  8 mins 56 secs

2020 election, beto, biden, buttiegieg, democrats, electoral college, harris, ohio, politics, president, presidential election, primaries, republicans, sanders, steyer, trump, warren

Pete shares an audio trailer for his new podcast + documentary film project for the coming election year: This is Ohio 2020. Subscribe to This is Ohio 2020 wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Ohio 2020 is a podcast and a documentary film project chronicling my efforts to escape my bubble in the year leading up to the 2020 election, to meet and interview my fellow Buckeyes from all walks of life – especially those most different from my own.

You can subscribe to This is Ohio 2020 now, wherever you get your podcasts.

S2 Finale: Stinky On You!

Episode  |  October 7th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  23 mins 32 secs

1970s, 1980s, christmas cards, cigarettes, gouge an eye out, herpetologists, kool cigarettes, kools, story, storytelling, the bird, the finger

Pete welcomes a guest storyteller for the final Season 2 episode...you'll learn how to tell good biker gangs from bad biker gangs, how to gouge a guy's eye out and buy cigarettes at age 10, the greatest Christmas card in history and the secret meaning of the phrase "stinky on you." Plus, Pete shares some insights on Season 2, his plans for Season 3 and a whole new podcast project that's launching soon.

The Song Remains the Same

Episode  |  September 2nd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 21 mins

1989, band names, big bald head, chip midnight, colin gawel, college, columbus calling, credit cards, def leppard, delicious, freshman, hacky sack, harry's hat, hobbityhoy, indie bands, indie rock, kopaz, led zepplin, luke skyboogy, motley cure, mullets, music, that thing you do, the oneders, verbal kint, watershed, wing nut bob, wonders

Pete goes in search of a song he heard a local band play on a rainy Thursday night in 1993 at a bar called Ruby Tuesday's.

Not Invited to the Party

Episode  |  July 9th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 11 mins

central texas, chairs, dead cats, del rio, facebook, flood, instagram, new braunfels herald, pumpkins, san marcos, san marcos daily record, san marcos river, social media, southwest texas state university, spotswriting, swt, texas, texas state university, tropical storm charlie, twitter

A Meditation on Posterity...One of Pete's old friends is not invited to a party. Dusting off his investigative reporting skills, Pete traces this back to a pair of a purple socks, a flood, an old chair and a dead cat.

Love in an Elevator

Episode  |  May 31st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  31 mins 5 secs

aerosmith, angela, brandi brandt, chuck finley, david coverdale, def leppard, elevator operators, glam metal, hair metal, heavy metal, here i go again, janie's got a gun, joey kramer, love in an elevator, motley crue, nikki sixx, ohio university, pump, rock of ages, sam kinnson, steven tyler, tawny kitaen, what it takes, whitesnake, wlhd

In the fall of 1989, Pete inexplicably and uncharacteristically turned against Aerosmith's song "Love in an Elevator." Here's the whole story, as ludicrous as late 80's hair metal lyrics can be.

The Big Lie: or, Millennials are killing this episode

Episode  |  May 7th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  33 mins 14 secs

breakfast cereal, car ownership wine, coaching tee ball, cocaine, drugs, imma keep it real with u chief meme, jesus, memes, millennial bashing, millennials, mimeographs, participation awards, participation trophies, rotary telephones, santa, snack schedules, spirit awards, tae kwon do, the big lie, the print shop

A Gen-Xer stands up for his Millenial colleagues and exposes a big lie that sits at the heart of an entire generation.

How to Like It

Episode  |  April 5th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  38 mins 39 secs

cars, changing the oil, cleveland municipal stadium, college, first jobs, freshman, lawnmowers, oil change, prius, shoveling, snowblowers, thatching, work, work ethic, working, yard work

Pete explores his fears around his son's imminent departure for college, reflecting on teaching, teenagers, work ethic, shitty rakes and cheap tacos along the way.

Timbuktu

Episode  |  March 4th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  33 mins 29 secs

chocolate labs, dogs, dropping the deuce, family pets, labrador retriever, paul auster, pets, pooch, poochy mcpoochy, rescue dogs, timbuktu

We were already full-up on dogs when my wife and kids asked if we could adopt a disabled labrador retriever. I did not foresee how much our lives would be impacted by Timbuktu.

Sleeping Late and Speaking French

Episode  |  February 27th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 2 mins

90s, athens, burger king, burrito buggy, code, coding, college, drink and drown, foosball, french class, french fries, grand canyon, hoodoos, london, ohio, ohio university, pawpurrs, plasma, software, technical writing, the junction, the tube, whopper

I revisit some of the dicey decisions I made in my early 20s, and as my son prepares to head off to college, I wonder how I can help him not do the same.

Whoomp! There it is!

Episode  |  February 14th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  23 mins 45 secs

48, barack obama, battle of rostov, bluto, brutus, cars, chevy, cuv, el camino, hugh grant, julia roberts, notting hill, olive oyl, parkland, popeye, ranchero, risk! podcast, robin williamn, rostov-on-don, selfies, shelley duvall, tag team, travel bookstore, valentine's day

From the 1978 Chevy El Camino to Popeye's 'roid rage to Barack Obama to Notting Hill: I walk you through a series of phrases that I struggle to understand, ending, inevitably, at Whoomp! There it is! Along the way, an almost-selfie teaches me something weighty about myself. You won't believe what it is.

WTH vs. WTF

Episode  |  February 1st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  36 mins 57 secs

chicago bears, new england patriots, nfl, risk podcast, super bowl, super bowl shuffle, telegram, western union, westlake high school

What's missing between WTH and WTF? The answer involves death metal, a corrupt vice principal, the Super Bowl Shuffle and an actual telegram from Western Union.

The Context Crisis

Episode  |  January 17th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  40 mins 18 secs

blood pressure, bon jovi, cardiologist, context, dead or alive, empathy, facebook, ferrets, instagram, snapchat, social media, spam accounts, stories, twitter

I explore the connection between social media, my teenagers and my blood pressure. Along the way, I discover what connects J. Alfred Prufock, Snapchat, Instagram, beastiality, cat-eating aliens, blue monkeys, spam and ferrets. Believe it or not, the answer is Bon Jovi.

Flippin' the Bird

Episode  |  January 3rd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  30 mins 10 secs

communications, f off, f you, f-bomb, f-word, flipping the bird, middle finger

When was the last time you flipped someone off? Or were on the receiving end of the bird? I explore my evolving relationship with this most basic form of communication.

S2 Preview: From unholy doggos to the windy coast of Ireland to outlaw dirt track racing

Episode  |  December 21st, 2018  |  Season 2  |  9 mins 34 secs

creative nonfiction audio, dirt track racing, dogs, giant's causeway, ireland, motorcycles, narrative, northern ireland, storytelling, wicklow mountains

Everything from unholy doggos to the windy coast of Ireland to outlaw dirt track racing...Get a sneak preview of Season 2 in this trailer.