The boys took a few weeks off from taping during the holidays, so it was fun to get back together and have some laughs. All of us have been to San Antonio at some point to see our pal Ruben and his wonderful family, so Eric gave us the rundown of his recent trip there and all the fun times with our friends Down Under. That's what they call Texas, right??

The holidays are often times when families gather to share fellowship, food, and cut-throat games of UNO. We swap stories about how UNO brings out the worst in our sweet, law-abiding loved ones. These are good people, pillars of our community. But put them around a table playing UNO? Oof. Tune in for lessons on effective cheating techniques and learn who are the worst offenders in our crew.

The start of a new year is also a time for reflection on the past year. We decided that in 2025 we would try to learn about new music and hear what the kids are listening to these days. This process was a ton of fun, and we discovered so many cool new songs and artists. From Car Seat Headrests to Wednesday, we find gems from rock, blues, "Americana," R&B, Latin, and everything in between. We found SO MUCH great stuff that we made a playlist with our favorite 2025 discoveries. We want to hear about your 2025 picks, too. Drop them in the comments here or on the Connect More podcast facebook page!

We wrap things up with a Connect More classic: band names! We're not sure if you think it's funny, but it sure cracks us up!

Our producer knows we've seen some stuff, so she asks us about advice we've received that has helped us out along the way. In these shortie episodes we don't hear the questions ahead of time, so we give some off-the-cuff responses about words of wisdom that have helped us become the mostly well-adjusted, fairly decent humans that we are today. As always, we welcome our listeners to drop your good advice in the comments and maybe we'll read some of them on-air in an upcoming episode!

Even tired, beat-down GenX'ers need goals, so we start off with a few things we're hoping to accomplish in 2026. Learning new languages, reading more, sharpening our AI acuity, and learning how to not eat like a 12-year-old are all on our lists. Not bad for a bunch of old dogs, right??

We all spend WAY too much time streaming TV shows, so it might as well be something good. We swap recommendations about our favorite shows. Sci-fi, drama, documentaries, comedies, and everything in between find their way onto our lists. Did we miss your favorite show? Drop it in the Comments - we'd love to check it out!

Now that you think we're all hip & edgy because we're watching these cool shows...we'll bring it back to Earth and reveal how clueless we are about the slang being used by 'kids these days.' We shake our fists at some clouds and gripe about stupid current lingo, but we also think there are a few words we could work into our daily conversations. We'll see how that goes. Maybe this should have been numbered episode 67??

We wrap up with some reflections on pop culture icons and loved ones that we lost in the last year. This whole podcast is about staying connected to the important folks in our lives, so we get grounded in some of the things that really matter. Hope you all take some time to reflect on what matters most to you, too. Happy New Year, listeners!

Because our producer just can't get enough of us, she tosses us an extra question every now and then. This week she's curious if we're dumb enough to think we could actually land a jumbo jet in an emergency (with a little help from the control tower). Research shows that a stupidly large number of men in the US think they could do that...even though they can't. How do the Connect More boys think they'd do? Tune in to find out. We also talk about other skills that we could pull out in a pinch. What's your secret skill that would save the day? Talk it over with your people next time you're connecting with them and have a few good laughs, just like we did.

As 2025 comes to a close, the Connect More boys reflect on things that surprised them in the past year, including the onslaught of AI, stock indexes, unexpected happiness, and soul-crushing political chaos. How's that for range??

Even though we're too old to really rage on New Year's Eve anymore, we recall some fond (and not so fond) memories of times we all celebrated the holiday together. Luckily for John, his perma-friends (us) have endured longer than the Perma-Frost.

We jump right into a review of the movies we watched in 2025, from summer blockbusters to more obscure indie gems. We also stumbled across a few stinkers that we'll never be able to unsee. We probably missed some great ones, so drop your favorites in the Comments - we don't want to miss a good film!

We whip around with our resolutions for the New Year. We know, we know...resolutions are a big eye-roll cliche, but bear with us. We have good intentions. We hope all our listeners have an awesome 2026!

What are you doing out there in the cold? Come inside, grab a drink, and celebrate our weirdest, most awkward holiday: Festivus! Just like we learned from Frank Constanza in the classic 1997 Seinfeld episode, we gather around the aluminum pole and marvel at our Feats of Strength, commiserate by Airing Grievances, and get real with some genuine Festivus Miracles. Grab a chair, light up a Lucky Strike, and enjoy the holiday vibe. Hey, where's that waiter with the tray of cheese puffs??

What did you want to be when you grew up? The Connect More boys reflect a bit on 'what could have been' and describe what they'd be doing now if they'd stayed on the track they were on when they got out of college. Only one of us got remotely close...who could it be???

With the holidays coming up, the fellas provide a guide to their favorite Christmas shows. No big surprises here, but we have a good time reminiscing about how much these shows mean to us. If you're tuning in to hear validation that "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie, however, you're going to be disappointed.

The Connect More crew may be the only four people in the US of A that don't have any tattoos. We talk about the needle and the damage done and speculate about which tattoos we would get if someone could talk us into it. Ween has some good ideas, but the rest of us are pretty basic.

Speaking of basic, during the whiparound these boring dudes ask for some really boring gifts to be left under the tree. Forgive us, Santa. We're simple guys with simple needs. Save the interesting stuff for those fancy lads out in Connecticut, or whatever.

Our producer gives us a hand-tossed question this week: Who has the best pizza? It didn't take long for us to generate a sizable list of the best pizza spots in Iowa, from Norwalk to Dubuque. Get out a pen & paper and make a plan to eat your way across the state on a pizza road trip. We probably missed a few of your favorites, so drop them in the comments and we'll get to 'em eventually!