Dan and Nicole are back and choking on Canadian wildfire smoke. This week they dig into the air quality mess blanketing the Midwest (PM 2.5 readings over 600 in Chicago and a jaw-dropping 1,200 in Duluth), why nobody can get a straight answer about who's to blame, and Dan's ongoing need for a "Facebook monitor" to stop him from correcting strangers' grammar in the comments.

From there it's a full grab bag: Sebastian Bach canceling his Waukesha County Fair set, the great "where do you think the air in the barn comes from" debate, and vacation planning gone sideways (sorry, Canada, the beef tastes weird and the Starbucks milk is off).

Also on the docket: United's new Economy Plus row that turns the middle seat into a shared table, garbage trucks that finally pull their own weight (now with AI cameras snitching on your overgrown lawn in Cape Coral), the booming gig economy of professional line sitting and the legend of Franklin Barbecue, a surprise love letter to John Cameron Mitchell and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and a deep dive into Flock license plate cameras: fantastic crime-solving tool or creepy government database?

Next week is the big one hundred fifty. The sesquicentennial. Buckle up. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Watch us record live Monday nights on Facebook, and find us on YouTube, Instagram, and X. Hit subscribe.