Send us Fan Mail

When Life Takes an Unexpected Turn: Allison Blass on Parenting a Child with Cancer, Faith, and Finding the Funny

Some episodes stop you in your tracks. This is one of them.

Allison Blass — longtime listener, friend of the show, and one of the funniest people to ever sit across from the Carpool Guys — joins Jon, Asher, and Dave to share the story of her daughter Perry's cancer diagnosis, treatment, and remarkable recovery. What begins as a frightening story of a six centimeter mass discovered on a Friday afternoon twenty minutes before Shabbos becomes something else entirely: a masterclass in parenting under pressure, faith in the hardest moments, and the kind of stubbornness that saves lives.

Peri, Allison's oldest child, was diagnosed with one of the rarest malignant tumors on record — one of only twenty cases ever documented. She went through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, a week in the ICU with fungal pneumonia, hair loss, wild food cravings, and a surgery she woke up from demanding a double burger from Smash House. She was walking within hours, home by Shabbos, and is now a completely healthy teenager heading to high school next year.

But this episode is about so much more than the medical story. Allison opens up about what it means to keep your other children grounded when one child needs everything. She talks about the friends who showed up without being asked and the ones who said "let me know if you need anything" — and why that phrase, though well intentioned, puts the burden on exactly the wrong person. She shares how her family turned every moment of the process — the hair donation, the chemo mug, the smash room — into a kiddush Hashem. And she delivers one of the most important lessons this show has ever aired: when someone you love is going through something devastating, it is not their job to comfort you.

Also: gherkins, sushi rolls, an accidental antipsychotic mix-up, a son who slept for fifteen hours, Megan Trainor's Walk of Shame playing in an operating room, Disney turkey legs, and the best shirt ever made.

Allison, thank you for your vulnerability, your humor, and your heart. Peri — you are extraordinary. Ad meah v'esrim.

🎙️ Rate and review The Carpool Guys on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find the show!

📩 carpoolguyspod@gmail.com

📱 @carpoolguyspod

🔗 linktr.ee/carpoolguyspod

⏱️ Chapters with Timestamps

0:57 — Jon Is Back! Welcome Home After Surgery

4:29 — Introducing Allison Blass: Longtime Listener, First Time Guest

6:02 — Meet Allison: Giant Bear, Banned from Little League, Parent of Three

8:32 — Setting the Scene: Who Is Peri and Where Does the Story Begin?

9:08 — Allison's Career and Life Before the Diagnosis

10:05 — The First Signs Something Was Wrong: December 2024

15:58 — How Do You Tell Your Daughter She Needs Surgery?

25:10 — Perry's Mindset: Control, Preparation, and a Double Burger From Smash House

29:12 — April 9th: When the World Really Turned Upside Down

30:20 — Hearing the Word Malignant: "Everything Went Quiet"

32:30 — Turning Every Moment Into a Mitzvah: Hair Donation to Chai Lifeline

41:00 — What Allison Learned About Perry She Didn't Know Before

49:27 — NED: No Evidence of Disease — Perry Is on the Road to Survivorship

52:05 — Who Showed Up and Who Didn't: What You Learn About People in a Crisis

54:30 — "Don't Say If You Need Me" — The Most Im

Please rate and review The Carpool Guys!

You can email us at carpoolguyspod@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram @carpoolguyspod

Send us a question, a comment, birthday wish, shoutout, or anything else fun and positive, and maybe we'll feature your addition on the next episode of The Carpool Guys Podcast!

Send us Fan Mail

Dave and Asher Hold It Down: Adulting, and the Things We Still Can't Figure Out

Jon's out. The substitute teachers are in charge.

In this episode, Dave and Asher fly solo for the first time in nearly two years of podcasting — and somehow manage to hold it together. Mostly. They spend most of the episode wrestling with one deceptively deep question: at what point did you realize YOU were the adult in the room? And does knowing that actually make you feel like one?

From colonoscopies to root canals and Gatorade-plus-antacid pre-fast routines, Dave and Asher take an honest — and very funny — inventory of what it means to be in your 40s. They talk about watching athletes you grew up idolizing retire and become millionaires while you're still figuring out the thermostat. They talk about mentoring the next generation at work while privately Googling how to hang a picture frame. They talk about laundry — a lot — and the creative workarounds that keep households running when you're too proud to admit you never really learned.

But underneath all the humor is something genuinely real: the weight and beauty of being the generation in the middle. Old enough to be the ones people turn to. Still young enough to remember when we thought the adults had it all figured out.

Plus: substitute teacher stories, a very eventful little Tyke's car incident, a parent-teacher conference confession, LeBron vs. Jordan, a prank from Toys R Us, and the world's most relatable Seder question.

Jon — we miss you. Come back soon.

🎙️ Rate and review The Carpool Guys on Apple Podcasts — it genuinely helps more people find the show!

📩 carpoolguyspod@gmail.com

📱 @carpoolguyspod

⏱️ Chapters with Timestamps

00:00 — Cold Open: Dave Asks His Wife About His Maturity. She Laughs.

00:27 — Welcome to the Carpool Guys Podcast

01:02 — Jon Is Out — Dave and Asher Go It Alone

01:22 — Substitute Teacher Stories: Mrs. Bach, Mrs. Henry, and a Saved Life

05:47 — Dave's Career Started as a Sub — Shout Out to Rabbi Hammer

07:16 — Smart Boards, Coaching Boards, and the HANC Basketball Championship

08:34 — Orange Juice, Decaf Coffee, and the Post-Fast Routine Debate

09:30 — The Bagel, Tuna, Herring, and OJ Breakfast Club

10:49 — The Big Question: When Did YOU Become the Adult in the Room?

12:10 — Colonoscopies, Pillboxes, Gout, and the Reality of Getting Older

14:09 — Root Canals, Dental Inheritance, and the First Cavity at 30

15:00 — When Athletes You Grew Up With Are Now Retired Millionaires

17:36 — LeBron vs. Jordan: The Eternal Debate

18:16 — Taking Pictures WITH Athletes vs. Taking Pictures OF Your Kids With Athletes

19:49 — Adulting at Work: You Don't Need All the Answers

21:00 — Mentoring the Next Generation: The Shift From Sink-or-Swim to Sit-Down-and-Talk

24:30 — Supervising Interns for the First Time: It's a Little Scary

25:47 — The 15-Year Window of Adulthood and What Comes After

27:09 — Taking Care of Your Health Differently: Recovery, Moderation, and Lactaid

28:01 — The Adulting Moment: Adding an Antacid to the Pre-Fast Routine

29:02 — Things Our Parents Did That We Wish We Knew How to Do

29:33 — The Picture That Fell Off the Wall and the Les

Please rate and review The Carpool Guys!

You can email us at carpoolguyspod@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram @carpoolguyspod

Send us a question, a comment, birthday wish, shoutout, or anything else fun and positive, and maybe we'll feature your addition on the next episode of The Carpool Guys Podcast!

Send us Fan Mail

Leaving Egypt: A Father & Son Take on Coming Home for Pesach

What do you do when your son is in yeshiva in Israel, sirens are going off daily, Pesach is approaching fast, and every flight home keeps getting canceled? You find another way. Even if that way goes through Egypt.

In this episode, Asher and Jon sit down with Rabbi Ouriel Hazan, head of school at HANC West Hempstead, and his son Eli, a student at Mevaseret Yeshiva in Israel, who recently made it home to New York through one of the most memorable journeys you'll hear this year. From Eilat to the Egyption border crossing, through the Sinai Desert in a speeding van during a hailstorm, past a head-on collision, through Sharm el-Sheikh airport, and on to Rome before finally landing at JFK, Eli crossed four continents in 40 hours to be home for Pesach.

But this episode is about a lot more than the travel story. Rabbi Hazan opens up about the emotional weight of parenting from a distance during wartime, the WhatsApp chat chaos that gripped every yeshiva parent group, the moment he flipped from "we are absolutely not sending him through Egypt" to "we are sending him through Egypt," and why he kept the whole plan secret from his own parents, including his Egyptian-born father, who had strong feelings about Egypt.

Eli shares what yeshiva life actually looked like during the Iran war, what it felt like to run to the mamad, what it meant to experience those moments alongside his fellow Jews in Israel, and why — despite everything — he can't wait to get back.

It is funny, honest, a little nerve-wracking, and deeply moving. A story about family, faith, decisive parenting, and one unforgettable ride through the Sinai Desert.

🎙️ Rate and review The Carpool Guys on Apple Podcasts , Spotify, and YouTube... it helps more people find the show!

📩 Email us at carpoolguyspod@gmail.com

📱 Follow us on Instagram @carpoolguyspod

⏱️ Chapters with Timestamps

00:00 — Welcome to the Carpool Guys Podcast

00:43 — Good Pods Glory: The Guys Hit Number One on Jewish Podcasts

02:30 — Introducing Rabbi Ouriel Hazan and Eli Hazan

04:15 — Rabbi Hazan's Year in Israel and the Original Pesach Plan

07:00 — Life at Mevaseret When the Iran War Broke Out

10:30 — The Rebbe Van Shows Up: Yeshiva Life During Wartime

13:00 — Sleep Deprivation, Sirens, and the Emotional Toll

16:00 — The Parent WhatsApp Chat Chaos Begins

19:30 — When Delta Cancels and Plan B Becomes Necessary

23:00 — "We Are Absolutely Not Sending Him Through Egypt" (or... are we?)

26:30 — The Concierge Service, the Cancellation, and the Last Two Spots

30:00 — Eli Finds Out He's Going to Egypt... Tomorrow

33:00 — The $500 Cash, the Bribes

37:00 — Crossing the Border: Nine Desks, VIP Tours, and Armed Escorts

42:30 — The Sinai Drive: 90 MPH, No Cell Service, Hail, and a Head-On Collision

49:00 — Sharm el-Sheikh Airport: Bag Ransom, Boarding Passes, and a Yankee Hat

55:00 — Rome Layover, Nine Hours, and Crackers for Dinner

57:30 — The Reunion and a Sigh of Relief

59:30 — The Bigger Conversation: Judgment, Social Media, and Choosing Without Guilt

01:02:00 — What This Generation Has Witnessed and What It Means

01:04:00 — Chag Sameach and Closin

Please rate and review The Carpool Guys!

You can email us at carpoolguyspod@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram @carpoolguyspod

Send us a question, a comment, birthday wish, shoutout, or anything else fun and positive, and maybe we'll feature your addition on the next episode of The Carpool Guys Podcast!