MFM Minisode 418

This week’s hometowns include hidden money and going to happy hour as a kid.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This is exactly right.

• 0:06Georgia Hardstark?

  In New Orleans, truckers kept getting sideswiped the exact same way.

• 0:10Karen Kilgariff?

  When a man is found murdered under questionable circumstances related to these accidents, that's when the rubber hits the road.

• 0:16Georgia Hardstark?

  And what the feds uncover is a complex scheme of staged wrecks, financial fraud, and a pair of conspiring lovers behind it.

• 0:23Karen Kilgariff?

  This is a story about fake accidents that led to real consequences.

• 0:27Georgia Hardstark?

  Listen to Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe wherever you get your podcasts.

• 0:31Karen Kilgariff?

  Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now.

• 0:35Georgia Hardstark?

  Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Goodbye.

• 0:41Speaker 03

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• 1:25Georgia Hardstark?

  Hello.

• 1:28Karen Kilgariff?

  And welcome.

• 1:28Georgia Hardstark?

  To my favorite murder.

• 1:30Karen Kilgariff?

  The mini-minisode.

• 1:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Where we read you your stories that you've so kindly written to us over the years.

• 1:36Karen Kilgariff?

  Do you want to hear one now?

• 1:38Georgia Hardstark?

  Let's do it. Why don't you go first?

• 1:40Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay. The subject line of this, which thrilled me when I read it, is money in unexpected places.

• 1:47Georgia Hardstark?

  We love those stories.

• 1:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Can't wait. And it starts, "Howdy, hi, hello. I'm listening to minisode 408 story about finding $50 in a vintage skirt and a suit." Remember that one? That's still with me. It's still right in my heart. And I assumed you either asked for money in unexpected places, or the writer had a good idea that I am now stealing so I can tell my money in unexpected places tale. We definitely want money in unexpected places stories.

• 2:16Georgia Hardstark?

  Always, all, any amount of money and the more unexpected, the better.

• 2:20Karen Kilgariff?

  I had a habit, and I explained this to Adrienne when we were on vacation the, in October, because we'd be in these weird places far away, like in an island of north of Sicily or whatever, and we would be walking by like a cliff, the side of a cliff, and then there'd be like a little hole, and then I go, that'd be a good place to hide money. And she kept going, sorry, what, why do you keep saying, I'm like, that's just what I think all the time, is like, or if you had a key, you had a key you didn't want anyone to find, put it right there.

• 2:48Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, hiding places, what are just hiding places?

• 2:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 2:52Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, send those in.

• 2:53Karen Kilgariff?

  Send hiding places, it's just a list, people are like, a box. Okay. My husband and I used to be very into rock climbing, and he being more, a more experienced climber, took me on many new adventures and taught me new types of climbing. One type he taught me is called crack climbing, where you smoke a bunch of crack and go to Yosemite. No, that's not what it says. And then it says, dot, dot, dot, have you ever seen a big old rock face with a thin seam running down it? We use those cracks in the rock to go up.

• 3:27Georgia Hardstark?

  No, no, no, thank you.

• 3:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Have you seen that?

• 3:29Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 3:30Karen Kilgariff?

  They chalk their fingertips and they just hold on, it's so good.

• 3:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Any of that, that's gonna be a no thank you from me.

• 3:36Karen Kilgariff?

  My thing is, with my commitment issues, I would get like 80 feet up, and I'd be like, what the fuck, why am I doing?

• 3:46Georgia Hardstark?

  I'm actually interested in doing like, one of the indoor wall climbing things, that'd be kinda cool.

• 3:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Sure.

• 3:52Georgia Hardstark?

  But, I don't think I could do it like, when there's actual danger involved.

• 3:56Karen Kilgariff?

  Freestyle on, on, yeah.

• 3:59Karen Kilgariff?

  On Half Dome or whatever.

• 4:00Georgia Hardstark?

  Steve Agey broke his back.

• 4:02Karen Kilgariff?

  Recently?

• 4:03Georgia Hardstark?

  No, like a million years ago.

• 4:04Karen Kilgariff?

  Shit, I know. It's, I mean, there is a lot of risk.

• 4:08Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 4:08Karen Kilgariff?

  But so much reward. Like, like this story. I'll tell you right now.

• 4:13Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay, go.

• 4:14Karen Kilgariff?

  I was nervous to crack climb, but he convinced me to try it out because one particular climbing route was just too fun, too incredible to pass up. He kept saying that the last pitch, and then in parentheses, it says, "a portion of the climb," was the money pitch because it was so great. He wouldn't stop saying "the money pitch," so I wouldn't stop making fun of him while we climbed because who describes things as money anymore?

• 4:39Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, lo and behold, to both of our shock, when we got to the top of the climb, over 100 feet off the ground, we discovered tucked right into the crack on this rock, a $20 bill.

• 4:52Georgia Hardstark?

  The money?

• 4:53Karen Kilgariff?

  I guess it was the money pitch, yep.

• 4:55Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God.

• 4:56Karen Kilgariff?

  And then it just says, "Stay sexy and pay it forward." So maybe one day, the $20 you hide somewhere will end up as a story on MFM Grace.

• 5:05Georgia Hardstark?

  I love that. I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna hide $20 somewhere.

• 5:10Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, in a weird spot.

• 5:12Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 5:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah. You could hide $20 on a playground.

• 5:16Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God. Pandemonium.

• 5:18Karen Kilgariff?

  Right. Wait, there's a PS on this. It says, "Hello, Catherine Elizabeth, my best friend/sister I never had who introduced me to MFM during the pits of 2020." Aw, hello.

• 5:32Georgia Hardstark?

  All right, money found story. Love it. Okay, this is called "Your Classic Florida Dad Near Kidnapping Story." "Hey, MFM, I've been meaning to write this in for so long, and finally, I decided it was time. I grew up in a small town in Florida with my two amazing parents in the late 90s, early 2000s. My parents raised my sister and I like a classic 70s, 80s family. Think latchkey parenting with giant house parties on school nights. This included my dad taking me to his favorite local bar for happy hour when my mom took my sister to her ballet classes on Friday night.

• 6:08Georgia Hardstark?

  On this particular Friday night, my dad was drinking at the bar while I sat by myself in the, quote, 'kids' corner."

• 6:14Karen Kilgariff?

  In the bar?

• 6:15Georgia Hardstark?

  Where they, yeah.

• 6:18Georgia Hardstark?

  But it's Florida. You know what I mean?

• 6:20Karen Kilgariff?

  Yep. And sorry, the eighties in Florida?

• 6:22Georgia Hardstark?

  This is the late 90s, early 2000s. But everything was aged.

• 6:27Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, I bet.

• 6:28Georgia Hardstark?

  You know?

• 6:28Karen Kilgariff?

  But that idea, it's like, well, Lisa, maybe the trauma of that would be lessened by just having other kids with you.

• 6:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Right. Well, she's alone. And then she says, where they had an old, basically empty toy claw machine and a race car game so the parents could ignore the kids all they wanted. Just threw some shit in the corner. And they're like, that's a kid's corner.

• 6:49Karen Kilgariff?

  Here.

• 6:50Georgia Hardstark?

  I'm minding my business, driving race cars when a tall, thin man came up to me from the back door beside the claw machine. He proceeded to tell me that my dad was outside waiting for me and had asked him to kindly come collect me to go home. I was probably about six years old and somehow my six-year-old brain told me that this guy was full of shit. I looked over at the bar and saw my dad still standing with his friends, completely unaware of what was happening. I told the man I needed to get my stuffed animal at the bar and politely excuse myself to go ask my then-quite-drunk dad what was going on.

• 7:24Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, shit.

• 7:26Georgia Hardstark?

  When I told him, he grabbed the manager and drunkenly told her to maybe check out this guy outside. Turns out he had corralled another child with him and she caught him outside just in time. As far as I know, nothing ever came of this. And though I have tried to research this many times, there is no record of a near kidnapping at the local bar.

• 7:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Fuck.

• 7:49Georgia Hardstark?

  My dad, to this day, can only vaguely remember almost losing his daughter that night and had never followed up about the man who tried to take her. Classic dad. My dad is an incredible guy and continues to live life with a live fast, die young attitude at the ripe young age of 70. As you can imagine, I have plenty more near-death, secret past-life stories that I will have to write about another day involving this legendary man. And with that, stay sexy and don't let your husband take your six-year-old to happy hour. Or if you do, maybe sit her on the bar like a normal parent. Emma, she/her.

• 8:25Karen Kilgariff?

  Holy fucking shit, Emma.

• 8:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Holy shit.

• 8:29Georgia Hardstark?

  You gotta look up local kidnappings from that, like from that area and that time because.

• 8:34Karen Kilgariff?

  That guy was such a psycho that he, he already had a kid and he was getting another kid. Like what in the living fuck are we talking about?

• 8:44Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. Why did nobody follow up? Why?

• 8:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Why? Cause they're all drunk and it's that kind of thing. It's like, that's the, I feel like maybe to me, part of why I am as obsessed with true crime, there is a little bit of that, the seventies parenting where it's like, why is no one paying attention? Am I the only one paying attention? Then it's like, I better fucking pay attention and I better, I better pay attention to all this shit. So that like, because if it's, you know, if it's me by myself.

• 9:13Georgia Hardstark?

  No one's paying attention, then yeah, you're on your fucking own.

• 9:15Karen Kilgariff?

  And six-year-old Emma, the badass who's just like, she, first of all, how brilliant. She's like, not, my dad, whatever. She goes, excuse me, I would like to go with you. That's a great idea. Let me get my stuffed animal like a child would.

• 9:29Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. Oh, no memento. Let me just go grab the, and then be like, dad, what is up with this guy? He says that he knows you.

• 9:34Karen Kilgariff?

  Dude, should I go with this kidnapper or what do you, would you like to weigh in or are you having too much fun, motherfucker?

• 9:40Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay. Drink your fucking seven and seven and like, let's get the fuck out of here.

• 9:44Karen Kilgariff?

  Come on. I mean, happy hour.

• 9:47Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 9:47Karen Kilgariff?

  No rules, happy hour. Jesus Christ, there's an active kidnapper in the building. Do you give a shit? Is the answer really no? God damn it.

• 9:58Georgia Hardstark?

  The holidays are coming, which means we'll all be spending more time away from home.

• 10:02Karen Kilgariff?

  Whether you're visiting family or doing something actually fun, you want to know your home is protected while you're away.

• 10:08Georgia Hardstark?

  That's why now is a good time to think about home security with Simply Safe.

• 10:11Karen Kilgariff?

  Unlike traditional security systems that alert you after a break-in starts, Simply Safe is designed to help stop intruders before they get inside. These days, you're worried about your house, you're out of town and then something comes up and you get to look on your phone and Simply Safe is going to show you not only the video of like, it's a raccoon at your front door, but also that they have staff that's sitting there, they already know. And if it was something different or worse, they would have already been on it.

• 10:37Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, I really think that's. invaluable peace of mind that just like relying on your neighbors, paying attention is not going to give you. We've partnered with SimpliSafe to offer our listeners their biggest savings of the year. 70% off your new system with professional monitoring when you visit simplisafe.com/mfm.

• 10:54Karen Kilgariff?

  That's simplisafe.com/mfm. And when you order, write in MFM at checkout and it tells them we sent you and it really helps the show.

• 11:02Georgia Hardstark?

  SimpliSafe, ahead of crime in real time.

• 11:05Karen Kilgariff?

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• 11:11Georgia Hardstark?

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• 11:13Karen Kilgariff?

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• 11:18Georgia Hardstark?

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• 11:27Karen Kilgariff?

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• 11:36Georgia Hardstark?

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• 12:06Karen Kilgariff?

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• 12:11Georgia Hardstark?

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• 12:16Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye. Cozy season is nearly upon us.

• 12:19Georgia Hardstark?

  That means crisp weather and soft layers.

• 12:22Karen Kilgariff?

  Prepare accordingly with fall staples from Bombas.

• 12:25Georgia Hardstark?

  Bombas has your favorite footwear for fall, including new suede moccasins with cushy soles, shearling lining, and water-resistant suede, plus soft slippers, slides, and booties.

• 12:35Karen Kilgariff?

  There's a Bombas sock for pretty much any fall occasion, from warm merino wool blends to sweat-wicking sports socks and dressier options for weddings.

• 12:43Georgia Hardstark?

  And for every Bombas item purchased, they donated an essential clothing item to someone facing housing Security with more than 200 million items donated so far. Okay, so when fall comes around, I have a pair of the Bombas booties pretty much in every room. So I can grab them when my feet inevitably become freezing, which they are constantly. And they're so comfy. You can wear them around the house. I wear them to bed and they just make everything feel a little cozier.

• 13:09Karen Kilgariff?

  Head over to Bombas.com slash MFM and use code MFM for 20% off your first purchase.

• 13:15Georgia Hardstark?

  That's B O M B A S dot com slash MFM, code MFM at checkout.

• 13:21Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye.

• 13:24Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, I think you're gonna like this one.

• 13:26Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay.

• 13:27Karen Kilgariff?

  It says, the power of the magic eight ball, family drama request. It says, hello ladies, I could write a book about my family, but here's the story of why my cousin and I no longer speak.

• 13:39Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, yay. I love it already.

• 13:42Karen Kilgariff?

  Right?

• 13:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Tell us why family members don't speak, please.

• 13:45Karen Kilgariff?

  The most basic story is still gonna be great.

• 13:47Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 13:48Karen Kilgariff?

  It could be like, we fought one time. It's like, goddamn, yeah, yeah, I can relate.

• 13:52Georgia Hardstark?

  I don't have anyone like I'll never speak to again. So it's really nice to hear that.

• 13:56Karen Kilgariff?

  I only have like eight or nine people like that. My cousin and I were raised essentially as siblings. And so when he got engaged, I offered to help with the wedding planning. As I not only work at a wedding venue, but I've been a bridesmaid about 10 times and have friends in the industry. The first time I read this, I didn't read clearly that they're saying they work at a wedding venue. So when they say, I've been a bridesmaid 10, 10 times and have friends in the industry, it made me laugh so hard. Cause I thought they were just like bragging that they'd been to that many weddings that they're like friends with the caterer. I know.

• 14:29Georgia Hardstark?

  I know everything. Yeah.

• 14:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Their wedding budget was approximately $5. So the extended family was really trying to chip in to help. I was paying for the cake. My parents paid for the ceremony venue. And another family member was paying for the reception hall. I knew that the couple was stressed due to money, so I really tried to make the wedding planning meetings fun. And then in parentheses, it says champagne, music, dance breaks, bride and groom sashes, et cetera.

• 14:57Georgia Hardstark?

  Cute.

• 14:57Karen Kilgariff?

  We got in an argument over family drama. And then in parentheses, it says, his mom doesn't like the bride.

• 15:03Georgia Hardstark?

  Ooh, I gotta question this whole fucking wedding.

• 15:08Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 15:08Georgia Hardstark?

  This whole marriage.

• 15:09Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 15:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay.

• 15:11Karen Kilgariff?

  So they got in an argument about that. And my involvement in the wedding stopped. I had tried to meet with my cousin on several occasions, and I even wrote him a letter with no luck. The wedding was supposed to be in June of 2023. So in April, my cousin called a 15 person family meeting. If you couldn't attend the meeting, then you were disinvited to the wedding.

• 15:34Georgia Hardstark?

  I love like wedding monsters. These are great.

• 15:39Karen Kilgariff?

  People go crazy. You go crazy.

• 15:41Georgia Hardstark?

  People go fucking crazy. Okay.

• 15:43Karen Kilgariff?

  And it's not just like bridezilla. It's like, what happens is everyone goes crazy and the bride has to be the like, middleman for all of it. And then they go crazy.

• 15:55Georgia Hardstark?

  I love when like, you see those people that like pop up online where it's like, this is the list that the bride sent that you have, like the non-negotiables, if you want to be, if you want to be invited. Like, I love those. And they're like, fucking nightmares. My favorite.

• 16:08Karen Kilgariff?

  Also, it's like, the non-negotiables, all right, well, then I guess I'm out. Like, you're

• 16:13Georgia Hardstark?

  Then I don't want to come to your fucking wedding.

• 16:15Karen Kilgariff?

  I can't imagine a world where actually, just on principle, I wouldn't like, well, then yeah, stand your ground. I'll talk to you later.

• 16:23Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. Have a great life.

• 16:25Karen Kilgariff?

  You dumbass. Okay. So if you didn't come to this meeting, you were disinvited from the wedding. The meeting lasted two hours and no one was allowed to speak unless you were given the magic eight ball. However, no matter how many times someone asked for the eight ball, my cousin wouldn't give it to anyone.

• 16:43Karen Kilgariff?

  There ended up being physical fights, plural, at this meeting, and so much screaming, I'm surprised the cops weren't called.

• 16:51Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God.

• 16:52Karen Kilgariff?

  The wedding ended up getting canceled, just to find out that my cousin legally got married a whole year in advance and didn't tell anyone.

• 17:01Georgia Hardstark?

  Fuck. Ew.

• 17:01Karen Kilgariff?

  So most of this drama was for nothing.

• 17:07Georgia Hardstark?

  Send us your stories about people being petty as fuck. That's hilarious.

• 17:12Karen Kilgariff?

  And also send us your stories about people who try to get their entire family to pay for shit they're doing when they already did it privately.

• 17:20Georgia Hardstark?

  Right.

• 17:20Karen Kilgariff?

  Stay sexy and next time, bring your own Magic 8 Ball, Michelle. Oh, Michelle, I think you just, you just kicked off a family drama series that I hope everybody can come to because truly it doesn't take much for a family drama email to be great.

• 17:37Georgia Hardstark?

  Tell us about your family drama, the pettier, the better, and you're just sitting pretty within your fucking, in your non-bullshit world.

• 17:46Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah. Also, I think you could do a subset of like, family wedding drama, because that alone.

• 17:52Georgia Hardstark?

  For sure.

• 17:52Karen Kilgariff?

  That alone.

• 17:53Georgia Hardstark?

  Or just wedding drama.

• 17:54Karen Kilgariff?

  Yep.

• 17:55Georgia Hardstark?

  My next one's called, "I Ran Away on the Appalachian Trail at 12."

• 18:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Hmm.

• 18:01Georgia Hardstark?

  Mm-hmm. Okay, guys, I love your stories and I'm not a day-winner, but I heard you're getting lost in the woods stories and have to tell you mine. I grew up in West Virginia and have always been the one gal every parent hates. So let's rewind to 1996, I think. Here goes. My mother got married to the most annoying stepdad any 13-year-old could imagine. He was a know-it-all and was a man of the woods. He was a biologist and always trying to impress his new wife with some woodsy excursion.

• 18:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Irritating.

• 18:35Georgia Hardstark?

  Well, one particular day, he wanted to go on a hike to Rocky Run Shelter and thought it would benefit me as a tween to go on the hike. So clearly, I asked my best friend to go and something snapped in my tiny brain and I decided it would be fun for us to run away. We hid in the woods until they couldn't see us and then walked until we reached Rocky Run Shelter. Guys, in our dumb little brains, we thought we would meet hot hikers. Instead, we found an A-frame shelter in cold woods as it was the middle of December and we were freezing. Any old who, after our fire burned out and we had one sip of water and 15 Skittles, we decided to go to sleep.

• 19:18Georgia Hardstark?

  We heard what we thought were farm dogs barking, but no, those were the hound dogs. The whole park service people unleashed the hounds and used helicopters to find us with infrared.

• 19:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, your two 12 year olds out in the fucking woods. They would have to.

• 19:35Georgia Hardstark?

  In December.

• 19:38Georgia Hardstark?

  These kind men rescued us with foil blankets and walked us out to the parking lot.

• 19:44Georgia Hardstark?

  I'm not sure if you've ever been in as much trouble as I was in that moment. Despite a parking lot full of fire trucks and ambulances and reporters, my parents knew I did that on purpose. And their searing eyes and silence said everything.

• 19:58Karen Kilgariff?

  You little shit.

• 20:00Georgia Hardstark?

  The next day at school, I learned I was on the front page of all our local papers. And the lunch ladies laughed at me.

• 20:09Georgia Hardstark?

  I can send you the newspaper article to prove it. Love you and don't be a dumb tween and run away on the Appalachian Trail. The guys aren't that hot.

• 20:21Karen Kilgariff?

  And you're a legend.

• 20:22Georgia Hardstark?

  Hot hikers.

• 20:23Karen Kilgariff?

  I think that's so funny and cool.

• 20:26Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, don't do it. Never do it.

• 20:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Don't do it, but what a fucking hilarious story. To do something so bratty that you end up on the front page of the paper is pretty legendary.

• 20:38Georgia Hardstark?

  And your parents aren't even worried about you because they're like, this little fucking brat.

• 20:41Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 20:42Georgia Hardstark?

  I know she's faking.

• 20:43Karen Kilgariff?

  They know.

• 20:45Georgia Hardstark?

  The holidays are coming, which means we'll all be spending more time away from home.

• 20:49Karen Kilgariff?

  Whether you're visiting family or doing something actually fun, you want to know your home is protected while you're away.

• 20:54Georgia Hardstark?

  That's why now is a good time to think about home security with SimpliSafe.

• 20:58Karen Kilgariff?

  Unlike traditional security systems that alert you after a break in starts, SimpliSafe is designed to help stop intruders before they get inside. These days, you're worried about your house, you're out of town, and then something comes up and you get to look on your phone. And SimpliSafe is going to show you not only the video of like, it's a raccoon at your front door, but also that they have staff that's sitting there, they already know. And if it was something different or worse, they would have already been on it.

• 21:24Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, I really think that's invaluable peace of mind, that just like relying on. Your neighbors paying attention is not going to give you. We've partnered with SimpliSafe to offer our listeners their biggest savings of the year. 70% off your new system with professional monitoring when you visit simplisafe.com/mfm.

• 21:41Karen Kilgariff?

  That's simplisafe.com/mfm. And when you order, write in MFM at checkout and it tells them we sent you and it really helps the show.

• 21:49Georgia Hardstark?

  SimpliSafe, ahead of crime in real time.

• 21:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye. Cozy season is nearly upon us.

• 21:55Georgia Hardstark?

  That means crisp weather and soft layers.

• 21:57Karen Kilgariff?

  Prepare accordingly with fall staples from Bombas.

• 22:00Georgia Hardstark?

  Bombas has your favorite footwear for fall, including new suede moccasins with cushy soles, shearling lining and water-resistant suede, plus soft slippers, slides and booties.

• 22:10Karen Kilgariff?

  There's a Bombas sock for pretty much any fall occasion, from warm merino wool blends to sweat-wicking sport socks and dressier options for weddings.

• 22:18Georgia Hardstark?

  And for every Bombas item purchased, they donated an essential clothing item to someone facing housing insecurity with more than 200 million items donated so far. Okay, so when fall comes around, I have a pair of the Bombas booties pretty much in every room so I can grab them when my feet inevitably become freezing, which they are constantly. And they're so comfy. You can wear them around the house. I wear them to bed and they just make everything feel a little cozier.

• 22:45Karen Kilgariff?

  Head over to bombas.com/mfm and use code MFM for 20% off your first purchase.

• 22:50Georgia Hardstark?

  That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash MFM, code MFM at checkout.

• 22:56Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye. We've all had moments where dealing with healthcare or insurance feels completely overwhelming.

• 23:02Georgia Hardstark?

  You're sick, worried about someone you love, trying to understand what comes next and suddenly you're spending hours on hold, filling out paperwork and trying to figure out who to call.

• 23:11Karen Kilgariff?

  Research shows patients spend the equivalent of an eight-hour workday every month coordinating their own care.

• 23:17Georgia Hardstark?

  Nobody hands you a roadmap when you're dealing with a diagnosis or ongoing health issues.

• 23:21Karen Kilgariff?

  That's why there's Solace Health.

• 23:22Georgia Hardstark?

  Solace provides personal healthcare advocates who average 16 years of healthcare experience and can help you get answers fast.

• 23:29Karen Kilgariff?

  Think of them as someone in your corner who understands the healthcare system and can handle the logistics while you focus on your health.

• 23:35Georgia Hardstark?

  They can help with appointments, insurance denials, medical Bills, treatment options, and understanding doctor recommendations.

• 23:41Karen Kilgariff?

  Research shows 92% of patients report a positive impact on their care from working with an advocate.

• 23:47Georgia Hardstark?

  Advocacy improves outcomes and Solace advocates are covered by insurance nationwide.

• 23:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Eligibility varies by insurance plan.

• 23:53Georgia Hardstark?

  Advocates do not provide medical or legal advice or services must be 18 years or older.

• 23:58Karen Kilgariff?

  Go to solacehealth.com/murder to see if you qualify.

• 24:01Georgia Hardstark?

  It takes about two minutes and it's covered by insurance.

• 24:04Karen Kilgariff?

  That's S.O.L.A.C.E. health.com/murder.

• 24:07Georgia Hardstark?

  Goodbye.

• 24:10Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay, here's my last one. The subject line says, "I know you love cute old people stories slash missed millionaires." And it says, "Hey, MFM fan, new slightly obsessed listener here." And then there's a little winky sideways emoji thing. Punctuation emoji, my favorite type of emoji. "Quick appreciation for you both as a fellow mental health advocate and fellow feeler of all the feels. Thank you for your authenticity and for simply talking about things that are so stigmatized in our society today. One of my favorite things is hearing how teared up you two," and then a parentheses says, "mostly Karen,

• 24:51Karen Kilgariff?

  "get over sweet old people. And after a recent binge of MFM on my commute, I heard a request for more stories. Short and sweet story for my very short and very sweet 91 and 90-year-old grandparents, AKA Nana and Grandpa."

• 25:07Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow, you're so lucky.

• 25:09Karen Kilgariff?

  I know. They made it. "Back in the day, Grandpa was an architect. In fact, you can still find his buildings, homes, and apartments in some suburbs of Chicago as well as the Sarasota area." And then parentheses, it says, "Sweet random fact, my girl cousin Sari and I, Cassandra, have a street named after us in one of those Chicago suburb developments."

• 25:32Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh.

• 25:33Karen Kilgariff?

  The street is a combo of her and my names, Sarandara.

• 25:37Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God, do you live on that street? Tell us, write us in. I bet someone listening right now lives on that fucking street.

• 25:42Karen Kilgariff?

  Sarandara Avenue?

• 25:44Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 25:44Karen Kilgariff?

  In Oak Park or some shit? Okay. "A few years ago, when my family made it to Tampa for a visit, Nana spilled the beans on a little gem of Grandpa's architectural career. It turns out that back in the day, think 50s, 60s, when they were living in Illinois and raising their family, Grandpa was approached..." With the opportunity, and this says it in all caps, to design the McDonald's arches.

• 26:13Georgia Hardstark?

  What?

• 26:14Karen Kilgariff?

  The company was looking for something to set them apart in the burger world, and they were searching for someone to make their arch dreams a reality. They asked grandpa, grandpa turned them down.

• 26:25Georgia Hardstark?

  No.

• 26:26Karen Kilgariff?

  He thought the idea was stupid and not profitable.

• 26:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God.

• 26:32Karen Kilgariff?

  You could tell in Nana's voice and grandpa's eye roll when she was telling the story that the two of them have had more than a couple of conversations about the outcome of this career decision.

• 26:42Georgia Hardstark?

  This has come up every time they fight.

• 26:44Karen Kilgariff?

  And every time they pass a McDonald's.

• 26:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Even worse.

• 26:49Georgia Hardstark?

  And he refuses to eat a McDonald's, and she fucking loves it.

• 26:53Karen Kilgariff?

  My friend Peter Fokes has a, I can't remember, he knows a guy or is a relative of his, who, and I'm probably, I probably have told you the story in these past nine years, in the seventies, it was a contest for the new slogan for New York City. And, you know, it's now, I love New York, like the I heart New York thing. His submission was, I like New York.

• 27:17Georgia Hardstark?

  The shrug is the best part.

• 27:19Karen Kilgariff?

  He was so close, like, he was like, oh, I have a good slogan, I like New York. And they're like, we'll go with I love New York, because it actually seems sincere.

• 27:26Georgia Hardstark?

  I mean, I like New York fits the New York vibe kind of better, though.

• 27:30Karen Kilgariff?

  It does.

• 27:30Georgia Hardstark?

  You know?

• 27:31Karen Kilgariff?

  And it is like, yeah, a little doubt, a little shrug.

• 27:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 27:35Karen Kilgariff?

  Meh.

• 27:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Not too, don't make a fuss.

• 27:37Karen Kilgariff?

  Nah, no big deal. Okay, here's the end of this email. All the love and smooches to two of my favorite people and to grandpa for sticking it to the man before it was even a thing and before he even knew what he was doing. Stay sexy and maybe take a beat before rejecting an opportunity. Cass, she/her.

• 27:55Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow, that's an epic fail.

• 27:57Karen Kilgariff?

  So hilarious.

• 27:59Georgia Hardstark?

  Love it. Okay, my last one's about a grandma, actually. It's called klepto grandma.

• 28:05Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes.

• 28:06Georgia Hardstark?

  Hey, besties, my grandma, Chris, has never been the typical loving, good cook, spoiling the grandchildren type. Most holidays consisted of $5 gift cards and scratch-off lottery tickets as presents.

• 28:19Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 28:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Sounds great.

• 28:20Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, love that.

• 28:22Georgia Hardstark?

  As an only child and middle grandchild, too young for the older cousins and too old for the younger, I typically spent my time snooping around my grandparents' house without notice.

• 28:32Karen Kilgariff?

  Hell, yes.

• 28:33Georgia Hardstark?

  Uh huh. My favorite thing to look at was the display of glass collectible cups. The cups have survived decades of air hockey pucks, pillows, and various toys flying around the room from my cousins. I asked my grandpa, Roger, if he remembers getting all of the indestructible glasses and if there were any stories behind them. His response, "Oh, all of those are from your grandma taking them from everywhere we went over the years." So it says, "What?" Apparently, any slight mention of liking anything from truly anywhere would magically end up in her purse. After the realization that my grandma is a klepto sunk in, I then started to remember

• 29:17Georgia Hardstark?

  all the things that grandma always brought home with her. Cups, utensils, bowls, umbrellas, Jell-O shots. I got on my way out of a fucking Denny's and she grabs the umbrella out of the umbrella thing and she likes it.

• 29:33Karen Kilgariff?

  But it's like some other-

• 29:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Someone's umbrella.

• 29:35Karen Kilgariff?

  Someone's just trying to eat, uh, Moons Over Miami?

• 29:37Georgia Hardstark?

  Miami, exactly. My grandpa also told me that she took one of the glasses from the restaurant during their first date. I asked what he thought when she whipped out the stolen cup and he just shrugged and said, "Should have been a sign, but oh well." It should have been a sign.

• 29:53Karen Kilgariff?

  That's good grandpa comedy right there.

• 29:56Georgia Hardstark?

  Called a red flag. Forty-eight years later and they're still happily married and my grandma mainly goes to the casino to rack up those big ticket items. And it says, "How many blenders does one person need? Stay sexy and hide your valuables when my grandma is around, Kayla." P.S. My grandpa also told me that my grandma took the tip money as well during their first date. WTF, Christine.

• 30:19Karen Kilgariff?

  Christine, don't do that.

• 30:21Georgia Hardstark?

  How did she get a second date with this dude?

• 30:25Karen Kilgariff?

  First of all, did he take her on a date to like a Jersey Mike's? Like, is it a tip at the front or was it like the tip on someone else's table?

• 30:35Georgia Hardstark?

  I think it was like the tip on the table. Like, he put the tip down on the table, she fucking took it.

• 30:39Karen Kilgariff?

  And she took his tip money?

• 30:40Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, I think so. She is spicy.

• 30:44Karen Kilgariff?

  She's a true, a true klepto. I have to admit, I'm not judging you, Christine, because- Or Kayla, who's, you know, who cares? Who, who actually cares about Christine? But when I would get drunk, I loved to like, I would, I would be like that with my, but it was always my friend's stuff. And it was stuff that I would, the next day I'd be like, oh, sorry, I stole this. Like a Frank Sinatra cassette tape. And I'd be like, the next day, like, sorry, this is yours.

• 31:08Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God, just things ending up in your purse.

• 31:10Karen Kilgariff?

  It was like that feeling of like, I want something. Why can't I have something? You know what I mean? Just constant dissatisfaction.

• 31:18Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God. This should be mine. This should be mine.

• 31:22Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 31:22Georgia Hardstark?

  Well, tell us your klepto stories. Tell us your everything stories, literally.

• 31:26Karen Kilgariff?

  Please, we love them. And thank you for submitting everybody on today's show and everybody ever, forever.

• 31:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 31:34Karen Kilgariff?

  In history. Anyone who's ever written an email, thank you for your service.

• 31:40Georgia Hardstark?

  Appreciate you.

• 31:41Karen Kilgariff?

  Stay sexy.

• 31:42Georgia Hardstark?

  And don't get murdered.

• 31:44Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?

• 31:55Karen Kilgariff?

  This has been an Exactly Right Production.

• 31:57Georgia Hardstark?

  Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.

• 32:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

• 32:02Georgia Hardstark?

  This episode was mixed by Leona Scolacci.

• 32:05Karen Kilgariff?

  Email your hometowns to [email protected].

• 32:08Georgia Hardstark?

  And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at MyFavoriteMurder and on Twitter at MyFaveMurder.

• 32:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye.

• 32:19Speaker 04

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• 33:01Speaker 03

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• 33:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Calling all amateur detectives and podcast obsessives.

• 33:32Georgia Hardstark?

  Virgin Voyages' second True Crime Voyage sets sail March 20, 2027, for a five-night escape to Grand Turk and the Beach Club at Bimini.

• 33:41Karen Kilgariff?

  As part of the On Air at Sea collection, this immersive sailing brings together fan favorite podcasts, including DisgraceLand, Buried Bones, and Wisecrack for live recordings, behind-the-scenes access, exclusive meet and greets, and crime-themed programming that you won't find anywhere else.

• 33:57Georgia Hardstark?

  All aboard our award-winning, kid-free ships.

• 34:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Head over to virginvoyages.com/truecrime to secure your spot. Goodbye.