Unplugged and Unhinged - Tall Dark and Handsome

What it’s like to take a break and come back to a mess?

Well, it’s nice to take a long break from work over the holidays, and we talk about how unplugging can benefit someone who spends all year working hard. Then, we decided to catch up on the latest headlines. 

After our guest cancelled, we were relieved that we didn’t have to subject them to a discussion about important breaking news, after ICE activity in Minneapolis led to the death of a protester, Renee Nicole Good. We discussed our views on this situation, and, as usual, they are mixed. We discussed what we would do if our own neighborhoods were subject to significant ICE activity.

Then we discuss the USA’s renewed commitment to imperialism, what’s happening with Tesla stock (because Michael’s best friend is his car, although Daniel and Aaron are fighting for second best). We then discuss how tariffs affected Michael’s sales and profit margins, since his import-heavy business became our own little scientific study (consisting of a sample size of exactly one business).

And then, suddenly, this became a sports talk podcast, with 66% of the hosts not following sports. Tune in to get updates, analysis, and confusion about the game(s) weekly.

Mentioned in this episode:

• An important fact check on a point of discussion: Crowds at some rallies are indeed planned and compensated by organizations like crowdsondemand.com, which is hired by companies as a PR effort and deploys protestors who are compensated. The organization is often hired by for-profit companies and partisan actors. Indivisible also plans rallies and protests, but claims to be a grassroots organization focused on opposing the MAGA movement and authoritarianism. They do not pay protesters and are not hired by for-profit companies. The claim that protests are staged is true, but the claim needs context. In general, studies show that paid or “astroturfed” protests (as opposed to organic “grass roots” protests ) represent less than 5% of all protests in the US.
• This report shows the “bodycam” footage of the ICE agent who shot Renee Nicole Good, which was actually a handheld cellphone.
• The department of homeland security claims it is getting dangerous criminals off the streets. It was said on the show that ICE is in neighborhoods for the purpose of serving warrants, however ICE generally operates without judicial warrants, but with a lower administrative warrant issued internally which doesn’t require probable cause nor are they issued by a judge. Some lawsuits assert arrests have taken place without any kind of warrant at all in some cases arresting American citizens, and at least some incidents of this sort have been confirmed. Because this is a critical detail, we wanted to add some additional data for context. According to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) as of November 30, 2025, ICE detained 65,735 individuals, of whom 73.6% (48,377) had no criminal convictions, while 26.4% (17,358) had criminal convictions.  A more detailed breakdown from the Cato Institute, using ICE custody data as of November 15, 2025, indicates that 73% of detainees had no criminal convictions, but 47% had neither convictions nor pending criminal charges—meaning 26% had pending charges (but no convictions) and 27% had convictions.  Of those with convictions, only 5% involved violent crimes. 

About The Hosts:

• Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and the author of The Lorem Ipsum. He also produces our podcast.
• Aaron Douglas is an internet marketing and AI-readiness consultant and the owner of AIRAA.
• Michael Salemi owns Colored Threads, a company that produces branded apparel and swag, including the Truthache branded tumblers our guests receive.