Story for Another Time Podcast · Story for Another Time Podcast

The Climate Argle Bargle

August 21, 2023·30 min

Joe and John start wiped out after the first full day of school. They joke about being tired, irritated, and short on patience. KC soda even gets pulled into the grumbling. The opening question is a simple one: what do you say when someone thanks you? They try the obvious answer and then start picking at it. That turns into a small argument about when "you're welcome" fits and when it sounds off. The conversation then opens up. Climate change, global warming, and the newer "global boiling" line all get dragged into the room. Joe leans on his habit of looking at data and patterns. He checks July records by day and sees that a lot of the hottest marks sit farther back than people might expect. 1936 comes up hard. So does the idea that the average July temperature in the Peoria area shows a slight cooling trend. They keep qualifying the point. It is one slice of one region over one stretch of time, not a grand final answer. Still, the memory of long runs of 100-degree days gets them talking. Joe remembers a time when that kind of heat felt less dramatic. The back-and-forth stays loose, plain, and a little exasperated. Near the end, they pivot to Keller's word clue and work through the meaning of bloviate. That leads to the final definition of "argyle bargle" as copious but meaningless talk or writing, which is exactly the sort of joke the show likes to end on.

As heard by us

A school-day gripe turns into a loose, lively ramble that ends on a sharp word and a clean laugh.

The episode starts with Joe Greenwood and John Jacob worn down after the first full day of school, then settles into a small but familiar spar over soda, manners, and what counts as the right thank-you.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a school-day ramble that lands on "argyle bargle."

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