Episode 500: Goodbye & Hello

March 17, 2026·50 min·4 clips

How a Georgia homeowner used a private arrest warrant to bring a fraudulent contractor to justice.

The show opens mid-spar, with James and Anthony already needling each other about private arrest warrants before the point arrives: episode 500, somehow. They rewind to February 2017, before COVID, when one of them was still in Utah. Then the listener questions come in. Emails, Facebook messages, and newcomers in the backstage group all wanted to know where the show had gone. The answer is plain enough. They meant to take three weeks off, then discovered the show had become part of people's routines. That pulls them into the origin story. Foolishness of the Week came from a high school audience problem, then got named during a Kentucky drive between school stops. It wasn't polished. It just worked. Listeners enjoyed the high minded parts, but the absurd story made the show click, especially when Anthony sounded personally offended by human foolishness. The example is exactly the sort of mess the segment was built for: a man, a munition, and a hospital wondering whether something might explode. Politicians get less mercy. When one of them is the pick, Anthony's reaction shifts from comic disbelief to actual offense. They also revisit the old length fight, as thirty minutes became forty-five and listeners split over whether that was a gift or a problem. By the end, James thanks listeners for 500 episodes and lands on the familiar reminder that everyone is carrying something difficult.

As heard by us

Words and Numbers marks 500 episodes with a reflective look at how the show took shape.

Words & Numbers uses its 500th episode to look back at how it got here: two hosts trading brisk back and forth, then pausing to explain the format that has carried them through.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a 500th-episode victory lap that still argues back.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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