I had a theory at first that Richard was actually involved behind the scenes and he was going to emerge at the end of the podcast for at least a five-minute interview — an incredible PR stunt, if you will. I think next week is the final episode, so then we can see for sure if that was the case. I feel way less sure of…

So if you go on YouTube, you can see what I believe was Richard’s final appearance on Howard Stern. Honestly, it is truly bizarre. He’d been a guest for years and had often just laughed when Howard teased him, or pretended to be highly offended, but you could tell he wasn’t really upset.

It is kind of weird, though — when you actually listen to the podcast, it also feels really loving, and I’ve honestly never seen such a thorough and respectful portrait of Simmons (not treating him like a joke at all).

I think it’s possible he’s in a physical state that he doesn’t want the world to see (maybe he’s gained a lot of weight, looks a lot older, whatever!). In that case, he has the right to not have to show himself to millions. *Shrug*

Nope, not BS, not at all. I had a breast reduction and was prescribed Percocet. I wasn’t really in much pain, but I decided to take a pill just for the hell of it. Felt high as the proverbial kite, and stupidly happy.

All these latest reports are kind of killing any of the mystery and intrigue that were part of the podcast. Now it all seems kinda dumb and pointless. Ah, well.

That song has been WAY overused in bad movies and TV shows, though. It’s a bad cliche tune now, unfortunately.

Nothing wrong with well-done drama that might be of the quietly heartbreaking variety, but no one should fall prey to bad-TV-movie garbage such as this. THAT is a tragedy.

You need to unfriend 9/10 of your FB connections.

I’m going to guess you’re right. I fear for our country for many reasons right now, and one of them is regarding how many people love this horrible fucking piece of shit manipulative garbage show.

The kind of thing that happens every day!

That is ALWAYS Maddow’s MO. I like her, but it can get tedious.

People in that realm have a lifestyle that people like you, me and everyone else on this board cannot even begin to fathom, which is why it’s hard to imagine what they could do with the money. But, again, they do not live in remotely the same world you do — they have shit tons of people on their payroll, they…

I mean — breaking news, rich people make lots of money. And $418k a day is pretty damn small potatoes for the super rich. To put in context: Warren Buffett made $32 MILLION a day in 2016.

Nothing new there, though. The problem was not in the report, really — it was in the pre-show hype surrounding it. They should have known better than to play it like it was a smoking gun when it clearly was not. Bad move, that’s all.

I like Maddow a lot, but I just KNEW when I heard about this that there would be no smoking gun and it would be a bust compared to the hype. You can’t get away with hyping no-substance stories like that anymore — you’re gonna get roasted, and the “other side” is gonna crow.

Jesus, you are no fun at all. Give Richard a little credit for knowing how to play a role, or at least link to some of these interviews where Simmons said he was so hurt by an orchestrated comedy routine he was an integral part of. Simmons grew up as part of an eccentric performing family in New Orleans — he was a…

Wow, you personally know four moms who have lost their kids to DIPG? That IS a lot, considering the stats.

That’s right — life isn’t fair, there is no karma, bad stuff happens to good people, good stuff happens to shitty people, etc. We have VERY little to no control over these things. Being a “good person” doesn’t gain us mortality points, or “good life” points or anything of the kind.

That actually isn’t such a bad plan. Everyone should do their own thing if they are given a definitively terminal diagnosis. I’ve often thought, “May as well try crack and see what the big deal is all about” if I’m diagnosed with an awful, uncurable condition. Why the hell not?