Advertise on podcast: Lou Penrose on KFI

Heartbreaker for the Chargers in Game 1 — they started ahead of the Broncos and didn’t finish that way. Then the Dodgers, and the sticker shock at Dodger Stadium. Whatever happened to a hot dog and a beer? Now there’s a two-foot Dodger Dog for forty bucks and a $35 taco platter that comes with two tacos. You call that a platter? Lou’s a no on relish. Too messy for the stands. Listeners disagree and want the Chicago or Mexican-style wreck. Bring on the mess.   Rover.com ranked the most beloved dogs in LA County: Lou’s a maltipoo guy, the Golden State’s top dog is the golden retriever, and LA’s official champ is the French bulldog.   A California Jack in the Box with a loitering problem rigged sprinklers on the drive-through wall and a speaker that yells “Buy something or bounce!” And Lou, king of burgers, says you can’t compare a flame-grilled Habit to a fried In-N-Out. Over at Red Lobster in Georgia, Abdul Hakeem Rasheed couldn’t cover a $63.77 bill, so he called 911 and claimed a medical emergency. The cops did not buy it. Theft and a fake 911.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soup Plantation is coming back, and the all-you-can-eat soup-and-salad cult is losing its mind. Six years after the chain shut all 97 locations, including 44 in California, during COVID. Lou’s perfect salad, which he can make at home: iceberg, cucumber, white onion, garbanzo beans, beets that didn’t come from a can, sliced black olives, oil and vinegar. Listeners are already praying for a Sizzler comeback next.   Levi’s is bringing back low-rise jeans, full-circling fashion thanks to GLP-1s. Baggy is out this fall, along with ripped and skinny.   Rocktober started this month in 1969 when Led Zeppelin dropped “Led Zeppelin II,” and Lou goes deep on Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham. DoorDash’s predicted Halloween candy king is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He stays on Robert Plant as a vocalist while listeners argue favorite candy, and chocolate prices may climb again because the last El Niño in 2023 hammered cocoa fields in West Africa. And after more than 60 years, Mama Celeste frozen pizza is getting discontinued. That’s cold.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - McDonald's has been using AI technology to help set prices on their menu items, and new protein Doritos are hitting grocery store shelves. Lou tells you all about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - As the penny is on its way out, the nickel begins to take its place. There's just one problem - the nickel costs over 13 cents to make. Soon, you will be able to get through airport security without a boarding pass to send off your loved ones, but brace for record-breaking holiday travel prices this season. And Wendy's is banking on nostalgia-based yellow packaging to bring in new customers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lou Penrose is on after the Chargers game with a grim San Diego story: A man walked into an adult bookstore threatening to burn it down, police sent in K-9 Ryder, the suspect set the dog on fire and then died at the scene. Ryder survived; PETA wants the dog retired and K-9 units phased out.   Lighter fare: Friday was National One-Hit Wonder Day. Lou’s picks are CW McCall’s “Convoy” (1975) and The Nails’ “88 Lines About 44 Women,” listeners call in with theirs, and Lou admits he’s bought whole albums off one song — that’s how The Who got him, via “Pinball Wizard.”   Taylor Swift’s post-marriage-to-Travis-Kelce era has her making wedded life look good while only about one in four young women are married; even Riley Gaines is into the new wifey look.   ALDI in LA is voluntarily cutting grocery prices and shoppers are coming back, while Food 4 Less customers can’t find Boar’s Head — Lou teases that mystery for the next hour.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ALDI is slashing prices on about a third of what it sells through November 3 to fight the affordability crunch — even chicken, which is music to thigh-loving Uncle Lou. Boar’s Head vanishing from Ralphs and Food 4 Less isn’t a mystery plague: Kroger pulled it over rising costs. Relax, people, it’s salami. Lou riffs on phony-baloney food fights (dark meat vs. white, egg whites vs. yolks, brown rice vs. white) and says eat up.   He flashes back to COVID, sprinting to Sprouts for his three sons’ fresh sandwiches while school was stuck on Zoom — closures stunk, Sprouts was a lifesaver — then filling in on “Monks & Merrill,” where the hosts bickered like an old married couple.   Up in Napa, harvest is stressed: California wine is down about 20% in five years as people drink less. And in Italian households, Lou swears kids sip wine at the table with family so they don’t go nuclear later. If you forgot he’s Italian, don’t worry — he’ll tell you.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember the USS Lincoln, stuck at sea more than 250 days on that extended Middle East run? Trump sent the sailors and Marines to Pattaya, Thailand, for a break before San Diego — and in a town famous for the sex trade, Lou lets you connect the dots; the whole district’s built on that cash.   Closer to home: If you want Costco’s viral $55 Frankenstein cake for Halloween, get on the waitlist now. McDonald’s is hurting, so it’s redesigning stores, handing franchisees rent relief, and after Investor Day leaning into more protein — chicken and eggs — as GLP-1s and changing appetites eat the old menu.   People hunting cheaper rent are speed-roommating at Hollywood’s Sassafras Saloon, or just moving back in with retired parents. And the Raiders look decent: Kirk Cousins is back in Vegas and admits an In-N-Out problem — three 3x3s in one sitting. That’s nine patties. Plus fries.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - We get some extra Lou Penrose this week as he fills in for Monks and Merrill. A new poll finds widespread frustration among Californians as voters head toward the November election. Are voters looking for a change? Plus, two ballot measures are drawing support from younger voters, and the Penrose Theory explores why some young people are increasingly attracted to Democratic socialism. And with Aldi and other retailers cutting prices this fall, can consumers finally find some relief on everyday essentials, cleansers, and GLP-1-related products? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 -  We get extra Lou Penrose this week as he fills in for Monks and Merrill. California and Los Angeles report August job growth—but what’s driving the gains, and are government and healthcare jobs enough? Plus, Starbucks announces more than 600 store closures nationwide; Napa Valley wineries cut prices by 20% or more, and a Raiders quarterback teams up with In-N-Out for a promotional play. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - A Los Angeles high school teacher has started a financial literacy course and the students are loving it. Will classes like this be adopted statewide? And a viral trend has couples trying out "sleep divorce." Stevie Nicks tells the story of her first run-in with Janis Joplin, and Lou takes talkbacks discussing who had it worst during the recent SoCal heatwave. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - The Oreo Karen has struck LA public schools, requesting parents stop packing Oreos in their kids' lunch boxes. This led to an AI-generated song based on the controversy. And a new ABC7 report shows traffic deaths surge 15% on days that popular new albums are released. Lou gets into the songs he can't resist rocking out to on the road. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After one of the hottest weeks on record in Southern California, the heat finally feels like it’s breaking — but not before it made everyone a little nuts in that unseasonably humid high-90s-to-triple-digit stretch Californians just can’t handle. Uncle Luigi runs through who had it worst out there: Caltrans crews paving roads, Marines training at Camp Pendleton, AC installers, and roofers baking on the job. Listeners pile on with their own votes — postal workers, roofers, even redheads — plus a wave of cracked windshields blamed on thermal shock when cold water hits glass that’s been cooked by the heat. And in a cooler blast from the past: this week in 1967, the “Spider-Man” cartoon debuted, introducing a different kind of hero — not born super, just a high-school kid who got bit by a spider.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The brutal heat still hanging over Southern California: The back of a UPS truck can hit 140 degrees, AC techs are slamming jobs, one caller admits he garden-naked’d his way through the heatwave, and Valley parents say classrooms are too hot for their sticky, gross kids. Down in OC, a high-school football team treasurer allegedly stole $400,000 — used it to pay off a delinquent mortgage — and is now looking at serious prison time. Lou also debates whether kids should stay in school during a heatwave so campuses keep their funding, or get sent home.   Then it’s fish tales: The largest bluefin tuna ever caught off California this week, a 500-pounder, plus Lou’s take that Japan overfished them nearly to extinction before fishermen and fish “worked it out.”   Good news for salad eaters: The lettuce recall is officially over, so Taco Bell is back on the menu without the cyclosporiasis scare — a tummy bug Lou notes sounds a lot like being on GLP-1s.   Forty-four years ago this weekend, Pete Townshend tried to reboot The Who with “It’s Hard,” and it sparked a big fight with Roger Daltrey. The hour wraps with Chargers talk — Lou’s following the team all season, mural and all — and a kitchen ant invasion so bad he’s wondering if white vinegar is the answer.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - Nearly 5,000 sailors and Marines on board the USS Abraham Lincoln had a 5-day party in Thailand. Cocktails to-go could be extended in CA. And Guns N' Roses rocked the Rose Bowl this weekend. Eileen Gonzales was there and gives Penrose her glowing review of the concert. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - Funeral costs are skyrocketing and people are debating whether $100,000 is enough to live on in LA. Chili's is back on top among casual dining restaurants. They're responding with a questionable remodeling effort. And Panda Express is being accused of inauthenticity. Lou jumps to their defense. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.