Welcome back, fellow time travelers. Grab your matcha latte (or mead, cider, coffee—whatever fuels you) and settle in for another Sipapalooza.

This episode dives into the everyday absurdities and bigger cultural shifts shaping 2026. I start with tipping culture: how a once-optional reward for good service mutated into a mandatory guilt tax forced on customers by apps, tablets, and post-pandemic norms—and why it’s time to end it. Then it’s pure Gen X nostalgia as I revisit 1980s record stores through the lens of a great Rick Beato + Professor of Rock conversation: the bins, the clerks, the physical discovery that algorithms can’t replace.

I unpack the future of neighborhoods and parenting amid cratering birth rates, rising single living, and the growth of intentional co-parenting and mutual-aid models. Next, Johnny Depp’s post-trial Ho ...