Political Theater, Desert Secrets, Dating Scams

About this Episode

This week, Fingers Malloy and Sarah Smith run the national playlist: political theater, media stagecraft, and the strange new reality where everyone has an opinion—none of them come with solutions.

They start with the State of the Union ratings (down to 32.6 million viewers) and why Trump’s real superpower isn’t policy… it’s production. Hockey players threading through media row. Perfect little digs. And yes—somebody should’ve fixed the hair.

Then the conversation shifts to the kind of story that sticks in your ribs: Tucson missing-person cases that have gone cold for decades, and why some families get wall-to-wall coverage while others get a shrug and a “case pending.” Border proximity, cartel history, and the grim economics of trafficking all enter the chat.

After the break, it’s kitchen chaos: dull knives, disgusting sponges, chipped plates, scratched pans, and why Fingers put dishwasher knives on the list of crimes that deserve a long, thoughtful stare.

And finally: Ashley Madison is back, apparently rebranding from “affairs” to “discreet dating,” which is like calling arson “warm lighting.” They also detour into the celebrity-only dating app Raya, velvet-rope romance, and who exactly decides if you’re famous enough to swipe in peace.

On this episode:

State of the Union ratings + political theater fatigue

Trump vs. the media: stagecraft, visuals, and “don’t stand” energy

Tucson cold cases + why some disappearances get attention and others don’t

Kitchen purge list: knives, sponges, chipped plates, scratched pans

Ashley Madison “discreet dating” + what that even means

Raya: the celebrity dating app with a membership committee (of course)

More writing + the full show archive live at FingersMalloy.com.