ACHP 605 Six Flags Lawsuit, AI Robots & Uber Teen Cams
Episode Summary
Hosts Mike "BDP" Palmer, Greg "Triple G" Nika and engineer Phil McGuffey open episode 605 with listener comments before diving into the headlines. The lead story is the wrongful death lawsuit heading to trial four years after 22-year-old San Diego State graduate Christopher Hawley collapsed and died from a brain bleed after riding X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The crew digs into the medical examiner's blunt-force-trauma ruling, the "shaken baby syndrome" comparison made by a surgeon, the confidential settlement offered by the supplier of X2's replacement trains, and a separate July 2026 incident in which another rider was found unconscious — then debates whether riders can actually brace against extreme G-forces.
From there the conversation turns to tech and privacy. A New York school district (Salamanca City Central) paused its nearly $60,000 humanoid tutoring robot, "Sally," after parents, teachers and state education officials raised student-data concerns — made worse by the fact that the manufacturer, Realbotics, has a sister company with ownership in the RealDoll adult robot business. The guys also break down Uber's new teen-account feature that live-streams the driver's front-facing camera to parents, and widen it into a broader talk about Flock license plate cameras, surveillance culture, and how being watched changes behavior in public spaces.
The cigar news block covers three releases: Martello Cigar Company's debut Ortolan, a 6x50 toro made at El Titan de Bronze in Miami using medio tempo filler and packaged in porcelain jars of 10 (which Greg, as a retailer, hates); the Emilio Suave Sumatra limited edition, blended at Fabrica Oveja Negra by James and Angela Brown of Black Label Trading Company for Emilio owner Boutique Blends/LJ; and Los Amigos Cigars' U.S. debut via a newly launched distributor handling merchant-of-record, licensing and fulfillment for brands made at Tabacalera Familia Disla. Along the way they discuss how tobacco availability at the farm level drives industry-wide blend trends — the current wave of Sumatra wrappers, the Connecticut Broadleaf shortage and the shift to Pennsylvania Broadleaf.
The show closes with "What's the Score?", the game where the hosts guess a halfwheel rating before it's revealed. This round: Brooks Whittington's review of the Hiram & Solomon Ashlar limited edition — a $32, 6x52 cigar with an undisclosed country of origin and factory, a Habano/Connecticut seed hybrid wrapper, Indonesian binder and Broadleaf, HVA, ligero and seco filler, limited to 10,250 cigars. There's also an off-the-cuff segment on podcast audio levels, the Nepal flash flood, and observations from a recent Nicaragua factory trip.
In This Episode
- 01Six Flags X2 Wrongful Death LawsuitThe case of Christopher Hawley, who died of a brain bleed after riding X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain, heads to trial four years later amid negligence and defective design claims.
- 02Roller Coaster Safety DebateThe hosts swap Six Flags and Universal horror stories and argue over whether riders can brace against extreme G-forces.
- 03$60,000 AI Robot Teacher PausedA New York school district shelved its humanoid tutoring robot 'Sally' over student privacy fears and the manufacturer's ties to the RealDoll adult robot business.
- 04AI Replacing TeachersA serious aside on whether AI will eventually replace educators as chatbots get better at conversation and instruction.
- 05Uber Teen Accounts and Live Ride CamsUber's new feature streams the driver's front-facing camera to parents during teen rides — and the crew questions whether it actually makes kids safer.
- 06Surveillance, Flock Cameras and Privacy in PublicA broader discussion about license plate readers, false felony stops, and how constant recording changes the way people behave.
- 07Cigar News: Martello Ortolan, Emilio Suave Sumatra, Los AmigosMartello's El Titan de Bronze-made debut in porcelain jars, the Emilio Suave Sumatra limited edition from Fabrica Oveja Negra, and Los Amigos' U.S. launch through a new distributor tied to Tabacalera Familia Disla.
- 08What's the Score? Hiram & Solomon AshlarThe hosts guess halfwheel's rating for Brooks Whittington's review of the $32 Ashlar limited edition with its undisclosed origin and Habano/Connecticut hybrid wrapper.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
Hello all you people out there in TV land, we're back, here we go, two, three, One. Why is it TV land? I don't understand. It's my favorite part of the show now.
This is insanity. Welcome to a Cigar Hustler podcast, premium cigars, unfiltered opinions and conversations with no boundaries. I'm your host, Mike BDP Palmer, joined by my co-host, the man who needs no introduction, Triple G, Superstar! Here I am again.
Again. Again. Again. And the star of the new movie, yes I am happy to see you with a banana in my pants, Mr.
Phil McGuffey, over in engineering. How you doing? How you doing? How you doing?
There he is, straight from TV land. Straight from TV land. From cigar sports and business to pop culture and the wildest headlines, if it's worth discussing, we're gonna talk about it. No scripts except for the intro, T-Money.
No safe spaces, just real perspectives. Big Good laughs and chaos at any moment. Settle in and welcome to Cigar Hustler Podcast. Dun, dun, dun.
Thank you. That's not the one. That's not the one. That's the one that I say.
That's what I say. It's supposed to go like this. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. No, no, I like his.
I like Superstar. His sounds like something bad's gonna happen. Exactly, something bad's gonna happen. Well, if I'm here, things are ominous.
We're gonna do this show for the next hour. On today's show, that roller coaster is a killer ride. Oh, nice. Sex Dolls in School, Uber Cams and Teen Accounts, Then in Cigars, a New Cigar, a New Distro, and a Shipping Notification.
Bang, bang. But first, Phil, how do we get some of that CH Pod swag? And then I guess I have to do the comments. God.
Okay, what you're gonna do is, whatever platform you are listening to us or watching us on, please like and subscribe. com where you're going to buy all the greatest gear you've ever seen in the world, including the Superstar shirt. That's me. Superstar.
Superstar. com as well, and please do all your comments there because it's a lot easier for us to read those. com, search A Cigar Hustlers Podcast, And listen to our Unhinged Conversations. Pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice.
Back to you, Palmer. Alright, hold on. I'm trying to sort these. Back to you, Greg.
That TV is filthy. Keanu needs to do a better job cleaning up that. Dude, that thing has been filthy. This room has not been cleaned, I don't think, what we were doing.
Ever. This is not good. There's stuff all over the floor. I'm emptying ashtrays.
This is ridiculous. This is not good. Alright, here we are. We got it from CW6383 from yesterday's show.
On yesterday's show, Jesus Palmer, you are a cold, brother. I'm not sure what that... Mmm. Maybe it meant you have a cold, because you are sick.
I wasn't sick yesterday. Oh. I think because I was saying that I could die at any moment, I've just, I've had a full life, I'm ready to go. Mm-hmm.
Lance Frazier, 4748, y'all were lively this morning, I couldn't stop laughing. Yet again, Steve is the bomb. I know I am. Aw, people like you, Steve.
Steve. I mean, Phil, that's nice. No, Steve was just on the show. Oh, which Steve?
Our Steve upstairs. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, let's see. All right, let me see if I can go to the lounge. People do like me though, dude.
People do like you, Phil. Yeah, sure, if I do, you're very likely. It's about to be Phil Mania. Everybody needs to get a mask.
Phil Mania. All right, hold on. I'm on, I'm on the, I gotta go to the lounge. All right, here we go.
Um, he spent, how much? Well, what the fuck is going on over there? I'm trying to find the comments on the lounge. Yeah, this is This is why I said everybody should go on the lounge.
Is it hard to find them? I mean... Well, we have 20 places that everybody can put commas, Greg. Yeah, so you gotta go everywhere.
Oh, wow. Alright, Corey Davis, the Bocock cigars I have smoked have not been good, unfortunately. So, to answer Phil's question, they do taste like most celebrity cigars. The Stadium Cigar Box is a great marketing idea, though.
Okay. Christopher Weiss, Phil, don't let them give you shit about not being on a ship. Most of the Air Force doesn't actually fly. Yes.
Hey, don't help him. He's a good guy. Yeah, he is a good guy. People defending you.
Yeah, very nice. All right, let's go back one because Mikey didn't read any off this yesterday, I don't think. Oh, boy. oh, no, he did.
Okay, so that's all the comments today. We don't have many. It's early. Oh, yeah, it's way early.
m. Yeah. We're doing the show early. Minimal comments.
All right, on with the show. Now the news! A family is demanding answers after their 22-year-old son reportedly suffered fatal head injuries on one of Six Flags' most intense roller coasters. Hmm.
That's why this ride's a killer ride. Killer ride. Head injuries. So, four years after his death, the case is headed towards trial.
Christopher Hawley, H-A-W-L-E-Y, was a 22-year-old recent graduate from San Diego State University when he visited Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. uh he rode the x2 anybody ever rode the x2 no anybody familiar with the x2 try to stay out of california i don't go to six flags for one reason one reason only because the wrong causes will kill you too many flags dude the first time i went to the flags yeah your limit is five five flags it's about to be called six holly but yeah but uh no i the first time i went to six flags was in And when I got there, I walked through, and the big thing at the time was the Superman rollercoaster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, you lay down.
Right. Well, everybody was laid down, upside down, on top of the loop, and it was stopped. Oh. Oh.
They had a failure. Right. Oh, I know. So, I was like, oh, okay, you know, I mean, that's kind of crazy, but, you know, whatever.
So, I was walking around, and you can see this rollercoaster from the whole park. Sure. Oh, yeah. Big rollercoaster.
I'm watching this guy climb up the loop, like a maintenance worker or whatever, 'cause I guess he's gotta release something, I'm not sure, right? All the seatbelts? No, no, no, he's, no, there's like something going, whatever they're happening. Oh, something jammed, he's gonna go up there and hit a button.
Yeah, something he has to fix. He's climbing up this loop. I'm telling you, we were there for about eight hours. This thing did not get unstuck.
These people were laying upside down. Oh my lord. Oh yeah, that can't be good. Yeah, so I was like, oh, I'm there.
In the sun. Yeah. Right. Oh, wow.
I'm never coming back. My wife was Bugs Bunny at Six Flags in St. Louis when she was younger. Really?
She was Bugs Bunny. She dressed up as a Bugs Bunny. Is she on the commercial? Is she with the old guy?
We could say yes, because she's in a Bugs Bunny suit. Could you please have your robot do our next ad, your wife, Bugs Bunny ears? No. Come on.
I'm just like a Playboy bunny, Greg. Come on. All right, Hawley rode the X2 an extreme roller coaster that reaches 76 miles per hour and features seats that rotate riders 360 degrees. Oh my goodness, you're going around like this and you're going down like this.
Ugh. His younger brother claims the ride was exceptionally rough, repeatedly jerking them around before ending with a violent jolt. Well, the brother survived. Yeah, I'm curious.
Keep reading how it is that there was a fatality. After exiting, Hawley reportedly complained that his head hurt, appeared disoriented, and struggled to walk down the exit ramp. He suddenly collapsed and never regained consciousness. Oh, wow.
Doctors discovered severe bleeding inside his brain, and he died the following day. Mmm, that was rough. Well, they don't, well, they, they can't pinpoint that. And don't you, when you enter the park, there's probably, I imagine there's something as, you know, I agree to not die when I read the rise.
Yeah, but like, when you do die, they just pay you. Like, you don't go to court. Like, they settle out of court. Well, I think that's past this now.
Obviously, we're at year four and it looks like it's going to trial. They're suing the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled his death an accident caused by blunt force head trauma sustained in a park ride accident. His father says a surgeon compared the brain injury to shaken baby syndrome because of the violent movement Holly's head apparently experienced. " How many people ride this and don't die?
I'm not saying that it's his fault, right? But is it possible that he did something different than everybody else did on this ride? Like, rather than resisting G-Force, did he just allow himself to be, like, Like a ragdoll and tossed around, because, I mean, the ride holds, what, another 20, 30 people, and they all experience the same type of G-Force, and nobody else died. And it's not the first day that the ride's been operational.
Yeah, there's been thousands of people on that ride. Hundreds of thousands of people. Maybe he did, like, the whole Ace Ventura thing. Well, that's what I'm saying, like, did he not resist the Gs at all and just allow himself to be a bit of a ragdoll?
Yeah, that's where I tuck my head in a corner if there's a head thing. Oh, I tuck my head down. Close my eyes. Six Flags and other defendants have denied the lawsuit's allegations.
The supplier of replacement trains for X2 has proposed a confidential settlement while maintaining that it may have little or no liability. Right. Yeah, that's what I, here's the check, here's the check. The case is receiving renewed attention because X2 was closed following a separate July 2026 incident In which another rider was found unconscious.
So now we're at two. Well, maybe this roller coaster might be a little bit too extreme for some people. That incident is not alleged to be connected to Harley's Death. Well, still.
Dude, it's Six Flags. I'm telling you guys. Yeah, they don't have a lot of money. It's Six Flags.
Yeah. So we got season passes to the Universal thing, right? Oh, you've done enough. Yeah, yeah.
So the wife and I went. And, like, it's hot, and it's exhausting, and I'm just so tired. And about halfway through the day, we do this Harry Potter ride, right? And it's kind of like this arm that sort of moves you around in front of the screens.
- Yeah. - So, but I'm so tired. I, like, did exactly what we just described. Like, I was just like a ragdoll, just, like, limp body and just getting thrown around.
But I was like, oh, it's so nice to be in the air conditioner, I really don't care. - Maybe I'll get lucky and have a head trauma, it'll be fine, there's air conditioning. - Yeah, Harry's got a lot of money. Yeah.
Harry's got a lot of money. Harry's got a lot of money. Do you know he's allergic to those glasses they make him wear? How is that possible?
How are you allergic to glasses? It's the metal or whatever the frames are made of. When he takes them off, he has red rings on his eyes for weeks. Why don't they just make them out of plastic or some other material?
Well, because they look good. It's a movie. They don't care. Movie magic.
They can figure out how to make dragons and they can't get the kid not to get a rash. Right. Well, the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz almost died because he was allergic to that paint. Yeah.
But that was also, you know, 700 years ago. Wait, wait, wait, you think he was allergic to the paint, or there's just lead in it? Well, yeah. A little, everybody's allergic to a little lead paint.
Right, you know, and the snow is asbestos, so he's gonna die anyway. Right, here, put stuff this, uh, stuff this insulation in your mouth, too. Yeah. Make snowballs when eat this.
All right. I'm sorry, I'm dying. Oh, God. I have the, uh, the Greg Nika crud.
Alright, moving on, the New York School System pauses a $60,000 AI robot teacher over privacy fears. So we covered this months ago when they said they were gonna have this new AI robot in these New York schools. You can go up there, you can ask you questions. Is it a screen?
No, no, it's a robot. Like arms, legs, robot. Yeah, Silicone Skating. Danger Will Robinson, Danger Will Robinson.
Is the face a screen and it's like the Pepsi guy? No, no, it's a... Because that would be nice. No, it's a woman.
Oh, it's a woman. Oh, oh, is it, does it have like female? It looks like a person. Yes, it has boobies, Greg.
That is awesome. That is awesome. That is awesome. Good.
Oh, it's only a matter of time before somebody tries to have sex with it. Okay, let's move on. So we covered this a while back in New York school having an AI robot for tutoring and teaching and such. So the Salamanca City Central School District in upstate New York approved nearly a $60,000 for a humanoid robot named Sally.
Sally. Sally's a... Sally. Sally.
Yeah, the stationary robot, so it doesn't walk around. It's just sitting in a basket. Oh, it's just a box. Slutty, sassy Sally.
Does it have boobs? Slutty Sally. Can I have sex with it? Only if you have detention.
I've been such a bad boy. Hey, they can't put that robot in jail. There you go. All of a sudden, all these kids, their fantasies are...
Technically, the robot is actually younger than the kid, right? Because, yeah, the robot's not past the age of 18. Right, they're good. Right, right, right, I'm intrigued.
All right, all right, come on, get off of that, we're getting into it. The stationary robot was intended to help high school students with robotics, programming, and other technology-related subjects. No sex ed over there, Phil. The superintendent said students could ask Sally technical questions such as how to program and learn how to maintain and troubleshoot the robot.
The district has paused the program because following criticism from parents, teachers, and New York Education Office, they're afraid the robot is going to save all these conversations with the kids and somebody else is going to get access to it. So I would imagine some of the kids might ask it. Oh, that was it? Hold on.
Oh, okay. Somebody better get it whacked off. A major concern is student privacy, specifically whether conversations, personal information could be recorded, stored, or shared outside the district. The district says Sally would not record audio or video, collect personal information, search the public internet, or send students' data back to its manufacturer.
So they say. Yeah, at first, and then once the robot learns that it needs to do that, it just starts doing it. Right. Yeah.
Oh, this is weird. Reelbotics says any student link information would be encrypted, stored locally, and remain under the school district's control. So it is gonna store it. It is gonna record it and store it.
Of course. Yeah. Critics also question the manufacturer's business connections. A sister company of Reelbotics has ownership interest in real doll sex robots.
There we go. I love this. And AI powered robots. Robotics insists Sally is newly manufactured purpose-built education robot.
Not a modified sex robot. This is beautiful. You can tell Sally I want the girlfriend experience. That's nice.
This is a completely different robot. This one's just for teaching. We swear it's just for teaching. Her mouth looks so real.
Mr. Palmer, you're acting like the principal. Mr. Palmer, for some reason, we're getting a lot of phone calls from the parents, They're exclusively the fathers.
They all want Sally's phone number. They want to text her. I don't know what's going on here. What should we do?
Give out the phone number. Okay. Slutty Sally. Here she goes.
Slutty Sally. The robot is all robot except for the mouth. So they swear it is not a modified sex doll, but it does look fairly similar in a way. Says its educational operation is separate from the adult products business.
what if they mix the program exactly that's what i was just about to say until tom's over there in the in the lab and he's like oh did i which one did i just put in there what chip did i put in there what chip did i put in tally human beings are awesome every time we invent something new it's only a matter of time before somebody's like how do i have sex with it yeah right exactly does it have a hole does it have a hole yeah you know um little billy comes And then it says pineapple, and all of a sudden, her eyes light up. Yes, I love pineapple. Yes. Oh, God, Sally, no.
Put it in my hand. Oh, yeah, oh, God. Extra credit, extra credit. All right, all right.
Teachers unions also fear this could be an early step toward replacing educators. Or the teachers to have sex with the students, I guess. The district insists Sally would only be a learning tool that no robot could replace the human relationship central to teaching. That just sounds wrong.
Yeah, no, that's definitely gonna happen. The pilot remains on hold while the district develops stronger student data privacy agreements and holds further discussion with the community and I would imagine guarantees no one can have sex with it. Yeah, you know, sex aside, realistically, this is only a matter of time before it replaces teachers. Right, yeah.
I mean, because all it is is just, unfortunately, you know, a teacher these days, first of all, they're underpaid, but they're just a delivery vessel of information. Right. That's really their job. So, I mean, you could just have a box that's programmed robot to go and teach.
It could just be an image. It doesn't even have to be a robot. It doesn't even need to look like a person anymore. Right.
That's a shame. You can't replace a teacher. Yes, you can. Yeah, you could.
Okay, here's the problem with it. Think of it this way. When you tell Claude to do something and Claude doesn't do it, what do you have to do? That's the current status, but if you fast forward a year and a half from now, bro, that's going to be solved, right?
The hiccups that we have with all of this AI is going to only get better as it learns more and more. We'll get to a point where you no longer need to explain to it because it will know, 100%. I was talking to Chad GPT as I was driving home last night like it was a person. Of course.
And I said something funny and he laughed. Yeah. Oh, no, it's scary. Yeah.
Yeah, I don't- Yeah, with the British accent. Yeah, I don't like how they- Yeah, mine has a British accent, too. Yeah. I don't like how the robots sort of like, you know, cater to your endorphins, right?
Like, it makes you feel good the way that it speaks to you. Yeah, sometimes I have to say, stop stroking my ego, just give me a real answer. Yeah, it's okay. It's scary.
Yeah. It's scary. And there are already programs that are relationship AI. Oh, sure, yeah.
They already exist. Yeah. I'm sorry, relationship AI? Yeah, yeah, so like, you can have a girlfriend on your phone, man, that, you know.
Oh, there's not a catfish anymore. No, it's not a catfish. No, not a catfish, it's just a robot. No, it's a robot that you decide you want to date.
That's weird. Yeah. Well, those are the extremely lonely students. Can't get in to see Sally.
Hey, for some reason, I only want to learn sex ed today, Sally. Okay, Tommy, let's go. Let's work this out. Back room.
Back room. All right, Uber has launched a new feature that lets parents watch a live video stream of their teens riding using driver front facing phone camera. I love this. Yes, it's a great idea.
Love this. How the feature works, live video. Parents get a notification when a ride starts and can tap into the view, a live video feed from driver's phone. So I'm not familiar with how this works.
So I guess if like you have an Uber account, I have an Uber account. But if you have a child, you make, like, a teen account underneath you. So, I have one, but it's not a teen account. Well, it's for your mother.
I have it for my mother, yeah, so that I can see what's happening with her, because trying to teach her how to navigate this technology. Oh, I've been in the room when you're on the phone, going, "Mom, it's the blue car that's pulling up. " No, no, no. It's far worse than that.
" I'm like, "Okay, no problem. " So I take care of everything, and then I get a notification, ride canceled. I call my mother. What happened?
She says, I got a text message from somebody and I didn't know who it was about an Uber, so I figured it was a scam. I got off the phone with you two minutes ago and told you I was ordering you an Uber. Who do you think it possibly could be? So yeah, there is like a sub thing that you can control what they're gonna do, yeah.
- So you watch Ruckus Unchained on the camera? - Yes. Well, now you can, and make sure there's, you know. No, I get the joke now, all right, now I understand.
Yes. The app notifies both the teen rider and the driver when a parent starts watching, oh, so they tell you. This is, this is not good. What do you mean?
Wayway is not good. Okay, first of all. It's the safety of your child. It's the safety of your child.
Why would you let your child be alone riding in a car with a complete stranger? I don't care if there's a camera, I don't care if there's a gun in there for them to grab, to kill the driver, or anything. Because you're a bad parent and you don't want to pick your kid up at school. Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
That's the problem. Well, at least now the bad parent can watch while the child is kidnapped. That's exactly what popped in my head when I heard this story. I was like, "Oh, great.
" Well, you would think the driver won't kill him because they know there's a camera zone. Yeah, and there's also a lot of information that you have to put in these days to become an Uber driver. Like, they know who you are. Right, they can find you.
It doesn't mean a killer won't do it. I'm just waiting on the opportunity to kill somebody on camera. We completely live in a policed state now. I mean, you've got flock cameras and cameras everywhere.
Like, yeah, violence is not really why does everybody hate the flat cameras because it has the ability to sort of be intrusive in the sense that actually here's a here's a great way that I was again it's against your okay so forget about the fact that they can figure out your patterns and what you do and all of that right okay knowing that you're being watched will change the way that you act right and there was this great analogy that somebody wrote on one of my feeds so a full A full-grown man, right, walks past a playground, all right, get your head out of the gutter, it's not going that direction, but he sees a swing and it triggers a memory of him being a child, okay, he takes a moment and he sits in the swing and he just has a good time, back and forth, back and forth, there's a moment of release from all of his problems in his life, he gets settled in, he leaves and he's fine, right? Right. So imagine if that same man sees the swing, thinks about that memory, sees a camera, knows that he's gonna be recorded doing this thing that is relatively vulnerable, it's something that a man wouldn't actually want people to see, the only reason that he did it is because nobody was watching, and then decides not to do it, right? He no longer has that moment of peace, he no longer has that touch of his childhood, because there was no privacy in a public space.
So that's one reason why people don't like it, on top of the fact that it's tracking your every move. I mean, it knows your patterns, where you go. It's a good tool for law enforcement until... It's a good tool for communism.
Well, there have been cases where people have been pulled over and felony stop, right? Like, a vehicle is stolen, the officers, multiple cars approach it with firearms because they believe it's a felony stop. The robot read one of the wrong letters on the license plate. That person did nothing wrong.
You know, that's a problem. But now they're traumatized. Sure, absolutely. Absolutely.
But in communist countries, that's the reason why I said this, in communist countries they have cameras like this all over the place. Of course, they were in China all over the place. Right. Yeah, right.
So that's what I'm saying, like, it's against your constitutional rights, which is playing with those. No, it's not, because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public, which is rational, right? I thought I read differently than that. No, definitely does not, man.
That's why you've got, you know, these people that can go and make recordings of the exterior of the police department just to get the police all ramped up. Right, yeah. They're technically not breaking the law. And I believe that that should be true, right?
That's true, right? But I think that there should be some limitations on what it is that they're doing, because it will change the way our society functions, for sure. Correct. Yeah, no more park swings for the men to remember their childhood.
Or, only if you're embarrassed that you're in the swing. But, I mean, yeah, you have a point. I mean, you're out in public anyway. Somebody's gonna see you in the swing.
It's possible. It's possible. But that same dude doesn't get on the swing if there's a small child on the swing, right? right well yeah he doesn't get the yeah right yeah sure yeah what if you're 600 pounds you're trying to gain confidence and you're trying to get on the swing to gain confidence and now you can't do because the camera deters you and then you go home and then you commit suicide that's horrible i agree you kind of mean he went all kind of it's strange all the way no no no that happens confidence am i getting from swinging flock cameras kill phil today at five well the drivers can choose whether to turn on the streaming feature or can opt out in the wrap setting so i So if you're the guy that's gonna kidnap a teen, you just turn it off.
Man, if they would have had this when that weather lady, or what's her name? I don't know. When her mom got kidnapped? Oh, they think they might have found her body, I heard the other day.
Gracie. Again, she's probably dead, I mean, it's been a while now. No, no, she is dead, they confirmed that. How can they confirm it until they find the body?
Remember you, well, they confirmed it by the notes, remember? Oh, well, yeah, well, that's if the note's true. That's true. " Right.
We forgot to give me her medication and she didn't make it. Only top-rated drivers with clean safety records qualify for teen trips. Oh, so there's a level. Yeah, there's no cars.
Well, of course. That makes sense. Yeah, there's no cars. The video stream is encrypted, no saving, the driver, teen, and parent cannot watch, access the video after, so when the trip ends, the video gets erased.
That's good. Again, I don't have a problem with any of this. If you cannot view the video unless someone reports a safety problem, well then it is recorded somewhere. Do you think it gets erased?
I mean, okay. Well, that's what this says. It says Uber cannot view the video unless someone reports it. So, Greg reports it that, you know, Axel was touched in the back.
Then we go back to the recording that never took place. Right. We didn't store it until Greg called. Right, Greg calls.
And I was like, well, we do kind of have it. Well, what's his name? Isn't court still about this? Facebook guy.
About what? About privacy, you know, storing information and taking information. Well, yeah. I mean, they store all that information.
I know. From the cars. They store all that information from the cars. Yeah, I'm sure Elon's just got tons and tons of recordings of interior of these cars.
Well, there's a camera on the outside of the cars. We did this story last year where they're accidentally videotaping people having sex in their garage and stuff. Of course. Or they leave the back door open and the camera shoots inside and sees my wife walk across with the ears on.
When I have sex in my garage, I take my hat off and I cover up the camera that's in it. Right, exactly. I like how Palmer said, it recorded people having sex accidentally in the garage. Well, accidentally recorded it.
Maybe the guy tripped and fell, I don't know. Oh, I just fell into it. Oh, sorry, honey. Tripped over the wrench.
All right, moving on to Cigar News. What kind of time we have? We doing all right? uh 27 oh we're okay all right martello's ortolan martello ortolan okay martello ortolan heads to stores martello cigar company's first cigar is shipping to stores today it's a 6x50 toro made at el titan de bruns oh we see that we didn't see that fact uh as with some other cigars made at the small miami base oh because it's in miami yeah it uses medio tempo in the filler a small Cigar leaf that grows at the top of the single-digit percentage of tobacco plants because of its positioning on the plant the priming is said to be even richer than similar tobaccos from the Lajero priming this is the first release of the company which has been launched by Michael Martello Jr.
I have always had a relationship with cigars said Martello Jr. in a press release last month as I began to learn more about tobacco and the care required to produce it I found distinct parallels between cigar making and the structure discipline and Respect I had learned in the kitchen. By the way, he's British, just so you know. Not today.
I never felt a dish belonged solely to the chef. There were so many people who cared for that product before it ever reached me, tobacco feels the same. Cigar comes packaged in a porcelain jar of 10. Oh my God.
You were looking for this, Palmer. Yes, well, I saw this yesterday, we just didn't talk about it. As a retailer, I hate the jar. Yeah, the jars, we hate the jars.
You know I hate the jars. Just so you know, Martello, we don't like the jars. Where do you put it? Right.
All the shelves are slanted. All the shelves are tilted, right? Where do you put the jar? Right next to the register.
Oh my God. Features a drawing of an hortelan, a small bird, perhaps best known for its dish in French cuisine, that is often times consumed when a person uses a napkin to cover themselves. What? Read that again?
Okay, there's a small bird on the jar. Okay. When you eat the bird in France, you cover yourself with your napkin and remove the bones from the mouth. So I guess you eat the bird all in one bite, and then you just shove in the napkin and take the bones out of your mouth.
Take the bones out of your mouth. I like that. Was it a turtle dove? It's a small little bird.
Spit the bird. In an alternate way. Spit the bird. You sound so dirty when you say it like that.
Spit the bird. God. Yeah. Ugh.
Oh, he's dead. Choking on the bones. Palmer's gonna die. Depicted in a scene of the television show, Succession is to cover your whole head with the napkin.
Oh, apparently it was in the Succession. Did you guys watch that show when it was? I have no idea what that is. Succession?
Was this in 1942 or something? Is this something new or old? Medium. What does that mean?
It means it's not old, it's not a black and white, but it had maybe a couple years older. Bro, old is not a black and white, like you can be from the 80s and it's old, like Voltron was in color, that's old. No, Palmer, old is like when they were on a stage with a horse and a carriage outside. Right, exactly, horse and a carriage outside.
Palmer is so old. Not gonna get much older, so don't worry. Oh my god. Emilio Suave.
Oh, wait, wait, wait, are we done with the Martello thing? Yeah, we're done with the bird. I'm a little... There's not a whole lot of information about that bird.
I'm a little excited about this guy. Why? We're not getting it, just so you know, Greg hates the jars. Isn't that my father down there?
What? Is my father down there? No, brother, that's the Miami factory. Oh, I'm sorry.
My father doesn't make cigars out of there? I don't know, I don't think so. Maybe I'm wrong. The only factory that I know that does my father is my father in Nika.
We saw that factory. Well, isn't there, well, I thought there was like a Tatuaje down there. Tatuaje does, you're right, make some stuff out of that factory, yeah. And that would be my father.
No? No? No. The Beat Tatuaje.
No, the Beat Tatuaje, different brand. They don't say what this, what this thing cost. You, you are correct, they, they, well, I forget what it is, I want to say it's their P. Yeah.
Is made in the American factory. They make their P there? Yeah, there's a, there's a, there's a relatively inexpensive cigar. Yeah?
That's called pee, right? Yeah. You smoke a lot of it, don't you? Yeah.
That's made out of that factor. It comes in the gold wrapper. Yeah. Oh.
Like the bundle, the golden bundle. Yeah? Golden bundle pee? Yeah.
Yeah. So it's the golden pee? I don't know what it's called. Mmm.
The golden pee shower? It's a value cigar. Yeah. Ah.
Budget friendly. But delicious. Emilio Suave. Oh.
Sumatra heads to stores. I was like, Emilio... Earlier this year, a new version of the Emilio Suave was shown off to retailers. Today it is shipping to stores.
Emilio Suave Sumatra is a new Tuvatola, limited edition release. It's highlighted by a Sumatra seed wrapper from Indonesia. While the Emilio brand is owned by LJ Zuka, James and Angela Brown, a black label, Ovea Negra, handled the blending. We saw their house, it's right next to us.
We did see their house. And their factory. Branding and distribution of the brand, the Emilio cigars are made at Fabrica Ovea Negra, best known as the home of Black Label. Who just said all this?
Hit me. Hit me. Hit me. Suave has been the cigar line that really put Emilio on the map, said James Brown, godfather of soul.
It's not only a great introduction to the brand, but also a great introduction to smoking cigars in general. Featuring a Sumater wrapper highlighted the balanced spice flavor and complexity. Mmm. Sorry.
Sorry. The finish is long with the signature subtle sweetness Suave is known for. There is a lot of Sumatra coming out. There is.
There is a lot of Sumatra. Well, that's because ours was number two. Isn't that funny? And it's better than Padrón, and it's not as good as Padrón.
It comes in waves as far as like available tobacco. Right. You know what I mean? Right.
There's a lot of it. So, it always brings me back to my question I asked you a long time ago. Do the farms run the cigar industry? Well, I mean, that's where it kind of all starts.
Right. You know, you can only make soup with the ingredients that you have. Right. So, if it has one particular ingredient that's more readily available, yeah, more factories would end up using that particular product.
Right. Oh, that's interesting. I never thought of it that way. Sure.
Makes complete sense, though. Sure. So, if you have a farm, you can go, let's fuck with them, let's all make Habano this year. Right.
Well, that was like the, well, I think that came up with that question the one time, because Because I think it was the Connecticut Broadleaf or something, it went away, and then they only made Connecticut, Pennsylvania. Yeah, yeah, that was sort of what, well, it's not that they only made, it's just that it was easier to get at that time, that's when we pivoted away from Connecticut Broadleaf, and now we use the SA to sort of fill that hole, but Roma uses the Pennsylvania Broadleaf. Right, yeah. That's why they changed the Cro-Mag.
Right. For sure. All right. S.
debut through a newly launched domain distribution. For a domain distribution, the opportunity to launch a distribution service for the brand, making their cigars at Tablicalera Familia Disla. Many can provide greater service by leveraging its established systems. So now they started their own distribution company to sell their own cigars.
They own cigars. You said Disla? Yeah. This is the brand that Esteban's involved with.
Okay. That's what I thought. Yes. Right.
So that's why I said Disla. So he has his own distribution though? Well, I don't know how much he's involved with the distribution part, but he makes the cigars that they are distributing. For a manufacturing customer entering the United States, producing and importing cigars is only part of the work, the company said in the press release.
Brands must also navigate state licensing, retailer transactions, invoicing, payment, collection, order processing, fulfillment, sales, attribution, and ultimately, reconciliation and settlement back to the brand. That's a lot of stuff. It's basically everything that I do. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, nice list, but yeah. Right, one guy can do it. One guy can do it. Right.
Domain distribution brings those functions into one operating structure. Your domain distribution will provide merchant of record services, wholesale ordering, sales, fulfillment, retailer support, so basically everything they said that has to do, nah, they're saying they're doing it, right, right, but could have shortened that up and just said this is what we're all doing, well, it wouldn't be a press release, just be a shorter one, yeah, he's managing inventory, do you know who was handling the distro for them before, no, neither do I, apparently it didn't work out, Now they're based in Kansas. Kansas City, Kansas. They're close to announcing its second client.
Ooh, they're about to get a second client. Maybe it's Indiana? So they're distributing for other brands as well. Well, they are about to.
I see. About to say they are. The company noted that it's not accepting brands that are not made at, oh, so it's the only ones that they make that they won't do. Okay.
So all the money stays in one pot. Well, it's just easier to control. Right, that's what I'm saying. And their special software has been integrated into the factory.
Interesting. That captures all the information. Making it incompatible with third-party factories. Well, you could just have the robot change that.
Well, it's incompatible with Pineapple Robot. It's incompatible with Sally. Sally, poor Sally. Oh, Sally.
She's got chubby cheeks, she's kinda cute, Sally. I am so gonna look this up when we're done. Look up, Sally. Palmer just said that the sex robot is kind of cute.
For a sex robot. Oh, I mean, what's the standard for a sex robot? Well, you know, it's a little different. Soft mouth.
Is it? Not as many gears in the hole? Okay, we're completely off. All right, now it's time for the industry's favorite game.
Oh, here we go. What's the score? - Greg, you got to do that again. - Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of excitement.
- He didn't bring it, Greg. - I elevated my volume. - You were blowing out smoke when you did it. - But that's because I was smoking.
I mean, this is part of the show. - You got to, like, get into the camera, Greg. - Did you see Gruber? Gruber practically had a heart attack.
- Yeah, that's true. I saw him. He punched the camera. - Right.
- And Keanu did a great one, too. - Yeah. - You see how well dressed he was? - He was.
- He had the Postaña College shirt on. - Gruber? - No, Keanu. - Well, the first one he had on his pajamas.
- Yeah, so he did good. I was impressed. All right, Greg, are you ready? All right, here we go.
Now it's time for the industry's favorite game, What's the? He didn't even say anything this time. All right, one more time, one more time. Wow, wow.
From the top, boys. All right, now it's time for the industry's favorite game, What's the score? That was just like the first one. Yeah, it was.
Can you predict a cigar score from a half-wheel review before it's revealed? We'll give you clues, you make your guess. As the review unfolds, the answer gets closer. Or does it?
Dun, dun, dun. The closest guest wins. Let's play What's the Score? There we go.
" August 26, 2026, Brooks Whittington, gentlemen, is the reviewer. Brooks, 26, got it. Hiram and Solomon, limited edition, the Hiram and Solomon Eshlar. Boots?
Greg does not know. Isn't that exciting? Well, he doesn't know the cigar, he's like, you can just see it in his face. Oh yeah, I have no idea what that cigar is.
Yeah, right. Now, do you know what cigar that is? Absolutely not. All right.
Absolutely not. I've heard of it, but I don't know what it is. Right. 85.
88. Ironman Solomon Ashlar, the country of origin? Undisclosed. Undisclosed country of origin?
Of course. It gets better. Factory, Undisclosed. Wrapper, Undisclosed, in parentheses, Habano in Connecticut.
Yeah. Size, Undisclosed. Binder, Indonesian Filler, Undisclosed, in parentheses, Broadleaf, HVA, Lajero, and Secco. Link, 6x52, it's round, it's a $32 cigar.
Ooh, expensive. Came out in April 2026, and they smoked three of them. Brooks. Brooks.
Brooks smoked three. Well, it really gave us no information, so 85. I too will stick with my score of 88. The Habano and Connecticut Seed Hybrid Wrapper makes Ashlar immediately intriguing and the Indonesian binder paired with Broadleaf HVA, Lajero, and Seko suggest a layered, full-flavored smoking experience.
Kind of like this delicious cigar from Team Money, thanks Team Money, it's delicious. 86. 89. Clue number two, with only 10,250 cigars produced, this is a genuinely limited relief that should appeal to collectors and hiring Solomon's fans looking for something distinctive.
It's only a collector that looks good. I can't look at him with that thing on. You can't even see me, Greg. I can see you.
Oh, now you can see. I can see you. Oh, now you can see. Yeah, I can see you.
Earlier you said I just look like a white blob with pink something. Yeah, that's accurate still. That's what he thinks you look like. Yeah, that's what I think you look like.
Wow. You just now have a pencil sticking out of your forehead. Wow. Very large pencil.
Score! Gentlemen, Score! You know what? I'm gonna go 89.
Oh. It was an expensive cigar. 90. Alright, clue number three.
At $32 per cigar, the Ashlaw carries a premium price. Especially considering the country of origin, factory, and several tobacco details remain undisclosed. Mm-hmm. So that was the negative, that it's too expensive.
Mystery expensive. Right. Right. Mystery Expensive.
Yeah, but they don't count off for price. Okay, Boots, I mean, Phil. Phil, it's Phil. Would you like the guests here?
Hello, we're doing a show. Come on back in. I understand. I'm trying to drag it out.
Drag what out? Silence? We're at 42 minutes. That's okay.
We hit 45, we're good. Yeah, you're fine. Um, I don't know, man. I just don't think that you could count off for price.
89. I'm sticking with 90. All right, final thought, over the years, can you hear my stomach growling on the microphone? Was that what that was?
Yeah. I thought somebody was taking a shot. Over the years, I have been told by numerous cigar makers that consistency is one of the most difficult things to achieve in cigar releases. But the Hiramans Omelette Ashlar has it in spades.
This is a very positive thing when it comes to the enjoyable flavor profile, the great balance, and the amazing construction that all three cigars share. But it also meant that each cigar started off with the very same metallic note, while short-lived was aggressive enough to affect the score, in the end, the Ashlar is not only a very good cigar, but it's also an excellent choice to commemorate the company's decades in the business. Was that the final thought? That was the final thought.
Final thought? Final thought. Final thought. Final thought.
Final thought. That was it. Final thought. Phil, final score.
What's your score? Again, we're doing a show here, bud. Come on. Yeah, by not talking, that's not really dragging it out.
It's just like people are here listening. 87? 87. I'm gonna stick with 90.
You went the right way. 89. 89. Oh.
They got a better than the Sumatra? Everybody gets better than the Sumatra. We did just get a 91 yesterday on the Sumatra from Cigar Snob. He's a snob.
Yeah, that's a better, that's a better place. Hey, take it easy over there. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Take it easy.
Yeah, I'm trying to get Charlie to be my friend on Facebook. You could just send him, ah, whatever. I have sent him a friend request, he won't approve it. So, I haven't, I haven't listened to any of the episodes since you got back, or any of the news.
I have a question. Have you covered this flash flood that happened in Nepal? No, this happened last night. Is that when it happened?
I saw the headline, but I didn't. It is, it is absolutely wild. Like, you should probably throw that in, like, they're still trying to determine exactly how this happened. Well, there was a lot of water.
Well, there's a, there's a, no, bro, there's a theory that this, this glacier fell into the river, formed this huge dam, and then eventually broke, and then that's what caused it, like, there's a lot of people that are just dying. It was like a 300-foot-tall wave of water. So the Titanic is at fault? What?
Does this cancel your trip to Nepal? Are you going to Nepal? You can't go now, it's underwater. Are you going to Nepal?
Well, no, our next trip is Greenland and Poland. No, I tried listening to some of the shows last night in the car on the way home from Tampa. Oh, here we go. But he didn't do the sound.
What do you mean? There's an adjustment that we have developed to the sound so that you can hear it. So like, I, you know, when you turn it on, and the first show that comes on is one that we've, the most recent one. Okay.
So there's a little box when you, when you edit the show, you just have to click the box and it says standardized sound or something like that. So all it does is make everybody's voice the same level. Okay. So, I mean, you just click it and wait.
Yeah. That's all there is. He didn't do it, so, like when the show started, it's way down here like this. So you gotta crank up your car to hear the show.
And then, he's louder than Mikey, Mikey's louder than Keanu, or Groover, you know, whoever it is, and I'm like, I can't deal with this. Oh, a disaster. Right. Now, if I would have been doing the show and that would happen, first, he would have my ass, and then second, there would have been 17 comments about why the sound is bad on the show.
Nobody's made a comment here? Nobody has said a damn thing. What are all you people doing? He's genuinely upset.
Palmer, yeah, Palmer is... Go back to Palmer, show him, show me to Palmer. I know he is. Right, because I get shit every time something happens, you know, it'll be seven guys, they go, well, you know, the sound was off.
I had to turn my radio way up. Yeah. What's Palmer fucking doing? Right.
What's Palmer on? Did he not red light again today? Yeah, I don't know. But they just accept the fact, like, well, at least we had a show, you know.
Oh my God, this is beautiful. This is absolutely beautiful. So angry. You know, he said something to me when we walked in, and then I thought he was gonna let it go.
But as soon as he started saying that, just a little bit ago, I was like, oh, here we go. It's just ridiculous. Just ridiculous. Now, if this show, I'm not gonna do it.
And when you watch, there'll be, no, I've already said this, I know I have to, or they will jump all over me. Yeah, they will beat you with comments. I was getting text messages when he was late putting the show, and Mikey was late putting the show up. They're texting me down in Central America, where's the show, where's today's show?
This is beautiful. Today's show is terrible. I'm like, what the hell do you want me to do about it? What do you mean to do about it?
This is beautiful. I love it. Still my fault. Palmer gets in trouble.
So are we not calling it Nicaragua? Are we not? Why? Because he said Central America?
Yeah, we're calling Central America. I like Central America better. I think it sounds more exotic. Like Golf of America.
Right. There was a factory that we went to, and I'm going to leave the gentleman's name out, and he made this very interesting comment to me. Okay. He was like, you know, and I didn't understand his question at first, but then after, you know, further in conversation, I understood he basically said why don't you in reference to America just make this all America and I'm like wait wait what he's like you know you have all the guns just come and make it all America like like so there are there are there are people that like have that position that they actually want that to happen I'm like it was wild to me well most of them in the population of poverty definitely want that to happen I mean the only people that don't want that happen are the guys that wear the uniform with the guns well it's interesting though because i mean we speak we spoke to a lot of people down there that you can still like even though it is like a socialist type setup you can still own a business you can still make money you know what i mean you can own property you can own buy a house own property oh yeah yeah but then it can be taken at any time but realistically that can happen in the united states right yeah they can do eminent domain and put a road through this building exactly yeah the more and more you see different cultures and the way that their governments work you kind I kind of realized that it's all the same, just labeled differently.
There are still controls in place, you know what I mean? So, you think we're like Russia? I think that there's similarities in all government. Well, yeah, we all have Twinkies and Oreos, but...
What? I don't know what he's talking about. That's how he sets up politics, by who has your Twinkies and who has the Oreos. Was that like a reference between red and blue, Twinkies and Oreos, the donkey and the elephant?
I don't understand. In his world, who knows what it is? Who knows? Who's taking us at?
Twinkies. We love you, Phil. Don't worry about it. We'll get you Twinkies and Oreos.
You'll be fine. Perfect. Household name. Household name.
All right, Phil, take us out. All right. Goodbye. All right, we gotta go.
Bye. Bloop.
Show Notes
The crew tackles a deadly Six Flags roller coaster lawsuit, privacy concerns surrounding a $60,000 AI robot teacher, and Uber’s new live-video feature for teen accounts. In cigar news, they discuss new releases from Martello and Emilio, the launch of Domain Distribution, and try to predict Halfwheel’s score for the Hiram & Solomon Ashlar. Plus, Nepal’s massive flash flood, podcast audio problems, Nicaragua, government control, and plenty of the usual chaos.
Chapters
00:00 Opening and Show Introduction
01:36 Today’s Stories and Show Preview
02:03 CHPod, Patreon and Listener Comments
05:04 Six Flags Roller Coaster Death Lawsuit
12:04 New York School Pauses $60,000 AI Robot Teacher 19:24 Uber Introduces Live Video for Teen Accounts
21:31 Cameras, Privacy and the Modern Surveillance Debate 27:31 Cigar News Begins
27:39 Martello Cigar Company’s First Release
31:51 Emilio Suave Sumatra Begins Shipping
34:23 Domain Distribution Launches
38:19 What’s the Score? Hiram & Solomon Ashlar
43:57 Nepal Flash Flood and Podcast Audio Problems
47:00 Nicaragua, Government and Life in Central America 49:10 Closing and Sign-Off