12.11.18 | One Michigan University has purchased hockey pucks for students and staff to use in case of attack. Does this make sense? Then, men should consider adding color to their wardrobe in order to earn more money and be noticed in the workplace and an IKEA in Italy is “going to the dogs”—in a good way.

12.05.18 | Who said you can’t say Merry Christmas? The religious right has compiled a list of Naughty and Nice companies based on their use of the word Christmas versus Holiday. Companies get “reason for the season” points for Nativity Scenes and website tabs labeled Christmas. Tim and John agree that they will be supporting more of the naughty companies. Happy Birthday Jesus!  But first, John gives Tim a Saint Nick gift, we learn of John’s stint as an Easter Bunny, and a surprise furry shows up on set!

12.04.18 | A radio station in Ohio has pulled “Baby It’s Cold Outside” from its lineup after a listener expressed concern over the holiday song’s lyrics. Six volunteers swallowed the heads of LEGO figurines for an unusual study, and Payless Shoes pranked VIP shoppers into paying markups of up to 1,800 percent for the bargain retailer’s shoes as part of a viral advertising campaign.

11.28.18 | The Salvation Army denies that they are anti-LGBT in spite of their history—activists have created a voucher you can drop in the bell ringers’ red buckets this holiday season to stand up for LGBTQ rights. Amish farmers are starting to market camel’s milk, a bride in Australia reads out her cheating fiancés texts at the altar, and the list of 10 cities where the cost of living is skyrocketing is surprising.

11.27.18 | A researcher in the UK believes the autonomous vehicle will usher in a new mobile venue for the world’s oldest profession. Not so far-fetched, considering 60% of all Americans have had sex in a car. A safe purchased at a storage unit auction was opened to reveal $7.5 million in cash, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade had its first same sex kiss.

11.21.18 | Family, leftovers, football, dysfunction, and cranberry in a can…Happy Thanksgiving! The Focus Group wants you to tune-in to The National Dog Show on Thanksgiving Day immediately following the Macy’s Parade. Canine expert and co-host of the show since 2002, David Frei, joins Tim and John to encourage all of us to watch the pups before football. #DogsUntil2 promises 196 breeds, over 2000 dogs, and a growing audience approaching 30 million. Great fun for the entire family. As David reminds us, “It’s a show!”

11.20.18 | In her new memoir, Becoming, Michelle Obama recounts sneaking out of The White House with daughter Malia on that night in June 2015 when Marriage Equality became the law of the land. But first, could marriage equality be overturned with the new administration and the conservative Supreme Court. Then, are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the conservative in your life? How about the “Lego-like” Build the Wall toy building block set. Yes, it does exist, it’s a real item—you just can’t make it up. Happy Thanksgiving!

11.14.18 | There’s a good chance those long hold times for customer support have something to do with a rating known as a customer lifetime value, or CLV. That secret number is used by all manner of companies to measure the potential financial value of their customers. Tim and John check-in on their Mack Weldon wardrobe (listen in for a special discount code for Focus Group listeners), while life lessons from The Hardy Boys and Nothing Runs like a Deere caught our eye.

11.13.18 | Following the midterm elections, Wilton Manors is now the second city in the United States following Palm Springs to have an all-LGBTQ city council—it also has the second highest percentage of same-sex couples following Provincetown, MA. Senior citizens are replacing teenagers as fast-food workers amid a tight U.S. labor market, and restaurant chains are recruiting at churches, senior centers and the AARP. Scotland will begin incorporating LGBTQ history and issues into a mandatory curriculum with no opt-outs or exemptions.