Worst Things First Podcast
46 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago -A fourth season of the critically acclaimed, no bullsh*t sit-downs hosted by PHATER ROC of Galapagos4 & Scarce Elementz Crew is upon us. Ordinary life generating extraordinary dialogue is the layout. Discover what qualifies as a "shitty" situation to a janitor, the best bribes to keep the cable guy from disconnecting you, how to avoid an ass-kicking from a shoplifter as a loss prevention retail worker, whether life truly ever goes on for a sex-offender's family, or what happens between a client and tree trimmer when a tree falls on the house. The worst aspect of each guest's daily routine sparks the discussion. From there, the conversation rides the wind. Season 4 premiers Monday, February 20, with literary emancipator and children's book author, Abena Sankofa Imhotep.
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Episodes
THE BRA MAKER
April 12, 2023 05:00 - 42 minutes - 29.4 MBBy way of an unanticipated stroke of grace, the W.T.F.P studios and host PHATEROC stumbled upon divine insight into the anatomy of the feminine figure and the challenges faced in producing under-garments which effectively cover and support its upper portions, while also accentuating the natural beauty of the area. In this episode, W.T.F.P guest, C.E.O and designer of Shy Intimate Apparel,, TARRITA, joins the show to discuss everything from walking the tightrope of balance between being a h...
THE REPO MAN
March 13, 2023 05:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBBelieve it or not, you don't need a pilot's license or even a pilot rolling with you to repo an airplane. This episode of W.T.F.P features the insight of a 15-year veteran in the repossession game. Operating almost exclusively out of the San Fernando Valley and other parts of northern L.A County, the "Taker of your Tahoe," the "Collector of your Camry," the "Snatcher of Your Series 6," KEFO, joins the show to give the run down from his lens on one of the most hated and perhaps misundersto...
THE AIRLINE SERVICE AGENT
March 06, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 43.4 MBThis time flies as a young airline service agent, SAALIYAH visits the W.T.F.P studios for the low down on the flight game. Unfortunately, unhappy customers have to accept that the airlines cannot actually make time fly. So when delays happen, luggage gets lost and birds get caught in the engines, patience may be the key.......even if....the flight you're missing, is a once in a lifetime trip to the Olympics. Saaliyah is also an actress, model and poet. Tune in for her project shoutouts o...
THE CABLE GUY
February 27, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 45.7 MBFrom movie night with the whole family to a couple enjoying tv dinners, to the 1990's adolescent male's late night exploration of puberty, the cable guy/gal was known to set the tone for hours of home-based entertainment, and in particular prevalence prior to our current age of the information highway. This episode of W.T.F.P features the diary of a "channel-man", and within it, tales of bribery, Showtime at the traphouse, and his commentary on a society consumed with television programming ...
THE LITERARY EMANCIPATOR
February 20, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBW.T.F.P's fourth season arrives with the presence of the multi-layered ABENA SANKOFA IMHOTEP, a highly revered creator, public speaker and empowerment facilitator currently enjoying the success of her most recently authored children's book "Omari's Big Tree and the Mighty Djembe." ABENA discusses the challenges faced in bringing life to a written story in the form of a published book for distribution. The journey of understanding one's past to positively navigate one's future and how it l...
THE DRAG QUEENS
May 03, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 80.7 MBW.T.F.P''s Season 3 Finale finds host PHATEROC seated firmly in an educational course led by the metaphorical professorial duo and literal professional drag queens: VANA B. and MS. ROBIN GRAVES . From being 'outed' as gay due to hate crime in small town America, to later returning from a Seattle-based stint of life searching and ultimately finding embrace and inspiration from Ms. Vana and others within the Des Moines' LGBTQ community, Robin Graves details the journey to her current car...
THE D.J.
April 26, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBLong Island, N.Y native turned Des Moines hip hop fixture and member of the world famous Technitions, D.J EPISODE joins the show. Our guest recounts the meeting of W.T.F.P host PHATEROC wheeling in crate after crate of vinyl for DJ EPISODE as a resident DJ at a mutual employer/nightclub nearly 20 yrs ago. As an era of vinyl spinning replaced by digital options has returned to an appreciation of wax habits, the woes of DJing and a new found resurgence in finding fun in the craft both ca...
THE GOLDEN GLOVE BOXER
April 19, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 52.9 MBTwo-time Golden Glove fighter and boxing coach, SHAWN SMITH, joins the W.T.F.P studio to discuss the less glamorous side of of the sweet science from the perspective of an amateur fighter who eventually became trainer of several Golden Glove winners. Our guest marks 'the uncertainty.' as his greatest foe. Memory lane steers recollection of his own ring experience with the body blows of Shawn Porter (former two-time welterweight champion), and a competitive bond with Super Middleweight...
THE AMERICAN AUTO WORKER
April 12, 2021 05:00 - 2 hours - 107 MBRegular W.T.F.P listeners should buckle up for an insightful and entertaining ride, while picky eaters may be wise to pack a lunch, as "Real Talk" is the only dish being served at today's company cookout. While approaching his 30th year of tenure, with factory experience ranging both inside and outside of the United States, our guest, DEVON ALLEN, dissects a common reflection of humanity and its tendencies found mirrored throughout blue collar America as well as every corner of the eart...
THE VIETNAM VET
April 05, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 73.3 MBIn a monumental honor for W.T.F.P , Elvin John Kruger, better known as "BUTCH" of the legendary 101st Airborne Division, (1st of 506 Company) joins the lab to discuss some of the darkest and brightest days he experienced in Vietnam from June 1969 until an undisclosed time frame in 1971. From the disappointment of receiving a draft letter to traversing the blood soaked soil of Hamburger Hill just weeks following the tragic conflict. From a lieutenant's brash disregard for his point-man...
THE WHITE ADOPTIVE MOTHER OF BLACK & NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN
March 29, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBFrom "White Savior Complex," to the forced removal of Native children from Native families necessitating the Indian Child Welfare Act, W.T.F.P guest, Nancy Miller joins the studio to discuss the lowlands and sunshine that comes with the honor, responsibility and challenges of being a white adoptive mother of not only two Meskwaki young men, but also a black young lady..... in small-town, Iowa. PHATE gives an expired pass to white people indulging in 'blackface,' and Tom Cruise's suitabil...
THE EX-CON WHO'LL WHOOP YO' ASS
March 22, 2021 05:00 - 2 hours - 82.6 MBFrom interpreting a childhood blueprint of designed violence to enduring a prison bid from fisticuffs turned deadly, this episode of W.T.F.P features the most candid of convict convo. PHIL joins the set to discuss everything from looking for any way on a given day to skip kindergarten to marks who budge their way into the mix getting punched right up out of it, off G.P, An inside glimpse of a long-gone snapshot of the Iowa penal system is shared while the evolution of an institutionalize...
SEQRET'S RETURN
March 15, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBBack by popular demand, adult entertainer SEQRET returns to the W.T.F.P lab to address the outpouring of questions from listeners who caught her first appearance, (W.T.F.P Season 2 Episode 23 - The Exotic Dancer). From the first time of pulling her weapon, to stripping retirement, crypto-currency, and stock investments, the mother of a young girl discusses an unconventional approach to securing a future for her loved one(s). Despite falling somewhere within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, SEQRE...
RETURN OF THE EXOTIC DANCER
March 15, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBBack by popular demand, adult entertainer SEQRET returns to the W.T.F.P lab to address the outpouring of questions from listeners who caught her first appearance, (W.T.F.P Season 2 Episode 23 - The Exotic Dancer). From the first time of pulling her weapon, to stripping retirement, crypto-currency, and stock investments, the mother of a young girl discusses an unconventional approach to securing a future for her loved one(s). Despite falling somewhere within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, SEQRE...
THE JANITOR
March 08, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 66.3 MBThe nastiest mess you never had to clean up is illustrated in this edition of "W.T.F.P: Storytime," featuring guest story-teller, CHRIS, owner-operator of Main Street Cleaning Service, with over a quarter century of commercial cleaning experience to the name. From custom artwork painted in feces by an artist nobody remembers hiring, to after-hours romance, with a few daycare boogers sprinkled here and there for seasoning, CHRIS explains the business of shaping profit out of a seemingly shi...
THE SEX OFFENDER'S WIFE
March 01, 2021 06:00 - 2 hours - 88.1 MBThe heaviest subject matter of W.T.F.P's series run falls upon this 26th episode of Season Three : INSIDE: Illegal images. Italian Police. U.S Feds. Family visits at Leavenworth United States Prison. Psychosexual exams. A father missing from a home and a mother and wife trying to look past a human's actions act for the sake of the character beneath, and a chance of redemption. Debate is raised on whether there may be a 'spectrum of human inclination or lines that some beings ...
THE FUEL TRANSPORTER
February 22, 2021 06:00 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBA recent national poll we are currently having trouble locating indicated that 80% of American podcast listeners have reported losing sleep over trying to fully wrap their minds around what exactly a vapor return hose does and how exactly it factors into the everyday "nine-to-fiver" running late for work, particularly when one of those big ass tanker trucks happen to be taking up 67% of an otherwise packed gas station parking lot on a random weekday morning. With no other choice but to r...
THE CHEF, RESTAURATEUR & FOOD HISTORIAN
February 15, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 75.2 MBIn the season premier of W.T.F.P's third season, a humble horror fiend appears on set, and he just so happens to also be the culinary mind behind South Union Bread Cafe, Centro, Django,Gateway Market, Zombie Burger, and most recently, George's Burger Joint, Batter Up, and perhaps another one to twenty eateries we'll have to fire our research team for failing to identify in these very summary notes. The six-time James Beard Award nominee, George Formaro, covers a seven course spread in t...
THE EXOTIC DANCER
November 19, 2020 18:00 - 1 hour - 79.9 MBIn the Season 2 Finale, our close out guest, SEQRET known as a craftswoman and master of seductive entertainment, joins the Worst Things First Crew to dive deep into the world of exotic dancing. All the juice is squeezed in this episode, from common rookie hustle mistakes that mess up the bag for everybody, to handling the body odor of guests, to knowing better than to mix business with pleasure, and family opposition vs. support. As a mother who also carries 3 academic degrees under her...
YOUR BLACK HAIR CARE COACH
September 29, 2020 22:00 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBOwner and operator of Tutus & Tennis Shoes, Kanisha Tillman, joins the WTFP crew to discuss the reality of a war on poverty and the lack of opportunity that results from it, which in turn impacts the upbringing and development of all children, but in particular, those of color. This realization combined with her passion to uplift and provide viable hair care options for young black girls led to her current niche in providing hair care assistance to transracial adoptive families. The dialog...
A Designer and a Disability
September 14, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 53 MBGraphic artist Kevin Ha joins the WTFP studio to get to the rock bottom of being a young artist in a world steeped in uncertainty and constant revelation, while also living with a degenerative disability. Ha (21yr) breaks down the effects of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which impacts the ability to build muscle, and how this has shaped his tendency to think 3 moves ahead, while also growing to recognize and empathize with the fatigue and burnout of those helping to bring that planning to fr...
A DESIGNER and a DISABILITY
September 14, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 53 MBGraphic artist Kevin Ha joins the WTFP studio to get to the rock bottom of being a young artist in a world steeped in uncertainty and constant revelation, while also living with a degenerative disability. Ha (21yr) breaks down the effects of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which impacts the ability to build muscle, and how this has shaped his tendency to think 3 moves ahead, while also growing to recognize and empathize with the fatigue and burnout of those helping to bring that planning to fr...
THE RESTAURANT SERVER
August 25, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 46.3 MBAfter 17+ years of service in everything from your neighborhood Applebees to your metro Euro-bistro, Kim G. sits down to discuss the worst things first regarding being a server. From being a hotbed for sexual harassment to the employment option that allows for a mother to be home with her child(ren) throughout the day, servers see a lot and deal with alot. The breakdown of how to appropriately pursue chemistry between a guest and an attractive server is discussed. COVID's impact catches pl...
THE YOUNG ACTIVISTS - DSM BLM
August 17, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 68.7 MBDes Moines Black Liberation Movement co-founder, Colo Chanel, along with fellow activist and artist Linda B. joins W.T.F.P to discuss their transition from high school students of the metro area to frontline participants in the recent civil unrest throughout the country. Linda recounts a personal harrowing arrest scenario during recent protests, where a lack of consideration for medical conditions and equipment set the undertone for her experience. Host, PHATEROC, seeks clarification bet...
THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN
August 10, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 28.6 MBPart Two of W.T.F.P's sit down with Alan Jacobs makes a turn for the serious, as his time and challenges in caring for the sick, abused, and injured becomes the topic of discussion. Learn how training exercises with jet fuel and fire on the surface of water was no laughing matter. Dialogue deep dives into the dark depths of gun shot wounds, and the attentive listener may even be lucky enough to hear about Alan's very own one night stand with a bullet. PHATAL EXTRACTION: HOST: "You ever...
THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHER
August 03, 2020 05:00 - 59 minutes - 41 MBHighly acclaimed, award winning street photographer Alan Jacobs joins WTFP for a two part session. Part One focuses on the challenges he's faced in street photography. Part two, featured in next week's episode focuses on his prior EMT work. While his work has garnered attention from CNN, ABC, and other major outlets, no where along the journey did that mean he didn't run into bullshit. From non-paying customers, to photo fakers, to being in the right place at the right time, for the right ...
THE DIGITAL MARKETER & BJJ BROWN BELT
July 27, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBDigital Marketing Director, Vern , sits down for a W.T.F.P session on how technology has shaped the modern digital marketing landscape, which by default, has included a deep dive look into the everyday lives of consumers. Everything from the key words you use to search the web, to the products we utilize and discuss aloud at home often find their way into targeted marketing aimed at pinning down the key to our pocketbooks. Don't be surprised next time you spend the weekend complaining abou...
THE LOSS PREVENTION SPECIALIST
July 20, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutes - 33 MBFrom guns on shoplifting customers to body slammed agents, and employees in organized theft rings with getaway vehicles, the 14-yr veteran of retail Loss Prevention, Eddie Glasses, unfolds the gold. This includes the journey from his native Harlem, New York to his home of 15+ years, Des Moines, Iowa, and the differences between retail theft in each. PHATAL EXTRACTION: PHATE: "So what's the worst part about this whole gig?" EDDIE: "That we can't put our hands on 'em no more!"
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER
July 13, 2020 05:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBDes Moines Public School teacher of Urban Leadership studies, Emily Lang, joins the studio to discuss her role as an educator and its future amidst the unprecedented pandemic mania, along with the added dynamic of the current social climate of widespread civil unrest. Emily explains the struggles of working with parents while nurturing the minds of the youth to be free thinkers and ask questions. The difference between being a white ally and a "white savior" is discussed. The origin of ...
THE BLIND MAN'S FULL PICTURE: ANXIETY
July 06, 2020 05:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBIn the prelude to the upcoming, anticipated return of W.T.F.P, host PHATEROC stops short of heading to a surgical procedure to share the recent account of his first ever bout with anxiety. The monologue pens a letter of personal accountability, and quite literally tells the tale of being forced to see self-help, vulnerability and the world, through a different lens. 2020 details for Season Two of Worst Things First Podcast are announced. PHATAL EXTRACTION: "In the hotel, when I finall...
THE GREY WITCH & DOMINATRIX
April 06, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 50.4 MBIn the finale of W.T.F.P's debut season, PHATEROC plays host to long time Chicago resident, CATHY, perhaps better known for publicly slow-cooking lames on social media under the monikers "CATASTROPHIE" or "MEDUSA," most often either for the victim not thinking for themselves while vocally expecting everyone else on a post to follow suit OR for jumping in her DM's expecting a mutual interest from her due to her common practice of speaking freely about human sensuality in general, and her own,...
THE FIRE & SMOKE RESTORATION REPAIRMAN
March 30, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBIn an unprecedented move, a W.T.F.P guest gets spooked and awkwardly avoids the most anticipated aspect of the discussion containing the most juice content. Meanwhile, PHATEROC learns how standing in an energy whirlpool with electrical equipment submerged in the same water doesn't quite mix.....Also, our guest details a time when the company had to pay his medical bills under the table to account for an on-the-job impairment in smoke and fire work. COVID19 UPDATE: As we draw towards the cl...
THE ENERGY PRODUCER
March 23, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 52.5 MBSelf-starter and Chicago native now living in Iowa, Tone, joins the show after his recent return from Japan, Vietnam and other foreign sites... As an often outspoken social media presence on what he does and doesn't like about Iowa, the stage is set for host and guest to discuss the high frequency of "out-of-towners" who have a tendency to talk shit about Iowans even after moving to and becoming longtime residents of the state.....and as PHATEROC explains his loyalty to the people of Iowa, a...
THE M.C. TURNED WHISKEY DISTILLER
March 16, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 66.8 MBUnderground rap fans aware of the history between today's W.T.F.P guest MarKaus and host PHATEROC would likely consider this the least anticipated episode of all time, as a brief history of hip hop beef turned mutual respect is discussed. Iowa's role in the Italian Mafia's history is examined in relation to setting the stage for MarKaus' most recent venture in distilling two types of whiskey with prohibition era recipes he now owns, available in grocery stores throughout Iowa and other stat...
THE SNEAKER CONNOISSEUR
March 09, 2020 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBThe lows and highs of the booming sneaker resale business are discussed by co-owner of ILLEST AROUND sneaker boutique, Justin Baccam. (Allen Ung - Co-Owner) Phateroc sets his sights on an old childhood sneaker memory, and seeks Justin's helps, while both guest and host recall getting swindled by fakes in a kicks transaction. The observed natural flava connection between blacks and various Asian cultures makes a play. FOLLOW: @ILLESTAROUND515 on Instagram VISIT the ILLEST AROUND sneaker bou...
THE UNDECIDED HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR
March 02, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 46.6 MBA Des Moines, Iowa high school senior joins the show to discuss societal pressure for a promising student to have a career, college choice and major selected by the end of a year in which a person is still a teenager. The mystery of the absence of homework assignments in current public schools in the metro is explained, as PHATEROC learns how learning is now perceived and measured for current students like Briyahn and many other high schoolers, vs. his time. A 16 yr old details the pros and...
A PRACTITIONER OF THE HEALING ARTS
February 24, 2020 06:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBGODDESS joins the show and discusses the unrealistic expectations of those seeking assistance from healers. The potential overlap between holistic approaches to creating an environment where wellbeing exists and conventional understandings of science, is loosely discussed. PHATEROC reveals a moment of clarity in which his household began to understand "the I" in LGBTQIA+, while an honest dialogue expressing the challenge for cis-gendered individuals to grow accustomed to changes in languag...
THE DIVERSITY RECRUITER
February 17, 2020 06:00 - 53 minutes - 37 MBA black college recruiter discusses the nuanced challenges of diversity development in a state where his own race makes up no more than 3.5% of the population. Two old friends and ex-ruffians slide down memory lane to examine humbling life lessons, the street rules of maturity changing over time, and making a personal decision change to add to the quality of life in the world around them, as opposed to diminishing it. 'PhateRoc finally publicly admits to the black community that he can't p...
W.T.F.P - EPISODE 4 - THE MASSAGE THERAPIST
February 10, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBMassage therapist, T. Black, joins the show to discuss "unhappy endings," a false tale of kidnapping and what its like to attend the funeral of a loved one...... in shackles. PHATAL EXTRACTION: "Everybody's just trying to go home...."
THE MASSAGE THERAPIST
February 10, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBMassage therapist, T. Black, joins the show to discuss "unhappy endings," a false tale of kidnapping and what its like to attend the funeral of a loved one...... in shackles. PHATAL EXTRACTION: "Everybody's just trying to go home...."
THE FANTASY ARTIST & ILLUSTRATOR
February 04, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBFresh off the recent release of his Blood of Dragons illustration book, fantasy illustrator and artist, Tyler Walpole joins the show to discuss his inspirational Saturday morning cartoon origins as an artist and long road of practice and opportunity which ultimately led to his work for Marvel Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast, Warner Bros Animation, Marvel/Lionsgate, DC Comics, Blizzard, Magic the Gathering, as well as his own original works which can be viewed and purchased at the link se...
W.T.F.P - EPISODE 3 - THE FANTASY ARTIST & ILLUSTRATOR
February 04, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBFresh off the recent release of his Blood of Dragons illustration book, fantasy illustrator and artist, Tyler Walpole joins the show to discuss his inspirational Saturday morning cartoon origins as an artist and long road of practice and opportunity which ultimately led to his work for Marvel Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast, Warner Bros Animation, Marvel/Lionsgate, DC Comics, Blizzard, Magic the Gathering, as well as his own original works which can be viewed and purchased at the link se...
THE L.A. GRAFFITI WRITER
February 04, 2020 08:00 - 42 minutes - 29 MBLos Angeles native vandal, DERSK ONE, joins the show to discuss his graffiti writing origin in the Los Angeles bus-hopping days of the '80s and 90's, early writing history, inspirations and his first encounter with 'PHATEROC which occurred on the road, at a graffiti jam in New Mexico they both attended, where they later discovered it was a competition. DERSK also discusses painting in Taiwan, the loss of his virginity, the grimiest spots he's ever rocked, his first impressions of Des Moi...
W.T.F.P - EPISODE 1 - THE L.A. GRAFFITI WRITER
February 04, 2020 08:00 - 42 minutes - 29 MBLos Angeles native vandal, DERSK ONE, joins the show to discuss his graffiti writing origin in the Los Angeles bus-hopping days of the '80s and 90's, early writing history, inspirations and his first encounter with 'PHATEROC which occurred on the road, at a graffiti jam in New Mexico they both attended, where they later discovered it was a competition. DERSK also discusses painting in Taiwan, the loss of his virginity, the grimiest spots he's ever rocked, his first impressions of Des Moi...
W.T.F.P - EPISODE 2- THE TREE TRIMMER
February 04, 2020 06:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBFenimore Bros. founder discusses the perils of tree-work and its contrasts to rock climbing, race relations among power tools, the complexity of child predators, and of course...... a moose offering. For tree removal work, learn more about the Fenimore Bros. HERE. PHATAL EXTRACTION: "If you drop a tree on a house, and the homeowner's been drinking. does it make a sound?"
THE TREE TRIMMER
February 04, 2020 06:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBFenimore Bros. founder discusses the perils of tree-work and its contrasts to rock climbing, race relations among power tools, the complexity of child predators, and of course...... a moose offering. For tree removal work, learn more about the Fenimore Bros. HERE. PHATAL EXTRACTION: "If you drop a tree on a house, and the homeowner's been drinking. does it make a sound?"