Sawtooth Frank and Stomping Jen have interesting conversations with people and talk about life, entertainment, news, and whatever else comes to mind.
Episodes
Wednesday Dec 24, 2025
Wednesday Dec 24, 2025
In this episode, Sawtooth Frank revisits and reflects on two Soft Serve Podcast Christmas classics: A 2025 remix of his Eminem-inspired hip-hop banger and holiday classic, “What’s So Merry About Christmas?” and the haunting short story fever-dream, “Waiting for Christmas.”
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Wednesday Dec 17, 2025
Wednesday Dec 17, 2025
In this episode, Sawtooth Frank reflects on the closing of a Western Massachusetts Jewish delicatessen.
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Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
In this episode, Sawtooth reads the title poem from his second collection of poetry, Monolith Vendors.
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Monolith Vendors
Castro’s beard was captured in Little Havana
trying to start a revolution.
Manuel, the barber on Calle Roja,
who was no friend of Fidel’s,
swept up Castro’s beard with his broom.
Manuel placed the beard
in a dill pickle jar and called the F.B.I.
Interrogation proved useless
against Castro’s infiltrating beard.
Torture, truth serum, and offers of amnesty.
None of these tactics worked.
The F.B.I. made offers of money, to which
Castro’s beard just laughed, and said,
“Try again.”
Following months of imprisonment and
high level risk assessment,
the FBI released Castro’s beard.
A revolution in the United States was unlikely.
Finding work was not difficult.
Castro’s beard was offered a job to write
for the socialist rag, La Revolucion.
The Department of Labor issued a work visa.
The beard was determined
to make something of itself.
Having lived in Cuba on a dictator’s face,
Castro’s beard wrote the best articles
on socialism anybody had ever read.
The disembodied beard worked its way to the top.
Staff writer, to lead writer, to Editor in Chief.
Life was good for the transplanted ideologue.
The beard bought a car and a small bungalow.
None of it belonged to Cuba.
Castro’s beard was happy for a long time.
Many years later, on a cool evening,
Castro’s Beard was watching television and
eating dinner at home in Little Havana.
There was a knock on the door.
Not expecting company, the beard said, “Who is it?”
There was a very long pause before the reply.
“Somos los amigos de Fidel Castro.
Señor Castro está muerto.”
We are the friends of Fidel. Mr Castro is dead.
The day Castro’s beard had been dreading had arrived.
The beard opened its front door.
Two men, dressed in black suits, with skin
the color of gold stood on the porch.
The men smelled of cigar smoke, rum, and fresh limes.
They were crying. “Stay here,” said Castro’s beard.
The beard went to its bedroom, and took a suitcase
from the closet, and started packing.
The men waited on the porch.
Hundreds of thousands—maybe millions— of mourners
passed by the glass coffin of Fidel Castro.
The line of people waiting to see the dead
President’s body at Revolution Square, stretched for miles. From its perch on Fidel’s cold dead chin,
Castro’s beard regarded each mourner with gratitude.
Most were silent, some said long and whispering prayers,
others wailed and screamed with unfathomable grief.
An old woman addressed Castro’s beard directly.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said, wiping away tears,
“You belong here, on the face of our leader.”
Deep down inside, Castro’s beard was certain
The old woman was right.
“May I ask you a question?” said the beard to the woman.
The old woman blew her nose into a rag and nodded.
“Did Fidel forget me—did he hate me for failing?”
“Never,” the woman said to the beard,
dropping her handkerchief. She smiled.
“He loved you for trying.”
Wednesday Dec 03, 2025
Wednesday Dec 03, 2025
Sawtooth is back for his 3rd solo Absolute Zero episode of the podcast to reflect on U2’s “The Joshua Tree” album.
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Wednesday Nov 26, 2025
Wednesday Nov 26, 2025
In this episode, Sawtooth is back for his second solo Absolute Zero edition of the podcast to reflect on death, time, and an unexpected gift from a stranger.
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Wednesday Nov 05, 2025
Wednesday Nov 05, 2025
In this episode, Sawtooth launches the first Absolute Zero Edition of the Soft Serve Podcast.
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Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
In this episode, we talk about:
- What 's been going on the last 10 months.
- The 2024 Election.
- What we’re entertaining ourselves with:
- Big Brother
- The Penguin.
- Agatha All Along.
- Joker 2.
- "The Expanse" books.
- Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach novels.
- Mark Helprin's novel, The Oceans and the Stars.
- Annie Jacobsen's Nuclear War: A Scenario.
- A whole lot more!
If you like our show, there’s a few things you can do to help us out:
- Check out our website at https://www.softservepodcast.com!
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Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
In this episode, Brad and Jen talk about:
- The future of the podcast.
- Hanukkah, 5784/2023.
- The holiday cocktail party “dress-up blow-up.”
- Jen’s garlic dinner fiasco.
- Listening to lots of Christmas music.
- Why the Christmas story of Jesus may have been the result of contact with extraterrestrial or non-human intelligences.
- Brad’s top music for the year:
- Taylor Swift (#1); Roger Waters (#2); Eminem (#3); Peter Gabriel (#4); Wutang Clan (#5); Jenny Lewis (#6); Pink Floyd (#7); John Coltrane (#8); Tool (#9); NIN (#10); (#11) Phoebe Bridgers.
- Jen's top music for the year.
- Following up on Brad's 2023 New Year’s resolutions.
- 2024 resolutions.
- What we’re watching on T.V. and at the Movies:
- Godzilla Minus 1.
- The Creator.
- Fry Bread Face and Me.
- Upload Season 3.
- The Crown Season 6.
If you like our show, there’s a few things you can do to help us out:
- Check out our website at https://www.softservepodcast.com!
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Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
In this episode, Brad and Jen talk about:
- Our ongoing (?) hiatus from podcasting.
- Death-a-versaries.
- What we’ve been up to the last 3 months:
- Our 22nd wedding anniversary.
- Brad’s Ancestry.com DNA test.
- Ignoring World War III.
- Jen falling apart. (Ankle and Neck).
- Peter Gabriel. i/O tour.
- Taylor Swift Eras movie.
- Les Claypool and the Flying Frog Brigade.
- Jen’s colonoscopy.
- 27/22 Anniversary.
- Rubblebucket, 11/18, at Academy of Music.
- Thanksgiving 2023
- Real History of Thanksgiving— Dangerous myths.
- The start of “Traditional” Victorian Thanksgiving.
- Current traditions.
- Emerging traditions.
- What ways do/could/should people celebrate thankfulness during thanksgiving apart from the gluttonous consumption of the harvest?
- Our plans?
- Who carves the turkey?
- Random questions from friends:
- How do you wipe? Are you a neat folder, or a monster that just crumples it all together and hopes for the best.
- Are hotdogs a sandwich?
- Is cereal a soup?
- Are pop-tarts ravioli?
- Brad is addicted to social media "reels."
If you like our show, there’s a few things you can do to help us out:
- Check out our website at https://www.softservepodcast.com!
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Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
In this episode, Brad and Jen talk about:
- Radon gas test results.
- Pier Village in Long Branch, NJ; McLoone's Pier House.
- Monmouth, NJ Museum and the artist know as Porkchop.
- Redbank, NJ: Centrada restaurant, and Coney Waffles and Ice Cream.
- Asbury Park: Collage Workshop with Holly Would.
- Brad asks the A.I., “How long is too long to wash your asshole using a bidet?”
- Jen went to Jonas Brothers and was exposed to COVID.
If you like our show, there’s a few things you can do to help us out:
- Check out our website at https://www.softservepodcast.com!
- Subscribe to our podcast in your favorite app, download our episodes!
- Leave a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soft-serve-podcast/id1428770328
- TELL A FRIEND about our show!