Hard Parking with Jhae Pfenning

Jhae brings back Hard Parking Episode 187 with John and Marcus of The RTWJ Podcast — one of the five episodes he says shows the full range of the show. The original conversation started after he heard their July 5, 2023 episode “Pride Month 2023. Pride Gets Personal” and wanted in. John came out in high school. Marcus waited until his 20s. They talk coming out, whether you can be “gay enough” inside your own community, kids and sex ed, and why cars still sneak in at the end. After the classic, Jhae updates the tape: RTWJ’s last episode was August 11, 2025 (“America is (Not) Healing”), the friendship cooled when politics got personal, and why he still thinks this one is worth hearing. RTWJ: @thertwjpodcast · thertwjpodcast.buzzsprout.com Original Ep 187: Watch on YouTube Chapters 00:00 Why this classic is back 00:02:41 John and Marcus of RTWJ 00:05:14 Coming-out stories 00:35:59 “Gay enough” and community infighting 00:54:24 Kids, schools, and sex ed 01:16:46 Cars still show up 01:19:48 Where RTWJ is now Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/

Jim Mandel sits down with Jhae as a car-scene friend who also happens to be the bassist in Small Leaks Sink Ships. The Phoenix-born, Portland-based experimental art-pop band has been at it since the mid-2000s, and Jim still daily-drives a black 1999 Honda Civic DX. They talk the band’s run from Mesa’s Beyond Analog days through Golden Calf and 2023’s Low Tide, the skateboarding life that never really left, why cheap EK Civics still own the culture, and how a local friend group called Cartuned Network came together. Band: smallleaks.com · Spotify: Small Leaks Sink Ships · Instagram: @smallleaks Cartuned Network: @cartuned_ntwrk 00:00 Intro + why Jim is in the chair00:05:40 Who Jim is — construction, karate, Hondas00:08:30 Small Leaks Sink Ships00:21:02 Skateboarding never left00:54:53 The Civics — ’92 K24 hatch and the black one01:11:18 Cartuned Network + wrap Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/

Phoenix photographer Matt Engdall sits down in the Gilbert studio and traces the whole path: graphic design at CSU Monterey Bay, a short run at Central Coast TV, the dead-end jobs back home, then a surprise CTE teaching gig at Sandra Day O’Connor High School from 2019 to 2024. COVID put the camera back in his hands. High Line turned car photos into a January 2021 business. Leaving the classroom in 2024 made it full-time. Matt breaks down light painting classes with the Phoenix Photography Group, why he scouts a location for hours before a shoot, and how design hierarchy — what your eye hits first — is the same skill whether he is building a logo or lighting a fender. Jhae also gets the classroom stories: stage fright, COVID kids, and why “just go teach” is not the easy AI backup plan. Correction from the Jesse Iwuji episode: Matt Casto, not Matt Castro. Guest: Matt Engdall — @mattengdall_photo | mattengdall.photo Referenced: Tormenting Tarmac Ep 203 with Jorge Aquino · @tormentingtarmac Jhae on CarCast: NSX market + Zanardi Edition sale Timestamps 0:00 Intro, Revvit correction & Matt Casto correction 1:28 Coming up + Spark Forge 2:38 Welcome Matt / Tormenting Tarmac 3:24 Phoenix kid, Monterey years, Go Otters 4:45 Graphic design, KSBW, and the dead-end stretch 6:00 CTE teaching at Sandra Day O’Connor 7:11 COVID, High Line, business in 2021 8:36 Phoenix Photography Group & light painting class 11:08 Learning the craft and the photographer network 19:10 Scouting the spot that actually fits the car 22:35 Asking about the car before you ask for the booking 48:00 What teaching actually looked like 54:43 Classroom stories, COVID kids & movie knockoffs 59:26 “Just go teach” in the AI era 1:01:25 Everything you look at is graphic design 1:06:45 Hard Parking logo, hierarchy & detail shots 1:13:18 Why book Matt Engdall 1:15:19 Outro, Tormenting Tarmac & CarCast links Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/

Jonathon Rivers of Drive Culture returns for his third Hard Parking conversation. Jhae and Jon start with Rivers’ walkthrough of the Acura NEXERA Vision concept — dual-hinge doors, phantom lighting, and the design language pointed at the next-gen RDX Hybrid. Then they talk about the gap buyers keep missing: a prototype is a statement, a production car has to clear crash, cost, and packaging. The reference point is Toyota’s 2014 FT-1 concept versus the A90 GR Supra that actually reached the street. After that, the social media grind. Jon says he does not care about the numbers. Jhae does not let that sit. Drive Culture is Jon’s own channel, not an Acura or American Honda production. New videos drop Fridays at 7am PT: youtube.com/@Drive_Culture Instagram: @drive.culture.reviews NEXERA video: Acura NEXERA Vision | BEST Design Concept Ever? Official NEXERA release: Acura News FT-1 concept: Toyota Pressroom FT-1 to GR Supra: MotorTrend Previous Hard Parking episodes with Jonathon Rivers: EP 247 — NSXPO 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIU_Fc6Q4iU EP 296 — NSXPO 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCIDP4LHBnA In this episode: Third time on Hard Parking with Jonathon Rivers of Drive Culture His Acura NEXERA Vision concept video and why the design hit Butterfly doors, phantom lighting, and cues aimed at the next-gen RDX Hybrid What buyers expect from a concept versus what a production car can actually ship Toyota FT-1 concept to A90 GR Supra as the reality check The 2026 YouTube and social media grind Jon saying the numbers don’t matter — and Jhae pushing back Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/

EP342 Would we still stop the country for 9/11 if it happened today? Solo Episode 342 drops on the 25th anniversary, with Jhae Pfenning on memory fade, walking the Ground Zero memorial with Ivette in June 2018, and standing in a Grand Rapids bar when the second plane hit live on TV. ABC News posted that a Tesla crashed into Midtown scaffolding and killed a passenger, then deleted the X post after Community Notes. The driver was operating the car manually, fled, and was arrested for DWI and vehicular manslaughter — not FSD. Jhae also covers Labor Day street takeovers, including LAPD’s Operation Street Sweeper in Harbor Gateway. The back half is the Lindsay Clancy hung jury without a hot take. The trial was never “did she do it.” It was her state of mind. Using the 2015 Arizona I-10 median-barrier case he sat on, Jhae lands on the only rule that matters in a jury room: it is not what you know. It is what you can prove. Sources: Business Insider — films altered after 9/11 9/11 Memorial & Museum ABC News — Midtown Tesla crash NY Daily News — DWI charges, BAC .229 Musk: Autopilot was not in use LA Times — Operation Street Sweeper NYT — Clancy mistrial, what next NBC Boston — jurors speak AZ Central — I-10 / Humphrey-Quinn Timestamps 0:00 Cold open 0:21 Show open 0:31 9/11, 25 years later 2:10 Ground Zero with Ivette, June 2018 4:09 Where I was when the second plane hit 6:13 Remember September 11th 7:25 ABC deletes the Tesla crash post 8:35 LA + Chicago street takeovers 12:23 The Clancy trial was about state of mind 13:20 What an Arizona jury taught me 21:18 Not what you know — what you can prove 25:04 Thanks and close Contact: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast Instagram: @hardparkingpod YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: @hard.parking.jhae Right Honda: righthonda.com Right Toyota: righttoyota.com Arcus Foundry: arcusfoundry.com Autocannon: shop.autocannon.com The Warehouse AZ: thewarehouseaz.com