In this 50th episode of Queernecks, queer rural Appalachian LGBTQ hosts Beck and Dash chat about pets, junk food, and digestive issues, then reflect on smoking—how early they started, how it was normalized, and how quitting saved Christmas. They discuss teaching, student pass/fail options, rate-my-professor culture, and gaps in student literacy, tech skills, and civic knowledge, plus the poverty-simulator game, Spent. They share fears about cruises and the ocean, mention Netflix’s Trainwreck and the “poop cruise,” and touch on end-of-life planning, wills, and transfer-on-death paperwork. A sponsor segment celebrates nostalgic Wishbook catalogs and their digitized archives. The Appalachian noun of interest is “Fiesta Ware,” and its cultural labor history, before closing with travel and food plans and a one-year anniversary tease.Send us mail at [email protected] us on Facebook or Instagram at @QueernecksSubscribe to out newsletter for the Queernecks ramble expansion pack: https://substack.com/@queernecksAnd join our discord by joining our Ko-Fi for $2 a month: https://ko-fi.com/queernecks00:00 Podcast Welcome00:20 Pets And Treats00:40 Taffy And Tummy Talk02:06 Quitting Smoking Benefits03:47 Smoking Habits And Movies05:13 Starting Young Stories08:15 Poverty Simulator Spent11:06 Privilege And Coping12:30 Ashtrays And Nostalgia13:46 Small Town Oddities15:19 No More Political News15:57 Pass Fail And Ratings18:06 Teaching New Course Prep20:05 Travel Plans And Cruises22:24 Ocean Fears And Rivers26:26 Lakes And Submechanophobia29:28 Claustrophobia And Burial30:31 End Of Life Paperwork31:28 Dad’s Final Wishes32:35 Probate Planning Nightmares34:04 Wishbook Sponsor Break36:39 Digitized Catalog Rabbit Hole40:31 Devil Wears Prada 243:21 Literacy and Life Skills47:33 Teaching Boundaries and Absences50:50 Yesterwear Fiestaware History54:16 AI Scraping and Analytics56:04 Road Trips and Treats58:35 Episode 50 Wrap Up