(14) "Banana Fana Identity Crisis: Judy, Flush, Lalo, and ELP Walk Into A Podcast"

We love your feedback and suggestions. Please tell us your name too. AI tries to trick us and scam us sometimes. Ever had a name cling to you that didn’t feel like yours? We dive headfirst into the messy, funny, and surprisingly tender business of what people call us—and what we choose to call ourselves. Joe traces a path through a family of Josephs to Jody, a teacher’s accidental Judy, and a protective teenage pivot to “Joe Flush.” Ed unpacks moving from Eddie to Ed and the shock of becoming Lalo in Mexico, where local culture hands out new nicknames like invitations. The result is part comedy, part identity study, and part survival guide for anyone who’s been renamed by life.We explore why pen names matter, from Stephen King’s Richard Bachman to the quieter reasons people separate creative work from their public persona. Then we blow up common filler phrases—I ain’t gonna lie, can I be honest with you, and the customer-service standby no problem—to show how language nudges expectations. When thanks meets no problem at a counter, we accidentally frame paid service as a favor. That tiny swap reveals how the words we choose can either clarify a social contract or fog it up.Along the way we test the pop wisdom that you can do anything you dream. A long-jump legend helps us admit that bodies, physics, and time set boundaries—and that embracing real limits makes room for better goals. We close by savoring the beauty of language itself—archipelago, antediluvian—and how favorite words become a small self-portrait. If you’ve ever tried to outgrow a nickname, wrestled with a label that didn’t fit, or noticed the script in your own speech, this one’s for you. Listen, share your best or worst nickname story, and if you enjoy the ride, subscribe, rate, and leave a quick review so others can find us.Please leave us your comments, text me, DM me, give me your thoughts.  what works and what doesn't land?  We want to improve.thanks for listeningJoe