Raised on Freedom and Secondhand Smoke

We were the last generation to grow up without the internet — and the first to grow up with it.This week on Thoughts Off The Stem we're going back in the day. Join Justin Barone as he wanders through a past built on boredom and growing up unsupervised — the social norms that have changed like smoking anywhere you want, cops telling drunk drivers to slow down rather than arrest them. The fact that you were expected to be on your bike and out of the house first thing in the morning and not come home until dusk. Nobody knew where you were and boredom was the trigger to finding entertainment.Some of the change has been good. But man, don't you miss the corner store with the arcade game tucked in the back corner. Arguing over whose turn it was, a slushie bigger than your head in one hand. A fully packed little brown bag of Big Feet you bought for 5 cents a foot, in the other.New episodes Fridays at 4:20pm. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and more, or visit tots420.comGet your 14 day free trial of Today's Choices at habitsbegone.com

I Thought I Was Done With Dumb — Now It's Back — Thoughts Off The StemI thought I was done with dumb. I swore I was done with dumb. Then dumb reinvaded my life — full force.This week Justin is back on Station 1, where the line runs on 43-second hash marks and an ordering system like McDonald's, with bumper guards like five-pin bowling between Station 1 and Station 2. Station 2 is supposed to take his unit and put it on the next hash mark. Instead, Station 2 takes two units for every one he makes — and his supervisor tells him HE'S behind.Also in this one: the week of hand pain when dumb left him alone, the line leader who blamed him for broken clips nobody else could have touched, the Homer Simpson in the bush exit, the company survey asking "do you have a work best friend?" (answer: no), the Friday-midnight "no talking" rule, and why the whole place feels like kindergarten — the grade fives bowling people over and taking their snacks.Ever been blamed for someone else's bottleneck? That's what he actually wants to know.This week's sponsor: HabitsBeGone.com — Choose to Lose. This is not a diet, it's designed to change your relationship with food, combining weight management, hypnosis, and your determination to change. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card needed: HabitsBeGone.com — "Today's Choices Create Your Tomorrow."Listen at tots420.comNew episodes Fridays at 4:20pm

They Talk to Me Like I'm Five — Thoughts Off The StemI thought I was a pretty smart person. Then lately, everybody at work started talking to me like I'm five years old.This week Justin asks the question out loud: am I one of the idiots I've been complaining about? From the ordering system where "the cart is a trigger," to the Blue's Clues rule of saying everything three times, to being lectured on a job he describes as "Lego for adults — simpler than putting your pants on in the morning."Also in this one: the resting angry face vs. the mouth-breather blank stare, velcro shoes (he does not wear them — his shoes are slip-ons he tied a long time ago), overthinking vs. underthinking on tired days, the fake argument you replay in your head for two hours after a shift, and why weed at night makes him second-guess himself and sober him the next morning says "fuck that, I didn't do anything wrong."Do you ever feel like this? Does anybody else get talked to like this and start wondering if it's you? That's what he actually wants to know.This week's sponsor: HabitsBeGone.com — Choose to Lose. This is not a diet, it's designed to change your relationship with food, combining weight management, hypnosis, and your determination to change. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card needed: HabitsBeGone.com — "Today's Choices Create Your Tomorrow."Listen at tots420.comNew episodes Fridays at 4:20pm.

What do men actually think women want? Men want to fix the problem and move on. Women ask a million questions. Same situation, completely different brains.This week: meeting my girlfriend's kids and trying not to be too much, Swedish Fish, Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions, compartmentalizing uncomfortable feelings, and why "moving on" is usually just putting shit in a drawer and pretending it doesn't exist.An unfiltered, stream-of-consciousness conversation about relationships, parenting, personality, and the ridiculous ways we navigate everyday life.Thoughts Off The Stem — cannabis comedy with Justin Barone.New episodes Fridays at 4:20pm. Listen at tots420.comTodays Choices, get your 14 day Free Trial at www.habitsbegone.comGet more TOTS at https://tots420.comWe made it to round 3. Thank you for all your votes. Keep the votes coming here: https://tophost.org/2026/justin-barone

What if God was a pothead?A Heavenly Sesh on Thoughts Off The Stem — Justin Barone asks the question out loud and follows it wherever it goes. Cannabis comedy, unfiltered observations, and the kind of thought you only get off the stem.Thoughts Off The Stem — cannabis comedy with Justin Barone.New episodes Fridays at 4:20pm. Listen at tots420.comCheck out Holy Roller Apparel here: https://holyrollerapparel.caGet more TOTS at https://tots420.comWe made it to round 3. Thank you for all your votes. Keep the votes coming here: https://tophost.org/2026/justin-barone

Why does everything feel fake now? Instagram turned everyday life into a highlight reel, influencers started pretending they're living lifestyles they can't afford, and now AI is making it harder to tell what's actually real.This week: fake lifestyles, rented Lamborghinis, AI slop, fake podcast clips, social media, misinformation — and a lesson my dad taught me as a kid after I broke a window and tried to lie about it. Failure is part of actually succeeding.Maybe we don't need everything to look perfect. Maybe we just need people to be honest about what's actually going on.Thoughts Off The Stem — cannabis comedy with Justin Barone.New episodes Fridays at 4:20pm. Listen at tots420.comVote for me on Top HostVisit Tots420.com

Everyone wants your time. Your job, your kids, your partner, your family, your friends, your phone — everybody needs something from you. And when you finally get a couple hours to yourself, somehow you feel guilty for not using them productively.Because apparently the solution is always "just make time." Cool. Where the hell am I supposed to get it?This week: waking up at 4:30 in the morning, a disastrous boxing class, disappearing into my bedroom for some peace and getting bombarded with texts the second I finally sit down — and why sometimes doing absolutely nothing is exactly what you needed.Thoughts Off The Stem — cannabis comedy with Justin Barone.New episodes Fridays at 4:20pm. Listen at tots420.com

At work, nobody wants to point fingers, so everyone talks in circles. Nobody wants to hurt anyone's feelings, so somehow everyone ends up more confused.Now we've got phones, texts, notifications, FaceTime and a million ways to reach each other — yet we're somehow worse at actually talking to one another.After a long, exhausting week, I needed a proper smoke day. No bullshit. Get high, clean the house, rearrange the living room and let the world roll off its back.A stoned stream-of-consciousness about fucked-up communication, phones, work, getting older, finding a little peace, and why sometimes you just need to get high and rearrange your living room.Thoughts Off The Stem — cannabis comedy with Justin Barone.New episodes Fridays at 4:20pm. Listen at tots420.comVote for me on Top Host Here:https://tophost.org/2026/justin-baroneVisit Tots420.com

What happens when you become so famous and powerful that nobody around you is willing to tell you no?Justin Barone goes down a rabbit hole about celebrity culture, fame, money, power, yes-men and what happens when people become insulated from criticism.Starting with Michael Jackson and The Verdict, the conversation gets into celebrity scandals, extreme wealth, questionable decisions, conspiracy theories and the strange reality of being surrounded by people who might never tell you you're wrong.Maybe that's the problem with fame.Maybe when nobody can tell you no, eventually you stop knowing when you should hear it.Thoughts Off The Stem is cannabis comedy packed with hilarious observations, personal stories and unfiltered takes on everyday life.Visit Tots420.comVote for me on Top Host here:https://tophost.org/2026/justin-baroneNew episodes every Friday at 4:20 PM.Join the sesh.

What happens when you actually let yourself get bored?You start thinking. You get creative. Your brain wanders.And sometimes that wandering takes you somewhere completely ridiculous.Justin Barone goes down the rabbit hole on boredom, attention spans, doom scrolling, technology, AI and conspiracy theories—and why maybe we need a little more silence and stillness in our lives.Thoughts Off The Stem is cannabis comedy packed with hilarious observations, personal stories, and unfiltered takes on everyday life.New episodes every Friday at 4:20 PM. Join the sesh.Visit Tots420.comVote for me on Top Host:https://tophost.org/2026/justin-barone