Happy 4th of July

Insanely Great Podcast — July 3, 2026

Chris and DJ kick off the holiday weekend with cookouts, questionable Fourth of July weather, and a deep dive into why nobody in Europe tips (or uses ice). Chris recaps a wine-soaked trip to Paso Robles that somehow ends in an Irish pub with a German World Cup grudge match over a bar tab. Then it's straight into the tech and AI rabbit hole: Fable's rocky relaunch, the ever-shifting Claude model lineup, foldable iPhone rumors and their eye-watering price tags, Apple Intelligence teaming up with Gemini, and a love letter to a surprisingly capable local AI model. They wrap with hot takes on the new Supergirl movie, gaming's female-character controversies, and the slow death of physical game and movie ownership. Buckle up — it's a full one.

In this episode:

Fourth of July plans, brutal heat waves, and why Europe skips the AC and the iceTipping culture gone wild — from wine country to self-checkout kiosksA wine-tasting weekend in Paso Robles and an Irish pub showdownAI news: Fable's suspension and return, the new Sonnet 5, and Anthropic/government dramaA wide-ranging (opinionated) political detour on crypto, corruption, and pardonsApple's price hikes and the rumored $2,499 foldable iPhone UltraiOS 27, Apple Intelligence + Gemini, and the future of on-device AIRunning local AI models at home (shoutout to Ornith)GLM 5.2, DeepSeek V4 Flash, and the AI price warsSupergirl movie talk and gaming's long history of character-design controversiesThe slow fade of physical media — discs, ownership, and "you just license it"

(00:00) - Intro & Fourth of July plans

(00:25) - Heat waves and Europe's no-AC, no-ice lifestyle

(01:35) - Why Europeans (mostly) don't tip

(02:06) - Paso Robles wine tasting weekend

(04:22) - Rain worries for the grape harvest

(04:47) - The Irish pub showdown over a World Cup insult

(06:21) - The zero-tip aftermath

(06:52) - Tip-screen rage: fast food, self-checkout & liquor stores