After 41 years (and 20 in its current location), Tony Mazur's home comedy club, the Funny Stop, is no more. In this solo episode of the Check Your Brain podcast, Tony looks back at his time there, why it meant so much to him, and why it closing isn't anything like other businesses that have closed up shop.

Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur.

Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free.

Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at illstr8r@gmail.com.

Ryan Hoppe is a radio personality, originally from Chicago, now living in Tampa, Florida, with a brief stop in Cleveland, Ohio. He made a return appearance on the Check Your Brain podcast with Tony Mazur, this time inside a Tampa shopping mall, to talk about the ever-changing medium that is radio, where both gentlemen began their careers. They talked about the viability of radio in 2026, shared old "war" stories, and the legacy (or lack thereof) that long-time radio hosts will leave behind.

Ryan hosts his own show, Hoppe Hour, which can be heard on all the major platforms, as well as RyanHoppeRadio.com.

Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur.

Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free.

Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at illstr8r@gmail.com.

Zak Ford is a lifelong baseball fan from the Bay Area, specifically the human interest side of the game. That is why he is the author of the book Called Up, which chronicles 109 different players' stories of getting the call up to the big leagues. He has another book coming out in 2026 about the final moments of players' careers. He discussed both books with Check Your Brain's Tony Mazur, as well as how much the game has changed compared to the childhoods of the athletes he interviewed.

Zak's books are available to purchase on Amazon. Here is the link for the 2023 book: https://www.amazon.com/Called-Up-Ballplayers-Remember-Becoming/dp/1476692793

Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur.

Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free.

Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at illstr8r@gmail.com.