Tarantula Matchmaking is News AF – September 29, 2026

Rob Has a Podcast | Big Brother, Survivor & Reality TV - RHAP

The hosts of News AF dive into a series of bizarre and amusing news stories, ranging from spider matchmaking to high-stakes Pokemon card col

Key takeaways

• Taylor Foley used a Reddit classified ad to find a mate for her zebra t/arantula, Asmodeus
• A 72-year-old man was convicted of stalking a store employee to track Pokemon card deliveries

Main topics

• Tarantula matchmaking via Reddit
• Pokemon card stalking incident

Notable quotes

If the story is buzzing like it's on crystal meth, it's about to be News AF.

Conclusion

A humorous look at the strangest corners of current events, highlighti

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Cicerino back again to talk with you about the week's most interesting news stories for the week of September 29th, 2026 here on News AF. Speaker 2 (0:09) If the story is buzzing like it's on crystal meth, it's about to be News AF. If the same old news makes you pour to death, it's time for some News AF. Actual. Factual. Speaker 1 (0:19) Yes, that's right. We are back today for some interesting news stories from across the internet here with the whole team back together. First, we've got one of Pickleball's top influencers. Here he is, Tyson Apostles. Tyson, how are you? Oh, I'm doing Speaker 3 (0:37) great. Weather is fantastic here in Arizona. Hasn't been above 80 degrees. Yeah, hasn't been above 80 degrees for a few days. It's been raining and it's awesome. Really? We love the rain here. Speaker 2 (0:49) Yeah. Is that El Nino? Yeah. Super El Nino. Mega Nino. Mega Nino hit last week. Yes. It's Speaker 3 (0:56) a Speaker 2 (0:56) whole, it's going to last until June. Super Mega Nino. Is that true? Well, it does last. I don't actually think it's hit yet. I Speaker 3 (1:05) think it Speaker 2 (1:05) has to wait until the air cools down. Dude, Super Mega Nino. Super Mega Nino. Speaker 3 (1:10) My roof was leaking. Speaker 2 (1:12) Oh no. Dude. Speaker 3 (1:15) And I called. The house is pretty brand new. So I called the builder and was like, this is what you sold me. I didn't really say that, but I was like, Hey, my roof's leaking. Is that normal? And he immediately came over, fixed it all for free. Got the roofers over here. I saw him passing them cash in the, my driveway without charging me anything. And I think there is warranties on roofs. I think that's a thing that exists. So I don't know, but we got it taken care of. It rained again and no leaks in the roof this time. So I think we're good. Speaker 2 (1:57) You can't beat water in the end. Water always wins. Speaker 3 (2:01) Well, water will win. Always, always given enough Speaker 2 (2:05) time, Speaker 3 (2:05) given enough time. So is it time that wins or water? They're just a tag team. Dude, do you think that they beat Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant? Speaker 1 (2:18) Yeah, exactly. Time beat Speaker 3 (2:22) both of them, I think. Water had nothing to do with it. Water had nothing to do with it, but it reminds me of all those tweets that I saw about Canada being a leader in AI. where the prime minister of Canada was like us, America, China, and France, the leaders in AI should all. And then people were like me and Steve jobs have sold 3 billion phones together. And then all these like, yeah, between us, we have six world series is. And, uh, so water had nothing to do with, uh, Andre the giant and Hulk Hogan defeats, but, uh, I'm saying Speaker 2 (3:01) when it comes to houses, all of our structures, Speaker 1 (3:04) water and time. But you need some. I mean, probably if Hulk or Under the Giant, probably if they drank more water. Under the Giant famously drank a lot of wine. Speaker 3 (3:13) And beer. He would drink a 24-pack of beer, no problem. Speaker 1 (3:17) Yeah. Upon waking up. Speaker 3 (3:19) Yeah, he was awesome. And you know how when you hold those little Coke cans in your hand, that's how his hands looked with regular cans. Speaker 2 (3:29) Yeah. Great opportunity to have some perspective. Speaker 3 (3:33) Exactly. So yeah, things are great here. The rain is really put a pep in my step and yeah, I wrote, went for a mountain bike ride with my daughter the other day, which I have not been riding a bicycle and it was kinda, it was fun enough. Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:52) And you beat her on the ride just to prove that you're still the one Speaker 3 (3:54) in charge. Well, she was like, dad. I was like, you're doing really good Marlo for your first time. She's like, yeah, but you're still better than me at mountain biking. Right. And I was like, yeah, but I've only been doing it for probably about 38 years. So I don't know why I would still be better at Speaker 2 (4:12) everything fast. Yeah. Speaker 3 (4:14) They do. Yeah. I Speaker 2 (4:15) can't stand it that other people are better than them. Speaker 3 (4:17) Yeah. It's, it's fun. They constantly question me. I was like, Speaker 2 (4:22) testing you, prodding you, waiting until they can become better than you at anything. Speaker 3 (4:29) Well, Speaker 2 (4:29) she's Speaker 3 (4:30) better than me at skateboarding. You don't have the ankles for it. Yeah, I really don't. And Bergen's... I don't know. I could probably keep up on synchronized swimming if I... I don't know if I'd have the Speaker 2 (4:42) flexibility. Speaker 3 (4:42) I'd love to see that, actually. Should we Speaker 2 (4:43) put Speaker 3 (4:43) together a team? Maybe you and Danny. Speaker 2 (4:45) Use AF, Speaker 3 (4:46) synchronized swimming Speaker 2 (4:47) team. Speaker 3 (4:47) There is a master's program here with old people doing... Okay. Speaker 3 (4:53) synchronized swimming and everyone is shocked every time you walk in and there's like a synchronized swimming program with a bunch of 60 year olds going on in the pool. Everybody's like, what's happening? Are they drowning? Are they not allowed to have fun too, guys? So we can join that or we can start our own. Speaker 2 (5:13) Yeah. Speaker 3 (5:13) It's actually called artistic swimming now because not everything's Speaker 2 (5:17) synchronized. Speaker 3 (5:20) So, yeah. So still better than my kids at stuff. If it is the update, Danny, are you better than your kids at stuff still? Speaker 2 (5:29) Have they beaten Speaker 3 (5:30) you at anything significant that you have taken pride in and now they're better at? Speaker 2 (5:34) Yeah, that's the real question because they've solved Rubik's cubes, which I can't do. They are really good at video games, which I don't play. Or Speaker 3 (5:42) care about. Or Speaker 2 (5:43) care. My, my middle child is. probably or very close to being better than me at basketball. And that's because I really suck at basketball. Okay. And you know, when I play basketball with him, I have no desire to hustle, stub a finger, roll an ankle in the name of basketball. Yeah. I'm not willing to sacrifice my body for that sport. Speaker 2 (6:06) So yeah, that's probably the one thing. Does he take pride in that? Actually, my oldest does ski park. So he does like, you know, Speaker 1 (6:15) like Speaker 2 (6:15) rail slides and stuff like that. And I would never do that again because I would just snap in half and bend in unnatural ways. Can you imagine falling Speaker 3 (6:23) on a rail and hitting your shin of your arm? Speaker 2 (6:27) Explosive shrapnel. What's the shin of your arm Speaker 3 (6:29) called? Just your Speaker 2 (6:31) forearm? Yeah, just the forearm. Speaker 3 (6:33) Landing on your forearm. Forearm. Speaker 2 (6:35) Oh my gosh. They would see a grownup cry. They'd be like, I've never seen a dad cry before. I'd be like, ah. I went into the park when they were really little and I would always laugh because they'd go off those jumps and just do like the dead fish, like freeze in the air. It Speaker 1 (6:52) was hilarious. But now it's not funny. Now it's funny if I go into the park. Now they laugh at you. Speaker 2 (6:55) Yeah. So much laughing at me. So yeah. They're getting there, Speaker 1 (6:59) but they're older than your Speaker 2 (6:59) kids, Tyson. And eventually your kids will get there too, which is every parent's dream is that their kids are better than them. Speaker 3 (7:06) Yeah. Partly, but also like the things I'm good at that I care about that I take pride in even, even having been good at, even if I'm not good at them anymore, they're still a long way off. Like you're going to beat me in a swimming race. That's going to take you till at least. through high school before you got that in your back pocket dominance. And Speaker 1 (7:28) then you're also getting older. Yeah. Speaker 3 (7:30) Mountain biking, cycling, same thing. Running, running sprints. My kids are actually pretty quick. Like my tiny legs. You're like, Whoa, how are you so fast running? Yeah. Um, but I remember beating my dad at cycling at mountain biking uphills pretty early, like at like 11 years old, maybe. Speaker 1 (7:53) Nice. Speaker 3 (7:54) And he always rode. So I was like, well, and I, that was also for me. I was like, I'm faster than my dad at going uphill. Um, you can't tell me what you do, dad. Yeah. Now I'm the discharge. How about you, Rob? Do your kids, uh, uh, defeat you in anything that you care about or care Speaker 1 (8:17) about? Um, you know, My younger or my older son, I used to beat him pretty handily when we played Madden. But now he can... I'm pretty sure he can beat me. I think we're actually going to play today. You have it scheduled? Yeah, because it's his birthday. I'm trying to schedule some things today. So the only chance I have to beat him is that he's a very bad game manager. that like he's very impatient wants to go for it on fourth down all the time so if I can get him to play my game I've got a chance okay Speaker 3 (8:57) congratulations Speaker 1 (8:58) Rob I just Speaker 3 (9:00) want to let you know when probably one of the first Maddens came out on Super Nintendo yeah or Sega Speaker 1 (9:07) Genesis yeah Speaker 3 (9:09) I kicked a 58 yard field goal for a victory. Yes. Once which relations, how many NFL players are doing that? Speaker 1 (9:19) They actually do quite a lot now. They really like made the ball for kicking, like very aerodynamic. So we just ruined Tyson's day. He said, when I was a kid, a 58 yard field goal would be like very like on. So probably it was very hard. He's probably Speaker 3 (9:36) the record, but yeah, Speaker 1 (9:37) you probably see it like a 58 yard field goal, like at least once every Sunday. It's not more. Speaker 3 (9:44) Okay. Well, back then. Yeah. Not in 1998. Not Speaker 1 (9:48) in 1998. Yeah. Speaker 3 (9:50) That was when the 58 yards meant 58 yards. Now like guys are doing like 63, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, anyways, that was my claim to fame on Madden and I am not good. Uh, also, are you a prime member? Amazon prime? Why? Uh, I am a prime member. So Luna, is there like on. gaming platform. So if you have the right TV, you can download. Didn't you pitch Speaker 2 (10:15) this last week too? No, did I? I think so. Not a paid Speaker 3 (10:19) endorsement. It's just free with your Prime. You love it so much. You're Speaker 2 (10:22) sharing it every day, every time we meet. You should be getting paid. We need the controllers, right? You can get the controllers for some of the games, but you can also use your phone Speaker 3 (10:33) as a controller for a lot of the party games. Okay. So. Just may as well use it if you're already paying for it type of thing. Guys, don't get Amazon Prime just to have access to this because there's cheaper and better options. But Speaker 1 (10:50) if you Speaker 3 (10:51) already got it. You're a Speaker 1 (10:52) lunatic. Speaker 3 (10:54) Exactly, dude. Speaker 1 (10:55) He's part of the online group. Okay. All right. Let's talk about what's going on this week. And so we have the case of. Taylor Foley, who had adopted a Costa Rican zebra tarantula named Osmodeus. Speaker 3 (11:14) Osmodeus. Yeah, that's a pretty badass name. That is a badass name. Same with a zebra tarantula is also sounds awesome. Speaker 2 (11:22) Is there a picture in this article of the tarantula? I'm Speaker 3 (11:25) going to look at a picture of a zebra Speaker 1 (11:27) tarantula. So at first. Taylor believed Asmodeus was a woman, was a girl. Would you call it a woman? Female tarantula. Speaker 3 (11:38) Yeah. Speaker 1 (11:39) Yeah. But it turns out that it is a male tarantula. There was a final molt revealing Asmodeus was a male. And so male Costa Rican zebra tarantulas typically live only five to six years after this puberty-like molt. But they live hard for those five to six years, right? Yes. And so after the molt, Asmodeus became restless in his enclosure. And so Taylor wanted him to mate before the end of his shortened lifespan. And so Taylor, actually Taylor's a woman. Much like this ranch law. I thought Taylor, I thought at the start of the story that Taylor was a man. You thought Speaker 3 (12:24) Taylor's a woman, but Asmodeus is a man. Speaker 1 (12:28) Yes. Flip it. Sounds Speaker 3 (12:29) like a Speaker 1 (12:29) wizard. Speaker 3 (12:29) Yes. Speaker 1 (12:30) So, Taylor posted a classified ad on Reddit. Mature male, Alpha Nomea Semini Tarantula seeking hot spider date near him. Okay. Which gained attention quickly. And the post led to a match. Speaker 2 (12:51) Nice. Of taking his rodeos to a breeder. Speaker 1 (12:55) Oh, yeah. You got to take your spiders to breeders. Okay. Yes. It's for a week-long introduction that may lead to Speaker 2 (13:02) mating. Speaker 3 (13:03) Ooh. Okay. Speaker 2 (13:04) It's not one of those things where the spider eats the other spider after receiving its seed, right? Mm-hmm. Because that happens. Speaker 1 (13:11) Yeah. So what they're saying is that there's a small chance that a female could eat Asmodeus afterward if she's hungry. Yeah. Speaker 3 (13:18) That's Speaker 1 (13:18) what I was worried about. Speaker 3 (13:20) But afterward, can't you just get in there and... Separate them with some tongs. Yeah, exactly. Tonks really smart. Yeah. Save Speaker 1 (13:29) him. Would that be against the prime directive, Danny? Speaker 3 (13:33) If you're meddling with nature, but you're already meddling with nature by a keeping one as a pet and then bringing two together to breed. So it's like, you may as well just continue to play God. How does this work, Tyson? Speaker 1 (13:45) Does the male tarantula then become very, like very sleepy afterwards? And then the female tarantula is like, well, like have Speaker 3 (13:52) a cigarette and a sandwich. And then the, Is she much Speaker 1 (13:56) bigger than the male tarantula? Is he defenseless following coitus? I Speaker 3 (14:01) don't know anything about these tarantulas to give you the answers that you demand, but sometimes, I mean, black Speaker 1 (14:09) widows... It seems like Speaker 2 (14:11) if you liked your spider, you wouldn't offer it up to the female Speaker 1 (14:14) to Speaker 2 (14:16) be devoured, potentially. Yeah. Post-coital Speaker 3 (14:20) meal snack. Yeah, you would think that you wouldn't want to do that, right? Mm-hmm. So, um, life, I guess, I guess, man, I guess. Yeah. Speaker 2 (14:31) Uh, yeah. Movie series called where people's, uh, Speaker 3 (14:34) Ragnifodia. No, Speaker 2 (14:36) where they avoid death and then it follows them anyway. Oh, final destination. Final destination. Seven. Yeah. Final destination. Seven about a spider that gets broken up before it can be devoured. Speaker 1 (14:46) Yeah. So. Yeah, it seems like they have tibial hooks which lock the female's fangs. And then the male spins a small sperm web. Oh, yeah. The sperm web. Very familiar with that. Yeah. Those give me the heebie-jeebies. Yeah, seriously. There's nothing cute or cuddly about this story. Speaker 1 (15:18) Yeah. But sexual cannibalism does happen. But in many tarantulas, it's less common than folklore suggests. And it's often linked to poor courtship. Ah, bad Speaker 2 (15:29) dating. Speaker 1 (15:31) Here Speaker 2 (15:31) I was thinking it always happened. I'm so glad that I could be