In this episode, The Con Men unpack the idea of “movies that lost their innocence” — not because the films changed, but because we did. From Dragnet’s jokes that flew over childhood heads to the cultural whiplash of Revenge of the Nerds, Bill & Ted, Big Trouble in Little China, and Cannonball Run, the conversation drifts through ratings systems, generational context, and how nostalgia collides with modern sensibilities. It’s a wide-ranging, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful look at why it’s okay to love flawed movies — as long as you understand why they’re flawed.

The Con Men Bounce from the death of the penny, into the metric system’s shipwrecked origin story, and why America refuses to measure things like a normal country. From there, the show veers into tabletop RPG war stories (including a near-fatal Alien RPG dice roll), Kickstarter confessions, and the strange poetry of declaring “intent to do harm” in Powered by the Apocalypse systems.

The back half of the episode becomes an enthusiastic deep dive into Central Carolina Comic Con, with a rapid-fire rundown of guests that reads like a Gen-X nostalgia starter pack: Doug Jones, Billy West, Tom Kenny, Mick Foley, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Lindsay Wagner, Lee Majors, John Schneider, and more. Along the way, Dan shares behind-the-curtain con stories (including Tom Kenny being an actual delight), while Adrian brings the fan-first perspective—who’s worth the wait, who’s genuinely kind, and why wrestlers are secretly all teddy bears.

How about an in-person field report straight from the con floor? The Con Men finally record in the same room while working Central Carolina Comic Con, trading remote latency for real-world chaos, side chatter, and the kind of conversations you only get after a full day of badges, handlers, and folding tables.

The episode pulls back the curtain on the less glamorous—but far more interesting—side of conventions: volunteering, moderating, handling, knowing when to step in and when to vanish. Along the way, they dig into what makes certain guests legendary with fans (Doug Jones, Dorian Kingi, Tom Kenny), why behind-the-mask performers deserve more spotlight, and how not to waste your shot when you finally get to ask a question.

It’s a shop talk episode, so If you’ve ever wondered how cons actually work, or why some moments feel magical and others awkward, this one fills in the gaps.