Cornichon & Proud

Welcome back to the unapologetic soapbox of Mookie Spitz—your briny, tart, sharp-edged cornichon. A friend just described him that way, not as an insult but as the truest shorthand for who he is: biting, bracing, sometimes overwhelming, but impossible to forget and indispensable in the right mix. This podcast leans into that truth, exploring what it means to embrace the parts of yourself that sting, instead of filing them down for mass approval.

Mookie unpacks the paradox of personality—how the very qualities that make us “too much” are the same ones that make us unique and memorable. He confesses to sometimes steamrolling and delivering opinions like a briny jolt—but he refuses to apologize for it. Because the deeper point is clear: being yourself in a world that rewards conformity, blandness, and algorithm-friendly personas may cost you reach, followers, and even friends, but it can also buy you something rarer—authenticity, persistence, and joy.

With humor, philosophy, and raw honesty, Mookie weaves together:

• Why authenticity often looks abrasive but carries more power than pandering.
• How AI promises to “perfectly connect” content to audiences, while human connection remains messy, subjective, and personal, perhaps ultimately getting this cornichon off the hook
• The trap of endless self-help and reinvention, and the freedom in saying “this is who I am—take it or leave it" and not having to worry about improving what seems altogether good enough
• The paradox of being described with affection and aversion as both annoying and essential, harsh and flavorful—just like that little pickle on the plate that makes the entire meal taste better
• Reflections ranging from TikTok rants and influencer culture to Nietzsche’s Apollonian and Dionysian dualities, Aristotle’s metaphors, and the randomness of everyday life.

The podcast is brash, briny, sometimes too much—but it’s also sincere, self-aware, and unmistakably genuine, like the host. Here you'll find something for anyone who’s been told to tone it down and decided instead to turn it up.