I just finished this one, too. I am falling behind. It was a relatively solid podcast overall, considering it was just him. More thoughts on Stern, too.
And it seemed to happen very naturally because Artie was quoting a line from GFII and then his Frank Pantangeli was very similar to his Ed Torian. It also was near the end of the show and then instead of shifting straight to the plugs, he went for about 5 minutes more. The second to last episode before the break (182) was very good. The new guy that was in for the first half really jived well and was able to keep up and have some funny lines. Then, somehow, Artie got introspective. He started to treat the audience like a shrink, which is always interesting. I'm not sure he ever mentioned before that when his dad had his accident, it prompted a break in the family get-togethers. And Roeper was excellent as always.
Did anyone catch Artie's Santa Claus story at the tail end of the ep. 251? He discussed how he was dressed in the Santa Claus costume one Christmas and accidentally left some blow in the pocket of the costume. There didn't seem to be a reaction from Dan and Joe Matarese, as if they weren't going for the story.
He told that story on the Antony Cumia show this week, and I thought it reeked of bullshit! He claimed he quit the job but, remembered that he had left coke in he pocket. As a result, he had to beg for his job back, and the employer reluctantly gave in. The next day, he went to work, got the coke out of the pocket, and climbed out the bathroom window, never to see the owner again. As is usually the case with Artie, it sounded like he was making up details as he went along...I think he does it when he isn't getting a big enough reaction, so he keeps making the story more and more outrageous. I actually felt bad for him. What version did you hear?