Well That'll Be Tough to Follow

did ya miss us? sorry, that's life! lots to catch up on this episode plus we try to spelling bee

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Howdy, Jensen Broads, welcome to the most recent episode of our aptly named Prod Podcast. Appreciate you joining us again. Uh we've had a couple week hiatus. Um a couple, I think. You know? Uh couple sounds, I think couple sounds more more than two. So uh yeah, I mean just a lot of stuff going on in terms of schedules. And uh Sarab's had a lot of stuff going on in his life that I'm not gonna say it was all on that, but you know, my schedule's been really busy and trying to manage the time frame. But uh Sarab, I know you've had a lot of stuff going on in your life. If you wanted to uh to just uh let the audience know what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah, so uh first it was like a nightmare with the uh internet after I before and after I was moving from my last apartment to my new apartment in Brooklyn. I did I did complete a move over the last two weeks. Uh, but I lost internet in my last apartment uh the Monday before a Friday move, and so I had to be this like weird Wi-Fi nomad and like going around to random coffee shops and then using my hotspot to like work and do basic things. Uh couldn't use any, like no TV, nothing, like all that was obviously we're so dependent on internet now. Uh and then when I was supposed to get internet on Friday right after my move, uh that was when the provider decided to learn that they couldn't service my building, which they had led me to believe that they could, after spending a week saying that they were gonna check, which they checked and confirmed, and then they got here and it's like actually Verizon has a buyout on this building, and so you have to get Verizon if you want internet. So that turned into a second week without internet, which obviously complicated us being able to record, but we were gonna try it anyway. I was just gonna use my phone. Um, and I think we were trying to what record like last Tuesday, like normal. Um Yeah. Yeah, yeah, and it was like, you know, I was still without internet, but we were whatever, I was gonna figure it out. I was gonna have some shitty audio, maybe, because I couldn't use my mic. And then uh as we were on the podcast, like minutes into it, uh, I got a call from my cousin, which I didn't answer because she calls me very, very randomly about random things. So I just figured whatever, I'll call her back. And then almost immediately after my brother called, and I'm like, okay, now I'm like wondering if something's going on. And that's how I found out uh from my brother uh that my grandma had passed away. And so obviously that turned into me needing to skip out on recording, and so we couldn't record that night. Uh, and I had to like, you know, call my parents and kind of just be on the phone with family members uh not saying anything and just kind of like it being really quiet and everyone just kind of like clearly not having the words. Um so yes, I was that was kind of sad. Lost my grandma uh on my mom's side. Um sh but at the same time, you know, it is thankfully one of those cases of like someone who lived to 84 years old, had like a really rich, really full life. Um, not one of those instances of feeling like someone who was you know taken away too early or you know taken away by some like unexpected illness or something. Like she really um had been dealing with a lot of issues for for a while. So on some level it also feels like you know um that she found peace. Um I've had a lot of you know interesting conversations with uh family members since then and uh you know my uncle, my mom even like there is this there is this very strong belief that she she decided it was time to go, uh, and that is why you know it happened as it did. So uh yeah, family. Got my mom, my mom's in India now, my uh dad's gonna be going soon. Um some other folks are are flying out. Um my brother and I, we'd already had this like planned trip uh to go in September um because my brother's a doctor, very inflexible schedule for time off. Um, and we're just gonna stick to that because you know, uh at this point it's like want to make sure that I can at least like accompany my brother, uh at least, you know, speak the languages and stuff to figure it out out there. Um and it'll be a nice thing for the family down there to look forward to, and that like they'll get a first wave of a lot of people here uh in the immediacy of the loss, and then my brother and I'll come, you know, a few months later and we'll all get to get to spend some time together and stuff and and rub in it. So yeah, lots going on in the in the well, I wasn't I was gonna say Das family, but it's it's my mom's side, the Mahante family. Um, but uh you know, it's uh it's life, all part of life.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Yeah, and obviously, you know, we've had conversations about it uh off-air of the podcast, but just so people don't think we're callous ash holes, man. You know, uh appreciate you sharing that and sorry for your loss. It'd be really funny. Affirmatively Sarab. We're we're sorry to hear you. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

And Brenda was like, all right, so is that is that your what's good?

SPEAKER_03 5:00

Yeah, is that your what's good to do? Just to give the impression that we care, hey man, like sorry about that. No, but um yeah, man, yeah, I obviously sucks to lose someone. So uh yeah, sorry about that. But uh glad that things are being handled appropriately and that uh people are I guess at least starting to heal from it. And you know, obviously it's a long journey, but um but that's awesome that you have your trip scheduled to go back there. I know that you know it seems like every time that you go back there, it seems like you always have like an unexpectedly good time. Uh that uh you know, sounds like that's on tap again uh for this one.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah, yeah. But I appreciate it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Yeah, yeah. Um, so yeah, so all that to say, a lot of stuff been going on. Uh apologize for the couple weeks, uh hiatus. I know that we've probably lost like hundreds, if not thousands, of viewers who are waiting for our weekly drop every week. So we really hope that we can, you know, take it back up, spread the spread the word and get ourselves out there again to to hopefully draw these fans back. So we appreciate those who have uh who have stuck by us and are going to be listening to this episode as well. Um so with that, let's uh let's jump into some what's good.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Uh so who wants to kick us off? I'll I'll kind of do one because it is kind of connected now that I think about it. Um my what's good is just kind of like uh things that like bring family together. Um, you know, even when it's a uh not happy event, um, it's just been really, really heartwarming uh seeing in our like family group chat like all these like stories and uh and like you know, memories and and like it's it isn't until someone passes that you kind of realize everyone's got these different memories of them, and they're memories that you didn't even know about or you didn't even have. And it's like after someone goes, you get to really like almost form like a more fleshed out three-dimensional view of the person. Like it wasn't until this happened that I realized like at one stage my grandma was like a younger person who had like who was like a very, very like social, like you know, would like you know, know all the people in the neighborhood and like talk to them and be friendly with them. And I was just like, Oh yeah, like I don't know, this weird stuff, like you don't even think about, or maybe you just let you know the last 10 years of someone's life and knowing them, you let that define what they are in your head. But like it was like, oh yeah, you're a whole person. Um, and so I I just find that really, really nice. And um that's that's probably my what's good of just like in a very cliche way, remembering how you continue to exist and live on through this like mosaic of memories and things that people know of you, about you, whatever. Um it's uh it's a it's a really beautiful and human thing. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

Yeah, that's really cool. And it's it's a very weird, it's weird that like it's I don't know if it's a shame, but it's like that kind of stuff doesn't seem like it comes out until like after, right? But then a part of me is also kind of like like that's part of the process, right? That's like part of the whole like after someone passes and you get everybody together. Like I think that's part of the healing process for your family, being able to get together and like share that with each other. And obviously, if like if that was all open, open season, like you wouldn't have some of those like little nuggets that you would get. So it's kind of two sides of the same coin where where some of that stuff it's like, oh, that would have been cool to have like known and like mentioned to to someone. Um, but then also like getting to learn that is part of that process that makes the passing, you know, a little bit not easier, um, but kind of starts that that the healing. So that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Yeah I agree.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Yeah, I thought it was very interesting that you described it as that you're now getting a three-dimensional view of that person, which is you know, your relationship with them is very one-dimensional, and you don't see all these other sides and relationships that this person had, then you know, I don't know if it would have like made you think differently, but like it just like fulfills your view of that person that you only get when that person passes, which I think I think is kind of sad, you know, that like wouldn't it be better if everyone knew the complete you, you know, when they had a relationship with you, but really you're it's only a one-dimensional relationship with that person because you don't get all these other sides, but you know, just like what you said again, like it is an it is an opportunity to kind of reveal those other sides of that person that makes you appreciate them even more, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

And also not to like I don't know if this is like cold, but as you guys are saying, I'm kind of like I think this can only happen when someone passes because if I was receiving some of these like fun facts or information while she was around, you know, would it have been like, oh, that's interesting, and then like I move on, but like now they feel like records of a person and like uh you know, I'm my brain is wired to want to know and retain these things, like their important cherished history now rather than how important it is now. Exactly, exactly. It's like before that it would have just been like you know, amusing trivia, maybe. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So yeah, maybe it's maybe it's built that way for a reason to make uh this process, you know, uh have some different kind of meaning uh and and give you something to celebrate.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. All right, Brandon, what you got?

SPEAKER_04 10:06

Gotta follow that. Come on. No. Yeah, for what's good. There's so there's one that I've been hanging on to for all these two weeks, and I haven't I haven't mentioned it in the group chats or anything, but it was something that I saw that I thought was really, really awesome. Well, it's June now, but it was May, graduation season. And I don't know, did you guys see it was making the rounds and and got a lot of attention, but Eric Church gave a commencement speech at the University of North Carolina?

SPEAKER_03 10:31

No, no, I didn't see that.

SPEAKER_04 10:33

And I I mentioned a couple of times about how I'm like like not the biggest country fan, and country music's not really my jam. Church has been like one of the ones that has been like palatable and somebody that I can stand to listen to. So I've I've I've liked his music. Uh his uh I I think his commencement speech is probably the best thing that he's ever done. And it's by far the best commencement speech that I've I've ever heard. I don't know, I don't know if AI played a part into it uh or or what, but the way he came kind of came up to it, because he he had a guitar on stage and he uh played he played his guitar and then related six pillars of life to each string on a guitar. And it was like your your like faith and and like what you believe and what makes you you, your spouse, your family, your community, your ambition, and you are like the six strings of a guitar. And he was talking a lot about and like the way I I'm not music, so I don't know like the different notes, but he like related like how they come together to make a chord and like the part that they play in each of the chords is like why they are the logi or like the the f the F note or whatever it is. Um so it was like talking about that and was was like his message was basically like in in life, sometimes you you can get out of tune, and when you get out of tune, it's one of those six things that you need to pay attention to. And if you really want to tender your instrument and you want to really want to keep your life in tune, as any musician knows, you don't just tweak it and and tune your your your instrument when you're ready when you're ready to like go out on stage, you do it constantly. Like you gotta keep your your instrument in tune so that it's always playing so you're ready to go at any time. So he said that the don't just pay attention to those things when you're broken, pay attention to them like throughout your your life to make sure that you're you know keeping yourself centered and whole so that your your your music doesn't you know come or it's your music does sound the way that you want it to. It's just like man, like that's like and and he even like worked in like the challenges of like dealing with um social media and like chronically online culture and kind of where that plays into it, and just like the the the way that he was able to address that too. Like I could not think of a like a more perfect message that I would want delivered to either myself or to like my kids if I was a a a parent of somebody and that I was like like this is the exact thing that a commencement speech should be to like these people who are leaving to go out and and go into the real world and like start their lives. And it was like just a a message that I think I think would be applicable to anybody um at at any time, not just that for grads, but was was particularly um applicable for uh for for new grads and and people starting a new journey like that. So uh if you haven't had the chance, give it a listen. I uh it's up. I think it was like broadcast. I don't know if it's on like C SPAN or like one of those.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

No, yeah. Like I've been they've been putting up they've been putting all like commencement speeches up on YouTube because I think they've been watching like how like those become timeless and when especially when they're really good. Um like I wanna I want to check it out. I feel like this is the first year that I was like I started seeing them and I was like, oh I'm I'm ready. Um because uh I think I watched uh I watched Conan's at Harvard, uh, which was awesome. Yeah, I saw clips of that.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

I actually listened to it though.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Entertaining. I wouldn't say it was like maybe on that same level. It felt like he did this like very careful balance of like genuine comedy, but also like important, powerful things to say. But it was enough that like I don't think it maybe would land with the weight that it sounds like Eric Churches did. So I definitely want to check that out. Yeah, yeah, it's over a million views on YouTube.

SPEAKER_04 14:10

I did find it there though.

SPEAKER_03 14:11

Okay. Um all right, man. Yeah, I got some really tough ones to follow then, because those are all those are both really good. Um I you know, obviously as we've been off for like now three weeks now, there's been a bunch of good stuff that has happened. But if I try to pare it down to one thing that's been good over the past few weeks, I had a layover up in Connecticut. Um and it and during that layover, I got to meet up with one of our friends, BK, and we had to spend some time, go out to dinner, get drinks, whatever. And it was it was awesome. It was such a it was such a refreshing breath of fresh air and something that like I know that I've needed, but like it reinforced it again once I got it, like how much of that personal connection I miss in my everyday life and therefore like yearn for, for lack of a better word. Um, and that a lot of my life is, you know, people that I'm around all the time, like Megan and the family, who like it's day-to-day stuff. Um, not to diminish that at all, but it's just, you know, like you're very in tune with each other and what's going on for the most part. And then the other side is just people that are just total strangers that I'm meeting for a first time. It's like the same sorts of conversation. And people reveal themselves in different ways, um, you know, and their differences become apparent. And, you know, it's it's it's just kind of like the groundhog's day of like, okay, cool. I'm meeting this person, cool. What's your background? What's my background? Where you live, where'd you go? Like, all that sort of stuff just becomes very formulaic. It was such a breath of fresh air to have someone who like we we already have that common foundation and we know things about each other that now we can actually have just real conversations about stuff that is personal and meaningful to each other. And that was so refreshing. Um, because it's one, you know, we hadn't seen each other in I think three years is what we determined since like the first Pocono's trip that we had. So it had been such a long time, and so much and so much stuff has happened between then that it just it was so good to actually like and it was stuff that both of us had like known about in like wave tops, right? But like now we could actually like, hey man, tell me about this. Like, I know that this happened. Can you go into a little bit more detail and like help me to like understand? You know, like things like that. It was just more deeper conversation that I just really, really appreciated. Um, so over the past few weeks, that's like the one highlight is that we got that like one-on-one time, and it was like we hung out for like it was like four and a half, five hours or something like that. And it just like there was no, you know, it just time went by, you know, and at the end of it was like, oh shit, it's getting late, like we should probably wrap it up. But it was just like it was so easy and natural. Um, that it was just like, again, it was just something that I don't get very much of in my day-to-day life that uh I realized like how important and how like fulfilling um that type of connection is. Um, so even with someone who like I don't, you know, I like we don't talk on a day-to-day basis, we don't talk on even like a month-to-month basis, but it's something that I think that our friends that our group has that it's like, hey, you know, regardless of how long it's been, you kind of just fall right back into it. And I think a lot of people can kind of um you know connect with that. That like you had those people that like doesn't matter how long it's been, it just when you get together, it's just natural and it just flows very easily. And it was just a reminder of that. So uh really appreciated that. And um, you know, hopefully I get to do it again, you know, soon. And I'm uh you know, now I'm like looking out for those for those layovers there. Unfortunately, that it seemed kind of an odd one that it was an unusually long layover. Now the normal one is very short. Uh kind of uh doesn't provide for that opportunity. Um, but I'm looking out for it. I hope that it happens again, and I'm glad that I have a job that affords me to kind of like have these opportunities come up and that I'm appreciative that he took advantage of it and took me up on it and uh and came out to see me for that night. So um, yeah, that was awesome. Really appreciate it. Thanks a lot for BK for meeting up with that, and uh, hopefully get to do it again. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

That's awesome, man.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Yeah, yeah. Um, all right, cool. Now that we've uh gotten all that boring stuff out of the way, so I again I have a bunch of stuff that's been you know, I'm gonna try to hit the highlights of like the past few weeks, and I'm interested in your guys' takes on things. So um uh I'll start I'll I'll start with this one. Um obviously, as I just mentioned, I'm meeting people for the first time, right? A lot of times I'm like, I don't know who this person is, you know, and then it's just like us figuring each other out. And a lot of times it's very you know, starts out like professional until you like get to know the person. But one instance that I had that just it struck a chord with me as you're talking about guitar strings. This is one that was just an out-of-tune guitar string for me. And he uh because he came up into the flight tank and uh and very first words was hey buddy, how's everything going? I'm like, buddy, what the hell? What'd you call me? Like it just like it put me on the defensive immediately. It was like a grown man calling another grown man buddy, you know, and it just it just threw me off.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

Whereas like you don't hear that sincerely very often as an adult.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Usually somebody's calling me buddy, it's because they're getting ready to swing on you because like you make basically like wait, like I call like I call my seven-year-old son buddy because it's like a father-son type of relationship thing, but like a grown man calling another man buddy is just like it's weirdly disarming, you know, and it like immediately puts me on the defensive. And so this guy used that, that was just his term, right? Like he just overly used it whenever he was talking to me. It was always like buddy, buddy. It didn't make it any less awful, you know. Yeah, it's that's uh it it was just like it's just a term that just like it it made me think of that. Uh is it a Dane Cook skit where he was talking about, you know, that like the guy was calling him buddy and he went back and called him chief, you know, he's just like trying to like one up degrade him. It very much felt like that.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Also it felt like the I was gonna say, like it just reminds me of uh is it a South Park thing or it's like it's like get out of here, buddy. It's like I hit your buddy pal. It's like I hit your pal, Chief.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

Right, yeah, exactly. It it felt like like it felt like an attack. And like I know that he didn't mean it that way, but that being his go-to word, like I almost felt obligated to be like, hey man, just to let you know, like you come off as a huge asshole. Like, yeah, man, like like you said three words to me, and I don't like you right off the bat, you know? Like uh I just so I was just like it threw me off so much. I was wondering, like, have you guys encountered anything like that where like someone that you don't know is just using a term or a relationship where you're just like I don't know if this person knows it, but it's really offending me how this person is is like dealing with me.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

No, but I will say, remember that like Canadian show I put on for you at one point that I thought was like the funniest thing in the world? It's called Letter Kenny. And so they their lingo snuck into like my vernacular. Like I started saying, like, it's like oh that sounds great, good buddy. Like, or like 10-4, buddy, like just in a kind of a country Canadian, country hick way. Um, and so it like I started using it, and then like my buddy Andrew, I remember at one point, um, I just said my buddy again, which but but it's different when you're that's a normal concept. But that's a different that's normal. You're not arresting somebody as buddy. But but it was funny. I was like, I said something to uh Eddie where I referred to Eddie as buddy, but it was again like in this unknowing way of like it's now infected, like how I say things sometimes. And Andrew's like, dude, don't do that. And I was like, What? He's really the same reaction you had, right? Where it's like he's like, No, like dude, like he doesn't like that word buddy as if like it's he he could only think of it as like You're being kind of like uh I don't know, not dismissive, but you know what I mean? Like you're making like treating someone like a joke. And I was like, I was like, oh yeah, Diana.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

Sure, but yeah. And that was and that was this person's persona, and I was talking to Megan about. I'm like, I was just very aware of very subtle things that I think that most people wouldn't think that it was like a big deal, but to me, it was like the whole package became a big deal. Like, for instance, we get our big water bottles, and I guess that he likes these like lemon uh like powder packets that you can pour into the water bottle to make it like lemon flavored flavored. So we got our waters, and he just took out one of his lemon packets and said, Here, man, here you go, and just like gave it to me. I was like, Oh, okay. And then when our like meals came, he had a bottle of Tabasco sauce, and he was just like, Here, man, here's here's this like present for you. And it was like a very subtle thing of like not asking me if I wanted one, but just like giving it to me. Like I should be thankful that he was giving it to me. I know this is probably like looking into too too deep, but that's probably my persona with green guests is that I analyze these sort of social situations, but that he just like expected me to want it, and therefore he was like, Here you go. Yeah, exactly. Put me into the cover like yeah, like I was like, wait, like I don't want this. Like, no, thank you, you know, but like he didn't even offer me an option. It was just like, here you go, take this, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_04 23:16

I was like he was treating you like like somebody uh that you would call buddy, you know what I mean? Like like uh Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

He won it was like subconsciously, he was putting me like below him. Yeah, you know, of like he was up here and he was like making sure that like I don't think he was doing it on purpose, but it was all these things that I was picking up that I was like, man, the way that he talks the way that he cares that he cares for himself is very much in this like alpha persona of like I'm this person, you're someone else, and like whatever I do is like trickling down to you, you know?

SPEAKER_04 23:48

What so there was a situation at the burrito place where you weren't sure what kind of vibes you were giving off, and there was there ended up being something very obvious about the vibes that you were giving off. Was there anything that would have made him think that you were not cognitively all there where he like thought that you needed this? Like, did he think it?

SPEAKER_03 24:10

It's like was I just giving off a stupid vibe? Yeah, were you like were you like overly drooling during this time period? Oh my god. Okay. No, honestly, I just think it's just it it felt like more of just like one of those generational things that it's just like hey man, he's just on that huh? How old was he? Older. Uh you know, maybe like 50s. Um but it it you know it felt like it felt like more of a generational thing that like that's kind of just like his persona. Yeah. Um and just like the things that he was saying, the jokes that he was making were like very much like, dude, I don't even know you, man. Like, this is a weird place to just dive into. Um, and uh yeah, you know, Megan was like, well, like what do you like say about it? I'm like, man, it it's very easy, you know, after the fact to be like, oh yeah, I should have said this or this. But like when you're in those moments, it's like it, you like it kind of like catches you off guard and you're like, oh man, that was a weird thing to say. That you like think about later on. You're like, oh, that was really odd. And also it's like something something like that, it's kind of like that person is who they are. Like, yeah, they're very comfortable being that way in front of total strangers because that's who they've been their whole life. You know, it's like right or wrong, like, is it gonna change them? Or it just makes kind of our relationship awkward, um, you know, rather than just like rolling with it and just kind of like you know, going that way. But um, yeah, I was I was just like very much tuned into the these like minor things that I was like, man, yeah, you know, like he calls me buddy. Like he doesn't realize that that's very just just that's just a very like offensive term to use to another grown ass man, you know, and then just like you know, assuming that I would want what he's giving with me uh to me rather than just asking me, you know, which is a very normal thing to be like, hey man, I got these, like you know, yeah, it's lemon powder, like it goes in your water. Like, do you want one? I've got an extra. Like, that's a very normal thing, but be like, here, here, you know, here, man, and me having to be like, I don't want this. No, thank you. Did you did you say that or did you just take it? No, because it just caught me off guard, and I didn't realize why it caught me off guard until I had a chance to like process it. I was like, oh, he didn't even give me an option, he just gave it to me. And then so I just like put it off to the side. I just like never said anything about it, but that was not saying I was like, man, like what like that was so weird, you know? Like he didn't give me an option to take it or not. It was just like here you go, and then it was in my hand. I was like, okay. Uh it's just yeah, yeah, you know, just catches you off guard until you have time to like process it. Um yeah, other just weird social interaction that I'm now uh you know aware of. Um speaking of things that you call someone, uh I find myself straddling the line of trying to be a good, wholesome father while also calling a spade a spade. And because and the backstory of this is that Lucas, my oldest, is coming into an age where he's getting more confidence and he is being more aware of himself and he has a little bit of an ego now from his like baseball team, and he also messes with his sisters a little bit more. And what I struggle with is that I want to tell him that he's being an ass when he's being an ass. But I don't know, but I'm trying to avoid the word ass because I don't want him to repeat that word because it's not correct for him to use it in his first grade classroom. But I don't know the more appropriate word to use. When you just be it's it is the most perfect word. When you're being an ass, everyone knows what you're talking about. It's very direct, and you know what the deal is, but I don't know a kid-friendly word, and I don't want to like, you know, I don't want to like devalue it by having some like childish word. Megan's family, you I don't know if you guys have heard of this term nudge. Yeah, you're being a kid.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

So like for some reason it just like it just makes my skin crawl hearing it, because like it's just a weird word that I'm not as familiar with. Her family, I guess, grew up with it that they call them like a nudge, and I'm like, yeah, that's just I don't know. Like I I don't know what that means or does anything, or it's like, if you're an ass, like that that that very much like hits home and it's very direct. So I guess this is more towards like a brand in as you're dealing with your kids, but like have you dealt with the situation of your kids being an ass? And in those situations, how do you like let them know that they are being that way?

SPEAKER_04 28:25

I mean so so yes, like several instances, several situations. I I I don't know, like I've never put a name to it. I've never said like you're being an ass or you're being a dick. Um I said to Megan, like, man, that is being Ted Teddy's being such a dick right now. Um she knows exactly what you're talking about. Right, which is which seems to be more appropriate. Which is weird because like there's a difference between being an ass and being a dick. And I don't know how to verbalize. Maybe yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

I I think there is. I I think if you're I think so. I think an ass is being an ass is somewhat like less intentional. Being a dick is like more like you're you're doing this on purpose.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I could see it. Yeah. But like, is there anything like what do you say to like what do you say to Teddy when he's being a dick? Usually we're just we're just yelling at the big. You're just like, hey man, stop.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean, usually like it's like it's like, yeah. Like, is is is that the way you treat people, kind of a thing. Which is again, isn't as helpful as or as impactful as probably putting a name to it and saying, you know, you you're being a dick. Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Wouldn't that be more appropriate that like, oh shit, yeah, that's right. I am kind of being a dick right now. Like, and he now knows what that means to be a dick rather than just like, hey, don't do that, which is so like the umbrella of don't do that so wise. Yeah, you know, it's so vast. Of like, how do you category or how do you categorize each of these things that you don't do? Like, you don't do these things because it could get you hurt, right? Like that's dangerous. Hey man, what you're doing is dangerous. Well, if I'm if I'm just like pinching my sister, is that dangerous? No, you're just being a dick. Like that's what it's categorized as.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Like, don't do that because it's a shitty thing to do. You know, it would be really it would be it would be really funny if you guys started using these phrases that are like workarounds, but you didn't ever explain to your kids what it meant. Or it's like, shh, Teddy, you're being a real see you next Tuesday, right now. That's what he calls it. It's like you start using it in school and you're like, teachers like, yo.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Yeah. But would the teachers appreciate it? Be like, yo. Do you know what that means? You know what you did there. And they they call me and tell me.

SPEAKER_04 30:36

I don't know what it means. Well, I mean, well, was he was he being a cunt? Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean Was it appropriate?

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Did he use it appropriately? Right. Yeah, I'm gonna tell people I mean that.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

In times like these, though, I think a great there's a great uh selection of terms that seem completely uh appropriate they haven't been marked inappropriate. It's just like look at like insults from like England.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

They have such funny words that they use. Like you're being like is he a nub? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:11

Or uh the one we're listening to Harry Potter bunch, a git. He's being a git. A git, which is a good one. Which is actually probably a pretty good one to use. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

That's true, man. The the UK, they have a very wide uh assortment of insults that you could use. Like, have you ever seen the movie uh what's the Christmas movie with Will Farrell and Ryan Reynolds? Wait, you talking about a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

The musical one. It's uh it's um Scrooged. Is that it? That sounds correct. No, that's Bill Murray, never mind.

SPEAKER_04 31:45

Yeah, that's an older one. I I know what you're talking about. I haven't seen it, but I know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

But I do love that movie. It's actually very slept on. Yeah, yeah, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

All right. Technical difficulties, I hear someone typing it in. Spirited. Spirited, there we go. Okay, so in spirited, the ultimate insult is I think good afternoon. Yeah. And they make a whole song about it. Like, good afternoon is like hugely insulting. So that just made me think of it where it's like, hey, just like make up a word or have another alternative that they can use that means something that nobody else knows what they're talking about. Man, but it's just like, man, you just want to just let him know, hey man, you're being a bit of a dick right now. Can you stop? And he'll be like, all right, cool, I get it. I'm being a dick right now. Rather than just like, hey man, don't do that because it's not nice. Like, hey man, you're old enough now that you can understand what these words mean. But I I think eventually I'm gonna break down and just start using those words because he's old enough and mature enough, but I'm you know, he's still like a little kid, so I'm trying to be appropriate with it, and I know that Megan nor any other parents or teachers would probably appreciate me using the that type of vernacular, but I think it's gonna get that way because it it's we're just reaching that age where that's what happens.

SPEAKER_04 32:54

I mean, if his if his friends are anything like the ones that Teddy has at school, he's probably heard all of them already. That's what I'm wondering. I know.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

Yeah, oh man, we're in the we're in the skibbity phase. I cannot stand, I cannot stand skibbity. And I'm trying to break him from and Megan's like, well, why? Like it's not hurting him. I'm like, because it you sound uneducated. All right. You know, I don't care if you're in first grade, you sound uneducated if you're using skibbity for everything. It's just a dumb word. Maybe this is my unk status showing up, but uh it's just just like it's like nails on a chalkboard whenever he uses it.

SPEAKER_04 33:26

Yeah. Weirdly, that was something that a lot of the kids, because his baseball team used it constantly last season, but this season, uh, I haven't I haven't heard skibbity in a while, which I'm now realizing and I'm I'm so thankful for it. Because that was that was terrible. That was really awful. That's such a dumb, dumb word. It's so stupid. And it's something that's really stupid. I don't know. Well, that's no, I think the thing is there's no there's no understanding it because it doesn't actually make sense. It's this like real it's this stupid brain rot thing that's on YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

And that's what this generation loves, is that it doesn't make sense and nobody understands it. Like the 6-7. If you ask anyone where 6-7 come from, you'll get like a hundred different answers because nobody really knows where it came from.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

But well, no one knows why I know where it came from. No one knows why they made it into a thing. There's no meaning behind it becoming a thing.

SPEAKER_00 34:15

Right. Yeah, true. Yeah, yeah. It came from a rap song.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

Yeah. Um, but yeah, so uh anyways, all right, moving on. Uh I don't know if I actually brought this up on a weekly video or on the podcast or not, but uh a couple weeks ago the transmission in my car died. Did I did I bring that up at all?

SPEAKER_04 34:36

Not here in in a video.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

Okay, in a weekly video. It was the first time that I actually had like a car breakdown on me. Yeah. Um and you know, luckily I wasn't going to work or anything because that would have really screwed things up. Um, but I was driving my youngest to gymnastics and uh yeah, just went to hit accelerate off of a red light and it just didn't. The engine just revved. And uh the check engine light came on immediately, pulled off to the side. Like if I had it in drive, I could it it could it could go forward and drive, but if I tried to accelerate at all, it wouldn't. Um so was able to like limp it to a MITS shop where they're able to run the codes. You know, I was describing it to them, and like, yeah, it sounds like a transmission issue. We'll we'll we'll run the the diagnostics on it and see what it says. Sure enough, it was a transmission. I had to get towed up to a place. It was it was really unfortunate because we're about to pay off Megan's car next year, and like that's kind of like the cycle of like when we're up for a new one. So it's like, okay, next year, the year after I was looking for one, I was like, this is not an expense that I wanted to take on a car that I'm you know has like a lifespan on it right now. Uh, but had to bite the bullet on it. In the meantime, very appreciative. We had some friends, um, Megan's old college teammate who lives near us, they had an old car that they were not using that I was able to use. So very uh appreciative of that. One thing that I realized that like I that because of technology, it's a skill that I had to like recall from the depths of my brain was that this car was old enough and it doesn't even feel like it's even that old, but it did not have a backup camera. Uh so I went to reverse and I was looking for the backup camera, and I was like, oh, there is none. I'm like, oh wow, I actually have to like use the mirrors and like look back behind me and make sure that people aren't coming. Like it felt so unnatural because it'd been so long since I'd been in a car without a backup camera that like it just becomes second nature. Like I throw it into reverse and I just look at the camera, back up, okay, we're all good. Whereas now there is nothing, so I was like, holy shit, this feels very dangerous. You know, like I feel like I'm not doing this correctly. Like, is my mirror set appropriately? Am I clearing the you know, each way uh, you know, enough times to make sure that no one's coming? Um it was it was just a harsh reminder of like the very simple things that technology, that the advancement of technology has made us used to. Uh, that like going back, like even, you know, I I know that people do it, but like going back to like driving manual, you know, we're already on like EVs and self-driving cars that like manual seems like it's from like you know the 1960s, which I get it is, but they're still making manual cars. But even a simple thing such as a backup camera, that I was like, holy shit, I did not realize how reliant I am and how just widespread they are, regardless of whose car you're driving, rental cars, whatever it is, they all have some sort of backup camera because it's a safety feature now. Like it does make things safer that you can see behind you. Um, yeah, I just felt way more dangerous backing up in this car. Very appreciative that I had the car, but uh yeah, a reminder that uh that some of the technology that the the technological advances that we have uh that we really take for granted very quickly and it's hard to go back. So it must have still had a CD player in it, right? Yeah. I couldn't connect my that was a weirdest thing. I couldn't connect my phone to it via Bluetooth for like for to for like listening to podcasts and music. It could connect for phone calls, so I could take a phone call through it, but audio through my media was not a thing. So I had to like listen. So I was like in the car with it like up to my ear, just like trying to listen to my podcast because it was so loud and it wouldn't connect to it. Yeah, man. Weird things that we just take for granted. I was like, holy shit. I was like, oh, Bluetooth, great, this is awesome. And then I connected it, it was like, Do you want us to know your call history? I was like, no, it's weird. I was like, okay, cool. So then I went to play my music and just on my phone. I was like, oh shit, yeah, there was a time that it only did it for phone calls and not media. What year was that? You know, I don't even know. I I mean it had to have been early 2000s. It had 198,000 miles on it. Yeah. So she's mine around the block.

SPEAKER_04 38:34

I had a 2014 Nissan Versa that I'm fairly certain did have a backup camera. So if it didn't have a backup camera, that must have been that must have been a little bit more. That's even 12 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 38:45

Was that the one that you had after your Chrysler, after your convertible?

SPEAKER_04 38:47

Yeah, that was the one I got right after my C was the little book. Which I'm like, dude, you you talked about the transmission going and and dealing with that. I was like, oh man, it's old old pro here. Had to push push that C bring through an intersection, through a toll booth. Really? That was oh yeah. Through a toll booth with the television dead? Yeah, dude. We were going to we were going with uh Megan's old roommates down in DC, the Caitlin's, Caitlin Krenick and Caitlin uh singleman. Um we were we were heading up to the beach and we were on 95 and I I had Easy Pass, so I was in the Easy Pass lane, and then it just died, and I was like, Well, this sucks. It's just not safe. Yeah, man. Nobody was happy.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

I wonder if you had gone through even that, even talking about easy pass, like having like toll takers, like actual people in the booth that would take your toll. Like that doesn't seem like it was that long ago. You know, Megan's dad used to be. Yeah, I remember there. Yeah, uh-huh. Yep. Yep. I wonder if you had gone through if there was a toll taker there, if they would have made you pay the toll on you pushing your car through. You're like, dude, uh you're fine, man. You're not you're good, man. Just good luck. Yeah. Oh man. Um all right, let's see. What do you got? I don't I mean, I guess we can just like just lightly touch on this, but have either of you guys seen um Mandalorian and Grogu? No.

SPEAKER_04 40:09

I honestly have I have less than zero interest in sitting through that in the movie theater. If it comes to Disney Plus, at one point maybe I'll go ahead and watch it, but I I really don't feel compelled to at all.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

I think I've had this I've had this interesting experience where my expectations are on the floor, but usually that's a good time for them to me decide to go see it because like I kind of know what I'm in for, and it's actually like maybe better, or not even better, it's like more entertaining than I would have expected. I think I'm gonna if I have like a weekend with nothing going on sometime in the coming weeks and there's no better movies to watch, I might sneak in to go grab it, knowing that like I'm not really bringing in any expectations. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Man, yeah, and because I bring it up because it's been very interesting seeing kind of like the waves of the reviews come through. That when it came out, I think expectations were very high for the Mandalorian because of the TV show. You know, it grew its audience base through that, and obviously, you know, Baby Yoda had its own following. So when it came out, the expectations were high and it did not meet those expectations. So it got trashed in reviews, which I was surprised. I saw a review thread come out on the day that it came out, and it was like terrible reviews. It was just getting eviscerated. Was it worse than Rise of Skywalker on Rotten Tomatoes? I feel like it might have been.

SPEAKER_01 41:28

No, Rise of Skywalker is real bad.

SPEAKER_03 41:31

Was it worse? Is it yeah? Like, I don't know where they are at comparatively, but so then it got trashed. And then, like a week later is when people were like, yo, it's getting trashed, but like I saw it, it was enjoyable, it was a good movie, I'm glad that I went to go see it. So I think that like the initial wave of bad reviews lowered the expectations, where the people that saw it were like, hey man, it's not as bad as everyone's saying. Like it was still an enjoyable watch, and it was fine. But then now you're but then now you're seeing you know, it that that was its crest, and now it's come back down where it's like, hey, it's now below like two other movies, you know, it's it's like the largest like week one or week over two.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

If you're gonna let like numbers, if you're gonna take that to mean anything, this is like fucking embarrassing. Like you got two horror movies, one made for $750,000, one made for $10 million. That's it. And they they are raking in profits that you don't you're not you you have ways to go to even make as much money as they've gotten to like close already. Uh and and I think they were, you know, if you're Disney, you are betting on this movie having like having some like weeks and like legs, right? Yeah. When you when you drop from like whatever it was, however much money you made in like that one uh the first last weekend uh into um into this weekend, uh that is like a scary drop, and that is like it's gonna fade, you know what I mean? Like you were expecting more. I think it made like what 25? Like it was third on the list, obviously, but it made like 25, yeah. It made like 25 million this year, this we this weekend. If you're like if you're that if you're if you're Disney, you want like a you want it to be like second weekend should be like 45, 40 million, maybe, and then you get to like 25 maybe next weekend. The fact that you're 25 now, it's like ah shit, dude. Uh so yeah, not a good sign, but uh what I do appreciate from all like the movie people that I follow is like this might be a really welcome moment for the movie industry and for the show for the for like the business of movies, because you have this like Star Wars like thing that has been squeezed to death ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, right? Like they've they have diluted the fuck out of the Star Wars brand to the point that like a movie comes out and this could happen, and then you got these fucking 20 something direct. Who cut their teeth on YouTube and are raking it in, doing original stuff. There's no franchise, no like material that it's sourced off of. It's just original shit. And like kids are showing up in the movies, like we were finally going to get like a revival of some exciting original cinema again.

SPEAKER_04 44:19

Yeah. Yeah. That's definitely the that's definitely the like silver lining, like positive outlook to it. But I also think like just movie industry as a whole, if you have like a big franchise like that that's not able to pull, like what are you gonna like that's that's that's that's bad news. How do they even come back to it?

SPEAKER_01 44:40

I mean, I did see real quick, I will say this, I did see this was kind of funny, where it's like, oh, you know, everyone's like talking about how like optimistic they are about the movie business now. These like very original, fresh movies are like whatever, maybe move maybe studios will start funding like interesting new things again. And someone was like, you guys keep thinking these executives that run these studios are actually smart and able to adapt to new information. No, if there's anything they're walking away from from this, it's gonna be like, hmm, how do we turn hot ones into a movie? Right.

SPEAKER_04 45:14

Yeah, but it's like it's like it's like usually those the the lessons that are taken from there are never the right ones, and they're gonna end up thinking about like, okay, so let's turn the reins of Star Wars over to like the next YouTube up-and-coming person, which is is kind of like what they tried to do. Like it wasn't necessarily them, but they've they've tried to give the reins over to a couple of other creators, and they had they had uh Benny Off and Weiss with something, they had Ryan Johnson that was gonna do his own little thing, and then all that stuff ended up getting shelled and not going well. It's just I I feel like they their lack of an overall plan on that side of things is uh is is telling uh and finally hopefully reached the like rock bottom with uh with Mandalorian Grove, but who knows where that's gonna go.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

Does does do the streaming numbers make up any of that? Like, how much are they putting stock into the movie release and how much it's making in theaters, knowing that it's gonna come to Disney Plus within you know a couple months or whatever? And they're and like all of us casual fans, we're all gonna go watch it. Like, does that make up any of that? I don't know the ins and outs of you know, you know, box office releases versus streaming, you know, and and and how the the numbers work out, but like are they like is this as much of a panic for them right now in theaters, knowing that like they're probably gonna get all the casual Star Wars fans are all gonna watch it when it's on streaming, you know?

SPEAKER_01 46:35

I think I I I I think it's a little it's a mix. Like again, I don't know. I'm not gonna pretend to know what they're thinking. I do think on some level there is like a well, you know, it's a streaming property, it'll bring people to Disney Plus. Maybe the way that they've seen, you know, uh d added subscriptions through these kinds of things meaningful enough that they're like whatever. Um at the same time, it's like I think it's a really bad signal when you put out a Star Wars movie and it just you know performs this way. I think it's like still a signal of like if it's performing this way, how do we need to rethink what we put on the platform? Because like, you know, movies, like the movie theater is still kind of like a great, like the Coliseum. Like, what are people like responding to, right? I think that I think that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

I think that most people view this as a Star Wars movie. Like, I get it that's in the universe, but like this this always to me felt like just you know a bigger episode of The Mandalorian. Like it didn't feel like a Star Wars movie, you know?

SPEAKER_01 47:34

No, I think I think it's more of like thinking about it from like studio business terms, like the idea that this is part of the Star Wars universe is like relevant. But I agree with your point. Like to me, if I'm Disney, the real thing I'm probably mad about is maybe the whole play here was to sell a bunch of fucking merch, right? To sell a bunch of toys. And if that's not gonna pan out now because this movie is not this like runaway sensation that is bringing, you know, kids are forcing their parents to bring them back to see it again. Like Lilo and Stitch, like the live action Lilo and Stitch, easily one of the best examples of like the perfect play that Disney wants, which is like crushes box office, repeat viewings, and you know they're selling the fuck out of those toys. Uh I just think didn't work.

SPEAKER_04 48:23

Which is like kind of like the thing, like like everybody knows that they're gonna be able to watch that on Disney Plus 2, and that still made a killing. And I and I think that from the from like the economics of streaming perspective, a lot of those strick uh like uh content houses that do own a streaming platform have been like curtailing what they're putting out and like direct to streaming stuff and doing more of the traditional distribution because quantifying what that actually like the impact and what that does and trying to justify that expense, I think but like by and large, and it's probably because it's become so diluted now, but like I don't think any any of those streaming platforms are able to add enough subscriptions to actually like cover the cost of all this content that they're pumping into it. Like, yeah, they get a steady revenue stream, but what they're attributing that to or what that what that goes to, I think is all like really nebulous. And for them to like look at it and say, Oh yeah, this is a success because we're getting maybe some of these subscriptions that maybe would have come in or or or or maybe not, whether it was on there or not, like like it's it's hard for them to know what that expense is um or like what the like value that's truly bringing.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

Yeah. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 49:32

So like like HBO, um HBO had a bunch of plans for for streaming investment uh for HBO Max that they've uh cut from that. I I think even Netflix, who is just like a an investment house and pumps out out content, they've even been uh reducing what they've they've spent on things like that. So it's it's kind of like uh you know, but from and Disney in particular, who's had a bunch of hard financial times and have you know had a whole bunch of layoffs across all of their different properties. Um I don't think that there's a way that they can spin what the Mandalorians do and where it's like a good thing for them.

SPEAKER_03 50:06

Yeah. Yeah, I wonder what the breakdown of like people that saw it, like what the break because it very much felt like a continuation of the of the Mandalorian seasons like how much of it was people that are up to date, had watched all of the Mandalorian and now are seeing this as a continuation of that vice, like people that had never seen Mandalorian before and are just going straight from the last box office, which was what you know, whatever the last Star Wars was, I can't even remember what the name of it was, and like straight to this one. Like that must be so jarring if you just go into this cold without having done it. So like it just you know, it always felt like it was geared toward people that have watched the Mandalorian show series. So I'd love to see what the breakdown of uh of the viewers are of people that have like seen Mandalorian and knew and know what it's about and know what they're going into. But it's like people that are going into a cold, like, what the hell is this? You know, um but yeah, I mean sad to see it uh again, sad to see it kind of not live up to the hype, but also like it's it sounds like enough people are like, hey man, it's just a good episode of The Mandalorian. Like it's fine, it's not gonna blow your socks off, but like it's an enjoyable watch if you get around to it. So at least we do have that option that like it'll be out streaming in a couple weeks, you know, you know, a couple months, I guess, and we'll be able to catch it.

SPEAKER_01 51:15

Yeah, to me, I mean, not to belabor too much on this. I think what's weird to me is just like the reason I think it's a merch play, and and it's really them discovering that Baby Yoda was a much bigger thing that they expected it would be, and then they were like, we gotta figure out how to like make this bigger, you know, we gotta figure out how to get more out of this. Then I think they're like they're like four years too late on that. They're four years too late. And you made like you tanked the show. The show was badass at first, and then like and then it just turned into this like really, really like forgettable, like cutesy, like, dude, a gunslinger taking care of a baby was such a badass thing in the start. And now it's like this, I don't know, like it became you have they almost like leaned into like Rogu's cute, everyone thinks he's cute. Let's make this like very playful. And it's like, no, man, like it would have been cool to maintain your weird spaghetti western in the Star Wars universe tone, and then have the baby be this like comic relief, but like not change the entire show around this thing that you're now seeing dollar signs with. Um and yeah, so and then to just make a movie again, not only four years too late, but coming off of like the some of the worst seasons of television you put out, like what are you thinking? Uh but you know, people are gonna do what they're gonna do.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

Yeah. Um Alright, I've got one more big, bigger topic, but I'm gonna leave it to the end because it's gonna lead into our question of the week. But so uh for now let's move into this week in history. Soraz. Um what you got?

SPEAKER_01 52:41

I got some, but like honestly, I was thinking we would even like Do you have a do you have a game this week? Yeah. Yeah. I do.

SPEAKER_03 52:47

Why don't we just go into it? Do you have anything big that you wanted to bring up? If not, we can just roll into that.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

No, I found a couple that were like interesting, but honestly, like whenever we do it next, I might just do it like a couple that were interesting for the past couple weeks. I mean, I just they weren't that moving to me. Uh okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:03

All right. Sweet. Then we'll we'll roll into trivia. I use the word trivia lightly because this past week, if you guys were following it, was the scripts national spelling beat. Yes. Um the speed spelling. One thing that I had never seen, I had never seen, did you see the highlight of them doing the speed round? Yeah, man. I didn't know that was that was blowing my mind.

SPEAKER_04 53:26

Also, but I don't know what's more impressive. Him doing the spelling at that speed, or whoever the judge is that's like catching all these letters to yeah, to confirm like how.

SPEAKER_03 53:35

Yeah. That blows me up. Yeah, but it's just like you're you like I feel like in my head, I I mean, hey, you know, I'm not one that tunes into the spelling B and watches the whole thing, like, I'll catch the highlights and see the big words that they spell, and that's great. But from my perception, it's always like they get the word, and then there's like minutes of them, like, okay, cool, what's the country of origin? Use it in a sentence. Like, it's very slow and methodical of them like yeah, writing it out on their like little board on the background, and they're like figuring it out and thinking it out. So, like, this was like such a departure from that. They're like, word, dude, is just knocking it out. Word, knock it out, word, knock it out. It's like, holy shit, man. This just because of how what that was in my head, it made it so much more impressive that like he wasn't trying to figure out all the the you know the language and you know how they use different syllables and things like that. It was just like, nope, there's the word and I'm spelling it. There's the word I'm spelling it.

SPEAKER_04 54:25

So how many thirty some or forty?

SPEAKER_03 54:29

Yeah, I don't remember.

SPEAKER_04 54:30

I don't even know how many it was. I I I had to go back and like look at some of those, and I was like, I don't that's not a word. That's not there's like there's no way that those letters are a word.

SPEAKER_03 54:39

I know. Like I had to look them up because it was insane. Man, I'm as uh hey, I'm not a big reader. Um become not. I am getting more into reading as I'm on these long flights and having something to do. Another thing that I I was gonna bring up at some point, but I'm reading a book called The Will of the Many. Um, dude.

SPEAKER_04 54:58

Dude, that book is awesome. Did you read it? Yeah, man. You gotta be in the The Strength of the Few, too. That's the like the sequel. So that's the one after it.

SPEAKER_03 55:08

Um the reason why sorry, this is kind of tangential, but uh what got me into this was that obviously I'm a big Survivor fan, and there is a um and there's a player on Survivor named Kyle, and uh and he's always been an awesome player. He just seems like a good dude. Uh I don't want to spoil anything, but um he handles himself really well. He always conducts great interviews, he's well spoken. Um, he's one of the fan favorites. So he came out with an Instagram video, and he was like, hey, people always come up to me, and people are always asking, hey, how do you do well on Survivor? How do you prepare for Survivor? It's this very interesting game of you know managing social dynamics and how you manage yourself and alliances and things like this and how you tell a story. And he was like, People always want to talk about, you know, hey, it's just it's all about strategy and it's all about um the art of negotiation and all these sorts of things. He's like, my he's like, my, my advice is a complete 180 from that. I think that the best thing to do is to grow your imagination. When you're out on this island dealing with these different people, you have to know how to adapt your story. You have to know how to tell a story to someone. You have to be able to sell someone on something else. And the only way that you can do that is by having an and is by having an expansive imagination yourself. So my suggestion is to go out and play video games. Like go like go explore these other worlds that you're not a part of that can expose you to different different things and different ways of thinking about things that you're not normally exposed to. So he gave three book recommendations, and this was one of them was The Will of the Many, and I read it, it the the synopsis of it sounded super interesting. So I'm into that right now. Uh one thing that caught me off is that I just finished um I just finished uh Project Hail, Hail, Hail Mary. And so I was reading through it. It took you know a few weeks for me to go through it. It was like 33 chapters. This one I got like seven chapters in and I was like, oh man, like I wonder how long this is. It's like 78 chapters. Yo! Like it is, it's not something that's as tangible as like picking up a hardcover book, and you're like, oh man, this is a really thick book. This is gonna take a while. You just download it on your Kindle, like, all right, cool, it's here, let's start reading. You don't even think about it, but then I looked at it. It's like, holy shit, this is gonna take a while to get through. But the pacing of it is awesome. Like, as like it gets through some of the expose of like, you know, hey, some of the characters talking, and but then like it doesn't let you sit there for a long time before it gets into the next like big event that happens. Like pacing is really great, really interesting. Um, so highly recommend that for anyone out there that's looking for something like that. Um, sorry, off on a tangent, back to the trivia game. So, Scripts National Spelling B was this past week. So obviously it's fitting for us to do a sports spelling bee between the two of you. Now, I'm not at home, so I don't have my paper. I don't know where it's at. I think it's like 7-3 or 7-4 Sarav, I believe. I know that Sarav is still winning by a few. Um, so I'll have to update that when I get back home.

SPEAKER_01 57:59

Um totally I'm someone who's been to the nationals for a spelling bee. So Oh.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

So you're saying that you have a leg up, that Brandon is at the disadvantage here.

SPEAKER_01 58:11

Yes. I was I was okay. I'm in I'm Indian, dude. Wait, so Rob, were you really were you really in the scripts, national spelling bee? Dude, my parents, well not scripts, but my parents made me do spelling bee stuff. I think the one that was available to us or local to us, or the one that we decided to participate in was called the North South Foundation. Um, and I did go to the nationals for that in Arizona, uh Arizona State, which if you can imagine being a I want to say what, eighth grader? It was I I think I was an eighth grader. Like very, very like freshly pubescent, and then like arriving in ASU and just looking around, like it blew my fucking mind. Also, I'm making a joke, like, even though I made it there, even even I will say, even though I made it there, it was one of the most telling moments of my life where I was like, oh, I'm not a dork. Like, I don't care. I don't care as much as some of these people do. I got eliminated in like the first round, and then we just had a fun trip in Arizona as a as a result. So yeah. Your parents weren't that were were they weren't that that uh disappointed in you? No. My parents have always been happy. Well, not always, but like definitely, I think in that moment it was kind of like, oh, it's it's still cool that we even got that far. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:29

Cool.

SPEAKER_04 59:29

So cool.

SPEAKER_00 59:31

Cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_03 59:34

All right. So with that, we will uh we'll just go back and forth. I have just a list of names I thought of that are interesting. Um athletes. These are names of athletes to spell. All right. Uh all right, so let's start with uh let's start with Sarav since he kind of laid down the gauntlet here. So your name to spell is Victor Wembanyama. Uh the whole like do I have to do Victor or just the last name?

SPEAKER_01 59:59

Yeah, let's just do the whole name. Whatever. Uh V-I-C-T-O-R W-E-M B Y E N A-M-A.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:13

That is incorrect. Victor Wembanyama Victor Wembanyama, V-I-C-T-O-R, W-E-M, B-A-N, Y-A-N-A. Victor Wembama.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

I got confused as I was saying it, but I know I I would not have gotten the A in there anyway. So I don't know. Feel free if you give me if you give me Giannis right now, I'm gonna slap you the next time you see you.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:38

You may or may not be on the list. We'll see. So all right, uh so Brandon, your your name is Ben Rothlisberger. Ben Rothlisberger. B-E-N. Space.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:54

R-O-E-T-H-L-I-S-B-E-R-G-E-R.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:00

That is correct. Ben Rothlisberger. That is correct. Alright. Uh so one of you guys might have to write this down. I don't have anything here to write it down. So Brandon is up one nothing. Uh back to Sarav. Sarab, your name is Syracuse coaching legend Jim Bayheim. Jim Beheim.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:20

J-I-M-Space. B-O-E-H-E-I-M.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

That is correct. Jim Beheim is correct. All right. One-one. Uh there are 12 of these in total, so each of you guys gets six. Uh just so you guys know what's coming. All right. Brandon, your name is Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick. No, I always get this wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:44

Really? I feel like his name is in the news way too often. I know. There is some there are some landmines in this name.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:53

There is the L's and the chick. V-I-L-O. Well, those L's I know. B-E-L I-C-H-I-C-K. That is correct.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:04

Yeah. Bill Billachick. Yeah. I feel like it's always weird because he because it's pronounced Bill a Chick, but it's a but it's a chick. And I always want to put it.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:13

I always want to put two L's in there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:16

Alright, so it's two to one Brandon right now. Alright. Sarav, your name is Dwayne Wade. Dwayne Wade.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

D W Oh shit. I just realized. Yeah, this is actually a tricky one. D-W Y-A-N-E-W-A-D-E. Yeah. That is correct. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:36

It's not the regular Dwayne at first. That's Y.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:40

That Y is a tricky one. Yeah, yeah. Alright, nice. So 2-2 now. Uh going back to Brandon. All right. Brandon, your name is Tua Tungavailoa. Tua Tungava Tungavailoa. T-U-A.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:56

Space. Now of the Atlanta Falcons. T-A-G-O-V-A-I-L-O-A.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:03

That is correct. Tua Tungavailoa. Yeah, nice. Yeah, very good. Yeah, weird that he's on the Falcons now. Alright. Srav, just how this turned out, but I don't even know if you you probably don't know who this person is. But your name is Mark Bjurley. Mark Bjerley, the Chicago White Side pitcher? Yeah. And the Marlins. Mark what? Was he?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:28

Beerley. Bjurley. Is it a is it a pu or a bu? I can't tell what you're saying. Ba. Bjurley. Mark Bjurley. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:36

I'm saying it, I'm saying it so much that it's becoming weirder and weirder. Mark Bjerley.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:41

Okay. I don't know. Yeah, I have no idea who this is. I'm gonna just hope. I'm just gonna hope I have this decently down. Uh Mark M-A-R-K. Uh hope it's not a C. Um B-I-E-R-L-Y? Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:58

Can I can I try this one? Can I try this one? Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:01

Yeah because I don't I don't know if this is right either. M-A-R-K B-U-E-H-R-L?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:07

Yeah, that's that where the H is Mark Burley. Yeah. B-U-H-A-R-L-E. Yeah, so yeah, kind of kind of shitty how that turned out if you get in that one. Uh what is it?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:18

Is it uh Brandon hasn't missed Brandon's hasn't missed like let's just go with negatives. Brandon has not gotten one wrong yet. I have two wrong.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:26

Okay. So Brandon is plus two back to him. Okay. All right. Uh all right, Brandon. Your name? Yannis Antenacum. He sucks so bad. Oh my god, that Antenacumpo.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:40

This one should count for like seven. That's that last name is insane. E-I-A-N-N-I-S. A-T-E-N-T-O. I think I missed it. I think I missed the letter. You were wrong on the letter.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:53

You were wrong in the second letter. It's the thing. You said A-T-E-N. No, I said A-N-T-E-N. Did you? Either way, it got it got wrong at the end. Yeah. But no, I I know it. Giannis. The rest of it, no change. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No shot. Uh yep. So Brandon is still remains at plus two over Sarav. Plus one. All right, Sarav. Yeah, plus plus one. No. And I got I got one wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:29

Yeah, yeah. Okay. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

It's fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right, you're right, you're right.

unknown 1:05:32

Good.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

He's still plus two. Plus one, sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

Plus two. Whatever.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:35

Okay. Yeah. All right. Sorav, your name is Mike Sheshewsky.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

Mike Sheshevsky. God. Uh I wish I could like write these down the way spelling bee people do. Um You can. I mean Yeah, but I just don't have pen and paper. I don't want to use my phone or my computer. I'm gonna try to visualize this. So Mike M-I-K-E S E Y C I E E W S K I?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:07

I didn't listen to anything else past the first letter. What is what is what is Mike Shoshevsky? What does he go by? Coach. Coach K. Coach K. How did you start his last name? I started with the S. Fuck. Yeah. Yeah. So I I I honestly didn't listen to anything past that.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:23

I was so focused on getting the Shoshewsky part, but then I forgot the fucking K. Wow. God damn it, though stupid.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:29

So so Mike, Mike Shoshevsky, Coach K. Uh, obviously Mike and then K-R Z Y Z. E-W-S-K-I. Mike. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:43

I was crazy off. Yeah. I think I was thinking of someone else's last name completely.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:48

If I would have missed it by that second Z, I would have, or the first Z, I would have been so a lot of Z in there.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

All right. So Brandon is still plus two. Is that correct? Or plus one? It doesn't matter. I think we could just go best of six. Like I've already lost. Yeah. Yeah, sure. All right, Brandon. This is the last one. Your name. You chap one more. There are three more. Yep, you check one more after that. Okay. Your name is Kyle Juzchek. Kyle Yuzchek. The fullback for the 49ers. Yeah. Known as Juice. Kyle Juzchek. K-Y-L-E. J-U-S-C-Y-C-K. I wanted a santaria. I gave it to you. Good fucking luck with this one. Kyle Juzchek. Uz check. K-U-C-C. Can I try Kyle E. Yeah? Can I try real quick?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:37

I've seen the jerseys of mine. Is it J-U-S?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:43

Z-C Y K? Very close.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:46

Oh man. Very close. You missed another Z in there. Oh man. Kyle Uzcheck. J-U-S. Z C Z Y K. Man. To end it with six consonants is just it's just some wild work. Uh yeah. Alright, cool. Sarav, your name is Michael Huamanawanui. Michael Huamanawanui. Tight end for the Rams and the Saints. And uh 49ers maybe.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:30

Michael Huamanawanui.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:32

I'm gonna go, okay. M-I-C-H-A-E-L. And then uh G-O-F-U-C-K-Y-O-U-R-S-E-L F. Is that right? Is that right? Am I pronouncing that right?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:50

Michael Huamanawanui. I'm not leaving your track. O M-A-N-A-W-A-N-U-I. Michael Huamanawanui. Wow. Okay, spell it spray the names, not for me. That's it. And Brandon, to bring it home. Your name is Steve Ho U Fat. I'm sorry. What?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:14

Steve Ho U Fat. That's uh S-T-E-V-E. Just gonna go H O E Y O U F-A-T.

unknown 1:09:24

Ho.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:25

You are incorrect. Oh man You're not familiar with the French former basketball player from 2008 and 2025, Steve Ho-U-Fat? You were unfortunately you were wrong from the get-go. It was S-T-E-E-V-E. E with an extra E. French space. Oh my god. So Steve with an extra E, space, H O, Space, Y O U, Space, F A T. So it actually is Ho-U-Fat Ho-Yu fat. Wow. Although you did add E E onto the Ho. He must have changed his name. Oh, it's just H-O. Steve Ho You Fat. Do you think he changed his name? Is he like Korean French? Um no. Well, he inherited it from his Chinese grandfather, evidently.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:17

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense actually. Chow Yun Fat.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:19

He's a very well-known actor. That's Yan, but Ho Yu Fat. Ho Yu Fat. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:27

So that uh that concludes our trivia game. Nice. Good job, everyone. Srav didn't didn't uh back up his uh his ASU glory days. It's called spelling words, man, not names. I mean, you know, every I mean I think every name is a word, right? No, it's not the same, man. You can't define them, you can't get their etymology. I mean, ho you fat from his Chinese grandfather. You knew it. And define that too. Yeah, exactly. All right. Um last topic that I wanted to bring up. So I mentioned to you guys that um so uh Pablo Torre, he's part of the Meadowlark universe, and he has a show called Pablo Torre Finds Out. You might have heard of him of him in Solar Space Winning because Pulitzer winning uh um Pablo Torre, yep, as uh he just won a Pulitzer Prize for an episode that he did on his show uh about the Kawhi Leonard um scandal, I guess is what it would be called, where uh essentially Steve Bomber laundered money to Kawhi Leonard by creating an environmental company that was fraudulent, allegedly. Um so uh so that he won a Pulitzer for that episode. So he does uh in what seemingly is not an expansive space anymore, he does investigative journalism. A lot of people are calling him to for him to be the one to investigate the Epstein files, which he hasn't he has yet to touch, but that he might be, you know, one of the people most equipped to be able to handle something like that. Um so his episodes kind of vacillate between you know true sports investigative journalism and kind of some lighthearted topics. So on one episode he did, it was more lighthearted, where he wanted to investigate um Oz Perlman, who you might be familiar with that name is that he is a mentalist who has kind of risen the ranks and has seen himself in more um public spots, such as on Hard Nocks and Hard Knocks. He goes on uh uh around to a lot of sports teams and he does mentalist shows for them. He was he showed up when there was a shooting at the uh at the dinner at Correspondence. He was yeah, he was at the correspondence center and he was there with Donald Trump.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:34

He was supposed to be the entertainment.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:35

Yep. So um a very high-ranking mentalist. And so uh Pablo Torre did an episode where he basically because the things that he does is seemingly uh, you know, obviously, as he's you know a great entertainer and showman, it's almost beyond belief that he's that he's doing this. And I would consider myself in that group as well. The thing that he does, it's like there's no way that he could possibly know this, from guessing people's pin numbers to, you know, to uh to underst to guessing that Aaron Rodgers was gonna think of a goldfish as an animal that he wanted and having and having him produce that. Um he he does some really wild stuff. And the way that he explains it is that he's able to, that he's very perceptive of human nature, and that he's able to pick up on very subtle cues in terms of eye twitches and muscle twitches and your breathing and your eye patterns and things like that. So things that he basically uh that he explains that anyone could learn to do. And so Pablo Torre did an episode where he investigated this. It wasn't really him investigating it. He realized that there was um someone, there was a lawyer in Australia who did like a five-hour episode kind of doing like a deep dive into O's Pearlman's uh, you know, acts and kind of how to debunk them. And so spoiler alerts, I think it's worth a listen to. It's very interesting, especially if you have the uh the video feed to accompany the podcast with it, because it shows the O's tricks and a lot of it is very visual stuff that Pablo and this other Australian lawyer kind of uh point out. But spoiler alert is that he does do uh debunk it. And um, and it was a little bit of like a glass-shattering moment for me because you know, I was one of those people that was, you know, just on like a wavetop level of I very much bought into it. I was like, holy shit, this is wild stuff that he's doing, that he's able to obviously read these people and to pluck these things almost out of thin air and to get them right on a very consistent basis. And so this episode debunking it was kind of like, oh man, like it was kind of a realization of like, all right, you know, does this guy read people's minds? Like, I probably should have known. I probably should have been more intelligent to be able to realize that. But it was also like, did I want to know? Did I like being entertained with it, whatever it was? So it debunked it. Um, and they kind of like, you know, uh alluded to there's a lot of like pre-show conversations that go on. There's a lot of kind of like tricks that he uses. And really the basis behind it is because O's, while he has all this public notoriety, it seems like among the the realm of magicians slash mentalists, I don't know if that's even appropriate to group them to them together, but that he is kind of this pariah, that everyone kind of like does not think positively of Oz Pearlman. So their so their you know basis on having this episode was like, why do people not appreciate what he's doing for them? And uh and really what they debunk is that he does a lot of kind of like shady stuff that it's kind of like stuff that he doesn't reveal to the audience, things that have happened behind the scenes and how he garners this information that's not just him plucking it out of thin air. There's a lot of prep work that goes into it where he kind of like leads the target to the correct answer that O's already knows that he's going to produce. So um it's worth a listen to. Uh I think you guys should check it out. A, because it's an interesting episode, B, because Pablo Torre is is doing a lot of good stuff on the journal on the journalism front. The reason why I bring it up is because, not because necessarily because he debunked O'S, which I, you know, like I mentioned earlier, should be kind of understood that nobody's really doing this stuff uh on their own, because that's delves into like supernatural stuff. But I thought that the conversation that they had afterwards was very interesting. I don't know if you guys had a chance to listen to it, but uh, what they kind of talk about is like, okay, cool, now that we've established that this guy is fraud, sounds like a strong word, but that's essentially what he is. He's kind of just, he is a con man. So now that we've established that's what he is, like now where do we go from here? And the conversation was very interesting in that it was like, hey, here's this person who, you know, and it's like, why is he this pariah among other mentalists? Well, here's this person who has developed this skill and it's clearly entertaining, right? Like he is able to uh engage audiences across the world on this sort of thing. And he realizes that his techniques, well, while maybe not above board or the most, you know, forthcoming and upright uh and upfront to everyone, they're getting the interaction, they're getting the engagement that he is looking for. So as this person who's figured out how to engage audiences, he finds that when he does these ticks, that when he does these tricks, that the green arrow is pointing up. So what does he do? He hit he keeps on hitting that button because that keeps because that arrow keeps on going up, and it's getting him to sit next to the president at a correspondence center. So it's working for him. Whereas other mentalists aren't as willing. They know that the things that he does are not exactly the most above board among their group. So they're not as willing to do it. So it's like, okay, here's this person who finds what's working, and he's willing to keep hitting that button. And hey, you know, it might not be the most moral. He knows that he's tricking people, but he's he's the one willing to hit that button. And and then the conversation evolved into, well, it's kind of like Santa Claus, all right? Hey, if we have younger viewers out there, spoiler alert for that, but it's kind of like Santa Claus, right? That like it's a great fascination that you have. But if you eventually allow yourself to fully believe in Santa Claus, it also allows you to believe in a whole realm of other things, of like, how is this one man able to have a bag that's big enough to fit all these presents? How can he visit all these kids in one night? How can he have a sleigh that flies? How can he have reindeer? You're opening yourself up to all these other things that you're taking for granted that allows you to believe in the ultimate thing, which is Santa Claus. So is it almost better to have something that you believe in and then you learn that it's not because it almost uncovers your vulnerabilities in what you're able to believe? So they were like, isn't maybe it's a good thing that you have this thing that he that he that he captivates so many people that believe in it. But then when you learn that it's not, you're now learning more about yourself of like what you're willing to understand. That like maybe there was a little part of you that was like, oh man, this guy is actually supernatural. He can actually read people and guess their pin numbers. And then when you realize that it's not true, be like, okay, man, I'm glad I realized that. That like people can't just do this. Like, there's there, there are steps that we aren't at that point of the supernatural where you can just pluck someone's pin number and rob someone. Like, that's not a real thing. Like, okay, that makes sense that I now believe that, you know? So um all this to say that like it got me down kind of a kind of a depressing hole. And hey, what's this podcast? If you don't get a little depressing every now and then, you know, that's kind of just what we're about around here. Yeah. Um, but so I realized when he was talking about, hey, he realizes that the arrow points up, so he's willing to keep hit that. And I think that they were not saying the quiet part out loud, which is really how many aspects of our life that we interact with is that exact same thing happening, right? Where it's someone who is who knows that what they're doing is not exactly above board, that there's a little bit of conmanship to it, but they realize that it gets the engagement and it gets the numbers or whatever metric you want to use to measure it by, that they keep hitting that button. And then like it really made me like think about what of all these things that I interact with, how much of it is is actually real, right? When you think of in terms of like, you know, hey, like the low-hanging fruit of like politics, religion. Um, when you think of like Brandon and I play, and then now to like the the you know, the other like minutiae stuff, like Brandon and I played play play video games. Well, there's rampant cheating in video games, but like we're never sure. We can never prove it. Is this person cheating or not? This person's really good. Are they cheating or are they really good? I don't know. Like, does it make me just assume that good people are all cheaters or that, or that there's no one cheating, everyone's really good? Like, either way, it's not correct, you know. Like there's some form of the truth in there, but we can never be sure uh about what it is. Um, to like, you know, to to product, to buying a car or a house, and you're haggling. Are you haggling what the price actually is, or is it just what someone deemed is a correct price, and you're just trying to get your best price, the person that's selling it to you is trying to get their best price. Even I thought it was very, I thought it was very topical that Brandon in his what's good was talking about an Eric Church commencement ceremony, and he even he and even he mentioned it, he was like, I don't know if AI was involved in this. This very poignant speech that meant a lot to you. Even you were like, maybe AI was involved, maybe it wasn't really him coming up with it. Like every, like so many aspects, and and even, you know, I'm not asking to you guys to uncover anything else, but like, you know, even in our jobs, right? Like, think about your work. Like, how much of it is like, how many internal secrets are the shareholders know about? Does the public consumer know about? Do your bosses know about? Like, how much of that stuff is just, you know, in your quarterly earnings reports, how much of that is like truthful upfront, or is it like spinning a tail of like, hey, this is what it is, but this is how we're gonna frame it? Like, how much of the real world that we interact with, and then I mean, not even to touch, like the really low-hanging fruit of like social media, online, Facebook, Instagram, whatever it is, like, you know, AI bots all over the place, AI videos, things like that. Like, you know, we've already gone into that, you know, ad nauseum. But um, it just it it like really made me think of like, A, how how many aspects of our life are we conned in? How much of it is just like, hey, we're taking this person at face value, and how much do we know that that person is conning us, or do we just want to, you know, same as like a mentalist, that like it's almost like you just want to believe in what you're seeing? And you probably know in the deep, darkest parts of your head that like what you're seeing is not real, but it's almost better to just be entertained and to go along with it, right? So, like, how much of it is like, do we want to know the actual truth that we're being conned? Because I think if you look at every aspect of our life, it's really hard to find something that you know is like real, you know? And that was like the hole that I got into is that they were talking from like an entertainment perspective, that there's this guy who's there to entertain you, he knows what gets the numbers, he knows what gets the reactions, he's just gonna keep doing that. But then it really just opened it up to like, man, the rest of the world, how many people are doing this exact same thing, knowing that it's not really ethical, not above board, but it gets the results, so they just keep on hitting that button.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:00

So, and here's here's the thing that I have about O's in in particular, because some of some of the the other stuff that you mentioned, there is some i i it i uh like a more serious aspect to it. But kind of to your point, like you should have known that like nobody can like read minds like that, because if if that was the the truth, he probably wouldn't use it as a traveling road show. Like there would be other people that would be able to to learn it and to study it and to take those secrets and do something more nefarious than go on stage and and perform these these tricks. Like you could you could be very successful in a life of crime doing something like that. So I think that there's like a there's there there is an element, like I don't I don't know there's an element of like that suspension of disbelief. Like you are you're kind of when you're going to these shows and and like magic is a more like apt mentalist, you can kind of believe that it's real, but then like my point is to what does that even matter if it's real? Like what does it matter if he can really read your mind or not? Because you're you're going to the show to be entertained by what he's doing. And whether he does it by hook or by crook or whatever tricks he's pulling in the background, if you can't obviously see it, and whether you are willfully not looking for the strings that are holding the puppet, or the the strings are so fine and they're so well hidden that you like you can you can actually look and you're not able to see it. Does that matter if the puppet show was good and you got what you wanted out of it? Because it's like like there's no harm that's coming from it. And that that's the like the harm piece is where it would be. Like, does it does it matter to me or does it hurt me that what I'm seeing isn't real? And kind of like like you brought up Santa Claus. Like the reason why the Santa Claus thing is is kind of perpetuated through it is because like like there's magic in it for childhood that people have. And some children, I think, I think they reach an age where they they might even know it deep down if they were to really question it and to look at themselves. But I think that there's an element of not wanting to let that like, yeah, it'd be really cool. Like that would be really awesome. The magic is really cool. It would be really awesome if somebody could do that. Like, obviously, my rational brain knows that nobody can saw their assistant in half and put her back together. Do I do I like like truly believe that that's what's happening on stage? No. I can't see how in the hell they're getting her legs over there and her body over there and then bringing it back together and making it one. That's kind of cool to see. So, like, yeah, I'll pay and go see like Penn and Teller do it. So it's like like there's there's a lot of the stuff that's like that where I like for on their part and the the person who's doing the performing, what the actual like like the the minutiae behind it or the the the way that they're getting there doesn't matter as much to me, and I d I don't hold it against them on what they have. Even even like I had mentioned Eric Church, he could it could have been AI. My point is that I don't I don't care who wrote it. Like even if Eric Eric Church he he very well may have, and I don't want to like like it's not taking anything away from him. Like it's the speech that he gave. Whether AI did it, whether he had a speech writer did it or whatever, like like it it was a good message and it was a really good speech, and the origins of it or how it came to be or what was used at it doesn't take anything away from that. Like, yeah, I I know that there's probably people that are that if it came out that he did use AI or whatever, and and that's what it came out to, or or he had some shadow writers behind it that might think less of him for that or whatever, but like I like does does that matter? I like no, it doesn't matter to me because the experience of hearing the speech and the message behind it was what was good, period. No, no matter what. Like I don't I don't care about that other stuff, and I don't think I have to. I realize that people do, but I think that that's like you get into like like you would attach Eric Church's self-worth b behind, or his self-worth would be kind of determined by his ability to come up with a speech like that, and it's like I like I don't I I don't need to see it that way or to like make that value call on him because I I I don't think it it matters truly.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:00

Yeah, I totally agree that there's a lot of them where it doesn't really matter, it doesn't change the outcome of because it elicits feelings in you and you connect to a speech or and or a mentalist act in the same way, whether you know that's real or not, that it still has the same effect on you. But taking it into like the more real world stuff and like seeing like how widespread it is, is there any aspect? Like, do you care about any aspect being fake? Like, is there any aspect that that bothers you that it's so fake? You know, like obviously entertainment, doing a speech, you you're like, hey, I don't care if it like I know that it's even if it's even even if it's fake, it doesn't really bother me. Is there any other aspect that you're like it bother like I mean you could go so like sports, right? Are sports real? There's so much, you know, we don't know what's happening behind the scenes. Like how like what refs are being influenced by what? Are players affecting their own lines by pulling them out? Are games determined by the commissioner, et cetera, et cetera? Or PEDs. Like steroids.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:01

PEDs? Like that kind of like cheating. That to me, because there are like rules against that, and like like they say that you can't take PEDs and steroids are bad. And there are some people that play on a different playing field. I think if you have people who are going to be on a different playing field that are playing like in a sport setting that are playing the same kind of thing, like yeah, I I get that that's not fair. The 98 home run race was fucking awesome. Like that was what brought baseball back. That's like that's when I truly like I I had always been a fan of baseball, but that's like when and when I got like got really into it was watching Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa go onto it. And yeah, they were both probably roided up to you know the tiny nuts. But what like what does it I had like that was fun? Like that was a magical summer, that summer of 98, and like a core memory that I'm always gonna have. And like did you are some of the feats tarnished by that? Yeah, because you can I don't think you can put somebody who it in a record book with somebody else when they weren't playing on a on the same level field. But does that change like what happened that summer? No. I guess that summer was still awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:03

But is there anything that you do care about that you're like if it was I hate that this is fake because everything like people like when you when you get down to it, like money is that way.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:12

Like our money is not backed by anything. So like the value of it. But the like that that becomes like a like a like you you imagine you get into a a negotiation about the price of something. Is it like are are you just kind of like like like negotiating against yourselves for trying to get the best price on this like some nebulous market price thing that it's like it's it's like well yeah, but I think but by doing the negotiation, you're kind of entering into a contract on like you guys are both assigning value and by kind of talking it over, you're trying to find like what that common ground is and where that value can kind of come through. So is that like fake? Like, like yeah. And I think that the people will see value differently, and some people will like will say that you like way overpaid on something. But I think at the end of the day, you know, if you are comfortable with it and the person that you're negotiating with agrees to that, like sure. And like in in the bit the business world, and and you know, we're going through a little bit of this because we we just got bought and we have new investments coming in and we have financials that we're reporting up to, and we are you know looking at ways and and kind of putting things in in a in a way that's gonna try to obviously show things a little bit more positively uh and like the plan forward and how things are gonna grow and like like what that looks like. And some of it is is is guesswork and it is like it's not something that you always have uh a hard answer for or concrete you know evidence behind because uh a a lot of stuff is uncertainty and is guesswork. And I think that kind of comes comes into the play. And I think that you you know, you make your best judgment and your best call on something like that. If somebody has a different uh idea or different opinion on it or sees things differently, that like the the real value behind something is so again nebulous and and in essence fate that only through.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:56

Yeah, and I guess that I guess that's a a little bit I I guess I'm differentiating between like, hey, trying to do you know, having good faith in negotiation and adjusting a price or whatever vice like versus trying actively knowing that you are tricking someone, that you have information that you are not withholding to that person, and you're using that to the to to have a better outcome for yourself.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:18

Yeah, you know what I mean? That like that's that's kind of like the point of it. Like in you know, bringing it back to O's, like he has stuff that he's done behind the scenes that he is not forthcoming to the audience. So therefore, he's making it seem more realistic to them when he knows himself that what he's doing is not he like he is being deceptive, right? And that deception, I think, is interwoven into you know, I think that good faith uh you know, you know, discussions are on a different level. This is more like like pointed deception uh of someone. And I I I think that's the stuff that's like we are vastly underestimate the amount that that is happening in our everyday life. You know, like if you really sit down and think about it, uh I think you you know, so Sarab, I want to give you, you know, I don't know if you if you have thoughts on it. Uh yeah, I wanted to give you a lot of things. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:07

I I feel like this is a very like this is a very sprawling conversation and like there's infinite opinions to have depending on like infinite contexts, you know. Right. Um when it comes to mentalism and magic specifically, uh, I do think there's a difference between like deception and sleight of hand. And I think what they discovered about Oz was that he was using deception and not sleight of hand. Sleight of hand is the craft that is the art of it, and like that is and and yeah, it's like when I watched Nate Barghetzi's dad do a magician opening act for him and was blown away genuinely at a loss of how he pulled off some of the things he pulled off. I know that maybe there's like a really boring explanation of what was figured out, but I don't want to know. I like having gotten to see someone put so much investment into the art of the sleight of hand that he had his fool. But we we we when we weren't looking, things happened. That's to me, that is like the value.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:07

The sleight of hand itself is so impressive. The trick is impressive itself, but the sleight of hand is more so impressive that they're able to do that without you noticing it. Exactly. Whereas deception is just there's nothing impressive about deceiving someone.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:21

It's also, you know, not to make this about movies and TV again, that's usually my like critique of like a lot of some of these like mystery thrillers or who done it. And I hate that like sometimes when they give you the answer, it was based on information you didn't have. Like to me, my favorite mysteries are ones where they've been kind of giving you the breadcrumbs along the way, and you were like, shit, I should have known that. So I think that's how it works there. I think when it comes to our regular lives, um, yeah, I think it's it I think you gotta choose, you know, uh at what point are you gonna be like suspicious of everything because everything probably is tainted in some way or another by someone who's got information that you don't. Um, you know, sometimes you just gotta be like cipher in the matrix. Remember, like eating that steak where he's like, I know when I take a bite of this, the matrix is telling my brain that this is steak, even though it's not or whatever. And it's like, but as far as I I'm concerned, like it tastes like steak, and what I've learned is like ignorance is bliss. Remember that? Like the whole scene. Um and like again, he's an evil guy and whatever, but I still think there's a point to that ignorance is bliss line. I think all of us to some extent in our lives are like okay with just not knowing or thinking about it too much, just letting it be.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:53

Like if you are if you are a willing participant in like saying, yes, this is the suspension of disbelief is going to be there, you're cool with it, and there's no harm that's done, is is the other piece. I think like if you if you're doing something like if you're deceiving someone and you know you have some kind of like the Ponzi scheme drawn up where you're taking a whole bunch of money from somebody, like like obviously that's that's stealing and that's taking money and you know and and and and bringing undue harm onto somebody else. But if somebody is like you know willing to be go into things blind, not having the whole story and being okay with that, then I I don't think it's like like I I O's O's essentially cheated. Like he like other other mentalists and other other magicians are are are not a big fan of O's because they have their craft and and it is a craft and they see that what he's doing is is different from that. As an audience member, I understand that behind the scenes stuff. It doesn't change the experience, like does it like it it's all like tricks to me. Like I get that you're better at doing it. I still do find that entertaining. I don't I don't find as much harm in that like from the audience member. Yeah, I get the idea.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:01

But I was gonna say harmed. Yeah. I think that there are that there are facets of life where people are doing those things that's causing significant harm to people.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:09

I agree. I was gonna say, like, my version of that was gonna be I forget who I was having this conversation with recently about like politics, and there's like a uh a race happening in Maine right now that is uh hilariously controversial. Um and uh it's not even related to the race specifically, but I forget who someone was making the comment of like like you know, it's a race for like Susan Collins. She's the current senator of that seat, and she's um a Republican. And it's like, oh, but she votes kind of like like an independent, right? Like she votes with like Democrats a lot. And I was just kind of like, man, it wasn't about that. It's about like people not realizing, and I guess some people just don't want to be as like engaged in like what's really happening there, where it's like, yeah, Susan Collins like might vote in like liberal ways at times, but do you ever think like her vote is ever gonna change what is at like what is what is being voted on? Like she gets they like calculate how many votes they need, and then they give her the ability to have the dissenting vote so that she can keep her constituents thinking that she was supporting their agenda, but like the party knew that it had the votes it needed already. So it's like I was kind of educating someone on like you gotta know that these are the strategies here. Like, I'm not saying that happens all the time. Great example of it, yeah. But I'm and I'm not gonna assume that like Susan Collins actually like believes in these things or not these things, but you have to know, and also it's not even like I'm making this up. House of Cards is on Netflix right now, like you could just go watch exactly how they play it, and you're like, Yeah, I don't think this is all fictional um when it comes to power and like policy and stuff. But that was one of my things of like, shit, for people who are just taking some of these things in politics at face value, I'm like, fuck man, like it's a it it you it's an uninformed game. You gotta know that there's like bigger agendas at play, and like what you're watching is like there the level of puppet strings that are happening that you can't see are insane, you know? Uh and you almost need to like be voting and and supporting your candidates and whatever else with a level of like awareness that that's happening, and you're kind of like, you know, it might be happening with who you're supporting on some level too, but like you gotta kind of know all of that is at play rather than take it all.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:29

But are you ever gonna know for sure? No, you know for sure. I is yeah, like all of it is just stuff that you argue back and forth on, but like you're never really gonna know. You never know what's actually happening.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:40

And I think that's what that that's what's just so I mean, you know I think I think a smaller version of that I would say that we're all probably experiencing now that I'm I'm I would say like I take issue with is um I mean they've been calling this like the dead internet theory now for a while, um, which is just more applicable now, which is like none of what we're seeing on the internet is like real anymore or genuine anymore. It's all just like some kind of play or something. And the version of this that really bothers me is you know, um you'll see someone do this like funny reaction or a tweet that is like commenting about a video of a thing, and the point is that this person's reaction makes your brain skip right to oh, whatever this video is is significant because this person's reacting to it. And it's got but now it's kind of like uh no, that person's been paid to engage with this video to give you the illusion that this is a thing that like is a thing now, and it's like the clipping farms, and like, you know, uh one of the more recent examples was like Justin Bieber's coach Ellisette was like inescapable on the internet when he did it, and then they were like, Oh yeah, by the way, like the label paid, you know, this clipping farm to have like all these people on social media get paid, I think, like a dollar for every thousand views that they could generate around clips of his performance. And so it's like there's an incentive now to manufacture what is like a fake zeitgeist, and like that really bothers me that that's a thing. So, anyways, that's one of my average.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:18

And just think about like, you know, even simple stuff like when you go on Amazon to buy anything, right? Like how much are you gonna look at something that has 4.8 stars with 5,000 votes by 4.7 with like five votes? You're gonna be like, oh, there's five people reviewing it, like it must not be that great. Like, you're gonna have the one that has the higher numbers because that's uh you know, seemingly a larger sample size that but like most of the 90% of those probably aren't real people. Yeah, they're all paid for, they're all bots, something like that. Like it's just it's just depressing how much it inter that it interacts and uh you know uh uh is interwoven into our everyday life that we've just come to accept because like what's the alternative? Like you know, what you can't do anything about it, you just have to accept it. That like uh most of the stuff that you they that you interact with is fake nowadays, and that it's just it's just the world that we're in right now. Um but so that brings me to the question that I you know of of of what in your life do you believe is a hundred percent real? There's a real thing that's in your life, and all this stuff that's fake and you're being deceived in, you know, any number of things. What do you have in your life that's real?

SPEAKER_01 1:41:33

I mean, are you asking like what do we have that's real that would easily be subjectable to being false? Or like just something you consider real?

SPEAKER_03 1:41:42

Yeah, so I'll I'll give I'll give mine. Uh I was able to think of two things that I have that are that are real. One of them is very corny, but uh you know, and that's and that's my relationship with Megan, uh, who's my wife for those that are listening. But again, that's that sounds very corny, but uh it it it it's that is a thing that feels very real. I get real emotions, I have real conversations, I feel a genuine person there that I have complete trust in, and she has complete trust in me. Um again, not going down that like weird route, but like, you know, I I don't know if I told a story on here or not where you know she legitimately thought that I was going to leave her because she lost a toenail from running a marathon. A toenail fell off, and she knew and she thought that that would affect me so much that uh she needed to call me, she needed to call my roommate when I was out in Hawaii, she needed to get me on the phone when I was in the pool because she had to tell me right then that a toenail fell off because she thought that that was gonna be something that really uh affected how I thought of her. And so in that moment, I was like, oh man, this girl's in it. Like this girl is in it, she is the real deal.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:53

Also incredible, incredible reputation you had, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:56

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think much less of myself now. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Uh, but I I you know, again, these are all things that like you perceive, right? Like I'm sure that there are count there are there are you know uh an absurd amount of people that felt the very same way with their significant other that are now divorced because that person cheated on them or was in front of so you know, whatever. I you know, you can only go by how you feel. That's one thing that I feel is very real. The other thing that is real to me is going to the gym. Like it just it's very tangible. You know what? I lift these weights, I grow muscle. Like I can like, it's it's it's a very direct relationship. You know what I mean? Like I did not lift weights, I was did not have muscle, I lift weights, I have more muscle now. It's very direct and I can see it. So like that to me is a is a is a real thing. And that's that's just very simple. Like lift weights, build muscle, not going into the all the other realm of fitness and lifestyle and you know, all these other like diets and techniques that people have, those I think you know, dive deep into the realm of uh uncertainty, at least. Uh, you know, you can find articles that are pro and against all these sorts of things. But I think a very simple one is lift weights, build muscle. You know, I think that's a very direct correlation that most people can agree with, that feels very real. And so that's what I do on a day-to-day basis. So those are the two things that I, you know, that I'm I'm I'm certain that there's no tricks being done there. There's no deception uh from my perspective on those. So I don't know if that helps provide more framework to like the question uh for you guys, but I think I would probably just mimic yours slightly in terms of like broader themes.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:42

I would also have two. One is like um not just like my friends in New York, but I think like living in New York and being in New York and the experiences that come with being in New York because a lot of that is so like real life, and every weekend you could just be in a different place doing a thing you've never done before, experiencing something you never experienced before, or a vibe or a food, or whatever. And I think like those things keep me so grounded and like connected to you know what it means to be a human being, which is really nice. Like I really love that, and I think like that's why I've been addicted to like living here as long as I have, and why, you know, like the idea of leaving still will always be kind of hard. Um so that's that's probably one, that's probably my like relationship driven one. Um and then the other thing that's more like your gym example, for me it's it's it's probably cooking. Like cooking is such a real like it's it's it there's a science to it, there's a chemistry to it, there's a you know, it's it's it's you and heat or you know, maybe not always heat, but often, you know, heat and like steel and you know, ingredients and like salt and fat and whatever. Like it's just uh like I I have grown such a deep appreciation for cooking and trying things and making recipes and looking at them not as like I don't I've never felt like I was like a oh yeah, I'm like let me wear my apron. I love cooking, I'm a cook. I always see it as like this I to me like cooking in my brain, I would imagine is similar to like someone who like builds models, you know, like little hobby cars and shit, like like makes them like the little ones by themselves, like or people who like have like the little fucking magnifying glass and they're like painting the color of like little figurines. Like to me, that is what cooking feels like to me, where I'm like it is this very like precision-based uh art form that I'm like in a in a puzzle I'm trying to like take on. Um I I love that shit. So yeah, I think those are those are mine that I feel like very, very real and not contaminated.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:47

Yeah, yeah, I think those are great ones. I think, yeah, that's very, you know, that like what you know, all this technology with like telephones and stuff like that, and like texting and you know, everything that happens on the internet that like you can't really know someone unless you're having a face-to-face conversation with them. I think it's the same thing that you were talking about, like having like actual experiences out in the world that like you're there to witness in person is very real. And then with the cooking, that yeah, you're right. It's like, hey, there's a recipe for this, but if I change it and if I add this ingredient, you can literally taste the difference, right? Like it's a very like direct relationship. Like I changed this ingredients, it now tastes this different way. Uh yeah, yeah. I like it.

SPEAKER_04 1:47:25

Brandon? Yeah, for my well, I like relationship, I think, is like a uh a good one that I think you're always gonna know is is real, whether they're you know friends or your family, anything that is like an in-real life relationship with somebody who's uh you're close with. Um Brandon, I think it's part of the reason why when you were able to catch up with BK, everything was like so natural. It's because it is it's it's authentic, like it's real, like there's shared history there, it's a genuine relationship. And I think that there's you know, a dynamic of that or those relationships is is like like with your kids, like as a parent. Like that's something that's always gonna be, I think, like untainted and genuine because it's like a that is a very defined you know relationship. Like I'm the I uh I'm the only person that they can call dad, you know, and that's like a a responsibility that I have and a role that I have to play. And so it's something that is like, yeah, we're kind of going through it right now because Millie is like the last baby that we have, and she's going through these like sleep regressions and things. I like sometimes have to go in there and rock her at night, and then like a part of me is like, this is the last time I'm rocking somebody at night. Like this could be like the very last. And like, yeah, it sucks to be tired and to be in there in the middle of the night, but then there's also a part of it, like I have like my little girl snug it up on me that I'm rocking back to sleep, and like she's crying for dad. It's just a very like primal, like real thing and experience. That's a very human experience I don't think can be replicated, deceived or anything. That's like like the relationship that you have with your kid. So I think that that's like the relationship aspect. And then the other one that I was gonna say was was Srav's was cooking. I was I was gonna say eating because I'm um a badass, but like like like I like I can't be deceived by food and like like what I like. Like if it's if there's something that I don't like the taste of, like I'm gonna know. You know, and I'll I'll be able to tell that it's in there. If there's something that I really enjoy, like I like I really enjoyed that. And there's no there's there's no other agenda or anything else that could be in there, you know, you ingredients and what goes into it, whatever, like sure, some of that stuff might not be all on the up and up, but like like knowing that I had a good meal and that I really enjoyed that, untainted experience.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:31

Yeah, right. If you like it or not, that's very direct. If it's like, oh, how healthy is this? Right. Yeah, no, no, no. Yeah, that's the health benefit.

SPEAKER_04 1:49:39

Yeah, yeah. That that that absolutely can be gained. But like the like the experience of eating and and and actually enjoying what you've done is a very kind of like cut and dry, black and white, you eat uh uh all or nothing kind of thing. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Then relationship with the kids' a good one.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:58

Unless they're being a dick.

SPEAKER_04 1:49:59

Then even that, even that though, it's such a like it's such a like a little boy type of thing to do. Like like they're just like and a lot of it comes from a place of just being you know being little and being a kid.

SPEAKER_03 1:50:12

Yeah. And I think and yeah, and I think that's a good one because like you're very much in control of that, right? Like you are in control of how real it is. You know, how much effort you put into it, how much uh sincerity you put into it. Like that's all dependent on you. Like they're they're just they're kind of like the receivers of your parenthood uh at that point. So you're kind of like the one that's uh uh that's like managing that and running it. So yeah. All right. I think we uh I think we brought it out of the dark hole and we got and we and we got a little bit positive there at the end. Um yeah, just a lot of stuff to uh to think about. Um all right. I think that's all I've got for this week. Uh how about you guys?

SPEAKER_01 1:50:49

Uh Brendan, your debit card, bank account, pin code is six is six nine six nine, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:50:57

Shit.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:59

Shit, so it is real. It's true.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:04

Man.

SPEAKER_00 1:51:05

Nailed it. Um mentalist.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:07

Cool. Well, yeah, apologize for the week's long break. Hopefully, you know, the uh the aim is to get back into our weekly schedule as normal. So again, another you guys have been waiting on pins and needles for this one. So here it is, and uh we'll be back with you again for another one next week. Uh yeah, rolling into summer. We're uh we're starting to get into it. You have some summer themed uh stuff coming up over the next few weeks that we'll get into. Uh and NBA finals are kicking off. We had an awesome Western Conference Finals, so hopefully the uh the um the NBA finals, the actual championship, lives up to it uh with New York versus San Antonio. Let's go uh on Wednesday. Yeah, man. Yeah, that's true, man. You're you're right in the heart of it there. Uh hopefully your city is still standing at the end of it. Um I hope so. Yeah. But yeah, hopefully everyone's enjoying the warm weather again until summertime as school is winding down uh and that uh and that everyone's enjoying the time with their family and friends out there. Uh so hope everyone has a good week, and we will talk to you all later. Have a good one. See ya. See ya.