950. - Sam Fragoso

Episode summary: Our friend Sam Fragoso returns to How Long Gone. He hosts the popular podcast Talk Easy, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary after being acquired by Obama’s Higher Ground. We chat with him about cashew cream cheese, the White House UFC Freedom 250, Jason thinking Arlo Parks was four British guys, fitness wearable data monitoring, whether Sam gets recognized more with or without an N95 on, David Mamet walking out mid-pod, whether he’s ever interviewed a politician who felt like a real human being, what happens when Terry Gross asks him to fill in on Fresh Air, and we debate whether there was ever a time when the food at the Chateau Marmont was considered good.

com/samfragoso com/donetodeath com/themjeans com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit fm/adchoices All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week. Jason, does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that.

We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on YouTube. Wines that NYC bagel shops don't use the right vegan cream cheese and wants Mom Donnie to intervene. I hate to side with her, but she might have a good point on this. Not that I'm consuming that much vegan cream cheese, but it's something to consider where I think this is a low stakes thing. If Mom Donnie is giving people discounts for the World Cup, the least he could do is fix the cream cheese.

Oh, really? I will say we've both, I'm sure over the years, eaten many, many. bites of tofutti cream cheese and it does leave a lot to be desired but it might be the easiest thing that's available through cisco or whichever you know whichever service you're using to deliver your supplies at your local bagelria so it's bagelria at your local um jewish panaderia is what you're saying yeah i don't obviously this comes down you know we don't know if taylor is a real uh eater obviously she's a real eater And my hat's off to her.

But, you know, how some people have celiac disease and some people are gluten free and some people are dairy intolerant. I think there's a strong chance that her actual, you know, deficiency and allergy to dairy is real. But it's one of those things like, you know, New York City bagel shops. You want the real NYC bagel experience. I want my bagel deria man to say fuck out of here when you ask for cashew cream cheese. And also, calorically speaking, cashews. Oh, look, I agree with it. I see both sides here.

It's one of the only things where the vegan version of the real thing has as many calories, if not more. than the actual version and cream cheese is already hella that's about as fat boy as hella caloric i haven't touched cream cheese in years i've been clean for a while i don't i don't hate it but remember when i went to my bagel of course unsalted i went to pop when i went to pop up bagels to try it and they just hand you bagels in a bag with a tub of cream cheese and i was like this place is fucking disgusting like get me out of here were they small bagels was it a rip and dip It was a rip and dip, but they weren't super Montreal style, which is the only place I've ever ripped and dipped, which is where it's appropriate.

Yeah. No, people seem to like doing the smaller bagels, like a bagel bite or a garlic knot size, and then you dip it in. You know what I want to go to? All my New Yorkers will know. Heaven's Hot Bagel on Houston and Ridge Street. You know what you get? Heaven's Hot? Heaven's Hot. You go in there. If I'm not feeling bougie, if I'm not spending 20 on the open face at Apollo, I'm trying to get a Heaven's Hot Bagel. I'm getting 2A. eggs, lettuce, tomato, avocado on an everything bagel, like a sandwich and then an orange juice, bro.

That's all I need. I was going to make a joke about spending 20 on some open face. Spend 20 on some face. That's a good deal. But as soon as you said the words. lettuce, and bagel in the same sentence. It's a sandwich, bro. It's a sandwich. What do you mean? Nah, fam. Nah. Okay, bro. Okay. Sorry, Mr. Traditional. I only want just a single swipe of cream cheese and tomato. Seasonal, of course. Bro, no one's eating... No, no, no. A real bagel. Get a nice sesame bagel. Cream cheese. Bro.

Maybe a little fresh cracked pepper. That's it. I hate to say it to you, bro. No soy sauce. I hate to say it to you, but you ain't Jewish and you never lived in New York, so I can't really take... I can't really... I can't listen to you on this one. I'm often confused as a Jew. Most people assume that I am. Most Jewish people hope that I am. I know they hope that so they can marry you. And such a heartbreak when I explain to them that I am not.

That you're just 10% Native American. I'm just a long goy. All right. Before our guest gets here, we got to talk. North American long goy. Actually, we should talk to our guest about this. Never mind. I'll save it. Actually, well, we were just talking before. You were talking about World Cup. tickets and about um zo having a discount he's doing something no he's doing something with like food i don't i don't pay attention to the world cup or zo ron if i can so okay you get a free pupusa with every but you're talking about you're talking about the

s open tickets going through the roof well i was this is just a little pilates related aside i was up there pumping yesterday and i guess it's subconsciously a way to shoehorn in this is the first out of the 150 classes or so i've taken this is the first one where I look around, and I was the best person in class yesterday. Hold for applause. Well, I'm not going to. And that's not because I'm an excellent Pilates person. It's because it was the day after Memorial Day hangover, and it was just a bunch of fat moms who were kind of phoning it in.

So you're saying the usual baddies had two hot dogs with relish instead of one, and they weren't able to get the Range Rover over to motivate. It wasn't the ability. It was just. Sometimes your heart's not in it. So today, hold on. So today, let's be clear, you've goisplained bagels to me, and now you're saying that you're the best at Pilates in your class in Los Angeles, California. I just want to be clear. It was one of those. I just want to be clear what you've been saying today. I like goisplained.

I like goisplained. I don't think you're off a bean yet. It's 8.45 in the morning. Well, that was just a stepping stone to get to my anecdote involving World Cup tickets. Yeah, you needed to. I figured we might as well take a couple laps around. on the lot while we're here be ashamed not to you're a lot lizard you're a lot lizard in this case similar yeah i got my binocs out crowned for some talent but it was not because i'm a better pilates person than these other people it's just because you know sometimes the

sometimes rudy wins the football game you know i mean he's not gonna yes you know it's a one in a lifetime situation i'm gonna celebrate it and we're gonna move on i'm gonna get back to work but the instructor sometimes when you're in a group fitness class and the instructor starts maybe talking about their own personal life which is something that i would do every five minutes if i ever hosted it would be a nightmare that's why you that's why you're a podcaster but just that the with the perfect kind of you know instructor talk the passive aggression of like my husband um He said he really wants to go see the World Cup.

Now that's coming to LA. Never watched soccer in his life. And it's the most expensive ticket in the history of tickets. And she's just talking to herself while... Me and 14 Armenian women are going, and I just loved it. She has to get it out somewhere. I like that, too. She doesn't even watch soccer, really, but just thinks it'd be a good thing to do. Hey, man, the amount of fair-weather soccer fans, these fake Americans when the World Cup comes around, it's never-ending. It's never-ending. Everybody's faking it out here. Everybody's faking it out here.

I mean, what we're not faking about is UFC, baby. At the White House? Oh, my God. The squared circle at the White House? I've been texting Dana White all... morning asking where my ticket's at he ain't responding i need a palate cleanser after the enhanced games i need to see some people you know choke each other out on on government Exactly. Because I thought the ballroom would be ready. I was hoping the ballroom would be ready for this and they could just kind of put down some mats like high school wrestling match style.

But unfortunately, it looks like it's two separate things or whatever. Have the bleachers fold down from either side of the wall. Let's just make this multi-use room here at the White House. Got a nice bald eagle mascot come doing. somersaults across the floor that's nice what a dream what a fucking dream okay so you're you're juiced which of the lineups are you the most excited about for ufc 250 uh uh i don't is Who we got in it? Is it Ray J versus Stefan Diggs or anything? Or is it like regular shit?

Is it regular? Is it like real fighters? I don't really pay attention to UFC. Is it Tony Hinchcliffe and Joe Rogan versus Andrew Schultz and Charlemagne in a tag team event? Because that I would want. Naturally, we would love to tune in for that. I think it's going to be... How much would you... Because they were talking about this on Joe Budden. I would fight another podcaster for far less than a million dollars. Yeah, for sure. Okay. But when you say far less, what's... Like our guest today. Our guest today, I would beat his ass for $250,000.

I mean, something light. I'd beat his ass for $250,000. A quarter of a million? I'm saying like these offers. I would get in the ring with Sam Frogroso for a little less than $250,000, just to be clear. I'll call her dad. He's off the table. I'm not going to do. man on woman stuff but i think i could tell like malcolm glidewell bro i'll suck i'll knock your little ass out bro you crazy i would pay to fucking get in the ring but then we got it then we got to get into like imagine malcolm getting a clean one and whooping you on the low oh you and neil i'd have to hang my headphones up you and neil brennan toe-to-toe two skinny dorks just going at it two skinny dorks i mean yeah the old me yeah but now I'm 10% more brolic, I would easily kick Neil Brennan's ass.

No offense. Neil feels like he could get scrappy, though. Neil feels like he would do a nut grab. Neil feel is your version of real feel on the weather app, where it's like, yes, he is 135.62, but... He's got these long fingers and he's got a fighter spirit. He's one of those guys where he's gouging the eye and the ref goes to break it up and he doesn't stop like one of those pit bulls in London. I don't want to say this, but he also spent a lot of time with people who have fought.

We don't know that for sure. David Chappelle is not necessarily, he's not in the slums scrapping. He's a young entertainer. I think Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock might have scrapped for stage time at some point backstage at the store through a Jack and Coke on each other. I say this as a pussy. We're talking about, this is a bunch of pussies. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. I think we could get in there. I think if we keep ourself out of the manosphere side of things and we fight our sort of, you know, like a what, pop cast?

What the fuck are they going to do, bro? I'll take both of them at once. I'll take both of them once. I'll take both of them once. I'll do the thing where Carmonica goes to punch me. I duck. He hits Joe in the face. Bang, bang. We're done. I'm out. I don't even have to touch. I don't even have to touch. Nymphed alumni, I'll take all three of those bitches all at once. I don't give a fuck. Me and Biz go toe-to-toe. I'm saying we could also, Jason, if we did a two-man, I could do the thing where I squat behind.

Oh, yeah. Coscarelli, you push him over. I think that could really – this is something – He falls right on his keister like an idiot. Wow. I think this is a good idea. I think it's one of our better ideas. All right, let's get Sam on the horn. Yeah, the problem is Ian's listening right now, and he's like, well, so I got 300,000 lined up for the – The Gone Wars. The Gone Wars. For the Hungry Games. All right. Our guest today, Sam Fregoso. You know him from his very popular podcast, Talk Easy, where he does extensive research and puts his hair behind his ears and asks the hard questions.

He's signed up. He's now banging with the Obamas over there. His shit done changed up on us. Trying to make Michelle cry on camera. Before we used to hang out with Sam, he would answer our calls. He'd answer our texts. Now he's kind of, he's leaving us on red. He's communicating only through... communications representatives from giant corporations we can't we can't get a one-on-one with this guy but yeah and secret service has been tailing him for a while now it's tough to get in there luckily luckily luckily today we've gotten through all the red tape secret service has given us clearance and sam will be joining us on how long gone for the second time but this like i said it's different this time it's things have changed his pockets a little fatter you know what i'm saying things are looking up for sam and and down for us no well the beauty of sam is because he does these very well scripted well-researched interviews with these uh you know luminaries iconoclasts luminaries with these motherfucking with these mf luminaries he so he desires to get into the mud he desires to get on with some chatty lads and you know let his nuts hang he wants to do this this is the you know this is his vacation at work and we make it feel easy and then i guess for us it's another

another day you know the opposite of that would be us doing research that's that's yeah i don't need to do all that all right sam all right let's give sam a call this episode of how long gone is brought to you by a new podcast from the guardian stateside with kai and carter this is covering a lot of our bases jason it's a it's trying to slow down The news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's happening in the world. And I know you particularly have quite a lot of questions.

A lot of questions, but how often? Because we do this podcast three times a week and that's a sweet spot. How many times do they do? Three times a week. And I have a feeling just based on the platform and these talking points that they're maybe going to be covering different stuff than we do. That's just a guess. The Guardian is not some billionaire owned. They're not afraid to say what they want to say, brother. Yeah, Rupert ain't sniffing around in what journalists Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are up to over there at Stateside.

But yeah, listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can watch it on YouTube. It's three times a week. And who couldn't use more news? You know, especially when it's not, you know, from here, let's say. Give it a listen. Give it a listen. All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Quince. Jason, the temps are warming up. It's getting hot out there. Summer always changes how I get dressed. I need pieces that feel lighter, more breathable, and they're just easy, but still put together. I don't want to look like a slob.

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The inside of your special areas are nice and dry as you turn up with your besties. So elevate that summer wardrobe. Go to com slash how long for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns, even on a nice holiday now available in Canada. That is Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash how long. That'll get you free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince punto com slash how long. All right, two idiots clapping. I'm going to sit here. Sam, what's going on, bro? Are you in your home studio? You've got a nice ceramic mug, Marin style.

How are you feeling? I'm in New York. I'm in New York doing it from a place I'm staying in. Oh, okay. So this is your portable setup. Doing it from a place I'm staying in. Love the mystery of that sentence. We got to keep the mystery up. Oh, I'm just at a place that I'm staying at. Just a place that I'm staying at. It could be an Airbnb. You bring the whole rig. I do. That's good. Can I say, I kind of brought... it because i knew we had to do this i was like yeah i want to make sure you know i know you guys are big big into audio quality so i just wanted to show up We are not big into audio quality.

Jason is very big into audio quality. Although I say that as a person who listens to a handful of podcasts, it actually do sound pretty good, I guess, now that I think about it. I'm not listening to shit that's recorded on voice notes. I do, I guess, have a taste for the finer things. Oh, no. I meant Jason when I said we, but I just wanted to lump you in there, Chris. Well, I mean, I've already been there the whole time, but it's nice that Chris, with his time behind the podcasting desk...

He's learned to appreciate the finer audio file, you know, frequencies and things like that. Discerning palate has become more discerning. The first podcast I did with, I mean, when I did the public announcement with Jay. Jason, that audio, I mean, my former, we had another podcast and he, I mean, he freaked it like 50 hours in PR level. And people, at the time, people were like, why does it sound so good? I'm like, because there's a guy absolutely killing himself to make it sound like this. It's not like. He deserved a Webby that year, TBH.

Hello. For his work and could have got a Peabody. Sound beds, et cetera. It's not, you can't just buy mics. You know what I mean? Vintage outboard, no, rack mounted equalizers. You know, let me just bring that down. Smartless Canyon. I've got to go. I found this thing on Facebook Marketplace. Got to bump up the lower 6,000 dB. How much of an audiophile are you, Sam, or do you not really care? I can't listen to shows. If someone's on a Zoom, it's fine if they're using AirPods, but sometimes you're like, guys, just find a room where you don't hear the lawnmower.

It's like the bare minimum. Like, people are listening to this at work. Sam, you don't know the shit we've dealt with, bro. We've had some, I mean, famously, one of my musicians I love, I mean, I love, remember this, Jason, Beth Orton? She was, like, on a train in France. And I was like, it won't work. And we're like, you're in, like, a hostel in France. Like, of course it doesn't work. Wait, Chris, what did Arlo Parks record on? We've never talked to Arlo Parks. Don't worry about that. Don't you worry about that.

Arlo Parks, they may have been on the calendar as a hold, but I think we shut that down. We got a lot of holds, Sam, but not everything makes it through. You know how it is. I think that day we went to the park instead. Honestly, that's not a bad move. One of the first episodes I heard... was Chris going in on Arlo Parks for like three minutes. And I was like, this is so much time to spend. I don't even remember that. Three episodes a week, we've got a lot of air to fill.

So let's do [redacted address]-by for sure. There was a point where Arlo Parks was in the ether a little too much. It was a little bit like, what's going on here? I don't say industry plant. I feel like that's unfair to people because Arlo Parks is quite talented. It's just not my flavor. But there was a point where it was like, how are you on everyone's song and also ubiquitous and no one knows. No one on this podcast could name an Arlo Parks song for sure. Couldn't sing a chorus. I don't know.

If Arlo Parks could be a man or a woman or non-binary, I couldn't tell you. Secret third thing. Smart to include that. What do you mean, Jason? No, he's right. He's right. What was wrong with that sentence I just said? Please tell me. Technically and politically, nothing at all. It was a perfect sentence. It was like Trump. It's a perfect sentence. One of the best sentences from the standpoint of English language. But you're saying I should be able to pick Arlo Parks out of a lineup as a cultural commentator? Yes.

Bro, Arlo Parks is a very unisex name. I had no idea that Arlo was a lady. I swear to God, I thought Arlo Parks was a four-piece British band. It sounds like Maximo Park, Jason, which is from our era, if you remember correctly. Maximo Park, Arctic Monkeys. It's a four-piece with some mop-headed lads. I'm going to give it to Jason. That's not unreasonable to think that. No, no, it's not. Heavily influenced by Franz Ferdinand's first and second albums. Underappreciated classics, if you ask me. All right, Sam, what are you doing in New York, bro?

Are you just on sabbatical? No, I'm doing some tapings. And also, I want to give one shout-out. I actually... like a few arlo park songs and i feel like she may hear this okay and i'm gonna feel really guilty she ain't listen she had listened to these toxic white boys talk about music well name some of your favorite songs without some give me some of that white guilt right now what are some of the favorite tune song names without looking it up no i actually have a tight 30 minutes on this if you guys want to kind of dive in okay you sound like didn't drake say that that you listen to you listen to kendrick music because it's white guilt or something there's something like that something like Drake said or white boys listen to your music which is which I protect our parks I actually did I haven't heard I'm sure you guys have talked about it but what are you making of the the the whole everything in the algorithm musician wise is fake and the feeds are all like it's the the geese the geese of it all like what what because you guys know way more about that than i what month is this sam this feels like what we're talking about in feb but we'll we'll go back into the archives i'm out of date i'm out of date we have a different frequency of a release schedule so you know it's all well sam's jason sam's busy getting security clearance for air force one you know what i mean he can't wait in the waters of clip farms that's not really his problem i have been i have been in michelle obama land so i i missed all the geese controversy i will say that the geese controversy is a like all things a non-starter you know what i mean i think it's it's literally like people doing business and then regular people finding out about how that business gets done and being mad if that if that makes sense it's like yeah i mean i thought everyone does that everyone does that's what i mean a lot of people do that in some way many people do it i think it's just like the line with ai like

Everyone has a line and some people are like, you did it, Natty. And my definition of Natty is different than others. Or I use AI to do normal, helpful things. Or I use AI to do maybe some more darker, sinister. things that you know i'm not being forthcoming yeah i think that's the i think the ai of it all has people on their heels at all times looking to react in a more strong way depending on you know because now the line is drawn where it's like hey man it's coming whether you want it or not you better get down or lay down or it's like fuck this i'm on a landline And it's, there's no, there's sort of like the nuanced in between, which we of course love to explore here on How Long Gone.

I mean, that's what the whole show is. Is a rare, is a rare. Yeah, you could use AI to make titties bigger. So also something to consider. A hundred percent. Under P. You know what AI couldn't do? You know what AI couldn't do? Whatever Jason does with that camera on his chest when he shows what he's making. It's real talk though. AI couldn't do that. I am always so impressed by those videos. I'm like, how, how is he cooking? and also not fucking up the camera and it also looks good i'm just very impressed by the whole operation well if you need any video for your little podcast jason's and jason's you know he could he could rig you up well basically it's just you you figure out the rig okay you know where where because i'm so tall i you know they have the headlamp thing but i've put or like the meta glasses which other people like but i'm so tall i got the meta glasses on I'm looking down at my souffle.

It looks like an ant. It's so far away. So I do the chest strap to get a little closer to it. But otherwise, once it's locked and loaded, I hit record, and the frame is set. You're ready to go. Yeah. I don't have to do anything. What he's saying is he's once again height-mogged you, and that's the only reason it really works. As well as arm-mogged. My arms are great and long. He has that uncut dog in him. I get it. Yeah, he does have that. Since we last spoke, you guys are now doing video.

No, Sam, we're not doing video podcasts. We're doing a program called How Long Gone Today that stands alone, that's at a desk in Burbank, much like some of the more famed late night hosts that are failing. The failing late night hosts. You support all those. You support all those libs. We're showing Stephen Colbert how to do it with three guys instead of 3,000 guys. We got three guys, meaning me, Jason. There's one guy, three cameras. He hits play and all that shit. We crank it. So you guys are anti-union. Is that what you're saying?

Oh, I've been anti-union since the day I was born. That's not a question for me. No, no. I think that... Some unions are good. Some unions are bitch ass. Union on La Brea, they actually have a great selection. I don't know if you're into VisVim or not. Also, the union between LGBTQ plus people, I think that's good personally. I think they should be allowed to do that. I don't know how you feel, Sam. Those unions should totally be legal, Sam. Don't even question that. Yeah, and I had tons of questions, so I'm glad you guys are getting out in front of it.

I don't, um, I, I, I find that the, yeah, I, I, we, I think the whole point of how long gone, uh, today was to differentiate it. Obviously we would like it to come out more often, but to us, I think having a set and it living that way and looking like that and not being audio first is what makes it different. You did the, was it, um, Bon Iver one? Was that on video? Yeah, we do. Yeah. We just did that. We just did that kind of cause like he, he wanted to do it.

He wanted to do it, but I think part of it was also he wasn't going to tour for that record. And so I think they were like, well, shit, we better do some fun stuff. He was listening to the pod. He liked our vibe. The label threw a little money together. He had a local camera guy that was really good and already was friends with him, had been to the house before. So it was Kismet. If you guys didn't have to pay for it. perfect yeah well we got to pay for the other ones i mean it's it's um i think that it's sort of like uh i don't know i i think it's something you got to do but i think for you know you know how it is dude it's the same it's like yeah if you if you do have a chance to take any sort of creative license

You know what I mean? Because it's not like we're setting up two mics in a garage, you know what I mean, with Celsius cans all over the ground than it does give us. It makes it something different if you choose to make it something different, even though it's obviously very, very similar. Sometimes the different thing that we're creating is literal brain rot, but, you know, so be it. Yeah, it's worse. It's worse. It's way worse. I'm not saying it's good. I'm just saying that it's different. Is that how you guys see how long gone?

Is it brain rot three times a week? No, just the video. Just the video. Just the video. The audio is excellence. The video is just because it's like us, like we with no notes, like Chris will write down like, here's 10 funny things that happened on Twitter this week. And we make an hour long improvised show out of that. And then we go back and then the brain part is me adding in, you know, footage of roller coasters and video games. I've seen that. You know, bum fights and stuff like that.

So, but the audio version of the pod that you're on right now, you know, classic stuff, stuff that gets butts in seats. But the audio podcast, we take a little more seriously, and it's something that I'm proud of. I think the quality of our product is high. Yeah, I'm proud of both. I just think it's... I don't know, man. I just think that everybody listens to podcasts or watches things for such different reasons. Do you agree with me? Do you think maybe we're getting back into an entertainment? I feel like for a while it was really about optimization, whether it was listening to The Daily so you could leave the house knowing about how bad it is in Iran so you could talk about it with your coworkers, or it was like, I need to listen to Huberman to know my blood, my oxygen levels.

I downloaded 37. Talking points about my sleep score optimization by listening to this Huberman at 4X. I'm actually listening to my blood panels as a podcast that they've created for me using AI. We got to stop as a culture with talking about each other's sleep. I do. It's just like sleep is a little bit like dreams. I mean, it really is. I don't need to hear it. When you think about it. No, no, no. It's only interesting to you. Nobody gives a fuck about anyone else's sleep. I don't care about your score.

I don't care about how you unwind. I mean, more power to you. Do that. I watch Law & Order. Great. But I just think it's too much. I got an 89 last night. I don't talk about it. Okay? Yeah. Is 89 good? What is it out of? I'll go with 100 is my guess. Well, I'm wondering. 89 is good. If you touch on the 90s, wow. My question is, are the metrics consistent across different? They are not. My Whoop and my Fitbit and my Apple Watch, it's three wildly different pieces of info.

Because you have to make up some dumb proprietary thing to make it worth it to people. Wait, do you have all of those? God, no, bro. Are you kidding me? My shit clean, bro. You will never catch me. No, not you, Chris. I'm talking to Jason. Well, Jason's flirted with a little more than I have. He might not want to talk about that. During COVID, I had an Apple Watch. Sure. Best he's ever looked, though, to be fair. So, I mean. That's the shame. That's the bummer of it. I was in the best shape of my life.

Jason answered that the way Governor Shapiro answered when I asked if he had any problems with Fetterman. He was like, sure, a little. I mean, a little bit. I don't think that those... I think the wearable thing is... just another trend a little bit like i don't think i think a lot of people look at the data i don't know if people are actually crunching the numbers or if they're just like i have it so it makes me better if that makes sense like i don't know if they actually understand what they're reading or they're applying it to their sort of day-in day-out lives i have no idea i think it's just part of the same um just being glued to the phone for all pieces of information it's the same as all of your friends who have a kid who go out to dinner and have both of their phones set up on the baby monitors the doggy cams the kitten litter cams the citizen app the next door app you know you're just glued to it constantly receiving data and monitoring the situation but we've talked about it a lot on the pod before of you know you could wake up after a night of partying and be like damn last night was awesome i'm a fucking legend i'm a beast this is so good let's go get some breakfast burritos and do it all over again my life is a movie and then you look at your phone and you're like my sleep score is 37 oh my god my today's my day is shot it's ruined you know like it can fully affect

your life in a negative way there's just things i don't need to know i don't there's i don't weigh myself either i don't need to know that can you imagine david bowie checking his sleep score exactly exactly exactly no i mean that's the thing the people that the problem is i wonder though if like are are today's david bowie's which obviously is is an oxymoron they're few and far between young blood that's about harry styles probably has a garment on right now because he's a runner you know what i mean like oh guys i'm so sorry i I do have to go.

I'm so sorry. Would David Bowie still be alive if he had a whoop strap? You know, something to think about. The best, Sam, is where... I mean, you live in LA. The best is when you see the guys strapped up. They got the whoop on one arm and either an aura ring or another strap on the other arm. Like they're going into battle and it's like... Dude, you work in sales. What is this for? You work in sales and you are ripped. I get it. And your Rivian is charged. But I don't know if we need that much.

My wife said she's going to leave me if I don't get my resting heart rate down. Yeah, I don't know. At a certain point, I'm like, I don't know. I'm not sure who this is for. It's for people who are like, I have so little going on in my life that I'm going to compete with the three guys I play golf with. about who got the most sleep last night. Where it used to be like, Sam, when you go out with your boys, it's like, all right, who's going to put down a 12-er tonight?

Now it's like, who ran a faster mile? Check it out, boys. Yeah, nine hours. Nine hours last night. I'm fucking drunk. You're like, let me get 12 highlights. I'll be here for the next couple hours. And those guys are doing something a little different. Actually, this is a pretty good SNL sketch. The boys get together and they're like... god damn we're well rested my lord can you believe the fucking heart rate check yeah i thought so the work-life balance my god that's what's so that's what is interesting though the work-life balance thing is still a conversation but the optimization thing is also a conversation and to me those two things are completely at odds with each other but based on what you're trying to achieve what the goal is you know

But I know you don't have a work-life balance. You know what I mean? You're kind of on it. Everything is copy-ass. Well, now that you went corporate, I bet that Slack is booming. You got the Slack. No, I'm not on the Slack. The higher ground Slack. Show me about your B2B tools. I got nothing to do with Slack. You ain't all Slack. You ain't got anybody. How many text message groups are you in, not for your little fantasy leagues, but real shit? There's probably more for fantasy basketball leagues. I knew it.

I knew it. Let's talk hoops a little bit then. Let's please not. Things are heating up from downtown. I mean, I try to talk about things that Chris will maybe like. Well, you brought up Arlo Parks and Basketball Series 0 for 2. Arlo Parks was a perfect bit. So that's going to stay in, I hope. Have you seen any Hadids on a yacht? We can talk about that for a while, Sam. He doesn't even know who they are, Jason. No, Sam would never. He's like, yeah, I love Anwar's stuff. No idea.

But honestly, listening to How Long Gone, every time I listen to them, I'm like, wow. I'm learning a lot. You guys are my entry point into things I would never know about. Okay, the prime example, our dear friend Andrews Steele, while you were saying that, sent me a text message. He's at a deli somewhere in New York, I'm assuming, and he sent me a picture of cream cheese, and the cream cheese is covered in pistachio and little crispy bits. It's Dubai cream cheese. Jason, I'm going to tell Andrews to drop a pen.

I'm getting you a little pint of that for next time I see you. A pint of cream cheese. Okay, wait, I actually do have a question. Wait, can I ask you guys? Who is Taylor Lorenz? We can't. I'm sorry. We can't get into this. Well, because I don't really understand. I don't know what's going on. She's a journalist. She's a journalist. She's a journalist and it leans in the tech sector. That's all I can say. But I've seen her tweets and they... Something is amiss, I think. Well, there's a new thing where she demanded Mom Donnie make them use better vegan cream cheese at deli.

So that came up earlier. And I don't know if she was joking. It feels like that has to be a joke. She likes to grab headlines. She's a talented journalist in the tech space, but she has a style of attention grabbing that is... And let me tell you what, if she could kill us and get away with it, she would. She really does not like us at all. Rightfully so. Rightfully so. What did you do? We just make fun of people who wear masks. Like not during the height. I mean now.

People who have to wear masks to stay alive hate it when you make fun of that. It's a bit that she doesn't find funny. I wore a mask for the first time in like two years last week. Were you redoing the coffee table? What's up, brother? Nah, I was really sick and I was like in New York. What does that have to do with anything? I was just like, I don't want to cough on anything. I feel bad. I was like not in good shape, but I had to take... Were you on the airplane?

I got off the airplane and then we took public transit because I'm a man of the people. Okay, Obama. We know the higher ground doesn't pay that well. I know you take the train, but I'm just saying that you guys... Okay, well, were you walking around Manhattan outdoors with a mask on or was it all... Because I think if you're sick on a plane, put a mask on. I don't give a shit. I think that's good. Well, no, the airplane has like the best... filtration like that's like the best don't malcolm gladwell us with that info sam come on i used to work i used to work for him so they got to put an ak-47 to my head for me to put a mask on again i swear to god it better it's got to be chernobyl it's got to be chernobyl for me to put a mask i just don't like it man i just really don't like it and i didn't like it i didn't like it at all but you were dude you were wearing it hold on you had a mask on the train follow-up question did you have a backpack with you I had a backpack on me.

Yeah. Okay. That's tough, bro. Why is this? That combo together, it's a volatile fusion. I look like a dork. I mean, there's no question about that. That guy looks like he's probably one of those Sam Fragroso-type podcasters. You're like, oh, shit, that is him. Wow, look at that. He's wearing his Radiotopia backpack. That's literally how Tucker Carlson mispronounces my last name, too. Exactly like that. I'm like his nightmare. Do you get recognized in New York more than A. when you're out mask-free? It'd be amazing if I actually only get recognized when I wear a mask.

Well, your podcast is so fucking serious, people are staring into your eyes the whole time. They're trying to find out about how... You look naked without your mask on. It's like, who are you? So you're saying, where do you get recognized the most besides the public library? Jason, is Chris saying recognized in a weird way? Okay, recognized is a fun... fun term where it's like a rock star gets recognized in public. Yeah, this is something I actually learned from our guest today, Kevin Morby and Katie say it. But Jason, actually, I ran to Sabrina Blanchel.

at the Erewhon. Sounds like one of the suicide girls, doesn't it? But no. She's like, I bet you get recognized here a lot. And I was like, wow, I've never, I haven't heard, she was using it because she knew I knew what it meant in this way that was like a nice hat tip. So recognize means when you're at a bookstore and some, I mean, I'm not going to say overweight, but you know, a bigger. I love that the BMI needs to come into play during this. I'm sorry. I'll stop.

I'll stop. You Fitbit whoosh ass over here. Get the fuck out of here. For example, when I'm, I live in LA, but whenever I'm in, you know, Lower East Side of New York or so, I mean, I'm bopping around all over, bi-coastal, all the travel vibes only. But, you know, if I'm in Lower Manhattan, you know, Soho, Lower East Side, whatever. Every couple blocks, yo, TJ, found the pop, boom, boom, boom. Every couple blocks is generous. No, it's not. Wow. It's generous. I was thinking about this before. Can I ask, how long are these blocks?

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Great question. You're like, are these avenues? Some blocks are longer than others, I will say. He's never lived in New York, Sam, so he doesn't understand the difference between avenues and blocks. But I have the reason for this, and it will make sense to you. Oh, okay. Let's get there. Let's get there. Oh, there's a point to this. Because I'm not only... A big part of it is the massive success of our podcast, but it is my literal hype where truly everyone, subconsciously or not, I... They are an audience member of me.

Just me walking around in public is a sight to behold. It really is. I have not been an NPC since I was 13 or something. I walk into a party. I immediately know Jason's there. Well, that's true. And I want to be very clear, it has nothing to do with this podcast. But I want to say, so Sam, where do you get recognized the most? Whole Foods? That term is so horrible. Yeah, that's why we use it, because it's funny. Where do you get recognized? Where do you get pod-ignized? I was thinking about the fact that Whole Foods, yeah, actually, Whole Foods is a good one.

I know. Bookstores. All joking aside, yes, Whole Foods is the correct one. Okay, look, every couple Whole Foods, every couple blocks, yeah what about the airport what about the airport what about the airport i have got airport but you know i was thinking and when people come up um because like you said like the show is can be serious i think it's actually been a little looser in the last year hopefully but your show you mean yeah we've i think with the video it's been more fun to fuck around and i've really enjoyed that but when people come up they do have usually a pretty like emotional

response to it. Really? They're usually talking about something that they were going through when they heard something, and I have loved almost every... No, actually in a really good way. Or people are just like, you did a great job asking Elizabeth Warren hard questions. I forget that you get that. I forget you get like, yeah, you really stuck it to her. People love David Mamet walking out. People love telling me about how funny that was when he compared me to Hitler three times. Sorry, I'm team Mamet, but we'll get into that later.

I don't think you're Hitler. Your Patti Smith episode got me through my chemo. Yeah, your Patti Smith episode made her books good. And by the way, Jason, can I say you look great in recovery, Jason? You look fantastic. Namaste to you, brother. Everyone that comes up is really nice. I feel like it's dudes coming up to you asking if they can model for Crew, Chris. Jason, can they get tickets to you DJing at that festival in Pasadena that I don't know? No, people are very nice. Now, there was a point where it was a little more like, whoa, you want to neg me?

Now, it's not like that at all. I do remember I talked to Alex the first time I met your wife, Chris. And we talked about podcast stuff for some reason. And she was like, the interactions. That she watches you have with dudes on the street in New York. Just horrifying business. And ladies. And ladies, it's true. She was making me dying. It was so fucking funny. I know this story because you guys were talking about it for a while. And then, of course, she didn't lead with this. And then you were like, wait, what podcast is it actually after 30 minutes?

And you're like, I know him. She didn't tell me. And I don't know. who anyone is with, so I never know anything like that. And Alex was even like, I'm not going to say they're overweight, but he still couldn't put it together. He's a bigger guy, I would say. He's a bigger guy. He's on the bigger side of guys. Well, I think because that Chris and I are spewing some strongly worded opinions, often negative, about people and things where they're personally offended and hurt by. we're more likely to get some of that interaction whereas you and Gwyneth talking about her childhood, it's going to bring in less ire in your direction.

Not a lot of ire. I did watch, yeah, no. I did see the Mamet stuff, and I have a personal history with him because he, when I wore glasses, he was the only other person who wore the same glasses I did, which he still wears. They're from Cutler and Gross. They're yellow. So I was a little pissed off, you know what I mean? Because that's kind of my thing. For younger listeners, David Mamet. Father of Zosia Mamet from HBO's Girls. Carry on, Chris. If that's the intro for people, I'm going to just jump off the bridge.

Honestly, for David Mamet, you know nobody listening to this shit is going to the theater. I don't think so. Sam, Chris, and Jason, we're of an age now to where there are millions and millions of young people who do not know who David Mamet, playwright, is. Love HBO's Girls. Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross. Coffee is for closers? No, they might know that, but they might not know who he is. We are the last generation of people who knows the lineage of coffee is for closers, you know, by and large, and just barely, because that movie came out in, what, 87?

Yeah. That was before you were born, right, Sam? A little bit. Yeah, exactly. Okay. 82. Okay. Here's 82. No, I'm 82, I'm saying, so I was only five years old. When you guys start tangling, and you don't break. You stand firm. You're ten toes down. You're fucking, you know what I'm saying? You're doing your little thing. Squared up to mem it. And is this the first time anyone's ever walked out on you? Yeah. Okay. And he walked out in a... in a manner that was like, from what I remember, you stayed at the table.

He storms off. Are there producers and shit that are like, yo, chill, chill, chill? Or does he just barrel through like he's a linebacker? Our producer, Caroline Reebok, did go and try to say, you know. This sounds like a reality show. I love it. You chase him at the reunion out to his trailer while he's smoking a cigarette. When he said free Gaza, he didn't mean it, David, okay? Just we wanted to get you back in and see if we can. No, I mean, you're not that far off. She said,

She was like, you know he's not an anti-Semite. Okay, so he was... The issue was he thought you were being anti-Semitic. He believed something that was incorrect. Yeah. Which wouldn't be the first time. But how did you... How were you able... Because I don't... I'm not really a calm... cat you know what i mean if mammon if mammon wants to square up i'm saying we got the cameras wrong i'll give you a two-piece right here and we'll all make some money on these ratings send your ass to tel aviv yeah exactly i'll send you yeah exactly i mean the number the numbers would be unbelievable but the number but my follow-up question even though you didn't get there but the numbers are pretty good they were good but you know he said he said you look like someone who's never been hit before you do I mean, I agree with him on that.

And I said to him, you look like the person who wants to deliver the first blow. And I'm hard. And then he said, well, now you're taking it seriously. And I was like, wait a minute. It's like being gaslit by David Mamet, a word I hate and a thing that I think is silly. It's so weird, but I'm glad we have the tape so people can see. Why did you have gaslighter David Mamet on the show to begin with? Was he promoting it? Was there a book or something? There was a book that I and only I read.

But it was like a memoir type thing, right? No, no, no, no. It was, let me get the title. He wrote like a few of these books. One was called Recessional. The Death of Free Speech, and The Cost of a Free Lunch. Oh, Jesus Christ. Okay. I'm out. He's written a lot of books. Definitely. A lot of books. I remember Everywhere in Oink Oink from a few years ago. That was a big one. Everywhere in Oink Oink. Yeah. He went on Bill Maher for that. I remember that. And he did...

It was called The Disenlightenment. That's what it was called. Politics. So what is his... But what's his whole... What's his thing now? Like, what's he on? Like, give me the elevator pitch on what his shit is right now. Okay. I'll just say, because people kept asking, why do you have him on? One. I love David Mamet's play. Oh, yeah. I'm not mad at you. I grew up in Chicago. He's like a fucking legend to me. Mamet country. Also a great guest in interviews. I've seen him over the years. He's a compelling guy.

He's a great talker. It doesn't always make sense, but he's a great talker. So I was just excited to do it. And then the moment he sits down, it literally goes, David, how are you doing? And he says, well, you know, a lot better because... Those fucking Columbia protesters are gone. Okay. And I was like, well, right, but how, what did you have for breakfast? And I was like, oh, he just jumped right into the deep end. You're like, but Cheerios, Honey Nut or regular? What are you? I was like, could we talk about anything else?

But he wanted to. That's where he started. He leaves. He's radicalized. He leaves. You guys almost come to blows. He leaves. The producer tries to console him in the, let's say, the parking lot in the Valley, just for my mindset. Santa Monica. Okay. I'll get some courage over here, whatever you want. We'll do it. He couldn't be compelled to stay and return to the studio and finish like two grown adults. No. Okay. And then after the fact, did his people reach out to be like, do not publish this. Like, we can't have this up, whatever, whatever.

Or were they like, fuck you. Our client is right. They reached out and they apologized. They apologized on his behalf, but they didn't ask for a takedown. No. Wow. I think they were mortified. Sure. You can be mortified and still ask for the takedown. Yeah, you could. We wouldn't have done that. I mean, do you think this even... I wonder if this negatively impacted him at all. That's the question. You know, we were doing because the show um the reason i like i was like chris can i i want to come back it's like talk easy just turn 10 do it right talk easy just turn 10 congratulations that's a long time it's a long time and we did this interview in the guardian and it was the first time like someone wrote like a real i know you guys have had a bunch of like profiles but it was the first one that someone really like dove deep and asked a lot of stuff and i she asked me this thing and i've thought about a lot which is Like, did I feel regret or remorse about how that went?

And honestly, like, I don't regret how it went. I stand by the tape. I stand by the questions. But it's impossible for me to, like, sorry to get, like, a sentimental on this show. No, no, no, no, no. I was like, man, this dude's in his 70s. He's driving home to his wife. And it's just, it's a sad image to me that he felt, like, the need. and frustration to like he can't finish a podcast interview and that he thinks any part of me doesn't like or respect jewish people or where he cut like which i yeah couldn't be further from the truth like he came in guns firing and then like your image of him is like angry guy driving home alone and it wasn't like i really came prepared i had read plays that no one had ever seen or read i mean i had read books that frankly none of his supporters on the right have fucking cracked the book and you couldn't and you couldn't even talk about that because he lost his temper we talked a little bit about it but then he did we couldn't get back to it and then it was just lost so i do feel kind of i don't know i can't help but shake like an old man driving home yeah that's okay though i think that's not i don't think you're i don't think i don't think you're wrong i do think it's sad to some extent i mean i think that also like With people like this, it's interesting to sort of destroy your legacy for nothing.

What's the point of this? Who are you trying to appease? Who are you trying to impress? What is the point of this? Maybe you just believe it. Of course, that's fine if you feel that strongly. But it's crazy to me that someone of that caliber wouldn't listen to some sort of reason from someone. He believes he's been canceled. He believes he's been ostracized in Hollywood. But was there a certain moment that he was ostracized for? Or is this a slow roll? He says, I mean, he wrote an article in like 2008 for The Village Voice.

I think it was called like, Why I'm No Longer a Brain Dead Liberal. Okay. And The Village Voice in 2008, I guess people still read it. It's not 2002. It was still reasonably read. People were still read. You know what I mean? Because the Village Voice had an unfortunate, long, slow death. One of our greatest independent newspapers. Are you a big supporter, Chris? I love an Alternative Weekly. Yeah. I think Alternative Weekly, because I grew up, we had one in Atlanta called Creative Loafing. That was the show listings. That was sort of like...

you know, any sort of local interests, like we're going to profile the record store owner or whatever, you know, that kind of thing is where I learned all of that, you know, and I read those religiously. So I think that The Village Voice is obviously the upper echelon of that. That was the best. It's no OC Weekly, which I grew up on, but it's cute. Exactly. They had like, you know, they had a small group of them. Like, I think maybe Athens had one and then like Asheville or, you know, whatever.

Creative Loafing, what a perfect 90s local rag name. Doesn't get better. It really is. And I think that that is the, I think all that stuff being gone. There was also one in Atlanta called Stomp and Stammer, which is like a newsprint magazine. But it would put, you know, it would put like. Nico case on the cover or whatever you know what I mean and then it would be like deep it was like a very Nico case on the case it was just cool it was just cool that that's it because I used to read those religiously and like collect them and like the thought of that existing now is so foreign that I you know that's what sub sucks for it was cool when we cared about things that were happening around us boring Like when we invested in people like in our community and in our cities.

Well, hey, bro, I'm investing. Now everything's like national now, so it's all just. I agree. I mean, you know, interestingly enough, when I was fly fishing in Virginia, the fly fishing guide who was like an absolute, you know, like the guy was smoking the watermelon vape, had two Red Bulls, had a ponytail, tie-dyed shirt, like looked insane. At the end. I was like, Oh, have you been doing this? You know, have you been a fly fish, fly fishing, you know, coach basically your whole life? He's like, Oh no, I worked at a printing press.

We, we, the business just completely like overnight it died. He's like, I was, I did, I went to college for it. I did it for 20 years. And then one day it was just sort of like, this ain't happening anymore. And part of it was like these alternative week, like that kind of consistent business disappeared. And now I vape. He seemed pretty happy about it, honestly. But overall, I think it's like, it was a, it was a testament to the whole thing. But I'd also, I mean, I would prefer Jason, you know, buy his chapel room tickets, get his adult diaper and go down there and play chess until she hits the stage.

That's that to me is more that's that's local in its own way. I think I've got a sweater I'm trying to finish. So I'll probably bring my rig. Yeah, but I think that was a good I'm glad that that got published partly because it's deeply entertaining. And second of all, because because I think that we don't see I mean, I think that the whole. critique of our entire business now is like it's softballs it's softballs it's jake shane it's this it's that and i think like seeing a guy just absolutely come unraveled because you're asking a few questions that in theory aren't even that hard if he really you know what i mean if he really believes what he's saying then then it shouldn't be that difficult to answer the questions and him just blowing a fucking gasket is is a reminder of what we could have yeah i can't imagine jake shane asking those questions.

Mehmet wants to be canceled. He has self-canceled fantasies. I mean, we don't ask questions like that either. If somebody's going to storm off on how long gone, it's because we have... That's not the show. You guys are not trying to do that. No, definitely, definitely not. But I think that people... I think that... It doesn't matter what the... I don't know. I think that people can feel backed into a corner almost no matter what kind of show it is unless it's like the ultimate softballs with approved questions beforehand and you've rehearsed it like call her daddy level.

I think it could be anything. Have you guys ever sent questions to the person that you're going to have on? No. I've sent topics for interviews. They made me send topics for somber. You know what I mean? For things to cover when I was writing about him. But on this show... No, and no one's ever heard it before it comes out either. And we're not even like, we don't stand on some journalistic principles. It's just like, that's not the game, bro. That's just not how this works. We're not going to give you fine.

Once that happens, then it's, you're a fucking brain dead, you know, Serena Williams documentary on HBO that she has final cut on. And it's just stupid. You know, it's like, nobody wants that. It's just not fun for anybody. If that's what you're getting, that's not a good product, you know, for the, for the guests too. I think the thing is that the, that I hope we give the guests an opportunity to show part of their. personality that maybe other people aren't you know what i mean so that's that's a win for them chris i think we we got to get jason back because jason jason's doing some text over there i was texting our video editor about some notes we're i'm deep in the middle of a video edit right now but you know luckily this is an audio-based podcast so our listener had no idea any of that was happening until you wanted to bring it to light so if you want to do a little tit for tad right after david mamet you interviewed mayor karen bass let's talk about the softball questions going on over there

The floor is yours. Yeah, go ahead. I'm surprised you would platform someone like that, but I guess that's what you're in the business of. Who failed our city so... I guess you didn't have anybody to lose a house in your community, Sam. I don't know. Maybe the east side wasn't as affected by the fires. Yeah, he said, it's just the Palisades. Heidi, it's just the Palisades. No, I mean, the moment I start telling you what I asked her, I've lost. So it's over. That's true. You're right. You know yourself. I mean, I love that you have to interview all of these politicians because it's just like...

I don't have to. I like it. Politicians get ratings, right? But don't you think with politicians, and this is in all sincerity, do you ever feel like you're talking to a real human being? Because I don't. I think the goal is to somehow get there. Of course, of course, of course. And even if it's like seven minutes. Where you're like, okay, something happened. But you think someone, you think someone on, I mean, Karen Bass is obviously a very certain specific thing. But I mean, do you think there are, you know, senators that can actually hang with a microphone on?

I think there are. I think there are, but also my feeling is so long as they have the, so long as they have the power to keep making decisions for us, and so long as they keep influencing our lives, they have to. answer question like that's that's oh yeah i agree with that no no i'm saying more i'm saying i'm saying more do you think you ever get the cloak dropped like does the mask no pun intended ever come down um is that like taylor lorenz the i'm saying that does the n95 ever hit the chin when you're talking to a an elected official not if i have something to do with it okay well also you know does the mask ever come down when you're talking to a fellow podcaster who also projects a character for their entire life more so than a politician like an ira glass like a malcolm gladwell you know what i mean like when i listen to a gladwell interview yeah i don't get the sense that this is you know the veil is dropping and i'm getting the real real can i tell you i don't know him super well but having worked for him for a few years uh he's about

what you hear on the podcast it's maybe turned up 10 or 20 but he's like i think there's some truth to that too jason when someone's doing it that long it's tough to decipher even what the difference is because i think politicians are really selling themselves and whoring themselves out in a way that even a yeah that's not a slight i mean like if i met terry gross at the supermarket is she gonna be oh is she can you turn terry gross can you turn your broadcasting off i love terry Terry's the baddest bitch.

When do you go fill in? I fill in whenever they need me. I'm trying to do once every two or three months for a week. Okay, so who do you get the call from at NPR? They're like, look, Terry had a bad batch of French onion. She's down for a couple days. We need Sam. Let me tell you something. Ta-Nehisi Coates can't move it. It has to be now. By the way, they would never move Ta-Nehisi Coates. Come on. Lizzie Warren said no. Lizzie Warren said no. Let me tell you something.

Terry does not tap out. She is the hardest working. Real bad bitch. No. She is the hardest working person I know. Oh, for sure. Honest to God. I mean, you guys work and do so many episodes. Like, imagine this. She used to do, I think, like 12 interviews a week. damn i mean it was insane suck on that barry weiss um exactly she she and she has not lost a step and like i i yeah that's yeah so she's amazing all right so when but do you think she has a say in her fill-in or do you think the overlords of the npr lib corporation are plucking you from obscurity no they're like what if we get tyler mitchell to do it instead of sam just to mix up the flavor the photographer tyler mitchell exactly what's who's the who's the gay guy that we have on to talk about who does the tiktoks about fashion nicky campbell oh nicky campbell like well like like what if like what if we're just gonna try something new we're gonna get is he the one that gives like kind of honest feedback yeah he's so funny like to camera like his i like that guy he's really funny but i just like the idea of them literally a crane picks your head up and then drops him in

And it's like, all right, you and Ezra Klein, let's see what's going on with the Strait of Hormuz. Ezra, can you do a circle for me? No. You and Link later are going to do laps right now. Let's see what happens. Yeah, but who calls your agent and what's that NPR check looking like? Because is it a donation? Is it a donation? I think Jason's just looking. I think Jason's just on the Talk Easy website naming people that are on the guest page. Again, the veil doesn't have to drop, Sam.

Audio-based podcast only. Yeah, Sam, Sam. But for real, when you get that call, do you have to pay them to let you do this or do they pay you? Stop. Okay. Well, speaking of the Talk Easy website, do people have to pay more money to have just a nice portrait of their face on it versus the artwork of their book? No. No one pays any money. Okay. You know, like Chris Hayes. the the broadcaster like there's a picture of like a news casting screen well that was an editorial one i think when we had oh i see ezra klein has his book up there and uh will welch it's not just a portrait it's him on the gq yeah so you know so you get a little you know not a household name no it's actually based on like if the episode's about a certain subject so like those were not like deep autobiographical interviews actually with the will wanted it was a little bit of mix no it's just more so i'm like always interested when you know the artwork for certain guests you have to like like this person is not famous enough to just have a picture of them so we have to like in like weave in what they're known for you know what i mean yeah i mean that's not ezra actually came on before and he did get a normal portrait not that it matters but like i want to say one thing like three things that nicky guy what's his name again nicky campbell okay him going through mark ronson's outfits oh yes those are amazing i mean mark is such a nice guy and like is so game for that but that was i love that video he did it with i think he did it with charlie too he's done it with a few people it's a really fun construct it's a really fun way to do it yeah he's really funny i also i'll just say just like on the record i in no world would i ever be able to like co-host or guest host fresh air if it wasn't something

terry wanted okay so she's okay no i'm serious i don't know that's yeah yeah i mean it's her you know she's made this thing for fucking 50 years and but you have to go to philadelphia um no i don't have to i do stuff from la too but i i i went to philly recently just to to work in the office and it was an amazing experience so when you so if you all right so if they're like all right sam we need you to pinch hit And then it's, you know, you look at the, you look at the lineup and you're like, oh, all right.

Well, this isn't, this isn't my favorite subjects, but you know, it's NPR. It's Terry for Terry. We do anything, you know, we all get dressed for Terry, not a big avid elementary fan, but I'll see what I can do. Yeah. Yeah. Like, cause cause with talk easy, you're driving the bus, bro. You pick, you pick it all when, if it's Quinta, it's cause you want her, you know what I mean? But if it's NPR, by the way, I would be happy. to do Quinta on Fresh Air. We love Quinta Brunson.

And by we, I mean me. I had a nice chat with Quinta at the Paul Smith thing, Jason, after you left the valet. Me and Quinta chopped it up a little bit. Betty Boop. She's good people. She seems like good people. Jason, I feel like we've been at a party where the three of us were talking. I have a memory of this a couple years ago. It's possible. It's possible. I don't know. I don't have any recollection. Jason towered over Quinta Brunson. I tower over every actor. Every actor is short as hell.

I know. Okay, wow, Jason. I tower over all these little bitches. Sebastian Stan, I make them look like a shrimp. It's not because of me. Chris, you tower over them as well. Every actor's short. That's just what it is. That's true. They look jacked on TV. They look brolic on, you know, Joe Bernthal on the bear. Like, this guy's gnarly as fuck. You meet him. I'm sure, you know, Josh Brolin as well. Josh Brolin's famous. Josh Brolin's 5'3". I saw him on this plane train once in Atlanta. No, he is not 5'3".

He's short as fuck. Terry Crews, he looks like a fucking Godzilla on TV. He's like 5'6". Terry Crews, little man. Bro, for a man, 5'6 is 5'3", bro. Maybe 5'7". Bro, Arlo Parks could take him. I mean, Arlo. Arlo's actually like 6 feet, I think. Arlo got hands, too. Put Bill Hader in a fucking reverse naked choke triangle. Liz is going to email you guys being like, cut all the Arlo Park stuff out. Just leave that out. That's our best bit. Liz loves this shit. Liz, thank you so much for your cooperation.

I'm sure your team knows what you're capable of, and they hate to see you throttled. They hate to see you throttled for profit every day. Actually, on the topic of parties, I had a note, a chamber that I wanted to run by you. The Chateau Marmont. We've spent a lot of time partying there over the years. And I had a meal there. We've all eaten there a bunch of times. Do you think there was a time ever when the food at the Chateau was considered good, like in the 60s or the 70s or decades ago?

Was there a time where the quality was good and the public's perception of what good food is and their need to have higher quality food? Was there a time where the food at the Chateau was considered good? Make Chateau great again? Just their F&B. It's fine for normal people. I don't know. I mean, also, frankly, whatever was happening in the 60s and 70s, there was an amount of drugs where the food was pretty secondary. Let me tell you something, Jason. If you're off a couple tabs, man, the scrambled eggs taste good.

You know what I'm saying, man? I know exactly what you mean. That baguette is super fresh. You would think it would be better. I mean, you really like... I don't understand it. You guys are insane. It's totally fine. The way people talk about this is like they're getting cafeteria food. Like, it's totally fine. No, it just should be like 10% better because I like going there. Why? Why? No hotel food is 10% better. That's not what you're going to a hotel for. You're going to a hotel for other reasons. It's true.

It's remarkably bad food for how amazing... It's like the one thing that's wrong with it. No, it's crazy. I don't think it's as bad as Jason's saying. I think I'm somewhere in the middle between you two. It's crazy. Like, it's just not that... Everything's... If that's... I mean... Everything's kind of bad. So unless you want to go to an annoying restaurant that's going to cost $1,000 and you have to sit there for four hours. I know. But it gets me going when you have this hotel that has such amazing energy, architecture.

All the people that work there are legends. You walk on the premises. You feel like you're at Disneyland. You feel so special for being there. Where have you ever had hotel food that's good? You go to the Hoxton. You go to the Ace Hotel. These are much lower quality hotels. in terms of price, amenities. You're not about to tell me the Hoxton. You're not about to do that. The food of the Hoxton, I've seen it multiple Hoxton's. It is head and shoulders better than Chateau. After this podcast, you will be staying there for free.

Yeah. Shout out to my Hoxton family. My last promo code died out, so I need more. But you go to the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, it's not a culinary destination. It runs laps around Chateau's food. That place has the food at the Ace Hotels. It's bad business there, I got to say. It's not good. It's really bad business. I like the vibe. I like the vibe. I would rather eat that food. I like the vibe, though. You would like the vibe. They got a record player in the room for you.

I was just in London a couple weeks ago, and I'm going to go there next week. We're staying at the Athos Hotel, Athos Hotel in Shortage, just across the street from the Hoxton. Okay. Go down, have a... I'm like, I'm going to edit the pod. I get a nice Asahi cold beer for $6, an $18 burger that's perfectly done, served to me by a normal person. And it was quite delicious. And this is happening at hotels across the world all over the place. Obviously, a lot of bad shit happens. Chris is just mortified.

Chris is just sitting there. He's not mortified. No, no, I'm not mortified. No, I'm not mortified. I just could care less about anything. I'm staying in a hotel for the room. I'm not staying there because the salad's good. 100%. That's all. I agree. As a perfectionist, I'm like, you're so close. You're so close. There's just one thing. It's like somebody walks out, Chris, you're a stylist. You're going to go shoot. an amazing model or whatever and you have this head-to-toe look that is just exquisite and then you look and you know the belt or the shoe or one piece of this look It's beyond an abortion.

It is just astronomical that you decided to do this. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. And all you have to do is change it for something better, and then we have reached perfection. But I don't stay at a hotel. I don't stay at a hotel to eat. I go to restaurants. That's the other thing. The only thing I would ever eat at a hotel is eggs, which is usually fine, is the reality. I know. I don't stay at the Chateau, but I go there a lot. And sometimes there's food. There is food.

Actually, you know what? Whatever. I got to go. I got to go. Sam, thank you. Thank you for joining us on How Long Gone Today. It was a pleasure. For our listeners at home, Chris just unplugged his headphones and threw them against the wall. No, no, no. I love you, Sam. It was good to see you. Talk easy. Ten years. You should do a victory lap for that. You're one of the greats. And we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Thank you, boys. I love being on the pod, and I can't believe we're ending on this note.

Well, look, sorry, I'm in the middle of something. We can have How Long Gone appear on Talk Easy one day. Who knows? Yeah, when are you going to let the big dogs come on? Because you're pussyfooting around with all these senators and shit. David Mamet. You want, like, any time. I know. It was a glaze fest with you and Chris from The Ringer. I'm like, what are you going to do for us if we go on? Yeah, I don't even watch movies. Will you be able to get through it? Is it both of you?

Would you both come on at the same time? I'll do it. We'll do whatever you want, bro. It's your call. Yeah. We'll do whatever you want. However you want to slice it. Can we have a peg? When's the five-year anniversary of the show? We're about to hit that. We've already bit that. We're about to hit a thousand episodes. Holy shit. Okay. All right. Let's talk about that. This episode will be 950. Chris has to go have lunch. Okay. Bye-bye. Bye, guys. It's work. The place where you live one day