Heavyweight Checks In

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Pushkin.

Hey, everybody.

So the season of heavyweight isn't due to start until the fall, but we wanted to offer just a little check-in.

Production on the show has slowed

to pretty much a standstill.

Because of the coronavirus, I haven't been able to go out and talk to people.

Everyone's keeping pretty much to themselves as they should be.

And generally speaking, even on the phone, people just haven't been as interested in revisiting and talking about the past at the moment.

And everybody's just, you know, more concerned about the present moment and the future.

So my producers, Khalila Holt and Stevie Lane, are at home in Brooklyn, and I'm with my wife Emily and our three-year-old Auggie in Minnesota.

But every day, Stevie and Khalila and I check in, and we try to figure out what we should be doing at this moment,

you know, in terms of work and also in terms of life.

And a few days ago, even though we were apart, we decided to record the day that we were having and share that day with each other.

I was going to get some groceries with Auggie, and Khalila was going to take a walk to get a prescription filled.

Stevie was trying to figure out whether she'd keep a blind date.

That was weeks in the making.

She'd never been on a blind date before.

Khalila and Stevie both checked in with their moms for a little advice and mostly just for some comfort.

Looking back on that day now, it already feels like an eternity ago, even though it wasn't long ago at all.

Things are changing so quickly, and every day feels like a new reality.

So when we recorded this, bars and restaurants were still open and school was still in session.

But anyway, this was that day.

Only a few days ago feels like an eternity.

We shared it with each other to feel less alone, and now we're sharing it with you guys, and we hope it makes you feel less alone too.

Stevie?

Hey, Khalila?

Hello.

So how did it go, you guys?

Khalila, how was your day?

Yeah, I had a pretty good day.

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello.

Okay, I'm putting on my ushes, and then I'm gonna

leave this house.

First, I called my mom.

It's kind of like,

it all has this feeling of like a jack-in-the-box, which I hate.

I hate those things.

Like, I feel like we're walking around and we're trying to work, like, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

yeah

went to the pharmacy i waited in line to get my prescription and the line was really long so it took a while

relaying medical information

A couple people back from me, this woman started coughing and everyone got really tense.

And then I got up to the front.

A woman who was helping me went over and put on gloves, and she was like, I forgot to put on my gloves till just now.

And then she got my prescription, and then I started to pay for it.

And she was like, Oops, I pressed the wrong button because of the gloves.

And then she was like, Have a nice day.

And I was like, Thanks, you too.

And she was like, Thanks, I'll need it.

And her eyes got like really wide.

So then I left the pharmacy.

I saw a guy carrying two bottles of champagne down the street.

Wonder what he has to celebrate.

Hmm, nothing probably.

And I was like, I'm going to go to the ATM.

And then on the way to the ATM, I passed the liquor store and I was like, I'm going to just go get a bunch of liquor.

Hi.

Do you have bitters somewhere also?

I think the thing that made it feel like, oh, it was like a good day to me was just that I wasn't just continuing to pretend that everything was normal when things weren't normal, you know?

Like to just acknowledge like, oh, it's like a weird time and like things feel weird.

So that was your day.

What was the best piece of advice that your mom was able to give?

I feel like

I feel like times of stress, even though they bring out, you know, their,

like, it feels bad, I do feel, also feel like it brings out the best in a majority of the people.

So I feel like

people will pull together, like people will, you know what I mean?

Like we'll,

we will be okay.

We will be okay.

It may be rough for a little bit.

There will be consequences.

But again, I do feel ultimately, honestly, like we will get through it.

Like everyone's

scared and it is legitimately scary, but also like

you can only do the things that are in your control and like people are gonna step up to help each other.

Yeah, um, and in the meantime, it also feels like you can still find these like small moments of solace in the world.

Like, at one point, it was kind of windy, um, so my sound was all messed up, and so I turned this corner.

Um,

sorry, I wish it weren't so windy.

Maybe I'll go down a more quiet street.

Okay,

Can you hear the birds?

Yes, I was just about to ask you.

Sing it, kids.

And Jonathan, how was your day?

My day was pretty mundane.

went with Augie to get groceries and he was really excited

because I was presenting it as a mission.

Are you ready for the mission?

Nope.

Okay.

We got important work to do.

I'll put you, I'll wrap you in a blankie.

We could buy some broccoli.

You like broccoli?

Yeah, I do.

And cauliflower.

And some pasta and we don't have pasta.

And

I think that's it.

That's it?

Yeah.

Okay.

And he fell asleep like five minutes into the mission.

And I went to the grocery store.

A lot of the rice was selling out.

Oh.

There wasn't a lot of toilet paper left, and there was a sign that said only one package per customer, and that kind of got me all randy for toilet paper.

So I had to buy

some toilet paper.

And then

I got to the cashier, and she sort of toilet paper shamed me.

Every whisper has had a roll of toilet paper.

I don't know if he actually needed it.

In the grocery store, they were playing old songs, you know, like the oldie station or classic rock.

Right.

They played this song that I hadn't heard in a long time.

You guys know Tom Petty?

Yeah.

So he has a song that was kind of a hit.

in the super early 80s, like maybe 1980 or something, called The Waiting.

Did you ever hear this song?

Yeah, The Waiting is the Hardest Part.

Yeah, how do you know that song?

Because it's Tom Betty.

Killila, I bet you do too.

I'm going to sing, and this is never, ever to be used, but it goes like the waiting is the hardest part.

You know, Tyroute.

That sounds vaguely familiar, but

every day you see one more card.

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart.

The waiting is the hardest part.

That's beautiful.

I don't think I ever really realized the lyric in the chorus was every day you see one more card.

It's a nice lyric.

But I remembered when I was a kid, I had this friend, Michael, and

when it was like professional days or days in the summer when there was no school and we were trying to entertain ourselves, we weren't like sporty kids.

And so we would take take on these weird projects together.

And we decided to call random numbers and give them a choice of a song that they could listen to.

Oh, that's fun.

Yeah.

You know, we thought that we sounded like very official and like it was our business, but we must have sounded like cartoon mice because we were like eight years old.

And we'd be like, today's choices are Blondie's Heart of Glass, ABBA's Dancing Queen, or Tom Petty's The Waiting.

And everyone would just hang up on us.

And one time there was one guy who like listened to us through and chose the waiting.

And we played it like one of us held the phone and the other one, you know, put it on the turntable.

And we were just so excited, like high-fiving each other silently.

And then when it was over, he

like he was like just a curious adult and he couldn't figure out what our business model was, like how we were earning profit.

And that man?

That man turned out to be Daniel Eck, who decided that that model would be turned into Spotify incorporated.

But anyway, so it was like, I hadn't heard that song in a really long time.

The connotations about waiting back then

were just like, you know, being a kid and being impatient.

And just in this context, it had this new connotation of just like

the waiting is the hardest part.

You know what I mean?

It's about like just anxiousness.

You know, you don't don't know what's going to come next.

It's just the waiting.

You know what I mean?

It's just the waiting right now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like the jack in the box.

Stevie, how was your day?

So

I called my mom.

Sorry, I'm putting away some groceries while we talk.

Is that okay?

Okay.

I don't know what I'm going to do about my date.

You're going to go.

I don't know.

I don't don't know if I want to be out there.

And what if I do?

Haven't I give it to him?

I don't know.

Feels like not a promising way to start a relationship.

Yeah.

You don't even have to go into a bar.

Yeah.

You just walk outside.

It's true.

Taking a walk would be nice.

I don't know, whatever.

And

I was telling her how I'm afraid to come home because I'm afraid of getting her sick and she was like Stevie like I'm not worried for myself at all you know I'm worried about my my parents

yeah have you talked to them

yeah

and they seem to be very careful

we went to the gym it was empty

how old are they again they are 93 years old and I was like grandma don't go to the fucking gym like did you wash your hands a lot and put Purel on everything?

Yes, we wash, we wash and we clean everything.

That's insane.

But you know, I think from her attitude, she was like, you know, we have to keep moving.

Like I have to keep your grandpa moving.

Like we'll die of coronavirus or we'll die of,

you know, like, yeah, we're old.

Like we have to exercise.

So

yeah, and so like the whole call was just like, that was the thing.

Like she seemed so unconcerned for herself, but then she was like super worried about me.

Like she kept telling me like not to go outside until like wash my hands.

But you're feeling okay.

Yeah.

You know what?

What?

Take your temperature.

Make sure.

Don't get sick.

Oh, no.

Don't get sick, sweetheart.

But then I told her about my blind date and she was like, like her whole tone changed.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, a blind date, huh?

That's interesting.

Yeah.

Oh, it would be a shame to miss a blind aid.

This could be the one.

Oh, stop.

Listen, at my age, I can't stop being a grandmother, can I?

I'm waiting to be a great grandmother.

The two of you can meet and talk six feet apart from each other.

You know, if it works out, that's an interesting story to tell your grandchildren.

I met your father during the coronavirus outbreak.

I I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.

And think of what a good story you can write for your

iPad.

Yeah, I mean, of which I just want to let you know, I am recording this phone call.

Oh, dear, I better not use any dirty words.

I didn't know you'd do that.

All right, you'll keep it for posterity.

You'll remember me 20 years from now.

If you could hear my voice, that would be nice.

I don't think you'll hear me from up in heaven.

Besides, I'm not sure that's where I'm going.

So,

so, wait, does this mean does this mean that you're gonna go out on the date?

I don't know.

Yeah,

I texted, so I texted him, and he was like, Honestly, I totally understand if you don't want to do it anymore, but I sort of feel like it might be nice before there's even more isolation to like have less isolation

and we'll just walk around.

But, yeah, I don't know.

we're all trying to figure out what comes next, how we can continue to stay in touch and how that can be a comfort to you and also to us.

So, if you'd like, send us an email at heavyweight at gimletmedia.com.

We're interested in hearing how you're doing, what this has been like for all of you, and what sorts of stuff you think you might want to hear in the future.

Also, our friends at Science Versus are continuing to report out developing news about the virus.

So, if you're not already a listener, I encourage you to start now.

They're working day and night and trying to keep on top of things so that you can stay on top of things too.

It's really a hard time to keep the facts straight, and they're doing their best to get to the truth of what's going on.

So, keep safe and keep in touch.

I'm Amos.

Hi, Amos.

It's nice to meet you.

I know.

How are you?

I'm doing pretty well.

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When families face their darkest moments, your kindness can be the light they need.

And when it comes to helping children in the Bay Area, you can spark hope with Shell.

When you fill up at the Purple Giving Pump at Shell, a portion of your purchase is donated to charities like the California Fire Foundation.

Download the Shell app to find your nearest giving pump, less than two miles away.

Because giving back doesn't cost you extra.

From September 1st to October 31st, participating Shell stations will donate a minimum of one cent per gallon of the fuel pump from the giving pump or a minimum donation of $300.

You've probably heard me say this.

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