“Thought Starters” (w/ Michelle Obama + Craig Robinson)

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Look, man.

Oh, I see.

My eye.

Oh, my.

Bowen, look over there.

Wow, is that the culture?

Yes, goodness.

Wow.

Las Culturistas.

Ding dong.

Las Culturistas calling.

So today was Bowen's first ever tate experience, and that is the big headline of the day.

Huge headline.

Famed bakery shakshuka restaurant.

They have more things than that.

I had a delicious chicken salad sandwich with raisins.

Get into it.

I don't want to have this argument with anybody.

No.

Raisins belong in chicken salad.

And you know what else?

So

I basically described it to you correctly.

It was like a Michelin pret-a-minger.

A Michelin pret-a manger.

And then we learned through someone that we were speaking to today that it is owned by Panera Bread.

Yes.

So it all goes back to big Panera Bread.

It all goes back to Big Bread.

Big Bread.

And that's actually real culture number six.

It all goes back to Big Bread.

Also in Lost Coach News.

So So, the reason why we're in DC today is actually kind of a funny story.

Several months ago, we sort of were reached out to with an opportunity that made us say, There's no way, there's no way there's no way, there's just no way.

It is real, and we find ourselves sitting with a pair of guests that

to say that we are excited would be the understatement of the century to have them on Lost Culture East This.

We were so fortunate enough to be on their podcast.

Had an amazing time: IMO, Higher Ground,

get into that.

That's the chicken salad of podcast.

Truly.

Okay.

There's raisins.

I mean, we'll be able to do that.

You know, I said to our guests earlier, I did a breakfast hack.

I was like, you know what you do?

And so I didn't tell you this, Craig, but here's, here's what you got to do.

It's not just strawberries and raisin brand.

It's also, you cut up strawberries.

I'm a culinary icon on this podcast.

By the way, the snack of the summer is frozen grapes.

Frozen grapes.

Okay, so you got to cut up strawberries, cut, and then get some bananas in there and raisins, put it in your honey nut Cheerios.

Raisins and honey nut Cheerios.

Oh, you're gonna love the way you look.

I guarantee you.

It's still not that deep.

It is deep.

For more context, listen to our episode of IMO.

Matt, this sounds yummy.

Okay, so these voices that you're hearing.

They're legendary.

They are the Euclid Avenue Robinsons, the iconic

Chicago legends.

We're here with a college basketball icon as a player, a coach, and a broadcaster, and a best-selling author that is likely best known as the former First Lady of the United States of America.

And this is just

really special.

They're podcasters now.

So moving on up in the world, I'd say.

Yes.

Everyone, please, we are out of our minds to welcome Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.

Gosh,

wired up and ready to go.

Put me in, coach.

I'm ready to play.

And you are the one to listen to when that gets said.

Oh, my gosh.

So you're sort of been dragging me all day from my breakfast.

I mean,

you know, you bring it up like it's some rocket science, and it's chopped up fruit in cereal.

Excuse me, I think that would be.

Well,

at least you have to cut the cheese and melt it.

You're right.

That is stops.

That stops.

No, Matt, you do not have to acquiesce to her just because she needs to be the former first lady.

I did do that pretty well.

i do have that then

yes ma'am yes yeah i know i well earlier i was like thank you so much mrs obama and you said michelle and i was like i did say that i know well it's great to be on a first name basis we cannot have a real conversation if you're saying mrs obama that's pretty silly pretty quick to like put down that shield for people.

You're like, don't even worry about it.

You know, I was trying to do that when I was first lady because I just think, you know, it just sort of like I am not that position.

I am Michelle.

And when you're trying to connect with people, especially young people, you know, they need to keep the Miz's because they're learning.

Sure.

But I'm always trying to break down that wall to say, we're just all here.

Totally.

You know, and the first thing to do is like, let's drop that title.

That's a little heavy.

Of course.

You know, that kind of changes the dynamic.

So I'm Michelle.

Because you know what we call her.

What?

Your Highness.

I knew it.

I knew it.

The honor of that.

You need

You have to be in the family.

You do need this person in your life that is like, that is like busting your chops a little bit.

Have you guys always been those people to each other?

Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

Well, we come from a family of chop

chop busters.

Yeah, yeah.

It's it's it's it's it's we we earned it.

We earned it.

Our dad, his brothers, our grandfather on my mom's side.

Yeah.

I mean, it was just chop busting all the time.

And

they started teasing at a young age.

And I always thought, oh, this is mean

until you realize, oh, in the real world, this happens all the time.

So

you're building a nice armor to fight the fights when you get out totally.

Craig, you've talked about how.

Growing up, it was Michelle was known as Craig Robinson's younger sister.

And then it flipped at some point

when you were known as Michelle's older brother.

And I love that.

And that is much easier.

Describe it in the ways that that is easier.

It's easier because, first of all, I was, whether my mom and dad said, don't do it, don't worry about your sister, don't protect your sister,

I did.

So

everybody had to know that's my little sister.

So if you're going to run up on her, you got to come through me.

Be nice.

act right.

And

anywhere I went, I brought her with until we got to an age where we couldn't do stuff.

But it's always been that way.

And it's much easier when I don't have to worry about that.

Now

she's the big star and I can just enjoy the benefits.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, yeah,

we both have sisters and I feel like I.

It almost makes me emotional to think of people like having an opinion or like being like, oh, yeah.

The idea that someone is you know accessed by the world in this way like that has to be something to manage about each other I would sure I'm sure about you know your family members like when you become up for public debate and unable to participate in those discussions I would imagine that that's something that you obviously learn to cope with or do you ever really learn to cope with it you know you do you have to develop a thick skin.

And I think some people are better at it than others.

I think my husband has a very calm demeanor and I think he was built for the job.

I am a little more feisty,

less so for myself, but more for him.

You know, I get my back reared up when somebody goes after him and they don't appreciate his intellect and his sacrifice.

Don't go after my kids.

So I don't feel it for myself,

but it is.

It is uncomfortable.

Anytime my kids call me with some bad interaction they had with somebody on the street because of their last name or them worrying about somebody people thinking that they don't deserve the credit for the hard work that they do you know my mommy mode gets on

but i i i have had to practice um

being okay with it for the sake of them yes because i think that kids respond the way their parents respond and all throughout the white house my thing was this is normal you'll be fine it's okay yes there are men with guns on your school because your dad's here for parent-teacher conference, but keep going.

It's not about you.

You know, just trying to make sure that through all of this, they felt it normal.

So I couldn't respond too much.

I couldn't voice too much concern because then they would start panicking.

Right.

It's like when a toddler falls and

they look up to see if they're okay.

And if you're like, oh my God,

right down.

But if you're like, you're fine, get up.

Yeah, but as a brother, I feel it when they get talked about.

Yeah.

And it's really interesting because as a coach, you get talked about all the time.

Like when you, when your team is playing,

this play was wild.

That doesn't bother me at all.

Right.

Because I know what I was doing was my best.

And this game plan went this way,

something went that way.

Anything.

But with them, it's when people don't appreciate what they're doing.

I wouldn't say things publicly, but people ask me all the time, how do you handle it?

And I tell them,

I know deep in my heart that they're doing the best for the most people.

And that usually gets people to sort of calm down and take that strategy with them when they go on, when they go about their work, because otherwise it would just drive you crazy.

Sure.

I used to be in the comments defending him.

I'll throw hands for my sister.

I would never want you to do it.

That is a fate worse than death to be fighting for you.

To even get in there, I fight.

come back.

Come out.

Yeah, you know.

Don't go in there.

I also just, when you were talking about going to the parent-teacher conference, I thought about being an elementary school teacher and knowing that the Obamas were coming in.

What is that?

Oh, and it was a thing because the kids went to school down the street from where we're recording right now.

And our house is, well, we were in the White House.

That was our house then.

So it was a trip all the way up Mass Ave, right?

And when you're in the presidential motorcade, it's a thing.

Yeah.

You know, if the president is moving, it's 12 motorcycle cars blocking off traffic.

The street gets shut down.

It's a 20-car motorcade, you know, which I say that includes an ambulance, a caboose, and a, you know, a clown at the end.

I mean, it just keeps going and going and going, and it never ends.

And all of that pulls up into the parking lot of a school.

Right.

And Ms.

Apple is getting a lot of stuff.

And Ms.

Apple is getting held down.

It's like, mom, that's Mrs.

Charney that they're blocking.

And it's like, I know, I know, but this is how it goes and so Melita is excelling in math

But here's the thing dad was going to parent-teacher conference It was like you know you went before you were president You went to every one of them.

We are parents.

You know, we have to ignore this.

This is how you get about the city and this can't be the excuse for you not to participate as a father because you you deserve that.

He enjoyed that.

He enjoyed those moments of normalcy yeah even if it came with a 20 car motorcade and helicopters and uh a cat team on the roofs which is counter assault uh weapons machine guns out left flags you know i mean total lockdowns yeah yeah yeah so yeah that was

and thank you sidwell for putting up with us for

great work

i i always feel like you know big moments in my life i can i can often associate with uh a song or or a film or something.

And obviously you guys being in the public eye, I wanted to ask if there is a moment that the world knows and they identify in a certain way just from watching you guys, but

you associate that moment with a specific song or something.

Like, what was the song of like the inauguration day?

Or like, is there an is there a moment that you can think of that you can point to?

No one was, no one knows I was listening to this or had watched that.

You're nodding.

I'm nodding.

Do you have something?

Yeah, the first inauguration, we were all together in Chicago.

And the story about when we found out that Barack was the president of the United States is a completely great story, but I'll save it for you next time.

We are all on the stage.

I mean, it's our whole family, but our family's small, but we're all on the stage.

Barack's family's on the stage.

Was this in Grant Park?

This was in Grant Park in Chicago.

Outside.

And what was the song?

Of course.

Wasn't it We Are Family?

I don't remember.

That's what I was thinking.

I think I was numb.

I think I was

completely numb.

I was like,

did they have a song?

We should find out if I'm right because I remember We Are Family, and I don't know if it was in my head or if they were actually playing it.

Because I'm going to tell you something.

We're from Chicago.

I've been in Grant Park in November.

In

all my life.

When that inauguration was over,

you could hear, almost hear a pin drop, and people are walking away.

They're just in this euphoric, quiet, calm state.

They were so happy.

And it was the, I mean, black people, white people, people from the north side, people from the south side, people from the west side, all together, just walking back to wherever they were going, quietly, orderly, no police sirens.

You could see flashes of light, but it was surreal, man, for a kid who grew up in Chicago.

Yeah, I mean, it just was, it was so peacefully silent that on the way to Grant Park in the presidential motorcade, the kids were in the back because, you know, you're trying to tell them what's going on because they were little, they were, you know, seven and ten or six and nine at the time.

So, most of the time in the whole, they're playing.

We set it up so that their cousins are there, they're playing games.

Election nights were all about, we get chicken fingers and we get to stay up, right?

But you didn't realize they wouldn't understand what had happened.

Yeah, so you'd, you'd win a primary, big celebration, and Malia would come back.

Malia would say, Is dad president?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you're like, oh, no, no, no, no, this is just South Carolina.

We got to do this like 12 more times.

And she'd go, okay, go back and play.

That night, she said, at the end of it, is dad president now?

And we said, yeah, this is it.

So we're in the car on the way to Grant Park, and it's this deep silence

and we're all quiet in the car.

The kids are in the back and Malia says, Dad, I don't think anybody's coming to your party.

Because no one was on the street.

And it never, this was Lake Shore Drive that it was always busy.

And she was like, oh my God.

This is so embarrassing.

I mean, after all this buildup and chicken fingers.

It's like, you might be, and we were like, oh, sweetie, no, this is what happens now that your dad is president.

Wow.

No one will ever be on this street when he's on the street again.

Wow.

But it's like with little kids, you're like, you know, how do you put these moments in to context for them?

They're just in the back seat going, what's next for us?

Yeah.

It's like watching someone realize their life is different.

That's right.

That's so weird.

I'm remembering like we got a new dog one time and then we opened our pool and I was in the pool and the dog came outside and saw me in the pool and froze.

And it was like a new thing for the dog.

And I was like, oh, I'm watching the dog have a formative

core memory.

I don't know why I made that pull, but like, that is what I'm thinking.

It is so the same.

And yeah,

watching Malia be like,

we don't walk on streets with other people

anymore.

Yeah.

Anymore.

Yeah.

And my dog is like, what are you doing in that giant bathroom?

There's only a third of you showing.

And I know that's not.

And like, and someone should be panicking here.

Should I dive in and get the kids?

You can get in there.

I don't want to be in there.

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I mean, you're talking about like going to parent-to-cuter conferences here.

And like, I gotta ask, like, now that you are talking about, both of you guys are talking on the podcast about how you know the decision making is for yourselves now like you know the I mean I know Craig you're still raising kids but like

Michelle as someone who is like you know you've called yourself an empty nester and like that is that is a thing that like I

have no idea.

I haven't even asked my parents about this because I'm just nervous about like what that was like for them.

But now that you are like making decisions for yourself, does that change the rationale, like the framework of your decision making?

Like you being in DC again without having to worry about parent teacher conference.

Like,

does that affect your sense of place?

Like I was asking you before, where you spend most of your time throughout the year, and it's kind of in multiple places.

Like, does that feel, how does that feel right now?

It feels great.

It's good.

I bet.

You know, it does feel great, but it is, it's a little off-putting, right?

Because I realized for, you know, 50 plus years, I was making decisions for other people.

Yes.

And that's kind of a buffer, you know?

I can always say, well, I'm doing this because my husband needs it.

I'm doing this because my kids need it.

So the consequences of those decisions, I could sort of subconsciously throw off on them.

Right.

You know, I am now accountable for

the outcomes of all of my choices.

They're all mine now, right?

There's no one to blame if it doesn't go right, if there's backlash, if I don't attend a thing.

Right.

You know, it's not, well, I did it because I had to.

It's my choice.

This was my choice.

I stand in it.

So, and that's, that's new at 61 years old.

But it is freeing.

And it could only happen now that I know my girls are good.

They are full adults.

They're not completely independent, but they move through the world as independent, responsible people.

They do not call us for everything.

They figure stuff out.

and then talk to us afterwards to get our advice or reaction to what they already decided.

I mean, they're just as a parent.

Yeah, that's comforting.

Yes.

You know, yes, I miss them, but I can see them whenever, but that's what we raise them to be, independent people who can think on their own and live in the world and survive with or without us.

And that just gives me comfort.

I sleep better at night.

And I still sleep worse, even as adults, when they're under my roof.

Interesting.

Right.

I mean, when they're here, I'm like, well, what time do you get in?

Right.

You know,

it's like, well, this is early, mom.

But it's like, yeah, but I know I feel like you're under my roof and I know I need to know where you're going.

But I'm free of that, right?

So it's good.

It's really, it's liberating.

We need to connect you with Kyle Richards because she needs to hear from you.

She's having a hard time as a new empty nester.

I don't know if you've been watching Beverly Hills.

I have.

See, this is the part you said you were going to check out, but we have to take the opportunity to ask Michelle Obama about some housewife opinions because you've revealed you you've revealed you watch it all i do yeah i watch it all i watch it all it's it's like my golf i'd say that to barack it's like tv you can tune in and out of and you can watch it or not watch it and still catch up and go oh yeah they're arguing about that oh it's like remember i find it soothing

to watch them work through issues or not exactly do you have a favorite current housewife A favorite house.

That's someone that you watch and you're like, I'm rooting for that one, even if it doesn't make sense all the time.

Oh, that's oh, I didn't think about this.

So, there are a lot to choose from.

Who am I rooting for right now?

All of your listeners probably watch it, so they know what you're talking about.

Yeah,

but we're happy to and

this is the current, this is the current season.

Okay, they're in season right now, it's airing now.

So, and it's and it's live, no, it's not.

So, it's not a few months ago, but they cut it together.

Got it.

That's exactly what they taped them over a season, you know, like last season, and it's airing now.

Got it.

So, Atlanta is on that's the thing about this stuff which i would tell all the housewives it's like learn you you know just like all of us know you know you you're at the middle of it and then it can all be gone so what's the plan for when it's all gone right you know this moment that feels so good we all you know at some point in our lives are formers all right

yes 100 yeah i truly appreciate when i see a housewife hustling the products because a i think it's funny and b i'm like get your money get it now yeah and i I hope you're saving it.

Yeah.

On the subject of formers though, like I feel like what you two are very good at sort of embodying in your life stories is like the swerve, like the career change.

Like I think this kind of ties back to like the decision making for yourself now that you're accountable to yourself now.

It's like, does this echo anything about like of living in that zone between like marriage or parenthood and like right when you're out of college where you're like, okay, what do I do with myself now?

Like that is something that I think I hope everyone goes through.

I kind of trust someone a little bit more to know about themselves if they have had a moment of questioning like everything they've been taught to

sort of move through life with.

You know, I have always felt that our parents prepared us to do anything.

They always encouraged us to do anything you feel like you want to do.

And the hard part for me was figuring out what that was.

And, you know, early on, professional sports wasn't the way it is now.

Like, you, very few people aspired to be a professional athlete.

You just didn't think you could do it because

you saw very few

role models that were other than the people who were way up there, like Ernie Banks and Gail Sayers.

Those were the people we saw growing up.

So God is like, oh,

Chicago Cubs.

I went to the Chicago Cubs.

Okay, great.

Well, I was telling you something, we were going to nod so hard.

We were like, you guys don't have to do that.

Michelle Cockton.

You can do that for her, but you don't have to do it to me.

Listen, I told you, my dad's a coach 40 back.

So

I figured

you would get the Gail Sayers party.

I actually know that name.

Yeah.

So I was just playing basketball, and I didn't know that I was going to get a chance to be a professional basketball player, but it wasn't what I was shooting for.

We were always taught, just try things until you figure out what it is you like to do.

and that's what i did and i felt very comfortable doing it because i had the support of my family yes and i never felt like i had to be a doctor i had to be a lawyer i had to be a basketball player and then that that way i was able to try finance and try

uh

consulting and then try coaching and and realize that i loved coaching and teaching and i think the only thing that I thought I really wanted to do was be a teacher.

I thought I was going to teach seventh grade and and coach high school basketball.

That was my, that was my,

I should say, I started out wanting to be a race car driver.

And then it kept growing.

I was publicly shamed by my second grade teacher, who I absolutely loved.

And she was like, with all those brains, what do you want to be a race car driver for?

And so that was the end of that.

And then I got too tall to get in the car.

But I thought I'd be a teacher because I had so many good role models.

My parents, I had coaches, I had good teachers coming up.

So I was thinking that would be something that would be worthwhile doing.

Well, you've really opened up a door here to the central question of our podcast.

And so I feel like we'll just ask you, we'll start with you, Craig, which is what was the culture that made you say culture was for you?

This is that

sort of formative, influential moment in your life where something you were exposed to, whether it was pop culturally or culturally in general, that made Craig become Craig.

So I'm going to give you the answer because I know this answer.

I'm prepared for this, but I want to tell you, I always make note of questions I haven't been asked.

Cause when you get interviewed all the time and

you listen to podcasts, you hear all these great questions, it's always so.

exciting when somebody asks a question you haven't heard before.

And I only know your question because of your show, but I've never been asked.

So I'm really excited about this.

And I know there were two opportunities here.

So

when I was in high school, I worked at Soldier Field, which is the arena where the Chicago Bears play.

They used to have great concerts there, and we couldn't afford tickets to concerts, so we never went to a live concert.

So, my first live concert I worked at

during the series of concerts, Parliament Funkadelic,

live

landing the mothership on the stage,

production value,

production

and the music, and the music on top of the production value.

But the best part, guys,

seeing them dudes come in off the bus.

Yeah.

I was like, they cool as shit.

Yeah.

Rockstar lifestyle.

They cool as.

It didn't demystify anything.

It actually mystified.

Oh, it.

I was like, I should have stayed playing the piano.

Oh, wow.

Because you were feeling like a groupie.

I was like, holy cow.

I could be up there wearing the stack shoes and the diamond, the star glasses, playing the base,

playing the keyboard.

And so that was when I was like, okay, there's something to be, there's culture out here.

There's something to be being cool.

And then the next jump ahead to one of my freshman year in college was the first year that rap was going widespread.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Rapper's Delight.

Of course.

You know that song?

Of course.

Hip, hop, hit it, hitt it, hit it.

Don't stop.

I

I was in elementary school and I was like, my mom was borrowed.

I didn't have that phrase for it at the time, but I thought,

how'd you come up with that mod?

I don't know if my mom had bars.

Rappers, they're like, what year was that?

So that was 19.

I graduated high school in 79.

So it was 1980 was the year.

79, 80 was the year I was my freshman year at college.

You're the same age as my mom.

She graduated in 1980.

Yeah, I believe as well.

Okay, Matt, we feel old.

No, no, we are old, but we are embracing this age.

That's my mom's.

My mom is a superstar.

Ageless.

But yeah, no, there is a lot of music.

And isn't it funny

when you're young and a kid, like, it's so uncool to be doing music or playing the band or do orchestra.

And then now, who is cooler than musicians, rock stars, pop stars?

That's right.

Yeah.

So we're trying to keep our 15 and 13 year old.

They're still playing their music.

And if they can just hang on, just hang on and keep doing it.

Maybe they'll be stepping off the mothership.

Yeah, they don't even need to step off the mothership.

But if they ever wanted to, they won't be so far behind where they could only be the guy playing the like

symbols.

The triangle.

Yeah.

Hey, there's a place.

There's a place for that.

There is.

You're right.

I just, gosh, if I could take a time machine back to like a stadium funk concert.

Oh, man.

Like, I guess, like, what's the closest thing we have to that?

I don't know.

I guess maybe we have Beyonce.

What are we talking about?

I mean, Beyonce will give you every genre.

But the, I mean, like, in terms of like real, like what you're talking about.

Oh, like, like a band.

Like a band.

Like a band.

I guess, you know, you know who is huge.

And there's like, it's not my culture at all, but whose people really live for is Grateful Dead.

Grateful Dead.

And let me tell you, it's also Bruce Springsteen, a dear friend of mine.

I was at his concert in Barcelona, and

he's got E Street Band.

It is music.

It's a band, right?

You know, it's like it's the drummer, it's the horn section.

It's all of it.

And they were playing jazz, and they flipped into, you know,

New Orleans, you know, they did it all in addition to rock.

But this is, you know, let's make up PSA for

music and education in public schools.

I'm very passionate about that, right?

Because this is, you know, all talent doesn't come from the rich, right?

Talent is born.

And if there's no place for kids to access a trumpet or, you know, a set of drums, they don't get to cultivate that talent, right?

You know,

that's why I love Broadway.

You know, Broadway to me is like where the real, you know, I don't want to insult anybody, but it's like,

it's where the real talent lies.

I mean, you go to these shows and it's like everybody's a freaking star.

It's like you should have a concert.

The guy who's playing the backup to the, you should have a, you know,

gold album.

Understudy.

That's the understudy.

You know, it's just, that's why I love Broadway because it's the place where real talent can

come.

And the fact that they do it day in and day out with the same level of energy, they are flying without a net.

No, truly.

Every night.

And it's just phenomenal to watch.

So I don't know.

Did I digress a bit?

No, no, no.

I was going to say, before we ask you

your

response to the culture question, I have two questions for you.

One, are you going to get a chance to, or have you already seen Cowboy Carter tour?

Oh, yes.

I mean, it is the sojourn of me and my daughters and I.

And Beyonce's my girl, first of all.

I mean, we are, that's my girl.

Like at her back.

So we, the girls and I have gone to every concert that she's had.

So we did Cowboy carter in uh in where we were we were in uh we were in new york we did the new york uh the concert were you at the rainy show i was at the rain show were you in the rain yes i was in the rain yeah well

that's one of the perks were you in the rain i was

she would think she would be sympathetic but no she was just letting you know no but it rained

chicken flex but it rained the entire concert i mean it poured yeah for the entire concert and none of them missed the beach You're talking about

miss a beat.

No.

A dancer, there may have been a slippage once.

Maybe.

Maybe, but they made it look like it was the stage was just a puddle.

And she was stomping.

She just performed wet and beautiful.

Unbelievable.

I mean, she looks better than ever, sounds better than ever.

This probably was my favorite moment of the whole thing was when Blue Ivy stomps out, galvanized with the towel, wiped down the stage through it, and then shredded.

I was like, yeah, and that's of her own making.

Beyonce was like, I looked down in one performance in the rain and there's blue cleaning the stage.

She's like,

what are you doing?

She's like, I'm doing my solo.

Somebody's getting this ready for me.

Because you want to know what?

Like, she also knows that everyone's watching TikTok every night, looking at every single movement.

Like, probably the most scrutinized performer in the world right now is Blue Evan Carter.

And everyone is watching every second of it to see, like, is she as good as Beyonce?

Like, this is unfair to condition.

Well, she's she's baby good.

She's, yeah, she is, she's in middle school.

Yeah,

all right.

Okay, people.

I mean, she is like a worker horse, and that's what she's learning.

That's what her parents are demanding of her.

It's like, okay, if you, if you say you want to do this, then you got to do it and you got to perfect your craft.

So, yes, I was there and loving it.

Try.

Yes.

We're going going to have another chance.

We're going to go in Paris next week.

I was thinking about trying to go and get a dry show in so I could go down on stage, but I just don't know.

You let us manage it.

And we'll find the screen.

You guys there.

But, and the last thing before we asked you the cultural question was, I need to know, specifically, O'Mary,

what is Michelle Obama's experience at O'Mary?

Because we imagine that everyone's kind of turning to you to see how you're responding as you miss specific questions.

A lot of times I sneak in afterwards, so I don't think that people knew I was there because I come in at dark and slip in on the side and just sit.

And I didn't know fully what O'Mary was, right?

So I went with a friend and it was a recommendation.

They said it's play.

And I was, I and I didn't do the research, which I usually do.

So I wasn't sure what was going on, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then scene one.

And I am cracking up,

but feeling like, oh my God, if people see see me laughing it's gonna be on page six and somebody but it was i loved it

so happy for the tony win i mean you know just out of out of your mind it's like this is what you think who thought of this yeah what's going on inside that head that evil genius that thought of the retelling of history yes in this very interesting but powerful way yes um just i loved it yeah loved it yeah and also when you get to know Cole and you really realize that so much of their actual personal experience is in that show, even if you don't know like the things that they've struggled with and what they've wanted and the kind of resistance they've been met with, like it's all in there.

And that, that, I think, makes it, you know, in the bones of Mary Todd Lincoln.

In the bones of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So

I'm happy to know that you, that you had an amazing time.

Had a great time.

Honey is on the case.

Starting today, Focus Features invites you to Honey Don't follow the clues to the coolest, sexiest, most scandalous murder mystery of the summer.

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Now she'll have to figure out who's pulling the strings before it's too late.

Starring Margaret Kwally, Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day, and Chris Evans.

This thrilling dark comedy is high stakes, high heels, and a rollicking good time.

From Academy Award winner Ethan Cohen, a director of No Country for Old Men.

In a town where everyone has a secret and no one can be trusted, the name on everyone's lips is Honey.

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Rated R, under 17, not admitted without parent.

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Leave your phone in your pocket.

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Gotta know, Michelle Obama, the culture that made you say culture was for you.

You know, now that we're talking, it is music.

It's still music.

And it's interesting that

so much of that cultural moment for us was music.

And for me, it was a musical show.

Soul Train.

Yes.

It was the competitor to American Bandstand.

Yes.

The music dance show that was on in the late 60s and 70s, Don Cornelius, the Soul Train.

The Soul Train.

The dancing down,

I guess like the Soul Train line,

which is now done at every wedding reception or party.

For those of you who don't know, that came from Soul Train.

But to see every week, you know, all these cool young black kids doing all the latest dances, wearing all the latest 70s fashion, the bell bottoms, the big afros, and the top it off with some huge musical guests, the latest in RB performing in your living room on television Saturday mornings, because that's when it came on.

You know, and we'd all get up and you try to do the dances and you'd create your own soul train line.

I mean, that's for me, I love to dance.

I love music.

I love Broadway.

If I had any ounce of talent, I think that's what God saved the world.

Because if I had, if I could sing a note, if I could dance a dance, I'd be up every minute.

Just like, oh, would you like me to sing for you?

I would be singing for everyone.

It's like these talented people who are embarrassed and they don't sing.

It's like, no, I can't.

It's like, if that was me,

she's down there.

Singing and dancing.

She's really talented.

I'm sure.

I bet you are.

She's really talented.

I don't think, I think I'm regular.

I think she could have been really talented.

She's just a perfectionist, so she would have never thought it was right.

You know, I hear that.

Like sometimes it's you chalk yourself out of things because it's not going to be perfect, but then all of a sudden the world has been, you know, robbed of its Michelle Obama

performance.

Exactly.

That's right.

That's correct.

But back to Soul Train.

Back to Soul Train.

You know, Questlove used to do this night at Brooklyn Bull where he would do like a Soul Train night and they would play clips.

And it was like me like fully as an adult sort of digesting this for the first time.

I was like, I always knew about Soul Train, but then just actually watching the footage and the clips, it is just this mesmerizing thing where everyone, we talk about like being like, that person deserves their own show and concerts.

That's exactly right.

Every single frame, you're like, that's the most beautiful group of people.

Right.

Dressed.

The women were gorgeous.

They, you know, their movements were unique.

They introduced new dances.

And, you know, culture was created

in that room.

In that room.

It was the first video music show that we experienced there were no music videos back then the visuals the visuals where you could see the artist performing even though they were lip-syncing right because they you know they lip sync to a track but unless they were on like uh the flip wilson show or some carol

you would see people performing performing live music on television soul train was it for us yeah yeah were were were your parents also tuning in or was this oh yeah it was family viewing If my dad was home, it was, you know, we had one TV.

So, you know, we lived in the age where you watched what was on TV and we got control of the TV during the Soul Train hour.

Exactly.

You know, and everyone, and we all got up, tried the dances out.

You'd go outside after Soul Train and talk about what you saw with your friends and try to recreate the moves.

And, you know, it was the fashion was, you know, off the chain.

It was where a lot of fashion culture began and ended.

You see the inspiration in current fashion today, even the colors, the color blocking.

It just, you know, amazing.

And it made me sort of want to be older and cooler.

It wanted, you know, I was, I was curious about who these people were and how you set these tones and, you know, where you found the courage to be that creative.

And then the other moment for me was when I bought and was given, because I bought it and was given my first album.

I was given it by my maternal grandfather, who we called Southside, who was a record aficionado.

He had a huge album collection, didn't have a lot of money, but he had two turntables, a reel-to-reel.

I mean, he literally had his house wired for sound, speakers in every room, but he was a jazz aficionado.

He had a huge jazz collection that I think we're now donating to the OPC.

Oh,

yeah, so the OPC will be able to preserve it.

I hope that's in the works.

Yeah, two-bedroom house with 25 speakers in the bathroom, in everybody's bedroom.

We grew up with music playing 24-7.

There wasn't a time that my grandma, when he woke up, the music went on.

And you had to learn how to take care of the album, right?

If you used it, you had to clean it.

You had to hold it at the edges.

You couldn't stack them.

You didn't play, put the needle in the middle of the album.

You had to start it at the beginning because you could scratch the record.

I mean, there was a culture to that.

He gave me, for it was one of my birthdays, he gave me Stevie Wonder's talking book.

Talking book for

songs in the key of life.

I knew you were going to say Stevie Wonder for some reason.

Yeah, well, I think I talk about Stevie.

He was also,

he was the key to my culture.

Yeah.

You know, because he was the first musician.

And we did this beautiful podcast.

on Stevie through Higher Ground, The Wonder of Stevie.

And I recommend it because it is a fascinating look at why Stevie Wonder is a musical genius.

It covers his five albums.

No one has produced that quality and amount of record and of music production in such a short period of time.

Questlove was the producer with that, co-produced it with us.

So, I learned even more about Stevie.

But, Talking Book, that album, it was that led with You Are the Sunshine of My Life.

It was one of his first independent or first or second independent albums that when he was in charge of his career wrote and and and produced everything so it was his sound it wasn't motown nobody was controlling him and it was uh it was a cultural experience for me as a 10-year-old um because it was also one of the first albums that came with the lyrics on the jacket right and i would spend hours just hours immersed in his music in the lyrics you know there was opera in it there was jazz there was sex there was love, there was, there was political,

you know, statements being made, a song entitled Big Brother.

You know, your name is Big Brother.

You say you're watching me on the telly, seeing me go nowhere.

I mean, lyrics to that stuff.

Like, I was reading and going, he is telling us something here.

And it was the first album where it wasn't just about the music, but it was about the message.

So, you know,

that album was one of those cultural experiences that took me to the next layer.

It's like, it wasn't just fashion.

It wasn't just the moves.

It was like

it was art.

Yeah.

I mean, at what point from getting the album

to like understanding what all of the messaging might have meant and all this context about it being an independent production and that it was, you know, not influenced by Motown necessarily.

Like, like, when does that knowledge come through you?

Oh, I didn't know that when I was 10.

Of course.

You know, I've learned that over the course of a lifetime of following Stevie.

Which deepens your love for the album.

Yeah, exactly.

Right.

Which is why this podcast will take you to different places with him.

But

even without all that information at 10, at 10 years old,

that album moved me to a place that I didn't know you could go with music and art.

So it was, and still resonates.

I mean, I still have that album on my playlist.

It's part of my soundtrack.

It's my soundtrack.

It's like, it's my, you know, Stevie is the music that gets me going right before I'm about to give a speech, you know, when I'm on the way in a car to do something hard, you know, there is some kind of song that Stevie has made that will get me to that place.

It's impossible to pick a favorite.

I'm literally sitting here being like, is it if you really love me?

Is it lately?

Is it all fair?

It is all of that.

It's superstitious.

You know what I mean?

Like, there's, it's, he is the guy.

Yeah.

Before we do, I don't think so, honey.

Um, I wanted to ask if you remembered something.

So, this actually came to me like it was like one of those memories the other day.

Years ago, it was 2016, you were on Jimmy Fallon's show.

Yeah.

And people were doing the thing where they were speaking to the portrait of you, and then you came out.

Yeah, yeah.

So, there was a guy named Henry who went last, and he, he was, he was, he was speaking to you, and you came out, and you had this moment together.

That was my boyfriend at the time.

Yeah, and I was just

sweetie.

Oh, wow.

That was such a tough time, obviously, I would imagine for everybody involved.

And I remember just like, he is and remains the sweet.

He's a dear friend of ours still to this day.

And he was the sweetest, is the sweetest person ever.

And I just remember watching you guys have that moment.

Like.

I just, it was just such an emotional memory for me to have the other day.

And just, it was, it was, I, do you, do you remember that happening?

I absolutely remember that I mean look

one of the greatest gifts that I had being first lady was being able to interact with people who felt impacted by anything that we had done right because we're living in like an ivy tower with security guards and you know it's the rare personal interaction where you could be with someone outside of a photo line and just experience them in that way meant as much to me as it did to him um and so yeah, I remember it all.

Um, yeah, what a small world, it was such a lift, and it remains a lift as a memory for me.

And I know for him, so I just wanted to shout out Henry and say, Yeah, oh, wow, she remembers

very recently.

But like now, I'm craving to see that clip again.

Oh, yeah, I used to love going on the talk shows and doing those stunts and bits

with Jimmy and others.

They, you know, it was like they would just play, right?

It's like she's game for anything, anything.

And I was like, yeah, I'm pretty much game for anything.

But we would have some of the best interactions messing with the public.

I'm looking back and I'm thinking nowadays they would never get away with that.

Cause it's like, if you go in there, it's like, oh, you're going to talk to this portrait of Michelle Obama.

I think everyone will be like, well, she behind that big curtain.

At the time, I was like, Henry, what do you mean you were shocked?

And he really was.

I was like, maybe this was at the time where we weren't doing as many viral tricks.

We were not.

It was the beginning of it, right?

Yeah, yeah.

yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I just had to bring that up.

Thank you for that.

Yeah.

Well, give him my love.

Thank you for that, and I will.

I will.

Honey is on the case.

Starting today, Focus Features invites you to Honey Don't.

Follow the clues to the coolest, sexiest, most scandalous murder mystery of the summer.

In a small desert town full of odd folks with strange obsessions, a suspicious car crash sets off a series of deadly events.

And private eye honey O'Donnell, who was at the center of it all.

As the body count rises, honey uncovers an international conspiracy circling around a bizarre new church in town.

Now she'll have to figure out who's pulling the strings before it's too late.

Starring Margaret Qualey, Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day, and Chris Evans.

This thrilling dark comedy is high stakes, high heels, and a rollicking good time.

From Academy Award winner Ethan Cohen, a director of No Country for Old Men.

In a town where everyone has a secret and no one can be trusted, the name on everyone's lips is Honey.

Honey Don't, written by Ethan Cohen and Trisha Cook.

Rated R, under 17, not admitted without parent.

In theaters everywhere today, imagine never buying gas again.

EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life.

Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go.

Most Americans drive 40 miles a day.

Do you know that?

Most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range.

Here's the thing: they've got fewer parts, fewer repairs, and fewer headaches.

With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget.

The way forward is electric.

Learn more at electricforall.org.

JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds are for those who are the first to try something unique.

The first earbuds on the market with a touchscreen case, which allows you to control your audio without reaching for your phone.

They also have a touchscreen smart charging case for one touch control.

I love being able to touch my buds and control the volume.

It feels amazing on the skin.

With a built-in wireless transmitter that lets you plug and play with any device you want, the JBL Tour 3 connects you to all your favorite music, movies, and games.

The wireless transmitter also allows for JBL's superior spatial sound that takes any audio and turns it into a 360 immersive experience.

They've got a next-gen smart charging case for a seamless listening experience.

Leave your phone in your pocket.

The smart charging case has all the features you need to fully control and customize your listening experience and the earbud settings in multiple languages, right from the case.

Use the bigger, clear 1.57-inch touchscreen to see what song is playing or who's calling you, or personalize the tactile screen with your favorite photo.

Check the dynamic lock screen to get info on battery life status, time, messages, etc.

First doesn't follow.

Grab a pair at jbl.com.

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Okay, so it's time for Out of Think Swani Bo.

Yes, this is our segment where we take one minute to really

rail against something in culture.

Yes, we love segments.

What a staple of the pod.

We both have something, so we'll go first and then we'll go Craig and Michelle.

Yeah, yeah, let's do it.

Round-robin style.

You know, we'll see if we're good.

I've decided to take a risk today with mine.

Mine might alienate some folks.

I'm keeping an eye on everybody out there.

See, mine's going to alienate no one, but people are going to be like, no, no one has to be concerned.

But yeah, let's go for it.

Let's go for it.

All right, this is Matt Rodgers.

I don't think so, honey.

It's time starts now.

I don't think so, honey.

Lack of didgeridoo in popular music.

The didgeridoo is the instrument of Australia, and I don't understand why we're not utilizing it.

Lady Gaga, I'm looking at you.

If there's going to be a pop star that brings the didgeridoo into complete pop culture dominance, it's going to be you, Gaga.

It's the one thing missing from Mayhem, which is perfect otherwise.

Boeing Yang, I don't think, Sohani, you're about to believe his Digeridoo impression.

Do it.

Come on, that sound is amazing.

Don't you want that over a beat?

Don't you want that to throw ass too at the club?

I do.

I feel like let's move.

I feel like let's get this didgiry do out here.

Let's act.

Let's get someone who can play the didier-doo because you know they're not making money because you're not booking them enough.

15 seconds.

We need to take it out of Australia and bring it international.

The didier-doo is global.

I want the didery do.

Lady Gaga, I'm calling you out.

Sabrina Carpenter, I'm calling you out.

Beyonce, we're all going to your Parisian concert together.

Bring out the Digiry Doo.

Beyonce knows Carray.

That's one minute.

Oh, my God.

Goodness.

We are worthy.

We are not sure.

I had more juice than I thought for it.

You were a pitcher.

You were a pitcher full of juice.

I have yours if you haven't thought of it.

Oh, okay.

Let's see.

Let's have some deliberation.

Sometimes you do know more than

that.

Because sometimes I'm coming in here and I'm like, what pisses me off?

And then you find out.

I can assign you one pretty easily.

Yeah.

Pretty readily.

We should try that.

We should do that one time.

Like,

right as we're about to hit play, you tell me what mine is, and I go, oh, I like that idea.

Thank you for inspiring a new episode.

Although he can't do it, it's like, this is the thing.

Who can do a minute on anything other than you?

Let me tell you something.

We went down to Epic Universe in Orlando.

There's an opening of the new theme park in Universal, and they had us do one in the 97-degree heat, 70% humidity.

I think we almost died.

We almost died.

Oh, my God.

I think we almost lost our life 45 seconds into.

I don't think Sahani.

You know, you're the constellation carousel.

Don't you have human resources on your show?

that someone should

be?

This actually is a huge issue.

I don't think so, honey, is a liability.

It's like, where are the union rules?

That's exactly right.

It's a pet account.

We need a podcasting union.

We do.

We do.

Wow.

Why not?

Fun starter.

Okay, so I'm ready to alienate.

And we're waiting.

And Bowen has, he, he, when he really rips these up, they end up.

We'll see.

This is Bowen Yang's out on Think So, honey.

His time starts now.

I don't think so, honey.

Why is pet food looking delicious in commercials?

Period.

I'm going, I'm watching the Tony's, and there's a fancy feast gems commercial where they put that shit on a plate.

They really did.

The cat's not eating it out of a plate, and then they garnish it with rosemary.

Yes, they did.

Why are you making it presentable for human consumption?

Because I'm sitting at home going, Well, my mouth is watering.

I'm gonna eat this.

And then I read an article in The Atlantic about how the gourmet dog food market is exploding.

30 seconds.

Jose Andres, a Michelin chef, is making food for dogs.

It's like,

it's really getting out of control.

Your dog doesn't know the difference between Kibble and the fresh medallions of salmon that are being advertised on these packages.

15 seconds.

Your dog deserves the best.

Absolutely.

Every pet deserves gourmet food.

Everybody deserves gourmet food.

But don't make human beings want to eat it because I don't think so.

So, honey, me thinking, well, maybe I will try some whiskers, some with some pedigree.

And that's one minute oh my god I saw some catfo the other day that looked like Isher winner James Beard award

this is not okay and also they know what they're doing because it's on at late at night when the housewives are on when people at home are a little illegal in America

have you seen the commercial where the the the guy kicks the girl out well they do right because

what's the commercial

for the fresh dog food is that you keep in the refrigerator she said well it's just she's like a dog you keep your dog food in the refrigerator i mean and then he kicks her out of the date and he's left eating dinner with the dog.

It's like, I didn't like her anyway.

Yeah,

that was part of your.

He brought it up to me.

We were together.

Was it during the Tony's?

It was during the Tony's.

Okay, so it's during the Tony's, and he pointed it out, and I was like, oh, my God, I am hungrier as a result of watching the cat food commercial.

It's like they garnish it with rosemary.

It's like, what are we doing?

Yeah.

I don't.

Because, Cooper, you know what it is?

It's because we're the ones buying it.

Yeah, we buy it.

So it's got to look the way.

It's got to look good.

My dog eats her poop.

There she goes.

I'm sure.

She doesn't really do that.

I watched it happen when I was a kid.

I was like, now that's wrong.

You know, but Barack still won't let her sit on the sofa.

She eats her poop, and it's like she doesn't do it anymore.

Cats know something that dogs don't.

And that's really culture number 90.

Cats know something that dogs don't.

It's just true.

They know how to work people in a way that dogs don't.

They do.

It is.

And also, they're persistent, nevertheless.

Nevertheless.

They're demanding.

They're not persistent.

They're insistent.

Yeah, you're right.

They're cat people.

We're cat people.

Yes.

We've had two cats.

We just lost our last cat.

I mean, their cats live forever.

This cat would live to 21.

Yeah, Missy, icon.

Oh, yeah.

We're cat folks.

Yeah.

May they rest in peace.

You know what's funny?

It's like, I think I am a dog as a person, but I would would get a cat.

I think he is a cat as a person, and he wants a dog so badly.

Like, that's just, isn't that funny how that is?

Another Thought Starter.

Who knew?

Me too.

Okay, who wants to go first?

Oh, my God.

Should I go first?

Okay, you do it.

So, are you going to do the one that Michelle suggested?

No, and we'll tell you what that is after because I can't do a whole minute on it.

Okay, okay.

I cannot do a whole minute on anything.

Okay, here we go.

I'm going to try to get a little bit of a drink.

You want some water?

You want some water?

Yeah, let me know.

Even Even though I said

he doesn't like the metal straw.

Oh, you don't like the straw?

The metal metal on my team.

I don't think so, honey.

I don't know like so.

This is Craig Robinson's.

I don't think so, honey.

His time starts now.

I don't think so, honey.

And I'm talking about balloons.

Balloons that are for birthday parties and baby showers.

They are not to ride in.

Get him.

Let me tell you why.

First and foremost, you can die three different ways in a balloon.

Tell us.

You can go straight up so far that you lose oxygen and die.

The second thing is that you could go straight down to your point and fall out.

But the terrible thing is

you can burn up in a balloon.

Fire.

People don't talk about that.

People talk about it.

Do not talk on top of that.

You can burn up.

And who are these people who are getting in balloon?

chariots.

No, now they're going to go in the movie.

You cannot.

Terrible.

You cannot control where you're going to land.

No.

They got these trucks to follow you along.

You could land in the ocean.

Oh, you're not right.

I can't take it.

I don't think so, honey.

And that's what

you have.

I think I'm going to have an artist.

Oh, my God.

I was thinking,

you said I don't need honey balloons.

And I'm like, well, there's so much to say about how loud they pop

blowing them up.

But you said

terribly hot air balloon travel and how ridiculous it is because you're right and you should say it and you did.

These people are getting up at the ass crack of dawn to meet up in a big field

to get in a wicker basket.

You want to see a mountain?

Like a picture of it.

And guys, wait, let's just say you avoid those three ways of dying and you come down the land and the thing turns over and you get

suffocated.

And you get suffocated.

And by the way, now you're back on land and that's lethal.

By the way,

what do they tell your parents?

Oh, sorry, he died and it was like an idiot

because he went up in a hot air balloon and didn't need to be doing all that.

So my mom is going to pick up the phone and say, oh, he died being extra?

Great.

Well, yeah.

She's a big right.

Yeah.

Serves the right.

Under a big Snoopy head.

Like, give me a break.

Give me a break.

And I get so nervous when I see them holding the big balloon parade.

You know what I'm saying?

Because they have to hold it at the bottom.

And this is, and I know it hasn't gone perfectly well every time.

No, no, they'll lose control control of those things.

Absolutely.

Now we're getting serious.

No, now we're getting serious.

Thought starters.

It's like

Thought Starter.

Now we're getting serious.

You were concerned, Matt.

No, this is just like, this is not good.

This gives me anguish.

I didn't know I felt this.

This is why I don't think Sohoney is a powerful tool for conversation.

This is great.

It's great.

It's cathartic.

But you know what you wanted me to do it on?

What?

Ventriloquists.

I think the world is missing out on ventriloquists.

You think there should be more?

There should be more.

I don't disagree with with you.

Just like the didgeridoo.

Just like the didgier-doo.

I don't disagree with you.

You know what?

This, because it is extremely difficult to do.

It is a and those who can do it are really good.

Yeah.

Have you ever tried?

I, of course, I tried.

Well, how'd it go?

Poorly.

Well, not good enough for my parents to get me a ventriloquist dummy.

I had to use one of her dolls.

Okay.

So, do you have it?

You can't do it now.

No, I can't talk like that.

It is crazy, it's crazy hard.

Because my lips are too far apart, but they're guys who can do their lips like this.

It's eerie.

Yeah, it's crazy, but it's wonderful.

It is a wonderful talent.

I just love ventriloquist.

They need to bring it back.

I brought it up in one of our IMO sessions, and I can't remember what kind of situation.

I said, in my opinion,

where the world is missing ventriloquists.

And I was like, whoa.

No, I said ventriloquists are such a ball.

They're underrepresented in comedy.

In comedy.

You're not wrong.

Is there a famous Ventrilla quest now?

Who's the closest thing?

I don't know.

They were on America's Got Talent.

They would have to be.

That's where they show up.

I think you have to watch America's Got Talent.

You would have just watched the other night.

I haven't seen it this season.

Shout out to my friend Benjamin Hightower, who has Spanish race.

What does he do?

He's a veteran

and he went on America's Got Talent and he sang Chapel Rowan Pink Pony Club while playing the pink picture.

I'm gonna

do that.

Oh, this is gonna make his life that you're gonna go watch it.

But, like, I'm telling you, like, did he get through?

He got through

colors, and it's going viral online.

Okay, I'm gonna watch it.

He's great.

We're proud of you.

Oh, my God.

I'm so proud of that.

Oh my gosh.

Anyways.

Can we just skip mine?

You guys are so good.

No!

Okay, okay, okay.

All right.

She's going to slay it.

Oh, she's.

All right.

This is Michelle Obama's.

I don't think so, honey.

Her time starts now.

I don't think so, honey.

Segues.

Oh!

All right, first of all, they still have them here in Washington, D.C.

as part of the monuments tour.

I mean, look, they go so slow.

It's just annoying that they go so slow.

You just want to get off and walk.

Yes.

Walk fast.

You know, we are dealing with an obesity crisis in the world.

We need people walking.

And if you're on a motorized thing that doesn't move any faster than you walk, then I say please, please take the helmet off off because you don't need it on a segue

and just walk a little bit, walk fast, walk slow.

Oh my gosh,

20 seconds.

And they're in the bike lane.

Are they a bike?

Because it's almost like you're walking in the bike lane.

You shouldn't, you should just be on the sidewalk.

You don't need to be in the bike lane.

You're not moving fast enough.

And I just say, please, Americans, get off the segways, get rid of them, put your walking shoes on, and let's move.

Yes!

You know my gosh.

And there's a lot of drama about like who belongs in what because it's like the bike lane has become a place where I see a lot of walkers and this is a recipe for D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.

Spell it.

You did.

You did.

Spell it, right?

Disaster.

Exactly.

I don't know why it spells it, but I was moved to spell it.

That's N-Y-U.

That's NYU.

Work it out.

That's what it is.

I went to college.

I went to college.

I do hesitate to bring bring up what is the carbon footprint on those, too.

I know.

I think about that with Segways.

Surely they're releasing something.

Something for nothing.

It's like it's not getting you anywhere faster.

So it's like, and I do, I could go on about scooters too.

Yeah, you know, electric ones.

The electric ones that, you know, some of my staff ride without helmets.

Sliding around.

Yep, yep.

They're lit up in there now.

Oh, yeah, they got something to say.

Yeah.

Well, I'm just glad that I don't drive anymore with the scooter madness because who are you looking out for the pedestrian the biker the scooter who's like they're they're on the sidewalk they're off the sidewalk are there are you with us or not they're in the street they're in the street in front of cars it's dangerous do you think if you got behind the wheel of a car now you could still sleep I drive.

Oh, you do drive?

Well, I drive in certain places.

I see.

Yeah, I see, I see.

And

I can still drive.

Okay, cool.

I have not been in the car with her driving.

Which, like, what?

It doesn't count because you haven't seen it.

So you can't vouch for me.

Usually I have to vouch for her.

I wear all of my agency.

I'm quality of the driving.

I can't get a little behind me.

They know I can drive.

I have not had an accident.

I remember how to do it.

It's like riding a bike.

Okay.

There you go.

I love it.

Okay.

You know what?

It's kind of like I've taken like 10-month breaks because I'll go to like New York for a while and then come back to LA and again.

And I'm like, oh, dude.

Do I know this?

And you know it.

Once you know it, you know.

I learned on a stick and I'm like, do I, do I know how to do that?

That again.

My first car was a stick.

I miss that.

I think I'm doing it.

I do.

It makes you feel like you're really driving.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You're cranky.

I'm engaged.

I'm doing this.

This car isn't moving without me.

Everybody wishes they were a race car driver.

Oh, and it all goes back to race car driving.

He's a Formula One fanatic.

I am.

How are you feeling right now in this moment?

It seems like it's really,

there's a groundswell.

I cannot wait to see the movie to see how the soundtrack is banging, by the way.

Okay, Sidney Craig has not watched it.

We are going to go to the theater with all the sound around and surround sound and take the boys and get the popcorn.

I'm going to go to the next one.

Maybe that's how we get them to Broadway.

That if Formula One goes on Broadway, maybe you'll go see it.

When'd you let us listen from what show you saw?

We were talking about that.

We were talking about that.

I think

it was Romeo and Juliet, but it wasn't on Broadway.

It wasn't Even at the most recent.

So have you ever been to a Broadway?

I have, but I can't remember what's crazy.

You're not no, I saw Hamilton.

He's not my brother.

I saw

Hamilton not on Broadway.

Oh, yeah.

But you saw that tourist.

Yeah, yeah.

But he didn't remember it.

Like, it didn't come to mind.

I think he doesn't know.

He doesn't know.

I can't remember.

I think we saw the line.

It's just not my thing.

That's okay.

It's not my thing.

He doesn't know.

It's like, how do you not know if you saw a Broadway show?

Because you do F1 and

you know what?

I saw Les Miz on the movie.

Joe, I enjoyed it.

There you go.

I enjoyed it.

Publicly, so did we.

It's like, there you go.

We publicly really enjoyed that.

Yes.

I'm going to shame you into Broadway.

I'm going to take you to some Broadway shows.

You love O'Mary.

I would.

But you guys have to understand.

So I have have 32-year-old and still have a 13-year-old.

Yeah.

And

in between, I'm coaching teams where I have 15 other people's kids in my per year care.

Right, right.

So, and

I had an excuse.

I wanted them to play well for me, so I didn't take them to a Broadway show.

I took them to a baseball game or a target.

More sports or a sports.

More took a sports.

They go to New York all the time.

You owe it to take those boys to to Broadway.

Oh, you were just there.

No, no, no.

I was not there.

Kelly and the boys.

Yeah, I guess we weren't there.

I'm trying to think, like, what me too.

I'm trying to think.

You should see Hell's Kitchen because it's vouched for by all here.

It's so good.

And another thing is...

The boys would love it.

So our kids, we take our kids to see stuff in our area, but we just haven't made a sojourn to Broadway.

You'll know a lot of the songs too, obviously, because it's Alicia.

So it's like, that's another way in, too, I think.

It's like kind of controversial, the whole like jukebox musical thing.

I love it.

But it is a way to bring people to Broadway.

Yeah, yeah.

But I was thinking about what you guys were saying when you were talking about.

empty nesters and what you're going to do now.

And once I finally get there in five years, not like I'm counting, but

we'll do stuff like that.

Yeah.

We'll do stuff like that.

It'll be there.

It'll be there.

It's exciting to get to, like, my parents are traveling internationally for the first time

ever now in this phase of their life.

They're going to Greece in September and I'm just so excited for them.

And it's just something that wouldn't have happened before

because whatever, like financial concerns or time or whatever.

So it's a real like gift to get that.

Any new experience opportunity.

I think IMO is going to get you into a whole new world of culture.

And, you know, I'm looking forward to it.

Okay.

I mean, so you guys, you guys are loving doing the podcast.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

It's so much fun.

It's so good at it.

You're very good at it.

You know, we were so close growing up.

Yeah.

And then work and all the White House, it just

took us apart.

And now we get to be back together kind of like we were before.

Because when we are together, it's as if we are in the same bedroom throwing the pillow over the top and she's catching it and throwing it back to me.

You can feel that.

I can feel it.

You can feel that.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, you can feel it.

No, yeah, absolutely.

And I mean, like, we, I will say, you know, before we wrap, I just want to say that we had such an incredible time on your podcast.

And thank you

for having me.

I mean, just to even be able to talk with you guys and get to know you is so special.

And the fact that you'd welcome us onto your platform is,

you know, it's moving, emotional.

It's so fun and all the things.

And so we just had the best time today.

Well, you guys are special.

You really are.

Smart as all get out, funny, talented.

The advice you give, the, you know, the joy, the fun you're bringing into people's lives.

You know, we need it right now, and we couldn't be more proud of you both.

And it has been an honor to spend this time with you, but it will not be the last time.

We're podcasters now.

We are a part of the podcast family.

We are part of you and me.

And we're so happy.

And we can do it.

And we need to be able to do that.

You guys are the experts.

So we feel so silly that that is.

Well, we still have not fully talked about the real housewives.

So we could do a whole lot.

I'm going to

do a whole tutorial for him.

Yes.

That's a good primer.

Start with New York season seven when Bethany comes back.

Oh, my God.

And those are so many people for you to think about.

That's so clear.

That's such a clear direction.

It's because it's how I started it.

Whenever people ask me how to get into Survivor, which we're also big Survivor fans now, I have a syllabus.

Okay.

And this is important and helpful.

It's a tool.

It's academic, really.

Yeah.

So, all right.

I was going to start with the Rhode Island housewives, but I'm going to Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City.

Oh, yes.

We're giving you a lot of conflicting information.

Yeah, we're saying a lot of things.

That's okay.

We can sum it up.

We'll give them a memo.

Exactly.

I follow directions well.

Yeah, we're good.

You guys are amazing.

Well, this is our joy.

And you can listen to IMO wherever you get your podcast.

Wherever you get your podcast.

And

we end every episode with a song.

On my own,

pretending he's beside me.

This is late Miz.

I know.

And to listen to the rest of Lame Miz, you can stream the sounds right back here.

Yes, I know.

My name is

Lost Culture East.

This is the production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and iHeartRadio Podcasts.

Created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Executive produced by Anna Hosniye and produced by Becca Ramos.

Edited and mixed by Doug Babe and Monique Laborde.

And our music is by Henry Kabirski.

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