Interrupto!

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

Episode: Interrupto!

Date: March 26, 2026
Host: Conan O’Brien
Guests: Sona Movsesian, Matt Gourley, Mike (Conservation Authority, London Ontario)

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend embodies the series’ spirit of genuine, playful connection. Conan welcomes “Mike” from London, Ontario, who has one of the show’s most unique careers: conservation authority, former polar bear monitor, and professional bird handler. The episode is a lively, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt exploration of wildlife, nature’s dangers, and following your passion—even if it means arming yourself against polar bears while raising bald eagles.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Mike’s Background and Arctic Adventures

• Location & Career Introduction

  • Mike joins from London, Ontario, Canada (01:43).
  • He shares his work as a conservation authority, which leads Conan to ask about Canada’s wilderness, jokingly requesting tundra sound effects (02:00).

• Polar Bear Monitor Explained

  • Mike describes being flown into the Arctic to escort researchers, protecting them from polar bears (02:38).
    • “I would go up to the Arctic and get dropped off by helicopter with anybody who needs a safe escort across the Arctic from polar bears.” — Mike (02:39)
  • Polar bears are extremely dangerous: “If they smell you, see you, they’re coming to get you. They’re hungry, it’s cold, and they want to eat, right?” — Mike (04:26)

• Methods of Defense

  • Mike uses non-lethal rubber slugs but carries more serious ammunition as a last resort—though he’s never had to use lethal force (05:01).
    • “If you hit a polar bear with it, he’ll say, I want to leave now.” — Conan (05:28)
    • “I did it once, and the polar bear just kind of like, squinted its eyes and walked away.” — Mike (05:31)
    • He values giving bears every chance to walk away unharmed (05:59).

Memorable Animal Encounters

• Birds of Prey and the Owl Interrupto

  • A surprise reveal: Mike’s owl is onscreen and ends up being named “Interrupto” by Conan (03:31, 03:37).
    • “How about Interrupto?” — Conan (03:37)
  • Mike discusses using birds of prey—hawks, falcons, bald eagles—for pest control (07:08).
    • “I had a bald eagle named Babe. I raised her from an egg, basically.” — Mike (07:20)
  • Babe the eagle’s personality: friendly to men, jealous of women (08:28).

• Training Birds and Their Odd Adventures

  • Mike recounts “car hawking”—driving with a hawk in the passenger seat for dramatic bird control, sometimes leading to mishaps, like hawks flying into the wrong cars (09:57, 10:58).
    • “She flew straight into their window and the car hit the gravel. Everyone came running out of their cars.” — Mike (10:58)
    • Conan and Sona riff on the idea of a hawk’s “walk of shame” after a mishap (11:40, 11:45).

• Other Wildlife Encounters: Grizzly Bears in the Rockies

  • Mike shares his experience as a horseback guide in the Rockies, having non-lethal encounters with grizzlies (16:49).
  • Conan confesses a mix of fascination and terror about grizzlies:
    • “Part of me wants to have a grizzly encounter just as much as I don’t want to have a grizzly encounter. Does that make sense to you?” — Conan (17:48)

Wild Animal Psychology and Job Dangers

• Mike reflects on the risks of his career, lack of desire to have an office job, and the lure of living life fully—even with the dangers of bear attacks (18:15).
  • “If I had a bear encounter and that’s what happened, like, I don’t want it, it would be awful. But like, you know, gee, yeah, that’s like…” — Mike (18:15)

Conan in the Wilderness: Hypothetical Scenarios

• Conan repeatedly asks how he would fare in a polar or grizzly bear encounter.
  • “Whether it’s in the Arctic and we’re approaching a polar bear, you’re dead.” — Mike (19:09)
  • Mike humorously offers hope that their combined height might intimidate bears (19:55), but doubts Conan’s survival instincts.
  • “I might see a comedy opportunity and start, you know, pretending to be another bear who’s kind of a wise guy.” — Conan (20:30)
  • Sona jokes that Conan’s bits would make the bear want to eat him even more (20:48).

Finding Passion in Work and Life

• The episode ends on a sincere note about the value of finding work that aligns with one’s passions.
  • “People that have found what they love and what they’re passionate about, and then they manage to will that to be their career, their life—I think that is the best way to go, you know, through our time here.” — Conan (24:19)
• Mike shares that listening to Conan’s podcasts on Arctic expeditions provided comfort and connection (22:46).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Description | |-----------|---------|-------------------| | 03:37 | Conan | “How about Interrupto?” (Naming Mike’s owl) | | 04:26 | Mike | “If they smell you, see you, they’re coming to get you.” (About polar bears) | | 05:31 | Mike | “I did it once, and the polar bear just kind of like, squinted its eyes and walked away.” | | 08:16 | Conan | “Our national symbol is the dickiest of the birds.” (about bald eagles) | | 10:58 | Mike | Story of the hawk flying into the wrong car | | 11:45 | Sonam | “The walk of shame—the walk of shame for a hawk.” | | 17:48 | Conan | “Part of me wants to have a grizzly encounter just as much as I don’t want to have a grizzly encounter. Does that make sense to you?” | | 18:15 | Mike | “If I had a bear encounter and that’s what happened, like, I don’t want it, it would be awful. But like, you know, gee, yeah, that’s like…” | | 19:09 | Mike | “You’re dead.” (on Conan’s wilderness skills) | | 20:48 | Sonam | “If the bear wasn’t going to kill you after your bits, it would want to kill you.” | | 22:46 | Mike | “I basically downloaded a gajillion hours of your podcast and Trailer Park Boys...it just reaches everyone.” (On listening in the Arctic) | | 24:19 | Conan | “People that have found what they love and what they’re passionate about, and then they manage to will that to be their career, their life—I think that is the best way to go.” |

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [01:37] – Guest Mike joins the show
• [02:38] – Mike explains being a polar bear monitor
• [03:31] – Mike’s owl appears; Conan names her “Interrupto”
• [04:26] – Danger and nature of polar bears
• [05:01] – Non-lethal vs. lethal methods in bear monitoring
• [07:08] – Discussing birds of prey and their training
• [08:28] – Story of Babe, the bald eagle
• [09:57] – “Car hawking” and pest control with trained birds
• [10:58] – The hawk’s wrong-car incident
• [16:49] – Stories about grizzly bear encounters
• [17:48] – Conan on the thrill and fear of meeting a grizzly
• [19:09] – Would Conan survive in the wild?
• [22:46] – Mike on listening to Conan's podcast in the Arctic
• [24:19] – Conan’s reflections on following your passion and ending the interview

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Tone & Style

The episode is lively and irreverent, with typical Conan wit and a sense of mutual respect and fascination between host and guest. Conan’s fascination with wild animals is matched by Mike’s rugged humor and humility. The conversation flows naturally between absurd hypotheticals, sincere curiosity, and admiration for those who pursue unique paths in life.

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Final Thoughts

Interrupto! is a quintessential Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend episode: off-the-wall, unexpectedly informative, and constantly infused with humor. Mike's life as a conservation authority and animal trainer provides rich ground for both comedy and admiration, while the ever-present banter keeps things light. The episode closes by celebrating those who carve out meaningful work in the world—whether that’s podcasting or keeping polar bears at bay.

Transcript

[Conan O'Brien]

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[Sonam of Session]

It's okay.

[Conan O'Brien]

Alexa's always telling me to calm down.

[Sonam of Session]

I feel like you'll yell at it.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, I would never yell at Alexa. Alexa remembers what you love, anticipates what you need and makes it all happen. Alexa brings thousands of possibilities to life. Ready whenever inspiration strikes. And now Alexa is free with prime on your Amazon devices like echo and Fire TV. Amazon.com Alexaplus don't freak out, but there's an island in the Caribbean that loves both of you. David Sona. And I think I'm loved too. It's called Aruba. It's the most welcoming place on earth. Have you been to Aruba?

[Sonam of Session]

I haven't.

[Conan O'Brien]

It's fantastic.

[Sonam of Session]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Now that's the good news. This is. This island loves you. Here's the bad news. You can't feel any of that love from your sofa or your desk or whatever heavy machinery you're operating. You gotta fly on down there, walk on its beaches and soak in the sun. And then you'll feel that love. That's how you have to do it. I'm giving you both time off. Help fund the whole thing.

[Sonam of Session]

Oh, wow.

[Conan O'Brien]

And you gotta get to Aruba because when you love Aruba, it loves you back. Plan your trip [e-mail] offer a free vacation for Sona and David. Not real. What?

[Sonam of Session]

Conan o' Brien needs a fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com call Conan. Okay, let's get started.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Hey, Mike.

[Conan O'Brien]

Welcome to Conan o' Brien needs a fan.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Hey, thanks so much.

[Conan O'Brien]

Hey, Mike, how are you? Where are you right now?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Oh, my gosh. Hey, Conan. I'm in London, Ontario, in Canada.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, wow. Okay. And are you in the wilderness right now or are you in a pretty urban area?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, I'm in the urban area today.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, can I just pretend that you're way out on the tundra somewhere?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, let's do it. Okay.

[Conan O'Brien]

Can you occasionally make a sound with your mouth just so I feel like this is really authentic?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

What do you want? Sorry.

[Conan O'Brien]

Forget it. That's the perfect response.

[Sonam of Session]

Why don't you repeat what you asked him?

[Conan O'Brien]

No, I'm good.

[Sonam of Session]

Oh, okay.

[Conan O'Brien]

And I just wanted to get you to say Canadian.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Sorry.

[Conan O'Brien]

So I'm happy. Hey, Mike, it says that you are a conservation authority. Is that correct?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Oh, yeah. I work for a local conservation authority.

[Conan O'Brien]

And in the past, you were a polar bear monitor. What does that mean?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Essentially, I would be. I would go up to the Arctic and get dropped off by helicopter with anybody who needs a safe escort across the Arctic from polar bears. So I would kind of track the bears, find the bears, keep my eyes on them, and make sure. Sorry, I was supposed to do this reveal earlier.

[Conan O'Brien]

What is. Oh, my God. Look, for those of you listening, she just blew it.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

She started flying.

[Conan O'Brien]

Mike just panned to, I mean, a Hogwarts owl, a beautiful owl, is perched right next to you and apparently was just happily the perfect reveal. That was the perfect cinematic reveal. If you get a chance to see that, go on your computer and check it out. That's amazing. That was amazing.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

She's going to leave that.

[Conan O'Brien]

What is that bird's name?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Well, Kona, I was hoping you could name her for me. She's fairly new to my team here, so I was.

[Conan O'Brien]

How about Interrupto?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Interrupto, I love it.

[Conan O'Brien]

Interrupto, the owl.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

She's also sitting on my router right now, so she might even interrupt us further. That's okay.

[Conan O'Brien]

That bird, Interrupto just wants to destroy. Like, not that guy, just this podcast. Yeah, this podcast. Why isn't it smartless and he's like, crushing the wire. Where's Will Arnett? He's Canadian. Hey, Mike. So I just have to ask you. So your job was to be basically a guide who would protect people from polar bears in the Arctic, and so I have so many questions right now. I've always heard polar bears are the most dangerous bear. They can kill you so quickly. Is that true?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

It's true. Yeah. Like a black bear, a grizzly bear might not want anything to do with you. Where a polar bear, if they smell you, see you, they're coming to get you. They're hungry, it's cold and they. And they want to eat, right?

[Conan O'Brien]

They don't. They're not sitting around on their backs eating a bunch of blueberries that they found. There's nothing like that in the Arctic. So when they see a ham steak in boots walking by, they go for it. They go for that person.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

They want it. They want it bad.

[Conan O'Brien]

So what can you do to protect them in that situation?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, so I care about conservation so much, so I want to protect the bears just as much as I want to protect the humans because I am armed. I do use non lethal rounds, but there are lethal rounds if need be. Never had to, never want to.

[Conan O'Brien]

So what are the non Lethal rounds

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

made of, like a. It's like a rubber slug, so it hurts.

[Conan O'Brien]

If you hit a polar bear with it, he'll say, I want to leave now.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Kind of. I did it once, and the polar bear just kind of, like, squinted its eyes and walked away.

[Conan O'Brien]

Sort of like Clint Eastwood. It looked annoyed and then walked away.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

And can I ask you, what is the caliber of weapon if the rubber bullet isn't working, that you would use on a polar bear? Because I would think it just has to be a. You can't just be using a.22.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

No, no. It would be a 12 gauge.

[Conan O'Brien]

Jesus. Okay.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

But I'm glad. But you never had to kill a bear.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

No, I haven't. I've had some guys think that maybe I should have. You know, they might have pooped their pants a bit while they hid behind me. But I wanted to give that bear every chance to get away, and luckily, nobody got hurt and the bear got away.

[Conan O'Brien]

I think once they pooped their pants, the bear wanted to leave.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

That's what saved their lives. The bear was like, oh, my God, there's poop all over my hamst.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. Yuck.

[Conan O'Brien]

I'm giving this a terrible yelp review. You also have worked a lot with birds, Is that correct?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

That's right. Yeah. Birds of prey.

[Conan O'Brien]

Birds of prey. And you would train the birds of prey?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yep, train them right from the very beginning. And I would use them anywhere that has a problem with birds, not of prey. So if there's a blueberry farm and all the songbirds are eating all the blueberries, I would. They would hire me to bring my birds of prey. I would fly them around, and it would scare all the other birds away.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, so tell me a little bit. What kind of birds of prey are we talking about?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. Hawks, Cheer falcons, sacred falcons, peregrine falcons, Harris hawks, bald eagles, all kinds of different.

[Conan O'Brien]

You can train their own job.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I had a bald eagle named Babe. I raised her from an egg, basically, so.

[Sonam of Session]

Oh, you are so rugged.

[Conan O'Brien]

Take it easy. Sona.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

You okay?

[Conan O'Brien]

You're married, Sona. What's up? Oh, right.

[Sonam of Session]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Wow. Thanks, David. Good Lord. To be fair, I'm swooning, too.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Oh, so am I. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Wow. Let's get it.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I'm down.

[Conan O'Brien]

Hey, time for some polar porn. So, anyway, moving on. I didn't think you could train a bald eagle.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, it's. It's possible. They are one of the trickier to train birds because they have a natural instinct to be a bit nasty. Oh, really? If they can steal prey from another bird, they will, you know, to save themselves the energy of catching their own. So, you know, they can be.

[Conan O'Brien]

I love that. That's the symbol of America.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Oh, I know.

[Conan O'Brien]

Our national symbol is the dickiest of the birds.

[Sonam of Session]

Yeah, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

I'll steal that food before I get my own.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, well, yeah, Babe had a. Babe was her name. She had a really good personality. She didn't really have that nasty side, except towards women. My girlfriend at the time, they were near me when I had her, but you could come up and shake my hand and she'd just be like, no.

[Conan O'Brien]

Many birds have thought I was a woman. Trust me. They're like, no, but so really. So sometimes a bird will. Or in this case, a bald eagle, or in Babe's case specifically. Babe would be cool with dudes, but if a lady showed up, would try to attack the lady or just.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

She was super jealous. Yeah. I wouldn't give her the chance. I'd hold onto her pretty good. But. Yeah, she'd think about it. She'd let you know she wasn't happy.

[Conan O'Brien]

This must have gotten in the way of your dating life. I would think that you had a bird that attacked women instantly.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, yeah. Well, it did. And. But that's all right. I know I got polar bears to monitor.

[Conan O'Brien]

You get to live a life here, you know? Yeah. Wow. So you have all these different birds, and then you would use them, like, oh, damn. There's some seagulls that are hanging around my house by the ocean, and they're real drag and they're pooping all over the place. I'm gonna get one of these birds of prey to chase them out of here. And it works.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. I'll get rid of them right away for you. But we do something called car hawking, which is essentially, the hawk will ride in the front seat of my car. We will do a drive by of your house. I'll do down my window. And the hawk will just fly out. She might grab a seagull, she might miss. But either way, every seagull in the area is going to disappear pretty fast.

[Conan O'Brien]

And how long do they stay away for? When does it. When do people think. Okay, the coast is clear now. The guy who has a hawk in his car. What, left?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, it depends. They will.

[Conan O'Brien]

The Domino's guy with the hockey left.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. If it's a food source, like a landfill, they will keep coming back daily to check and see if I'm still there. Yeah. And I would be.

[Conan O'Brien]

I love that you would ride up With a hawk in your front seat riding shotgun. And then you'd pull up to the address and go, here we are at A34 Crenshaw Road. Put the window down. And that's so amazing.

[Sonam of Session]

And the hawk scares them all and just comes right back into your car.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

If they catch a bird, they'll stay out there. I did have a hawk train to come back right in the window. And I drove a Dodge Dakota at the time. And she went out the window and I was driving behind a Dodge Dakota and they had their windows down. I didn't know them, they didn't know me. And she flew straight into their window and the car hit the gravel. Everyone came running out of their cars.

[Conan O'Brien]

You know what? I love the hawk. Being embarrassed. I'm just thinking of the hawk going, oh, God, I'm sorry. Oh, God, I'm so sorry. No, it's just. I swear to God, it's the same maroon. It's the same color. It's okay. It's okay. No, no. Oh, God. Oh, God. What, did the hawk just cover its face when it got back to your car with its two wings?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Oh, it walked back to me. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah. Just get me home. Just get me home. Just get me home. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[Sonam of Session]

The walk of shame.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, the walk of shame for a hawk. Bird of prey. Walk of shame.

[Sonam of Session]

Oh, my God.

[Conan O'Brien]

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[Conan O'Brien]

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[Sonam of Session]

You're. You're really. You're in charge of all that stuff.

[Conan O'Brien]

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[Sonam of Session]

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[Sonam of Session]

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[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

It is.

[Conan O'Brien]

It's a huge thing. I have children that are, you know, late teenagers, you know what I mean? And I like this concept.

[Sonam of Session]

I know I have little kids, but I know later on with all the after school activities, sometimes I won't be able to drive them. So when they're teenagers, it's nice to have an option.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

An option that's safe and you feel like it's going to give you peace of mind in a hectic world.

[Sonam of Session]

Yeah.

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[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Oh, boy.

[Conan O'Brien]

You dressed like a child because you were a child. That's right. And you're a slob. A real slob. That's true. You'd wear these T shirts that were, you know, like, hey, dude, whatever. That's correct. I'm with stupid. Yeah. Now you look fantastic. What are you doing? I got the Mongolian cashmere crewneck sweater from Quince. I'm trying to up my game. And also, I love these Protec golf pants. It's fantastic. It breathes. It's amazing. Okay. It's important to have pants that breathe.

[Sonam of Session]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

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[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. They are incredible. I didn't work directly with them, but I was a guide on horseback in the Rocky Mountains. Yeah. And I've had a few run ins with grizzly bears. But nothing too. Nothing too crazy. Yeah.

[Sonam of Session]

God.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

But they are also quite incredible. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

I mean. Take it easy, Sona. I'm sure Tak has been around.

[Sonam of Session]

It's just one thing after the other with this guy.

[Conan O'Brien]

Didn't Tack. Hasn't Tack worked with some lethal animals? No. Wasn't there? No. There was a sickly hamster that he befriended.

[Sonam of Session]

He's like cuddling with our poodle at home.

[Conan O'Brien]

Like, you know.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

All right.

[Sonam of Session]

Well, that's what I have.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay. Take it easy. I'm a big Tack fan. Wow.

[Sonam of Session]

You can have him.

[Conan O'Brien]

I'll go to him.

[Sonam of Session]

I'll move to Canada.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

And be attacked immediately by one of his birds.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I won't allow it.

[Conan O'Brien]

I'll cut a bitch. I'll cut a bitch.

[Sonam of Session]

I'll die immediately. I forgot. I'm not a very cozy person.

[Conan O'Brien]

Take it easy. Interrupto. Wow. I'm fascinated by grizzlies. And it's this crazy fascination where I find it terrifying the idea of being mauled and eaten by a grizzly. But I'm also. I just find them so fascinating that Part of me wants to have a grizzly encounter just as much as I don't want to have a grizzly encounter. Does that make sense to you?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I totally get it. I totally get it. I try to tell my mom and family things because it's a bit of a dangerous job, so they worry about me. But not to be morbid, but I don't want to, you know, die of old age working in an office my whole life. If I had a, you know, a bear encounter and that's what happened, like, I don't want it, it would be awful. But like, you know, gee, yeah, that's like.

[Conan O'Brien]

That is a closed casket funeral, I'm telling you right now. Yeah. Or if there's, I don't know, even know what's left at that point. You know, they have to follow the bear for three weeks, keep tricking it to use a toilet, and then put your wool cap on, whatever's left. I'm sorry, but that's exactly what would happen.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Nobody would run.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Just leave me out there. It's okay.

[Sonam of Session]

Oh, my God.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay. Leave you out there. Got it. Okay. I think this is very cool. Now be honest with me, Mike. If you've been listening to me at all or familiar with my work and know me as a person, what you see is pretty much what you get. How would I do in these situations? You think if you were with me terribly, whether it's in the Arctic and we're approaching a polar bear, you're dead. Or in a grizzly encounter, I want to know. I want to know. I'm constantly wondering how I would measure up. I think you need to know. I don't.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Go ahead. Let's see. How big can you get?

[Conan O'Brien]

How big can I get? I'm 64 without doing anything. And if I. When I'm. When frightened, my hair gets much taller. So I could be six. Six maybe.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Okay, so it's bigger than me. I'm bald. So I'm six four, but I'm bald. So you're. You might. Standing behind me, we'd look even bigger. So you know what? We might. We might survive together out there.

[Conan O'Brien]

Would you think that I'd be the kind of person to panic and run, or do you think I'd be calm?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I want to believe you'd be calm.

[Conan O'Brien]

Why do you want to believe that? Why can't you just.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I don't know, you might try and, like, use comedy to get out of it.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yes. Hey, here's my question. Do grizzlies, like, bits? Do they like like, sort of cartoony, physical shtick.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Little bits. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay. Yeah.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Okay.

[Conan O'Brien]

So I'm just thinking. Yeah, that's the problem. The biggest problem is I might see a comedy opportunity and start, you know, pretending to be another bear who's kind of a wise guy. And I could see that. Really irritating. Not just a human, but any member of the animal kingdom.

[Sonam of Session]

If the bear wasn't going to kill you after your bits, it would want to kill you.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Sonam of Session]

You would be doing yourself a disservice.

[Conan O'Brien]

The bear might befriend me, and then I would start to show the bear stuff from the podcast and old Conan episodes, at which point the bear would reduce me to a pile of ground chuck instantly. You're still gonna be doing bits during the attack. Yeah. Even during the path, I'd be like, oh, no, I'm being murdered by a burr. Mauled. Mauled, I tell you. Mauled.

[Sonam of Session]

Look at me. I have one leg.

[Conan O'Brien]

Look at me. Oh, hoppy, hoppy, hop. Got one leg and a hoppy, hoppy, hop. Yeah. Mike, I'm gonna cancel this idea right now.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Okay. If you change your mind, though, you know, we can go out there. I'll make sure.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

We have a good time.

[Conan O'Brien]

We'd have a good time. I like this guy.

[Sonam of Session]

I do, too.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

And I think you and I would do well hanging out. I think we'd be good buddies and so mutual. I would try to. I think I could. I think I would be a little. You know, the way I. You've seen this. Sona and David. I kind of become the person I'm with. If I'm with them for a while, I'm very zelig that way. I think I would become more like Mike, and I would. Mike, calm down. I really like being out in nature. I chill out a bit. There's way too much stimulation around me all the time. This might calm me down. And maybe battling a bear of some kind would, you know, make me realize what it's all really about.

[Sonam of Session]

Yeah. Battle a bear.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Sonam of Session]

Like you think you have a chance?

[Conan O'Brien]

I have a very good chance.

[Sonam of Session]

Okay. Maybe Mike is there. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Only if Mike is there.

[Sonam of Session]

That's true.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah. I will be in the car. The car will be locked. I'll be in there with your hawk. The hawk.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

There's no cars out in the Arctic. Dropped off, so.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, we get dropped off. Okay.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah. So there's no. Obviously no wi fi, no reception. You're in the middle of nowhere.

[Conan O'Brien]

I love it.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

And that's. It can get quite boring. I'd go out for 30 to 60 days at a time. So I basically downloaded a gajillion hours of your podcast and Trailer Park Boys, and I was a big compliment.

[Conan O'Brien]

Thank you.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

That.

[Sonam of Session]

Look at that. That is very cool. That's really cool.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Well, I've been. Yeah, I've been watching you for forever, Corin and I just have so much respect for you and your team. You bring in comedy and kindness, and we just need so much more of that. And you're bringing it away. It just reaches everyone. That's so nice of you, me getting to tell you. This is changing my life.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, wow.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Like, I just. I want you to know how. How incredible you're changing people's lives, whether you know it or not. It's such a good way.

[Conan O'Brien]

Well, all I know is we keep our head down and we. We do this stuff, and we do it. Cause I can't not do it. Does that make sense? I'm not trying to do a public service. I do this. Cause it just has to happen. It's like you guys have been around me when I haven't been able to do this for 10 minutes, and it's not pretty. But Mike getting to talk to you is a real. It's a real pleasure. You seem like a great person, and what you're doing is really cool, and I love that you have found this life for yourself. Those are. I say this all the time when we talk to fans, people that have found what they love and what they're passionate about, and then they manage to will that to be their career, their life. I think that is the best way to go, you know, through our time here. I really do. I managed to do it. You're doing it. It's a beautiful thing. So I hope our paths cross in person. Cause I'd love to shake your hand. I really would.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Incredible, Conan. Incredible.

[Conan O'Brien]

Did. Did you have a question for Conan?

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

A question for him? Well, I got him to name interrupto over there.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, I think that was.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Yeah, she sat beside me perfectly through all the tech checks. As soon as we got out, she flew away, so.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, I know. She saw which way this was going. Oh, look, she's in the room really standoffish now. Just get back to our net.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

I brought her to a staff meeting earlier today, and she was interrupting everyone, so they're gonna love that name you gave her. Great.

[Conan O'Brien]

Well, say hi to everybody. And, Mike, a real pleasure. And I mean it. I hope we cross paths. That'd be fun.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

That would be fun.

[Conan O'Brien]

Look, I'm hard to miss. So keep your eyes peeled.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Okay, well, thank you so much. This was incredible, guys.

[Conan O'Brien]

Thanks for everything you do. Take care. We'll see you soon. Bye.

[Mike (Guest, Conservation Authority)]

Thank you. Bye.

[Podcast Producer/Announcer]

Conan o' Brien Needs a Fan With Conan o' Brien, Sonam of Session and Matt Gourley Produced by me, Matt Gourley Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and Nick Leow Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino Take it away Jimmy Supervising Producer Aaron Blair Associate Talent Producer Jennifer Samples Associate Producers Sean Doherty and Lisa Berm Engineering by eduardo Perez get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign [e-mail] Conan Please rate, review and subscribe to Conan O' Brien needs a Fan Wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

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