When in Rome

Summary

Emergency Intercom – "When in Rome" (June 12, 2026)

Hosts: Enya Umanzor & Drew Phillips
Podcast: Emergency Intercom (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Theme:
This episode finds Enya and Drew (plus recurring guest Kai) sharing stories from their recent travels, delving into gay culture and relationships, family dynamics, internet culture, and plenty of unfiltered humor. Throughout, the conversation weaves between absurdity, vulnerability, and biting wit, displaying their signature style: chaotic, oversharing, and deeply funny.

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Main Themes & Purpose

• Travel misadventures and observations (Italy, London, Cruises, etc.)
• Sexuality, gender presentation, and the "halo effect"
• Family bonds, queer identity, and healing old wounds
• Internet culture & social phenomena
• Morality, secrecy, and relationships
• Humorous hot takes on everything from gambling and OCD to British cuisine and Dan & Phil Stans

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Opening: Aura Readings & The "Halo Effect"

• Timestamps: 00:19–03:18
  • The episode opens with talk about people's "auras"—Kai claims to have a "lavender aura," meaning creativity and intuition.
  • The hosts riff on the idea of the "halo effect," where attractive people are perceived as having positive traits.
    • Quote: “That’s the halo effect. That’s just like anything you do is better because you are conventionally attractive.” – Kai (01:10)
  • The conversation weaves into playful speculation about masculinity, drag performance, and the idea that "everything is drag":
    • Quote: “You’re born naked and everything else is drag, baby mama.” – Kai (03:01)

Pride, Sexuality, & European Men

• Timestamps: 03:07–04:55
  • Pride Month banter: Kai jokes about not being wished a "Happy Pride" and laments heteronormative assumptions.
  • Enya discusses her experience in Rome, feeling that Italian men find her "repulsive" until she opens her mouth.
    • Quote: “She is so pretty on the eyes, but when she open her mouth, she sound like a boy. She a bitch. She very crazy.” – Enya’s fake Italian (04:13)

World Cup & Cultural Appropriation of Americana

• Timestamps: 05:28–06:54
  • Conversation shifts to the World Cup; indifference from both hosts except for observing foreigners' experience in America.
  • Kai describes a TikTok rabbit hole about Russians appropriating "Southern Gothic" American fashion—a meta moment of realizing what it's like when your culture is aestheticized overseas.

High School Locker Culture & Guns in Texas

• Timestamps: 06:31–08:45
  • The mythology of American high school lockers is discussed, with Akilah lamenting never having one.
  • Texas anecdotes about kids bringing guns to school (handled with humor and self-awareness).
  • Drew tells a story about a high-school bully and the confusion between real-life experience and "Euphoria"-like drama.

Drew's Cruise: Family, Hot Girl Summer, & The Grindr Saga

• Timestamps: 09:13–34:04
  • Drew recounts a recent family cruise—unexpectedly, the "best vacation of [his] life", sharing moments of joy and past family drama (cigarette-related incidents and underage drinking).
  • The "hot girl summer" cruise story: Drew tells a detailed, wild, and ethically gray account of hooking up with a married man via a hook-up app (nicknamed "the Madonna app").
    • Quote: “One thing led to another. I met someone on the boat through an app that I haven't had downloaded in two years.” – Drew (13:23)
    • Over 19+ increasingly desperate messages ensue from the hookup, culminating in messages like, “I want us to make out and suck each other... You know what it. I’m on my way to your room. It's the last night yolo.” (31:11)
    • “That's a threat. Mind you, I haven't seen any of these messages until after the fact.” – Drew (31:15)
  • The absurd peak: The man takes a duck from Drew's door as a memento and sends a crying selfie holding the duck, lamenting their lost connection.
    • Quote: “He sent me expiring photos... The next one was the duck in his hand with a message: ‘I'm looking at this duck crying because I'm going to remember you forever.’” – Drew (33:11)
  • The hosts riff on the intensity, danger, and surreal comedy of this saga, both respecting boundaries and highlighting the chaos of closeted life (esp. in confined environments like cruise ships).

Family, Childhood, and Artistic Nephews

• Timestamps: 38:13–41:32
  • Sweet reflections on family: Drew shares how his nephew has taken up drawing because of him, making him the “gay uncle.”
    • Quote: “He just wanted to see my reaction and see me be proud of him. I literally cried when I saw these.” – Drew (39:19)

European Travel, Villas, & Quirky Observations

• Timestamps: 41:33–46:49
  • Enya talks about bringing her sister Sophia along on a brand trip to Italy—highlights: family quirks, the villa’s “princess” owner, meeting eccentric locals, and experiencing European misogyny.
  • The group is offered a house to wait in and is hilariously not trusted by the staff ("they are going to cover the house in cum").

Memorable Travel Mishaps: Eating Worms & Hyde Park Trees

• Timestamps: 45:24–49:53
  • Akilah describes a gross travel mishap where a friend finds a live worm in her food at a German airport restaurant.
    • Quote: “Rain was so excited... She’s like, there’s a worm on my plate. And there was like the tiniest little, like, worm, literally, and it was moving. It was dancing its ass off.” – Enya (46:54)
  • Scenes from Hyde Park and a magical tree, colored by classic Emergency Intercom exaggeration.

Oddities: Gambling, Queer Spaces on Cruises, & Sunburned Balls

• Timestamps: 50:06–55:17
  • Drew describes gambling on the cruise, family gambling dynamics, and successfully sunbathing nude on his balcony (with resultant sunburns: “I got a sunburn on my balls, and I was so pissed…” – Drew, 51:35).
  • Observations about LGBTQ "meetups" on cruise ships—simultaneously funny and exposing tensions about queerness in hyper-straight spaces.

Healing & Family Acceptance

• Timestamps: 55:18–57:35
  • Drew shares a rare moment of vulnerability: the cruise brought genuine healing around his family and sexuality. For once, being gay was joked about openly and comfortably.
    • Quote: “A really big sign of equality is comedy and being able to laugh at yourself and your issues…we were just, like, making jokes the whole time about me being gay, and it actually felt so good…” – Drew (56:21)

Media, Movies, Internet Culture, and Hot Takes

• Timestamps: 59:15–73:43
  • The hosts reflect on the movie "Backrooms," lament a lack of gay representation, and discuss how internet culture forms opinions (“he directed it when he was 19 years old. Which, like, that's already a joke in and of itself.” – Drew 60:44).
  • Akilah, Drew, and Kai share recent reads, recommendations, and pop culture shoutouts:
    • The Feeling by Steve Lacy (Enya, 64:07), praise for Steve Lacy's digestible, high-quality music.
    • TikTok personalities like Big Red are discussed—including his unintentional activist role and virality.
    • Riffing on viral documentaries and reactionary hot takes related to crime, culpability, and family dysfunction.
  • British food slander and nostalgic fandom (Dan & Phil Stans).
    • Quote: “It is objectively the most disgusting food in the world. You’re allowed to like that UK.” – Drew (72:12)

Final Outrageous Anecdotes: Circuit Parties, Jock Straps & Goodbyes

• Timestamps: 74:21–75:34
  • Drew recounts accidentally going to a gay circuit party in LA: “And everyone was in jock straps and I was in a suit…It smelled like poop out of a jock strap…”
    • Quote: “It smelled like poop out of a jock strap. Like someone squatted down and pooped out of the back of their jock strap and then everyone stepped in it and tracked it across the building.” – Drew (75:07)
  • Abrupt yet loving goodbyes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote
|------------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:10 | Kai | "That’s the halo effect. That’s just like anything you do is better because you are conventionally attractive." | | 03:01 | Kai | “You’re born naked and everything else is drag, baby mama.” | | 04:13 | Enya (as Italian) | "She is so pretty on the eyes, but when she open her mouth, she sound like a boy. She a bitch. She very crazy." | | 13:23 | Drew | “One thing led to another. I met someone on the boat through an app that I haven't had downloaded in two years.” | | 31:11 | Unnamed (Guy) | “I want us to make out and suck each other... You know what it. I’m on my way to your room. It's the last night yolo.” | | 33:11 | Drew | “He sent me expiring photos... The next one was the duck in his hand with a message: ‘I'm looking at this duck crying because I'm going to remember you forever.’” | | 39:19 | Drew | “He just wanted to see my reaction and see me be proud of him. I literally cried when I saw these.” | | 46:54 | Enya | “Rain was so excited... She’s like, there’s a worm on my plate. And there was like the tiniest little, like, worm, literally, and it was moving. It was dancing its ass off.” | | 51:35 | Drew | “I got a sunburn on my balls, and I was so pissed, and my balls itched so bad. I know it's good now. It's good now.” | | 56:21 | Drew | "...really big sign of equality is comedy and being able to laugh at yourself and your issues…we were just, like, making jokes the whole time about me being gay, and it actually felt so good…" | | 72:12 | Drew | "It is objectively the most disgusting food in the world. You’re allowed to like that UK." | | 75:07 | Drew | "It smelled like poop out of a jock strap. Like someone squatted down and pooped out of the back of their jock strap and then everyone stepped in it and tracked it across the building." |

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Other Highlights, Observations & Running Gags

• Recurrence of “when in Rome…” as a motto for wild or questionable choices
• Self-deprecating, meta-humor throughout (e.g., referencing their own need for attention, the podcast’s existence, and identity)
• Running jokes: 'cookie' as a euphemism, shade on British food, and interior lives of TikTokers
• Contrasts between American and European attitudes—especially around gender, food, and family
• Sneaky sincerity: Beneath the chaos, both hosts show affection for each other, their families, and their listeners

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Conclusion

This episode of Emergency Intercom is an explosively honest, raunchy, and deeply funny trip through the hosts’ recent travels, hookup mishaps, family healing, pop culture hot takes, and queered reflections on the absurdity of modern life. Both playful and sincere, it showcases the magic of peer oversharing: no topic too taboo, no story too dark, every anecdote mined for both humor and humanity.

For more, listen to the full episode on iHeart Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Akilah Hughes]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Kai]

Guys, welcome to this episode of Kai. Vlogging with Aura has a purple aura going on. Lavender aura, meaning it's, like, giving, like, creativity, intuition. But he is also very practical, which can be good, but it's also hindering him because he doesn't follow rigid rules.

[Akilah Hughes]

What you're doing is very good, but it can also be very dangerous.

[Kai]

It could be very dangerous.

[Akilah Hughes]

It could be very dangerous.

[Kai]

Thank you. And you guys are seeing the energy that's coming off of me. The sexual energy? Yeah, the. The halo effect.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah. Drew and Kai have been talking about this light refraction that his laptop is catching for the past 10 minutes, and they're really trying to make it seem like by looking up at his aura.

[Kai]

It's the halo effect. Y' all know the halo effect?

[Akilah Hughes]

Not really. What? What is that?

[Kai]

Okay, so it's the idea that. So say you see a very conventionally attractive person, and he says, oh, I like playing video games. Well, when he tells people that fun fact about himself, they're like, oh, what a unique hobby for you to have. Like, that is so cool and special. But then if you go to a chud chop ho and they say they like playing video games, they get called a nerd. And that's the halo effect. That's just like anything you do is better because you are conventionally attractive. Typical black pill shit. It's popped back up on my timeline ever since clavicular got a nose job.

[Akilah Hughes]

Actually, for some reason, I did see that, and I only saw it because I think God knew I needed to see that. And it's him laid out on the. Like, he's, like, laid out like this for no surgery. Like, he's Jesus. And people just kept commenting, the raccoon being tortured and, like, a science lab.

[Kai]

Yes. No. And he also is very, like, faggy Nana right now. Like, he's giving very, like, prim, petite. Like, human growth hormone cycle stopped, obviously. Like, we have the same build now. And I actually. No, I don't.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, you know, clavicular actually just got accepted to be on the next season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

[Kai]

Oh, my God, really?

[Akilah Hughes]

But he's going as a drag king.

[Kai]

So, like, out of drag queen or a comedy queen?

[Akilah Hughes]

A looks queen. No comedy there. Not a comedy bone in that body. Looks queen. If put on the line to lip sync for his life, I genuinely think clavicular would die, because, like, it's. It's all looks. It's no movement.

[Kai]

It's all looks. It's all drag king. Wait, that's interesting, though. So he's a boy dressing up as a boy. But if you think about it in real life, that's all men do in general, because what, you're born makeup or you're born naked and everything else is what?

[Akilah Hughes]

Makeup?

[Kai]

Yeah, naked and everything else is drag, baby mama.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my gosh. Are we going to talk about the fact that we missed an episode without saying anything, and it was the start of Pride Month? That's kind of like. That's not very good for us. That's not good for our, like. Wait, whoa, whoa.

[Kai]

Both. Neither of y' all wish me a fucking happy pride dead.

[Akilah Hughes]

If we wish to have my pride, you would yell at us.

[Kai]

I actually. You know who wished me a happy pride before you, Kai? Your friends Tucker, Veronica, and Zach. They wish me. Really?

[Akilah Hughes]

Because you're nothing but a gay hole to them. Kai sees you as more of, like. He sees you more than your whole.

[Kai]

Also, I didn't even know that you were gay, so. Well, I'm not.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, that just doesn't make sense because

[Kai]

y' all play, but not in a gay. Oh, yeah, no, when we. It's not. It's like, we're just, like, around.

[Akilah Hughes]

It's just like, guys have to get that out of their system. You guys are just helping.

[Kai]

Exactly. Kaya's in Rome. Roman soldiers famously banged each other.

[Akilah Hughes]

And you know what they say, when in Rome and when in Rome. I think I've come to the conclusion that of all European men, Italian men find me the most repulsive. Like, I am nothing but a boy to them. They're like, oh, my. Oh, my God. She is so pretty on the eyes that when she open her mouth, she sound like a boy. She a bitch. She very crazy.

[Kai]

Them. Yeah.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, it literally is that she very easy on ice. And then she start talking yaka yapa yappa, and so much bullshit come out. She very ugly now. She very ugly to the eyes now. Like, that's what I feel like an Italy. It's like, the second I show up, they're like. And then the second I start to speak for more than 10 minutes, they're like, Americans. Americans do come in all shapes and sizes and varieties. This one's annoying.

[Kai]

Hold on, let me put on my new shirt. One second.

[Akilah Hughes]

Like, six minutes into a zoom episode. Right now. I know what shirt this is. Is that my sweater? That's my shirt.

[Kai]

It's literally not. It's not your shirt.

[Akilah Hughes]

It looks like it's choking you because

[Kai]

you have, like, a A collared shirt on underneath.

[Akilah Hughes]

It looks like you're a pastor who got like gifted a supreme shirt. World Cup. World Cup.

[Kai]

Is anybody excited for the World Cup?

[Akilah Hughes]

Hey, not really. Are you?

[Kai]

No, I just like watching, like foreigners like explore America. Oh, my God. I saw some on Tick Tock last night at 4am of this middle of Russia Russian teenager that has a hyper fashion niche obsession. Hyper, hyper niche. Hyper niche fashion obsession with Southern Gothic. And for the first time ever, I felt what a semblance of what Japanese people feel when people dress Japanese core or whatever. And I was like, oh, my God. Like, wait, this is so crazy. Like, the leather belts that they're wearing are very obviously from Amazon and they look like it, but to them it's really giving, like Southern Gothic. Like, they showed their belt collection and it honestly was kind of cute. I was like, wait, obsessed?

[Akilah Hughes]

Like, well, it's kind of like how finding out that other countries idealize like high schools in America and like locker culture and like just all that. My school didn't even have lockers, so I was fantasizing too. Like, I wanted a locker so bad. Something about having a locker in school felt so dead serious.

[Kai]

That's where I would hide my gun. I was in Texas, baby.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, you just have the right.

[Kai]

Literally, unironically, though, kids would literally bring guns to school and they would just be in their trucks, by the way.

[Akilah Hughes]

That's crazy.

[Kai]

I know. I'm not saying it's cool. It's like, it's like, like, it's, it's really insane. Also, we didn't. We had lockers, but we didn't use them. I don't know why. Like, we had a. Every hall had lockers lining it, but not allowed to use them for some reason. I did get to use them in.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my God. Not. You're old enough to be forgetting. Like, you're thinking about it. Let me think about it. Let me think about it.

[Kai]

I'm for real. Like, it's crazy. I, I, I loved having lockers in high school, but for some reason.

[Akilah Hughes]

What do I remember?

[Kai]

Oh, one time I was next to my locker and this guy who was like this huge bully guy, his name was Nate, he like, came and shoved my friend up against the the locker. And he was like, fuck you to my friend Jules. And I was like, okay, that's super weird, but that's like the only thing that I remember.

[Akilah Hughes]

And you didn't stand up for your friend?

[Kai]

No, I did. I shoved him off.

[Akilah Hughes]

I'm taller than him.

[Kai]

His name's Nate. And then my other friend. I'm way hotter, too. Well, that's not my opinion. That's just.

[Akilah Hughes]

Wait, are you talking about Euphoria?

[Kai]

No, his friend Rue. His friend Rue was addicted to drugs. Yeah, My. My friend Rue is, like, really into pills, and I had to. And my friend Cat, or his friend Cat was a cam girl. Exactly.

[Akilah Hughes]

In high school.

[Kai]

Yeah. Very crazy high school.

[Akilah Hughes]

I went to HBO High. I graduated from San Levinson University. Now I know how to women in sexual connotations.

[Kai]

It's really yuck. Yuck. Well, y' all want to see what I got in Mexico?

[Akilah Hughes]

What is that?

[Kai]

Tret Noan.

[Akilah Hughes]

When did you go to Mexico?

[Kai]

On the cruise.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my God. I forget that cruises go places. I'm so confused. Where did that cruise go? Drew went on a cruise.

[Kai]

Yeah, I just got back from a cruise yesterday, and it was lit.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, did you end up enjoying yourself?

[Kai]

I did. I got Zofran.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, lit, lit, lit, lit, lit, lit.

[Kai]

And I don't think I can show this one. We'll blur it. Oh, yes, baby queen. Yes. Yes, I did. Yeah. The cruise was lit. I was. I wasn't dreading going. I just was like. Like, I don't know if this is my vibe right now, but then ultimately, I was like, when am I ever going to be on a vacation with every single one of my brothers and sisters, their partners, and their kids? Like, I. I have to do this. So ultimately, I decided to go, and it was quite literally, probably the best vacation I ever had in my life.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my God. That's amazing.

[Kai]

So sweet. Being with my family and getting rowdy with them and, like, babysitting the nieces and nephews and hanging out with everybody, and everyone was, like, so happy. Like, our last family vacation, we had, like, real big family dramas, like revolving around cigarettes and not being able to smoke on the plane and people pushing each other.

[Akilah Hughes]

The fuck are you talking about?

[Kai]

Yeah.

[Akilah Hughes]

Are you serious? I'm confused.

[Kai]

I'm dead serious. One of my siblings was, like, addicted to cigarettes at the time. Not anymore. Reformed cigarette smoker. We, she. Or they couldn't smoke on the airplane, which was obviously known. And then we had to rush out of the airport and get in our car to the hotel we were staying at. Then there was no smoking on the hotel property. Property. So then they had to crash out to everyone and walk to the end of the hotel property to smoke their cigarette. And it was very dramatic and scary. But I was also really young, and I took a shot and was lit.

[Akilah Hughes]

You were young and you took a shot?

[Kai]

Yeah, I was like, 14 and I took a shot of alcohol with my parents,

[Akilah Hughes]

one in Mexico. Well, I feel like I had a similar thing happen to me when I was traveling from Italy to London. Both of my travel days in the airport have been literally just bad luck of me getting stuck in the airport from a weather delay for, like, five hours. So I was stuck in the airport with, like, no nicotine, no weed, and I, like, had what I thought I

[Kai]

was going to be able to, like, India without nicotine or weed and her blood.

[Akilah Hughes]

I have never liked being so hard. In the London airport. I went and, like, ran to the first one. It wasn't Heathrow. We landed in a random butt Place, like, 40 minutes south of London.

[Kai]

Oh, the Wizard's that.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, literally, we were in the Wizard's Cooch and I bought a vape in the airport and I felt so disgusting, and it was apple flavor and I. Yuck.

[Kai]

Are you gonna get me mango and mint jewel pods?

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my gosh, y', all, I'm in London and there's mint. There's mint jewel pods. I haven't seen Mango because they have a Jewel 2 device. That shit's butt.

[Kai]

They dropped the jewel too?

[Akilah Hughes]

No, the. Gone so long. We. They dropped a jewel too, and I didn't notice, like, damn.

[Kai]

Well, guys, I have an insane story to tell you about. Or I already told Kai, but I have an insane story to tell you about the cruise.

[Akilah Hughes]

Why?

[Kai]

Really? Like, low, low, low, low lows on my end. And I'm embarrassed that my mom is going to hear this, but I'm also like, whatever.

[Akilah Hughes]

What did you do?

[Kai]

So it's a hot girl summer.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Kai]

The hot girl summer. So I decided to treat summer as being a hot girl. And one thing led to another. I met someone on the boat through an app that I haven't had downloaded on my phone in two years through

[Akilah Hughes]

an app that makes connecting to other people super simple and easy.

[Kai]

That I downloaded the Madonna app, and it was really cool. And there were three people on the boat.

[Akilah Hughes]

On the app?

[Kai]

Yeah, on the app. Because we were also in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. So, like, maybe there better not be more than three people out there. Like, oh, the gays are drowning.

[Akilah Hughes]

The gays are swimming.

[Kai]

Also, it's Pride Month. It's Pride Month.

[Akilah Hughes]

I know. Well, that's why you got a free download. They actually. You know how when you got the iPhone, a certain year they put the YouTube on your phone. If you got have an iPhone this year, they Put the Grinder app on your phone for Pride month. So if you find the Grinder app on your significant other's phone this month, listen, Apple did it. It wasn't that.

[Kai]

And that's what happened to me. I would never download that app. I would never betray you like that.

[Akilah Hughes]

You're very faithful for a slut husband.

[Kai]

Exactly.

[Akilah Hughes]

I've been noticing.

[Kai]

So I meet with this guy and the vibes are immediately like, weird energy, like very dark sided. But you know, when in Rome, see it through. Guts to see it through. Um, and we did our deed and there was no penetration. No penetration, thank God. But he was really weird about discretion, which typically means they're hiding something from someone. Yeah, but that's none of my fucking business. I had no reason to believe anything was fishy was going on and so I just went through with it. Well, obviously I'm on a cruise ship, so I'm gonna see this person 25 more times on the boat. Well, the next day after hooking up, I see him on the boat and I see him with a ring on his finger. And I was like, oh, maybe it's a gay guy in an open relationship. That's like a thing, right? And then I see a wife and then I see two children. And I immediately was like, oh, this is maybe the worst I've ever felt in my entire life. But it's not my fault. I had no idea. I had no idea the way he turned bright red. Well, then I go to the Madonna app and I go and check and see if he had said anything. And I was honestly going to like, like put him on blast because I literally was like, oh, like, this is crazy. Like, like, don't do that to me. Don't make me feel guilty. And yeah, not even 12 hours later I opened the app. Hadn't opened it all day. 19 messages from this guy and I'm gonna go through and read them. Drew 2:59pm I think you just walked past me. 3:02pm if it was you. I only saw you from the back. The bartender was bringing me some beer and I was signing the receipt. Do you have a cap, khaki shorts and a gray or white T shirt on? I did. 5:08pm we are going to a show at 10:15 in Studio B and I think I'm going to try to stay there for the nightclub tonight if you want to join me. 6:14. What you doing? 6:35. I'm free until 10:15 and I'll be free again starting at 11:15. 6:40 crying.

[Akilah Hughes]

What the fuck is happening? From 10:15 to 11:15, I don't know. His wife is out with her friends and the rest of the family. Like, what?

[Kai]

Literally 6:54, are you in your room? I need to see you. 7:12. I'm sitting where we met. Pretty bummed out tonight because, by the way, we met in the smoking section on deck four. And when we met up, he was like, like, shaking boots down, like he was freaking the fuck out. And I would just reiterate it a billion times. I was like, girl, if you're, like, not wanting to do this, like, we don't have to. And he was like, no, I have to do it. And I was like, no, you don't. He was like, if. He was like, I'm still game if you're a game. And I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna head to my room. And he was like, this is where I should have been. Like, wait, what is going on? Because he's like, I'm going to follow really far behind you. Just bolt the door. And that's where I should have been. Like, why are you following far behind me? What are you hiding? But I didn't do that.

[Akilah Hughes]

But also, I feel like it's such a hard thing to navigate because there are a lot of people who genuinely are just like, faucet it in general. So it's just like. It's like the game of cruising is like, you really are just like, cruising on a cruise.

[Kai]

Then he sends me a Snapchat code. Then he's at 7:16, 7.

[Akilah Hughes]

What the fuck is a Snapchat code? Finding out I had OCD alone was genuinely so relieving, it felt like it gave an answer to a question I had always been asking, which is, why do I have so many questions? Why are the questions never ending? And why do all the questions end with me being horrible and I'm gonna burn for eternity for all of the bad things I do all day, even though I don't do anything bad.

[Kai]

And don't forget about that skin scrubbing.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, that was bad. Real OCD is a serious condition where unwanted, distressing thoughts called intrusive thoughts get stuck on repeat and you feel complied to engage in certain behaviors called compulsions to try to make them stop. No CD is a perfect place to start. It really can help you manage all of your OCD symptoms and get on a track where you can live with things. And you don't always have to be answering to that question in your head.

[Kai]

Guys, OCD is one of the most treatable mental health conditions out there. If you get the right specialized kind of therapy. OCD needs ERP therapy or exposure and response prevention. It's proven to be the most effective treatment. Regular talk therapy isn't recommended for OCD and can actually make it worse. That's where no CD comes in. They're the world world's leading OCD treatment provider and all of their licensed Therapists specialize in ERP therapy.

[Akilah Hughes]

Therapy with no CD is 100 virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans and includes support between sessions so you never have to face OCD alone. To learn more about OCD therapy with no CD, go to nocd.com and book a free call with their team.

[Kai]

That's nocd.com when you save with Valspar

[Akilah Hughes]

at Lowe's, you can give your deck

[Kai]

a much needed comeback. Just in case.

[Akilah Hughes]

Time for the big barbecue.

[Kai]

Own your weekend with Valspar. Exterior stain and sealer starting at 39.98 per gallon.

[Akilah Hughes]

Varies by transparency. Available at Lowe's Shop Today.

[Kai]

June is Black Music Month, and on the Drink Champs podcast, we're speaking with the hottest names in the culture, like Swae Lee. Do you realize how legendary you are? I appreciate that I be seeing it, but I'm like, man, I still got like, so much more to do. Like Prince, he dropped like 30 albums. We dropped like five right now. Like, that's the rate we gotta be going. Yeah, that's a good attitude. You'll also hear stories from industry legends and hip hop pioneers like Fab five Freddy. I directed one of Nas's early videos. Which one? One Love. Wow. Yes. I literally filmed in his apartment in Queensbridge. His moms were still up in that apartment. Nas was just beginning to take off. His pops used to live near me in Harlem. His dad introduced him to a whole lot of, you know, conscious stuff, and

[Akilah Hughes]

he made a young prodigy.

[Kai]

No matter the era, Drink Champs brings you the biggest names and the most unfiltered conversations. Listen to Drink Champs from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Akilah Hughes]

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to

[Kai]

go down Robert E. Lee Boulevard.

[Akilah Hughes]

Get to the grocery store.

[Kai]

I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway.

[Akilah Hughes]

If you're a historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akilah Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky Statehouse that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Dani Shapiro, and these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. Just then, we felt the plane turn in the air. So much so that the bags that were under people's seats just kind of flew into the aisle. Each week, we dive headfirst into the complex power of secrecy, how it shapes our identities and relationships and how it ultimately can reveal to us our truest selves. My daughter, she's pretending she doesn't know but is trying to cook and feed me and keep me alive because I wasn't eating anything and me pretending like everything was fine. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the I Heart Radio Act, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kai]

He begs. He begged me to download Snapchat, and I was like, I am not making a Snapchat. Like, I am 28 years old.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah, I am grown.

[Kai]

As he's 36 with a Snapchat. I'm like, whoa, what is going on? 07:25 I need to be with you again. 8009 crying emoji what the did that

[Akilah Hughes]

cookie do to him?

[Kai]

That's what I'm saying. I'm sorry for bothering you, man. 8:15 have I made you mad? 9:18 Are we meeting up tonight? 9:56 Guess not. Crying 10:05 I'm back on deck four. Trying to drown out my mind. Oh, my God. 10:25 Are you awake? 10:39 Wish I could come over. 10:51 we got to meet up several times today since it's the last day and we won't ever see each other again. And at this point, 19 messages, I finally open the app again and I just do like a thumbs up on the message. Then we go to sleep. Nothing happens. 6:18am did you finish setting up Snapchat? 9 8am where you at? 10:45am what you doing, handsome? I'm about to go sit on deck four, where we met. 11:34am Want to do something? 11:37am I need two things from you. 10:40am Is your Snapchat name on or is your name on Snapchat? Oliver? No.

[Akilah Hughes]

What?

[Kai]

12:44pm you must not want to meet up again. And this is where it gets really crazy.

[Akilah Hughes]

What do you mean that it keeps going because it already gets crazy.

[Kai]

No, it gets crazy. It gets so crazy. Are you mad at me? It gets like, so fucking crazy, bro. So this is the day that I left the boat to go to college?

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, yes, because he said it's our last day and we need to meet up a bunch of times. Which is also crazy to say when you've met up once and then didn't

[Kai]

respond for 19 hours.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh my God, it's our last day together. We need to go crazy.

[Kai]

We need to meet up several times. Girl, my cookie must be like, several

[Akilah Hughes]

times in one day. What are we gonna do part ways 18 times today.

[Kai]

I know, I know, I know. I. He literally fell in love with me.

[Akilah Hughes]

He did voodoo.

[Kai]

I know. He's magical.

[Akilah Hughes]

Voodrew on him.

[Kai]

So this is the day we leave Cozumel. This is the day I got all of those prescription medications and flew them back. Tretinoin and Valcor or Zofran. And my family decided to like, go and go to this, like, random beach. And on Cozumel, you had to get into like an Uber that was like 20 minutes long get off the boat walk. It was like probably 45 minutes to get to this beach. But it was really nice. It was all inclusive if you bought like the pass. And we just like, we're planning on laying at the beach.

[Akilah Hughes]

How does the cruise work? Like, do they just leave you there

[Kai]

all day and then you have to be back at the boat by 4:30 or you'll get left in Cozumel.

[Akilah Hughes]

Okay.

[Kai]

And we're just chilling on this beach and. Or we're getting to this beach and we're like, oh, we need six chairs. And they're like, okay, that might be a struggle. So they split our party up into four chairs and two Chairs. And my parents sit in the back row. Or my mom and my brother and sister sit in the back row. I sit in the front chair with the three chairs, and I'm just laying out in the sun. Well, as we're walking up to these chairs, guess who I see? None other than this man sitting right next to me. Ooh, he's sitting there and then I notice him. First he doesn't see me, and then he notices me. And I've. I've seen people get, like, embarrassed in the face. Like, red in the face. But he got red all over his body. Like he was petrified, shaking, freaking the out for obvious reason, because his.

[Akilah Hughes]

I mean, yeah, he just sent you a goddamn manifesto on top of the fact that he has a wife and kids. Like, it's not even just that he hooked up with you and y' all haven't seen each other. He was dinging your phone like his kids weren't next to him.

[Kai]

Like, exactly. So that goes down really jarring. Well, I go back to the boat, and then again, I open the app later and we're on the boat now, and I get a message, so. Oh, wait, more preface to the story. So my mom really wanted us to have these little mailboxes on our door. Take a duck, leave a duck. Because it's like this trope on cruise ships for the adults to hide rubber duckies and duck shaped objects all over the boat and the kids can find them. And it's like a keepsake. It's really cute. And at first I was like, dude, I don't want little kids running up to my door at 2am opening this fucking thing. But it turned out to be the cutest little thing in the world. And I was so excited to check my bail box for ducks. And there were a lot of punks that kept stealing my ducks and not putting anything in there. But I was like, you know what? They're excited. I can't be that mad. But when they would open this door, they would. Sometimes they would like, knock on my door on accident, or they would open it and it makes like, a loud sound, or they drop it on the ground and not know what to do and try to put it back on the door and make sound. So I was constantly, like, hearing knocking at my door, and there was a specific time where I hear, like, a real knock. And I was like, oh, it must be like housekeeping. But then I'm like, oh, no. This man has messaged me 28 times since we've hooked up. It's probably him. And we hooked up in my room. Well, so I creep up to the door and it's 12:45pm at this point or 12:56pm I get a message saying, oh, I creep up to the door, I look out the peephole and I don't see anybody there after the knock. But then I get a message saying, I just came and knocked on your door. And at this point I'm like, oh, this man is about to throw me off of my like hotel room balcony.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, he's gonna fucking stab you to death. He's gonna wear your skin.

[Kai]

Like I know. I was at this point I was really freaking out and I like was telling Kai about it and I was like, I think I'm actually going to be killed by this man. And then 2:25pm so are we going to try to do something tonight since our. Since it's our last chance and we will. And we will probably never see each other again. 3:41pm can we meet up real quick? 4:08pm I'm free till 7. 1. I know it.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, he said, okay, baby, let me paint a picture for you because I don't think you're understanding what you're missing over here.

[Kai]

You don't understand.

[Akilah Hughes]

I don't want to just do a thing. I want to do something with your thing, bro.

[Kai]

Can I come over? It's our last night on this cruise. I want to spend some time with you. I'm sure we'll never see each other again after this. Let's make it memorable. 4:18pm 4:47pm so I'm guessing it was just a one and done thing. Crying face. All right, just add me on snap so we can at least talk. 6:17 crying I wanted to see you again, but I guess it won't happen. Shit hurts. 7:10pm I'm pretty upset about it. 7:37pm Come on man, one more time, please. I've been looking forward to seeing you again. 7:54pm I'm on deck four where we met. Please come and see me one last time. 8:17pm I want us to make out and suck each other. You know what it. I'm on my way to your room. It's the last night yolo.

[Akilah Hughes]

Like literally I'm gonna kill you.

[Kai]

That's a threat, Mind you. I haven't seen any of these messages until after the fact that. 8:19pm Is that okay with you? Is that okay with you? 8:22pm Please, I'm begging you.

[Akilah Hughes]

I need to see you again.

[Kai]

8:25pm okay, he gets a little self aware. I'm so sorry for blowing your messages up. I'm headed your way now. Once I Finish my drink. 8:31pm I knocked on your door, but I guess you weren't in your room. And that's where the saga ends.

[Akilah Hughes]

That is the most terrifying.

[Kai]

I get off that damn boat. I get off that damn boat. Oh, my God. It didn't end there.

[Akilah Hughes]

It did not end there.

[Kai]

It did not end there. I forgot when he was leaving my room, he saw my ducks and he was like, oh, I'm gonna take this. And so I can remember this moment forever. And I was like, sure, you can have it. So on Grindr or on the Madonna app, you can send expiring photos, and you can't screenshot photos anymore because they turn completely black. And it's just like a precautionary thing so your nudes don't get leaked or whatever. And he sent me expiring photos. He sent me three in a row. The first one was like a selfie of him, like, all sexy. The next one was the duck in his hand with a message saying, I'm looking at this duck crying because I'm going to remember you forever. And then the third photo was a picture of him in the bath with tears running down his face, sobbing. And.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah, and when we were saying, what did that mouth do?

[Kai]

I don't know. Come on.

[Akilah Hughes]

You wanna let me suck you off? Please. I need somebody to want to give me head that bad. The.

[Kai]

I know.

[Akilah Hughes]

That is the craziest set of messages I have ever. That. That was beautiful. Honestly, I want that printed out.

[Kai]

No, I. It's incredible. I screenshotted all of them before he, like, blocked me because I was like. I mean, I don't know if he's blocked me yet, but I was like, I need to get these framed and put on the wall. They're like, really, really special. Cookie goes so crazy. Apparently, I took the cookie off quarantine and the girls are lining up. Like, this is crazy.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, the girls aren't lining up. A single person is trying to murder you.

[Kai]

Like a serial killer. He was begging me to come and visit him in his home state. And I was like, how is that going to work? How the fudge is that going to work? I'm going to fly out to your state. He's from the deep south, and he had a really, like, sexy, deep accent, like, southern accent. And he was like, come and visit me in Mississippi. And I was like, okay, I will.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, and My SSI pp. I think you have a wife and kids. I will not be seeing you in Mississippi.

[Kai]

How is that going to work, bro?

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah, actually, yes, let's stay at the. I don't even know like what y' all are going to say at the Marriott together, like two miles from his house because he has to go drop his kids off in the morning. People who like, people who want engage in that kind of risky behavior, whatever the fuck, not my business. But one. You suck dick and balls because like how are you going on a. To me doing that kind of stuff specifically on a cruise is crazy because

[Kai]

I'm like also like more in the same vessel. Yeah, in the. Literally the same vessel.

[Akilah Hughes]

The same vessel, babes.

[Kai]

But like even just like morality aside, like obviously that's like really dark sided to do. Like I. But not on evil. Evil behavior. But morality aside, I'm like, that's got to be exhausting. Like how do you like keep that life up where you're like telling like your wife one thing and then you lead this secret life on the side and like after the fact. I don't know.

[Akilah Hughes]

I'm also just so confused because I'm like him messaging you all day trying like, what are these moments he's trying to meet up with you. Like his wife and kids went to the bathroom and he's like, Finally, I have 10 minutes. It's like, wait, what do you think is gonna happen?

[Kai]

I don't. I do truly do not know.

[Akilah Hughes]

Have you heard about like, like the idea? Not even ideas. I'm trying to remember where I heard this, but I think I was watching something or maybe like reading something and it mentioned like husbands and, or wives who are in affairs and get caught with an std. And then we'll say, oh my God, it was on Tick tock. Somebody talked about like in like an antibiotic or something they had taken that they thought was for something else or they thought was a vitamin. And then somebody was like, that's literally to counteract like chlamydia or something. Like your partner cheated on you. Like that's what happened. So like there is like. I wish I remember the context, but essentially here's the case scenario. You inviting are sitting around. It's like we're about to get on our health shit. Like let's start taking supplements and actually like working on our fitness level are doing all that and it's like, oh, you're just trusting your partner to give you supplements and stuff. Whole time you find out like a few months later, no that wasn't a supplement journey they were taking you on. That was a fudgeing antibiotic they were putting into a mix of other vitamins. So you didn't like feel crazy about the fact that you were just put on medication for two weeks straight?

[Kai]

So they were like sneaking antibiotics, like

[Akilah Hughes]

to their partner who they had like cheated on, gotten an std, and then had to like filter that into their lifestyle. And then the person like found out months later and they found out through the Internet.

[Kai]

That's literally a felony now. Like, that's legitimate.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure anybody, any sort of medication without their knowledge is illegal as fuck.

[Kai]

Oh, well, then I should stop doing that to you.

[Akilah Hughes]

What did you give me?

[Kai]

When you sleep in my bed, I put a nicotine patch on your arm and a Percocet in your water. So you get really addicted to sleeping next to me in my bed.

[Akilah Hughes]

I actually do love sleeping next to you.

[Kai]

No, I love sleeping next to you right there.

[Akilah Hughes]

Also. I actually get some of my best sleep in your bed. It's like your bed has made me realize my bed sucks dick and balls. Because when I sleep in my own bed, my shoulder blades feel like somebody was applying at them.

[Kai]

Get the Ritz Carlton mattress.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, I'm sleeping in your bed for the rest of my life. What are you talking about?

[Kai]

You don't actually have to get it.

[Akilah Hughes]

I don't need to get a bed forever. I got a bed.

[Kai]

Baby, you are the bed. I am the bed. Okay, so my nephew, who he thinks I'm the coolest person in the world, which I am. And it's very easy to come to that conclusion even as a five year old, started drawing because of me. And I.

[Akilah Hughes]

That's really sweet.

[Kai]

I sent him a bunch of art supplies and paper and he has just been like drawing a shit ton, like all day every day. And I was like, finally one of my nieces and nephews is going to be weird and paint and draw and stuff. Like, he's not going to be like playing sports. And he obviously plays sports, but like, I'm raising one of my nieces nephews, right? And so he drew me like a few months ago. And he has been dying to get me these drawings because, like, he just wanted to see my reaction and see me be proud of him. I literally cried when I saw these. I'm literally like Gunko vibes. For real? For real.

[Akilah Hughes]

I mean, you even.

[Kai]

Oh, that's. Is that not.

[Akilah Hughes]

I love his little art style.

[Kai]

I know. And also just like you're the best.

[Akilah Hughes]

I love you so much.

[Kai]

I love you so much. Drew a portrait. And look how good who did that knob. Yeah. Look how good he got my mustache. Like, that's literally me, bro. That's me.

[Akilah Hughes]

That's you and your stolen valor, which is my shirt.

[Kai]

And that's him. Like, that looks like him.

[Akilah Hughes]

I love it. I know. That's. That's why I was like, oh, that's Knox. Like, literally. I was like, oh, perfect. Oh, that's so sweet. Oh, you really are gay, uncle, because you being like, finally, one of my nephews isn't playing sports. Well, he is, but whatever.

[Kai]

I'll pass. Like, let it pass. But he draws, like, anime characters all day, too. He's, like, such a little, like, nerd in the making, and I love it.

[Akilah Hughes]

That's so sweet. Well, I actually need to sell my little brother $50 because he asked for it because he's getting a custom hoodie made for himself. So that's my update with my siblings. And Sophia left Europe today. My sister.

[Kai]

How was that?

[Akilah Hughes]

It was so fun. It was Sophia's first time leaving the country. She got to leave because I got to do a brand trip with Reformation. They flew, like, me and my friends out. It was Orion, Rain, Saba Sully, and Sophia and I. And it was really fun. It was Sophia's first time out of the country. She had to get a passport and everything.

[Kai]

So sick.

[Akilah Hughes]

And it was just so funny. Like, it's literally just so funny. Also, it was interesting spending, like, that long of a period of time with my friends and Sophia. Like, at least my girlfriends, because Sophia spent a long time with you, but, like, that was their first time all seeing me and Sophia around each other. And they were cracking it because they were like, dude, it's so crazy how similar y' all are. Like, the way you talk, like, the way you, like, move around a space. Like, siblings are literally the same.

[Kai]

I know, I know, I know. Was she, like, cleaning yalls hotel rooms the whole time, Bruh?

[Akilah Hughes]

Of course.

[Kai]

Yeah. Literally, when she comes to our house, she is cleaning 90 of the time. And it, like, got to a point where I, like, was, like, having to, like, reprimand her. I was like, you need to stop cleaning my house. Like, literally. Like, I appreciate it so much, but, like, please scroll on your iPhone and rock, because this is a vacation for you.

[Akilah Hughes]

I mean, oh, my God. Even in Italy, we were staying at this villa, and, like, a lot of

[Kai]

Europeans, a bombshell is into the villa.

[Akilah Hughes]

Actually, we met the son of the owner of the Villa. It's. Her name is Fiona. She is technically a princess because she inherited this castle in Italy.

[Kai]

Oh, my God.

[Akilah Hughes]

And it's like one of those situ. It was one of those setups where I was like, oh, my God, you are so fancy. But then it's like, oh, come to find out, it's kind of like the people who raised me where it's like, oh, are y' all family working together? What's happening? But we met the son, and he was super fucking funny and lit. And so now we're hoping to go back and chill in his bill up. While we were there, that guy, like, the. The son of the woman, like, on this property, there was a house further off, like, past the vineyard. And then there was a house we were staying in. And like, Reformation has this villa for a month and is having different groups of girls go into it. And we were one of the groups. While we're there, this guy gets there, and literally, also, I think, like, Europeans in general are really misogynistic. Like, America does have, like, the front where, like, although it's really misogynistic in America, we are, like, forward thinkers in a lot of ways culturally. So in general, like, immediately, the women were like, I guess this guy is a fucking slut. Because, like, what? They thought he was going to, like, run through y'. All, run through us whole time. We were like, bro, you were such a vibe. Like, also, all of us, like, have our partners and shit. Like, what? No one's interested in this motherfucker. But the women who worked there, literally the last day we were there, we had to leave that villa at, like, 9am because the next group was. And we were trying to figure out what we were going to do all day because our flights weren't until later in the day. And then this guy was like, oh, you guys could just come and chill. Go chill at that house, because I have to go pick up my friend from the airport. Like, we're fine. Like, just go chill at that house. Those women literally, like, all day, we were cracking up. Because I'm like, those women at that house, it felt like their thinking was like, they are going to cover the house in comb because they are all going to be fucking each other. Like, that's what it felt like. Like, all of them were just, like, being so rational. The son of the woman whose house we were staying at, he is a twin of a sister. So him and his sister are twins, and his parents are both identical twins. So his mom is an identical twin, and his dad is an identical twin. And they got together, had kids, and had a twin, a set of twins. Isn't that crazy? When he was telling me that, I was like, holy shit. And then I was like, are you close with your sister? Because I like, my best friend is a twin. And we're always talking about, like, we were just talking about earlier that day how twins are always so close to each other. And he was like, no, we are not that close. And I was like, oh, my God. It's because he's straight.

[Kai]

Yeah, literally.

[Akilah Hughes]

It's because he's a straight guy and his sister is like a straight, normal girl. So they're not.

[Kai]

So are they, like, super wealthy?

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah, so maybe that's also it, I guess. I. I do think wealthy, really wealthy people of that nature technique, like, for the most part, aren't as close to

[Kai]

their family because they, like, it's competition for the. The. The will.

[Akilah Hughes]

Who's getting.

[Kai]

Nabila, what's your favorite part of your trip so far?

[Akilah Hughes]

My favorite part of my trip has been. That's actually such a question. Honestly, the funniest day we've had was the travel day of leaving la, because it was the ones of us based in la, so it was Saba, Sally, Rain, Orion and I all at the airport and doing this full travel day together, which is just like a really funny group to be, be at or be with. We got to Germany, we had a layover that got canceled. We, like, landed in Germany and then all got a text our phone that I was like, good morning, your flight is canceled. Like, that was all I said. It was like, your shit's done. So then we spent seven hours in the Germany airport, and while we were there, we went to a restaurant and we all got wiener. And Rain was so excited to eat her shit. And she was like, no, they. They make good ass. Like, wiener central here. It's so good. And she was, like, eating the fuck out of it. And she finishes and she's looking at her plate. She's like, there's a worm on my plate. And there was like the tiniest little, like, worm, literally, and it was move. It was dancing its ass off. It was like

[Kai]

pin worms. And it's all up in her butthole now. Digging in her butt?

[Akilah Hughes]

No, no, I. We think it's from the sprouts. Okay. But actually, the craziest part is the waiter came back over and he was like, well, it is very normal because we are serving sprouts. We can't kill everything in the sprouts. And we Were like, did y' all

[Kai]

get your money back?

[Akilah Hughes]

No, they just gave. Like, they gave. They just took the dish off of the receipt. So we had to pay for all the other dishes. And we just did it for Rain's worm, bro. Like, what? Just ate a worm. Like, why are we paying? But I think that was honestly one of my favorite days because it was just so, like, literally her reaction.

[Kai]

And I know y' all were delirious,

[Akilah Hughes]

and so also, we just talked about the worm the whole trip. We were like, bro, you ate a worm. Shut up. You're acting mad weird because you ate that worm last week.

[Kai]

She literally has worms in her brain.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, she does. Any.

[Kai]

Any behavior that's abnormal, I'm gonna just say, baby, that's their worm. The worm, Singular. Worm in your brain.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh. And my other favorite day was probably, like, yesterday or the day before because we stay at this hotel next to Hyde park, which is, like, a huge, fancy park, and. What? It's nuts. Oh, my God. Like, this was too lit. I was literally just, like, in the lounge.

[Kai]

That big ass camera around.

[Akilah Hughes]

I know.

[Kai]

Has it been so fun? Has it been hard traveling around with it?

[Akilah Hughes]

No, but it just sucks because I think I can say this, but not socks. I'm very grateful for this trip, but I was on this trip because I do have a shoe that I'm working on with Reformation, but the shoes weren't there in time, so. What? It did feel kind of funny to have that camera because I was, like, kind of just playing around. Like I wasn't doing anything.

[Kai]

Like you're practicing.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah, true, true. It did feel. Actually. I did learn how to use it really well, which was nice. What was I looking? Oh, my God. I found the craziest tree ever. Drew. The greatest tree of all time.

[Kai]

Let me see her.

[Akilah Hughes]

Just wait.

[Kai]

Are you kidding me?

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my God. Whoa. And then today, I went back and I was laying on top of it because when we were there, we went,

[Kai]

like, two days in a row crazy in that tree, bro.

[Akilah Hughes]

You can literally climb it and get, like, on top of that huge hut tree.

[Kai]

The reason it's growing so well is because of all the gay calm on

[Akilah Hughes]

the floor, all the semen. All the semen is going into the soil and growing into the tree. That's actually why I've been growing so strong, is because on this trip, I was making all my friends come, making them squirt into a jar, and it was kind of like my moonshine, because we did get to Italy during the full moon, but it was really Beautiful. I did. Oh, my God. I did control the room. I started my period in Italy and then, like, Domino.

[Kai]

The girls. The girls sing. The girls synced. Oh, my God.

[Akilah Hughes]

My powerful pussy controlled the room.

[Kai]

Oh, my God.

[Akilah Hughes]

Everyone synced to my powerful pussy.

[Kai]

I finally got to gamble, and I walked away with 12 extra dollars. I was up $130 at one point, and then I got down to $20, and then I got up to $12.

[Akilah Hughes]

I just don't like. Nothing about gambling intrigues me. But also, I think we all know I just have an issue with numbers. So, like, I don't really understand it.

[Kai]

Didn't, like, intrigue me either. But, like, everyone, like, since I was solo, like, people would not be able to gamble. And then everyone has their kids, so they would be able to break away for, like, 30 minutes and then didn't want to do it alone, so I would just, like, join them. My dad walked away with money. Jared walked away with money. Brandon walked away with money. And Madeline and Steven lost everything. Tragically, they lost their house on the boat.

[Akilah Hughes]

Luna get to stepping that. Luna gets a posting.

[Kai]

Yeah. That college tuition is gone. There was also, like, probably my favorite part of the trip was having a balcony in my room alone. Because I've never really gotten to do this, but I've heard about it a lot. But I would sit in the morning butt ass naked on my balcony and sit in the chair with my legs up over the railing with my butthole

[Akilah Hughes]

and balls to the sun.

[Kai]

Towards the sun. And I got to sun my butthole, and I got a sunburn on my balls. I sunburned my balls, and I was so pissed, and my balls itched so bad. I know it's good now. It's good now.

[Akilah Hughes]

But, like, nasty.

[Kai]

I had itchy balls. There were also, like, a bunch of. Oh, wait, they were LGBTQIA plus.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, my God.

[Kai]

Because it was on the boat, I guess. Or just, like, in general. Like, I don't know. They promote, like, sex on cruises.

[Akilah Hughes]

Like, did you know gay people are allowed on cruises? We're gathering them all in one room if you want to look at them

[Kai]

tonight in the bamboo room. Meet up in the bamboo room.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, in the intrusive species room. In the intrusive species room.

[Kai]

It. That's what I was saying. But me and Stephen. I'm not woke, by the way. Me and Steven told my whole family that we were gonna go to the lgbt because we actually were gonna go. And I had, like, alarms set and everything, but we decided to gamble instead. But we did, like, kind of go to the meetup spot, and there wasn't a soul there, which is hilarious, because, like, what.

[Akilah Hughes]

Why are you trying to put a target on their back? The. Like, it's not. Baby, this is not Bushwick, and we're in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico with a cruise departing from Texas.

[Kai]

Yeah. No, it's not a safe space, baby. It was not a safe space at all on that ship. Except all of the ice skaters. Oh, there was an ice skating rink on the ship, and I got the ice skate on a boat.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, your parents got it like that.

[Kai]

The Mariner of the Seas, baby. And there was a show that was honestly, like, so sick. Like, a ice skating show that they did. And we. My family and I went twice because it was actually really cool. But all the ice skates.

[Akilah Hughes]

I mean, also, your dad is infamously gay. So, like, if there is a gay act, if there is gay theater of any spectrum for your dad to go

[Kai]

and witness, he's there, baby.

[Akilah Hughes]

He's seated and front row VIP package.

[Kai]

And did. Because this took us to the musical on the boat because there was also a theater, and we watched theater on the boats. But there were so many things I didn't get to do. There was an escape room. There was.

[Akilah Hughes]

It's kind of crazy. Timothy Chalamet had the nerve to say the theater is dying when your dad is still alive.

[Kai]

He's still alive. Actually keeping the theater alive.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, I'm not kidding. Like, I. I'm not joking when I say Drew Phillips father is keeping the economy that is musical theater afloat. Like.

[Kai]

Like, we're going to New York to go to two shows that he's been wanting to see in July.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, and you think it's two? That's cute.

[Kai]

I know. I know.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, that's cute. That's cute.

[Kai]

That's how he's probably six, seven. Then we also. I thought we got off the boat on the 9th. And so my flight I booked for the 9th because you have to get off the boat at, like, 7:00am and then I was like, oh, I can book my flight for.

[Akilah Hughes]

Damn, they clean house quick as 7am

[Kai]

they will throw you overboard if you're not off by 7:00am like, they don't play. But we actually got off on the 8th. So I had an extra day in Houston and I went to the NASA museum and got really emotional looking at the Saturn 5 rocket because I was like, wow, indomitable human spirit. Like, I don't know if that shit's real. I choose to Believe it is.

[Akilah Hughes]

But, I mean, there's something so beautiful about, like. Were you alone in Houston? Oh, I thought you went there alone. Because I was gonna be like, oh, when I was. Last time I was left alone in the state was New York. I was there alone, and I went to the Jim Henson Museum by myself, and I got very emotional, and I was like, wow, just two people looking at what they love.

[Kai]

I know, space and rockets and puppets. And then what else do we got going on? Oh, to get really serious. Unironically, this cruise actually healed something deep in my inner child with, like, my family. And, like, I think, like, a really big sign of equality is comedy and being able to laugh at yourself and your issues and being able to, like, make jokes with. With people about what you got going on to an extent, obviously. And normally, like, being gay is kind of, like, off limits. With my family, it's just like. It's not that, like, they're homophobic. It's just, like, we don't talk about.

[Akilah Hughes]

It's like, the unspoken thing. Yeah.

[Kai]

Yeah, exactly. But it's not like I feel unsafe or unloved. Like, obviously that's, like, not true. But we were just, like, making jokes the whole time about me being gay, and it actually felt so good to, like, also, like. Like, there was, like, moments where, like, I. I think, like, a big part of being a boy growing up gay is, like, missing out on those, like, moments of, like, quote unquote locker room talk or just, like, hanging out with straight boys and, like, yeah, they have those conversations, and for better or for worse. And I do think having straight friends as an adult gay man is really important, because I do it. It heals a lot of those parts that were neglected as a child. But I got to, like, just have moments like that with, like, my brothers, and it was just, like, really fun and cute, and it felt very safe and sweet. St. That's really sweet.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, I had a panic attack because

[Kai]

I love Tuesday at Taco Belt.

[Akilah Hughes]

I. One of the night, I, Sophia, and I. Oh, my God, my eye. We all, like, actually, all of us were just drinking, and I got really up. I got so drunk because I was drinking apple martinis, which I've never had, and I've decided is the best slash, most dangerous drink I've ever had in my goddamn life, because I was, like, chugging them, and before I knew it. I don't know how many I had, but I was really drunk, and I started crying because I loved Sophia. And then I spiraled into a panic attack. Because I couldn't stop crying because I was so drunk. And then I just. It just turned into me like having a panic attack. That was just a panic attack from the fact that I couldn't control myself from crying. And it was really funny because the next day I woke up and I looked like I got punched in the head 18 times.

[Kai]

Damn, were you super hungover?

[Akilah Hughes]

No, that's the thing is I wasn't hungover and I'm like, oh my God, did I like cry? I think I had stayed up so long through my panic attack or. I don't know, I think like literally, you know when you cry a lot and then the next day you just feel generally like, my eyes, you've seen me after a cry like this, like when the unders of my eye are just like puffy. I was looking like that and I didn't feel hungover at all. So guys, if you ever drink a lot and you want to avoid a hangover, give yourself a panic attack. Yes, it could be like me and come from a positive place. At least the start of it. And then it will make you laugh even.

[Kai]

You'll even laugh about it. Oh yeah, wait, we didn't talk about back shots at all. Like the movie. I saw it. I was not expecting that much sex in that movie. Like they were like. And sucking all through the back rooms.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, because that's what the back rooms like, originally it starts from 4chan. From like, like a back shot. Like, like an actual back. Like a picture of a back shot in a back room. And then it was like, this is beautiful. Because it's like back to back.

[Kai]

Back shots. I feel like they should have like

[Akilah Hughes]

a back shot in the back room.

[Kai]

I feel like they should have called it the dark room because.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, because that's for. That would get confused with like film photography. Dark rooms.

[Kai]

Oh, you're right. Yeah. But the, the sex scenes were honestly really hot. I wish there was more gay representation. Especially because it's June friend that's too poke vibes.

[Akilah Hughes]

But. But

[Kai]

yeah, it was cool.

[Akilah Hughes]

Have you actually seen backrooms, either of you?

[Kai]

Yeah, I watched it. I really liked it.

[Akilah Hughes]

I haven't seen. That was cool.

[Kai]

Yeah, I think the hate that it's getting. I'm like, wait, what hate is it getting? Dude? I've been seeing like so much. Like I've seen so many people just say it's like plain bad. And I'm like, girl, come on, it's not meant to be a fucking masterpiece, you fucking idiots. And like, also mind you, he directed it when he was 19 years old. Which, like, that's already a joke in and of itself. Like, what the. But that's like, so insane. Like, give the man, like, a little

[Akilah Hughes]

bit of the man that's still a boy.

[Kai]

The man that's still a boy. But I've been seeing a lot of he. And he was 20 years old memes on the Internet. And it's like, it's. It's become its own beast. But, yeah, I thought it was great. I still haven't seen Obsession by Ventura.

[Akilah Hughes]

Trying to think if I've watched any movies. I didn't watch any movies. I read half of a book that I really like. I'm gonna finish it. I read this book. It's great fiction. Black Swan Green. I can't think of the author right now, but it's great. It's fiction. Damn, Kai, you loving that soda.

[Kai]

He's calorie counting. Look, there's actual bits of caca in it. Of kaka. Yep, there's poop in there. I got to pay. Page 22 and I'll never touch it again. It was too brainy for me. And I always pack a book when I go on, like, vacations, and I'm like, I don't know who that person is that's packing because, like, I am not reading a book on vacation. I'm not reading a book, period.

[Akilah Hughes]

I can't lie. I. I do read books on vacation. I'm just really interesting like that. Like, I just have this kind of mind that works. Oh, my God. Kai wants to be me so bad.

[Kai]

No, I don't. Okay, finished it.

[Akilah Hughes]

It's a little, tiny book.

[Kai]

Yeah, it's about. It's about basically, like, the Internet and the Dark Forest theory. So, Josh, at least you're learning something.

[Akilah Hughes]

My book is literally fictional. It's great. It's amazing. But it's a fictional recounting of. Actually. You guys would love this. It's a. It's the first book I've read by a man in a long time. And it's essentially supposed to be kind of like a fictional diary catalog of, like a 13 year old boy. And it's really good. And it's actually making me think, oh, my God, maybe boys have thoughts too.

[Kai]

Oh, that's an interesting theory. Wait, that's actually cool.

[Akilah Hughes]

And, like, maybe guys think about things. What? Like, that's crazy.

[Kai]

I think it's like the division, like red and blue, left and right, boy and girl. They want us hating each other because if we're united, oh, we will stop having babies. And who's gonna rule? Who? Who's who? Who are they going to rule over if we have stop having babies?

[Akilah Hughes]

Who's we? Who the. Is we having the babies, man?

[Kai]

Drew.

[Akilah Hughes]

You and Drew are going to have a baby.

[Kai]

We're going to keep trying until it happens. Y' all better. You better pray. You better pray that doesn't happen, because if that happens, since y' all are done, y' all are over.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, I'm kind of obsessed with how much, like, you said that with so much authenticity. Kai, you really do want a kid with Drew. Okay, well, my media of the week is the Feeling by Steve Lacy. That's literally one of the only songs I've been listening to.

[Kai]

This. The new album is so good.

[Akilah Hughes]

Me rolling my eyes because I didn't get to hear it.

[Kai]

So he is a hit maker. And I don't know if that's, like, a good thing to say about an actual artist, but, like, I think the music is genuinely.

[Akilah Hughes]

I don't think that's a bad thing to say.

[Kai]

Hits. Well, I told him that, and he, like, was like, no, I'm not. And, like, kind of said it like it was offensive. And I was like, no, you make, like, masterpieces that also are digestible. Like, I think that's the hardest thing you can do as an artist is, like, make media that is good.

[Akilah Hughes]

And also, also, I'm like, his media at this point. What he makes is so digestible because he's, like, front runner of that.

[Kai]

Like, you're right. Yeah.

[Akilah Hughes]

That, like, whole sector.

[Kai]

Did you see Big Red was at the Daniel Caesar concert? Not Daniel Caesar. Don Toliver concert.

[Akilah Hughes]

Big red.

[Kai]

Big Red. E85 when I'm tripping on the highway.

[Akilah Hughes]

And no, I'm saying, but who the fuck is Big Red?

[Kai]

He's one of the Doherty Dozen on Tik Tok. And, like, he's having, like, a moment on the Internet and people. He's, like, the most purchased cameo user ever. He's, like, number one on the leaderboards. You've seen Big Red on your feed. I know y' all have.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, I haven't been on my phone unironically. My screen time is so low.

[Kai]

He's like, a ginger, and he's like, an adopted kid and the durgarty dozen and people clown on him. And he does make, like, really cringy content, but he's free, and there's something really special about that. And then, like, a clip of him from when he. When he was, like, really young surfaced of him Being like, yeah, like I was like adopted and it was really bad and the system's really terrible. And he's actually like a kind of like an activist for adoption, making it better. But he single handedly. Actually this is so annoying to say it's not true, but I was going to say he single handedly revived Don Toliver's career when like, like Don Tolliver is already a super, is literally one

[Akilah Hughes]

of the biggest artists on the planet.

[Kai]

Yeah, let me make sure I'm saying the right. I think this one's E85. Yeah.

[Akilah Hughes]

No, on the Highway. And I'm thinking about whenever.

[Kai]

You played Big Red played a very big role into making that song what it is today. Like it makes like 10 videos a day to it. Dude. No, all of them have like millions and millions and millions of. Of likes. And like when he brought. When Don Toliver brought out Malcolm Todd, people were at Madison Square Garden. People were pissed. They were like, dude, wait, Don Toliver

[Akilah Hughes]

brought out Malcolm Todd?

[Kai]

Yeah. And he like played the guitar on E85 at Madison Square Garden. Yeah, but my media is meant to be. Cunt sniffer. See you next Tuesday, Kesha in Witching Hour. XXYX and there's another one that I can't say out loud because it's really sad, but I'll tell you all after. And then I saw back shots. It was great. And then I watched like the Crash and that like Netflix like documentary about that girl that like.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh my God, I watched that too. That was one of the last things I watched before I left la.

[Kai]

Yeah, we like. But the thing is, is I've like known about that case forever and I had no idea that they were making a documentary on it. But like, because I remember you and I watching it like years ago, like right when it happened. I got at least the body cam footage and the hospital room footage of like her parents finding out like all that stuff like was on EUW or whatever that.

[Akilah Hughes]

Oh, I don't know if I saw that or maybe we did.

[Kai]

I think we, we watched like a video on it. But like she did it, right? Like she did that on purpose.

[Akilah Hughes]

I mean, bro, whether she did that on purpose or not. Lock them up.

[Kai]

There's been like footage after the fact of her like talking in jail with her mom and dad. And like her mom, the first thing she says every time she answers the phone, she's like, these calls are recorded so don't say anything about whatever. And like it's really dark. And then like there was like this Clip.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, I think her parents suck dick and balls. Because anybody who doesn't parent their kid in general. Yeah, you're gonna make a kid who's a rambunctious piece of degenerate who has no value for any other life because they don't even value their own life because their parents aren't watching them. Because, like, I'm so sorry. If you have a child who is smoking a bong in your house and you know about it, kill everyone in the house.

[Kai]

And the thing is, like, There's also clips, like, I think she just really, like, wanted to be famous. Like, I think that was like, her whole shtick. Like, I don't know. I. I mean, I'm sure that was talked about in the documentary a lot, but I can't remember. But a clip of her came out telling her mom while she was in jail to, like, change her bio to, like, hashtag free. I'm forgetting her name. Like, hashtag. Like, she.

[Akilah Hughes]

Mackenzie.

[Kai]

Yeah, Free mackenzie. Like, she didn't do it and all this. And the mom was like, I don't think that's like, a good look to do that right now. And the daughter was, like, getting pissed at her mom, and she was like, get a Facebook group started. Like, a Free McKinsey Facebook group started. And I was like, dude.

[Akilah Hughes]

Also, no, like, the craziest thing of that to me is I'm like, this isn't even. Shouldn't even be up for discussion, bro. If you get in a car and you put people in danger, especially you're like, up driving people around, yeah, you're gonna pay the price because somebody else just had to. Because you wanted to not give a. About your own soul, let alone someone else's. And like, bro, that kind of. I'm like, I don't even give a if she meant to do it or not. First of all, I think she's crazy. Second of all, I think. I think the proper legal movements that should be made is the parents should have the legal ability to go and visit her in jail whenever they want. Not her parents, the other parents. And beat the living out of her whenever they feel the need to. And that's why I think if the country was run under my watch, this

[Kai]

shit would burn down in half a second.

[Akilah Hughes]

Everything would be perfect.

[Kai]

I actually believe that.

[Akilah Hughes]

Okay, well, I'm gonna go because it's 9:37 and I need to eat.

[Kai]

Are you sure you need to eat?

[Akilah Hughes]

Honestly, I've been thinking about that. I kind of have been pushing it. I've been eating like two meals a day.

[Kai]

That. Yeah, you need to get that down to half of a meal.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, I was thinking down to like negative two.

[Kai]

I was thinking of like doing a bunch of cardio.

[Akilah Hughes]

Yeah.

[Kai]

Yes. No, baby, go eat that pasta. Go eat that disgusting ass London food.

[Akilah Hughes]

I know.

[Kai]

Wait, wait, one last, last thing. The video of the girl, the guy asking the girl like, what is the

[Akilah Hughes]

best food in the world?

[Kai]

And she's like, the UK and everyone, like, everyone's like, no, it's not. She's like, it's opinions based. I'm like, yeah, actually, you know what, you're right. It is opinions based. It is objectively the most disgusting food in the world. You're allowed to like that uk.

[Akilah Hughes]

Like, like, the thing is, I genuinely think she has to be talking about the other people who make food here that are popular, which is like, has to be like Persians or Indians and stuff. Like maybe in her head that's like the food of the uk because that's quite literally the only edible food here is from all the other regions that come here and dominate it.

[Kai]

Because, like, I also think she's. I mean, obviously just by looking at her, she's a Dan and Phil Stan. So I'm assuming

[Akilah Hughes]

not allowed to eat food of flavor.

[Kai]

Yeah. I think she saw Dan and Phil cooking videos and just thought all the food looked like that. I love Dan and Phil.

[Akilah Hughes]

And it's crazy how you could be born destined to be a Dan and Phil fan. Like if you're born at a certain time in your charts, we need to look at the charts of everybody who's like a Die Hard.

[Kai]

Not too much. Not too much. Because I was a fan.

[Akilah Hughes]

Don't look through my history because you're gonna see all the red bars through all the videos. When you look through somebody's channel and all of the red bars are showing.

[Kai]

Yeah. I was deep in the closet as they were. Dan and Phil Stan. The fact that they were in a relationship the whole time is so.

[Akilah Hughes]

It's so beautiful. Also, like, there is something so magical about like, we need to bring that back of like, there was an era specifically of the Internet where the gay man was really the ruling kind. Because I guess that's actually most.

[Kai]

I think it's still that today women

[Akilah Hughes]

just love gay men.

[Kai]

It's because they see all the parts that they want their boyfriend.

[Akilah Hughes]

Well, it's because gay men are the closest men can get to being humans.

[Kai]

Yeah. And it's still like kind of far.

[Akilah Hughes]

And it's still like, nah, I'm playing I love my games.

[Kai]

Better jockey something.

[Akilah Hughes]

Poop out of a jock strap.

[Kai]

Yeah, I went to I accidentally on New Year's Eve went to a circuit party in downtown la and if you know anything about circuit parties, it's just like dudes all basically naked, sweating and doing a bunch of drugs and they're all super ripped and strong and it's mostly white people. And I went to this party on accident and everyone was in jock straps and I was in like a suit, my Issey Miyake suit. And the person I was with was also dressed to the nines and so we stood out like sore thumbs and everyone was pooping out of there. It smelled like poop out of a jock strap. Like someone squatted down and pooped out of the back of their jock strap and then everyone stepped in it and tracked it across the attracted across the building.

[Akilah Hughes]

Pooping a jock strap is the nastiest. You pill popping ass. Pooping in a jock strap ass.

[Kai]

Okay, bye guys. Love y'. All.

[Akilah Hughes]

Bye. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.