ANNA KONKLE Got Caught In A Camping Tornado

Summary

Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers

Episode: Anna Konkle Got Caught In A Camping Tornado

Date: May 12, 2026
Guests: Anna Konkle (creator/star of PEN15, author of “The Sane One”)
Hosts: Seth Meyers & Josh Meyers

Episode Overview

This episode welcomes writer/actor Anna Konkle, known for her work on "PEN15" and her new memoir "The Sane One," for a deep dive into family trips, childhood memories, intergenerational weirdness, and the disasters—comic and otherwise—of group camping in Vermont. The joyful chaos of Anna’s childhood is explored through stories about a decades-long camping tradition, the trauma of a camping tornado, and the comic reality of splitting holidays during her parents’ divorce. The conversation moves with warmth, honesty, and plenty of laughs about generational quirks, the yearning to belong, and the funny pain of growing up in a not-quite-normal family.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Family Check-In and Marblehead Miscue (00:23-08:14)

• Hosts recap family travel updates: Seth and Josh riff on their parents’ travel vlogs from Morocco and the comedic dynamic between their mom and dad in these videos.
  • "Mom looks a little bit like a hostage in these videos." – Seth (01:14)
• Corrections department: The brothers revisit a previous geographical gaffe (“Marblehead, New Hampshire”) and chuckle about going viral for a Boston town meeting clip on housing policy.
  • "Are we just kind of being pricks?" – viral Boston guy quoted by Seth (04:29)

2. Introducing Anna Konkle (08:34)

• Anna remembers her and Maya’s first late night experience with Seth and the nerves of talk show debuts.
  • “You were Maya and I’s first late night experience. I was so scared and you were so nice.” – Anna (08:46)
• Anna shares her creative origins: meeting Maya Erskine in Amsterdam during a two-month experimental theater program, bankrolled by a single line in a Subway commercial.
  • “I just did it.” – Anna, recreating her Subway ad (10:16)
  • “There aren’t a lot of us left...you had to be a certain brand of delusional.” – Anna, on child actors who keep trying (11:28)

3. Vermont Roots, Massachusetts Moves, and Bear Memories (14:11-17:25)

• Anna grew up in hippie Vermont (Randolph, Montpelier), then moved to Scituate, Massachusetts, describing the cultural shift from “crystals and energy work” to Irish Catholic WASPiness.
• Anna and the hosts reminisce about New England kid attractions, with a funny tangent about bear rescues vs. bear exploitation (“Clark’s trained bears”).

4. The Legendary Vermont Camping Tradition (24:40-31:30)

• For over 40 years, Anna’s family (and up to 10 other families) gathered for an annual camping trip in Vermont—a tradition now spanning three generations.
  • "It's pretty special. And our daughter is getting this really neat experience because we live in LA." – Anna (29:18)
• “How do 10 families stay friends for 40 years?” – Seth (26:25)
  • Anna reveals drama among grownups (business deals gone bad), but as a kid it just felt magical.
• Anna’s family’s hippie quirks—crystals, makeshift chiropractic work—embarrassed her (especially post-move), but it’s a core piece of her story.

5. The Camping Tornado and Childhood Trauma (30:01-31:53)

• Anna recounts a dramatic camping memory: a thunderstorm escalates into a hailstorm and a “mini tornado,” sending the communal tent flying and traumatizing her young daughter.
  • "People...my mom was singing to make our daughter not sad and crying, ‘Rain, rain, go away,’ like, in her face. And she—our daughter had PTSD, truly." – Anna (31:01)

6. The RV Years: “Hollywood Has Changed Me” (32:02-33:31)

• Anna admits to “going soft” by renting an RV, delivered to the site, instead of pitching a tent with the Vermonters.
  • "The first one I ordered was too long...I'm like, absolutely. We don't need the second living room. It’s great." – Anna (32:48)
  • "Hollywood has changed me, basically." – Anna (32:42)

7. Traditions, Boundaries, and Feeding the Commune (33:40-35:26)

• The trip has no forced activities (by design), but each family cooks dinner for all—a logistical feat for 30-40 people.
• Anna’s tips: taco bowls work, pasta and meatballs…not so much.
  • "Did it from scratch. Not a great idea." – Anna (34:52)
  • Seth riffs on Anna’s Subway chops to serve up taco bowls ("Sure." – Anna, parodying her Subway line, 35:21)

8. Divorce Logistics—Splitting Houses and Holidays (37:16-38:50)

• Anna’s parents divorced during her teen years; her dad bowed out of camping trips and Anna describes bittersweet logistics (sometimes divorced parents split the camping week).
  • “Camping was more him than my mom…he taught me to fish, he had the canoe…then, yeah, for a while camping became sad because…it kind of blew for a bit.” – Anna (38:12)
• Anna recalls the surreal years when her divorced parents literally split the house in two, waiting for a judge’s decision.

9. The Bahamas Cruise: Complications and Sunburn (39:22-42:10)

• Anna’s dad tries to compensate with a solo father-daughter Carnival cruise, resulting in joy mixed with guilt (leaving mom at home), and a painful sunburn with high hopes of returning “hot and cool.”
  • “My dad didn’t make me wear sunscreen…turns out, no, I got…I wore oil 3 SPF.”—Anna (40:10)
  • “I thought there was gonna be this reveal when you walked back in…like, I’m coming back with…a solitary cornrow…we’re gonna turn this thing around.” – Seth (42:10)

10. Comic Reflections on Only Child Life (43:29-44:13)

• Anna, functionally an only child, shares how the need to make friends (and be humiliated) builds resilience.
  • Accidentally triggers a “thumbs up” emoji: “While you were saying…you accidentally just thumbs up yourself.” – Seth (44:04)

11. PEN15, Maya, and Creative Collaboration (44:44-45:36)

• Anna didn’t know Maya Erskine at NYU; bonded during their Amsterdam program, leading to creative partnerships and ultimately PEN15.
  • "I had more of a talent crush…then, yeah, we slowly became friends…” – Anna (45:17)
  • Seth: “Events had to line up to put you guys together is really cool.” (45:24)

12. Reflections on Parenting, Travel, and Generational Change (53:17-58:14)

• Anna marvels at how much her daughter has traveled, compared to her own childhood.
  • “When I left the country…20 or something. My dad never got to go to Europe.” – Anna (53:17)
• On her memoir ("The Sane One"): Anna describes reconciling with her estranged father and caring for him at the end of his life.
  • “We got to exchange letters…and mend things.” – Anna (55:14)
  • “Both my parents are such characters…sometimes I wish they weren’t.” (55:47)
• Writing her memoir was four years of challenge, catharsis, and self-discovery.
  • “My therapist said it would be cathartic—I was like ‘No, it’s not…this is torture’—but it ended up being a really neat journey.” – Anna (57:19)

13. Speed Round! (61:48-64:09)

• Ideal vacation? “Adventurous.”
• Favorite transportation? “A train.”
• Dream vacation family? “The Bundys.” (62:13)
• Desert island companion? “My cousin Jesse.”
• Dream family destination? “India.”
• Hometown pride? Montpelier, VT; great cross-country skiing, bookstores, crepes; “people…are nice for the most part.” (63:28)
• Bookstore trips with kids: everyone laments how fast kids tire of things that seemed magical as a kid.

14. Grand Canyon = Couple Goals (66:51-67:19)

• “Couples that go to the Grand Canyon together are meant to be together.” – Seth (67:13)
• Anna and her partner Alex’s Grand Canyon visit as relationship milestone.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Dad’s travel vlogs:
  “Mom looks a little bit like a hostage in these videos.” – Seth (01:14)
• On enduring showbiz rejection:
  "There aren’t a lot of us left…you had to be a certain brand of delusional." – Anna (11:28)
• On generational New England:
  “I feel like our grandparents were like that a little bit. But our parents weren’t.” – Seth (25:46)
• On childhood weirdness:
  “My mom would be like, ‘Oh, you hurt your ankle. Come here.’ And then, you know, kind of float her hands over my friend’s ankle…and they would leave, they’re Catholic, they’re like, ‘This is wrong.’” – Anna (27:50)
• Mini tornado trauma:
  “My mom was singing to make our daughter not sad and crying, ‘Rain, rain, go away,’ like, in her face. And she—our daughter had PTSD, truly.” – Anna (31:01)
• On losing the camping “edge”:
  "Hollywood has changed me, basically." – Anna (32:42)
• Divorce logistics:
  “They split the house...for two years while they waited for the judge to make a decision…” – Anna (39:02)
• Teen cruise hopes dashed:
  “My dad didn’t make me wear sunscreen…turns out, no, I got…I wore oil 3 SPF.” – Anna (40:13)
• Memoir soul-searching:
  “It ended up being a really neat journey. There were obvious and not so obvious emotional positives…” – Anna (57:19)
• Mom’s reaction to the memoir:
  “She was incredibly supportive, but…‘I’m gonna move out of the universe. That’s fine.’” – Anna (60:09)
• Grand Canyon hot take:
  “Couples that go to the Grand Canyon together are meant to be together.” – Seth (67:13)

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Timestamps for Reference

• 08:34 – Anna joins the conversation
• 13:16 – On moving from musical theater to experimental theater
• 24:40 – Vermont camping tradition described
• 30:01 – The tornado camping disaster
• 32:02 – RV admission: “Hollywood has changed me”
• 37:16 – Parental divorce and its camping impact
• 39:22 – Bahamas cruise story
• 53:17 – Parenting and changes in family travel habits
• 54:06 – On writing about family: memoir process
• 61:48 – Speed Round
• 66:51 – Grand Canyon segment

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Episode Tone & Style

• Warm, conversational, tangential in the best way—story-driven and open.
• Anna balances humor and vulnerability, often laughing at her own quirks and family history.
• Seth and Josh riff and tease but always with empathy and curiosity.

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For Listeners: Why Hear This One?

If you love stories where family weirdness is worn proudly and you yearn for a dose of both humility and comic catharsis about how childhood shapes us, you’ll love this episode. Anna’s tales of Vermont camping, generational eccentricities, and hurricane-force family drama capture the heart and humor of growing up off-beat—and remind us that sometimes, surviving a tornado (literal or emotional) becomes the lore you cherish most.

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Transcript

[Seth]

From sauce to dust to nuggets. Diablo Dusted Crispy Chicken Nuggets. No, they don't come in mild. That would make, like zero sense with the name new Diablo Dusted Crispy Chicken Nuggets.

[Suvi]

Only at Taco bell.

[Seth]

At participating U.S. taco Bell locations for a limited time and while supplies last. Hey, Budgie Asuvi. How are you? I'm good. How are you?

[Suvi]

I'm good.

[Seth]

There's a family trip afoot in our family, but it's not either of us.

[Suvi]

No, I know. The videos are great.

[Seth]

Yeah. Dad's sending a lot of content. Dad is sending videos like he's a tiktoker who is making travel content.

[Suvi]

Yeah. They're currently in Morocco.

[Seth]

Yep.

[Suvi]

Yeah. Yeri and Hurry are in Morocco and the videos are like. It's always the two of them kind of their heads together and he sings a song. It's a very sort of mumble song about where they are and what they're doing. I do applaud them because he's doing it at a volume that wouldn't disturb anyone else that was walking by.

[Seth]

It does seem to be disturbing Mom a little.

[Suvi]

It does.

[Seth]

Mom. Mom looks a little bit like a hostage in these videos.

[Suvi]

I feel like it seems like she got cast in an ultra low, low budge sag picture and she's sort of a Meryl Streep and she's wondering, wait, how did I end up here? How did I end up.

[Seth]

She's not happy with her agent is what you're saying. Yeah, she's very much likes to be dad. Right. She's like, wait, how should not I have had to agree to this? Yeah. And, yeah. So, you know, just shout out to mom who's. Who's gutting it out. I don't know how much of a choice she's getting, but yeah. Yeah. I'm very excited. I almost feel like we should just have them on the pod to talk to them about. I mean, they're on such a. Such an adventure right now.

[Suvi]

Yeah. I mean, they're going to be there. They're going to Gibraltar. They're going somewhere else in Morocco. And then I feel like they're going to Spain, Portugal. They're doing it up.

[Seth]

They're doing it up. They're living their life. They're living their life. And God bless them, very happy for them. I'm. By the time you listen to this, I will have done a standup in Denver and Albuquerque. Get a drive from Denver to Albuquerque. I think I've told you that it's like a six hour drive. Google maps it real quick. And it's like three very. It's like, hey, it's either left, middle, right. Okay, yeah, like three. And so I say to my in laws, cuz I assume you know, they're from Albuquerque, they've maybe done that drive. I go, hey, which one of these is the prettiest? And Tom says, well, I think there's just one way to go. And I'm like, no, there's three. And he's like, I've only heard about the one. I'm like, nevermind. Like immediately I'm like, I want to talk to him. I don't want to talk about it anymore. And then he's like, well, I can ask around. I'm like, don't ask around. Like, I'm just like, I thought you knew. And now it's. And so then also he puts his daughter, he puts Alexi on this text chain. He literally sends. He goes, I asked around. And he sent me like directions. Like literally at some point it's like, turn right. I'm like, I'm not gonna read. When you see. And it's like also, I think he wrote it for like, it's like a three day vacation. It's like, then you can stop here. There's a really beautiful. I'm like, it's just. Which was the prettiest drive?

[Suvi]

Yeah.

[Seth]

And nevermind. Yeah, yeah. With that said, I think I'm gonna ask him to go to Santa Fe and put our name in at a restaurant like an hour before we get there. So I don't want to be too hard on them. Oh, that's right.

[Suvi]

They're there. They're back there.

[Seth]

Yeah, they're there. So they'll come to the show.

[Suvi]

Yeah, you're gonna see, it'll be all fun.

[Seth]

You know, I really stepped on a rake and booked this stand up at a bad time right before Mother's Day. Mother's Day, Yeah. But I think we're gonna survive. We're gonna survive it.

[Suvi]

Speaking of mothers, we made an error on a previous episode. We were just talking. I just, I think it was me. And just out of hand, I said Marblehead, New Hampshire, and you didn't correct me. I think that's how it went and we were just. Yeah. So of course Marblehead is Massachusetts.

[Seth]

Have you been seeing the Marblehead content that's been out in the world this week? No, Genuine. It's really great. There's. I guess it's about affordable housing in Marblehead and a law was passed that they have to build it. And there's been. It. It's like kind of tearing the town apart a little bit. But it went viral. Cuz there's just like a fantastic Boston guy at the town meeting who's like. I guess my question here is, are we just kind of being pricks? And it's really. He's just really great because he's very, he, he's very sweet. But then he also has that, you know, very authentic New England thing and. Yeah, I highly recommend watching it.

[Suvi]

Yeah. It's also good policy to consider sometimes your stance on public issues. You know, just maybe ask yourself that like, are we just.

[Seth]

Are we being.

[Suvi]

Just being pricks?

[Seth]

Well, he then did an interview where. And again, I would, you know, you and I were lucky enough to go to that incredibly beautiful city. And his point is like, we're the luckiest people in the world that we get to live here, so let's not be pricks about it.

[Suvi]

Yeah, it's kind of like, it's a very densely. It's like one of the most densely populated towns.

[Seth]

Yeah, I think that's one of the issues with housing. But I don't want to speak as an expert on the issue because I've really just watched the pricks clip.

[Suvi]

Yeah, I also, yeah, I'm just gonna say that I know it's in Massachusetts and it was our, our failing. And when mom hears that episode, she's gonna, she's. It's gonna bump for her.

[Seth]

Yeah. Probably not as much as it'll bum her out that she has to do like 12 more song videos with dad.

[Suvi]

The songs are like, dad's describing where they are and he's kind of mumble singing. And then mom kind of like joins him. Like she's trying to say the same words he's saying, but she doesn't know what he's about to say. Yeah, it's that thing of like when you're talking and someone just starts doing the same words to annoy you. But he'll be like, we're in Morocco and we're at a market and they have rugs and they have all textiles. And he's just. Yeah, and she's supposed to be going like textiles.

[Seth]

And it's hard. Cause she's gotta sing along with them. And also, you know, it's hard to focus when you've got like the butt end of a snub nosed, you know, pistol in your back. Do the video, do the video for the boys. Um, we'll have to play We'll. We'll cut together a highlight of. Of all their. Of all their hit songs. Yeah.

[Suvi]

We might have to get approval from mom's. From mom.

[Seth]

Not her agent.

[Suvi]

Her agent's gonna sign off on it.

[Seth]

How? Well, her agent. Her agents already did her dirty by booking around this gig. Yeah. So I'm trying to think of what else is going on. I might have some interesting travel coming up that I'm excited. That I'm excited to. To share.

[Suvi]

Oh, yeah, I definitely. I do too. Yeah.

[Seth]

That's great. So that's good. That's good for us. That's good for, you know, staying very much on theme. Yeah. With the pod. You know what, it's interesting when we have this podcast, I just did a pre interview for something and they were like, if you had to go on a family trip with these eight people, what would. I'm like, oh, right. Now that I have a family trip podcast, I have to be like. I can't be like, what?

[Suvi]

I don't know.

[Seth]

I don't know. Don't ask me that question.

[Suvi]

Who.

[Seth]

Who do you think I am? Oh, the host of family Trips. Right, right, right, right, right. Awesome. Well, this is a very fun episode. Anna Conkel, Anna Konkle. She's the best. Enjoy it.

[Suvi]

And you know her from pen15. Yep.

[Seth]

And she's got a great.

[Suvi]

She really new memoir.

[Seth]

But yeah, highly recommend. Thanks for listening everybody. Love you, Pashi.

[Suvi]

Love you too, Suvi.

[Anna Konkle]

Family trips with. Family trips with.

[Seth]

Here we go. Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Hi.

[Seth]

Hi.

[Suvi]

How are you, Anna?

[Anna Konkle]

I am fine. How are you? Good.

[Seth]

It's been a while. It's so lovely to see you.

[Anna Konkle]

You too. You. I was just thinking back on. You were Maya and I's first late night experience. I was so scared and you were so nice.

[Seth]

I'm so happy.

[Suvi]

He is so nice.

[Seth]

We do get a lot of.

[Suvi]

I can confirm being one of the.

[Seth]

Being the late show. You get a lot of first time talk show guests and I take that responsibility very seriously.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, we thank you. Made a big difference.

[Seth]

I did not realize that you and Maya. Is it true that you met in Amsterdam?

[Anna Konkle]

We did. We did meet in Amsterdam. It was like an experimental theater workshop for two months and it was great. I did mushrooms for the first time.

[Seth]

That's also a thing we did for the first time also in Amsterdam. We did less clowning.

[Suvi]

How do you pitch to your parents that you're gonna go for a two month experimental theater workshop and sell that through?

[Seth]

Had they already written question?

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, yeah. I mean the issue really began wanting to go to NYU for theater. And it was super expensive. Loans. We all got a ton of loans. And then I, many of us at Tisch figured out how to graduate a semester early, so that helped. But the real clincher, to be honest, was I got one line in a Subway commercial that was a national commercial.

[Seth]

Wow.

[Anna Konkle]

Thank you very much.

[Suvi]

Do you remember your line?

[Anna Konkle]

Sure.

[Seth]

Wait, was that your line?

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, I just did it.

[Suvi]

Yeah, no, I got it, I got it. I mean, I was thinking like, yeah, that's a. That's foot long.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, it was. The kind of flow of the commercial was like a little boy. I'm sure you wanted to know, this being like, can I have. Can I go to the park? Can I go bungee jumping? And the dad's like, no, no. Can I get honey mustard and pickles? Sure. I was the Subway artist, the sandwich artist, as they say, and I made a fair amount of money, and so that's how I got to go to this Amsterdam program, to be honest.

[Seth]

So wait, how old were you when you got that Subway ad?

[Anna Konkle]

I was. I think I was 19. But I had been auditioning in Boston because we moved.

[Seth]

We.

[Anna Konkle]

I'm from Vermont originally and we moved to Massachusetts. But yeah, I'd been auditioning in Boston for commercials since I was like 10 and never got one. So the Subway commercial was finally. I'd earned it at that point.

[Seth]

It's really impressive that you kind of stuck with wanting to be in the performing arts like I always want. You know, we don't talk about like the 10 year olds who like, are just met with disappointment for years and years and like, don't take it as a sign that it's not to be.

[Suvi]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

There aren't a lot of us left, I don't think. Yeah. You had to be like a certain brand of delusional.

[Seth]

No, it's so funny. Yeah, but we never like, auditioned for a. For stuff.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah.

[Seth]

Yeah. I mean, I'll.

[Suvi]

I'll say I've booked one commercial in my life and I, you know, I go out from them all the time and you keep. They keep you coming back. They keep you coming back to 200 South La Brea.

[Seth]

Man, oh man. Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, God, that waiting room.

[Seth]

Yeah, that. I will say, like, there's an interesting thing of like, being in a commercial because again, I auditioned for commercials. I'm not saying I didn't when I was in Chicago, like in my improv days, but like being in a commercial waiting room, you look around, you're like, oh, they could really. This is Just could be any of us. Yeah. Yeah. Like, when you go to an audition for, like, a role in a TV show or a play, you're like, one of us will be better than the others. But this is just, like, this just might be about our face.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. There's also more opportunity for scamming. Like, my dad was living in Florida, and he was probably in his 60s at this point, and he called me one day. He had, like, a really deep voice and always wanted to be on the radio and wasn't and was like, I got scouted today. This person said that I would be, you know, amazing in Walmart commercials. And it cost $8,000. And I was. I just remember me being so upset.

[Seth]

Yeah. It is also that you are in the awful position of having to tell your dad. You actually would not be good in a Walmart commercial. There's two things. One, they would not tell you in whatever parking lot. This person found you also to be

[Anna Konkle]

typecast just in Walmart commercials, felt that's

[Suvi]

what you'd be good for, like, half of it.

[Anna Konkle]

Did you do something to that person?

[Seth]

So what year did you go to? At what year in college did you do your Amsterdam trip?

[Anna Konkle]

It was my junior year of college, and I had started in freshman year. I'd been in the musical theater program and very straight laced. And the rumor about the experimental theater kids was that they were all, like, naked and having orgies all the time. And I was like, I will not waste my parents money doing that. And eventually I realized that was the place for me. And they weren't having orgies as far as I knew, that I wasn't invited.

[Seth]

But yeah, yeah. Like, we. We feel like the orgies orgy is at, like, capacity.

[Anna Konkle]

I like the idea that it's orgies also like this. Like a multiple plural.

[Suvi]

That's the official term.

[Seth]

That's more than one orgy. Orgies, yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Or just I wasn't a part of any of the orgies. But there's still time.

[Suvi]

So you're Vermont, we're New Hampshire boys. So we obviously got a lot of love from Vermont. Where's Randolph?

[Seth]

Vermont?

[Anna Konkle]

Randolph is not too far from Montpelier. That's where I was born. But I lived in Montpelier before.

[Suvi]

Gotcha.

[Anna Konkle]

We moved to Massachusetts. Did you spend much time in Vermont? Did you guys ever do.

[Seth]

No, we had that road ski.

[Suvi]

We would ski, but, like, I went.

[Seth]

We would ski a lot. That's true.

[Suvi]

Yeah. And my wife went to uvm, so I went to Burlington just once with her. But it was like a 4th of July maybe about 10 years ago now. And it was great. I couldn't believe I had never been there. It's so beautiful. It's so amazing. And like, our grandmother lived in Marblehead, closer to where you would end up. And so we just sort of went there. Like we were always going to the Massachusetts place.

[Anna Konkle]

To Massachusetts. That's interesting. Do you think that, like, it was sort of New Hampshire versus Vermont? I felt like that sometimes that you had to kind of choose.

[Seth]

I certainly, like, don't know if you had to choose, but I. I was made to feel as though we were the dirt baggy of the two options.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, that's not what I was going to say.

[Seth]

Well, that's what I wanted to say. I didn't think that that was where you were heading. But I do want to say that that was the way other people from Vermont. Not you. Right?

[Anna Konkle]

Not me. I would never. I mean, I remember a bear rescue. Like we would go to Concord, Vermont and there was a bear rescue nearby in. I mean. Sorry. Concord, New Hampshire.

[Seth]

Okay. When you said you were going to a bear rescue, I thought that's what everybody does when they have to like rescue a bear. Like, I. I don't know why I thought. But like, I was like. We all. It was like they. The sheriff rounded up a posse. There was a. There was a bear who was losing its grip on the side of a branch.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. Do you guys ever go to the bear rescue?

[Seth]

No.

[Anna Konkle]

It's not like a big.

[Suvi]

I mean, we went to Clark's trained bears, but I don't think that was a bear rescue. That was a. Bears being exploited for entertainment purposes. That was like a bear riding a bicycle and drinking a beer. That kind of stuff. Is that where you were going?

[Anna Konkle]

I don't think so. I just remember outdoor cages.

[Suvi]

Okay.

[Anna Konkle]

Like with. You know, and like feeding them little bear pellets.

[Suvi]

I don't. I don't recall. I would have been into that.

[Seth]

I think.

[Anna Konkle]

Okay.

[Seth]

I think that the Clark's trained bears people probably went to the bear rescue and that's where they got bears that they were going to later.

[Suvi]

They were like, do you have any that ride bikes? Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Wait, were they really riding bikes?

[Seth]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

And they were like chained, like on a chain collar, like a chained leash.

[Seth]

They were within a caged area. They weren't the biggest bears. Oh, good. I don't. Do you remember them being chained? Posh.

[Suvi]

I don't know. I think they probably were.

[Seth]

And I don't know.

[Suvi]

I don't Remember any human? So maybe it was a fully run bear operation.

[Seth]

Yeah. You mean everything? Like, did a bear take tickets? Do you remember that?

[Suvi]

I don't recall. I don't remember any people. All I remember is the bears.

[Seth]

I just remember. I just remember putting my money on the table and a paw sliding back with two tickets. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Article. Hey, Bashi.

[Suvi]

Hey Sufi.

[Seth]

You know what makes a home feel like a home?

[Anna Konkle]

What's that?

[Seth]

Furniture.

[Suvi]

Oh yeah, gotta have it.

[Seth]

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[Suvi]

Yeah, I like it. We got a kuva bed frame which is fantastic. I just love it. And then, you know, our bedside tables, they sort of don't go anymore. And they're also like a bit big and clunky, so we just wanted to get some nice shelves. And the thing that is the hardest about it is deciding which shelves to get from Article because they have so many. They're so nice. They're such a good variety and they all sort of pair naturally with what we already have.

[Seth]

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[Suvi]

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[Seth]

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit Article.comTrips and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. That's article.com trips for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. Support comes from Shopify. What's up, Baji? Hey, Suvi. You know, when you start a new thing, like when we started this podcast, it could be really scary. You don't know what you're doing. You don't know what people like, what the audience is going to respond to.

[Suvi]

Maybe it wasn't going to work. Souf.

[Seth]

Yeah, maybe it wasn't going to work.

[Suvi]

It was going to be a total bust.

[Seth]

And then I was going to, it was going to be awkward. I was going to do family trips with somebody who wasn't related to. Oh, weird.

[Suvi]

Was that your first plan or that was your backup plan?

[Seth]

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[Suvi]

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[Seth]

Whether you're uploading new products or trying to improve existing ones, Shopify is packed with with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography.

[Suvi]

Best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert. With world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping and processing returns and beyond.

[Seth]

It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com trips go to shopify.com trips that's shopify.com/trips. Support comes from a butcher box. You guys, it's grilling season. It's getting warm outside. You got the grill ready to go, you got the propane filled up. Maybe you got your little charcoal briskettes, briquettes, your charcoals, your little cubes, your little charcoal cubes. You know what I'm talking about. Are you guys figuring out that Alexi does the grilling? But here's the thing. I know all that stuff doesn't matter if you don't have a really good food, really good meat, steaks, burgers, chicken to put on the grill. ButcherBox delivers over 100 premium protein options straight to your door. From grass fed beef to wild caught seafood raised and sourced the right way. No antibiotics, no added hormones, no fillers, just clean, reliable protein. You can feel good serving. Last Saturday we realized, oh my God, we don't have a dinner plan. We've been out all day, had a long, long day at the mini golf course and we're driving home and saying, oh my God, what are we gonna do for the kids? And and then we remembered that we had some butcher box in the freezer and it just was great. Kids were happy. Burgers are great. And now, as an exclusive offer, new Listers can get their choice between free sirloin tips, ground beef or chicken wings in every box for life, plus $20 off when you go to butcherbox.com trip that's right, your choice of free sirloin tips, ground beef or chicken wings in every box for life, plus $20 off your first box and free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com trip this message is brought to you by Apple Card. AppCard is designed with your iPhone in mind, making it easy to get started and even easier to use.

[Suvi]

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[Anna Konkle]

this episode is brought to you by State Farm. You know those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips. That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance. With over 19,000 local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs so you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. Download the State Farm app or go [e-mail] like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Seth]

Here we go. You moved to. You moved to Scituate, which is one of my favorite Massachusetts towns. To say.

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, okay. To say.

[Seth]

Yeah, to spell the sentence was gonna.

[Anna Konkle]

Was gonna end earlier. One of my favorite Massachusetts towns.

[Seth]

I like to say it like a lot of. Like a lot of indigenous named Massachusetts towns. I like to say it and I never want to try to spell it.

[Anna Konkle]

Fair. Yeah, fair. A lot of people pronounce it Sketchuit.

[Suvi]

Yeah. Yeah. Are those people wrong?

[Anna Konkle]

No, no, you're right. Situate. Correct. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Situate was an interest. It was like a big change going from hippie Montpelier, Vermont, Burlington. Another shout out to UVM to South Shore. Like Irish Catholic WASPy as you. As you know is.

[Seth]

Yes.

[Anna Konkle]

Visiting Massachusetts a lot.

[Seth]

Yeah. And how old were you when you made the. When you made the move to Scituate?

[Anna Konkle]

I was seven and yeah, almost eight and. But all our family friends sort of remained. That was like our social circle still in Vermont. So we went. Our main vacations actually were going camping every summer for a week with like 10 other families in Vermont or going to my grandparents retirement community in Fort Lauderdale.

[Seth]

All right, so which as a kid, which did you look forward to more camping?

[Anna Konkle]

Which sounds mean to my par. My grandparents.

[Seth]

No, I, I'm. I think it makes you a more interesting kid. No shade to your grandparents or any grandparents. Florida. But I think a kid who prefers camping over. Because I think. I know, I think there's some kids are like oh my God, they had a soda machine. They were shuffleboard. But like camping is what you want your kids to want to do.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. And my grandparents were the type maybe being east coasters it was the same where like kids are meant to be seen and not heard.

[Seth]

Yes.

[Anna Konkle]

That was certainly.

[Seth]

I feel like our grandparents were like that a little bit. But our parents weren't.

[Anna Konkle]

No parents.

[Seth]

No.

[Anna Konkle]

But my grandparents. And camping was amazing. Cause it was on a lake and there was, it wasn't full blown camping. It was like there was a snack bar by the lake. So you got still showers. Yeah, I did get my. I got. And it was in slushy form.

[Seth]

Oh, there you go.

[Anna Konkle]

A Coke. Slushy.

[Seth]

Wow.

[Anna Konkle]

By the lake there's nothing.

[Seth]

And would you go to the same place every year with the same 10 families?

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. And they've been doing it for 40 years and now it's kind of set up as like a little commune where there's a huge kind of event tent in the middle that's a kitchen and has like 10 picnic tables. I mean it's kind of crazy.

[Seth]

How do 10 families stay friends for 40 years? It's unheard of. It is.

[Anna Konkle]

I mean really mostly seeing each other during that week in the summer.

[Seth]

So not seeing each other. Like you're right. No time for feuds to percolate if you don't see each other the other 51 weeks of the year.

[Anna Konkle]

Although I will say in the zoom out of growing up and. Cause as a kid you're just like, oh, everyone's the same, there's no issues. I mean everyone's still quite close. But like I have since learned that the adult certain Adults started businesses together.

[Seth]

Oh, right.

[Anna Konkle]

And that started and ended. And so there it is. It is actually quite impressive. But from my standpoint. Yeah, we didn't. We weren't. We weren't around enough to get in feuds.

[Seth]

I wonder if you're, like, one of the 10 families and you hear that, like, two or three of the other families are going into business together. You must be like, dudes, we got a good thing going here. Just go start your businesses with somebody. We don't spend our one week together.

[Suvi]

Right.

[Anna Konkle]

That we don't need this time with. I mean, there are a lot of. Yeah. A lot of hippies, a lot of crystals and energy work and people who shouldn't be doing chiropractic work because they're not certified doing that on the grass to each other.

[Seth]

Do you.

[Suvi]

Were you.

[Seth]

Did you sort of look askance at that sort of stuff as a kid, like the crystal hippie thing, or were you kind of bought in it at the time?

[Anna Konkle]

It embarrassed me, certainly. And moving to Massachusetts, you know, where I started to realize how weird it was.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

And that it freaked my friends out when they came over, that my mom would be like, oh, you hurt your ankle. Come here. And then, you know, kind of float her hands over my friend's ankle. And then they would leave. They're Catholic. They're like, this is wrong.

[Seth]

Yeah. Do you feel like. Could you hear them telling their friends about it in a Boston accent? Like the fact that your mom. Your mom put. Really, you should put a fucking rock on my fucking ankle.

[Anna Konkle]

Really. They just stopped talking to you, so you actually don't hear. Hear the accent. But I didn't really start, like, fun, long vacations until. Or out, you know, out of that little pocket until after college, after Amsterdam, young adult world. Then I started, like, more travel.

[Seth]

Did you. Wait, how did those 10 families select themselves? Were they just sort of like friends in Vermont?

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, they. As far as I understand it, it started with three families, one of them being my parents. And it just sort of organically grew to around 10, and sometimes it's 11 or 9 or whatever, but it's been quite consistent. And people just block out the same week every year in their calendar.

[Seth]

And you still do it. Yeah. Amazing. And how many people. How many kids were there that were, like, your age that you've grown up with?

[Anna Konkle]

Now they're probably eight.

[Seth]

Wow.

[Anna Konkle]

And now we have kids, and they all are, you know, getting to have this. And it's very. It's not changed much, which is pretty amazing to have in the world. I'm just bracing myself for one year for it to be completely different. But it's pretty. It's pretty special. And our daughter's getting this really neat experience because we live in la. And so, you know, the first time we went, I think she was one, and she just. We weren't like, don't cross the street. Don't go that. You know, we were just. She was just running in the grass, and it kind of broke my heart how novel that was to her.

[Seth]

So how is she old enough now to look forward to it?

[Anna Konkle]

She is, yeah. She. She loves it. Although we almost ruined the experience because one year, one of the first years we went, there was a big thunderstorm, which there always is. And I was sort of on my high horse about it because my partner, who's from Malibu, was very nervous about the thunderstorms. And I was like, this is just how camping is. Like, it's fine. You just stay in your tent or your RV or whatever, and you're all good. Well, the pavilion event tent that all the families had invested in, it was the thunder and the lightning and the rain started, and then it started to hail, and then there was a mini tornado, and it lifted the tent up, like the huge event tent. And it was like war. I mean, people. My mom was singing to make our daughter not sad and crying, rain, rain, go away. Like, in her face. And she. Our daughter had ptsd, truly. For. She'd hear a fan. She'd hear, oh, my God, it ruined the rest of our east coast vacation. And for actually a year or so after that, loud sounds like the toilet flushing, like, we're not. We're not a go.

[Seth]

She was back. She's like, I'm back in the pavilion.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. Where Nana screamed in my face.

[Seth]

Non professionals trying to keep a tarp from blowing away is pure, like, Benny Hill comedy.

[Suvi]

Also, like a movie about a natural disaster sort of storm coming through. An older woman singing, rain, rain, go away. Feels like it's in the trailer.

[Seth]

Yeah, very much. Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

So true,

[Seth]

so true.

[Suvi]

Were you all sleeping in tents or are there cabins on this property?

[Anna Konkle]

They are. There are a lot of tents. I'm one of the sheepish ones that uses an RV now, which I said I would never do when I was younger. But to fly across the country and then to set up our tent. Hasn't we tried that? It didn't work. So it's embarrassing. We get, like, an RV delivered to the site, and I'm sure all of the Vermonters are like, we totally support you and are so judging. But they're. They haven't said anything.

[Seth]

Did you send them an email in advance to be like just in case you were worried. I have changed. Hollywood has changed me basically.

[Anna Konkle]

Basically. Because we also. Like, the first one I ordered was too long.

[Suvi]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

So that was embarrassing. They're like, it's 32ft. Like, I think you can only fit 22ft. I'm like, absolutely. We don't need the second living room. It's great.

[Suvi]

Is it a star wagon?

[Seth]

We're not going to have people over. We're not going to have the 10 people over. We don't need the second living room.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, yeah, I did. I bought. We bought actually our own star wagon and just been traveling with that. We leave it on the east coast. And it is.

[Seth]

It's also not even like they're like, we will be sleeping in rv. They're like, oh my God. You guys brought. You. You bought an rv. It's like, no, we have it delivered. We have it delivered. The RV people will deliver it. Feel free to talk to them. Obviously don't talk to us, but feel free, you know, communicate with our RV team.

[Suvi]

Do you.

[Anna Konkle]

That is embarrassing.

[Suvi]

Are there like game days? Are there organized events at these summer at this. At this week long getaway?

[Anna Konkle]

To our credit, there are not organized events. It's very much like. And maybe the other reason it works is because people kind of do their own thing during the day. It's like, who wants to hike? Who wants to bike? I'm going to go to the lake. Don't talk to me. I'm going to meditate. It's pretty. It's pretty boundaried. But then everyone comes together for dinners and each family takes. Is this interesting?

[Seth]

I don't even know.

[Anna Konkle]

Okay.

[Seth]

This is Josh's dream.

[Anna Konkle]

I doubt it.

[Seth]

Like, no granular trip details.

[Suvi]

Is everything Josh says all the devil's in the details. Sufi.

[Seth]

Yeah, I'm with you.

[Anna Konkle]

Okay, well. And then each family takes a night on the now it's a Google Doc. Before it was probably memory of who cooks that night. And they cook for everybody. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

[Seth]

And so what. I mean, what is your full number if it's 10 family, are you cooking for 30, 40 people? Yeah. What is something.

[Anna Konkle]

There are allergies. Ooh. One year we did as an adult, we did pasta and meatballs with garlic bread that it was hard. Wouldn't recommend it. Did it from scratch. Not a great idea.

[Seth]

Right.

[Anna Konkle]

A really good one. Are taco bowls okay?

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

And just doing the individual Ingredients and then.

[Seth]

Right. Let people do the. The construction.

[Anna Konkle]

Build it.

[Suvi]

Yeah, you know, I mean, you were a sandwich artist. You know how it goes. It's nice to be able to start,

[Anna Konkle]

move down, sprinkle the lettuce here.

[Seth]

I'm gonna say I'm gonna ask you a question and then give your answer from the subway ad. So I'm sorry, are we just supposed to put these together ourselves?

[Anna Konkle]

Sure.

[Suvi]

Yeah. Sold.

[Seth]

It's a great.

[Anna Konkle]

I'll be fired because you're definitely not allowed over the counter, but sure.

[Seth]

And how is, how does Malibu Alex look forward to the trip now? Is he like, does. Has he bought in?

[Anna Konkle]

He is. He's fully bought in. Oh, that's great. And he's like, very. His hippie comes out like he's suddenly a communal liver. Yeah, he's in. He's a part of the little mini cult we got going on.

[Seth]

I've had to, in what seems like a similar way to Alex, I've had to buy into my wife's past a lot more than she's had to buy into mine, which is just like she grew up going to Martha's Vineyard and she has this group of friends that she's. Now they're 40 years deep. And so I'm spending a lot of time talking to husbands who also have not had four decades of the majesty of memory.

[Anna Konkle]

That's hard.

[Seth]

Yeah, it's okay.

[Anna Konkle]

And fun. And fun. I'm sure. But that's different to have to like make up for 40 years. And we're kind of.

[Seth]

We kind of all connect over how funny it is that they think they're living. They live the most interesting childhood.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, you're. Because it's a lot of talk in the past.

[Seth]

Oh, there. Oh, my God. It's all. It's all. Remember. Remember this pier.

[Suvi]

But Seth didn't. Seth doesn't rent an rv. He just built a house next door to his mother in law.

[Seth]

Father in law's house.

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, that's beautiful.

[Suvi]

Yeah, it is beautiful.

[Seth]

It is very beautiful. You know what wasn't beautiful? The gun to my head to build it. Yeah, yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

I mean, I've been advocating over here too, do a little cabin in. In Vermont one day.

[Seth]

One day.

[Anna Konkle]

One day.

[Seth]

So I know this from, you know, obviously PEN15, an incredible show that was very autobiographical. And now you have a memoir where you talk about your family and I want to get to your parents, but your parents got divorced when you were a teenager. So logistically, who got the week on the camping trip, like, I'm Assuming both your parents didn't come.

[Anna Konkle]

That's a great question. Yeah. My dad bowed out.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

And other. There was, like, I think one other family who got a divorce and they split the week.

[Seth]

Interesting.

[Anna Konkle]

And I was pretty. It was sort of a turning point in my life, and I think brought on some angsty emo things when he was like, no, I'm not going. I'm not going. And there was this idea in his head that they had taken my mother's side.

[Seth]

Yes, I would. Well, I can see that. That seed planting, especially if you knew my dad. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

There's a lot of, A lot of, like, yeah, very. Everything was very black and white. But he. And you know, the saddest part was that, like, it was more camping to me was more him than my mom. Where he taught me to fish, he had the canoe. He made the pancakes in the morning, like, and then. Yeah. And for a while, camping became sad because my mom would be like, I guess I'm alone here, and everyone else has a family, has a husband. And then, you know, we're fucking setting up the tents ourselves. And it kind of blew for a

[Seth]

bit, but that is. Yeah. So in a perfect world, you would have, you would have liked them to split the week as well.

[Anna Konkle]

That would have been nice.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. But, you know, we did split, and I have a funny vacation memory was our house. We split the house for two years while they waited for the judge to make a decision of who was going to get the house.

[Seth]

Oh, my God.

[Suvi]

So what was the. Was there, like, a condo? Did they also, like, split another location?

[Anna Konkle]

Well, for the, I mean, at work, like, for the two years.

[Seth]

So they stayed in the house.

[Anna Konkle]

Sorry. Sorry. Yes.

[Seth]

They split time.

[Anna Konkle]

They didn't split time. They split the house.

[Suvi]

Wow.

[Anna Konkle]

They split the house. Yeah. And I have this memory. So, like, we always, you know, went to Vermont or went to Florida for our vacations. Suddenly, my dad and mom decided to divorce. Really? My mom and my dad is like, honey, we're going on a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas, just me and him.

[Seth]

Okay.

[Anna Konkle]

And so, And I was thrilled, but I felt really guilty. Like, saying goodbye, the act of, like, packing and saying goodbye to your mom, who's staying in snowy Massachusetts while you work with the Bahamas, was a, A real moment.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah.

[Suvi]

H. How was that Carnival cruise?

[Anna Konkle]

I mean, it was amazing. My dad didn't make me wear sunscreen. I, I, Yeah, that's amazing. I, I thought I was going to get tan for the first time.

[Seth]

Did you actually get tan or do you Tan up. Well.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, turns out. No. Yeah, I got. Yeah, I wore oil 3 SPF.

[Seth]

You and Josh have a very similar palette. And I know from vacations with Josh,

[Anna Konkle]

I have to say, I notice coming like, Seth, you're so tan.

[Seth]

Yeah, I tan. I tan up. I tan right up.

[Anna Konkle]

Wow, that's such a nice thing to have.

[Seth]

Josh and I, for all our. All our similarities, have incredibly divergent skin pigments once they run in contact with the sun.

[Suvi]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Really?

[Suvi]

I got another Mohs surgery coming for this little thing.

[Seth]

Oh, my God.

[Anna Konkle]

Wait, a what surgery?

[Suvi]

Mohs. It's skin cancer stuff. It's rad.

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, no. I'm sorry.

[Suvi]

It'll be like, my third. And then look at old olive boy down there. It's just like.

[Seth]

Yeah, he walked. Just walking around, not caring the work and. Yeah, but your next. Your next one's free. Which one is free? The 5th? Your 10th? You gotta get to 10.

[Anna Konkle]

Are you serious?

[Seth]

No.

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, my God, I'm so earnest.

[Seth]

Did you. He is. He is getting a surgery. That part was real. It's just not.

[Anna Konkle]

But the tenth one is.

[Seth]

Yeah, you do have to pay for this.

[Suvi]

This is not free. Maybe. Maybe it will be. I don't know. I hope to never get there.

[Seth]

Right. You mentioned you were excited for a Carnival Cruise. Do you think you were excited just based on, like, Carnival Cruise marketing and seeing commercials for Carnival Cruises? Like, when I think back, that was a. That was a commercial you saw all the time growing up was, like, cruise commercials.

[Anna Konkle]

I mean. Yeah. And. And part of it was truly, like, the opportunity to be hot. Like, to. To get a tan in my mind was, like, to come back and be hot and cool. Like the girls that went to the Bahamas.

[Seth]

Yeah, Right.

[Anna Konkle]

And. But, yeah, I got a horrible, horrible sunburn. Like, my eyes puffed out. Puffed out. Where they go under. And I was sick for, like, two days.

[Seth]

I think that is a very. I mean, New England or anywhere. You know, I'm sure, like, the upper Midwest is the same way where you would go on vacations. And you in your head, thought there was gonna be this, you know, this reveal when you walked back in that everyone was gonna sort of take stock of how your appearance had changed based on your one week. And it felt as though you could completely recreate yourself and sort of change whatever the sort of conventional wisdom was about you based on one week. You'd be like, I'm coming back with a new Hard Rock T shirt. I'm coming back with a solitary puka shells and a solitary cornrow. We're gonna turn this thing around.

[Anna Konkle]

That was poetry to me.

[Seth]

Yes. Did you. Was your. Was your, like, dad, you know, on a cruise, was he a good hang with just father, daughter?

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, because he let. He was okay if, like, I sat on the other side of the beach, you know, he understood that I was trying to forge, you know, teenagerdom on the cruise, and he was. There were casinos, so he was good.

[Seth]

Right.

[Anna Konkle]

I was like, you know, there's a teen club that was fine for me to go to. It was real, like, freedom, you know?

[Seth]

And how old were you for that? To go to the.

[Anna Konkle]

I was 14.

[Seth]

Wow. A teen club at 14. That just seems.

[Anna Konkle]

That's what I'm saying.

[Seth]

Yeah. But you're there on your own, so you. This is dependent upon you to, like, meet people and make friends.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, that's the thing. As an only child, I have a half brother, but 11 years older, same mom. And so really grew up as an only child. And you just learned to be, you know, really embarrassing and sometimes. And you have to be willing to be humiliated over and over if you're gonna make friends and knowing, oh, I guess I'm doing thumbs up.

[Seth]

You thumbs up.

[Anna Konkle]

Sorry.

[Seth]

By the way, a perfect. While you were saying, like, being an only child, you have to be embarrassing, you accidentally just thumbs up yourself.

[Anna Konkle]

Fucking classic. This is just par for the course.

[Seth]

That's literally, like you met, like, you met somebody at a teen club and you said something funny, and then you said, good one. And then they were like, wait, did you just say good one to yourself? You're like, I'm an only child, man.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, that's how you find your person, your people. Because most of them are like, okay. And then every once in a while, someone laughs with you, and you're like, all right.

[Seth]

Were you and Maya, had you known each other at NYU before you were in Amsterdam?

[Anna Konkle]

No, we didn't. I just remember there were, like, 25 of us. A few of us ended up kind of working in comedy as adults, unexpectedly, even though it was a very kind of serious program. But, yeah, I saw her do all these really great characters and was like. And so talented. And I had more of a talent crush and was like, oh, she's so cool and good and. Oh, whatever. And then, yeah, we slowly became friends more so after Amsterdam, we both were going through kind of breakups at the same time, so there were a lot of, like, sleepovers and.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Ice cream stuff like that.

[Seth]

I mean, it's an incredible. Your collaboration. It's. It's very nice of Whatever. I don't know. Events had to line up to put you guys together is really cool.

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, thank you. Yeah, she's. She's awesome.

[Suvi]

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors.

[Seth]

Support comes from Quince. What's up, Paschi?

[Suvi]

Hey, Sufi.

[Seth]

You know, it's. It's a nice time. I feel like when the seasons change, it's a good time to update the old wardrobe. Yeah. You know, agreed. Time to think about. Things are getting warmer. I'd like to wear some fabrics that feel easy, comfortable, but also a little put together. And that's where Quince has been my go to elevated fabrics. Fits are clean. Everything works without needing to overthink it.

[Suvi]

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[Seth]

that has to be felt. Addie. My little girl Addie, she always. She can tell when I have a Pima cotton tee on. How's that? Well, she just likes to. She'll give me a hug. Whereas if I wear one of my other T shirts, she screams at me and says it feels like sandpaper. Everything is priced 50 to 80% less than what you find at a similar brand. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middleman. So you're getting premium materials without the markup.

[Suvi]

You know, it's getting warmer, but sometimes it can still be a little bit cool. They've got these perfect for spring. Mongolian cashmere crewneck sweaters that I love. Also, you know, Quince isn't just clothing. We have some beautiful new curtains that we got for our bedroom, and the light comes through them and it's just changed the whole room around.

[Seth]

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[Suvi]

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[Seth]

Yeah, it's good.

[Suvi]

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[Seth]

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[Suvi]

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[Anna Konkle]

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[Seth]

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[Anna Konkle]

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[Seth]

Here we go.

[Suvi]

What was. I mean it's not really a family vacation, but when you're over in Amsterdam, you know you're, you're studying, you're going to school. But what is, what was your going out scene like? Or what, what did you do to take advantage of Amsterdam?

[Anna Konkle]

I remember the, the going out being forced like, okay, we were staying in dorms in Amsterdam and so most of it we were like theater nerds where during the day we're like Just studying the craft and then at night smoking a ton of weed together and eating Stroopwafel. And it wasn't. We weren't like. We were cool.

[Seth]

Yeah, sure. I think we're all getting that. I think that's kind of cool.

[Suvi]

There's a lot of, like, there's a lot of great, strange theater in Amsterdam. Would you go check that out? Would you?

[Anna Konkle]

Yes, actually, we did. We saw an experimental. I don't know the name of the company, but theater company. And I remember a bear, like, bringing it back to the bears. There was a dancing bear.

[Seth]

Okay.

[Anna Konkle]

Was it Dog Troop and some naked people? Was it Dog Troop? I don't know. I'm gonna have to. Yeah, perhaps. So had. Did you see theater in Amsterdam?

[Suvi]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

Did you guys go to Amsterdam?

[Seth]

We lived at work for a theater called Boom Chicago over in Amsterdam. So we lived there.

[Suvi]

I was there for three and a half years and Seth was there for like two.

[Seth]

And I just did that. I just did the funniest thing where I was like, I wonder if when you were in college we were. And then I remembered I. I just glanced at your birthday and I'm like, nope, not even close.

[Anna Konkle]

Need to work on my skincare.

[Seth]

Not even close.

[Anna Konkle]

Fine.

[Seth]

I don't even know why I thought that based on my age that you would be.

[Anna Konkle]

No, fair, Fair, fair.

[Seth]

And this clown school was for 8 year olds.

[Anna Konkle]

Good. The clown school's coming forward. Did you guys go to Vondal Park?

[Suvi]

Yeah, yeah, very much so. Love that park.

[Anna Konkle]

That's where I did mushrooms.

[Seth]

Where was it? Were your door. Were your dorms near there?

[Anna Konkle]

Prince and Groked, near the Anne Frank Museum.

[Seth]

I mean, that's not a bad location at all. You're central.

[Anna Konkle]

No, it was incredible. It was, it was, it was amazing. It was really. The bikes and the. Oh, I would love to live there again.

[Seth]

We went back for a friend's 25th wedding anniversary last summer, and it was just so wonderful to be back.

[Suvi]

It's like, brought his oldest son. My parents came, my wife came, her mother came. There were like a lot of people who used to work there, brought their kids.

[Seth]

It was great. Yeah. Very, very cool and special.

[Anna Konkle]

What did your son think of it?

[Seth]

He loved it. He really loved it. And it's. But again, you'll find this thing. Whereas like, they don't. You don't realize how much they loved it till they get home and you overhear them talking to somebody else about it. It's like they can't process how much you need them, which is Healthy, like they don't realize how much you need them to be like, dad, this meant the world to me, dad.

[Anna Konkle]

I'm change, dad.

[Seth]

And I know you hear some shit from the outside, outside world, but you're good at this. You're a good dad. Yeah. Oh, tune out the noise, old man. You're good at this.

[Anna Konkle]

It's crazy how much my daughter has traveled compared to what? You know, when it. When I left the car. I didn't leave the country till. Yeah. 20 or something. And I. My dad really barely. He went to the Bahamas, but he always wanted to go to Europe. I still feel guilty that he never did that. And I went. But anyway, that's a different.

[Seth]

Well, I mean, you know, I do want to talk about. I mean, I read the excerpt in New York Magazine of your memoir, the Sane One. It's beautifully written and it's very funny, but, you know, you wrote this memoir about coming of age and your parents divorce and you had an estrangement with your dad that near the end of his life. Is it rekindled a safe enough word? I haven't read the whole book, so. Okay.

[Anna Konkle]

No, yeah, yeah, we got. Yeah. And I got to be his caregiver for. It was supposed to be one to five years. It ended up being two months. But, yeah, it was a. He was like a very, very funny, outrageous person. Hippie to his core, but who turned human resource manager for 711 with. And the bitterness just kind of grew over time.

[Suvi]

And.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, he just, you know, he was really my, like, best friend as a kid and looked up to him, as many of us do, our dads more than anyone. And then kind of a slow burn to estrangement in my mid-20s, soon after Amsterdam, actually. And really, like, you know, there's the normal sort of parent falling off a pedestal. That was there, but it was also turned up. And, yeah, we happened to exchange letters at the end of the five years and kind of mend things, but that was a lucky surprise and that it was very soon after that he got diagnosed with cancer.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

So it's a real upper. It actually is funny. I swear it is.

[Seth]

But it's sad, too, even in the chapter I read where, you know, obviously, especially for the child in this situation. Right. It's a complicated relationship, but you're very. I don't know, you're very honest about how funny they are. And I think that's, like, a nice thing to, you know, remind ourselves or not forget that, like, even in, like, times that I can't even imagine how hard it was for you, but it does seem like there was an ability to laugh. And your dad was very capable of making you do that.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. Thank you. I think that's true. And both my parents are such characters, and they always were. Sometimes when I wish they weren't, I was like, can you guys be quiet? And can we just fit in better in Massachusetts? Like, you moved us here.

[Seth]

They're like, you know what? It is so funny to go from, like, hippie Vermont where everything's okay. They're like, you know what? Let's turn up the level of difficulty. Let's go to the most judgmental place in America.

[Anna Konkle]

Exactly. That we can't really afford now. We'll live paycheck to paycheck. Yeah. There was this idea of nuclear America that I think. White picket fence that was in the back of their head. Specifically my mom. I think that. But, you know, you do it for your kids.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

So they get a good education and whatever. But in the. In the trek of that, there was the sort of losing themselves, I think. But there's a lot of humor in it, so sign me up.

[Seth]

How was it? Was it hard to write, or did it come. Was it. Was it a story that was, like, so much a part of your life that it came out easily?

[Anna Konkle]

There are parts that. That kind of flowed, but it took me four years. When I first kind of wrote the outline in some chapters and pitched it, I was six months pregnant. And then after having our daughter, I had the feeling of. Never mind. I have a new thing.

[Seth]

Yeah, let's start this. Let's not look back.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. Why did I. Great. The contract just closed. Perfect. Yeah. But it ended up being what my therapist said it would be. She was like, it's gonna be cathartic. And I was like, no, it's not gonna be cathartic. This is torture. Why am I doing this? But it ended up being a really neat journey. There were a lot of kind of. There were parts that were obvious, and then there were this. There was the sussing out of. Well, how did I get from A to B? How did we get from estranged to talking again? That kind of. Yeah. It made obvious emotional positive things, emotionally positive things that weren't before. And it was nice, actually.

[Seth]

I feel like that's like a lot of people, myself included, who are so far past deadlines of when a book is due that when I started, I was six months pregnant. And when I finished, my daughter was the copy editor.

[Anna Konkle]

Basically, they proofread it for me.

[Seth]

And that's that was the timeline of it.

[Anna Konkle]

I remember people saying it. You know, my editor, specifically, was like, it could take you, you know, five years. And I was like, no.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

So naive. Yeah. Took me really.

[Suvi]

Seth. Right now, Seth is thinking about telling his people that he's pregnant, and that's why it's taking him so long.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, no one can tell you you're not.

[Seth]

Don't. I don't mean to, like, diminish it at all, but I'm actually thinking, like, what if dad and I got estranged right now?

[Anna Konkle]

Oh, no, diminish, please.

[Seth]

And then I call my editor. I'm like, something just happened that I feel should wait it out. I feel like this could be good for the book. Yeah. Oh, my God.

[Anna Konkle]

That's really funny. Are you writing a memoir?

[Seth]

I am. And it's so. It's so arduous.

[Anna Konkle]

Awful.

[Seth]

It's so arduous. I mean, you know.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, it sucks. Are you enjoying any of it?

[Seth]

You know, I. It is that the catharsis comes, like, when you're done. I've always said, like, the thing about the only thing that's good about writing is being done with it, you know, and then. And then feeling, like, so much of a sense of accomplishment. So, like, when a good section is done, I'm like, that was worth all of it. Let's try to remember that as we go through this next section. And then you're just like, fuck it. That fucking sucks.

[Anna Konkle]

Can I ask, do you edit as you go, or do you, like, just get it. Something out in a full sweep and

[Seth]

then go back full sweep, edit. And then I. So I. And then I got, like, my first pat. I kind of had this sense of, like, if I got a first draft and, like, my excellent editor would then send me notes and, like, I would feel reinvigorated and. Not yet.

[Anna Konkle]

Okay.

[Suvi]

I'm gonna write a response to his. I'm just waiting for his to come

[Seth]

out, and I'm gonna be like, josh is gonna.

[Suvi]

Didn't happen.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah, my mom said that too. She was like, alex. And I guess we'll write a response. Memoir. Alex is my partner.

[Seth]

Did your. How was your mom with knowing you were gonna write a book like this?

[Anna Konkle]

Well, she was incredibly supportive, but will always will keep saying, I'm gonna move out of the universe. That's fine. I'm just gonna move out of the universe. She was sort of my childhood enemy. I would say now we're good. But it is big of her to be supportive because it's hard and she's like, but it's your art. It's your art.

[Seth]

That is the funniest mom thing. It's your art. I'll just move out of the universe.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Totally.

[Seth]

If you're looking for me, I'll be one universe over.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. Writing my memoir. In fact, I called her the other day. We were chatting and said, what'd you do today? And she was like, writing great. I said, poetry, because she has always written poetry. And you're like, oh, good, you're getting back to the poems. They're really good. And she was like, no. True events. Okay, here we go.

[Seth]

True events is even funnier. These. You should try this. Anna. I'm doing true things. I knew you were less interested in that with your work, but I'm gonna do true stuff.

[Anna Konkle]

You're locked into her. I'm not kidding. That felt and sounded like her.

[Seth]

Congratulations on the sane one.

[Anna Konkle]

Thank you.

[Seth]

And again, I look forward to reading the whole thing. But if anybody wants to get a taste, there's an exceptional excerpt in the New York. Sorry, New York magazine. I'll make sure I get that right. Thank you. And before we let go, Anna, Josh is gonna hit you with our speed round questions. Ooh.

[Anna Konkle]

Okay.

[Suvi]

All right, here we go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?

[Anna Konkle]

Adventurous.

[Suvi]

What is your favorite means of transportation?

[Anna Konkle]

A train.

[Suvi]

If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what. What family would you like to take a vacation with?

[Anna Konkle]

The Bundys.

[Seth]

Oh, my God. For married with children.

[Suvi]

Yeah.

[Seth]

Not Ted.

[Suvi]

Not.

[Seth]

Not Ted.

[Anna Konkle]

If I to just wash

[Suvi]

Uncle Ted, I think. I think Ted was their uncle.

[Seth]

The Bundy's. Such a fun answer.

[Anna Konkle]

I just like fly in the wall. Another dysfunctional memoir.

[Suvi]

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?

[Anna Konkle]

Oof. My cousin Jesse.

[Seth]

Great. Wait, how Jesse. Where does Jesse live now?

[Anna Konkle]

She lives near Evanston, Illinois.

[Seth]

Oh, that's where we were born. Yeah, I know. That's great. I looked it up. It's fantastic. Give our best to Jesse.

[Anna Konkle]

I will. My dad's from Glen Ellyn.

[Seth]

Oh, great.

[Anna Konkle]

Illinois. Yeah. Anyway, Illinois.

[Suvi]

What is your dream destination for a family vacation?

[Anna Konkle]

India.

[Seth]

Nice.

[Suvi]

Okay. Would you consider your hometown situate?

[Anna Konkle]

No.

[Suvi]

Okay. What's your hometown?

[Anna Konkle]

Montpelier, Vermont.

[Seth]

Great.

[Suvi]

Okay, if you had to get more families to go visit Montpelier, what would you tell them about the city?

[Anna Konkle]

Okay, the. The cross country skiing is great. The bookstores, the food, the crepes yeah. Just to talk to people. Cause they talk back. They're nice for the most part.

[Seth]

Crepes is a. I would love to. I mean, I'm gonna pass on cross country skiing. But if you were like, what are we gonna do this afternoon? And somebody said, we're gonna do bookstores and crepes, I'd be like, oh, my God, I'm home.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, and my dad, when he went cross country skiing, he would bring a little, like, thing of and put it in snow and fresh snow and make little so that if you added that, would that be fun?

[Seth]

That's great. That helps a lot. That helps a lot.

[Anna Konkle]

Okay, great.

[Seth]

Are you surprised sometimes as a parent, like, how things that you hope are going to take more of the day up don't take any time at all. Like, sometimes I'm like, I'll say to my kids, like, let's go to the bookstore. And then it's literally like five minutes later, you're like, we got to get

[Anna Konkle]

out of the bookstore every day.

[Seth]

You can't believe it. Josh, I've talked about this, but I took my son to the aquarium, and I was like, in my youth, I remember the aquarium, like, a whole day. Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

And then Boston.

[Seth]

Yeah, the Boston and the New England aquariums. Great aquarium. But, like, at 45 minutes, you're like, I think we're done.

[Anna Konkle]

Well, I. I went last year not to. On the. The aquarium there, but it was packed.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Anna Konkle]

I was getting, like, the. And the maze. It's, like, beautiful. The cave vibe, that kind of.

[Seth]

Yeah, you walk up a circle.

[Anna Konkle]

It's gorgeous. Yeah, it's gorgeous. I. It was the acoustics. Like, I felt so old. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't find my daughter. I was freaking out.

[Seth]

Yeah, There were a lot of teens. It felt like teens on dates at the New England Aquarium.

[Anna Konkle]

And field trips. I think that was the issue. Yeah, fuck the field trips. Fuck the field trips. But a little bit. Maybe Space Mountain.

[Seth]

I took a real hard stance late in the podcast.

[Anna Konkle]

Space them out. Maybe not field trips, but space them out. Leave some room to walk. You know what I mean?

[Seth]

Don't send all the kids on the same day.

[Anna Konkle]

Not on the same day. That's not right. Got the penguins. Is that the note we're going to end on? That's so sad.

[Suvi]

No, no, no, because Seth has. Seth has two final questions.

[Seth]

Well, one thing, I'll say there was a thing where you could put your hand in the water and stingrays. You could pet a stingray, but you had to, like. Like, my. My boys are so excited, and they, like, put their hands in water. And there was, like, a lady who worked for the aquarium who was kind of, like, holding the microphone. She was, like, honest. She had a real Marc Maron pose where she was, like, sitting on a rock with a microphone, like, doing crowd work. She's like. And remember, this is going to require a lot of patience. Like, my boys just, like, why watch them both take their hands out of the water? Just like, they're like, if this is, like, if we get to pet a stingray, great. But if we got to wait for a stingray to rub its back against my hand, I'm out of here.

[Anna Konkle]

Is that because of the Internet?

[Seth]

I think it's more just how my boys are wired. I. I think in, like. Yeah. I think in, like, 1950, they also wouldn't have waited around.

[Suvi]

Also, only one of those boys you were with was your boy, Sue.

[Seth]

Oh, that's true. You're right. It was my. It was my son and my friend

[Suvi]

and his friend, but they're all little, so.

[Seth]

All right, here we go. Last question. Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

[Anna Konkle]

Yes.

[Seth]

Was it worth it? Yeah. Great. Did you go? When did you go?

[Anna Konkle]

We stayed at a lodge.

[Seth]

Okay.

[Anna Konkle]

We stayed at one of the national lodges there. That was really cool.

[Seth]

Was this with Alex or with. Oh, great.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah.

[Seth]

You guys seem like. I will say, I think couples that go to the Grand Canyon together, I think that's a very good sign.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah.

[Seth]

Yeah. I think couples that go to the Grand Canyon together are meant to be together.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. I agree.

[Seth]

This is my hard take that I've never had before, but I'm gonna now establish on the pod.

[Anna Konkle]

Yeah. If you don't go to the Grand Canyon together, like, it's not gonna last.

[Seth]

I think you can. It can last without going. I just think if you're going. Look, I think what Anna's saying is two things. One, if you don't go to the Grand Canyon with your spouse, you're living a lie.

[Anna Konkle]

And two, field trips to the aquarium.

[Seth]

So great to see you.

[Anna Konkle]

You too. Thank you so much for having me.

[Seth]

Congrats on the book.

[Suvi]

Thank you.

[Seth]

Our pleasure.

[Anna Konkle]

Family chips with the M. Brothers. Family chips with the machine.

[Suvi]

Every summer up in Vermont, 10 families camp for a week. Some like to set up their tents. Anna rents an rv. First one was too long, and the hippie probably talk some smack. But once you go rv, you'll never go back. Besides, when her daughter first went, there was a scary thunderstorm. Hail fell from the sky made her daughter cry. Champ lifted up during the storm

[Seth]

so

[Suvi]

hard the wind did blow was a mini tornado. Her parents hit a rough path patch Anna knew they were on the outs but she saw both of them all the time cuz they split up and they also split the house.

[Seth]

Her dad

[Suvi]

bowed out of the camping but one winter break took Anna on a Caribbean getaway Fun in the sun in the Bahamas Carnegie cruise with just those two Felt bad to leave her cold mama A teen club was such a scene she didn't wear sunscreen no spf there's nothing worse puffed up under her eyes not great for meeting guys Now Mom's moving out of the universe Anna's in suspense to read those true events.

[Seth]

Sam.