Hrishikesh Hirway Disobeys Bridger

Summary

Podcast Summary: I Said No Gifts!

Episode: Hrishikesh Hirway Disobeys Bridger
Host: Bridger Winegar
Guest: Hrishikesh Hirway
Release Date: November 6, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of I Said No Gifts! features the acclaimed podcast host and musician Hrishikesh Hirway (Song Exploder, Home Cooking) as Bridger’s guest in the backyard. True to form, Hrishikesh disobeys the titular request and brings a gift—but with a twist that leads to a delightful cultural deep dive.

The conversation meanders through favorite music, TV, gifting superstitions (particularly in Indian culture), physical media nostalgia, jobs of youth, and playful riffs on registries and wedding traditions. As always, the energy is warm, witty, and riff-heavy, with plenty of relatable tales and memorable one-liners.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Podcast Beginnings, Musical Tastes, and “Song Exploder” Origins

• Introductions & Setting: The episode is recorded in Bridger’s backyard, complete with the ambiance of nearby schoolchildren, bells, and helicopters. Bridger shares updates about recent life events and online shopping fueled by a class action settlement ([02:34]).
• First Impressions: Bridger confesses, “It's a rare thing to have someone on the show who I've listened to before. Yours is one of the rare podcasts that does both [music and interviews], and often with music that I like” ([04:07]).
• "Song Exploder" Origin & Guests: Hrishikesh started with The Postal Service as his first guest and reflects on how episodes evolved in length and depth ([04:33]).
• Music in Adolescence: Both discuss their "gateway bands"—Hrishikesh with Public Enemy and Metallica, Bridger with Weird Al and modern country in a music-light home.

  Hrishikesh: “In middle school, I started to get excited about music that was a little bit transgressive or felt transgressive. So a lot of gangster rap and heavy metal” ([07:33]).

2. Gifting Cultures—The Envelope Gift & Indian Wedding Tradition

• The Gift (Enveloped Cash):
  The reveal: Hrishikesh brings Bridger an envelope containing $21 and explains the “no boxed gifts” tradition in Indian weddings ([29:52]–[34:56]).

  Hrishikesh: “For all gift giving, when there's money involved… you never give a number that ends in zero... The most auspicious thing is to celebrate the start of something new.” ([34:20])

• Registry Riffs, Weddings & Social Niceties:
  They riff on the awkwardness (and practicality) of registries, what’s “crass,” mutual-friend guest lists, and the stress of selecting wedding gifts ([37:00]–[41:25]).

  Bridger: “I've long thought that at some point you should get to register as someone who's not… getting married… It's a nice thing that people get at their wedding—suddenly everyone's just by furnishing their home” ([40:41]).

3. TV, Movies, and the Pleasure of Imperfection

• TV Habits & British Mysteries:
  The hosts bond over their TV-watching practices—Bridger is hooked on Little House on the Prairie, and Hrishikesh recommends the British comedy-mystery Ludwig, starring David Mitchell ([16:08]–[18:07]). They discuss rationing show choices, solo watching vs. shared, and the endless supply of British detective series ([20:18]–[23:29]).
• Review Scores & Spoilers:
  Deep dives into Metacritic vs. IMDb, reasons for avoiding reviews and trailers, running time “spoilers,” and the joy of going into movies blind ([24:00]–[28:09]).

  Hrishikesh: “Before I go to see a movie, I want to know as little about it as possible. And so the only way I can get a sense of whether something is good or not is by looking at Metacritic.” ([24:04])

4. Physical Media Nostalgia (CDs, Vinyl, and the Return of Tangible Formats)

• CDs, iPods, and Portability:
  The $21 gift launches a reverie on the pros and cons of CDs versus streaming, the surprise CD comeback (especially with Gen Z), and lament about new cars and laptops lacking disc drives ([43:47]–[49:11]).

  Hrishikesh (on CDs): “What I heard… is that because Gen Z thinks it's cool… I'm excited about it.” ([45:40])

  They reminisce about first CDs purchased (Hrishikesh: Last Action Hero soundtrack), the joys and pains of ripping, and portable listening ([56:28]).

• Vinyl vs. Tapes vs. CDs:
  Brief nods to the “tape renaissance” and their irony, but consensus that CDs actually offer good audio quality in a manageable format ([48:00]).

5. Work Histories—First Jobs and Lessons Learned

• From Libraries to McDonald's:
  Hrishikesh’s first job as a bookshelf organizer at the library, transitioning to McDonald's at age 14, and Bridger’s own stint at Schlotsky’s Deli ([50:56]–[53:54]).

  Hrishikesh: “It was great, I really enjoyed it. I love libraries… But at 14… I needed to work, so that was kind of it.” ([51:02])

• Lessons—and Smells—from Youthful Employment:
  Tales of mall jobs, mall food courts, and the unique olfactory features of working near Old Navy after McDonald’s ([54:49]).

6. Games & Playful Segments

• Gift or a Curse:
  Hrishikesh is quizzed on the segment “Gift or a Curse”:
  • Ad experience choices on streaming platforms;
  • Using (but not paying for) massage chairs;
  • Fishing mini-games in video games.
    ([62:18]–[69:53])
    Notable quote:

  Hrishikesh: “My friends and I have something that we call cheap thrills, which is the opportunity to do something that costs nothing… An unoperational massage chair… That’s a cheap thrill.” ([65:12])

• Collective Love for Mini-Games:
  Both reminisce about side-games in video games (like Gwent in Witcher, fishing in Zelda), celebrating these “breaks” from stressful main quests.

7. Listener Advice: The Impossible Gift for Mom

• Advice Segment:
  Listener writes for advice finding a gift for his ultra-frugal, hard-to-please mother ([70:21]–[74:53]).
  Hrishikesh’s advice:

  “I think the answer would be for Christopher to use a coupon to buy the ingredients to make pancakes at home for his mom.”
  Bridger: “It has to be—there has to be a coupon involved or she’s going to detest it.”
  Result: Authentic affection, but a touch of playful exasperation at the predicament.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Indian Gifting Superstition:
  Hrishikesh: “For all gift giving, when there's money involved … you never give a number that ends in zero … it is a complete number. It has reached the end of something. And actually, what you … The most auspicious thing is to celebrate the start of something new.” ([34:20])

• On Revisiting Physical Media:
  Bridger: “There are so many good qualities to them [CDs]. My number one thing is just being able to listen to it over and over, whereas with a lot of streaming services… it’s a nightmare.” ([46:51])

• On Being a Nerd:
  Hrishikesh (about working at the library): “I love libraries. See my above comments about being a nerd. And so it was great to be able to be in the library and get paid to do it.” ([51:06])

• On Video Game Mini-Games:
  Bridger: “Why not have a fishing mini-game in every video game? Mortal Kombat—you should be able to fish in that.” ([67:18])

• On Registry Dreams:
  Bridger: “I've long thought that at some point you should get to register as someone who's not … getting married … It's a nice thing that people get at their wedding—suddenly everyone's just by furnishing their home.” ([40:41])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment/Topic | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------|------------| | Backyard setup and intro | 02:34 | | Song Exploder origins & guests | 04:13–05:59| | Middle School/Music-nostalgia | 07:00–09:10| | The Gift: $21, Indian Tradition Explained | 29:52–35:26| | Wedding/Registry Tangents | 37:00–41:25| | TV/Movies, British Mysteries | 16:08–18:07| | Metacritic vs IMDb, Trailers as Spoilers | 24:00–28:09| | CD/Vinyl Nostalgia, Gen Z Resurgence | 43:47–49:11| | First Jobs – Library, McDonalds, Deli | 50:56–53:54| | Gift or a Curse Game | 62:18–69:53| | Listener email: Gift for “impossible” mom | 70:21–74:53|

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Overall Tone & Style

The conversation is full of warmth, quick-fire wit, and a dash of competitive banter. Both host and guest display self-deprecating humor, cultural curiosity, and a knack for spinning the mundane into infectious, engaging stories. If you love wide-ranging, intelligent, and silly chats with the kind of tangents only friends can follow, this is an ideal listen.

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Takeaways

• Gifting: Sometimes money is the perfect gift, especially if it comes with the right cultural tradition (and numerology).
• Physical media: CDs are back—or at least, they never fully left, and there’s joy in rediscovering the tactile.
• TV and movies: Trust your taste, beware of spoilers (even runtimes!), and don’t overlook the middle-tier British mystery.
• Registries should be for everyone.
• The game of life (and podcasting) is best played with humor, good company, and an open mind for “cheap thrills.”

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For full episodes and gift updates, follow @isaidnogifts on Instagram.

Transcript

[A]

This is exactly right.

[B]

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap.

[C]

You're almost at the finish line.

[B]

But first.

[C]

There, the last one.

[B]

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.

[A]

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

[B]

Now, I don't know if you've heard, but Mint's Premium Wireless is $15 a month. But I'd like to offer one other perk. We have no stores. That means no small talk. Crazy weather we're having. No, it's not. It's just weather.

[A]

It is an introvert's dream.

[B]

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[C]

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[B]

Perfectly clear. When you're a guest in my home.

[A]

You got to come to me empty handed.

[B]

I said no guests. Your presence is present enough and I already had too much stuff, so how.

[A]

Do you dare disobey me?

[B]

Welcome to I said no gifts. I'm Bridger Weiniger. We're actually in the backyard. We haven't been here in a minute and the weather is. It's actually working for me. It's working. I, I don't want to speak for everyone right now, but I think it's working for most of us. We're hearing the children screaming in the local elementary school. There may be bells, there may be helicopters. These are all things that you get in an outdoor podcast. And so you're getting a little extra for your money. What's going on? I cleaned my shoes with a magic eraser and that worked out really well. I shouldn't have given away my secret. Actually, I've been going nuts on Etsy. I recently got a class action settlement, let's just say a little settlement for a $290 gift card and it's ruining my life. I have been thinking about how to spend these $290 for six weeks and I finally settled on some Coasters and T shirts. So that's my life up until now that I'll be picking my mom up at the Burbank Airport this afternoon. I'm sure we'll start fighting immediately. So let's get into the podcast while we still can. Today's guest is kind of a podcast icon, I would say. He's fantastic. He has a show that I actually listen to. It's Rishikesh Harway. Welcome to. I said no gifts.

[A]

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

[B]

I'm so glad you're here. It's a rare thing to have someone on the show who I've listened to before.

[A]

Well, I was honestly thrilled and surprised to be invited.

[B]

I don't listen to a lot of podcasts because I listen to a lot of music. So yours is a nice. And listener. If you're not aware of Song Exploder, get with the program. But yours is one of the rare podcasts that does both, and often with music that I like, which is. I mean, it's just such a small target. You've been doing it for, like, 10 years.

[A]

More than 10 years now.

[B]

Who was your first guest?

[A]

The postal service.

[B]

Oh, wow. And the episodes used to be significantly shorter, right?

[A]

That's right. Yeah. And then I started to slowly learn how to make a podcast.

[B]

How long do you think it took before you were like, oh, now I'm really making the podcast I wanted to make.

[A]

I think this next one could be.

[B]

The one, because they're now, like, probably between 30 and 40 minutes, would you say?

[A]

Like 20 and 30.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But that's significantly longer.

[B]

Yeah. Like three times as long. Are you seeking out musicians to be on the show, or are they coming to you at this point?

[A]

I still do a little bit of outreach, but it just never works out. You know, really, the only people who end up wanting to do the podcast are people who actively want to do the podcast right that moment. And it's people who have, you know, music out or some. Some event going on and.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So then it's just a lot easier to. To be able to say yes to someone who's interested in doing it than to try and convince somebody who's not interested in doing it.

[B]

I'm familiar with that feeling. Yes. And I'm sure Annelise and our book are also familiar with it. Do you have, like, a white whale? Is there somebody you'd really love to get on the show, or is this. And you also don't have to answer this question. I feel like I'll Just say, I feel like you're a much more respectful podcast host and about talking about music than I possibly could be. So at any point, if you feel uncomfortable talking about music, which is your business, say Bridger. Cut it out.

[A]

No, no, no. I would be more interested in knowing who would be on your wish list. Who would you like to hear on the show?

[B]

Well, you have to answer first. Well, you think about it.

[A]

Okay, I'm going to respectfully decline to answer.

[B]

I should think of some that I'd like to hear on your show.

[A]

Yes, yes, that's what I meant.

[B]

Oh, that's what you're asking. Who would I love to hear? I love Dan Behar of Destroyer.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I love Griff Reiss of Super Furry Animals.

[A]

Who else are these people whose music you love or you also have heard them speak and you'd like to hear them speak more?

[B]

Both.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You've had Nico Case. Yes.

[A]

She was on, but I didn't get to interview her.

[B]

Who interviewed her?

[A]

Tao Nguyen, who was guest hosting at the time.

[B]

Oh, that's troublesome for you. Who else do. I mean, the list could go on and on. I now, you know, anytime someone asks me about music, I, like, revert to this middle school panic. I think of, like, Bully being like, that's not real punk. That's essentially what I'm expecting.

[A]

What were you listening to in middle school that you bullied?

[B]

Almost nothing, because I grew up in a family that listened to almost no music whatsoever. My dad listened to modern country music, which I still have a huge problem with. Yeah. And then we would kind of listen to the radio, and then my brothers didn't really listen to music. My older brother, for a short period, had kind of an interesting. Like, he would listen to Dr. Dre and Metallica. So those were classic combo. Great combination. And then it was kind of nothing until 9th grade when I started just, like, finding out about music myself.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What about you? What were you listening to in, like, middle school?

[A]

In middle school, I think, well, Public Enemy in Metallica.

[B]

Oh, fantastic.

[A]

That's why that combination is very. I love. And. And, yeah, I think it was really like, I. In middle school, I started to get excited about music that was a little bit transgressive or felt transgressive. So a lot of gangster app and heavy metal, right?

[B]

Yeah, it's like, kind of like the most obviously transgressive thing that you can get into. I think you can go into more subtle tiers of that. Interesting. Did you have a favorite band in that period?

[A]

I think Public Enemy and Metallica. Those were the two bands that I had T shirts.

[B]

Okay. Which.

[A]

And I remember the first time I wore a Public Enemy shirt to school, to middle school in seventh grade or eighth grade. People were very confused. They didn't know, of course, that that's what I would be into. You know, I think I was a nerd. And so I think people assumed that I probably, I don't know, went home and listened to classical music only. Right. Or sat in my room in silence.

[B]

Yeah. You had an edge that you were letting people know about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were a much cooler middle schooler than I was. Certainly.

[A]

That's almost certainly not true.

[B]

Okay, we can fight about this. I'll fight about this all day.

[A]

I can show you pictures. Public Enemy shirt aside, it was. It was pretty rough.

[B]

Had you bought either of those T shirts at concerts or were they like.

[A]

No, no at all.

[B]

How did your parents feel about that?

[A]

I don't think loved it.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

There were definitely some Metallica shirts that they were explicitly against.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But the one that I had was Ride the Lightning.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Sure. I think it just was obscure enough. They didn't really pay close enough attention to it that they could really object.

[B]

And was there ever a point where they're like, we need to listen to the music you're listening to.

[A]

I would try and play the music.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

Into. I didn't try and hide it from them. They weren't excited to hear it.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. For me, it was like I had a weird OWL cd.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

And it was like. That was kind of like listening to pop music because obviously they're parodies, but. Yeah, there was really. I think there was like, a slight fear that my parents would be mad about it. And then because.

[A]

Because he was making jokes.

[B]

Not weird. I'll just listening to any type of music that was above Beach Boys.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And God Bless the Beach. Well, part of the Beach Boys catalog. So. Yeah, there was a. It was a lot of. And then I, like, I remember I bought a Weezer CD in ninth grade and then would just listen to that over and over while playing wave race 64. And that kind of just set the table for the rest of my life.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, why ruin a template that's working for you, Right?

[B]

Exactly. And then as high school and you got into college and stuff, what sort of music were you listening to?

[A]

Well, when I got into high school, you know, I was playing drums in bands and stuff. And then by the end of high school, I. Playing guitar and I started to listen to more sort of singer songwriter stuff. So around that time, early college, I got into Elliot Smith and Nick Drake and sort of that world.

[B]

Right, right. And this is another thing. You don't have to answer, but whenever a musician, I'm talking to a musician. I'm curious about their least favorite song.

[A]

My. Of my own or no, of somebody else's.

[B]

And you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I understand.

[A]

Yeah. Now I'm in a. It's a different. But there was a song in college that my friends used to sing specifically to annoy me, which was the Sugar Ray song.

[B]

Which one?

[A]

Chinese Food Makes Me Sick.

[B]

Oh, yeah. That feels like it could have be any one of their songs every morning. Is that what that one's called? That's actually lfo Summer Girls. Oh, that's right. Donnelly. Yeah. Sorry. I, I, I was a, a middle school girl when that came out. So that was lfo. Yes, that's the one that the girls in Abercrombie and Fitch song.

[A]

Okay, well, there you go.

[B]

That's a great pick as a least favorite song. I think that even whoever was involved with that piece of music could probably look back at this point and say, mistakes were made. We've unleashed something on the world that was ultimately just kind of a bad piece of anything.

[A]

They literally would chase me singing that song, and I would, yeah, that's really unfair.

[B]

How did they find out that you found it annoying?

[A]

I don't know how it could have come up.

[B]

Yeah, because it's not like you were humming it to yourself. Yeah, interesting. I mean, maybe it was just the obvious. I think anyone can assume that that would be an annoying song to someone.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And if they knew your musical preferences already, they probably could assume, oh, he's not into lfo.

[A]

Yeah. And suddenly my group of friends just transformed into my big sister and found exactly the button to push. Hey, everyone. Ed Helms here.

[B]

And hi, I'm Cal Penn, and we're the hosts of Irsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

[A]

This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Jenny Garth, host of the iHeart podcast. I choose me to discuss the new Audible adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. This is not a trick question. There's no wrong answer. What role would I play? You know what?

[B]

I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

[C]

You got a little Colin Firth.

[A]

Okay, that's really sweet. I appreciate that, but are you sure I'm not the dad? I'm not Mr. Bennett here. Listen to Earsay the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

I don't know about you guys, but I love to buy gifts. I love it so much. I love it so much more than getting gifts. But the one thing that I do love, especially when it comes to my daughter, is getting matching things. I know it's such a cliche, but I love it so much. So I have the perfect brand for you. Pandora Jewelry can make their holiday unforgettable with the gift that says it all from Pandora Jewelry. A gift that tells a story and shows, you know, theirs that doesn't just sparkle, but speaks from new festive charms to forever rings and personal engravings. This season, give a gift that's perfectly theirs, whether you're shopping for a shiny surprise for your significant other, matching bracelets to celebrate your friendship, or a heartfelt gift for a family member. Say more this holiday season with Pandora. Shop [e-mail] or visit your closest Pandora store.

[A]

Limu Caimu and Doug. Here we have the Limu emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[B]

Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[A]

Cut the camera.

[B]

They see us.

[A]

Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com.

[B]

Savings.

[A]

Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates excludes Massachusetts.

[B]

Do you have an older sister?

[A]

I do.

[B]

Did her musical tastes have any influence on you?

[A]

Yeah, I mean, she listened mostly to the radio when. When we were growing up, and so we kind of had, I would say, pretty generic top 40 tastes.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Growing up. But then as she got older. She's five years older than me. She went to college and she started getting in. I think that's really more where she found her tastes. But even before that, the first music I ever owned was because she got a Columbia house subscription and she allowed me to get a couple of.

[B]

Very generous. Well, I mean, it was only a penny or whatever.

[A]

Exactly. Yeah. So she's. But she's been hugely influential on me, not just in music, but especially, like, with books and TV shows. So much of my taste has determined by things that she recommended to me.

[B]

I'm so jealous of that. To have someone leading the way.

[A]

Oh, yeah. And yes. Really. On the. On the books and TV side.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I'm just really.

[A]

To this day.

[B]

To this day. What has she recommended to you recently?

[A]

You know, recently we. We, I think both tried to recommend the same thing to each Other because we knew it was really a bullseye for both of us. Which was the. The British TV show Detective Show Ludwig.

[B]

Oh, I'm not familiar with this.

[A]

Oh, it's fantastic.

[B]

What is it?

[A]

David Mitchell plays a twin.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

He is a puzzle setter.

[B]

Oh, I've heard about this. Because I love him.

[A]

Yes, as do I.

[B]

But it's a bit of a mystery too.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

But also funny.

[A]

Yeah. He is a puzzle setter and I love doing crosswords and things like that.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

So that is his occupation. And he has a twin brother who is a detective who goes missing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And so he's convinced by his sister in law to pose as his twin brother as a cop.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

To try and find out what happened to his brother.

[B]

This sounds wonderful.

[A]

And his, his puzzle solving and setting abilities allows him to actually solve crimes accidentally.

[B]

Right, right. And I imagine each season's not too long.

[A]

There's only one season. Yeah, I think it's just six seasons. You know, the British way.

[B]

Right. Just a very easy thing to get into.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

When someone recommends a show to me, I need to know that it's going to be less than, you know, 10 episodes before. For, for the initial investment.

[A]

Okay. But what about Little House on the Prairie?

[B]

Well, okay. Little House on the Prairie is a different story.

[A]

How did you, how did you fall into that if that's your. Your criteria?

[B]

Well, we, I mean, we are kind of at a low point as far as television goes. At least how I feel. And we had run out of everything.

[A]

Yeah. You got to the end of tv.

[B]

Yeah. We got to the end of quality television was like, what else could there possibly be? And then it was just there. And Jim, my boyfriend, had seen. He's seen every episode, knows everything about the show. And so he was on board with it because usually there's at least an initial fight about what we'll be watching. And so we got into it and I was, I became just absolutely obsessed with this thing. Have you ever seen it?

[A]

No.

[B]

You gotta get into it.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I, I've seen it in terms of. I've seen ads for, you know, when growing up. I've seen Michael Landon in a sort of blousy shirt.

[B]

You haven't seen him topless yet. You will when you watch the show.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I have a sense of his long hair and maybe a lot of chest hair.

[B]

No less chest hair than you would assume someone on the prairie would have.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You know, that's where the 70s comes in, I think, where it's. He was thinking about how he was going to look without his top on. But the show is a very. It's wild. We've slowed down a little bit. We're trying to pick back up. But then we got into season two and watched a couple of episodes, and things were rolling along. And then we watched an episode that was just watching them play a baseball game. The episode was watching a baseball game.

[A]

In real time, essentially.

[B]

It was horrible. I couldn't believe. I was like, if this was on TV right now, the show would be canceled mid episode. There was no way that this would air on modern television. But we forced our way through it, and hopefully the next episode will have. Hopefully someone will get a disease or drown in a river or something. They've got to make. They've got to make up for lost time.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. This was not sweeps week when they.

[B]

No, absolutely not. This was like, you know, mid March, and they were just like, well, we've got to put something. We've got an hour to fill. But, yeah, the show was like, well, there's. Here's something with a novelty that does have about 400 episodes. Let's give it a shot. And so far, pretty smooth sailing. Yeah, it goes down very easy. It kind of is the same feeling as watching reality tv because it's just like, you don't have to be that invested in it. Things just roll along and it's bizarre. And if you get distracted, you're not worried about missing a plot point.

[A]

But do you actively watch, or is it something where you're. You put it on in the background?

[B]

We rarely put things on in the background in this house.

[A]

Yeah, I approve.

[B]

Like, when we sit down to watch tv, we try not to be on our phones, which we often will point out to the other one that we're on the phone. And then there's the friction there.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

But it's. I'm trying to think of a show where I would. I guess if I was watching, like, House Hunters, I would be on my phone. But I'm just like, I don't want to be part of whatever this disease is. I need to have. Be able to pay attention for 20 to 45 minutes. Yeah. Yeah, Something. Okay. So you're watching Ludwig or. Watched.

[A]

Watched Ludwig and loved it.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah. Do you watch stuff? Do you ever have solo shows that you watch or are you always watching things together?

[B]

What do I watch alone? I watch Secret Lives of Mormon Wives alone. But outside of that, we basically watch everything together. I'm trying to think if, thank God I found a partner that our taste overlaps in a way that basically everything we want to watch is the same thing. I think maybe if I watch something that's an animated watching like old episodes of Futurama, that'll be on my own. But what about you?

[A]

I almost always watch things with my wife.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But she has stuff that she watches without me just because, you know, sometimes I'm traveling or these days I've been doing a lot of editing and working on stuff, either music or podcast stuff at night. Right. And my workload is like that this fall. And so I'll be like, we'll watch one thing together. We'll eat our dinner, and then I'll check out for a couple hours and then come back to go to sleep. And so during those times, she has to find something that she can watch that won't offend me that she's watched.

[B]

Right. That you would like to be watched.

[A]

So what is, what is she watching right now? She is watching Tennyson, Prime Suspect.

[B]

Okay. Not familiar.

[A]

It's the sort of prequel of the Helen Mirren British. Oh, interesting detective show.

[B]

The amount of British detective shows, I.

[A]

Would say it makes up 85% of the pie.

[B]

Truly. Yeah. Okay, so she's watching Tennyson and you don't care to watch Tennyson?

[A]

Well, I don't know. I've never. I never seen it. I came in, I was like, what's that? She's like, oh, I'm watching this show. And I was like, oh, and is it so good that it has to be good enough that she wants to watch it, but not so good?

[B]

Right. That's an interesting bar.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I think that's the nice thing about British crime dramas is there are just so many that, like, the spectrum of quality is everywhere. I wish I could unlock an interest in more of those shows because it is an endless. Well, yes. That people adore.

[A]

Yeah. I usually choose a new show based on an IMDb rating.

[B]

Oh, interesting. You trust an IMDb rating.

[A]

I do, yeah. Because it's, you know, it's user generated.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's the. It's the fan rating. And there's often a lot of votes.

[B]

Right. For.

[A]

For popular things. But I've kind of watched all the popular things, so now I'm looking at stuff that. That maybe has slipped past me.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

And I've now basically watched everything that is an eight or above.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But the. The world of the things that are 7 out of 10, from 7.5 to 8. It's a really thick slice of British mysteries.

[B]

That makes sense with that genre for sure. Yeah, they're all pretty good.

[A]

There are so many shows that are pretty kind of good.

[B]

Yeah. Weirdly, I think, like the paradox with that sort of like I usually. Within most TV or movies, I feel like rating between 7 and 8.5 is really good.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's like the more interesting stuff because it's not universally liked. So it's got something different about it that's turned off some people. But within British crime dramas, I think the. You do want the. The absolute best.

[A]

Yes. Yeah.

[B]

I wonder why that is. I don't know.

[A]

I'm not sure I'm with you on the first part.

[B]

You don't agree with this?

[A]

No. The seven to eight point defend yourself. Well, I want to see the best.

[B]

Stuff, but I feel like. I think maybe this is mostly with movies. Rotten Tomatoes has ruined what we believe as like a review score.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Something that's 100% on rotten tomatoes, I'm like, it's probably fine.

[A]

I don't personally trust Rotten Tomatoes sort of for this reason. So I go to Metacritic.

[B]

Metacritic. But yeah, I guess Metacritic's a little more trustworthy.

[A]

I also use Metacritic for an important reason when it comes to movies. Because I don't watch trailers ever. Ever. And I don't read reviews. Well, no, I say ever. I will watch the trailer after I've seen the movie.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Then I'm really interested in seeing the trailer. But before I go to see a movie, I want to know as little about it as possible. And so the only way I can kind of get a sense of whether something is good or not is by looking at Metacritic. And they have both the aggregate of the critic reviews and the user reviews.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So if something's hitting now, you can see that something has high critic reviews and low user reviews. And you might be like, this is going to be homework. The movie. I don't want to watch that.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

Sometimes you can see that it has a high user review and low critic reviews and you think there's some fan service.

[B]

I'm getting very suspicious at that point.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Also, sometimes you get the high critic reviews and then low user reviews because people have decided to review bomb.

[B]

The thing this phenomenon is, I think we need. You should have to have a license to use the Internet.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's unbelievable.

[A]

That's relatively new. Like, this has started to put a dent in my. My ability to trust Metacritic, I'm sure. But if things are both. Are high on both quadrants.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Then I'm really Going to check it out.

[B]

Do you show up at the movies late to avoid all of the trailers?

[A]

Well, this is where the real gift of pre assigned seating.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Changed my life, of course, because before that. Yeah. I would be sitting there. Not like, will I get a seat? Or I'd have to go with someone and say, okay, you go ahead, you're going to watch the trailers. Please save me a seat. But let me see where you're sitting because I don't want to come in in the middle of the dark being like, where are you? It was a whole thing, but now in so many places, you know where you're going to sit.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

In advance. So I can. I will do the thing where I'll say, does anybody want any. Anything from the concession stand? It's really great. I get to use up the time and you know, do. Do a favor for everybody.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Come in at the last minute.

[B]

You're almost like a designated driver.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

That's really great. When did you start doing this? When did you create this rule for yourself?

[A]

Gosh, I can't remember now, but it has been, I would say over 15 years ago.

[B]

Wow. Amazing.

[A]

A long time.

[B]

That sounds great. I mean, I've. The only time that I've done that recently in the past couple of. I saw that movie where the. It's. I think it's a Finnish film, just someone. I think somebody gets kidnapped by Nazis and it's just deeply violent. What is this movie? Do you remember, Annelise, look up Finnish Nazi revenge movie.

[A]

I've seen. I have seen the trailer for that one, actually.

[B]

Yes, I saw. I had no Sisu. Yes, yes. Sisu saw Knowing Nothing and it was quite an experience. Yeah. Because it's incredibly violent. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I'd like to do that more often, especially with movies I'd like to see.

[A]

Oh. I think that my favorite movie going experiences have always been under those circumstances. When I just go in, I'm like, I don't know what this is. And every frame of the movie that I've seen is I'm seeing it for the first time in the context of the story.

[B]

That sounds wonderful. Yeah, I need to do that more often. I mean, the only thing I need to know in advance is the runtime. Yeah. I've created a rule and the listener knows. Has heard about this too much. If a movie's three hours or longer, I leave 90 minutes in.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then I'll see the rest later. But maybe I need to just cut trailers out of my life. It's Tempting though. I'm always. I want to take a peek.

[A]

I kind of like not knowing the runtime too.

[B]

Oh, a little bit.

[A]

Because it is kind of a spoiler. I was thinking about this the other day, that every book kind of has a spoiler built into it because you always know where you are in the story.

[B]

That's true. That's very true. And you can, you know what percentage you're through. Yeah.

[A]

How many times have you watched a TV show and you know, say a detective procedural or something and they're like, well, this person did it. And you're like, no, it's. You're 22 minutes in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's not right.

[B]

That's very true. Wow. But I just, I couldn't do it. I can't imagine getting into a three hour movie not knowing it was three hours. Yeah. I would lose my mind.

[A]

It's fair for your life, but sometimes you have to prioritize art.

[B]

I suppose maybe I should give that a shot and see what it does to me. Chemically, I think that could be devastating on me in every way. But do you have people who you.

[A]

Could rely on to sort of be your guide in that way? So you can take out any kind of pre information that you might have and just say, hey, I'm following you. They'll say, come to this movie. We're not going to tell you the running time, but you just know you're going to see something good and it's not going to necessarily be six hours of your life gone.

[B]

I can rely on no one in my life for anything. I trust no one. Yeah. No, I don't think I would trust any of my friends or family to give me to help me with that situation.

[A]

I'm lucky that my LA friends all know about my weird stuff.

[B]

Right.

[A]

No spoilers. They've been my friends for, for two decades.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And. And they're all movie buffs. Most of them work in, you know.

[B]

In entertainment in some aspects.

[A]

Right. And so I can usually they can say, like this one you gotta see.

[B]

Right, right. Well, I think there's something else we should talk about that I, you know, I'm not that comfortable even bringing this up with you right now, but I feel like I have no choice otherwise. I thought, he's a professional, he'll come by, we'll talk, we'll chat, have a nice time and then move on with our days. The podcast is called I said no Gifts. Oh. So I was a little surprised. I guess I was actually shocked that you showed up with a Gift?

[A]

I thought the show was called I said no boxed Gifts.

[B]

Oh, interesting. No, that's another podcast, which is a.

[A]

You know. And I was like, oh, yeah, I know. I understand. No box gifts. That is very familiar to me as an Indian person. I get it. So, you know, I brought you this.

[B]

Okay. So you. You felt like an envelope gift would be okay?

[A]

Well, if. I think you've. If you open it, you'll.

[B]

Okay, you'll see.

[A]

Have you ever been to an Indian wedding? No, I haven't gotten an invitation that says no boxed gifts.

[B]

Is that a real thing within the Indian community?

[A]

It is.

[B]

No boxed gifts. No boxed gifts. Why?

[A]

Well, I think you'll.

[B]

Okay, let's open this envelope here.

[A]

Hey, everyone. Ed Helms here, and hi, I'm Kal.

[B]

Penn, and we're the hosts of Earsay.

[A]

The Audible, and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Jenny Garth, host of the iHeart podcast. I choose me to discuss the new Audible adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. This is not a trick question. There's no wrong answer. What role would I play? You know what?

[B]

I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

[C]

You got a little Colin Firth.

[A]

Okay, that's really sweet. I appreciate that, but are you sure I'm not the dad? I'm not Mr. Bennett. Here, listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

I don't know about you guys, but I love to buy gifts. I love it so much. I love it so much more than getting gifts. But the one thing that I do love, especially when it comes to my daughter, is getting matching things. I know it's such a cliche, but I love it so much. So I have the perfect brand for you. Pandora Jewelry can make their holiday unforgettable with a gift that says it all from Pandora Jewelry. A gift that tells a story and shows, you know, theirs that doesn't just sparkle, but speaks. From new festive charms to forever rings and personal engravings, this season, give a gift that's perfectly theirs. Whether you're shopping for a shiny surprise for your significant other, matching bracelets to celebrate your friendship, or. Or a heartfelt gift for a family member. Say more this holiday season with Pandora. Shop [e-mail] or visit your closest Pandora.

[A]

Store, Limu Emu and Doug. Here we have the Limu Imu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[B]

Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[A]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty.

[B]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty Savings.

[A]

Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

[B]

So, actually, I'm going to say this is also a nice envelope.

[A]

Oh, well, you know, it's a gift.

[B]

Okay. We're opening it up here. Oh, and a nice little card with some, like, floral and in gold on below. Oh, my God. Oh, okay, so I've got $21, which is that significant?

[A]

It's significant in that it ends in a one.

[B]

Okay. And in the card it just says, dear Bridger, all the best. Rishikesh.

[A]

Yes. Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Well, we.

[B]

This is obviously. I will say this is the second. Second episode where I've gotten cash.

[A]

Oh, well, I'm.

[B]

I'm sorry to repeat, but you've outdone. You've outdone the first. I got. I believe I got $20 the first time from Chris Estrada.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

And then I bought a T shirt, and Now I've gotten $21. We need to keep this pattern going.

[A]

So you can get $1 more every time.

[B]

And we need to do at least four episodes a day. Okay, well, then I need. I want explanation. I'm so curious.

[A]

So I said, no box gift. Not actually what they. But they will say, no box gifts, please.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And that means give money.

[B]

Oh, that's genius.

[A]

Yeah. That is the code for just give us money.

[B]

That's what everyone should be doing.

[A]

Yeah. And that's, you know, that's what the appreciated present is.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

Sometimes. But the first. I remember the first time I saw it on a wedding invitation being like, what does that mean? And having to ask my parents, and they laughed. They're like, well, obviously, this is what it means. And then the other part of it is that for all gift giving, when there's money involved, for Indian people, or at least for. Within my family, you never give a number that ends in zero. I think the superstition has to do with the idea that a zero, like a number that ends in zero, is like a whole number. It is a complete number. It has reached the end of something. And actually, what you. The most auspicious thing is to celebrate the start of something new.

[B]

It's kind of. That's very sweet, actually. Yeah, it's really kind of a beautiful superstition.

[A]

Yeah. So I would get. Because I would get birthday gifts, you know, and it would be $11 a check for $11 and again, I had to ask why. Why is that? And wow.

[B]

Yeah, that does feel like the thing where everyone just kind of always seems like they're trying to outdo someone else. So I put another dollar in there for you. That's great.

[A]

I think. I think it's. There is something nice about it, but for me, mostly it just was superstition.

[B]

Right.

[A]

What really stuck with me is that it's bad luck to give a gift that ends in a zero.

[B]

Yeah. Especially at a wedding where it's like, well, things are over. It's done at the end of the. Did you have a traditional Indian wedding?

[A]

I didn't.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

No, there was nothing traditional about my wedding, actually. Okay.

[B]

What was your wedding like?

[A]

It was in Palm Springs.

[B]

Oh, wonderful.

[A]

It was very nice. Part of the reason why it was untraditional is because my family, and especially the people here in the US That I consider, you know, family. Our family friends who are as close as family. Right. It's just a huge number of people.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And my. My wife, by contrast, has a very small family.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Her entire family, you know, is, I think, fewer than 10 people.

[B]

Wow. And that's remarkable.

[A]

As we were filling out our guest list, you know, she was like, okay, I've got to the end of my family. And I was in, you know, the 50s or 60s still going in. The venue was not that big. So we ended up saying, okay, we're just going to invite. I think the way we determined it was mutual friends of ours whose houses we'd been to or they'd been to our house. That was a lot of criteria. Yeah.

[B]

That's how everyone should do that.

[A]

I think it just. There are so many people I'd like to consider my friend, but I think that once you've been to somebody's house, it just. It's a literal and metaphorical crossing of a threshold.

[B]

Right. That's a good. I think even for parties and everything, that makes it a way more efficient guest list.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Because anytime I'm planning a party, I panic.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I think of one person and then it, like, branches out and like, well, there are four people that kind of should be invited. And then if I put them on that, I mean, it just falls apart so quickly. Yeah.

[A]

And this is. This is step one of every wedding.

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

So how many people total ended up.

[A]

Coming in the end? We had 90 something people.

[B]

Okay. And did you say no boxed gifts?

[A]

No, I think we were open to anything.

[B]

Did you do a wedding registry?

[A]

We did.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

We did. Which Feels crass.

[B]

I mean, I think it is crass, but everyone does it.

[A]

Everyone does it.

[B]

Literally everyone does it. Yeah. I think when it gets really crass is what you put on it, essentially.

[A]

I mean, and. And, you know, there's this, like, honey fund thing now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which is the Western way of saying no box gifts.

[B]

Right. Give us some money for our honeymoon or whatever. I remember, like, the most egregious thing I've seen seen on a wedding registry. This was years ago when I was still living in Utah. Was. Someone requested an Xbox. I just thought, this isn't a Christmas list. You're a child. What are you. Why would you ask for Christmas?

[A]

I really admire that.

[B]

I really respect it, I guess, you know, some people want a toaster oven. Someone wants to play Halo or something. But I remember thinking, come on, maybe.

[A]

That'S their romantic activity.

[B]

Interesting. Yeah, I guess it was. I'm to blame for not thinking that maybe they were playing together.

[A]

Yes. Let that couple have a cooperative game experience.

[B]

Yes, exactly. But, yeah, wedding registry, that also seems stressful to me.

[A]

Me, It's. You know, it was actually. Once you get over the guilt of the idea of sort of assuming that people are going to give you gifts, it's. It's pretty fun, I think.

[B]

Right. You just go crazy.

[A]

I. I think so. I mean, you know, there's. Because the way that you can do your registry, I think could potentially also say something about you.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

And in a wedding registry, I think it's different than, say, like, a baby shower where you're like, we just need boxes of diapers, please. Is somebody going to get us the box of diapers? That's not a fun gift to ask for or receive.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But you do need it. But I think with the wedding registry, you could hit those essentials. But it was fun to be able to say, like, what's something that we imagine in our dream home? You know?

[B]

Right.

[A]

What. How do we. It feels like part of the imagination of your future together.

[B]

Right. What sort of stuff were you putting on it?

[A]

I think we put, you know, some dishware.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

One of the things. It was mainly, like, home things.

[B]

Right.

[A]

When we got married, we were living in a little condo that I had lived in by myself previously. And then my wife Lindsay moved in with me, and this was really a chance for us to reimagine the space as something shared, as opposed to her living with the stuff that I already had. You know, we'd done a little bit to try and make it a shared space, but this was really, like, we're starting over. And so I think we had, like. Like a little light fixture that we could put in the kitchen to replace the things there. And. And we had dishes and things like that.

[B]

Wait, so where were you registered?

[A]

I think that it was a service that let you pull in things from other places.

[B]

Oh, yeah. This is kind of a thing.

[A]

So we could say, oh, this lamp and then these dishes and some different places. You aren't locked into one retail.

[B]

Yeah. I'm like, thinking back to, like, Macy's in 2003. Yeah, no, this is a different world. You know, I've long thought that at some point you should get to register as someone who's not. Who has no plans to get married.

[A]

Oh, sure. Yeah.

[B]

Because it is a nice thing that people get at their wedding. Suddenly everyone's. Just by furnishing their home.

[A]

I think you should be able to register for your Christmas presents.

[B]

Sure. I mean, I guess they have those horrible.

[A]

Let someone buy you an Xbox.

[B]

Those Amazon things, which I find extremely strange.

[A]

But maybe it's time to normalize the them. Yeah, normalize adult Christmas wish lists.

[B]

Yeah, maybe. Maybe it's time. And then I. Yeah, the Xbox goes right on there.

[A]

Yeah. The whole point of it is to save everyone some heartache.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

In terms of getting something that people want and getting things that you want. And then you don't have to have returns.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You just have to go to Walmart to return something.

[B]

Oh, I did. That's right. Imagine my sister put me in a very tight spot there.

[A]

But I know your registry.

[B]

Yeah, I should have sent her the registry. I've got the correct apple pencil now, so everything is fine. Apple needs to get it together with the amount of apple pencils they're selling. It's very confusing.

[A]

I didn't know there was more than one.

[B]

Oh, there are several. And it's. What are we working on in the neighbor's yard? Listener? You're just going to hear some of this going on. This is being outdoors. And that sounds like the machine's falling apart. I'm just picturing someone back there in a Jason mask.

[A]

That's just somebody practicing their Halloween costume.

[B]

Yeah, that's. They're going to apply for a job at Knott's Scary Farm or something.

[A]

They're doing a self tape with a chainsaw.

[B]

I'm going to start doing all of my self tapes with chainsaws, regardless of what character. That's not a bad idea. I also want a headshot with a chainsaw. Oh, yeah. I'm Going to become the chainsaw guy.

[A]

Everybody needs a gimmick.

[B]

Yes. This should become. The next time we do photos for this podcast. I'll be holding a chainsaw. No, I think I should create a I said no gifts registry. The guests can look at the registry. That would be great. These are ways that I'm trying to cheat the system. Ultimately. I'm trying to think of what should I spend $21 on?

[A]

What do you need?

[B]

Well, this is.

[A]

Let me put it this way. What don't you need? But you want. Oh, see, that's really what you should be spending it on because it's. It's gift money.

[B]

Right. That's kind of what happened with this class action settlement recently.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because usually I'll just like, I'll get a gift card and I'll just put it in my wallet and then let groceries or food purchases drain it and it's gone. But I said I'm going to be purposeful about this and I can do that with these. $21. I'm just remembering it was last fall, the Libman brothers brought me a $30 money order. Is that right? I think it was $30. And we had listeners vote on what I spent it on. And they voted on me going photo shoot at the JCPenney Photo Studio. And I think it ended up costing me $150, which is a tough pill to swallow. But, I mean, the photos will last forever. Very high quality, obviously. So I'm going to try to avoid that situation again. But $21.

[A]

Could you. My request maybe, since we started the conversation this way, could you spend that money on buying yourself some music? Maybe physical media?

[B]

That's not a bad idea. I'm trying to get back into the mode of physical media, at least with Blu Rays. I'm starting with Blu Rays again because it. I mean, for so many reasons, is so much better than streaming.

[A]

Absolutely. I got an email last night about a sale at the Criterion Collection.

[C]

Oh.

[A]

And I think there were some things that you could get for 21.

[B]

Did you buy anything?

[A]

I have them in my cart, but I haven't. Didn't listen to it yet.

[B]

This is my style of shop. Yeah, just forget it in the cart.

[A]

Because I just got something from them.

[B]

What did you get?

[A]

I got the Blu Ray of you can count on me.

[B]

Oh, great choice.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Maybe I should get a new or just even get on Bandcamp Band camp.

[A]

Yeah. But I think of physical. Do you still have a CD player?

[B]

Do I have a CD player anywhere in my home? No, I still have two iPods, but they need some help.

[A]

Do you have a record player?

[B]

I don't and see, this is something I, I've got to get to a place in my life where I can buy. But once I buy a record player and begin buying records, it's going to ruin my life, you know, because that is something I would like to have. But moving back and forth across the country with books, I finally gave up on buying. Mostly I don't buy a lot of. I'll only get book digital books because I can't pack boxes with books anymore. I mean, I now live in this house so it's not like, knock on wood, I won't be fleeing in the night. But with records, it's a similar thing. And I've gotten records on this podcast before and I love getting them, but there's a, there's a fear that it's going to take over my space and then just be a huge money drain. But, but CDs.

[A]

I'm excited that CDs are coming back.

[B]

They're coming back. Yeah. I'm not familiar with this.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Where do you even buy CDs?

[A]

Well, I think, I mean on, on the Internet.

[B]

On the Internet for sure.

[A]

And it shows.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

There are CDs at the merch table.

[B]

Why do you feel like people are getting back into CDs?

[A]

What I heard, I don't know if this is true, but what I heard is that because Gen Z thinks it's cool and kind of cool phenomenon, artifact, novelty. I'm not sure and I don't know if that's. If it's driven by irony or just, or legitimate excitement or just because they are into all things 90s, right. But for whatever the reason, I'm excited about it.

[B]

Yeah. I have so many CDs at my parents house. I have giant Tupperware of CDs and I'm just like, I have no use for these. And cars no longer have CDs.

[A]

Well, that's the thing that I'm hoping will change if this gets big enough again. Can we put CD players back?

[B]

That would be so great. Yeah, CD players and buttons, let's get them back in cars. The climate control buttons on my car are. I mean there's no buttons. So I have to be looking at this thing in order. It's an absolute nightmare. Bad engineering, I would say. But CDs I feel like CDs are. There are so many good qualities to them. My number one thing is just being able to listen to it over and over.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Whereas with a lot of streaming services, you have to, like, manually turn on the play this over button every time you want to, or the shuffle thing gets all. It's a nightmare.

[A]

It's a nightmare. So that's my wish for you, is spend that on a cd.

[B]

How much did we charge for a CD at this point?

[A]

I think 1415.

[B]

Okay. So prices basically stayed the same, I think. I feel like there was a point when CDs got super expensive and then dropped to about when they were on their decline to like 9.99.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then vanished for such a long time. When a band puts out an album now, does the record company still produce CDs every time?

[A]

Well, this is part of the reason why I've been thinking about it, because I'm going to be putting out a new album next year, and I just had to send it off to get mastered. The mastering engineer said, do you. You know, what formats am I mastering this for?

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I said, you have vinyl and CD and digital.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And I got excited about that.

[B]

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Because most bands will at least put out vinyl when maybe tapes. Yeah. But the CD is still now it's like an option.

[A]

Yeah. I see CDs now.

[B]

Wow, that's really fascinating.

[A]

New CDs for new music.

[B]

And see the tape renaissance when cassette tapes came back as, like, it's not a good format. This is driven by irony on some level. Right. But a CD is a pretty good format.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The quality is very good. They're more bulky.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't know. I'm into that idea.

[A]

You can't play vinyl in the car yet.

[B]

Yeah. Was there ever a point when people were playing vinyl in the car? No, but it feels like someone probably tried at some point and was like, oh, right. This is not.

[A]

You go to the show, you're like, I loved this band. I bought the vinyl. I want to listen to it on my way home. No, now I still have to put on the streaming.

[B]

Right. Oh, and then the other problem with CDs is now that no computer has a disk drive.

[A]

Right. No computers have anything.

[B]

I mean, they're just essentially an iPad with a keyboard.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is unfortunate.

[A]

No, they're just Ken dolls with screens.

[B]

Yeah. Because I do like to rip my music if I have a cd. Oh. There are so many things to worry about. But I'm gonna have to go. I. I would like to go to a store and buy a CD. I guess Amoeba has CDs.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's mostly what Amoeba. I haven't been to Amoeba in a long time. But you're still going through CDs there, right?

[A]

I think they do still have a CD section. Yeah.

[B]

I can't believe, like, I'm talking about this. I'm talking about CDs in this way. It's like they're just totally. Like they really vanished pretty quickly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And are now back. And do you. I guess electronics companies are going to start making CD portable CD players again?

[A]

I think so.

[B]

Fascinating. I like.

[A]

Otherwise you can listen to it in your. The Xbox that you got on your Instagram.

[B]

Yeah. Most of my music listening coincided. Like there was a brief period of listening to music on CDs, but most of it was ipod era. So. Yeah. The idea of just like putting one CD into a disc player and then having that, it's kind of foreign to me. But unfortunately you can't even put them in my car. I guess I could buy an entire car like a Honda Civic from 2001. That probably would cost almost as much as buying a new CD player or a new cd. Yeah. Or a new cd. I worked at Best Buy for a brief period and that was. There was very little employee discount, but you could get a CD for five or six dollars. And it was a dream world, just buying CD after CD for half the price.

[A]

As an aside, can I tell you that I really love hearing all of the other jobs that you had in your past? I think one of the things that I really appreciate in the way that the show is there are these anecdotes that come up that reveal the sort of multitude of lives that you've lived.

[B]

Life I've stumbled through. Oh my God. If you saw my resume, you'd be like, this person cannot be trusted to have a job.

[A]

I have the same thing.

[B]

What was your first job?

[A]

My very first job was as a bookshelver at the library. Oh, yeah.

[B]

Which is probably. I bet that feels like a satisfying job.

[A]

It was great. I really enjoyed it. I love libraries.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

See my above comments about being a nerd. And so it was great to be able to be in the library and get paid to do it.

[B]

Right. You get to be in a nice, peaceful atmosphere. You probably get to see books that you weren't. You haven't really thought about before because you're seeing everybody's books and it's. Were you ever infuriated when somebody would reshelve the book themselves?

[A]

No. I don't know if it would have even occurred to me that that Happened because, you know, I'd show up library and be like, here's the. Here's the many carts of books that.

[B]

Okay. So you don't have to worry about the reorganization.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Who does that at the library?

[A]

Well, I would, you know, have to take. Take it and put it back in the right place, but once it was. And if you're on the shelf and you see things are out of order.

[B]

You do it yourself there. But yeah, I. Because I feel like you could really make librarians a life. Life a nightmare.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

By reshelve.

[A]

Yeah. But then I went from that to then my. My job that summer was working at McDonald's.

[B]

Wow. What a swing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Were you front counter or a cook?

[A]

Front counter only. I was 14, so I was not allowed to.

[B]

Oh, interesting.

[A]

To work anywhere else.

[B]

Was that like a state law?

[A]

I think so, yeah.

[B]

Oh, what's going on in the McDonald's?

[A]

It's child labor laws.

[B]

Good for them.

[A]

Yeah. I can make fries.

[B]

You can make fries, which seems like the most dangerous thing to make.

[A]

Yeah. But that was, you know, outside of the. The kitchen, so I couldn't. Couldn't go to where there. There were, like, the interesting burners, but.

[B]

Because I feel like there's very little going on in the McDonald's kitchen outside of boiling hot oil.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. That was part of it.

[B]

No one should be handling.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That feels like a machine's job. Wow. How interesting. How long were you at McDonald's for? Just the summer.

[A]

The summer. Okay. Yeah.

[B]

How was that as a job? I've never. I've worked in plenty of front counter at restaurants, but not at a McDonald's.

[A]

Yeah. I have to say I didn't mind it.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

You know, I certainly wished, I guess I had a job that. That required more thinking or something. Sure. But it was. It was fine. It was. I. I liked going to the mall and I liked McDonald's and.

[B]

Dream job.

[A]

There just weren't that many options at 14 years old.

[B]

Right.

[A]

For a job. But I. I needed to work, so.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That was kind of. That was kind of it.

[B]

Yeah. My first job at that age was. It was at Schlotsky's Deli.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Which was a miserable experience.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, parts of it are fun. Did you have to do any of the dishwashing or anything?

[A]

No.

[B]

Okay. Once you get.

[A]

I don't think that there are dishes to wash at a McDonald's.

[B]

Great.

[A]

It's only point paper packaging.

[B]

Right. There's probably very little back there that needs to be cleaned.

[A]

Right. Well, the grills and stuff like that. But that was what the adults did. Or at least, you know, and, and anybody who was over the age of 16 to me was an adult. Right.

[B]

Meanwhile, you're living your teenage dream.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How interesting. The worst part of any food job, I would say is closing.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It's just agony being there at the end of the day and having to clean everything up, especially if somebody shows up late.

[A]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

I feel like as a society most people at this point have. It's kind of occurred to them, oh, maybe don't show up 10 minutes before a restaurant closes and then stay for an hour after.

[A]

So you, you worked in a place that had, that was a standalone. Yes, I worked in the mall.

[B]

Oh. And the mall has very strict, like.

[A]

Get out or also just. It's not our problem if you're in the food court.

[B]

Oh, interesting.

[A]

Right.

[B]

What else was in the food court? Oh, God, paint me a picture of this.

[A]

Next question. I don't remember what else was there. What I remember most was to come to the McDonald's. It was not the sort of like main front entrance. The closest entrance was the side entrance where there was an Old Navy.

[B]

Oh, interesting.

[A]

Yeah. So I would.

[B]

All of their clothes must have smelled like french fries.

[A]

It's a feature.

[B]

It's an absolute feature. This comes from the french fry. Old, just greasy smelling clothing. Okay, well, I'm gonna buy some. At least one cd.

[A]

Great. Which do you know?

[B]

No, yeah, that's a great.

[A]

I think maybe, maybe your listeners can.

[B]

I'm not letting anybody. Not with music.

[A]

Yeah, you won't even let your friends recommend a movie.

[B]

You. So, yeah, I'm very picky. I'm, I'm not crossing that bridge. But I, what I will do is I'll pick an artist who's alive and active so some of the money can go to them.

[A]

Excellent.

[B]

And I'll let everybody know once I buy the cd.

[A]

Okay, great. Yeah. Will you please, please tell me.

[B]

Yes. And it'll be purchased new because obviously used. None of the money will go to the artist. This is going to take again. This is what happens to me. I begin overthinking and in my life it just chips away at my mental health.

[A]

So really I've, I've given you homework.

[B]

You'Ve given me homework and probably the most difficult way, but I'm really excited. I haven't bought, I can't remember the last CD I even bought. I mean it was probably in 20, 20, 10 maybe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I wonder what it was.

[A]

Yeah, I'VE been buying vinyl just because it's more fun to buy, it's more collectible, put on the. The record. But. But I'm excited. And also because I don't have a way to play a CD right now.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But I'm. I'm going to invest, reinvest. I have my so many CDs sitting in my garage.

[B]

Yeah. And mine are in good condition. Oh, yeah. Do you remember the first CD you bought?

[A]

Yes. The very first CD that I bought with money that I made working at McDonald's. Because that's what I used the most to buy my first CD player and first cd. It was the Last Action Hero soundtrack.

[B]

Who was on that soundtrack?

[A]

The main theme was performed by Buckethead.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

And the score was composed by Michael Kamen. I think AC DC was on the soundtrack. And yeah, there was something. It had a little bit of a hard rock kind of a shot to it. And I really enjoyed the movie that.

[B]

Was the one where like, Arnold Schwarzenegger comes out of the screen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or someone goes into the screen. Both.

[A]

Both.

[B]

Wow. Worlds really collide.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I do think I saw that movie.

[A]

I saw it again just recently at Vidiots.

[B]

I'm sure it holds up very well.

[A]

It was great. It was really perfect.

[B]

Yeah. What's the conceit? Why does. Why do the worlds collide in that film?

[A]

You know, like some magic ticket kind of science.

[B]

Yeah. I'm sure it makes perfect logic. Yeah.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Wow. Was it an original ACD ACDC song for the film or was it.

[A]

I think it was classic.

[B]

Oh, I think it was tough to hear, you know. You want one of their hits? Yeah, I don't want them composing a new song.

[A]

Well, you don't know. It could have been a hit. You have to be optimistic.

[B]

I'm not going to be optimistic about them writing a new song for them.

[A]

Put a dollar at the end of their. Their gift. It's the start of something new.

[B]

No, I feel like at this point in their career, we were at $20. Okay. Well, I'm excited for my adventure in CD buying.

[A]

I think they might have written the, like, a new song that might have been called Last Action Hero.

[B]

Anneliese, can you confirm fact check the. Yeah, let's find out. I'd like to hear the title of their song for this movie. Last Action Hero by Tesla.

[A]

By Tesla.

[B]

Tesla. Tesla was a band. Interesting.

[A]

They shredded.

[B]

Okay. Well, I. I think we should play a game.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

We're gonna play a game called Gift or a Curse. But I need a number between 1.

[A]

And 10 from you, and it has to be between 1 and 10.

[B]

It. Well, it's up to you.

[A]

I mean, how about 12?

[B]

12. Okay, 12. Wow, you've really broken a rule here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I appreciate that, actually.

[A]

I just feel like we've already started talking about superstitions, which are really the biggest curse that you can give someone as a gift.

[B]

Oh, absolutely.

[A]

The worst thing that I've gotten from my family and really, anybody. Anybody who wants to tell me a new superstition, I instantly believe. And I'm instantly cursed by.

[B]

Yeah, you're planting a seed of paranoia in someone's brain that will. They cannot let go for the rest of their life.

[A]

Yeah. Because what if it's. Yeah, what if it's real? What if that's real? And so 12 is my lucky number.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. So, you know, I'm gonna try and counteract that a little with a little positive superstition.

[B]

Yeah. Lucky superstition. Okay. I have to do some light calculating to get our game pieces. You can promote, recommend, do whatever you want. I'll be right back.

[A]

I'm not sure. Thank you so much for speaking kindly about Song Exploder. I have another podcast that I make these days called Home Cooking, which is a show about cooking. My friend Samin Nosrat, who is incredible chef and cookbook author, she wrote Salt, Fat, Acid Heat, and she has a new book called Good Things. We started that in the pandemic, and it's sort of a call in question, question and answer format. We try and help people who are struggling with ingredients or techniques or things like that. And mainly it was something we started for a little bit of companionship during the pandemic and lockdown, and now we've brought it back, and that's been really fun.

[B]

That sounds great. Were you cooking prior to this podcast?

[A]

I mean, I'm. I'm not a trained or expert cooker or something like that. I'm sort of like. I could sort of MacGyver a meal.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Together with.

[B]

That's impressive. Actually.

[A]

I can improvise a meal.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And in fact, I'm probably better at that than following. I'm very bad at following a recipe.

[B]

Okay, sure, sure. And correct me if I'm wrong. You like chocolate chip cookies.

[A]

That is correct.

[B]

And you bake them?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Do you have your own recipe?

[A]

I have a few that I feel like I've made that I'm excited about.

[B]

Okay, what's your ideal cookie?

[A]

There's one that I. That I made that I was excited by, where I didn't have quite enough of either, like chocolate chips or chocolate chunks, you know, for a thing. So I just. I combined the two, but then still wasn't quite enough. So I also threw in. It was basically like a kitchen sink kind of chocolate chip cookie where I also had raisins and pecans and coconut.

[B]

Okay, great.

[A]

And that was. That sounds fantastic. Because then I. I didn't have to choose, you know, one thing or other. It was just.

[B]

It's kind of a trail mix cookie. Yeah, that sounds fantastic. I love to bake a cookie.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Oh, yeah. I'm baking constant. Well, baking only chocolate chip cookies, essentially.

[A]

What podcast can I start that you will bring me chocolate chip cookies?

[B]

Oh, that's a great question. I can't. Come on, Song Exploder. You should create a baking podcast.

[A]

Yeah. I have a newsletter that is called Accept Cookies.

[B]

Oh, okay, perfect. So maybe ideal. Yes, I'll bring it to the newsletter.

[A]

Great, great, great.

[B]

Invite me on your newsletter. Okay, this is how we play Gift or curse. I'm going to name three things and you're going to tell me if they're a gift or a curse and why. Then I will tell you if you're right or wrong because there are correct answers. All right, this first one is from a listener named Annie. Gift or a curse? When streaming services ask you to choose which ad experience you'd prefer, and there's.

[A]

No way to get out of this by just paying your way to the ad free tier.

[B]

No, there's. As far as Annie here is concerned, you start it up and they ask you, which of these would you prefer? Is that a gift or a curse?

[A]

I suppose it's a gift because I know what my answer is. My answer is, give me all the ads at the beginning. Don't break up the thing in the middle of it, you know, so I'm, as you might have gathered, kind of dogmatic about the way that I watch things. And I don't want to be interrupted in the middle of the act or something like that, especially artificially because so many things are made now where it wasn't intended with a three act. I mean, with a commercial break structure.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

So you're gonna throw ads in there just while in the.

[B]

You know, it gets chaotic. Sometimes the ad breaks become in the weirdest spots at this point.

[A]

Halfway through a sentence.

[B]

Yes. Yeah, it feels like a glitch sometimes.

[A]

Yeah. So I appreciate, I guess, that they're not forcing that upon me. And. And I'll take my ads up front, please. So. Gift.

[B]

Wrong. First. First of all. Don't make me complicit in the ad experience. Just. You're the one creating the problem with the ads. Just force them on me in whatever way you want.

[A]

Whatever way you want.

[B]

I don't want to be part of the, the decision making with the ads. It's not my job. Just shove the ads down my throat wherever you want.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Don't. I don't want to have to click one more button.

[A]

I've never been so happy to be wrong.

[B]

Okay, you got one wrong and that's fine. This next one is from a listener named Jeff. Gift or a curse. Sitting in multi thousand dollar massage. Massage chairs at airports or the mall, but not paying to use them.

[A]

So they're just chairs.

[B]

I guess they're those giant chairs with the. You know, they probably cover your legs on some way. If the machine was running, it would be crushing your body.

[A]

Sure. I think that's a gift because I'm always grateful for a chair. I mean, like it's giving. It's already giving me two options. I could not use the chair standing. Or here's a second option. And even when it's not working, it's still a chair. And if it's the massage chair, it's probably more comfortable than whatever plastic nonsense is in the regular area.

[B]

Correct gift. Look, I'm not giving them my money, but the chair is there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm happy to take advantage of the airport of the mall.

[A]

You're kind of getting a discount massage.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

You're getting a little something. Yeah. Beyond the bench that they provide or whatever. And I don't know, I feel like, why not? Why not experience the leather in the mall?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Be covered up by, you know, in the airport. And they're usually further away from everyone else. It's a quiet spot and it's a chance to be confronted by security. So why not?

[A]

My friends and I have something that we call cheap thrills, which is the opportunity to do something that costs nothing.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But it adds a little excitement. Like when you're walking down the street and there's a little curb raised curb. You can just walk on that like a tightrope for a few feet until it ends and then you hop back down.

[B]

Oh, that sounds great.

[A]

That was a cheap thrill. That was more exciting than just walking on the sidewalk. And an unoperational massage chair. Oh yeah, that's free. That's a cheap thrill.

[B]

Your heart is pounding thinking, I am kind of breaking a rule right now. I'm supposed to be paying for this. I'm Wasting the space. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great.

[A]

Upgraded my experience of sitting.

[B]

What a bargain. Yeah. That's a gift, all right. You've gotten one right so far. This final one is from a listener named John. Gift or a curse? When a video game has a fishing mini game as a bonus.

[A]

A what kind of mini game?

[B]

A fishing mini game.

[A]

Fishing mini game where, if you play it correctly, someone steals your identity and your credit cards.

[B]

You're, you know, you get a weird text, you say, well, I might know this person. I'll give them my Social Security number. Why not?

[A]

What's not a gift about that? No. You mean an fia. Okay. Yeah. Because I was also kind of hoping that maybe there's just a game that you can unlock where you listen to.

[B]

Fish albums and then the video game is like 50 hours long.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. And mostly silly. But there are a lot of people who.

[B]

There's so. So many people that are so passionate.

[A]

About liking every part of that.

[B]

Yes. They find a way to enjoy the entire improvised video game.

[A]

I have never encountered a video game where there's a secret fishing.

[B]

Fishing minigame.

[A]

I have played games where there's like a. There's Gwent, you know, in. In the Witcher games. Oh, yeah, of course.

[B]

It's like a card game.

[A]

It's a card game, right. Yeah. And you can just get lost in Gwent. And. And I'll say that's a gift because that's just. That's just more game.

[B]

Sure. Yeah. Correct gift. Why not have a fishing mini game in every video game? Mortal Kombat. You should be able to fish in that.

[A]

That would be great. And use your special powers, you know, like.

[B]

Like scorpion throws his thing into the water and catches the fish.

[A]

Yes, exactly. Wow.

[B]

They. I feel like Mortal Kombat actually. Every character probably has something that they could use that would make them a better fisher person.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Interesting. Mortal Kombat Reach out.

[A]

I'm rethinking all games and seeing how flawed they are for not. Not having efficiency.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Do you play a lot of video games? We've talked about your Xbox.

[B]

I play probably two to three complete video games a year. I love playing video games, but I rarely, like, sit down to play them anymore.

[A]

Yeah, but why is that?

[B]

Attention span. All sorts of things. A lot of video games now just don't really appeal to me as a person. A lot of them just feel like worse movies. Yep. So. But when I get into a video game, I absolutely adore it. And one video game that had a fishing mini game. Was a couple of the Zelda games had fishing mini games. I loved fishing in these things. Very satisfying to catch a fish.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Every game should have a. The ability to fish. It's just a nice break from what else. What the other thing you're doing.

[A]

Yeah, I, I just recently, as in like last week, climbed out of. Of the hole that I had dug for myself by starting Ghost of Tsushima.

[B]

Oh, my boyfriend's in the middle of Ghost of Yote.

[A]

Oh, I. Well, I'm excited about that one and I thought I should play the first one so I can get all the references right. You don't want to see the sequel.

[B]

Right. This is very you.

[A]

All the in jokes, you know, you'd be missing.

[B]

Yes. And those games are very comedy oriented. That feels like a game that could have a fishing minigame.

[A]

Well, I felt like there's this. It is sort of a thing that helps unlock the actual game. But you know all the little moments where you get to go follow a fox around.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And find a shrine and then you get to pet the fox afterwards.

[B]

Wonderful idea.

[A]

Really. Just I was so happy that there was the part where you can pet the fox. That was a great, great, great little break from all the killing and brutal beheading and stuff like that.

[B]

Yeah. I feel like that game, I like, feel more and more like violence in video games stresses me out. I'm not like, opposed to it, but I'm just like, just take all of that out and let me follow the animal through the woods. That's. I've got too much else in my life. Yeah. Resident Evil.

[A]

Get rid of the. Everything else but the fishing game.

[B]

Yeah. Maybe I just need to buy a fishing game. Yeah, that's probably my problem. Well, you got two out of three.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Not too bad.

[A]

Yeah. And I still stand by my first answer.

[B]

Well, that's up to you. I don't know what to tell you. Okay, this is the final segment of the podcast. It's called I said no Emails. And people are writing in or sending voicemails to voice notes, I suppose, that are 60 seconds long in a quiet place to I said no gifts at gmail dot com. Will you help me answer a question?

[A]

Yes, I'd love to.

[B]

All right, let's get into it here. Let's see. Okay, now this one just starts with Bridger. Usually they say and guest. So this person's not very considerate, explicitly excluding me. Yes. But I would love for you to participate.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you.

[B]

Even though this person doesn't deserve it. Yeah, yeah. It says Bridger. My mom is turning 70, and in all that time, I have never given her a gift that she's liked. She's extremely frugal, and her major concern is how much did it cost? Or was this purchased with a coupon? And for God's sake, why not? We live in the Midwest. She's a big fan of murder mysteries, but already has a ton of books, IHOP yarn, sign language, and bland breakfast food with decaf. But hates alcohol, technology, gun lobbyists, and couponless monetary decisions. Do you have any suggestions as a gift expert? Christopher. Christopher. Oh, okay. Well, I'm. Again, I'm sorry I didn't include you. Whatever. Sounds like he's. I mean, has failed his mom in so many ways.

[A]

This is a great question for you, especially as you're about to go pick up your mom.

[B]

Yeah, that's true. I didn't even think about that. No, my mom, when I give her a gift, there's a lot of crying. She's impossible to give a gift to.

[A]

Oh, crying because she's unhappy.

[B]

No, she's just like. She doesn't want us to give her anything ever. Or to go out of our way in a sweet way. Which is also so infuriating because it's like, mom, please let me just give you something. But I think she and I are finally on the same page as, like, I. Okay, I. I give up.

[A]

Yeah. Are you bringing her a gift when you go pick her up?

[B]

No, she won't take anything. Yeah, it has to be. It's very. Well, I did send her a nice little Snoopy tile recently from our friend Dave. Clock Dave, Reach out. But that was a thing that was through the mail, and she loves Snoopy, so I thought, she can't resist.

[A]

You're not there for her to protest against.

[B]

Yeah. So. But what does this mom want? She loves going to IHOP and bland breakfast food.

[A]

I think the answer would be for Christopher to use a coupon to buy the ingredients to make pancakes at home for his mom.

[B]

This feels like he's trying to teach her a lesson. And.

[A]

And it doesn't matter if the pancakes turn out well or not, because apparently she doesn't.

[B]

She doesn't really care. Yeah. These could be essentially just flour and water.

[A]

Yeah. And he could potentially, you know, not even mention the fact that he bought the ingredients. Just say, I'm inviting you over to make you food. Then she's not thinking about the sort of. The consumerist. Consumerist part of it. But then if she says how much did you spend on this? She can say, well, I used a coupon.

[B]

I used a coupon. There's nothing you can complain about, mom, this is your ultimate gift.

[A]

And it's also just such a loving act to make pancakes for someone.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Although if someone made pancakes for me, but I had to drive to them, I'd be like, you're really ruining my morning.

[A]

Why?

[B]

Don't make me do something in the morning. It has. I have to.

[A]

What about night pancakes?

[B]

Night pancakes? Well, now we're getting getting into territory of like. Well, they've got to be very good pancakes.

[A]

She likes ihop. Have you ever had night IHOP pancakes?

[B]

Going to IHOP late at night is a fun experience. Exactly. Going to a diner late at night. Yeah, maybe he takes her to IHOP late at night.

[A]

But then she could potentially complain about spending money.

[B]

Well, if he gets the coupon.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or if he. There's gotta be another way to get the price down. Ihop, kind of haggle with the waiter.

[A]

Can you use your connections to get an IHOP sponsorship that you can then transfer a coupon code over to Christopher?

[B]

I imagine IHOP will just give me a franchise and then it'll be Bridger's ihop. And I will give this one customer a slight discount on pancakes for his mom. He has to pay full price for his pancakes.

[A]

That's only fair.

[B]

I think that's perfectly fair considering that I had to read his email, considering.

[A]

He didn't even include me.

[B]

Yeah, the emotional labor he's made us do here has been disgusting. And his mom hates him. You know, he's struck out, as far as I'm concerned, with the gifts. So the final. He can make one final attempt, have her over for a flour and water pancake and see what that does to the relationship. You know, she's 70. It's time to start experimenting. I think we answered the question perfectly, Christopher. And if Christopher writes back in, I don't. I, you know, I don't even. I don't. I don't want to talk about it.

[A]

You already said no email.

[B]

I said no emails. This one. This one crossed a lot of lines for me. Well, I've got $21 for my future CD purchase. I'm so excited about this. To go to the record store and buy a cd. I'm going to seem so Gen Z, everyone's going to be looking at me. And I'll have my labubu and yeah, La Boo Boo must be out at this point, right? I think it's gotta be the trend is probably dead, like four months ago.

[A]

I think if this many people know about it.

[B]

Yeah, it's no longer cool. I might almost be like, in the irony cycle already. Yeah. Things go very fast these days. Yes. I'm very excited about my 21, and I've had such a lovely time with.

[A]

You here, and maybe you could consider changing the name of the show to I said no Boxed Gifts.

[B]

Maybe that can be our show together.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Oh, and then people just bring us cash.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Great.

[B]

And then it'll become a huge, you know, it's gonna become a lawsuit at some point. There'll be a bitter court battle between the two of us trying to divvy up the cash.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But until that point, we'll have a great time. Yeah.

[A]

There'll be a class action suit, and then you'll have to spend more on Etsy.

[B]

Well, thank you for being here.

[A]

Thank you so much for having me, listener.

[B]

The podcast is over. I hate to break it to you, but I imagine you know how most podcasts work and you certainly know how this one works. So don't, you know, don't feign like you thought that this was going to keep going, because it wasn't. I have to get out of here. Move on. I love you. Goodbye. I said no Gifts is an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Annelise Nelson, and our episodes are beautifully mixed by Ben Tolliday. The theme song is by miracle worker Amy Mann. And we couldn't do it without our booker, Patrick Cotner. You must follow the show on Instagram at I said no Gifts. That's where you're going to see pictures of all these wonderful gifts I'm getting. And don't you want to see the gift gifts? When I invited you here.

[A]

I thought.

[B]

I made myself perfectly clear. When you're a guest in my home.

[A]

You gotta come to me empty handed. I said no guests.

[B]

Your presence is presence enough. And I already had too much stuff.

[A]

So how do you dare disobey me?

[B]

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first.

[C]

There, the last one.

[B]

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes. Want Black Friday prices without the crowds? Lowe's gets it. Shop their early Black Friday deals and beat the rush. $99 is all you need to grab a select 7 foot pre lit artificial Christmas tree for the holidays. And don't sweat what gifts to get, dad. They have up to 40% off select tools and accessories going on now. That's how Lowe's celebrates Black Friday early selection varies by location while supplies last.

[A]

Thursday night Football is on, and it's only on Prime Video flips it for the touchdown to Tonight, it's an old school rivalry as the Las Vegas Raiders collide with the Denver Broncos.

[B]

This is a matchup everybody wants to see.

[A]

Coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with football's best party, TNF Tonight, presented by Verizon. Not a Prime member? Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. It's the Raiders and Broncos tonight at 7pm Eastern, only on Prime Video. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.