“Kooky Tantric” (w/ Robyn)

Summary

Las Culturistas – “Kooky Tantric” (w/ Robyn)

Podcast: Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Date: January 14, 2026
Guest: Robyn
Producer: Big Money Players Network / iHeartPodcasts

---

Episode Overview

In this vibrant, laughter-filled episode, Matt and Bowen welcome Swedish pop legend Robyn for her first interview of 2026. The trio delves deep into Robyn’s new album “Sexistential,” the meaning of horniness (in all senses!), pop nostalgia versus reinvention, and the intersections of vulnerability, music-making, and club culture. Robyn reflects on her creative process, collaborative relationships, and the pressures and pleasures of being both a mother and a pop icon. The energy is infectious, packed with personal anecdotes, playful banter, and profound insights about music, art, and being “horny for life.”

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Robyn’s Cultural Impact and the Power of Her Music

• Matt and Bowen open by sharing just how formative Robyn’s music has been to their lives (“We dropped acid upstate and listened to Honey” [03:03]).
• Robyn says she’s “so happy to be here,” joking about the vulnerability of fans sharing intense experiences with her music.

“I laugh about it now, but, I mean, that song is so important... And it saved me.” — Bowen Yang on Honey [03:40]

2. The New Album: “Sexistential”

• The conversation centers on the intention and emotion behind Sexistential.
• Robyn describes the album’s creation as “crashing back into the atmosphere... kind of back into myself. Impact and a dust of emotion just rising up...” [06:10]
• The title track “Dopamine,” written over ten years, embodies this journey: “I felt like I was on a spaceship... crashing back into myself.” [06:10]
• Motherhood influenced her writing, but the album is “about maybe the time before” her son.

“You recently said you feel like it’s your life’s purpose to remain horny... I deeply feel that.”—Matt Rogers [07:15]

3. Horniness as Curiosity and Resistance

• Robyn: “Horniness is not just about sex. It’s about being curious. About having the time and space to feel pleasure... It’s an act of resistance, but it’s also fun.” [07:56]
  • Encourages being “horny for life”: open, curious, and embracing pleasure [08:43].
• Bowen and Matt connect the sensuality in Robyn’s music to a wider, freeing ethos.

4. The Kooky, Tantric Creative Process

• The collaborative songwriting process with Klaus Åhlund is likened to tantra: “We expose ourselves to each other over and over... 20 years... periods where we don’t want to be with each other and then coming back...” [09:30]
• “Tantric is definitely part of it. We’re both okay with it not being comfortable all the time, which... has to be that way to get to the good stuff.” [10:11]

5. Songwriting: Quick Inspiration vs. Slow Burn

• Iconic tracks like “Dancing on My Own” and “With Every Heartbeat” came together quickly, “like channeling.” But “Dopamine” took a decade [11:26–13:06].
• Robyn stresses the importance of struggle and discovery in the creative process—“you have to find it as if it was the first time. You can’t fake it.” [13:06]

6. Cultural Touchstones & Influences

• Robyn cites Purple Rain (Prince), “Smalltown Boy” (Bronski Beat), and Mariah Carey as defining anthems [15:18].

  “Purple Rain has this tantric thing... you want to come back to it and feel the thing again.” — Robyn [15:30]

• Shares nostalgia for singing Mariah Carey’s ballads and adoration for her artistry [16:09].

7. Re-contextualizing the Past & Creative Reinvention

• On reworking her own song on Sexistential: “It’s like you covering yourself... recontextualized now... more about cute aggression. When you love someone so much you want to hurt them.” [18:03]
• Affirms her complex relationship with nostalgia: “Nostalgia is dangerous... but playing Show Me Love now doesn’t feel nostalgic... there’s something there that’s real.” [35:34]

8. Influence on a New Generation & Industry Evolution

• Discusses collaborating and mutual influence with Charli XCX for the “360” remix [19:45]. Praises Charli’s vulnerability: “She totally inspired me to be more personal than I had ever been...” [21:30]
• Robyn is noted for her pioneering work as an independent pop star, creating the blueprint for “indie pop”—“You can do it on your own terms.” [37:10]
• Reflects on pop’s place in Swedish culture—how it evolved from a small, import-heavy landscape to an international powerhouse, with ABBA and Max Martin as key touchstones [41:18–43:05].

9. Working with Max Martin: Myth and Reality

• Robyn demystifies Max Martin: “He always gets depicted as this machine... but he’s very sincere, very smart, and sensitive. It’s not a formula. It’s real melody and experience.” [25:15]
• Their creative process is likened to a “vocal director,” focusing on sound, tone, and concept [45:08–45:55].
• Max’s collaborative, “bird’s view” production versus hands-on beat-making [46:15].

10. The Club vs. The Concert: Where Culture Happens

• Bowen and Matt lament that “the club” isn’t always clicking now—“everyone’s there for different reasons.” By contrast, live shows are unifying: “We have a mission. We’re there to enjoy a performance.” [56:35–57:02]
• Robyn raves about a recent concert by Katrielle & Pal Moroso—a rare night out as a single working mom [57:14].

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Robyn, on cultural resistance through pleasure:
  “It’s an act of resistance, but it’s also just, like, fun and how I would want my life to always be if I can. It’s a luxury. And no pressure—if you’re not horny, that’s okay, too.” [07:56]
• On nostalgia and reinvention:
  “Nostalgia is dangerous... it’s treating the past as aspirational. It’s an illusion.” —Robyn [36:21]
• Bowen Yang, on live shows as awe-inspiring:
  “There’s like a decline in the feeling of awe... I truly feel that whenever I listen to you. But at the Barclays show, I certainly felt that. Poppers notwithstanding.” [55:37]
• Robyn, on sending a car to space:
  “There should be democracy in space... and also do tacky things. Tacky like sending a stupid fucking car into space.” [65:34]
• On songwriting & collaboration:
  “With music, you can take your time to discover. Whereas actors and comedians, you have to perform discovery.” —Matt [12:26]

---

Selected Timestamps for Important Segments

• Robyn on the inception of “Sexistential”, intention, and dopamine – [06:10–08:25]
• Creative partnerships & “tantric” songwriting with Klaus Åhlund – [09:09–10:37]
• Songwriting: fast and slow (“Dancing on My Own” vs. “Dopamine”) – [11:18–13:35]
• Nostalgia, “Show Me Love”, and reinvention – [34:11–36:21]
• Robyn on Swedish pop cultural climate and ABBA’s legacy – [40:59–43:50]
• Behind the scenes with Max Martin, his myth and reality – [25:15–26:07], [45:08–46:36]
• The value of live shows & recent favorites – [56:56–57:38]
• “I Don’t Think So, Honey” segment (hilarious rants on gay close friends, lights-off sex, and Elon Musk shooting a car into space) – [60:52–66:42]

---

Tone & Style

The episode crackles with humor, warmth, and frankness—characteristic of both Las Culturistas and Robyn. The dialogue oscillates between playful irreverence (“Horny little slutty album” [07:34]) and unguarded reflection on music’s power, societal pressures, and the meaning of artistic independence.

---

Conclusion

This episode is a masterclass in pop culture consulting, featuring Robyn’s journey from pop star to existential club sage, and back again. Listeners learn about the intricacies of her process, her views on creativity, nostalgia, and the pleasures of being “horny for life.” With stories about clubbing, motherhood, Swedish pop history, and working with industry titans, Robyn and hosts Matt & Bowen remind us of art’s ability to unite, surprise, and deeply move.

---

Memorable Episode Closer:
“We all have an anus in common.” —Robyn [62:53]
“It’s a pluribus.” —Matt [63:04]
“Precious one, you are without.” —Matt [69:49]

---

Recommended for: Pop nerds, club kids, fans of candid music industry stories, anyone who wants to be “horny for life.”

Transcript

[Robyn]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Matt Rogers]

Guaranteed Human for the first time ever, a truly beautiful medical breakthrough promises physical perfection. One shot makes you hot, but with terrifying consequences. In the new original series, FX Is the Beauty. The glamorous world of supermodels turns deadly as mysterious deaths draw in FBI agents and a shadowy billionaire who will stop at nothing to protect his empire from executive producer Ryan Murphy. FX is the Beauty premieres January 21st on FX, Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business. Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks. In this latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres are talking to self starters about everything from the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and using Intuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Small Business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so you want your master's degree. You know you can earn it.

[Bowen Yang]

But life gets busy. The packed schedule, the late nights. And then there's the unexpected.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, American Public University was built for all of it.

[Bowen Yang]

With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40/ flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life.

[Matt Rogers]

Start your master's journey today at Apu Apus Edu.

[Bowen Yang]

You want it? Come get it at apu.

[Matt Rogers]

Have you heard of this new Netflix series, His and Hers? This new mystery series stars Tessa Thompson as Anna, a journalist in Atlanta, and John Bernthal as Detective Jack Harper. When Anna catches wind of a murder in Delanica, the sleepy town where she grew up, she pounces on the case and searches for answers. Detective Jack Harper is strangely suspicious of her involvement, chasing her into the crosshairs of his own investigation. The closer they get to each other, the closer they get to the truth. And we cannot wait to see how it unfolds. Don't miss the suspense and the drama. Watch his and hers now only on Netflix. Look, man, where? Oh, I see my eye. Oh my. Look over there.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow. Is that the culture?

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Goodness. Wow. Los Culturistas Ding dong.

[Matt Rogers]

Los Culturistas calling. Did you know I was having like such a reflective day today? Because, like just going through the oeuvre, we've had so many formative memories with our guest music. In fact, I remember the very first time I ever Even heard about our guests was. Was way, way back. And then it feels like, like truly, like throughout the eras, there's always been that moment.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Because this is a true, like, defining artist of our time who gives something like every few years, comes back out and is like, don't forget we.

[Bowen Yang]

I surely never have.

[Matt Rogers]

We dropped acid upstate and listened to Honey.

[Bowen Yang]

I told our guests when I met them backstage at Radio City. It was so intimate, by the way.

[Matt Rogers]

That was amazing. Do you remember this performance?

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, my God, it was so amazing.

[Matt Rogers]

I'll never forget this.

[Bowen Yang]

Our guest in David Byrne.

[Robyn]

It was an amazing.

[Bowen Yang]

It was an amazing. That was. Let's talk about it, but real quick. I just want to say, like, I came out of the bathroom. You were sitting alone in the green room. And then you were like, hi. And I was like.

[Matt Rogers]

You were like, I can't do this.

[Bowen Yang]

I can't do this.

[Matt Rogers]

This is too much.

[Bowen Yang]

And then I word vomited.

[Matt Rogers]

And I was like. So I was in a K hole.

[Bowen Yang]

Two summers ago, and what healed me was Ariana Grande.

[Matt Rogers]

Be all right.

[Bowen Yang]

And when I got into bed, I got under the covers and just looped Honey the album for about like six hours straight. And it. And it saved me.

[Matt Rogers]

This is not the first time you have been flabbergasted that a celebrity is in front of you. And you said, I was in a K hol. And this is. This is like the second or third time I've heard of him saying that he doesn't even like frequent ketamine. Don't be concerned.

[Bowen Yang]

No, don't be concerned. It's not. I don't have a substance problem. Not ketamine.

[Matt Rogers]

That people with non substance problems.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And I have really good news for everyone.

[Bowen Yang]

She's here. The album is called Sexist Central.

[Matt Rogers]

That's what I was going to say.

[Bowen Yang]

Was the good news. So great news. A app, in the words of our.

[Matt Rogers]

Guest Adam Driver, makes her horny. She reveals this on album. We've heard it, by the way. Sorry. I know that's gonna make y' all feel some type of way, but we've heard it and you gotta wait.

[Bowen Yang]

Our friend has heard it. Gia Tolentino has heard it.

[Matt Rogers]

And I'm sure because she's writin', she's.

[Bowen Yang]

Writing about our guests.

[Matt Rogers]

Let's just. Let's just get into it because it is truly an honor for our first guest of the year to be like, it's beyond one and only, but the one and only Robin. Come on, Come on.

[Robyn]

I'm so happy to be Here.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, this is, like, a joy for us.

[Robyn]

No, it's a joy for me. Thank you for telling me all these sweet things. My heart's racing.

[Matt Rogers]

We haven't even begun.

[Robyn]

Complimented.

[Bowen Yang]

Complimented.

[Robyn]

Is that how it's Absolutely.

[Bowen Yang]

Because I could see the face crack when I was telling you about my K hole, and you were like. You were like, I don't know what to say to this guy. What's your memory?

[Robyn]

No, I loved it. I thought you were being so vulnerable.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes, we're often vulnerable here. Our acid trip was also.

[Robyn]

You appreciate it. I know that. I'm so happy I could help you.

[Bowen Yang]

Out, and I feel the sincerity in that. But it was like. I laugh about it now, but, I mean, that song is so important. The title track of Honey. And I feel like. I really admire how you just took up the space with that album to be. To have the sensuality with your production and your vocal, and then now to understand that you are fulfilling a societal need to, like, bring us back to the fucking club.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And, like, I want to start this interview by asking, what was this intention? Why this album? Why start from the ground up with a song like dopamine that you've had in the bank for 10 years?

[Robyn]

Yeah. Well, I mean, I felt like I was on a spaceship. Like, I'd been flying, floating around in space, totally lost, going through very existential things, and I was crashing back into the atmosphere of the earth and, like, kind of back into myself. And that's what I wanted it. That was my picture of what the album was gonna be. Just this feeling of, like, impact and a dust of emotion, a cloud of emotion just rising up and not having to explain too much and then just letting it settle. And that there's. I wanted there to be layers in there and lots of things for people to come back to and relate to. But also this, like, very. Just high impact, strong, like, force.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

That's where I was in my life.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

And so that's what came out of my body. I had a son.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. You birthed existential.

[Robyn]

Also had. Yeah. Lots of things to write about.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Robyn]

But the album's not about my son. It's about maybe the time before.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, what I loved about, like, you recently said that you feel like it's your life's purpose to remain horny.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

And to keep driving towards horniness. By the way, I deeply feel that. I feel that you're amongst friends.

[Robyn]

Great.

[Matt Rogers]

And so I would describe the album as a horny little album. I mean, like, I think It's a.

[Robyn]

Horny little slutty album.

[Matt Rogers]

It's a really slutty album. And I do feel like we do need those reminders, you know, to go out. Cause I do think, like, I don't know, maybe this is like a boring thing to say. Cause it's so obvious. But we are isolated. We do need reminders to go out and dance and, like, low key, touch each other.

[Robyn]

Totally.

[Matt Rogers]

And you also describe horniness as not just about being sex, about being curious.

[Robyn]

Yes, exactly. About being curious. About having the time and space to feel pleasure and to enjoy my life. And to have that not have been taken away from me by stress, by politics, by just the world going crazy. So it's like. It's an act of resistance, but it's also just, like, fun and how I would want my life to always be if I can. It's a luxury. And no pressure. Like, if you're not horny, that's okay, too.

[Matt Rogers]

That's fine. But again, it's not. But it's not necessarily about sex, which is kind of like. It's kind of freeing. You know what I mean? Like, it's like. It's not like we're not putting pressure on anyone to go out there and go crazy, but it's like whatever it means is emboldening.

[Robyn]

Totally. It's like how you approach anything, I guess.

[Bowen Yang]

Be horny for life.

[Robyn]

Be horny for life.

[Matt Rogers]

Title of that.

[Bowen Yang]

Horny for life. Horny for life in every sense. Like, be horny for the duration of the time you're on this earth.

[Robyn]

Exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

And then have a sexual drive towards the things in this world as much as you can.

[Robyn]

Yes. Be tantric. Like, let things build and feel exciting and not rushed, but kind of, like, pleasurable at the same time.

[Bowen Yang]

Was Tantric, like, the process was that like you and Klaus, like, being, like, let's get, like, kooky. I don't know what that's. That's a terrible word.

[Robyn]

I like it.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay. I mean, I don't mean to equate tantric like the tantra with kinkiness cookie.

[Matt Rogers]

Tantric could be a whole vibe, you know, when I'm into it, I'm looking dead at the camera.

[Robyn]

No, me and Klaus were not getting kinky. Just so everybody knows. Yes. But we. We've been, you know, we've been so close for so many years, and in this weird way, we. We don't. Well, we see each other sometimes in our personal lives or like, without outside of the studio as well, of course. But. But it's Mostly just him and me, like, just exposing ourselves to each other over and over and over again for, like, now, what is it like, 20 years and having. Not fallouts, but periods where we don't necessarily want to be with each other and then coming back to it. And I think why we get along is also because we have the same work ethic. We like to work a long time on things and make sure we like it, and we don't have a problem with that. And so Tantric is definitely a part of it. There's this, like, we're both okay with it not being comfortable all the time, which I think is also. It has to be that way in order to get to the good stuff. I think you have to be uncomfortable. Be able to. Uncomfortable with each other.

[Bowen Yang]

There's a push, pull.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Like, it's so interesting that you see that as, like, part of the tantra of your songwriting. Right. It's like, I think you were talking recently about how, like, the songwriting process is not necessarily, like, fun.

[Robyn]

No, exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

It's like, it's really hard and labored and, like, you know this.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, sometimes it's like you hear artists talk about how, like, oh, this happened very quickly, and that's how I know it's good. But that's just a certain process that someone might have.

[Robyn]

I mean, usually I'm like, oh, can't be that good.

[Matt Rogers]

Right, Right. So quick you're like, what's the catch on this song?

[Robyn]

Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, Sometimes it happens quickly.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Do you have an example of, like, a song that did happen very quickly, and maybe you were like, I don't know, but you didn't touch it. And then ultimately, it was what it was.

[Robyn]

Dancing on mo.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't know why I spiritually felt like that must have come through, like, in a channeled way.

[Robyn]

It was kind of a channeling thing.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

And sometimes it does happen with every heartbeat. Happened that way, too. But I feel like there are, like, years or at least months of something leading up to that moment, and then sometimes you just click in and you're able to just get it out in one go.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

But then dopamine took 10 years, and, you know, it's so different every time, I think. Yeah, but I guess when you're acting, I mean, I think actors and comedians are just so good at it, maybe sometimes better than musicians, because you have to be vulnerable. You have to try things, and you have to make yourself like. You have to be able to be ugly. And we are in all those Things to get to the thing.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Robyn]

And sometimes when I get into studio with musicians that are really great but not comfortable with that, it just. It's harder. Right.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, with music, I feel like you can take your time to discover.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Whereas, like, when you're an actor or a comedian, like, you have to, like, be able to at least perform discovery. And so that discovery, I often feel like it's like, it's sometimes better to not look at any lines until right before so that they can feel really flawed.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, you don't like being prepared.

[Matt Rogers]

Exactly. I don't want to be prepared ever. That's what that is. But, like, for you, it's like to hear that dopamine took 10 years, it still feels like something that's very organic. Even if it felt like at times arduous or like you were like, I don't know if that's ever gonna come to fruition, but I know I have it in the back pocket. Like, it still feels like a new song.

[Robyn]

Exactly. And to get to that point, like, you know, you might have something that is supposed to feel that way. Like, you know that there's something in there. Like, oh, we could get to this point where it feels totally natural and organic, but it might not start out that way. And then it's like you have to find it as if it was the first time. You can't fake it. And, like, pull out the arpeggio bass line one more time and just, like, slap it on there. Like, it has to be created from scratch and really intentionally made again, I think. Right.

[Bowen Yang]

Was it called dopamine all 10 years? Did the title change?

[Robyn]

Yeah, no, no, the title was so good. The chorus was there from the beginning. I mean, there were all these amazing people involved in it too. It was Klaus and Tayo Cruz who.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow.

[Matt Rogers]

Kyle Cruz.

[Robyn]

Yes. The chorus is written by Ty Crew. So I think, you know, it's this thing of deciding, like, how to deal with, like, this little gold that, you know, you have where to place it.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow.

[Matt Rogers]

Just to, like, return to Dancing on My Own for a second, because I feel like on this podcast, Las Colgaristas, if you're gonna be here, we have to give Dancing on My Own it's moment. And this is why, because when you. We went to go see you at Barclays and we just talked about this concert on our Rachel Sennett episode, because it was when we were, like, recreationally ripping, using poppers at the time.

[Robyn]

And thank God we were enjoyed that episode so much.

[Matt Rogers]

Thank you for listening I enjoyed it. Rachel will love that. But I remember, like, when you played Dancing on My Own at the show, it was so clear in that moment that that is, like, the defining anthem for us. Like, there's a few songs that feel like. That I would actually call I Love it by Charli XCX and Icona Pop. Another one of those. When she did that song at the Sweat tour, I felt the same way. Whereas afterwards, I remember you just, like, received for, like, quite a while all this love that was flying at you from. From the audience. And I feel like the question that. I feel like, you know, the basic question would be, like, when did you realize that this song was that? Or how does it feel that this song is that? But I want to ask you, is, what is your Dancing on My Own? Like, what are your defining pop anthems? Like, I want to know.

[Robyn]

Well, I mean, God, it will be Purple Rain. Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

It's our Purple Rain. Keep going.

[Robyn]

Oh, wow.

[Bowen Yang]

It's. But it didn't.

[Matt Rogers]

I hope you could feel that, because it is true. I mean, it's a release.

[Robyn]

Wow. I mean, if. If it makes you feel that way, then I'm. I'm super happy. I think Purple Rain has this, like, also this tantric thing right. Where you want to come back to it and you want to feel the thing again. And I think small town boy with bronze.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, my God. Yes.

[Robyn]

When he goes into that high note in the beginning.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

It just makes me want to cry.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. Oh, my God.

[Matt Rogers]

I get the sense. And let me. I'm guessing here, but I think probably. Were you a Whitney fan?

[Robyn]

Yes, of course.

[Matt Rogers]

I feel like there's, like. Like her. Her anthemic, but also Mariah. Mariah's the best.

[Robyn]

A lot of Mariah. When I was 12.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Robyn]

A lot of trying to hit those high notes.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, right.

[Robyn]

It never happened.

[Matt Rogers]

Do you have a favorite Mariah? It's a hard one to say.

[Robyn]

You know which my favorite Mariah is, but that's just because I love the original song as well. Is I. I can't Live if Living is.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, she really just. That was already a brilliant song, but she just made it something. Something else.

[Robyn]

It was amazing when that came with the live MTV session.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

With her hair and. Oh, my God.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, yeah. She's the queen of, like. Oh, I know you know this song in one way, and I'm gonna live. Just rip it up. Like, the other day, there was on. On my algorithm, I was scrolling by, and there was this unbelievable video of Mariah and Whitney Recording when youn Believe from the Prince of Egypt. And it was just.

[Robyn]

They finally got together.

[Matt Rogers]

Exactly, exactly.

[Robyn]

But also the way Mariah handled her whole thing and, like, how funny. And, you know, the intelligence of her is really entertaining.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. I mean, is it fair to say that you are. I love that you did this. There's a track on Existential, it'll Blow My Mind, which is like. It is like you covering yourself, but it's just a redux of a track of the same title. It was the third album, right?

[Robyn]

Yes, yes, it's true.

[Bowen Yang]

And like, I talk about that because it's truly. Especially if you listen to both those songs back to back, you're like, oh, my God, this is just such a trip. And this is sort of recontextualized now. I don't wanna give it totally away. But that is such a cool refracting of your old work, old quote, unquote, as in past work, into something that feels, again, extremely current.

[Robyn]

That makes me very happy. I mean, I always loved the song. It was on an album that I released before I started my label, so it was in this kind of forgotten category. And it was never really a single. And I think it's a brilliant song in me. And also what happens when you have a kid is you just don't have that much time. I don't want to say that's the reason, but I was, like, looking back at Matteo because I had all these other old songs for the album and so I was like, oh, this might be the time where I get to do a cover of my own song. And I always wanted to. And then we rewrote it so that it's about the present time now. It's more about cute aggression, I think.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

When you love someone so much you want to hurt them.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Like you have a tantrum towards them. Yeah.

[Robyn]

Feeling.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Do you want to eat your baby?

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

No, not.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, no.

[Bowen Yang]

There's this thing where, like, people want.

[Matt Rogers]

To, like, explain why you ask. Do you want to eat your baby?

[Bowen Yang]

Do you want to eat your baby?

[Matt Rogers]

Eat your baby.

[Robyn]

Yes. I want to eat his cheeks.

[Matt Rogers]

I know.

[Robyn]

His butt cheeks, too.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

I always want to eat the baby's leg and foot.

[Robyn]

Yeah. Like, every part, like, doughy.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Good stuff.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

This cannibalism is, like, totally innocent. It goes away as the baby gets older.

[Robyn]

Does it, though?

[Bowen Yang]

That's up to you.

[Matt Rogers]

Let us know.

[Robyn]

I guess I hear from people that doesn't, like, it's still like, you want to do it. To your 20 year old, but it's maybe not.

[Matt Rogers]

How old is it?

[Robyn]

Is your baby soon to be four?

[Matt Rogers]

Soon to be four. Okay, so this was, like, soon to be four. So this was four years ago, I wonder, because you just collaborated last year with Charli XCX. I'm not sure when you did the 360 remix.

[Robyn]

Yeah, it was. It was right before the album. Her album was released. It was like six months before or something in the summer before it was released. And she was in Sweden and she texted me and she was like, I wanna do this remix with you and Jonathan, with Youngleen. And I just thought it was, like, the best idea ever. And of course it came from her because she's brilliant. And, you know, I had no idea what she was doing. We hadn't been in touch for a while, and I just thought it would crash. She was just. You could tell she was getting into her zone. She was ramping up this, like, perfect storm of emotion and, like, expression. And she was so sure of herself. And I was like, yeah, I just want to hear what you're doing. And she played some stuff and she said, oh, I think it's about, you know, I think the album is just about female relationships and how, you know, how complicated it is. And I was like, that's so interesting. And I think she wanted us to write something. And I was just like. I didn't even know how to put myself in that position because I just love her so much. Like, I could never even, like, think about how to find, like, a. Like a conflict. Like, I was trying, like, trying to get into it. And then we did the remix as well, and we wrote some other things. And it was so fun to talk to her and have, like, some time with her before it all happened and just see her in that moment.

[Matt Rogers]

I feel like you guys must have, like, so much in common that very few people have in common, too. And the reason why I ask about, like, when your son or your, you know, was born, like, she talks so much. She ruminates so much on that idea as well. So I wonder, like, what you were thinking when you heard that.

[Robyn]

No, she totally inspired me to go. To be personal. To be more personal maybe than I had ever been with my own lyrics. And to be specific, to not shy away from being very defined about what it is you want to say. Yeah, I think the subject matter was already there, but just kind of, like, how she approached it and how she was so vulnerable and tough at the same time. Yeah, but we. It's true. We Always, I think, connected on that. And I think with Jonathan as well, like, we have that experience of being, like, you know, just doing it on, like, different levels and in different worlds from, like, a very young age.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Robyn]

And it's funny for me, it's because I don't really know if I've shared that experience with people, artists my own age. I feel like I can relate to Charlie and, like, her generation in a different way than my own.

[Bowen Yang]

It's clarifying if it's coming from, you know, something that is a little bit outside of yourself.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Or there's some level, like, layer of remove there where you're like, oh, she's ruminating on parenthood in this very deep, vulnerable way on her. In her music. I can also be irreverent in the way that she's irreverent. I feel like Sexist Gentle title track definitely is just.

[Matt Rogers]

It's an ID.

[Bowen Yang]

It's an ID. It'S so funny. It's like you even have this moment where it's like your doctor confuses Adam Driver for Adam Sandler and dad.

[Robyn]

Yes. You got it.

[Matt Rogers]

It's so.

[Bowen Yang]

It's so. But let's, like, that is.

[Robyn]

It's a true story.

[Bowen Yang]

It's a true story. I feel like. I feel like you haven't been this funny since Robin. Since the first indie. Since the first Konichiwa Records album.

[Robyn]

Yeah. It's true. Or silly.

[Bowen Yang]

Or silly. I think both. Like, it's silly, funny, kooky.

[Robyn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Tantric.

[Robyn]

Thank you.

[Bowen Yang]

You know what I mean?

[Robyn]

I'm so happy that you feel that way. Cause I. I wanted it to be that way. And I told Kloss, I was like, we have to write a rap about ivf. And he was like.

[Matt Rogers]

He was like, now, let me look up what that means.

[Robyn]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Nobody, actually. He's one of those really equal, like, Swedish men. He's been at home with his kids.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

So he can relate, I think. But maybe not to the IVF part.

[Bowen Yang]

Of course, I had.

[Robyn]

The Sexistential was like the. You know, it was like, the joke title of the album for a really long time. And then I was like, that was just gonna be Sexistential. And then I was like, we have to write a song called Sexistential.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh. Huh. And that's how it came out.

[Robyn]

Yeah. And it was like the last song we did, so it was like a very free space where, you know, we could go deep into the things that we had already been talking about. Right.

[Bowen Yang]

And then it gets into It.

[Matt Rogers]

It's literally one of the standouts, right?

[Bowen Yang]

It's one of the standouts. But then, like, the word sexistential gets littered in other, like. And blow my mind if you hear it.

[Robyn]

Or in Talk To Me.

[Matt Rogers]

I think I love Talk To Me. Is that the official second single?

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Love it. Great choice.

[Robyn]

It's gonna come.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, it's gonna come soon.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, it was out today, the video. So this is coming out a week from today. So it's been out a week. You'.

[Bowen Yang]

You're late.

[Matt Rogers]

You're late.

[Robyn]

It's out already.

[Matt Rogers]

I wanted to ask, how many songs is Max Martin on? On. On this.

[Robyn]

On. Two.

[Matt Rogers]

Two?

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

So that must be a very long relationship.

[Robyn]

Oh, yes, that's the longest one. But very sporadic in the sense that we've only really worked together on three, four songs. Like two on my first album, one on the Valley Talk release, and then two. Now five songs. Yeah. Max Martin is a very sincere, very smart and sensitive person. He always gets depicted as this machine who has a strategy and, you know, is like, almost like a robot in a way. It is like working with AI because it's so fast.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Robyn]

And I think that's, like. That is the inhuman kind of thing about him, that it's so, like the problems, like, solving is so quick.

[Matt Rogers]

He knows his math.

[Robyn]

Oh, yeah. But it's not a formula. It's like real sense of melody and, like, experience. Experience, exactly. But, you know, him and Klaus went to the same class in the same music school.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow.

[Robyn]

Yeah. In Sweden.

[Bowen Yang]

So then. So then. So I mean, this. I feel like, you know, you are such a part of Max's story. And, like, I think that is. I don't know. I think that must be a really interesting thing to, like, just track mutually your pathways, like, in this business that has changed so much.

[Robyn]

You know, when I came here, I was like, oh, my God. This kind of building and this kind of like office hallway. And my hair today and the mint is very. What it was like. I was coming back into, like, a record company building in 98.

[Matt Rogers]

Wow.

[Robyn]

And I was like, you know, well.

[Matt Rogers]

We are A and R and we are gonna. We are. This is a signing meeting for us. We're interested in you.

[Robyn]

Can you get a Wu Tang member?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, you probably could. Rizz's in the back.

[Matt Rogers]

Can we get a Wu Tang number? Okay, so you want your master's degree. You know, you can earn it.

[Bowen Yang]

But life gets busy. The packed schedule, the late nights. And then there's the unexpected.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, American Public University was built for all of it.

[Bowen Yang]

With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life.

[Matt Rogers]

Start your master's journey today at Apu Apus. Edu.

[Bowen Yang]

You want it? Come get it at apu.

[Matt Rogers]

For the first time ever, a truly beautiful medical breakthrough promises physical perfection. One shot makes you hot, but with terrifying consequences. In the new original series, FX Is the Beauty. The glamorous world of supermodels turns deadly as mysterious deaths draw in FBI agents and a shadowy billionaire who will stop at nothing to protect his empire from executive producer Ryan Murphy. FX is the Beauty premieres January 21st on FX, Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers. Chime is changing the way people bank Fee free and smarter banking Built for you not like old school banks that charge you overdraft and monthly fees. Built for you, not the 1% chime isn't just another banking app. They unlock smarter banking for everyday people with products like MyPay giving you access to up to $500 of your paycheck anytime and getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Some old banks still don't do this. Forget overdraft fees, minimum balance fees and monthly fees. Chime turns everyday spending into real rewards and progress. Bank fee free plus overdraft coverage you can count on. It helps you build credit history. Stress fee get paid when you say up to $500. Earn up to 3.5% APY on savings eight times higher than a traditional bank. Rated five stars by USA Today for customer service. Real Humans 247 it's the new way to build credit history with your own money and get rewarded every single day. Chime is not just smarter banking. It is the most rewarding way to bank join the millions who are already banking fee free today. It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com culturisthas that is chime.com.

[Bowen Yang]

Culturisthas Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking Services A secured Chime Visa credit card and MyPay line of credit provided by the Bancor Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. MyPay eligibility requirements apply and credit limit ranges $20 to $500. Optional services and products may have fees or charges. See chime.com feesin advertised annual percentage yield with Chime+status only. Otherwise 1.00% APY applies. No min balance required. Chime card on time Payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary see chime.com for details and applicable terms.

[Matt Rogers]

A new year, colder days. This is the moment your winter wardrobe really has to deliver. If you're craving a winter reset, start with pieces truly made to last season after season. Quince brings together premium materials, thoughtful design and enduring quality so you stay warm, look sharp, and feel your best all season long. Quince has everything you need. Men's Mongolian cashmere sweaters, wool coats, leather and suede outerwear that actually hold up to daily wear and still look good. Their outerwear is especially impressive. Think down jackets, wool coats, and Italian leather outerwear that keep you warm when it's actually cold. Each piece is made from premium materials by trusted factories that meet rigorous standards for craftsmanship and ethical production. By cutting out middleman and traditional markups, Quince delivers the same quality as luxury brands at a fraction of the price. The result is classic styles. You'll love that hold up year after year. I got this great cashmere sweater from Quince that is just truly so soft. It looks amazing and I didn't have to break the bank for it. Refresh your winter wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.com culturistas for free shipping on your order and 365 day return returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com culturistas free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com culturistas I feel like the story of Max Martin is. Is obviously understanding pop music and creating pop music as we know it today in many ways, but also understanding artists, like what he gets from and what he's able to channel from someone like Taylor and someone like Ariana, you know, go over. This is just recent. And you. Throughout the years, like, I feel like he really helps to not define artists because artists define themselves, but hone in and make specific and therefore, like sometimes even make funny what an artist can do because they have like a bit that they can come, keep, keep coming back to. You know what I mean? And like, that's, I guess where like the reheating your own nachos comes from. When people say it about certain people, it's like, no, this is just my style.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

It just happens to be like the biggest one over the. The one that's like dominated all the charts for so long. But it is actually really personal.

[Bowen Yang]

And yeah, I got to, I got to meet him once.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

How was that?

[Bowen Yang]

It was so interesting because it's like you're saying, like, I was Expecting this, like, larger than life. Like, very methodical, precise.

[Matt Rogers]

But he's lovely.

[Bowen Yang]

But we went to go see Spamalon with Ari.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And he's just, like, easygoing, wonderful, nice, kind, chill person. And I was like, this is. And I didn't say this to him, but I was just like, this is. It's like you said, it's not what his portrayal is as, like, this prolific songwriter and hitmaker. It's like, oh, he's. Not to reduce it, but he's a guy.

[Robyn]

He's a guy, you know. Totally.

[Bowen Yang]

And in a great way, he's a guy.

[Robyn]

Yeah. And he has. Actually has something like, almost like, grace. He has grace. Like, he will go deeper and, like, find the. Like, you're saying, like, the real meaning behind that artist and what they're trying to say. And he will go for, like, the. The higher kind of round, I think. And he kind of has, you know, he has good morals. He hired new, really amazing, beautiful female producers, like Elvira, who worked on Addison Ray. And.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

You know, he's like, making good decisions with his legacy.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

But then he's also. You know, when I worked with him the first time, like, he was this young person who was just so ambitious and really wanted to win. That's also part of it. And he is obsessed with statistics, and he ruled, like, you know, he. He. It's. It's amazing to see someone with that much success and it doesn't. Like, he really goes at it as if he's trying to win, like, the first time ever.

[Bowen Yang]

The second time, every time.

[Robyn]

Yeah, it's really amazing.

[Matt Rogers]

Hungry?

[Robyn]

Yeah. Hungry still.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, the deeper meaning behind the way he finds deeper meaning. Like, I feel like you have a sense of what your deeper meaning is. You don't have to share it with us, but I feel like it's so interesting that you've in the past said things about like, oh, I wanted to sort of have an inflection point after Dancing On My Own. I didn't want to be known as, like, the heartbreak musician necessarily.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And you said recently, I think, on Zane Lowe, you were like, nostalgia is like a perilous thing, like a lethal thing. But what I loved about the Brooklyn Paramount set list. Set list was that it just wove in your full discography so beautifully. And then you sang Show Me Love for the first time in, like, 10 years.

[Matt Rogers]

Great arrangement of it, too.

[Bowen Yang]

So it's like, I wonder what your relationship is now to the way you. Not nostalgia, but the way you look back on your Own work.

[Robyn]

I look back on the first album and maybe the second one as well, which is a lot of sympathy and love for, you know, the situation I was in. It was.

[Bowen Yang]

You were young.

[Robyn]

It was insane. Like, it was really trippy to come from Sweden into the culture that I thought I knew because I grew up, grown up with it and then realizing how lost in translation you are sometimes as a European in America, especially if you. If you don't know the culture. Right. And just little things like how America is very divided, I think, between like children and grown ups. And I was still a teenager and just finding myself like in this very kind of, you know, you're in a kind of a separated world.

[Matt Rogers]

Right. In a very adult industry, in a very adult.

[Robyn]

In the 90s, I mean, when there.

[Matt Rogers]

Was nothing, no one was. No one even would know how to ask if you were okay.

[Robyn]

There was no me too.

[Matt Rogers]

Exactly.

[Robyn]

It was like. Yeah. I would say that, you know, being a pop star, a teenage pop star is like a lethal. It's a lethal situation and it can really get you well.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

But I was prepared in the sense that, you know, a safe haven back home and. I don't know. What was the question?

[Bowen Yang]

The question was, how do you. But this actually dovetails perfectly into something else that I want to ask you about and then we'll ask.

[Robyn]

We talked about nostalgia.

[Matt Rogers]

Nostalgia as a perilous thing.

[Robyn]

Yes, but I don't know, maybe you want to go somewhere else.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, no, I mean.

[Matt Rogers]

Finish the thought.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to put it in.

[Robyn]

No, no, not at all. I don't even know what I was saying. I think nostalgia is dangerous. Yeah, but I think, you know, playing Show Me Love is not doesn't feel nostalgic. I mean, of course it's nostalgic, but in the good sense.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes, yes.

[Robyn]

That there's something there that's real and that's a part of people's lives and that's not for me to have any opinion about, you know. And I love the song.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. And you're not singing it as the teenage version of you. You're singing it as you now. And therefore it's a different song in a way. Did that speak to the choice to arrange it the way you did?

[Robyn]

Yes. There you go. Because it brings out the softness of it and the beautiful melody and you can hear what's there that's maybe, you know, timeless or whatever. Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

I think what nostalgia. What makes nostalgia lethal, as you're saying, is that it is treating the past as, like, aspirational.

[Robyn]

Yes, exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

And that's never what you want to be.

[Robyn]

It's an illusion.

[Bowen Yang]

Also, like, it's like, oh, we gotta go back to this better time.

[Matt Rogers]

Something that's over.

[Robyn]

Depressing.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

That's like, I'm sorry to make it about this. It's like a fascist idea. Yeah. We gotta go back to, like, the way things were. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, like. But you already know this, like, deep down. But I want. But the thing I want to, like, dovetail into is like, I think you maybe don't get enough credit for being. For inventing the notion of, like, an independent pop star. I think, like, going and making your own label or just putting out your music, like, your own way now. It's like, indie pop is such a thing, right?

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

But I feel like you. I feel like you don't get enough credit for that, that you really modeled this thing even for someone like Charlie who, like, knows, oh, I'm gonna do, like, one for me, one for them. And the one for me thing is the most. Is the thing that brought her her most success. I would argue with Brat totally, Like, that was supposed to be, like. That was supposed to break away from Crash, where she was, like, you know, fulfilling the contract for the label, doing, like, what a pop. Traditional pop star album would. Would look like. But I feel like you've. You've kind of blueprinted out this thing for a lot of people, which is, like, you can do it on your own terms.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

And I feel like I hope you get that sense now as we're, like, all coming together once again to, like, celebrate Robin.

[Robyn]

Oh, thank you.

[Bowen Yang]

That it, that it. That it comes your way.

[Robyn]

Are you ever taking it in?

[Bowen Yang]

Thank you.

[Matt Rogers]

Are you ever surprised when a certain artist, like, who's a. Because I feel like Gracie Abrams is, like, when you listen to her music, like, it's a totally different genre. Genre than you might think. But she. Was it she that invited you to perform with her?

[Robyn]

Yes, she did.

[Matt Rogers]

Was that. Where was this? Glastonbury?

[Robyn]

No, it was Chicago.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, yes, yes.

[Robyn]

The big festival.

[Matt Rogers]

Lollapalooza. That's what it was.

[Robyn]

No, she invited me and. And she was so sweet and, you know, gave me all this space, and I got to do dancing on my own and, you know, any. Anyone that gives me that love. It's, like, very. It's a big compliment. Yeah, it's always amazing.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, we would like to ask you the central question of our podcast, so. And I bet. I bet you are the answer to this question for many people. But, Robin, what was the culture that made you say culture was for you? This defining whether it's pop culture at large, Movie, song, a specific moment, something in the environment that you can look back and say, I'm probably me. Due in large part to that.

[Robyn]

I think I have to say Buffalo Stance with Nene Cherry.

[Matt Rogers]

Wow.

[Robyn]

You know, being like 10 years old and then hearing raw, like Sushi for the first time. I remember it was like summer break. I was playing cards with my friends in Country House and we were just playing this album over and over again. And we all knew that she was Swedish.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

And that her real last name is Carlson, just like mine. And I was just like, that's amazing. If she's Swedish, I can also be that way. You know, like this kind of really sexy and powerful playful energy. And it was pop music and it was made for me. It was not made for my parents. It was made for a new generation. And it was mixing and it was undefinable. It was like New York and Sweden and London. And it was in her language as well. And. And the things that she was saying was so empowering.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

And vulnerable. Just man child, like, being so critical about, like, toxic masculinity, but also saying, like, no money man can wear my love. Like, she was so real.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And speaking to ideas that had not been spoken to in pop music or maybe even music at large. Like, it just didn't feel like this was area we had tried before. When I think about Sweden, I think when a lot of people think about Sweden, I've only been once to Stockholm, but I went to, like, the Museum of Pop Music, and it's really an ABBA and Eurovision museum. But is the culture like, you mention, obviously this song and this album. But is the pop music culture, as long as you can remember, was it that thick in the air, like. Like the way that, like, they say LA is Hollywood and, you know. You know, this, like, people have their industries. Like, is it very thick in the air? Like the pop music thing?

[Robyn]

I think it is now. I don't think it was when I was little. I think we were still a very, you know, I don't know what this word will mean to people here, but, like, it was, you know, Sweden in the old days. So there were only two, three TV channels.

[Matt Rogers]

Wow.

[Robyn]

You know, we had maybe four radio stations. No commercial radio yet. No way to find, like, American music. You had to go to a store for import CLPs or CDs. Like, it was not easy to be concerned or into popular culture when I was a teenager. You really had to work for it. So in that sense. No. But then when I started working, which was so early, I. You know, all the people that I was working with was, you know, maybe 20 or, like, sometimes even 30 years older than me. And then, you know, I got in touch with, you know, like, a more connected part of Stockholm, which was, like, I don't know, like, Johan Rink and Jonas Okellen and these, like, more commercial directors that had been traveling and working outside of Sweden and. And the Cardigans and all these other Swedes that were connected to the outside world, but nobody my age had that network. It was much later that it happened for my generation. But now I think there's so many young musicians and artists in Sweden that really feel supported by the legacy of the music. And, of course, like, ABBA is the year zero, year one for everybody. And then kind of, you know, Max Martin, of course, and all these producers that are now creating popular culture all over the world. It's like, I guess we're like the third or fourth biggest music export country in the world.

[Matt Rogers]

That makes a lot of sense. I mean, I feel like it's always, like whenever you hear an artist went to Sweden, you're like, oh, here we.

[Bowen Yang]

Go, here we go. It's gonna be pop.

[Matt Rogers]

Wait, where did she go? She was spotted. Where? Like, I remember it tonight. Think it's like, I remember years ago, like, Kelly Clarkson, they were putting her second album together, and they felt like she didn't have a full album, so they sent her to Sweden. They sent her to Max.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And then she had since youe've Been Gone. Right. And it does feel like there's a song since you've been Gone, the best song. Yeah, that's like one of those.

[Robyn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And I remember that's like, one of the ones that will last. And it feels like Max does hand you that every few years.

[Robyn]

Totally. Or more. He still does.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Robyn]

And he's still into the songwriting. Like, he will. He's not producing that much anymore. He'll leave it to the younger producers. But he's, like, in there, like, and still writes a lot.

[Matt Rogers]

I feel like a lot of people don't really realize how it works, like, what a real producer really does. You know what I mean? So when you have a concept or an idea or a strong urge and you go to Max, what exactly is that? What happens then?

[Robyn]

I mean, it's different every time. But this Time it was. I had this beginning of a song with Talk to Me and me and Oscar worked on it a little bit and then started producing it together. And then Max came in and did his thing and heard what I was thinking for the chorus and he was like, yes, you should go there. And then he kind of left me with this riddle. He was like, but just think about these chorus and that kind of transition melodically. Da, da, da. And he just left. And then I solved it when he was away because of the instruction he gave me. So this kind of like, I don't know, Andy Warhol way of working, maybe, like, you know, like, he will see it and he'll give instructions sometimes he will write as well. He did. He wrote things on the other song we did and on Talk To Me as well. But. But it's very, very smart. It's very intelligent. Very, very good the way it works.

[Matt Rogers]

So when we talk about producing, really, I think a better way to explain it for people that don't really get it is really what they're doing is directing you. Right. Like, he gets a lot of credit as like an amazing vocal producer because of the ways in which he's brought new vocal stuff out of artists. He certainly did with a. Like, you can actually mark. Like, you can see, like, there was someone, like Ariana says, I think with Break Free. Or was that Zedd? That was Zed. But what he did was he was like, I really need the straight tone singing for this kind of song. It's like working with a producer as like a vocal director.

[Bowen Yang]

No, he gave Ari that direction. Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

I think people don't realize that. It's like, that's what that job is.

[Robyn]

The way Britney sings on the first album is really like, her singing, like.

[Bowen Yang]

The way Max wants her to.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, that kind of coup.

[Robyn]

He kind of did the demos. I mean, she's an amazing singer. But, like, he did the demos. Like. Like all the demos are him doing that. It's really. Yeah, you're right. He's very into the sounds of things, too. It doesn't really. It might not be about the word. It might more be about the vocal or, like the. The vowel.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

Like where the consonant hits. But I think with him, it's more. It's still songwriting, it's still concept, but it's more conceptual now. But a lot of producers are. You know, a producer is still like the person who's making the sound on the record. And I think that's also what he used to do. It's just now he's like a little bit bird's view, maybe.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. More executive, I guess.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

But I feel like you. I feel like your voice is so precise. That's what I've always loved about the quality and the timbre, is that it's. Clean isn't the right word. It's just. It's perfectly matched with a Swedish sensibility in a way of making music, which is that it's right on target. And one of my favorite episodes of Song Exploiter is your episode about Honey.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Where you do, like.

[Bowen Yang]

It's like the initial track of it was on the Girls episode. And then just the evolution of it, just the way it becomes just this warm, expansive song is so. And I feel like the way that you are. The way that you're occupying all this range between, like, a warmth and then like a dryness. And dopamine, where you're like. We're just singing about. We're building from the ground up.

[Matt Rogers]

This.

[Bowen Yang]

This idea that, like, it's just a chemical thing.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

You know, like, that is. I think those are the perfect bookends for me, like, in the recent discography. So, anyway, that's great.

[Robyn]

I think both of those songs, both dopamine and Honey, what they do have is they have a lot of rhythm in the words.

[Matt Rogers]

They throb.

[Robyn]

There's a lot of, like, conversational lyrics and conversational, like, almost like talking. Singing in them. And I really enjoy that.

[Bowen Yang]

I still get lost in honey. I will put honey on a flight.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

And I will. It feels like I'm taking a bath.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

And I will fall asleep to it. And then I'll come back, I'll wake up again, and I'll fall back asleep.

[Robyn]

Perfect.

[Bowen Yang]

It's. It's. It's. I. For years I've done this.

[Robyn]

It's kind of like. That's perfect because the feeling. You know when you have a nap in the day.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Robyn]

When you're like in that in between state and your body feels weightless.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

That was what I was trying to find when I was writing it, because I was in a kind of a bad state myself.

[Bowen Yang]

A K hole.

[Matt Rogers]

No, you don't have to tell us.

[Robyn]

But like a very long one. Like a depression.

[Matt Rogers]

More like a substantial K hole.

[Bowen Yang]

Depression. Depression. Depression.

[Robyn]

And I was trying. I was just trying to find my. My, my. So I actually. Yeah. Like, in a way, like, find my way out of a bad spot.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Robyn]

And I couldn't see it, so I had to kind of like, create it.

[Bowen Yang]

Yep.

[Robyn]

So I'm really happy to hear that that still happens for you. Because it happens actually for me, too. When we play it live now, I'm like, wow, this feels really good.

[Matt Rogers]

Is. Is it your favorite? Is it the one that you play where you're like. Like, I think this song is my favorite one.

[Robyn]

Feeling myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

[Bowen Yang]

Totally. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

I feel like that's. That's got to be true.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Sometimes, like, you must listen back and be like, I really am, Robin.

[Robyn]

I'm not.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm not.

[Robyn]

I'm like, I'm not gonna agree with that. I feel that. That feels cheesy. But, yeah, it's a good song.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Did you love playing the Brooklyn Paramount? What a cool space that is.

[Robyn]

I love playing the.

[Matt Rogers]

That must have been. Yeah. New York is the best.

[Robyn]

I just love playing here.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Book and Paramount Slanted banked floor.

[Matt Rogers]

So it's a good view for everybody.

[Bowen Yang]

It's a good view for everybody. Even in the back.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

And the sound is good.

[Robyn]

The sound is good. Although they need to, you know, fix their fire alarm thing.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, wait, was there going.

[Bowen Yang]

Did something go off?

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

No, I'm happy you said it.

[Robyn]

First song.

[Matt Rogers]

Now they will.

[Robyn]

Two minutes in, we were, like, in the peak of missing you fuck. And then, like, all sound disappears. And I just had to go off stage for, like, 10 minutes. But then we came back on, like. And we did it so that we started right where we ended.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, nice.

[Robyn]

So it was, like, right in the middle. It was like. When we came back on, it was like. It was a good. Yeah, it turned out the building next.

[Bowen Yang]

Door did set on. Did burn down, though. The fire alarm was real.

[Matt Rogers]

Oops, sorry. Wait, this is a weird question, but what's your relationship to adrenaline? Oh, well.

[Robyn]

Adrenaline is like a necessary evil, I think. I'm so used to it because it's being nervous, right?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. You still get nervous?

[Robyn]

Yeah, I still get nervous, but I can define it more now as an adrenaline rush. And I know. I recognize it. And when you go on stage, I mean, you both know how that feels. And when you do something over and over again after a little bit, at least you get used to. If you stay on it, you get used to that feeling, and you can kind of handle it, I think.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

A little bit better.

[Matt Rogers]

And ride it.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

I almost asked it because I feel there's so much adrenaline in your music. And there's so much, like, you know, tension, but release of tension, and that's, like. Speaks directly to adrenaline. And so I was, like, looking at you, and I was like, I wonder if she's ever jumped out of a plane.

[Robyn]

Oh, I would never jump.

[Matt Rogers]

So then. So that's what I'm saying.

[Bowen Yang]

It's like.

[Robyn]

No, like, I'm. I'm not an adrenaline. Yeah, definitely dopamine, but that's so much nicer. Adrenaline is not so nice.

[Matt Rogers]

You're right. But they speak to each other.

[Robyn]

They. They come always hand in hand.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

Like little friends coming together.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly.

[Robyn]

I think adrenaline is like, maybe, like, that's a really cool thing to. To do. A bit bitter blocker. Because you can kind of. Then you can experience where you're supposed to land after the adrenaline.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Robyn]

And I think, like, handling that first, you know, five minutes of the show is about just managing the adrenaline until it's like. Until you're settled in.

[Matt Rogers]

Exactly.

[Robyn]

And just kind of imagining that place. Because if you go on the adrenaline, you'll just start doing. Yes. It feels good to go with the energy, but usually that's when you, like. Like screaming a little bit too much.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, exactly. You're not in control of your.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Artistry. In your instrument because it got out of hand.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

And also what happens in a band. I don't know if it's the same thing with other people. When you're doing comedy, it's like you. When you go too hard, it's like you lose each other.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Robyn]

And if. If everyone pulls back, it's like you can hear each other and then there's like a good feedback loop instead of, like, the crazy one.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Like, we gotta manage this thing that's, like, a little bit outlying and we gotta pull it back down or something. Totally.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean.

[Bowen Yang]

I feel like the awareness of it, though, is the helpful thing. And that's like even you writing a song called Dopamine. The reason I asked if it was still called that 10 years ago is because I feel like the word has a new sort of, like, balance to it.

[Matt Rogers]

It got really en vogue for us over the past few years.

[Robyn]

I was so excited about that. I was just so, like, wow, this word. I can't. Can feel it. It's, like, so.

[Bowen Yang]

Relevant. It's not the right word, but it's true.

[Robyn]

No, but it's so true. And I felt that 10 years ago, and that's why I held onto it. And I. You know, I don't know if it's not so good for the world that we're still in that space, but I think we are because of social media. And I think, you know, the dopamine hits that we're getting. Everyone is more aware about what addiction is now, which I think is a great thing. But. But it's also because everyone has to be aware of it because everyone is addicted.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

And so, yeah, the song is more relevant now than it was 10 years ago, which is cool.

[Matt Rogers]

That's really cool.

[Bowen Yang]

No, I do think so, because, yeah, you're right. When I listen to that song, I go, yes, it is, like, demystifying this thing. And it demystifies even the addiction of being on our phones. Whereas I think there is this bigger movement now of just everybody kind of being like, oh, let's put that in another room. Let's put the phone in the closet. It's not in my bedroom anymore. And I'm the last person to. I mean, like.

[Matt Rogers]

No, you're not. You're a pioneer of this. People do not sleep with the phone in the other room, even if they're saying it.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm like, I can't now. It's like. It's dangerous. I feel. It's like my body is like. The adrenaline kicks in where I'm like, I gotta put this away.

[Robyn]

But I hope you don't feel this way about falling in love.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, no, that's so sweet.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think he does.

[Bowen Yang]

No. No. Oh, that's so nice. What makes you ask that?

[Robyn]

Because I think there's almost this, like. At least on my feed, there's this, like, aversion to falling in love.

[Matt Rogers]

You think it's because. You think it's because of something societal, or do you think people are just.

[Robyn]

Like, something societal where we're, like, afraid of losing control? We're, like, always decoding our. Our physical responses to. It's like we're not taking it seriously because it's just a chemical substance. It's just this chain reaction in our body. And, like, being in love is stupid.

[Matt Rogers]

Or, you know, it's also hard. I mean, like, that's. I think that's another part of it is. It's like we are increasingly living in a time when things can be really easy.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And relationships and love is never going to be easy.

[Robyn]

It's easy to just write it off.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

It's not AI like this.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. You can't cheat it.

[Bowen Yang]

There's like, a decline in the feeling of awe.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

You know what I mean?

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And I truly. I truly. I feel that whenever I listen to you. But I think when we went to the Barclays show in 2019, I certainly felt that poppers notwithstanding.

[Matt Rogers]

The poppers are.

[Bowen Yang]

The Problem when the curtain drops in the honey show. Or was it the curtain like a veil? Like, that's like, I'll never forget that. Like, that's aw. I'm like, oh my God. I'm experiencing this with a bunch of other people. And I do want to say this before we go to. I don't think so, Honey. Like, I think there's something a little bit. I know we all love nightlife here. And like going out and going to the club. Something about the club is a little like, it's not totally clicking right now because everyone's there for a different reason. Either you're there to listen to music or to connect. You're your friends. Or you're there to like, fuck and that's okay too. Or you're there to do drugs and that's fine too. But it's just. We're all there for different. Like the organizing principle there is a little bit scattered and like, I don't know.

[Robyn]

Cause I don't go out anymore.

[Bowen Yang]

No problem. That's just how it is now where I'm like, oh, like, yeah, I've been out a few times in the last couple months and like, they've been fine. But there hasn't been like a sublime thing of like, oh my God, I had the best night out dancing. And that's very much attainable. And that happens all the time. But I will say going to a concert, everyone's there for more.

[Robyn]

Like, oh, it's true.

[Bowen Yang]

The same. We have a mission. We have a mission. We're there to enjoy a performance.

[Robyn]

Right?

[Bowen Yang]

And then we all leave going, like, that was amazing.

[Robyn]

Wow, that's great. You know, that is cool about going to live shows. I agree.

[Matt Rogers]

Do you still go to live shows?

[Robyn]

I do. I love going to live shows.

[Matt Rogers]

Can you talk about some that have been like.

[Robyn]

Well, I wish I could give you like five examples, but I'm just. I just, just. I'm a single working mom, so I didn't have but that much time. But I. I went to see Katrielle and Pal Moroso. Do you know that band?

[Bowen Yang]

No, but we're going to check that out.

[Robyn]

Yes, you should. That was amazing. Very all over the place. But that's their thing.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

Good. That's like the only thing I've seen lately.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

But I recommend it.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

Okay, good. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Notice we will source. We will source.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay, so you want your master's degree. You know, you can earn it.

[Bowen Yang]

But life gets busy. The packed schedule, the late nights. And then there's the unexpected.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, American Public University was built for all of it.

[Bowen Yang]

With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life.

[Matt Rogers]

Start your master's journey today at APU Apus. Edu.

[Bowen Yang]

You want it? Come get it at apu.

[Matt Rogers]

For the first time ever, a truly beautiful medical breakthrough promises physical perfection. One shot makes you hot, but with terrifying consequences. In the new original series, FX Is the Beauty. The glamorous world of supermodels turns deadly as mysterious deaths draw in FBI agents and a shadowy billionaire who will stop at nothing to protect his empire from executive producer Ryan Murphy. FX is the Beauty premieres January 21st on FX, Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers.

[Bowen Yang]

What is it that makes the all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid an incredible suv?

[Matt Rogers]

Is it the spacious interior that's comfy for the whole crew or the capability to go off road?

[Bowen Yang]

It could be. Or maybe it's up to 600 plus miles of range. What if it's all that and more?

[Matt Rogers]

The Hyundai Palisade defies everything you thought you knew an SUV to be. With more style and capability, it's something new entirely.

[Bowen Yang]

It has class leading interior space with purposeful tech, Available front row and second row relaxation seats available class exclusive blind.

[Matt Rogers]

Spot view monitor, available class exclusive dash.

[Bowen Yang]

Camera feature 2.5T hybrid engine with up to 600 plus miles of range and seating configurations for 7 to 8 passengers with available third row power seats that recline.

[Matt Rogers]

Also available H track all wheel drive so you can be ready to go anywhere in style. It also includes standard 100 watt USB C ports, available Bose 14 speaker audio and standard passenger talk driver intercom.

[Bowen Yang]

The all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is more than just another suv. It's still the Palisade, but with so much more.

[Matt Rogers]

Learn more about the Hyundai Palisade at HyundaiUSA.com, call 562-314-4603 for complete details. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business Business Small Business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks. Mind the business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In this latest season, host Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about how AI helps them work smarter weathering Market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss. And using Intuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business. Small business success stories on the Iheart app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bowen Yang]

It's time for I don't think so honey.

[Matt Rogers]

It's time for I don't think so Honey. And this is our one minute segment where we just come in and we just tear something up in pop culture. Not necessarily because it did anything wrong, but it's just not its. And regrettably, I will. I will start.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay. This is Matt Rogers. I don't think so, honey. His time starts now.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think so, honey. Gay guys on close friends asking, do you want me to take you off yes or no? It's a trap. It's a trap. You are the one that should be discerning about your close friends list. You look at it and you curate it. It is your close friends list. I'm sure this also happens heterosexually as well, where people are like, do you want to keep looking at my butt? It's like if now. If now you. Yes. No, maybe it's like now there' complex. Before it was just we were all on our close friends, like in a vacuum where, yeah, sometimes I'm scrolling and whoop, there's your whole body. And that's just something that we're all engaging in and entering into. And the invisible contract that is Instagram. But now you've made it an actual contract that I have to check boxes on 15 seconds. Oh, take the onus off of me and put the anus back there if you want it. I, by the way, I'm always gonna say yes. Keep me on five seconds. Even if I'm bothered by it, I want to be on it because I'd feel left out and that. I don't think so, honey.

[Bowen Yang]

And that's one minute. Oh, my God. That was.

[Robyn]

Wow.

[Bowen Yang]

Very.

[Matt Rogers]

My second one of the year. We're cooking.

[Bowen Yang]

We're cooking.

[Matt Rogers]

But you know what I mean? It's like sometimes it's just like, like. And you know what? Bless everyone out there sharing. But it's just like when you ask, it's like now, I don't know.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm never gonna turn it down. I don't ever say no. I'm happy to be included.

[Robyn]

Yeah, yeah. You're always, you always got to like. You always get to be generous with that. Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Are you active on Instagram?

[Robyn]

I Am. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Are you on a lot of gay guys? Close friends?

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

I bet. Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

You're. You're seeing a lot of like mirror selfies, anuses, of course.

[Matt Rogers]

What they allow on close friends, we.

[Robyn]

All have in common.

[Bowen Yang]

It's beautiful.

[Robyn]

Yeah, it's a beautiful.

[Bowen Yang]

Everybody poops.

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

It's actually roller culture number six. We all have an anus in common. And that's a pluribus. That's the pluribus I don't want to see.

[Robyn]

Isn't a pluribus. I don't know what is.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay, so food for thought, everyone. By the way, like again, keep me on but just I guess hide that one close friend story for me. Do you want me still be here?

[Bowen Yang]

It's like no, that.

[Matt Rogers]

That we already knew you were thirsty. Now you're being thirsty for this answer, please.

[Bowen Yang]

They just want to get.

[Matt Rogers]

But if you're trying to be respectful, that's good too. All right, Bowen Yang, you ready?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

This is. Is Bowen Yangs. I don't think so, honey. His time starts now.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think so, honey. Having sex with the lights off. Turn them on. Show me.

[Matt Rogers]

I can't see.

[Bowen Yang]

I want to see.

[Matt Rogers]

It's not about.

[Bowen Yang]

No need to be self conscious. We're already at that stage. There's no need to be shy.

[Robyn]

Totally agree.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's just trust me. I'm into it. Even if it's not that great. Bad sex is still pretty good. You know what I mean? Keep it. It doesn't have to. I'm not saying blast it like this.

[Matt Rogers]

30 seconds.

[Bowen Yang]

Doesn't have to be overhead. Can be a little bit ambient. Can be a little, you know, night light there. A little.

[Robyn]

Totally.

[Matt Rogers]

It can't be like a nurse's office, a doctor's office.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm not saying keep it. I'm not saying clinical. I'm just saying like, I want to see a little bit.

[Robyn]

I want to see it all.

[Matt Rogers]

I want to see it all.

[Bowen Yang]

15 seconds.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

You know, having sets the lights off. I get that it's a preference for some. I. I want to be able to grow up around in the light. Not five seconds.

[Robyn]

Totally.

[Bowen Yang]

And that way we're just. We're setting ourselves up for success, for some accuracy and precision.

[Matt Rogers]

And that's one minute. I couldn't agree with you more, Boneyang. I also feel like, you know, you're there to have sex with that person. You're not there to have sex with. The idea of a human form, a mound. You know what I mean? Like.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Robyn]

I just think seeing it is very sexy.

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

100%.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay, are you ready?

[Robyn]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

This is Robin's. I don't think so, honey.

[Robyn]

All right.

[Matt Rogers]

This is gonna rip. I know it. Robin's time starts now.

[Robyn]

Okay. I don't think so, honey. Well, I always hated Elon Musk. You know, I always hated him way before it was, like, cool to hate him.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Robyn]

Because there was a time where there wasn't cool to hate him.

[Bowen Yang]

But you know, when I. I don't know, man.

[Robyn]

People didn't think about him that much, at least. But you know what happened? And for me, I started hating him when he put a Tesla into space with a David Bowie song on it. He actually shot a car into space. As if there wasn't enough shit floating around.

[Matt Rogers]

30 seconds.

[Robyn]

Okay, so this is the thing. I think there should be democracy in space. There should be democracy on Earth, too. Yes. Which we really maybe don't even have at the moment. But the fact that anyone or anyone, like, commercial company can decide what to do with, like, natural resources and also do tacky things. Tacky like sending a stupid fucking car into space. Also dangerous for people. Like, think about the astronauts that are, like, up there in, like, the International Space Station, and they don't really know what's going to hit them or whatever. Like, I just think it's like, can we all just, like, have a vote on whoever gets to do anything there?

[Matt Rogers]

And that's one minute. But keep going. Because I honestly, like, I sold agree. Almost everything he does now makes my skin crawl. And what really bugs me, like, it was just a core thing of what you said, is when any old person thinks that just because a song is out there and you could pot, you could stream it or buy it, that you can use it for your bullshit. Yeah, yeah.

[Robyn]

The fact that he like the best song in the world and he put it, like, on his. Just to sell cars.

[Bowen Yang]

What was the song?

[Matt Rogers]

Was it Life on Mars?

[Robyn]

It was Space Odyssey.

[Bowen Yang]

A space oddity.

[Robyn]

David Bowie, like.

[Matt Rogers]

No, that's not what he was talking about. Whatever you think. No, no. Whatever you think. You can't talk about David Bowie.

[Bowen Yang]

No, exactly. He would turn in his grave. You're right. It's not safe for the people who are up there. You're an astronaut doing. Working your whole life to be an astronaut.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

All of a sudden a fucking Model Y comes barreling towards you.

[Robyn]

Exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

With an iPad for a fucking dashboard. You know what I mean?

[Robyn]

No, wait, what's the name?

[Bowen Yang]

I didn't know he did that.

[Robyn]

No, he did that.

[Bowen Yang]

What's the name of what just cuz.

[Matt Rogers]

He'S done so many other things.

[Robyn]

What's the name of amazing movie with brown beautiful woman? It's Lost in Space. She's twirling around gravity.

[Bowen Yang]

You know, Sandra Bullock as brown beautiful woman.

[Robyn]

Tesla comes instead of. It was like the Tesla coming like fake doll and like a David Bowie song.

[Matt Rogers]

That movie is truly amazing.

[Bowen Yang]

It's amazing.

[Matt Rogers]

She is so brilliant in that.

[Robyn]

But I also think we should hit on Jeff bezos.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, 100%.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's do it.

[Robyn]

He also did that. He went up to space. Up in space. And then he came down and he put out on whatever social media he was like, now I realize that we really have to protect this beautiful pearl in the universe. I'm like, okay, so you had to like, destroy the human race. Like destroy the environment.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Too late to die.

[Robyn]

To go up so that we all could have. You realize this thing that everyone else understands.

[Bowen Yang]

Read a book.

[Robyn]

Nobody else had to do that to get that this is important.

[Matt Rogers]

Now that I've cut off my leg, I realize it'd be better to have two.

[Robyn]

Yeah, exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

Shut up.

[Robyn]

But also, it's not your leg. It's everybody's leg.

[Bowen Yang]

It's everybody's leg. Oh, my God. It's the one leg we share.

[Matt Rogers]

All these guys are missing something like that line of billionaires that was behind Trump when he was inaugurated. They're all. They are without.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes, they're without.

[Matt Rogers]

They are without everything. I think that there are so many people who are without in some way, not necessarily the way they are without. I do believe they are without souls and also a function, like an empathetic function. But. But I think that there is an idea that that is in some way aspirational, because it's a. It's. It's a. It helps you be the best capitalist. If you don't care, then you're gonna be the most successful because you didn't care to begin with. So you're not gonna have any checkpoints. Well, they don't. And you might find that you might have stanned that person. But suddenly you're realizing, oh, wait, you do have an emotional checkpoint, and that's good. But you are too late.

[Bowen Yang]

You are too late and it is.

[Matt Rogers]

Fucked up and you should feel bad. And it's okay that people feel bad. I will also say that everyone being like, oh, I have buyer's remorse with the Trump thing. I used to stand Ilan. Now I don't know. Feel bad, feel bad. It's fine.

[Bowen Yang]

It's fine. This is just to revive one of Matt's old catchphrases, which was, precious one, you're without.

[Matt Rogers]

Precious one, you are without.

[Bowen Yang]

You are without.

[Matt Rogers]

It's a way to give empathy, but let people know.

[Bowen Yang]

Let people know that they're lacking.

[Matt Rogers]

Precious one, you are without.

[Bowen Yang]

Who's not lacking is. Is our guest or us.

[Matt Rogers]

Now for that. We're gonna have a new album soon.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And all your work, which is so important to us and so important to anyone who loves music. I'm telling you, like, it's just so cool for us to be able to say that we have platform that you would want to come hang out with us on. Like, it's truly one of the moments of the podcast that we're like, I can't believe that it's come this far. You're just the best.

[Robyn]

I love you guys. I love you for having me on here. I listen to you all the time. That's so, so wild that you're saying all of this to my face.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. We love you.

[Robyn]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Love you, Robin. Okay, well, we end every episode with a song.

[Matt Rogers]

And if you do me right, I'm gonna do right by you if you keep it tight, I'm gonna confide in you. I don't think my key was that weird.

[Robyn]

It was great.

[Matt Rogers]

He's always dragging me for my key.

[Robyn]

No, it was Greeky, and I just. It was too high for me.

[Matt Rogers]

So I was wrong.

[Bowen Yang]

I was wrong.

[Matt Rogers]

Bye.

[Bowen Yang]

Bye. Las Cold Races is a production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and iHeartRadio.

[Matt Rogers]

Podcasts, created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, executive produced by Anna Hosnier and produced by Becca Ramos, edited.

[Bowen Yang]

And mixed by Doug Bain.

[Matt Rogers]

And our music is by Henry Kabirsky. Okay, so you want your master's degree. You know you can earn it.

[Bowen Yang]

But life gets busy. The packed schedule, the late nights. And then there's the unexpected.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, American Public University was built for all of it.

[Bowen Yang]

With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40/ flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life.

[Matt Rogers]

Start your master's journey today at Apu Apus. Edu.

[Bowen Yang]

You want it? Come get it at Apu.

[Robyn]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.