Jamie Loftus, Hari Kondabolu, and Blitzen Trapper (REBROADCAST)

Summary

Live Wire with Luke Burbank: Episode Featuring Jamie Loftus, Hari Kondabolu, and Blitzen Trapper

Release Date: May 16, 2025

In this engaging rebroadcast episode of Live Wire with Luke Burbank, host Luke Burbank delves into a diverse range of topics alongside his guests Jamie Loftus, stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu, and the Portland-based Americana band Blitzen Trapper. Recorded live at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland, Oregon, the episode seamlessly weaves together insightful conversations, comedic narratives, and soulful music, offering listeners a rich and entertaining experience.

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Highlighting Good News

The episode opens with Elena Passarello sharing uplifting news about the discovery of 138 new species across the globe, emphasizing the ongoing exploration and conservation efforts. At [03:09], Elena details the variety of newly discovered flora and fauna, including the charming "pygmy pipe horse," a "super adorable seahorse" found off the South African coast. This segment underscores the vastness of undiscovered life on Earth, with Elena stating, "They estimate that we have only discovered like 10% of the flora, fauna and fungi in the world" ([02:46]).

A particularly heartwarming story is shared about Pandurang Ulpe from Kolhapur, India. Initially pronounced dead after a suspected heart attack, a vigilant family member noticed his finger twitching while driving over a speed bump ([05:23]). This quick thinking led to an emergency angioplasty that saved his life, demonstrating the profound impact of attentive family support and timely medical intervention.

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Jamie Loftus and "16th Minute of Fame"

Jamie Loftus, a multifaceted podcaster and comedian, takes center stage to discuss her acclaimed podcast, "16th Minute of Fame". Launched as an exploration of internet notoriety beyond the fleeting "15 minutes of fame," Jamie examines the lives of individuals after their moment in the spotlight fades. At [09:06], she shares her inspiration for the show, noting, "There are thousands of these guys... I don't think I've seen a lot of people that have actually tried to go back and talk to them in depth."

One of the featured stories includes Ken Bone, the memorable attendee from a presidential town hall debate, known for his red sweater. Jamie reveals, "When you interview them, I mean, he did some things that weren't great, posted things on the Internet that weren't great, but seemed like kind of a genuinely sweet dude" ([12:06]). This nuanced portrayal challenges initial perceptions, highlighting personal growth and self-reflection.

Jamie also delves into the phenomenon of Elvis Presto, the eccentric performer from the 1989 Super Bowl halftime show. She recounts, "...the man who ended up lip syncing the songs did not lip sync a single Elvis song and was not a magician. So it was this really incredible show... It blew my mind" ([20:36]). This segment not only explores the quirks of past Super Bowl performances but also ties into the broader theme of internet-famous figures evolving beyond their initial fame.

Additionally, Jamie addresses the infamous "dress" debate from 2015—the viral optical illusion where a dress appeared either blue and black or white and gold. She reflects on its significance as one of the last organically spread viral stories before algorithm-driven content became dominant, stating, "The dress was sort of one of these last stories that was spread organically... instead of something you would open your phone to whatever app and be like, here's the dumb thing" ([23:00]).

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Hari Kondabolu’s Comedic Insights

Comedian Hari Kondabolu brings his sharp wit and personal anecdotes to the stage, sharing humorous yet relatable stories about his experiences in the comedy circuit. At [32:24], Hari recounts the challenges of balancing his career with personal life, illustrating his dynamic with his mother who forbids him from performing in Long Island, despite his own desires.

One standout moment includes Hari's humorous take on modern parenting and technology: "I'm trying to be a good parent, but it's so difficult because, you know, I have an iPhone... It's trying to seduce me, like, pick me up, hurry" ([32:24]). His ability to blend observational humor with personal struggles resonates deeply with the audience, providing both laughter and insight.

Hari also touches on his experiences with aging and maintaining his comedic edge, sharing anecdotes about injuries from pickleball and interactions with older individuals who challenge his perceptions of youth and technology. For example, he jokes about being advised by retired nurses after an injury: "All the only thing I heard was, young man. All right, what are you doing after this, Doris, you on Facebook?" ([41:52]).

His set not only entertains but also subtly comments on societal expectations and the evolving landscape of comedy and public performance.

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Blitzen Trapper’s Musical Interlude

Rounding out the episode, Blitzen Trapper delivers a captivating performance of their new song "Planetarium" from their latest album, "1/ hundreds of 1000s, millions of billions". The band, renowned for their "hazy, psychedelic Americana" and "infectious roots rock swagger", captivates the audience with soulful lyrics and rich instrumentation.

"Planetarium" features poetic lines such as:

“I’ve been living like a ghost inside myself
Upon a shelf on a distant planet
A crooked house that never sleeps...” ([47:35])

The song's introspective nature and melodic composition resonate with listeners, showcasing Blitzen Trapper's ability to blend deep lyrical content with engaging musical prowess.

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Audience Engagement: Brushes with Fame

The episode also includes a delightful segment where Live Wire listeners share their closest encounters with fame. Through short, personal stories, the audience connects with the broader theme of fleeting and enduring fame. Highlights include:

• Phelan's experience winning the state championship in the National Ocean Science Bowl in Alaska, only to face tough competition at nationals due to an avalanche disrupting the event ([29:26]).

• Fernando's uncomfortable moment as a paid audience member visibly reacting during a comedy taping now featured on HBO Max, highlighting the dichotomy between personal feelings and public visibility ([30:32]).

• Patrick's near-miss with reality TV fame when contacted by a show seeking to audition him as a TV therapist, prompting reflections on unexpected opportunities and personal boundaries ([31:39]).

These stories enrich the episode by adding relatable human experiences that complement the main discussions.

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Conclusion

Live Wire with Luke Burbank masterfully combines thoughtful conversations, humor, and music to explore the complexities of fame, personal growth, and cultural phenomena. Jamie Loftus's insightful podcast discussions, Hari Kondabolu's engaging stand-up, and Blitzen Trapper's melodic performance create a multidimensional listening experience. Notable quotes throughout the episode, such as Jamie's reflection on internet fame at [09:54] and Hari's humorous insights on parenting and technology at [32:24], add depth and personality to the narrative.

For those seeking a blend of entertainment and thoughtful analysis, this episode of Live Wire with Luke Burbank is a must-listen, capturing the essence of contemporary culture through engaging dialogue and memorable performances.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, there. Welcome to Livewire. I'm your host, Luke Burbank. This week on the show, we are talking to the podcaster and comedian Jamie Loftus about her new project. It's called 16th Minute of Fame. It covers some of the most fascinating subjects of Internet notoriety. You know, people who had their 15 minutes, and it kind of asks the question, what's going on in their 16th minute? Like that guy Ken Bone. Remember, he had the red sweater? He asked the question at that presidential town hall debate. Also, you'll learn about Elvis. Presto. If you didn't know who that is, you're going to want to know. Then we're going to hear comedy from our friend Hari Kondabolu. He has performed all over the world, and yet there is one place that he is forbidden from performing. And the person doing the forbidding, his mother. Plus, we've got music from Portland Americana legends Blitzen Trapper. You are forbidden from missing this next hour of Livewire because it's going to be amazing. So please stick around. Get started right after this. This episode of Livewire was originally recorded in January of 2025. We hope you enjoy it. Now let's get to the show.

[Elena Passarello]

From prx, it's Livewire. This week, podcaster Jamie Loftus.

[Jamie Loftus]

The super bowl halftime show as we know it is like, at the pop star playing all of their hits. Before that, it was just no man's land of, like, marching bands and weirdos.

[Elena Passarello]

Stand up comedian Hari Kondabolu.

[Hari Kondabolu]

I try to be a good parent, but it's so difficult because, you know, I have an iPhone.

[Elena Passarello]

With music from Blitzen, Trapper, and our fabulous house band, I'm your announcer, Elena Passarello. And now, the host of Livewire, Luke Burbank.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, thank you so much, Elena Passarello. Thanks to everyone tuning in from all over America to our public radio variety show, which has all kinds of variety in store for you this week. We're gonna get to that in a moment. First, though, we gotta kick things off like we always do with the best news we heard this week. This is our little Livewire reminder for you that there is good news happening in the world somewhere. I promise we find it for you and present it. Elena, what's the best news you heard this week?

[Elena Passarello]

I'm so excited about this one. Are you ready? Are you ready for full geek Passarello mode? Like, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I've known you long enough to know this is really your lane.

[Elena Passarello]

I know. I like facts and I like being happy. Those are, like, my favorite things. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Listen to this.

[Elena Passarello]

Luke Burbank. They estimate that we have only discovered like 10% of the flora, fauna and fungi in the world.

[Luke Burbank]

That's shocking. Yeah, I would have figured we'd sort of, you know, found all of them and unfortunately are losing them. But there's ones we haven't even discovered, Right?

[Elena Passarello]

Can you guess how many new species were documented this year?

[Luke Burbank]

LB I'm gonna go high and say 100.

[Elena Passarello]

More than that, even I was shocked. 138 new plants, animals and shrooms have been discovered this year. A few weeks ago, the California Academy of Sciences presented a press tallying all the newly discovered species from all these different initiatives all over the planet. And the new species include 32 fishes, 17 leaf bugs, 15 plant hoppers. I don't even know what that is. 14 worms, 12 skinks, 11 gastropods, nine plants, eight slugs, seven each. Spiders and beetles, two ghost sharks. Spooky. And then one each of an eel, a gecko, a potato bug, and this thing called a pygmy pipe horse, which is.

[Hari Kondabolu]

It's little.

[Luke Burbank]

Is that as cute as it sounds?

[Elena Passarello]

Yeah. Super adorable seahorse. Beautiful auburn color. Discovered in the rough waters off the South African coast, where it's actually really difficult to look for species. But, you know, technology is evolving so that you could actually stay in those waters longer and look and observe my favorite story from all of these new species. So there were 17 new insects named from French Polynesia alone. And when you discover a new species, of course you get to name, name it. And most of these new species were named by fifth graders from the Polynesian island of Moorea. They named some of the insects after Harrison Ford and Kamala Harris. Congratulations. Elsewhere in the world, there's a salamander whose name is now Semnopsis van goghi. Okay, like, it's a Van Gogh, because the back of the salamander has a pattern on it that looks like Van Gogh's Starry Night. There's also, and this is my favorite one, because my husband loves hummingbirds. The world's largest hummingbird was discovered in the super high altitudes of Peru. They've never. I mean, when you look at it, it's actually pretty still kind of small. Like, big for a hummingbird is, you.

[Luke Burbank]

Know, small compared to, like, you know, an emu.

[Elena Passarello]

Yeah, it's like a jumbo shrimp.

[Luke Burbank]

Why did I choose a flightless bird for this example? I don't know.

[Jamie Loftus]

I don't know.

[Elena Passarello]

But it was charming. I'm glad you did. And who knows, maybe when we're talking this time next year there'll be some new emu. Although those guys are kind of hard to hide.

[Luke Burbank]

That's amazing. The best news that I heard this week actually comes out of a place that we don't talk about on the show a whole lot, which is India. In a region of India known as Kolhapur, where a 65 year old guy named Pandurang Ulpe was out on his regular daily walk. He came home and he said he sat down, he had some tea and he started to feel dizzy and a little bit unwell. And then he had what the doctors think was a heart attack. And his family rushed him to the hospital and unfortunately they pronounced him dead. They said that he did not survive this cardiac event. His family was, as you might imagine, pretty upset. But they did the thing you do, which is they were gonna take him home to put him to rest, but also to have whatever the local burial traditions are. So he's in some sort of vehicle with his family, they're driving back home, they go over a speed bump. Elena. And when they go over the speed bump, somebody in the family looks over and notices that his finger is moving and that something about the jolt of this speed bump. They immediately make a hard left turn and go to a. This is important. Different hospital. And at the different hospital they perform an emergency angioplasty and pendurang is there convalescing for a number of weeks. Recently, Elena walked out of the hospital.

[Elena Passarello]

Oh my God.

[Luke Burbank]

This is a person who was thought to no longer be alive and if not for this speed bump in this region of India. And a very keen eyed family member.

[Elena Passarello]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Who was looking for any signs of life.

[Elena Passarello]

Wow.

[Luke Burbank]

He's doing surprisingly okay. He doesn't have too much of a memory of the event, but he's back at home. He's back taking his daily walks and having his tea. And he's with us again, maybe thanks to a speed bump. If you hear about my demise, Elena, I would ask you to just see if they'll run me over a couple of speed bumps to make sure I'm really gone. Okay.

[Elena Passarello]

It's like the human body equivalent of blowing into a Nintendo cartridge.

[Luke Burbank]

Unplugging it and plugging it back in, just seeing if it restarts. Better off. Anyway, that is the best news that I heard all week. All right, on that note, let's get our first guest on over to the show. She's a writer of television, a comedian, also a podcaster who has deep dived on such subjects as Mensa, the Book, Lolita, the comic strip, Kathy, and, of course, hot dogs. That's something else she's investigated deeply. Her latest project is a podcast. It's called 16th Minute of Fame. It had me so locked in, as the young people are now saying, Elena, that I listened to all 17 hours of this in the days preceding this interview that we recorded with her. It was named one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Vulture. This is our friend Jamie Loftus, who joined us at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland to talk about the podcast. Take a listen. Hello, Jamie.

[Jamie Loftus]

Hi. How are you?

[Luke Burbank]

Great. Welcome back.

[Jamie Loftus]

Great to be back.

[Luke Burbank]

I feel like this latest podcast from you was, like, scientifically designed in a lab for me to listen to, and I appreciate you doing that.

[Jamie Loftus]

Nice.

[Luke Burbank]

Why don't we start by, like, what was your pitch for the show when you were coming up with it?

[Jamie Loftus]

So, yeah, I mean, the whole idea was, I spent too much time on the Internet. I love seeing, like, hey, here's this guy. Isn't he weird? And then you go to bed and you wake up and they're like, here's a new guy. You're like, what happened to yesterday's guy? And we have, like, thousands of these guys. And I mean, like, the genderless guy. Like, there's so many of these people at this point, and we've been receiving them daily now and sometimes like, multiple times daily. And I was like, well, I don't think I've seen a lot of people that have actually tried to go back and talk to them in depth and in a way that, like, outside of saying, hey, wasn't this weird when you were the guy?

[Hari Kondabolu]

And.

[Jamie Loftus]

And it is weird when you're the guy, but also, I want to know what the guy was doing for however many years before that. And so I thought about that about two years ago, and I was like, what, man? This is a show I would really love to listen to. And I told my producer, who I've worked with forever, my friend Sophie, and I was like, if this show doesn't exist in a year, I want to make it. And it didn't exist in a year, so I started to make it.

[Luke Burbank]

How did you decide on. You call them main characters? The idea being that somebody becomes the Internet's main character. How did you decide who you were going to focus on?

[Jamie Loftus]

Oh, man. I mean, it really is kind of a communal decision. There are certain people who I definitely wanted to know more about who I felt weirdly, parasocially attached to of, like, what happened to this person? There Are other people who I remember clearly, who I'm like, do I want to talk to this person?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, one of the things that's so fascinating about the show is you there. The way that I think my brain organizes information around these main characters is like, oh, that was the guy that did that one thing. But then doesn't he suck?

[Jamie Loftus]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

That's how I remember them. And then you actually talk to these folks and you figure out if they in fact do suck. And there's, it's usually much more nuanced than, you know, my brain was, was, was categorizing it as.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know, it's, it's tricky to do those interviews because, yeah, you go in with your preconceptions and you're like, I remember that this guy was supposed to have sucked. And then they generally show you whether that was true or not over the course of an interview.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, here's a good example. Ken Bone. Ken Bone, the guy in the red Izod sweater who asked a question at the end of one of the town hall debates involving Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Right?

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

He was a guy who I remember like was an SNL kind of punchline and he was kind of a quirky looking dude. And then my mind was like, oh, yeah. But then also he kind of was gross or something. That was it. That was the extent of my knowledge of him. And you interview him, I mean, he did some things that weren't great, posted things on the Internet that weren't great, but seemed like kind of a genuinely sweet dude.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah, I mean, I think that is something that I've encountered over and over is kind of like the yada yada yada of like what someone's to trying transgression was. And that doesn't mean that someone hasn't transgressed, but it's just a question of how did they deal with it? Did they take the criticism to heart? What was the criticism? All of these things that, you know, we as people just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling could not possibly take in in the course of a day. And so like you're saying, I mean, I had the same takeaway that you did of like, oh, well, he was really funny and then all of a sudden we hated him. And, and that was where it stopped for me. And like, imagine being that person. And that's, I mean, it was interesting to talk to Ken, I think was like a really interesting interview because he had clearly, in the eight years since that happened, like, really thought about that and he'd gone to therapy. And it's always great to talk to a man who's been through a lot of therapy.

[Luke Burbank]

You're doing it right now. It's happening.

[Jamie Loftus]

I knew we got along for a reason, but, like, it was really cool to talk to him because he had clearly reflected on not just his moment, but the things that he felt he had said in anonymity that were problematic and the things that he said in anonymity that were just kind of horny and weird that people had judged him for, you know? And it is interesting talking to someone who has been through that because it is everyone's worst nightmare, you know. And what I really appreciated about Ken specifically is that he'd not just reflected on it, but he had grown, it seems like, significantly as a person to the point where when we were talking, we were talking, you know, we were like, yeah, we got a free Palestine, man. Like, it was just like, it was really exciting talking to Ken Bonus, a fellow leftist. It was thrilling. It was awesome.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, speaking of people on the left, after the break, we want to discuss the most probably well known shark dancer ever from a Super bowl halftime show. Left Shark, one of the other people that you talk about. This is Livewire from PRX. We're talking to Jamie Loftus. Her latest podcast is 16th Minute of Fame. More Livewire in just a moment. Stay with us. Special thanks to our sponsor, Up Up Books, a Portland bookshop specializing in diverse authors, local writers, and independent presses. They're located across from Revolution hall in the Buckman neighborhood, and they offer a space for books, book clubs, workshops, and events. Check out their website and grab a [e-mail] welcome back to Livewire from PRX. We're at the Alberta Rose State Theater here in Portland. My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host here with Elena Passarello. And we're talking to Jamie Loftus about her latest podcast project, 16th minute of fame. One of the things that you do throughout the show that I just love so much is your use of the. We call it air horn or party horn, this thing.

[Jamie Loftus]

But the thing is not a huge laugh for that. Well, come on, let's get rid of.

[Luke Burbank]

Your eyes, Portland public radio fans. I mean, there you go.

[Jamie Loftus]

You used to be punks.

[Luke Burbank]

We'll turn this into a jock jam before, you know, but here's, but here's the thing that you do, Jamie, that's so great is you never. I don't think you ever even play that amount of air horn. You will just sometimes be finishing a line and you'll play like this. And then sometimes it'll literally just be this. What? Explain to me the science behind the duration of the air horn that you will play while you are. While you're doing your podcast.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah. I mean, I feel like I have to earn the full horn. And so sometimes, like when I play the horn or any, like, duration of the horn, it's because I said something that I think is funny, and it's your rim shot. And so it's a conversation between myself and my editor of. Well, was that funny to just Jamie? Is that funny to everybody? Or is that so funny that we get to play the horn for five full seconds and generally it is a half horn. It's usually like this guy that's funny to just Jamie.

[Luke Burbank]

That's what that means.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah.

[Elena Passarello]

Because this is multiple podcasts that the horn has been a part of your sort of sonic landscape.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah. The horn is canon. It's.

[Elena Passarello]

It's really funny to hear that horn in, like a podcast about Nabokov. Right. Which is one of your podcasts.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah. People. People don't. Not everybody loves it. And I. And I understand that, but I do want to remind them that, you know, I have some editorial freedom. You know, no one's going to tell me to not play the horn. Right, Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. I was so excited to talk to you about this podcast, but I was also excited for my good friend Elena Passarello, who is into all things Elvis related.

[Elena Passarello]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Because when you're talking about this Left Shark performance during the Katy Perry super bowl halftime show, you know, Left Shark was kind of dancing in a way that seemed like maybe they didn't get the choreography memo or something. But before you get to that, you get really into the story of somebody who was known as Elvis Presto.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Could you tell us about Elvis Presto?

[Jamie Loftus]

I would love to tell you about Elvis Presto. I love Elvis Presto. So, yes, I started researching the Left Shark, very popular main character and someone who was very lovely. He now works at this very high end hair salon in West Hollywood. And I got to go and see him and he gave me a bunch of free shampoo. Cause I think he was like, your hair sucks. That was. That was my. He was very nice. And I was like, oh, I guess my hair doesn't look great anyways. Yes. But when I was going into. I was like, I want to give, you know, sort of a brief history of what was the super bowl halftime show like up until this time. And the things I found were, like, kind of incredible and horrific because the super bowl halftime show as we know it is, like, it's a pop star playing all of their hits. And that was not a thing until, like, the early to mid-90s. Before that, it was just no man's land of, like, marching bands and weirdos. And Elvis Presto was, like, the best weirdo of them all. It was the 1989 Super bowl halftime show. And the whole idea was that they were going to hand out in, like, grocery stores, 3D goggles to watch the super bowl halftime show. And, yeah, I don't. I bravely. I was not alive for this, but there was, like. They gave out. Thank you so much.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Thank you so much.

[Jamie Loftus]

A quarter horn for my youth. Quarterhorn.

[Luke Burbank]

Is that Chaucer? A quarter horn for my youth. We got an applause break on that one, huh?

[Jamie Loftus]

Great Chaucer drop.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you. Only this crowd responds that positively to a Chaucer reference.

[Jamie Loftus]

But I found this guy. There was a show called the Elvis Presto show, and I was like, I'm gonna need to watch this show. And it was as. It sounds like an Elvis impersonator doing magic, which is un.

[Luke Burbank]

You didn't get there with Presto.

[Elena Passarello]

Maybe it was just a really fast Elvis.

[Luke Burbank]

Right, right.

[Jamie Loftus]

It is, like, still, to me, unbelievably clear why this happened. Because the man who ended up lip syncing the songs did not lip sync a single Elvis song and was not a magician. So it was this really incredible show where this guy. It was originally supposed to be another guy, but then he got a Levi jeans commercial and bailed on the Super Bowl. And so the guy who ended up playing Elvis Presto was the choreographer for the whole show. He looks nothing like Elvis. He's not lip syncing any Elvis songs. He's a good dancer, but he's not a magician. And. And he's just dressed as Elvis singing, not Elvis songs, Not singing and not doing real magic. And he headlined the super bowl by himself. And it, like, blew my mind. It was the coolest. I was like, I would give anything to be there. Because even the audience at the super bowl is like, what am I? What am I? Everyone looks like. They're like, should we help him out? What is going on? It was awesome. It was so good.

[Luke Burbank]

And the maybe funniest detail for this crowd is that Elvis Presto moved to Portland and ran and was running a very successful yoga studio here. Yo, yo, Yogi.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And we were trying to get him on the show. Unfortunately, he is now retired and He. He does not apparently live in Portland full time, but we were this close to getting Elvis Presto to come out and say hi to you.

[Jamie Loftus]

I really appreciate it. I was also trying to track him down independently.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, let's see. No conversation about sort of 2000s Internet culture would be complete without talking about the dress and the fact that when you say the dress, people generally speaking, know what you're referring to. That was the dress that was at a wedding. Someone was wearing it, but they couldn't. Nobody could tell what color it was.

[Jamie Loftus]

It was either blue and black or white and gold. Okay, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So what was the story on that exactly? And why was that significant to you? Why did you want to put that in the series?

[Jamie Loftus]

Oh, that was one that I remembered very specifically because that happened very early into me starting to write professionally. And if you don't know, congratulations. It was a very blown out, like, high contrast photo of a pretty ugly dress that was going to be worn as a mother of the bride dress that to some people looked blue and black and to others looked white and gold. And it was this weird optical illusion. But the really interesting story that I found sort of underneath all of that was that it was sort of the end of an era in terms of, like, how things go viral. And so part of what I've had a lot of fun with on 16th minute is finding like, okay, here's the story that you remember, but here is why it is probably significant in a way that we still talk about, because that story happened in really early 2015, right before things sort of shifted to a lot of our main characters and the people that we see now are algorithmically presented to us. And the dress was sort of one of these last stories that was spread organically and that like, someone would send to you and be like, what color is this? And you're just like, it's all dumb. But it used to be something dumb we would talk about with each other. Instead of something you would open your phone to whatever app and be like, here's the dumb thing, I guess, which is how we do it now.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. One of the other things that I was fascinated by was the 30 to 50 feral hogs guy who was, unfortunately, there was, as there are most days, some terrible gun related events in the country. Jason Isbell, the singer, was tweeting about it and saying, we need to stop arguing about the semantics of what is an assault rifle or assault weapon. And a guy checks in and goes, legit question here from rural America, what am I supposed to do to defend My family against the 30 to 50 feral hogs in my yard. And the Internet went crazy.

[Jamie Loftus]

Yes. That was another really fascinating thing to research. There had already been. I remembered there had been an episode of Reply all on that same topic from back in the day. And revisiting it was really interesting because. Yeah, I mean, Nat was a main character. That could not have been. I think a lot of people who become our main characters are sort of accused as being attention seeking or whatever it is. But this was a guy who replied to a celebrity. It could have been any of us. Right. And because the way that he phrased his question was so bizarre and the timing was very weird that he became this main character. And that's something that I've found very interesting because he is kind of right to ask the question. The timing was poor.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Jamie Loftus]

And it was really interesting talking to the guy who asked that question, Willie McNabb, and. And sort of get a better idea of who he is, because I think people made a lot of false assumptions about him, too. Was that he was trying to kind of gotcha. Questions that were. Because Jason Isbell was making an excellent point about school shootings. But I don't know. I mean, something that was fascinating about that was. Yeah, he was just sort of cherry picked out of nowhere as like, isn't this a ridiculous question? But if you live in the rural south, it's not a ridiculous question.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, is that your big takeaway from doing all this research and talking to all these people is. Is always more complex than we think it is?

[Jamie Loftus]

Basically, Yeah, I think so. I mean, I. Every once in a while, you're like, this was, you know, this was exactly what it seemed like it was.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Jamie Loftus]

But usually I've really enjoyed finding, like, there's usually something about the story. Story or the person that is far more complex or at least speaks to. Well, why was this interesting to us at this specific moment in time? I think Ken Bone is a great example of that. Of, like, would a guy being, like, a little bit weird at a debate phase us now? Most likely not.

[Elena Passarello]

It's like the Howard Dean yell was so huge. I know. You know, and now it's like if a politician yelled into a microphone, we'd be like, yay. They used the microphone.

[Jamie Loftus]

They knew where to.

[Elena Passarello]

I got one.

[Luke Burbank]

Elena got one. The podcast is 16th minute of fame. It is so good. I can't recommend it highly enough. Jamie Loftus, thank you for coming back on Livewire. That was Jamie Loftus right here on Livewire. Her latest project is the podcast 16th minute of fame, which you can listen to wherever you get that kind of stuff. Hey, special thanks this episode to Susan Bailey of Portland, Oregon. Susan is part of the Livewire member community and is generously supporting our show with a donation each month. And we are so grateful for that support because we couldn't do this show without you, Susan. And that is not an exaggeration. So a hearty thanks from all of us at Livewire for helping us keep this thing going. Livewire is brought to you by Powell's Books. A Portland institution since 1971. Powell's offers a selection of new and used books in stores and online@powell's.com. this is Livewire. I'm Luke Burbank. That's Elena Passarello right over there. Of course. Each week, we like to ask the Livewire listeners a question. And inspired by the topic of Jamie Loftus's podcast, 16th Minute of Fame, we decided to ask some people at a recent live taping. What question, Elena?

[Elena Passarello]

We wanted to know what their closest brush with fame was.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. And we recorded those answers, and we've got them for you right now. Play some of them for you. This was someone named Phelan talking about their closest brush with fame.

[E]

Well, this one time, I was in National Ocean Science bowl in Alaska, and a avalanche knocked out the road, so it kept the best teams from coming to compete. So we won. So I became the state championship winner. And, like, I got to go to nationals where we, like, lost so epically because Alaska does not live up to the other states in our country. But, yeah, I got a lot of fame in the. In the hometown for that.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, I want to say we are on a number of stations in Alaska, and we, we love the folks in Alaska. I do not support the last part of that statement that champions all. Yeah, thank you. But that, you know, I mean, that's the problem with flying too high on borrowed wings, right? You might win the state championship, but then when you got to go to the nationals, that it's the rubber really meets the road.

[Elena Passarello]

But that town, you know how you go into, like, a high school gym and there's, like, state champions, 1974. Like, they got a banner in Phelan's hometown now, thanks to that avalanche.

[Luke Burbank]

How about this from Fernando, A Brush with Fame.

[F]

I was in a paid audience member in a comedy taping, and they sat me in the front row, and I, you know, they get you laughing and things, so they can cut in anywhere. And that was before the show. And once the show started, I realized it was not the kind of thing I would want to be shown laughing at. And I was in the front row for the whole taping. And it's on HBO Max now, and you could just see my face there the entire time. I was very visible.

[Luke Burbank]

I, first of all, am dying to know what comedy special it is. I would like to find it. And I would like to observe Fernando's facial expression. I haven't been through that specifically, but I can identify with this idea of realizing, like, oh, I don't necessarily maybe endorse this particular brand of comedy, or I don't find it funny, but I also don't want it to be weird in the room.

[Elena Passarello]

You gotta find the perfect medium face.

[Luke Burbank]

Right.

[Elena Passarello]

Like, I don't endorse, but I'm also not gonna tank this whole enterprise.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right. All right, how about this brush with fame from Patrick, who attended a recent Livewire episode?

[G]

One time I was contacted by some. I'm a therapist. So I was randomly contacted by a reality TV show that asked me if I was interested in auditioning for a couple's therapy reality TV show. And it was. I was. It's like my worst nightmare. So I said no, of course. But I was curious where they even got my name or, like, contact information.

[Luke Burbank]

So a brush with near fame of being, like, a TV therapist. You know, I once invited my actual therapist to come on Livewire and she declined. And that was an indicator that she's actually a good therapist, an ethical therapist.

[Elena Passarello]

Yeah, I think Livewire is my therapy, which is why I want to talk to you now about this dream that I've been having.

[Luke Burbank]

Sure. You know, actually, I'm looking. It's time for a break.

[Elena Passarello]

Oh. Oh, that's our time.

[Luke Burbank]

That's our time for this edition of our audience cards. Thank you so much to everyone who provided us with a response. This is, of course, Livewire from prx. Our next guest might have the current title Elena for most Livewire experiences. And when he's not on our show, he's a panelist on Wait, Wait, don't tell me. Or sometimes you see him co hosting Snack vs Chef on Netflix. Or maybe you've seen him performing stand up comedy in a town near you. He performs all over the country. His latest comedy special is Vacation Baby, and it tackles a whole variety of topics, from dark chocolate to white replacement theory to Curious George. Our friend Hari Kondabolu joined us at Revolution hall in Portland, Oregon. Take a listen to this.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Hello, Portland. How are we? My God, it's good to be here. As of next year, it'll be 25 years for me doing stand up comedy. And thank you. I don't say that to brag. If you also focused only on one thing for 25 years, at the expense of your friendships, personal growth and mental health, you too could one day perform in the basement of a children's restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, which you did not know was a children's restaurant until you got there and were greeted by a man dressed like a pirate who says to you, how can I help Yar? And it is in that moment you realize that the only difference between you and the pirate is that you work downstairs. And unlike him, this is your dream. So it's all been worth it. I have performed all over the world doing stand up comedy, but strangely, I've never performed in Long Island, New York, even though I grew up right next door in Queens, never performed in Long Island. And the reason for that is my mother worked in a hospital in Long island for 25 years, and I'm not sure what happened in this hospital, but she does not want me to play Long Island. It has been. It has been forbidden, right? And part of me gets it. You know, like in my mom's hospital, half the nurses quit during COVID because they refused to get vaccinated, right? Which. Which is a little strange. It's like, you know, if you're a cafeteria worker and you quit because you refuse to wear gloves, right? Or if you're a proctologist and you quit because you refuse to wear gloves, it's like so. Something like that, right? But still, you know, I'm not scared to perform in Long island, but my mom doesn't want me to do it. And recently I got an offer to perform in a club in Long island, right? The money was decent. So I text my mom. I'm like, mom, the boycott has to end. I need to make some money. Let me perform. And she texted back, hurry. I worked with these people. You are not for them. They are very dangerous. Stay away. Have fun in Oklahoma. So something happened in Long Island. My mom is so funny. Here's another text she sent me. Stop writing down everything I say to you and write your own God material. I am the father of a four year old child and thank you. I try to be a good parent, but it's so difficult because, you know, I have an iPhone and the iPhone just has so many more options than the kid. And, you know, and it would be so much easier if kids were like iPhones, you know, you could just lower the volume or raise the brightness. You know what I mean? Doesn't work that way. You're stuck with the factory settings. I'm trying to be a good parent, focus on my child, right? But I hear the phone, right? I hear it trying to seduce me, like, pick me up, hurry. You know you want to leave me alone, iPhone. Already. I'm spending time with my child. This isn't the time. I know that. Hurry. But don't you want to know the difference between Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton? Only one of them is alive. But which one? I'm sure you want to know right now. Oh, hurry. No, no. IPhone. Leave me alone, iPhone. Okay? I'm spending time with my kid. It's dinner time. We don't have phones at the table. I know that. Hurry. But don't you want to take a buzzfeed quiz to find out which house in Harry Potter you would have lived in? The answer is none of them. Cause you're a muggle. Oh, hurry, please. IPhone. It's bedtime. I'm putting my kid to bed. I can't look at you right now. I know that. Hurry. But don't you want to find out if you can use Ozempic on just your face? You can't. By the way, it's nice to be here in the Pacific Northwest. It's my favorite part of the country. Without a doubt, it's the Northwest that taught me to appreciate good coffee, right? My drink of choice is the americano with whole milk, right? But I don't call it that anymore, because whenever I said americano with whole milk, baristas used to put oat milk in it by accident because whole and oat sound similar. So now I say Americano with regular milk, right? So I was in a coffee shop recently, went to the barista. I said, I'd like an Americano with regular milk. And she said, do you really want to call it regular milk? Because, you know, it's not regular for everybody. Are you accusing me of being prejudiced against people that can't drink cow's milk? Are you saying I'm lactose intolerant? Intolerant. That's not a real thing. You know what I mean? We're talking about milk, not people. You know what I mean? And I'm sensitive to this because people will come up to me and say, hey, what are you? Which is like the more impolite way of saying, where are you from? Right? It's like saying, I don't care about your feelings. Why you look like that. So somebody asked me what I was and I just humored the person. I said, I'm Indian. And I said, well, what are you? And he said, oh, I'm just regular. That's messed up. Do you see the difference? That's people. That's not milk. I'm a regular. I should be in a rack on TJ Maxx, apparently. Love, love, love. The Northwest. Loves Seattle, but it's hard going to Seattle. Now I see it's not the same city it used to be, in large part because of Amazon. Right? I just, oh, my God, I hate Amazon so much. And I'm so glad that that union in Staten island happened, right? That they organized and they passed that union. And of course the executives didn't like this when they passed the union and they accused the workers, the union organizers of bribing the workers with marijuana in order to get them to vote for the union. So you're telling me that you think that weed was used to get people to actively do something? Do you know how this works? I'm here to vote for the union. That was yesterday. This is a bathroom getting older, which is so strange, man. There are moments that crystallize to me that, oh, I have aged. This one time I was talking to my friend's kid who's 15 years old and he wants to do stand up comedy. And so, you know, I told him what I always tell him, no, But I say, if you still want to do standup when you're 18, tell your dad and he'll give you my number or you can find me on Facebook. And when I mentioned Facebook to this 15 year old, the look on his face, it's like I said, would you like to ride in my steam powered locomotive? 42 years old. When I turned 40, people had the audacity to say to me, you know, hurry, you don't need to worry about 40. You know, 40 is the new 30. No, it's not. Do you know who disagrees? 40 is the new 30. Cardiologists, OBGYNs disagree. All right, 40 is not the new 30. If somebody tells you 40 is the new 30, you tell them to shut the hell up. If someone tells you 10 is the new 20, you call the authorities immediately. Because that is not, it's not a real thing that people say. Do you know who doesn't think 40 is the new 30? The 25 year old barista I tried flirting with last week. She, she thinks 40 is 40. Got the look on her face when I tried.

[H]

Oh.

[Hari Kondabolu]

I think he wants to be my Facebook friend. I know I'm getting older. I remember just two years ago, I tore multiple calf muscles playing pickleball. Pickleball, that's like low antennas, high end, ping pong. Elderly people like to play because it's easy on their joints. And I wanted to play it so I could beat elderly people at sports, which did not happen, by the way. So I'm playing, and I go for a forehand, right? And I go for the backhand. All of a sudden, I hear multiple pops coming from my calf, right? I hit the ground. Then two men twice my age drag me to the other end of the gym. One of them was wearing a life alert bracelet. And then two retired nurses had to take care of me. One elevated my leg, the other gave me aspirin and said, you know, young man, athletics isn't for everyone. And the only thing I heard was, young man. All right, what are you doing after this, Doris, you on Facebook? Hey, I hear 70 is the new 40. All right, thanks, everybody.

[Luke Burbank]

Hurry Kondabolu. That was Hurry Kondabolu. Right here on Livewire. His comedy special Vacation Baby is out right now. I'm Luke Burbank here with Elena Passarello. We've got to take a very short break, but do not go anywhere because when we come back, we're gonna hear some music from Portland, America. Americana legends Blitzen, Trapper. More Livewire coming your way in a moment. Welcome back to Livewire from prx. I'm Luke Burbank here with Elena Passarello. It's that time again on the show where we like to play a little station location identification examination. It's where we quiz Elena on a place in the US where LiveWire is on the radio. She's got to figure out where I am talking about. This place is known as the apple capital of this state. The first ever apple trees in the region were planted in this place despite the belief that it would be impossible for them to grow. And there are still a handful of orchards to this day. So that kind of tells you we're talking about a part of the country where you wouldn't think of people trying to grow apples, right?

[Elena Passarello]

Like maybe where the soil is like clay. So somewhere maybe toward the south, maybe.

[Luke Burbank]

I would say go north.

[Elena Passarello]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't think this is gonna get you any closer, but in 1851, when the city was founded, it was originally called Cameron's. It was named after PETA and Emma Cameron, their big project. They were, I believe, a husband and wife. They were trying to dig a canal to change the flow of the Mississippi river so it would flow closer to this town.

[Elena Passarello]

Oh, okay. So it's either Iowa or Minnesota.

[Luke Burbank]

Second thought, best thought, Minnesota. That's right.

[Elena Passarello]

Apple City, Minnesota.

[Luke Burbank]

Close. You're in the right state. I'm gonna give it to you. It's La Crescent, Minnesota, where we are on the radio on kxlcfm, La Crescent, Minnesota, formerly known as Cameron's Minnesota.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Woo hoo.

[Luke Burbank]

This is Livewire. Okay, before we get to our musical guest this week, a little preview of what we are doing on the show. Next week we're gonna be joined by the bestselling author Lidia Yukhnevich, who's gonna talk about her second memoir. It's called Reading the Waves. In it, she explores how writing and storytelling really helped reshape her memories and kind of create some space for personal growth, which is something I think a lot of us are looking for regarding stuff we've been through in our life. She's also gonna tell us what it's like to have an actor play her in the upcoming movie version of a book of hers. The movie is directed by none other than Kristen Stewart. It's based on her first memoir, the Chronology of Water. Then we're gonna talk to the comedian and a writer for the Late show with Stephen Colbert, Philippe Torres Medina. He's talking about his book, It's a Choose youe Own Adventure through the US Immigration System, which is as interesting and actually funny as it sounds. Then we're gonna hear a new song from Seattle indie legend's Pedro the Lion. So do not miss next week's episode of Livewire. In the meantime, our musical guests this week. They formed in Portland, Oregon, way back in 2000, and since then have gone on to play all over the world, including Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Coachella, while releasing hit Alpha albums. Rolling Stone loves their hazy, psychedelic Americana, while NPR has praised their explosive live performances and infectious roots rock swagger. Nobody has ever described my roots rock swagger in in the media, Elena. It's just something to work on, that's all. Their latest album is 1/ hundreds of 1000s, millions of billions, and it draws inspiration from Buddhist sutras. It's been praised by by Bandcamp for somehow remaining untrapped, which is like a weird thing to write about a band unless you know what their name is, which is Blitzen Trapper. They joined us at Revolution hall in Portland, Oregon, not that long ago. Take a listen to this. Welcome to Livewire.

[H]

Thanks for having us.

[Luke Burbank]

So nice to have you all here. I've been a fan for years. What song are we going to hear?

[H]

We're gonna do song. This is a new song called Planetarium.

[Luke Burbank]

All right. The splits and trap are on my way.

[H]

I've been living like a ghost inside myself Upon a shelf on a distant planet A crooked house that never sleeps and this river that unwinds within my spine records the time A thousand ripples racing from pebbles fall and a lone coyote walks On a highway running south Drifting up into my mouth A silent hemisphere in the quiet of my mind I find a stairway leading up with amber lights that flicker like a sleeping storm Whose form will remain and I'm lost up 40 flights of stairs with everyone in the world who cares Searching for a sign upon the galaxy See me sitting with the one I love in the planetarium Silent still and spacious as the axis turn to learn to let go I've been drifting like a ghost through the memories I love most Like a grifted trading tarnished coin for future days but with each death I'm reborn Only to fall upon the thorn Enjoying the dance of light and energy that never fades Falls away.

[Luke Burbank]

And I'm.

[H]

Lost up 40 flights of stairs with everyone in the world who cares Searching for a sign upon the galaxy See me sitting with the one I love in the planetarium Silent still and spacious as the exit Sisters, you learn to let go Learn to let go.

[Luke Burbank]

O thank you. That was Blitzen Trapper right here on Livewire performing their song Planetarium off their latest album, 1/ hundreds of 1000s, millions of billions. That's gonna do it for this week's episode of Livewire. A very, very big thanks to our guests Jamie Loftus, Hari Kondabolu and Blitzentrapp.

[Elena Passarello]

Lara Haddon is our executive producer. Heather D. Michelle is our executive director. And our producer, producer and editor is Melanie Sevchenko. Eben Hofer is our technical director. Leona Kinderman is our assistant technical director. Hazik bin Ahmad Farid is our assistant editor. And our house sound is by Dee Neil Blake. Ashley park is our production fellow. Andrea Castro Martinez is our intern.

[Luke Burbank]

Our house band is Sam Pinkerton, Ethan Fox, Tucker, Eyal Alves and A. Walker Spring, who also composes our music. This episode was mixed by Eben Hoffer and Hazik bin Ahmad Farida.

[Elena Passarello]

Additional funding provided by the City of Portland's Office of Arts and Culture. Livewire was created by Robin Tenenbaum and Kate Sokoloff. This week, we'd like to thank member Susan Bailey of Portland, Oregon for more.

[Luke Burbank]

Information about our show or how you can listen to our podcast, head on over to livewireradio.org I'm Luke Burbank for Elena Passarello and the whole Livewire crew. Thank you for listening and we will see you next week. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a piping hot episode of Livewire delivered right to your heart and ears each week? Well, guess what? That can happen when you subscribe to the Livewire podcast feed. And you'll get the joy of surprising confirmation conversation every week. So go ahead and do it. It's super easy. You click on the button at the top of your podcast app and bam. You are Livewire subscribed. And if you're still, you know, feeling the love, if you're enjoying the show, hey, maybe you could hook us up and leave us a quick review that'll help more people find out about Livewire. And thank you.

[Jamie Loftus]

From PRX.