Live Wire with Luke Burbank Episode Summary: Morgan Parker, Georgia Cloepfil, and Rogê Air Date: January 30, 2026

Overview

This episode of Live Wire with Luke Burbank celebrates eclectic voices from poetry, sports, and music. Host Luke Burbank welcomes poet and essayist Morgan Parker, former professional soccer player turned writer Georgia Cloepfil, and Brazilian musical artist Rogê. The show blends humor, vulnerability, and candid conversation, tackling topics such as identity, mental health, striving and arrival, women in sports, and the healing power of self-expression and music.

Featured Segments

1. Best News We Heard All Week

(Starts ~03:00)

Discussion Points

• Darwin’s Cats Project
  • Elena Passarello shares a new citizen science effort to understand cat genetics and behavior by collecting fur samples from 100,000 cats.
  • Project inspired by the successful Darwin’s Dogs initiative.
• Live Wire on WNYC
  • Luke exults in the show now airing on New York’s largest public radio station, WNYC, sharing a personal anecdote about his early days as a reporter there.

Notable Quotes

• “If I know anything about the behavior of cat owners, they will pay that money just to learn a little bit more about their beloved Mr. Twiggle Pants...”
  — Elena Passarello (05:37)
• “Being on WNYC is the best news that I heard this week.”
  — Luke Burbank (08:13)

2. Interview with Morgan Parker

(Main segment 09:29–24:55)

Key Topics & Insights

• New Essay Collection: You Get What You Pay For

  • Explores difficulty and beauty of existing as a Black woman in America.
  • Intentionally written from Parker’s experience but aimed at a broad audience.
  • The goal: responsibility, connection, and deeper historic understanding.

• Religious Upbringing and Therapy

  • Parker discusses growing up in a strict Christian school, internalizing ideas about suffering (Job) and the Apocalypse from an early age.
  • Therapy is presented as both catharsis and rebellion against restrictive cultural norms.

• Intersection of Mental Health and Identity

  • Therapy journey revealed how “my crazy” was often actually “America’s crazy.”
  • Importance of integrating mental and cultural health.

• Poetry versus Essays

  • Essays allow extended, explicit analysis (e.g. connecting “Big Pimpin’ video” and “slave ship”) versus poetry’s rapid, associative leaps.

• Modern Dating & Situationships

  • The phenomenon of “situationships” is dissected as a particularly millennial/Gen Z form of courtship.

• Public Vulnerability and Healing

  • Parker’s preference for the Gap as the best place for a post-therapy cry in Manhattan; its employees’ non-intrusiveness is key.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I honestly remember praying to God that the rapture wouldn't happen until after I wrote a book. Like—I’m just, like, please, I have the stuff I want to do.”
  — Morgan Parker (11:35)

• “But there’s a lot of things that I thought was my crazy, and it’s not. It’s America’s crazy. And that really kind of blew my mind.”
  — Morgan Parker (18:59)

• “Essays: it hurts sometimes. But I really did fall in love with the form. And I love being in conversation with other texts.”
  — Morgan Parker (23:44)

• “Listen, if you see Morgan Parker crying in the Gap, leave her alone.”
  — Luke Burbank (24:46)

3. Audience Q&A: Wildest Dream Jobs

(26:38–30:13)

Highlights

• Audience members and hosts reflect on childhood dream jobs ("ballerina, baker, and astronaut simultaneously"; Coast Guard pilot to rescue grandma; “duck”—for flight and swimming).
• The joys and quirks of childhood ambition discussed, using humor and nostalgia.

Notable Quotes

• “I wanted to be a chef and a professional cheerleader.”
  — Elena Passarello (27:19)
• “I wanted to be a duck because then you could fly and swim.”
  — Mark (29:32)

4. Interview with Georgia Cloepfil

(31:29–43:39, recorded at Sports Bra Sports Bar, Portland, OR)

Key Topics & Insights

• Athletic Realization and Journey

  • Cloepfil describes “needing a little arrogance” to pursue sports, choosing Division III for academics but later realizing her exceptional skill and desire to play professionally.

• Life as a Female Pro Soccer Player (Global Perspective)

  • Recounted her career across Australia, Sweden, South Korea, Lithuania, and Norway.
  • Discussed low salaries, the grind of full-time athletics, and the positive and negative impacts of being paid as a career athlete, especially for women.

• The "Arrival Fallacy"

  • Defines as the psychological trap where achieving a goal instantly recalibrates one’s desire for the next milestone—a common elite athlete mindset.
  • Parallels between this attitude and other creative fields.

• The Evolution of Women's Sports

  • The importance of visibility, community, and support as exemplified by spaces like the Sports Bra (women’s sports bar).
  • Optimism about progress and reframing the “moment” as a continual, permanent ascendance for women in sports, not a trend.

• Universality of Passion and Letting Go

  • Book’s biggest lesson extends beyond sports—how we relate to and eventually move past the most passionate pursuits of our youth.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “You have to have a sort of arrogance the whole time.”
  — Georgia Cloepfil (32:24)

• “If you build a bar like this, the community will form... if you build it, they will come.”
  — Georgia Cloepfil (41:10)

• “I really resist the narrative that women’s sports is really having a moment. It’s like—absolutely not a passing moment. It’s just growing all the time.”
  — Georgia Cloepfil (41:59)

5. Station Location Game: Moab, Utah

(46:53–47:56)

• Elena quickly identifies Moab, Utah, as the town containing the world’s largest concentration of natural stone arches.

6. Musical Guest: Rogê

(50:14–55:02, recorded at Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland, OR)

Description

• Rogê, a Latin Grammy nominee, performs "Existe Uma Voz" from his album Curry Man.
• Brief discussion with Luke about emigrating from Brazil, adjusting to life in Los Angeles, and his music’s role in facing and healing from societal hardships.

Notable Quotes

• “When I arrived here, it was very tough too, but it was a great challenge. And I’m happy, very happy.”
  — Rogê (51:04)

Episode Tone & Style

• Warm, conversational, and inclusive, blending humor with earnest reflection.
• Frequent gentle jokes and embraces vulnerability.
• Encourages cross-experience empathy and self-expression.

Quick Reference Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |------------------------------|-----------| | Best News (Cats & WNYC) | 03:00–09:29 | | Morgan Parker Interview | 09:29–24:55 | | Wild Dream Jobs Q&A | 26:38–30:13 | | Georgia Cloepfil Interview | 31:29–43:39 | | Rogê Musical Performance | 50:14–55:02 |

Memorable Moments

• Morgan Parker’s childhood prayer: “...that the rapture wouldn’t happen until after I wrote a book.” (11:36)
• Georgia Cloepfil’s salaries listing and arrival fallacy concept. (36:20, 38:07)
• Public crying in the Gap: “They’re really non-intrusive. I’ve cried in many a Gap and they don’t bother me...” (22:56)

Main Takeaways

• Identity and Self-permission: Both Parker and Cloepfil discuss how self-expression is an act of rebellion and healing in a world of cultural constraint.
• Transition and Nostalgia: The pains and joys of moving beyond childhood dreams, sports careers, and the expectations we set for ourselves.
• Power of Community Spaces: Visibility, support, and belonging as crucial forces for marginalized communities in literature, sports, and beyond.
• Resilience through Art and Humor: Whether writing, sport, or music, each guest illustrates the healing that comes from sharing your story and inviting others in.

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