"I Just Am That B*tch": Ilana Glazer on Broad City, Broadway and Bursting Bubbles

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Pablo Torre Finds Out
Episode: "I Just Am That B*tch": Ilana Glazer on Broad City, Broadway and Bursting Bubbles
Date: October 2, 2025
Host: Pablo Torre (The Athletic)
Guest: Ilana Glazer (comedian, actor, writer)

---

Episode Overview

This episode features a charismatic and deeply personal conversation between Pablo Torre and Ilana Glazer, co-creator/star of Broad City and recent Broadway debutante (Good Night, and Good Luck). The discussion weaves through the quirks of New York living, the cultural impact and production journey of Broad City, reflections on fame, the evolution (and decline) of television, political polarization, tech anxieties, and Glazer’s experience on stage with George Clooney. The episode is rich with humor, candor, and cultural commentary, offering listeners a snapshot of where pop culture, media, and personal values intersect in 2025.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

---

1. NYC Roots, Shared Apartments, and Serendipity

(Timestamps: 02:00–11:00)

• New York Origin Stories: Pablo and Ilana share their mutual experience growing up in/around NYC, swapping stories about the city's transformation and what their neighborhoods represent as they age.

  • Ilana: “I was just talking to a comedian yesterday. She’s 27 years old...ready to like make the move to Brooklyn, which means, like, I’m older now to her...” (03:25)
  • Pablo describes feeling at home surrounded by both young families and the elderly, which sparks jokes about aspirational aging and neighborhood archetypes.

• Shared Apartment Discovery: Pablo recounts, with awkward enthusiasm, realizing years ago that he lived in the same East Village apartment as Ilana—an intersection only confirmed on the air when Ilana recalls seeing mail addressed to him.

  • Quote:
    “I literally...the memory of seeing Pablo Torre on [mail] and being like, ‘Well, I’ll never meet them.’ And it just hit me in recording this that I like, have seen your name since 10 years ago.” (Ilana, 52:58)
  • Both recount the infamous oversized patio/deck overlooked by hundreds of neighbors. They dubbed it “the Panopticon” for its surveilled feeling—a playful metaphor for living publicly in NYC (09:24).

---

2. Riding the Shooting Star: Broad City’s Breakout and Legacy

(Timestamps: 11:11–25:52)

• Humble Beginnings & Connection to Reality:

  • Ilana describes living frugally (“tuna on spinach salads,” 11:41) and sharing real-life struggles with her roommate, reflecting that she was “financially smart to be renting at that time.”
  • Despite rising fame, she insists: “I just am that bitch. I’m just the person I’ve always been and will always be.” (11:25)

• Artistic Intent & Reception:

  • Ilana expresses pride in the authentic, “female lens” of Broad City, noting that it remained “for the people who knew about it,” never fully embraced by the establishment but a phenomenon in New York and for “a certain type of thinking and feeling person.” (12:29)
  • She highlights the comedic, confining-yet-absurd societal expectations placed on women:
    “It’s a funny pickle women are in...not surprised, looking at the work of Broad City, that it was successful...” (12:32)
  • Pablo and Ilana mourn the lost “channel era” when networks could platform unique voices, as opposed to the algorithm-driven “open battlefield of content” today (29:04).

• Comedic Legacy:

  • Broad City’s place in the golden era of Comedy Central, alongside shows like Chappelle Show, Daily Show, and UCB, is discussed fondly, with realization that this “family vibe” was the “last gasp of the channel and also TV in that way.” (25:28)

---

3. Media, Politics, and Bubble-Bursting: New York, Elitism, and Fox News

(Timestamps: 13:22–21:34)

• Bursting the ‘Elitist’ Bubble:

  • Ilana vocally rejects the idea that NYC is simply an elitist bubble, highlighting its diversity and challenges. She sharply criticizes Fox News as the real source of manufactured elitist narratives—“The elitists are the Fox News hosts and...producers who are creating these narratives to divide the people that they consider beneath them.” (16:08)
  • She connects NYC’s visible economic struggles to post-COVID inequity, emphasizing, “We pay so much taxes to live here. Why are people starving in our faces?” (14:19)

• Fox News Anecdotes & Critique:

  • Amusing detour: Ilana shares a friend’s high school memory of Jesse Watters playing the recorder at announcements, which Pablo fact-checks on-air (Jesse “doesn’t recall the exact morning announcements,” but no denial of recorder enthusiasm) (17:13).
  • Pablo recounts his own initiation into TV on The O’Reilly Factor, reflecting on how media powerhouses cluster together in Manhattan yet purport to represent “real America.” (21:03)

---

4. Navigating Fame, Authenticity, and Public Perception

(Timestamps: 22:15–23:29)

• The Price of Being Seen:
  • Ilana discusses the confusion between her public persona and real self, especially as people conflated her with her Broad City character. The demand for authenticity was both exhilarating for the work and draining as a person.
  • She clarifies Broad City was tightly scripted, not improvised: “No, we’re really good writers and producers, and we’re directing this.” (22:28)

---

5. The End of TV As We Knew It & Creative Survival

(Timestamps: 25:28–29:34)

• Linear TV vs. Open Battlefield:

  • Both mourn TV as a shared cultural touchstone. Pablo emphasizes that “even imperfect gatekeepers” could “help and enable and platform someone they thought was good,” a dynamic lost in today’s fragmented, algorithmic landscape.

• Hope for New Voices:

  • Despite institutional stagnation, Ilana expresses hope: “What are we gonna do, Disappear? ...I practice the faith that new voices will keep speaking up and being heard.” (25:57)

---

6. From Sitcoms to Stage: Broadway, Good Night & Good Luck, and George Clooney

(Timestamps: 31:41–46:38)

• Broadway Leap:

  • Ilana describes the transition from standup to acting in Good Night, and Good Luck, the nerves, and the magic of live performance. She relishes seeing “every face” in the audience, likening it to a conversation (32:31).

• Historical Resonance:

  • The play focuses on Edward R. Murrow confronting McCarthyism—a time that feels “quaint” compared to contemporary threats, yet the fundamentals of “standing up for public interest” still resonate (35:33).
  • Ilana identifies with Shirley Wershba, an unsung female journalist of that era, and stresses the loss and importance of shared civic values: “With enough quiet, people really share values and share the value of freedom of speech.” (36:29)

• The Clooney Factor:

  • Both reflect on what it’s like working with (and witnessing) George Clooney up close: “He leads with his heart. He believes in what he does and what he says, and it was just so inspiring. He really is my hero.” (40:47)
  • The “Trojan horse of George Clooney” brings a cross-section of audiences to engage with issues of democracy and journalism—including conservative elite, who may be genuinely moved or challenged by the message. (41:33–43:20)

• Montage Moment:

  • The play’s dramatic ending includes a montage of U.S. broadcast history, culminating with “Elon Musk giving the Nazi salute at the presidential inauguration,” which Ilana describes as “so meaningful to me as a Jewish person...afraid for Jewish safety too.” (46:16)

---

7. Regulation, Tech, and the Assault of Modern Life

(Timestamps: 48:30–51:25)

• Pace and Tech Anxiety:

  • Pablo (half-jokingly) proposes we revert to slow dial-up internet for sanity: “When a JPEG really meant something...you earned it.” (49:04)
  • Ilana agrees: “I think everything needs to slow down...The pace is part of the assault.” (49:16)

• Regulation and Personal Responsibility:

  • They compare individual attempts to manage digital intake to recycling—laudable, but inadequate in the absence of broader regulation.
  • Ilana: “We have to shape very carefully how [children are] gonna be taking in this or that. And screens are everywhere now....there needs to be government regulation. And right now we’re in such a crisis.“ (50:09–51:00)

---

8. Closing Reflections & The ‘What We Found Out’ Game

(Timestamps: 51:51–54:10)

• Pablo’s takeaway: Importance of “distinguishing between voices you want to hear and...a lonely recorder being played by a Fox News host” (51:51)
• Ilana’s takeaway: Realization that “I was getting your mail...How cool is that? That is magic, dude.” (52:34)
• Banter about smart, feeling men and the “Holy Trinity: Me, your husband, George Clooney.” (54:06)
• Lighthearted end on Sports Illustrated, football (“I would watch football more if it weren’t so scary. But their butts.” 53:42), and wrapping up their New York “full circle” moment.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

1. On Shared Space & Serendipity:

   • “I like, have seen your name since 10 years ago. How cool is that? Like, that is magic, dude.”
     – Ilana Glazer (52:59)

2. On Fame & Authenticity:

   • “I just am that bitch. I’m just the person I’ve always been and will always be.”
     – Ilana Glazer (11:25)

3. On the Female POV in Comedy:

   • “People...are starving for an honest female lens. ...the way women move through the world is absurd. We’re, like, placed in a box, and then we try to embrace the box, and then the box us, but not the way we want to be.”
     – Ilana Glazer (12:32)

4. On NYC as a Non-Elite Bubble:

   • “The elitists are the Fox News hosts and the Fox News producers who are creating these narratives to divide the people that they consider beneath them.”
     – Ilana Glazer (16:08)

5. On the Erosion of Media Institutions:

   • “Now we’re just, like, all competing in the open battlefield of content. And that’s just scary in a different way.”
     – Pablo Torre (29:10)

6. On George Clooney’s Approach:

   • “He leads with his heart. He believes in what he does and what he says, and it was just so inspiring. He really is my hero.”
     – Ilana Glazer (40:47)

7. On Generational Wisdom and Rush of Modern Life:

   • “I think everything needs to slow down...The pace is part of the assault.”
     – Ilana Glazer (49:16)
   • “When a JPEG really meant something...”
     – Pablo Torre (49:04)

8. On Meaning at the Broadway Play’s End:

   • “To see that montage end highlighting the Nazi salute was so meaningful to me...I just felt like so, so grateful to him for that.”
     – Ilana Glazer (46:16)

---

Important Timestamps by Segment

• 02:00 – Meet-cute about commutes, neighborhoods, and parenting
• 04:44 – Discovery of shared apartment; the “Panopticon” patio
• 11:25 – Ilana on remaining grounded/finding financial and personal sanity amid fame
• 12:32 – Candid talk on women’s perspectives in comedy
• 16:08 – Elitism, Fox News critique, and NYC as battleground
• 17:13 – Jesse Watters/recorder high school story
• 21:03 – Pablo’s O’Reilly Factor story; big media adjacency
• 22:28 – Fame, identity, confusion with Broad City characters
• 25:28 – Mourning TV’s “family channel” era
• 32:31 – Broadway nerves; comparing standup to stage
• 35:33 – McCarthyism’s “quaint” resonance and modern peril
• 40:47 – George Clooney’s leadership and values
• 41:33–43:20 – Broadway as a Trojan horse for political engagement of various audiences
• 46:16 – The emotional climax of the play, Elon Musk montage
• 49:04 – Pablo’s slow-internet solution; pace of tech life
• 51:51 – What they “found out”; full-circle NYC story

---

Overall Tone and Style

• Candid, intellectual, discursive, and humorous; rapid-fire personal anecdotes and sharp political/cultural critique; honest and sometimes self-deprecating.
• Ilana’s energy is wry and engaged, Pablo’s is curious and bemused, with both embracing the absurd intersections of fame, art, politics, and daily life.

---

Listening to this episode feels like eavesdropping on two very smart, grounded New Yorkers swapping stories about the city, art, identity, and the state of the world—with both gratitude for the past and anxieties (mixed with hope) for the future.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out. I am Pablo Torre. And today we're gonna find out what this sound is.

[B]

You are a Clooney head. You're a full on Clooney head. Dude.

[A]

Right after this ad. Dude. Did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never look so good. You look the same. But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me.

[B]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check please. New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. With eligible phone, trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed. Best 5G swears, route metrics, data United States 1H 2025 All Rights Reserve, trade and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. Imagine a world of extraordinary comfort where Bolin Branch bedding wraps you in the softest. Embrace the coziest experience. Made from the world's finest 100% organic cotton, all so you can sleep better. Start building your fall sanctuary with Bolen Branch's iconic signature sheets, made with a buttery, breathable weave that gets softer with every wash. Enjoy. 15% off your first set of sheets with free shipping and returns at B O L L& Branch.com with code BUTTERY. See site for details and exclusions. Why does every recipe I try need 18 ingredients, including a jar of something paste I'll never use again but will sit in my fridge for nine months? I just want dinner in the oven for fast. That's why I love Blue Apron's new One Pan Assemble and Bake meals. They send you fresh ingredients that are already chopped. All you do is put it all together and bake. That's it. No chopping, no weird leftovers. Just delicious, easy to make meals. Get 20% off your first two orders with code APRON20. Terms and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com terms for more. Hi, Pablo. Good to see you.

[A]

Thanks for coming.

[B]

Thanks for having me.

[A]

I hope this wasn't an annoying commute.

[B]

No. Why would it be A, annoying or B, more annoying than any other, I don't know, commute. Thank you. Do you do the headphones?

[A]

Doesn't matter.

[B]

I'm gonna not.

[A]

Let's do no. So it's like UN General assembly week. So genuinely a horrifying traffic proposition.

[B]

Oh, yeah, sure, traffic. But the whole thing is horrifying.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you feel. Do you feel represented geographically where you live? Does it feel right for you?

[A]

It does feel right. Because I'm now a washed dad.

[B]

Copy that. I didn't know you were a dad.

[A]

I have a five year old who started kindergarten washed.

[B]

Ugh. I just learned about this slang. Get over it. Get over it. You're cool. Shut up.

[A]

I am also.

[B]

You're a nerd. Me too. Like, great.

[A]

All of these things. Can we. We can contain multitudes.

[B]

That's right. We have a five year old, you said.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And you have a. I have a four year old.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I feel represented because I'm surrounded by either small children and their parents or extremely old people who I aspire.

[B]

To be one day, 100 desperate, honestly, like a little desperate to be them. Yeah.

[A]

I've gone from, ugh, I wish I was in a cool neighborhood to I wanna trace the arc of the life I wish to live every day.

[B]

When I walk outside my building, I love it. That's honestly beautiful to me. I was just talking to a comedian yesterday. Like, she's 27 years old, she lives in Murray Hill, and she's like ready to like make the move to Brooklyn, which means, like, I'm older now to her. So it's like Murray Hill. That's. I wouldn't call that cool. I'd call that a party neighborhood.

[A]

So what's so funny is that I grew up there. Oh, right, you're. I mean, your characterization is correct. As I often have to point out to people, it wasn't always a place where consultants went to vomit.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And now, of course, it is entirely that.

[B]

It's only that. Oh, God, it's so pukey. I'm, I'm shook that you grew up in New York City because you, you know, I'm from Long island and it's just mostly transplants, if not from around the world, from the suburbs.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So you grew up here?

[A]

I grew up here.

[B]

That's major. That's major.

[A]

Thank you, Elonglazer, for being here. By the way.

[B]

Thank you, Pablo Torre, for having me.

[A]

I introduced myself to you. We had not met before earlier this year. And you came to the set of Morning Joe where I happened to be co hosting that day.

[B]

Joining us now, one of the stars of Good Night and Good Luck, Emmy award winning actor Ilana Glaser, who is also making her Broadway debut. She plays the trailblazing CBS News journalist Shirley Wirshba.

[A]

And I accosted you in a way that in a deposition I would be arrested for.

[B]

Girl. No, it was not accosting, but it was shocking and I wouldn't say aggressive, but it was like, like you had literally, we had shared space in. At different points in time.

[A]

At different points in time.

[B]

So tell your people. Tell the people.

[A]

So what I told you as I leaned across the T past the other co hosts and I was like, hey.

[B]

Just so you're aware and just focused in. I was the bullseye.

[A]

Here's a thing I've been meaning to tell you, Alana glazer, for literally 10 years, despite never having reached out to you before, which is. I'm pretty sure we lived in the.

[B]

Same apartment and we had. Let's not say the address, even though neither of us live there anymore.

[A]

Joanna retroactively dox us.

[B]

No, it's, like, scary. Just exact addresses are frightening. But. And we had.

[A]

I will say that it's in the East Village, generally speaking, and I'll say that because the reason I knew this is even creepier because I went through my email and I was like, when? So me and my roommate, to be clear, this is a lovely two bedroom.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In the East Village.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Recognized first and foremost, I would say, for its enormous patio.

[B]

Enormous.

[A]

Can you please explain for people who didn't visit our apartment what this was like?

[B]

Okay, can I. I'm just like, sort of like sorting this out and feet on the ground here. So first of all, you are, like, overcorrecting for. Yes. It is a creepy thing, period, to be like, I know where you lived. Yes. And you're a man.

[A]

So it's like I've slept in your bedroom, potentially depending on your scary.

[B]

You're a man, I'm a woman. I get it. It is like, what? You know, it is, like, intense. But you were like, not weird. And this happens in New York. I'm remembering that I lived in South Slope and it happened to be the same apartment my friend Boris had lived in. Boris Kaikin from comedy.

[A]

Shout out to Boris.

[B]

Shout out to Boris. But I got his mail and literally there were, like, roaches, like, weed butts in the brick from Boris. And I don't think you got that for me because that's not exactly the type of stoner I am. But. But we had the same experience, so it's not. I just want to say New York City vibes. And you grew up here. It's not the craziest. It's not the craziest.

[A]

But just to be very clear about, like, me discovering this in 2015 and.

[B]

Broad City came out 2014. So, like, this is like. And you're like.

[A]

And I'm. And I'm to be very clear, like a super Fan of Broad City.

[B]

Really? I didn't know that.

[A]

Oh, me and my wife, we watched it together. My roommate, we watched it. Going through. This is not just me blowing smoke up your butt.

[B]

Oh, that's crazy.

[A]

My Gmail archive was like full of Broad City references. And I'm like, oh, that's so fishing out. March 10, 2015. It gets creepier now.

[B]

Okay, you're, you're over correcting, but okay.

[A]

No, it's just that I, I, I on this show where I find out stuff. I was finding out stuff 10 years ago, it turns out. And I had found your then roommate's Instagram account because there was an article in New York magazine which was referenced that you lived in the East Village and you lived with. Again, not to dox him, but a writer for BuzzFeed. This is published, so I feel comfortable saying that. And I was like, oh, wait a minute, I know people who work at buzzfeed. Who is it? Is my mental process.

[B]

Sure, for sure.

[A]

And I looked up on Instagram your roommate and like, dropped my phone on the ground. And I was like, why?

[B]

You, you knew him?

[A]

I just recognized.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My apartment.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In the photos.

[B]

Yeah. Crazy.

[A]

I lived there before you guys.

[B]

Oh, I thought you had lived after.

[A]

Oh, no, no, no.

[B]

So you weren't receiving my mail? I literally. Yours? Yes, dude. Yes, Pablo. I literally. It just hit my brain of seeing mail.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And being like, oh, who's Pablo? Literally. Literally. Dude, that's. Oh, it just hit me.

[A]

It's me.

[B]

Copy that. Okay, so that's so funny.

[A]

The New York court system is looking for me. Blame Lana Glaser for never forwarding the very summons.

[B]

Yep. I now it just hit me. Oh, my goodness.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Wow. So our deck was crazy. It was, it was huge. To a tonical. It was clear that a mistake had been.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And then they, you know, slapped some walls around it and they were like, it's a huge deck, or whatever, which is smart. But the grotesque part was that it was visible by thousands. Thousands of trapped New Yorkers in tiny apartments could look at the deck we shared across spacetime. It was not chill.

[A]

It was just. We called it. This is again, a very nerdy nickname for it. We called it the Panopticon because just like hysterical, everyone watched the.

[B]

Is that a word?

[A]

It is. And it's like a very highfalutin word for just like. I think Foucault may have talked about how in a certain vision of a prison, one way to keep the inmates always under surveillance is to just make them Feel perpetually watched. And so for us, the joke was like, we are being watched in this basically, like, canyon of air conditioners and windows. An alley of just like apartments looking down, grotesque on like, I don't even know what the square footage of this thing was like 600 square foot.

[B]

The deck was bigger than the two bedroom.

[A]

It was way bigger. And the. The joke was like, we're just out here. Like, we had a Pablo Torre.

[B]

I'm seeing it on mail. Go on. Sorry.

[A]

We put a kiddie pool out there and sat in it for a while. Yeah, you did, but. Yeah, we just.

[B]

Yeah, you did.

[A]

Unrepentantly. Just like got high in front of like the Lion King Canyon before it was decriminalized.

[B]

So it was brave.

[A]

We were pioneers.

[B]

Panopticon and Foucault are the, like, the homework I gotta do.

[A]

This is the kind of podcast you've wandered into. 2014, broad cities out. You're living in this two bedroom apartment. You're kind of living in a place that feels, given your level of rising fame, I would say beneath your station. You're kind of like still living like an actual young New Yorker. And things are happening.

[B]

Yeah. You know, I was city biking today with a backpack, a heavy backpack on the basket of the city bike strapped to the city bike. And I was like, I just am that bitch. I'm just the person I've always been and will always be. Like, I don't think I was. Living beneath my station is so funny. I think I was financially smart to be renting at that time until I could afford to buy a very economical.

[A]

Price point in my memory, I was living with Matt.

[B]

We were like sharing groceries. We were eating tuna on spinach salads. And it's like, I like to live feeling connected to people and sharing reality, you know, in a personal sense, Broad city wise, like, what a miracle. It felt like, you know, the. The star. The more, you know, or whatever. It feels like Abby and I were straddling that star and like riding across the sky and we were just riding it. We all we could do is ride this shooting star. Like, wow, how amazing in our. I mean, it was just.

[A]

Were you surprised by the how. I mean, again, I. I'm a New Yorker, so I have a very biased point of view. But were you surprised by how widely popular it was?

[B]

I mean, like, I was surprised to be the person in that position, but given Broad City, the artistic entity, I'm not surprised that it was so good. Real. Thank you so much.

[A]

It really is. I love It. I went back and watched some of it. I'm like, this is good.

[B]

I love it. I love it. And it's like, you know, I just think that people, all different kinds of people, are starving for an honest female lens. You know, I think people. I think it is particularly funny to move through a story with a woman, because the way women move through the world is absurd. We're, like, placed in a box, and then we try to embrace the box, and then the box us, but not the way we want to be. You know, it's like. It's just. It's a funny pickle women are in. I'm not surprised, looking at the work of Broad City, that it was successful, but then it was a phenomenon in New York and a phenomenon among a certain type of thinking and feeling person. It stayed kind of niche and was never, I would say, like, embraced by the establishment in a way. It stayed for the people who knew about it.

[A]

It did have, like, this thing, which I love as a true, like, genuine, unapologetic New York elitist.

[B]

Do you have an example? Because lately I'm think I'm rethinking this concept. Elitist. And I want to talk about it.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

But when you say New York elitist, do you mean the understood shared value that everybody's equal on the subway? Is that what you mean?

[A]

I mean it very simply, like, greatest city in the world. And I w. There was another place that provided me, again, like, the vast diversity inside of what feels at times like a little town.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so the whole idea, like, New York's a bubble. I'm like, it is, but it's also a bubble containing the biggest, possible, most diverse sample of humans in which we all have to interact.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Including on the subway, including on the sidewalk, including on line at whatever. It's just like. And. And there's that love. Anyway, this is just. I'm not trying to give a stump speech for New York City, but that's.

[B]

No, not even. Not even for New York, because also, like, you know, New York City is really tough. It's really hard to live in.

[A]

Yes. It's incredibly difficult.

[B]

It's also like, since COVID I think the income disparity has widened even further, and it's been impossibly heartbreaking to see this suffering rise, invisibility. And I'm not saying it should be in the shadows, but it has become more visible. We pay so much taxes to live here. Why are people starving in our faces? Why are people not sheltered? Why are people unhoused and Feeling unsafe even in shelter. So there aren't. People are on the street, on the subways, suffering. It is hard to live here. And the wealthiest people don't even live here. It's a tax haven for whatever. And their brownstones are empty. I mean, it's like, it's, it's infuriating and upsetting. And so many people need just basic, their basic needs met here in New York City. And the idea that it's some bubble, utopian bubble is the thing that I want to, like, I'm starting to push back against because Fox News and a very, an enormous, like beyond what we can really see, like trillion dollar hate propaganda machine that is actually bigger than Fox News. But Fox News is perhaps the largest container for it has sown this narrative about coastal elites being against people who live in smaller cities or sub suburbs or rural areas. And meanwhile, Fox News comes out of midtown Manhattan. Oh yeah, and the people stumping for hate, by the way, stump all you want for pride and love. People stumping for hate are multi, multi, multi millionaires, like manipulating people who don't have their basic needs met to profit themselves. And I'm like, we don't live in a bubble. We live in a hard place where we confront our differences and accept each other all day, every single day. And the elitists are the Fox News hosts and the Fox News producers who are creating these narratives to divide the people that they consider beneath them.

[A]

I think Jesse Waters is a good guy. I think that guy's all right.

[B]

Dude, I have a good, I have a good thing about Jesse Waters. My friend went to high school with him and they went to, I believe, a private high school in the suburbs of Philly. And Jesse Waters. I learned from my friend posting the day after Trump got elected the second time that Jesse Watters would play the recorder every morning at like morning announcements. And it was not a recital. Nobody else was performing. Jesse Waters would play the recorder because he wanted to.

[A]

Nobody wanted this.

[B]

Nobody wanted this. And also this young creative person wanting to be seen and heard and then probably wasn't met by the external world the way he had hoped. So then to turn into this hateful propaganda machine, it's just like, dude, you chose this and you know better is what I think.

[A]

And so this is where I just gotta jump in here to point out that we here at Pablo Torre finds out did of course reach out to a Fox News spokesperson to fact check Elana Glaser's friend's story about Jesse Waters unilaterally serenading his suburban high school with his recorder during morning announcements. And what the spokesperson told us is that, quote, jesse doesn't recall the exact morning announcements, end quote. Fox News also did not deny to us that Jesse Watters was pretty into the recorder in high school. Which brings us back, I suppose, to that television network as an institution and the truly bizarre origin story of a different television career. So I've done sports television for over a dozen years now. The first, as a young fact checkered Sports Illustrated, my staff is so tired of me telling the story. The first one I ever did, the first appearance, the first hit was on the O'Reilly Factor.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And I had no idea. I was, it was 2008. I was 23.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And Bill O'Reilly. This is 08, O'Reilly. Like, 08. The point being that this was like weeks after. Okay, but the. We'll do it live now. I can't read it. There's no, there's no words on it. Okay, sure. There's no words there. To play us out. What does that mean? To play us out? It's Sting is going to do. It's a video. Sting video. What is for credits? I don't know what that means. To play us out. What does that mean? To end the show? Yeah. Yeah. All right, Go, go. In five, four, three. That's tomorrow. And that is it. Five, four, three. That's tomorrow. And that is it for us today. And we will leave you with a. I can't do it. We'll do it live.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

We'll do it live. It do it live. I can. I'll write it and we'll do it live. Thing sucks. In five, four, three. That's tomorrow. And that is it for us today. I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thanks again for watching. We'll leave you with Sting and a cut off his new album, take it away.

[B]

Oh, incredible. I'll never forget.

[A]

And so I walked into a television, and inside, you're a little baby.

[B]

You're 23 years old.

[A]

The first floor of the FOX News building with those big windows, like up against the sidewalk.

[B]

Oh, my goodness.

[A]

And there is literally a panhandler making noise.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And he was like yelling for silence as we're counting down, like, in our ear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I'm like, in my mind, I'm thinking, are we about to get another. We'll do it. Am I about to be like the.

[B]

We'll do it live?

[A]

Yeah. Am I gonna, am I gonna witness this? Am I gonna be in this. In this viral video, and however it happens, in a way that I presume is also horrifying. The panhandling sound stops and suddenly I am being told by Bill O'Reilly about Michael Phelps's swimming career through the lens of his experience as a high school swimmer on Long Island. And that's what it was. That's what I was there to do, was just like, listen to Bill O'Reilly.

[B]

Talk to me about swimming, about himself being a swimmer.

[A]

Yeah, he had takes as a swimmer.

[B]

Because Michael Phelps smoked weed. Is that the thing?

[A]

I wish that there was any more depth to what the conversation could and would have and should have been. It was entirely just, man, this guy's really good at swimming. Let me tell you about swimming.

[B]

Oh, that's it.

[A]

I was just like a representative from Sports Illustrated. It was entirely irrelevant what I said or thought. And by the way, that's fine. That part's totally fine. I just say that to say, when you go to that building, you realize how it's right across the street from msnbc. Yeah, it's right across the street from every other. Every fancy restaurant that is, like, lampooned as, like, elitist is where they eat.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And the premise of, like, their black car service taking them through real America is like, nah, Sean Hannity wasn't doing that.

[B]

And also, like, definitely, I. I imagine Bill O'Reilly grew up swimming and golfing and whatever. Like, him describing his, like, illustrious.

[A]

Oh, yeah, his origin story begins in Levittown, you know, the cradle of suburbia.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

So he's a real. He's a real American.

[B]

Goddamn.

[A]

I say all of this to say that when those guys are traversing their version of New York, it's a very both familiar experience to any New Yorker who's also just, like, been around it, but also for you, your particular version of fame in 2014, 15, to go back to that era, that must have been fun.

[B]

The fame part wasn't fun, but making Broad City was so fun. But the fame part, I think, was, like, overwhelming. And I was really young. And also people were understandably confusing our characters with who we were in New.

[A]

York City, living as you do on the show.

[B]

Yeah. Cause I am who I am. And, you know, it was funny. We would often get asked if the show was improvised, and it's like, no, we're really good writers and producers, and we're directing this.

[A]

You know, Amy Sedaris showed up and was just like, you know, we're just gonna. We're just gonna Vibe.

[B]

Right, right. But people really were confused. I think it was so good and such a touchable texture that it was hard to parse from reality. And also, I think it was a new way to see women so honestly and so funny. So it was just hard to make sense of for a lot of people.

[A]

How do you describe the show for people who have never seen it?

[B]

I don't. What would you have to see? My show, Bronzy, it was a millennial, you know, I don't know, because two.

[A]

Women in that way and like, almost like a buddy cop sort of like dynamic was for me something I'd never seen before in that way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

By the way, like, Amy Poehler had blessed the show was. Was one of.

[B]

She was our executive producer. We pitched it with her and she was also in our web series. Our finale.

[A]

Yes. And so here was just like this legitimate. This is immediately it was like, okay, so what's this gonna be? And then it ended up as I've ranted and raved about just like this special thing. And when I try to explain it, I don't know, I'm like, you should watch the scene where Amy Sedaris is giving a tour of a quote unquote railroad apartment to Ilana Glaser and Abby Jacobson.

[B]

Well, what do you think? It's a hallway. It is a beautiful railroad style apartment in your budget. Where's the bathroom? Where isn't the bathroom?

[A]

Geez.

[B]

Where a catheter go in the corner. You can fit a king size bed in here. Yeah. If you fold it up like a taco. Why am I so turned on right now? Ew, Pam, this place is horrible. Let's just move on. Look, don't bully me, all right? I can't take it. I was cyberbullied within an inch of my life last night. Two knuckleheads running around New York City in their 20s is how it feels to me. The show was also like part of this robust moment for Comedy Central, which was my go to channel growing up. Like I would always. It was that era. Oh, that era. That era of Comedy Central, of Amy Poehler, Upright Citizens Brigade and the Daily show when Jon Stewart took it over. Chappelle Show, Strangers with Candy, Amy Sedaris. Also, like, I remember being on Long island watching Comedy Central and being like, where is this all being made? It was being made in New York City. It was like right there, you know, and then to have to be part of this other sort of rise in Comedy Central's like, portfolio. It was like, such A family vibe at the time. And it was. We didn't really realize it would be the last gasp of the channel and also TV in that way.

[A]

Right, right. I mean, you guys were clearly like Internet fluent, but you were being housed in a way that was linear and analog.

[B]

Right, right, right. It was. It was. It was traditional television.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Straight up.

[A]

And that lineup, just. In a sports sense, it's just like an insane lineup. It's just like, okay, that was all there at the same time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And now we can never have that again.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

And.

[B]

But we will in our own ways.

[A]

Will we?

[B]

We'll find our way back, I think. I don't know. I don't know. I think there's going to be different ways of it that don't seem one to one, like an analogy. But what are we gonna do, Disappear? What are we gonna do, just fall over and die? I mean, like, we're living in this world that we live in and everybody's got. We're human beings with engines inside of us, spiritual engines where we. Just like Jesse Waters playing the recorder at morning announcements when nobody asks. Just like Jesse Waters playing the recorder. It may not be in the same form, and I think the establishment TV and film has, like, stopped bringing in fresh blood and has really clung to its tent poles. And, you know, that's. That's sometimes comforting, sometimes frustrating. But I. I'm a hopeful person and I'm a faithful person, and I do have faith. I practice the faith that, you know, new voices will keep speaking up and being heard.

[A]

Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon. The best 5G network in America. I never look so good. You look the same. But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me.

[B]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Sell these.

[A]

Check, please.

[B]

New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, with eligible phone trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed. Best 5G swears route metrics to United States 1H 2025 all rights reserve, trade in and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. Imagine a world of extraordinary comfort where Boland branch bedding wraps you in the softest. Embrace the coziest experience. Made from the world's finest 100% organic cotton. All so you can sleep better. Start building your fall sanctuary with Bolen Branch's iconic signature sheets made with a buttery, breathable weave that gets softer with every wash. Enjoy. 15% off your first set of sheets. With free shipping and returns at B O L L and Branch.com with code buttery. See site for details and exclusive.

[A]

Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers, and sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details. I need a coffee. And you need Lifelock. Because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose you to identity theft. Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. @lifelock.com Special offer terms apply. I think right now what you're describing, which again is seen every day online, is like the open battlefield of content. And we're all elbowing each other and no one's watching the same thing. And.

[B]

Right.

[A]

People are again blessed by various financial instruments and or tech companies.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What I miss about like, oh, wow, a channel is that if you trust the people on any level who used to run it, and of course, they were wildly imperfect and made horrible decisions at times and all of that, they still had the power to, like, help and enable and platform someone that they thought was good. And in that way, I'm just like, oh, no. But now we're just, like, all competing in the open battlefield of content. And that's just scary in a different way.

[B]

This moment where authoritarianism has, like, a chokehold on our democracy makes me look back at our history and say, has it always been this way? It's hard to draw the line of when democracy was doing its thing because of the genocidal framework on which this country was built.

[A]

Yeah, the whole thing of, like, when would you like to have gone back to? It's just like, well, tough. Tough for lots of people to even pick anything before 1990.

[B]

Yeah, if that, if that, if that. And you know, what has historically happened here against Native Americans and black people and immigrants, it's just like, what? Democracy for whom? You know, so it. It starts to blur the lines for me. And when you're talking about these institutions and I'm thinking lovingly about TV and turning on a channel, and now it's. It's kind of perverse and creepy the way tech companies pretend like they care about humanity and are trying to maximize for humanity, but they're really trying to maximize for their own profit. And also they're focused on AI and trying to create that as a new species that takes over humanity, not really humanity. So to see, like, they're Sort of soft colors and a soft mauve and Helvetica or whatever. And they put that together and try to act like it's progressive, but it's really just a choice of optics.

[A]

I should be very clear that, like, my nostalgia for that time is rooted in a just, like, despair at the lowest bar that I wish we could clear, which is that someone who had a ton of money and a ton of power and authority over what America, broadly was consuming could feel anything, like, shame or accountability, even if it was on a relative basis.

[B]

Yeah. Right.

[A]

That. I'm like, man, that sounds. That sounds great relative to the utter, like, state of nature.

[B]

Yeah. And I'm not. I'm also not. I mean, I really love disagreeing and, like, getting into it to find the middle space, but I'm not even disagreeing with you. I'm, like, sort of exemplifying how hard it is for me to parse right now. Where does the line get drawn?

[A]

Totally. And so this is my extraordinarily long segue to explaining, like, why you were on television at that table with me, because you decided to do a thing that seems so hard to me and so ancient by comparison to all the things we're talking about, which is you did theater.

[B]

Broadway.

[A]

Broadway. You did Good Night and Good Luck.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which I got to see.

[B]

And I saw you in the audience. Was that incredible?

[A]

That's when I was just like, I. I hope she understands that, like, this is. I'm just, like, locking eyes with you.

[B]

No, you're. I appreciate it so much, but you're overcorrecting for a creepy factor that isn't there.

[A]

Great.

[B]

But I love it.

[A]

Great. I love it. I did lock eyes with you, and it's the sort of thing where I was just like, jesus, I have no idea what you can see in the audience, like, the curtain.

[B]

Every face. No. And I'm, like, looking, like, at every face because I also like. It was so. So I did Good Night and Good Luck.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Written by George Clooney and Grant Hesloff, starring George Clooney as Edward R. Murrow. As Edward R. Murrow. And this is based on a film that he directed. I think it was, like, too young at the time to play Murrow, who, like, brings this sort of heft and seriousness. And then he was able to play Murrow for the Broadway show, and it was an incredible experience. I was nervous for previews to, like, break into from rehearsal to performances, but I wasn't nervous after a certain point. And I attribute that to having gone on the biggest standup tour I'd ever done just the year prior. And I was really missing stand up because you look at people's faces and it's almost like a conversation, but it's not. But it, like, it's just a different connection. And, like, on stage, I'm laughing about seeing you because I'm, like, desperate to look at people's faces and talk to them like it's standup. When I was doing Broadway, it was interesting to have that fourth wall, they call it.

[A]

What? So for again, to make you do the thing of, like, summarizing what this was about for people who are not familiar. Edward R. Murrow, a true standard bearer of what it meant to represent the public interest as a journalist.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Was a war reporter.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius was right. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Good night and good luck and your role in this newsroom, which, again, I long for, despite the fact that we're talking about, like, the 50s.

[B]

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

[A]

But I'm like, man, look at that. An institution with people who care about this thing. Um, you.

[B]

You played the role of Shirley Wirshpa, so, yeah, Edward R. Murrow was a true patriot. You're right. I love the way that you said that, like, representing the public interest. It's so true. And it felt so good to embody that. And Shirley Worship is an unsung hero of broadcast news.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

She was there the whole time. She was a journalist who worked with Walter Cronkite, too. Like an illustrious career.

[A]

But. But the whole notion now of, like, doing this play at this time in which McCarthyism is. That's like the plot.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is that Joseph McCarthy. Senator Joseph McCarthy. He's rooting out communism in America and particularly in the news media, in the press.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In this case. And I don't know, I was watching it and I was like, this feels both incredibly important for people to hear and learn about again, and also in comparison to what's happening now, almost quaint.

[B]

Yes. That is exactly what my husband said. Quaint is the exact word my husband used. And it was like, shivers me. So another way to summarize this also, this play is that Edward R. Murrow went to battle for Free speech. The group of journalists were building up to fully cover McCarthy and show what an unpatriotic politician he was being by causing terror. And, like, who really wins? We would talk about in rehearsals and shaping this play, like, who really wins? Because McCarthy was censured, but he's still in the Senate. And Edward R. Murrow's program was knocked down to a Sunday afternoon, like, civics lesson, and yet it happened. And that sort of notch in history was. Was carved out. So at least we have it to look back at. But I think the onslaught, the overstimulation that we are facing right now and all feeling crazed by was such a useful tool to disempower the masses. Whereas at the time, you weren't constantly taking in signals and stimulation and screens. So I think with. I really believe that with enough quiet, people really share values and share the value of freedom of speech. When you're saying, I. I'm longing for this, like, 1950s newsroom, but, like, at least it was quiet enough that people could look at each other and hear each other and hear themselves. And we really do, I think, share values. Most people around the. The entire planet.

[A]

Oh, and this one way specifically, freedom of speech. It is the thing you hear all the time from the MAGA Republicans. It's ostensibly a thing they care deeply about. It is very conveniently the thing they care deeply about when it is their speech. And so the premise of, like, is this on paper, the thing that everybody can unite around? Absolutely, yeah. We hear it rhetorically all of the time. It's just that when it comes time to actually enforce it, and who must feel like, in this case, it's the FCC and the literal President of the United States, in this case, it is them feeling like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't say that about us now. It's, it's, it's. It's absurdist.

[B]

It's so painful. Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

[A]

From a trying to do the play perspective, at what point does it stop feeling surreal that you're looking into the eyes of George Clooney? When do you normalize that?

[B]

Well, it's like you're talking about me, like, living in the apartment that we both lived in. Right. And like, that it's beneath my station. But I'm like, no, it isn't. I'm. That was the right place for me to live at the time, with my friend and roommate. So with George Clooney, when I first met him, just at a workshop for this play, he was so down in the soil in the Process of it that it wasn't like the Casamigos's very own George Clooney. You know what I mean? It was like he just had thoughts and ideas, and we were just talking about the play. He made it easy to just be in it with him in a real way.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He's so grounded. It's. It's. You know, there's people, I think, in this, in my business, who are kind of in the business to get to a position where they can perform fame in personal settings. That's so far from who George is, what he really. And as you could see in the play. Oh, my God. He cares about democracy.

[A]

He's a true believer. I mean, the whole idea of, like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna make one of my causes. Journalism.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, he comes from a family.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Father was a journalist.

[B]

That'. Right.

[A]

It's just something that man like journalism as a concept. I often talk about this on this show. We just need better branding. People don't think it's cool. They don't understand what it is. You sort of need a cosign from someone cool.

[B]

Y.

[A]

And I share your sort of like some version of your. Your nerve endings where it's like, you meet enough famous people, and you're like, okay, I get. I get the general gist. This is not like perpetual, like, sticker shock. But with him, I. I just see this public confidence and comfort, even how it comes out for, like, the curtain call. Just, like, the way he walks as if, like, he's. And again, I'm gonna sound like I have a. I do have a crush on him, but, like, the way he just is able to be the balancing point between. I know I'm famous, but I'm gonna sort of like. Like, arch my spine in a way that suggests that I am also not above all. It's just like, there's that. You know what I'm talking about?

[B]

Surreal is what's sort of tripping me up about your question, where I'm like, surreal. Surreal. Like, he's so grounded, and for me, it was the artist and the leader that it just takes this reality away. It's like he's just such a leader that, again, the shared reality and the common values that we all share, if we quiet ourselves enough and turn off our phones. George is leading with those values. He leads with his heart. He believes in what he does and what he says, and it was just so inspiring. He really. He really is my hero.

[A]

Part of my concern, I was like, man, is this gonna Feel over the top. It's. It's giving a portrait of journalism through this man, this iconic figure for whom, like, awards are named. After that, we strive to win. How much of that is going to feel like this is a little on the nose and then you sort of like zoom out to what's happening in real life and you're like, yeah, this feels. This feels like a useful thing for people to be reminded of.

[B]

Somebody had asked me in an interview about the show. Do you think it's an echo chamber? Do you think it's like you're doing this for the, you know, for New York's elite? First of all, New York's true elite are so conservative.

[A]

That's the other part about the New York bubble that people don't realize.

[B]

I'm like, it's the richest people controlling so much of the narrative. The New York elite are conservative. What was so brilliant about this play was the Trojan horse of George Clooney. And people coming to see this, the icon that you ask if it's surreal, but they're meeting the artist and activist and advocate that I so admire. And some people leaving, getting up and leaving.

[A]

How often did that happen?

[B]

Not often, because I think people were like, wait, what happened? Like, we don't know this story well enough that Edward R. Murrow went to battle against Joseph R. McCarthy and took him down, but was also somewhat taken down in the process. We don't. I mean, it's a fascinating story. It was told so beautifully.

[A]

Oh, but his network, yes, under pressure from.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Political. Obvious political forces, decided we need to compromise our principles to support the business and the cooperative relationship. Relationship we want to have with the most powerful people in our country.

[B]

That's right. And the thing I also want to say is it was New York's elite, which are deeply, violently conservative, but then also tri State area people. I grew up on Long Island. These are the conservative people who made Fox News happen. I remember being a caterer, waiter at the golf club in the rich part of my town and like seeing Fox News play. And it was moderate back then, so it was kind of similar to what was on NBC and ABC and Tri state area people who live in Jersey, Connecticut and Long island who are coming to Broadway to see what they imagine is Ocean's Eleven, George Clooney or whatever coming in, like really learning something and seeing him stand up for what he believes in. Seeing people stand up for human rights and what they believe in is rare these days. Not because it doesn't happen, but because it isn't distributed by the algorithms.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I see these people like, moved and it was important that these people are, are moved and, and know where, where we're at.

[A]

The other thing about why it's meaningful to me for like a very famous person like George Clooney to stand up for journalism is that I presume as a default at this point that if you're a very famous person who's been reported on, you resent the general genre of the profession that is doing that to you. And of course.

[B]

And do you mean reported on, like famous stuff?

[A]

I just mean public scrutiny from people who call themselves reporters that may well be as well as tabloid people who are not, but wear the costume of it.

[B]

Right, right, right, right.

[A]

But just like the general thing of like, I can understand if that guy's like, if anyone in that position is like, yeah, this isn't going to be my cause, but the fact that it is for him. I mean, I just presume that very few super wealthy, super famous people are like down to ride for the institution of journalism when it means that they themselves might be investigated at some point for any reason.

[B]

Yeah, you're right.

[A]

And here's this dude who's like, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna teach people about how this is important.

[B]

So inspiring. And like the act of George standing up there every night. And can you believe the montage at the end? I know the montage. That was the only part that I was like, oh, it's on the nose. It was like a nail and a hammer.

[A]

And so that's the thing I was referring to where I'm like, is this necessary? And the more I think about what's happened since, I'm like, it's actually more subtle than it could have been. I know, given every. Again, given whatever. Pick your example from the last several.

[B]

Days for people who didn't see it. The montage was basically a history of television through journalism.

[A]

Like newscast. It's the post credits scene of like a comic book movie. It's like, this is what happened after.

[B]

And George would stand there and the montage would play behind him and it would get worse and worse and worse. And this was something that he like, would always like, hit him. There was this Jerry Springer beat and it's Jerry Springer, like having poor people wrestle each other on his show. And George would specifically, and you're asking, could we see out. We could see everybody. And he's looking at the faces of the American people to see how they're responding to the montage behind him. And at the Jerry Springer point, he would look for who was laughing and thinking this was funny. But I think also they were like people were confused and also shocked. And the anxiety building of watching this this montage. And it would build to Elon Musk giving the Nazi salute at the presidential inauguration, which happened just this year. So it meant so much to me as a Jewish person who's stood up for the dignity and safety of Palestinian people in this moment of Israel's war against Palestine, as a Jew who is afraid for Jewish safety too. To see that montage end highlighting the Nazi salute was so meaningful to me and I just felt like so, so grateful to him for that.

[A]

Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good. You look the same, but with this camera everything looks better. Especially me.

[B]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check please. New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, with eligible phone trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed. Best 5G SweetMetric State of United States 1H 2025 All Rights Reserve Trade in an Additional Terms Apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. Imagine a world of extraordinary comfort where Bowen Branch Bedding wraps you in the softest. Embrace the coziest experience, made from the world's finest 100% organic cotton, all so you can sleep better. Start building your fall sanctuary with Boland Branch's iconic signature sheets, made with a buttery, breathable weave that gets softer with every wash. Enjoy 15% off your first set of sheets with free shipping and returns at B O l l and branch.com with code buttery C site for details and exclusions.

[A]

Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers, and sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details.

[B]

I need a coffee.

[A]

And you need Lifelock. Because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose you to identity theft. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed. Or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com specialoffer terms apply. I feel this as I walk through my neighborhood and encounter very old people. I'm like, you guys. You guys were onto something.

[B]

In what way?

[A]

The way of life that came before the disruption of the Internet.

[B]

It's the noise and it's not even. I don't know, like the. It just didn't get regulated soon enough.

[A]

Can I give you my political platform, please. How to solve the Internet.

[B]

Yeah, please.

[A]

I. I hesitate to do this, but I think we should all go back to 56kbps modems. I think high speed Internet.

[B]

Say it again.

[A]

56Kbps modems. Like the fastest of the modems that would scream at us.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That when, like, as I say, like when. When a JPEG really meant something. When it unfurled like a tapestry on your computer screen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I just feel like we. It. You earned it.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, the slowing. I think everything needs to slow down.

[A]

Quiet. I loved what you said before about like, in the quiet of just like fewer distractions, noises, voices. As much as we want lots of voices. The more that we can just like, really, like, just sit and not be assaulted.

[B]

Yeah. And you're. When you're making me think, like, picturing Shirley worship in the newsroom and like the. The quiet of going out to get a newspaper or whatever, or going out to get cigarettes, like on your walk, you're not checking your phone. It's the pace. The pace is part of the assault. And we have to. Unfortunately, you know, like, the fossil fuel companies have made us think that we're the problem, so we have to recycle. And then it's like.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

And then it's kind of unclear where the recycling's going. Right. And we did.

[A]

I think we all agree that the recycling isn't going anywhere that we thought it was.

[B]

I know it's not, is my sense as well. And then in the same way I've been. I've been taking it upon myself to slow down my intake of social media and the Internet. But I'm making that connection now to like, recycling, where it's like, it really isn't our responsibility individually. It needs to be. And parents with children like we are, we have to shape very carefully how they're gonna be taking in this or that. And screens are everywhere now. We have to talk to our kids constantly. Cause it's genuinely unsafe for our children. The tech billionaires know that they're not being tracked the way we are, but there needs to be government regulation. And right now we're in such a crisis.

[A]

I'm laughing at the idea of, like, regulation. It's like, yeah, it would be nice. It would be nice.

[B]

It's hard right now. Things are so upside down and so absurd. It's hard to even think about asking for reasonable things or demanding reasonable things or protesting for reasonable things. But I do think that's going to be part of moving forward. To keep naming the baseline, like healthcare, access to healthcare for everybody, and to keep naming it as what would be normal because we're in such an abnormal time.

[A]

I think I just generally would like our elected officials in this administration to just feel the watchful gaze of thousands of eyeballs upon them as if they are sitting on a patio in the East Village in New York City. Just like knowing you're being watched. Yeah, we see what you're doing.

[B]

Millions. I'm hoping it's millions. There's like 330 million people in this country.

[A]

You know, at a time like this, as we go around the table and say what it is we found out today on a show called Pablo Torre Finds Out. A show about finding stuff out. I have found out that in the quiet, it's important to distinguish between voices you want to hear and the sound of a lonely recorder being played by a Fox News host who just wants to make everybody listen to the. That's coming out of his mouth.

[B]

I've found out today that you are a Clooney head. You're a full on Clooney head, dude.

[A]

I am, I am.

[B]

And. And you have good taste.

[A]

I'm unrepentant about that.

[B]

Wait, can I say what I found out, actually, more personally today? What I found out is that I was getting your mail and I had the memory, truly the memory of seeing Pablo Torre on and being like, you know, in New York. Well, I'll never meet them. And it just hit me in recording this that I like, have seen your name since.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

10 years ago.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

How cool is that? Like, that is magic, dude.

[A]

It's one of the reasons I love New York City. It's also another one of the reasons why I'm missing a lot of Sports Illustrated. So if you want to.

[B]

Those are.

[A]

That's what you're back this direction.

[B]

Yeah. It's just like one sexy issue a year, right?

[A]

Well, it depends on what you're into.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because other times.

[B]

Yeah, those.

[A]

Those guys.

[B]

Yeah, them. Football costumes. Yeah. So into it. I should watch football. I would watch football more if it weren't so scary.

[A]

Well, there's that.

[B]

They're just. Everybody's getting so hurt.

[A]

They are hurt. But.

[B]

But their butts. Yeah, I know.

[A]

Alana Glaser, thank you for doing this.

[B]

Thanks for having me, Pablo. This was so. This closed a loop for me as well. And I'M just so, so pleased to talk to such a smart man. In my generation, smart, feeling, thinking men have been so over through representation. So it's really nice to talk to you and remember that my husband isn't the only My husband and George Clooney.

[A]

Aren'T the only good men the Holy Trinity. Me, your husband, George Clooney.

[B]

You're not the only good men out there are.

[A]

I feel like, I feel like though at the at on the metal stand. That's a pretty good big three.

[B]

Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

[A]

This has been Pablo Torre Finds Out a Meadowlark Media production and I'll talk to you next time. Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never look so good. You look the same. But with this camera everything looks better. Especially me.

[B]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check please. New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever with eligible phone, trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed. Best 5G SweetMetrics data United States 1H 2025 All Rights Reserve, Trade in and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. Imagine a world of extraordinary comfort where bowl and branch bedding wraps you in the softest. Embrace the coziest experience made from the world's finest 100% organic cotton, all so you can sleep better. Start building your fall sanctuary with Bolen Branch's iconic signature sheets made with a buttery, breathable weave that gets softer with every wash. Enjoy 15% off your first set of sheets with free shipping and returns at B O L L& Branch.com with code BUTTERY. See site for details and explain exclusions.

[A]

Big jobs demand big performance and Western States CAD delivers whether you're buying new or used. Our machines are equipped with money saving technology, built tough and ready to tackle anything. And when it's time for maintenance, our expert service teams keep your investment running strong. From new and used equipment purchase to equipment rental, parts and service. Western states cat your partner wherever you build. Visit westernstatescad.com today. Together we build the future.